Clay Clayton

Just FYI-as Hotel General Manager is everybody but the Captain’s boss.

I presume you have spoken to Makesh?

We did the optional tea excursion yesterday afternoon and evening after we arrived in Columbo about 2. It was interesting but the four hours sitting sideways in an uncomfortable van going and coming was a bit tiring. videos available on Instagram

Ours posted as a single entry of $540 (per person) rolled together with the $40 of unused nonrefundable excursion credit that Viking provide upon booking. We have been going back and forth since Jan 8th about this and finally this morning our TA informed us that Viking switched our September booked excursions which we “paid” for with the non refundable Viking credits, to being paid for with the refundable credits the TA directed Viking to apply to our account in December. Never had this issue before. I’ve asked the TA to try to get Viking to “switch”’it back🤞

Thanks- so I have not gone crazy and should continue to push for the refundable credits that we haven’t used to be available to us rather than the non-refundable ones they say we have after they “switched”’(their words per our TA) the excursions we booked last September using the WC excursion credits to have them paid for from the refundable credits our TA provided in December. Thanks for confirming I wasn’t loosing my mind.

From what friends who did it the other day, it’s not the ride that is tough, it’s the floating pier and having enough strength in your core that is really interesting! Good luck

Questions for fellow cruisers who used a Travel Agent who provided REFUNDABLE credits as a perk: 1. Did those refundable credits show up as refundable on your onboard account upon boarding? 2. Did Viking “switch” any excursions purchased with Viking provided non-refundable credits prior to embarkation and use the refundable credits instead? 3. If like us, this happened to you, have you had any luck in getting them to “switch” them back? TIA!

Questions for fellow cruisers who used a Travel Agent who provided REFUNDABLE credits as a perk: 1. Did those refundable credits show up as refundable on your onboard account upon boarding? 2. Did Viking “switch” any excursions purchased with Viking provided non-refundable credits prior to embarkation and use the refundable credits instead? 3. If like us, this happened to you, have you had any luck in getting them to “switch” them back? TIA!

He was MIA for about a week before Singapore and we were told a bad cold. He was taken ashore there for consultation and it was our understanding he expected to return to the ship. That didn’t happen and we were told he was he was in the hospital for treatment. Today at Verity’s first coffee chat, she said he was hoping for clearance to fly home to Florida on Friday.

None that I’ve been offered…but not sure I expect any since I’m staying aboard and getting world cruise just to different parts than I expected. Biggest difference is that rather than being about 50/50 old and new ports for us, it’s now about 80/20 new ports to old!😀

So it’s official, Bruce isn’t coming back🥲. Verity Brown was just introduced as our new Cruise Director. She said she had a message from Bruce earlier today and he is hopeful to get out of the hospital in Singapore on Friday. Wonder why they didn’t just make Roseanna the new CD?

Crazy! I for one hate to see most segmenters leave but there are a couple I’d gladly help pack😳. I’m sure there are also many on board who wouldn’t mind if I was leaving😂

Reminder time-if you’re able to have a FaceTime/Speaker phone call in a public area, it is also possible to have it in the privacy of your stateroom.

No but Frisky, sounds like a great idea, let us know when you have the spreadsheet ready for us to fill in! 😂

I have added a suggestion to my usual list of recommendations (I include this in the final survey) that port talks be taped and made available in MVJ for exactly the reasons CDNPolar mentioned. We happened to go to the Living Room after the port talk on Ho Chi Minh City and there was a line for Guest Services almost to the Chef’s Table podium. When I asked what was up, found out it was everyone who had heard about the difficulty in getting in and out of the tiny boats on the Mekong Delta as well as finding out how claustrophobic the tunnels were all trying to change their excursions. It sure would be easier for those who aren’t like us and go down a YouTube rabbit hole most nights (we watched 2 minutes of some 20 yo influencer’s video about the tunnel and KNEW it wasn’t for us😂), to be able to hear the port talk in advance.

There weren’t on Sky. No reason for Viking to encourage guests to leave. We didn’t need to discuss any details, but from what I could gather, it appeared that all financial arrangements for those who decided to leave would be handled by the “office after you return home”. Presumably a prorated return of the monies paid on a voucher, perhaps the WC credits also?🤔 I know that our friends who left were relatively pleased with the air arrangements and such so Viking appeared to be doing everything they could to make the guests happy

Wow-we had figured not as many would be leaving Neptune as have left us.

I think for some, it was the strings of multiple sea days that was the deciding factor. Rather than “doing” Africa which is typically a land trip, the World Cruises have become more like a transatlantic repositioning cruise-some interesting ports but further apart. If I remember my count correctly we only have four or five more sea days, but they are more bunched up than on the original itinerary.

Forgot to mention the great (and final until we get to Greenwich) tendering system here in Phuket. The larger local comfortable tender boats being a floating platform out to the ship which makes getting aboard a breeze! Sorry I failed to take any photos from the shell door or on the tenders but here are a couple of the tender taking the platform back to shore.

Great included excursion in Phuket today. The south point was beautiful and the 1000 Elephant Buddha amazing. The big temple complex was incredible albeit crowded and of course hot. The cashew stop was interesting-now I know why they are so expensive. Upon our return to Patong Beach we had a great (and too big) lunch of Coconut and Chicken Soup (Tom Kai Gai), Pad Thai, Tom Yum Fried Rice, morning glory greens (my epiphany from this trip-I LOVE them), complimentary fruit, mango & sticky rice, and a Thai milk tea. All was yummy and only $18US. I’m sure it would have been half of that or less if we had of walked away from the beach but it was hot so…. Love the beautiful colors and sights here-if they could just get the air conditioning to work I’d be ready to move 😂 Looking forward to two and a half sea days to recover before we get to Sri Lanka.

So what’s the Neptune’s population after leaving Singapore. Sky reportedly now has 620 with over a hundred doing the Indian overland.

Breakfast of Champions-grilled lamb chops, eggs, mushrooms, hash browns and a side of hollandaise at The Restaurant.

the tree with the baby in the trunk is entitled, “The Last Tree”

Oh, the caftan is Verr-Sache