Clay Clayton

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

Enjoyed the included tour in George Town this morning. For those on Neptune, go as early as possible-it’s again crazy hot. The excursion included a walk through the colorful and artsy old section of town and then photo stops at the bridge to the mainland (we didn’t get off), the Kek Loc Si Temple, and the Botanical Gardens. The temple is pretty amazing looking and would be great to visit except for those 1200 steps! The stop at the gardens is at the parking lot and you can only see the lily pads out front. We again didn’t get off since we could see these were nothing special compared to the Lotus pond we saw in Vietnam #jaded Made an impulse purchase of a caftan in the terminal - first time something fit! I can now attend one of those Mrs. Roper bar crawls and be comfortable in the summer time at home. I won’t be joining the many ladies who wear them around the ship. Happy St. Patrick’s Day-for some reason we are having a BBQ tonight 🤔 but at least they have some Guinness.

Fine by me!

Yep, that’s what I’m thinking. We will be sightseeing with our niece and her gf and will plan on doing the trip up the Thames or maybe back, see the Observatory, Neptune out in the river (hmm, wonder if we could come on as guests?), and meet anyone who is interested at a Greenwich pub.

Can somebody on Neptune confirm that y’all arrive in London on May 8 and disembark on the 9th. TIA

Just back from the included tour-I enjoyed it as it gave me an overview of rice growing. And since there was a breeze, it didn’t seem quite as hot…and the bus had fans in addition to AC😀. The stop at the big ol Eagle was fine but sorta shows there isn’t a lot here to see but it apparently a big beach resort town. Both Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton have properties-$400 or so a night-pretty cheap for them, the resort that you walk around to get from the ship to the pier has king seaview rooms starting at $50/night. While the heat wasn’t as awful as yesterday it did make me sad when I saw this picture from Venus doing In Search of that our friends are on right now-sure wouldn’t mind being cold for just a bit.

It does and they do. I can only remember two, though there were more-sautéed spinach with garlic and Parmesan (very tasty-better IMHO than the creamed version), and grilled veggies. Mike seems to recall, Rosemary potatoes and a salad with walnuts and gorgonzola.

I don’t know if it’s just for WC. We presume not since it’s been added to the newer ships and lets the pool grill not sit idle. FWIW, it doesn’t seem to have as many choices as the ones in the newer ships.

I highly recommend trying to arrange “goodwill” guides in the Japanese ports. These are guides who in exchange for practicing their English tour you for free. You are expected to pay for their meal if you share one and for any admissions to museums or the like. When we did it in the before times, the maximum group size was 6. We had a great guide in Tokyo and at the end of the day, it cost us each $8 but the best part was having someone with whom we had a real conversation about their life. While the two of us were in Kyoto, we booked one for our day trip to Hiroshima. The cost there was higher as we didn’t have anyone to split it with and we requested to go to a specific restaurant. Still was such a great day. Here is a link to where we requested ours: https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/list-of-volunteer-guides/

Here is the current hours on Sky. Note pool grills quits lunch at 2:30 but has snacks with exactly the same menu after that until 5pm.

It is polenta as the menu says-my bad, Inwas thinking about the delicious risotto I had with the osso bucco. That is shaved truffle on top of the egg.

Started a new thread here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2997667-manfredi’s-5/

Last night’s dinner

Enjoyed the new (at least to us) Menu at Manfredi’s last night. The asparagus appetizer is delicious as was the vitello tonato. The steak while not as thick as in the before times is better than the very thin ones we had just two weeks ago on the previous menu. The osso bucco is still very tasty though the portion seems smaller which is ok with us as it always was a bit overwhelming before. Friends have said the lasagna isn’t as good as the previous version-may try that next week when we go back. The Carmelo dessert is tasty but VERY sweet-they pour the caramel sauce at the table so will probably try it without next time. The Millefolgie was light and tasty.

You will likely be among the youngest guests onboard but most of us old folks are fun and interesting. 🤞😂 The included tours can be awful to great. Usually they are somewhere in between. If you see “panorama” in the description that means bus tour. Usually include one to three stops and sometimes free time. We find them fine for places we have never visited but if we need more than an overview, we try to book an independent tour with others on our rollcall. If you haven’t already found this thread, I highly recommend it: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2416372-tips-for-new-viking-ocean-cruisers/page/62/#comment-62141739 To maximize your value, you may want to find a travel agent that provides the maximum kickback of their commission that Viking allows-$150pp on cruises up to 7 nights, $300pp on 8-14 night cruises, and $500pp on cruises of 15 nights or more. This is enough to cover the daily service charge/gratuities and leave a little left over for the bar tab. 🍸 Hope you will like Viking as much as we do!

Just had the new Manfredi’s menu. The Osso Bucco is a permanent item and I had it and tasty as always, but the portion is a little smaller which wasn’t a problem as I always have felt the portion was too large. Mike had the Viking Bistecca and it was thicker than the one I had earlier in the cruise. (It is not as thick or as large as in the before times). Mike ordered it medium rare and one side was that way but the other was closer to medium. (Note to self: order rare). The new (to us) asparagus, poached egg, and risotto appetizer was delicious! The asparagus was perfectly cooked and we hope that they can obtain fresh asparagus for the duration🤞

For those who asked, I’ve just posted the post Capr Town excursions we were offered over on the Sky Live thread.

These are the last ones-let us know how yours differ since as we know #NeptuneGetsEverything😂