vslparis

10 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

After a long cab ride from central London to the Cutty Sark, or actually the Gipsy moth, everything was a breeze checking in.  They had Viking agents stationed everywhere from the Gipsy Moth to the checkin building (not a tent).  Easy check in, then a big kerfuffle— they had our package of excursion tix, but no room keys.  So the agent accompanied us to the ship, we met with Guest services manager who told us there were no room cards because we had been upgraded from a PV1 to a PS1— no idea why.  All our luggage was tagged for our original PV cabin, but by 2:30 everything had been sorted and all the luggage arrived at our new cabin on deck 8.  We may just watch the sail away from deck 8 after all as we are on the port side (rather than from Explorers Lounge.)  Nice first day!

Well, that is a great way to start your trip !  Never been visited by the upgrade fairy ,but one can dream .  Enjoy your wonderful cruise.

16 hours ago, cruising denise said:

 

I'm pretty sure the wine count is understated, too.  I must have had 5,000 bottles by myself 🍷...So right about Michael the Cookie Pusher, though!!!!  We tried to stay away from that counter - too many delicious items!

I poured my husband a glass of wine last night and then said “ how many cookies” 🤣

Just glad that they stopped making the shortbread type U shaped cookies with the ends dipped in chocolate ( think they were just on until LA ) after awhile. I would have been in a lot more trouble if they made those all the way to Greenwich😬

On 5/6/2024 at 12:17 PM, Clay Clayton said:

After 121 days with only a few hour of rain, I guess we can’t complain about the downpour while disembarking, but it seemed to capture my feelings perfectly 😂

 

After hauling our bags out to the Gypsy Moth pub, we ordered up an UberXL and it finally arrived 15 minutes later. XL in London isn’t as XL as at home but we and our bags fit (barely).  An hour or so after that we made it to the Premier Inn Paddington-both us and the luggage still damp but not dripping like when we got in.  

 

 

The room is similar to our DV home except no balcony, closet, or storage space but it does come with mood lighting!😂

Glad to see you guys made it to your place in London for the week.  
Just an FYI for the Admiral’s Club in Terminal 3. Yes, it definitely is open for business. Since you are in Business Class, you get to use the Fast Track TSA sort of thing at Heathrow.Fast being a relative term 😉.  When you exit from there all you have to do is walk across the area ( following the Yellow signs some Gates like 10-28 or something  like that and to Airport Lounges -AA is Lounge H ) passing thru the place where people are waiting to see their gate show up on the board, past the champagne and caviar bar until have to turn either left or right. Turn right and go to Lounge H which is the Admiral’s Club . 
Have a Bloody Mary for me ! 

12 minutes ago, big_red5312 said:

Pretty sure they low balled the cookie numbers!

Me too, especially with Michael in the Living Room bar being the resident

“ Cookie pusher “ 🤣

Just now, SantaFe1 said:

From our 2019 WC

Thanks ! Now we know what to look for 😀

22 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

We weren’t able to book on the app-just that the booked excursions showed up when I posted. 

You are correct of course . I realized that after I reread your post. However, I still did not see any booked excursions on the APP a

until about 2 hours after you saw yours. Strange, but not worth losing sleep over !

11 hours ago, millybess said:

👍

 

I'll be interested to see the menu for that!

Hope this comes out OK. 

22 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

About 10 this morning, the excursions appeared on our calendars on the app and we got all our first choices! So happy campers here!

Interesting, no shore  excursions showed up on my app until around noon  . I even deleted and reinstalled the app. Even once they did show up , I couldn’t book on the app. Turned my paper in right after noon and only got two of my first choices. One stop it was the third choice 😬. However, I know to keep checking so hopefully some of my first choices might become available.

Just now, cruising denise said:

New topic:  Cape Town disembarkation.  We had decided as of last week to disembark in Cape Town, thus preserving the ports between Singapore and Cape Town, but avoiding the long stretch of sea days coming around the west coast of Africa (and we have another cruise for Morocco in 2026).  Viking did a great job arranging our new business class flights.  We researched and requested the best flights for us, and they came through within about 12 hours.  Our plan is to stay for 5 days and enjoy the local area.  However, we just got a call from Guest Services that they are working on the approvals from the local authorities for us, and in order to disembark in Cape Town (even if we are going straight to the airport), we must have the yellow fever vaccine.  As we will not be in areas where it is prevalent, we had planned to get the malaria treatment, but not the YF.  It appears we will now be getting the YF vax, too.  Just an FYI for any others considering Cape Town.

 

It is not clear to me whether this would be required for passengers going on shore excursions, as I see no difference between getting off the ship, touring and getting back on the ship, or getting off the ship and heading straight to the airport.  But then again, the rationale for government authorities and regulations is not always apparent to mere mortals like myself...

I think that I would question that. You only need the vaccine if you are coming from infected countries and when I looked at those countries the other day, we were not stopping anywhere that was on the list. Things could change of course, but I certainly would ask them to clarify.

On 2/5/2024 at 3:47 PM, Jim Avery said:

Finally made it into Napier.  A tricky port for a ship our size unless weather is right.  Beautiful day and a really nice looking town and beach.  Stopped for a bit in The Rose for fish & chips and, of course, a local beer.  Great stop... Now if the newspaper building only said "The Daily Planet"....🍺😎

 

 

Looks very nice. I would have enjoyed seeing all those Art Deco buildings.

We almost didn’t make it into Nelson due to high winds, but on the 3rd attempt we were able to dock ; although about 2 hours late. Viking did a great job of rearranging the tours. They even got the Nelson Car Museum to stay open an extra couple of hours for the late tours. 

On 2/2/2024 at 8:50 AM, PasadenaDave said:

We did the included inclined tram ride and tour of the city and botanical gardens in Wellington.  Don't do it.  The inclined tram is fun to ride and easily done on your own, but you have likely visited and will do so again much nice botanical gardens

This is our third time to Wellington and have seen a good bit there. I had looked at the tram before, but didn’t want to pay for an excursion there as we could have done it on our own. However, this time it is an included tour so we will give it a try .

On 2/1/2024 at 9:42 PM, Jim Avery said:

We also missed Napier due to high winds. A very tight entry so can understand. Wellington is great and has a very good McDonald’s.😳🍺🍸🚢😎

Makes sense . My thought is if the Captain says it is unsafe to go, then we don’t go.  Love Wellington and the Te Papa Museum ( which is one of the included tours) ; not sure about McDonalds though 🤣. The Gallipoli : The Scales of Our War exhibit, in collaboration with the WETA Worksop , there is not to be missed.  I think the included tour gives about 90 minutes in the museum, but I would recommend that you take your time there and use the shuttle bus to return to the ship if it stops close by. 

Unfortunately, no wine tasting in Napier ( Hawk’s Bay ) tomorrow as our stop there has been cancelled due to high winds. We will have a day at sea and head directly to Wellington.  Guess we will have to just drink some New Zealand wine in the Living Room or Explorer’s bar .🤣

4 hours ago, AZ_Tim said:

So that's why there was a big mop-up operation going on in that area one day! We encountered that on our way to the World Cafe and wondered what was going on.

Yes indeed; lots of mop-up going on and drying  off of chairs . 

We were on the Saturn in August doing the Bergen to NYC trip and they did open the windows on a few days. However one of those days the windows either were left slightly open or perhaps the seal around them on the port side failed because when the automatic window cleaner came by one afternoon , my husband a several others sitting in those lounge chairs received an unexpected shower 🤣. Took the crew a good while to dry up the whole area 😬

On 10/26/2023 at 10:11 PM, Mike07 said:

 

 

I can't wait for the thread when you get bumped to economy because a non rev is deadheading.

Just put that deadheading non rev in a jump seat 🤣

I can’t speak to what Viking does in these ports as we have always done the SS package but I do know  that the extra tax is not just Europe as  we had it in Spain on Oceania this spring on drinks,  but in the US too.  We sailed out of Miami in January ,also on Oceania, and they added a sales tax to a glass of wine that I ordered. The bartender said that once we were out of port, they didn’t add the extra tax. I noticed it because Oceania has you sign for a drink if you don’t have a package. I don’t believe that Viking does that so it may be hard to tell ;although something might be posted about it in the Viking Daily. 
 

On 9/28/2023 at 12:33 PM, bradatbradruben said:

Hi - I saw that we dock in Lisbon @ 7 AM. Stupid me, I thought we would be able to get off the ship then! Our flight back to the US is at 10:05 AM out of Lisbon. We are flying business class but I'm looking for advice on when we might be able to get off the ship and how to get off early? Should we keep our bags in our cabin?

 

Thanks for any advice and help, much appreciated!

The best thing to do is make sure that the staff on board know what your flight time is.  Is a 10:05 am flight out too early for a 7am arrival, yes. However , that 7 am time is not necessarily the port arrival time , but clearance delays can happen. If keep making them aware of your restrictions , I have no doubt that they will do their best to get you off as soon as possible . You might want to have Plan B  in case you don’t make your flight ; especially if you are checking luggage.

Instead of asking them to give you business class on the Air Canada schedule that you have, why not ask them what business class they do have for your itinerary .

As others have said, Viking has contracts for airfare ; but it is not for every flight on every airline and it is not always the least expensive.  If it doesn’t work out with them , then hopefully you have a good travel agent who can help you find a good option for you or you are skilled enough to do it on your own.  Good luck and I know once on board you will enjoy Viking 😀

5 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

On our upcoming cruise, we have two entire days in Longyearbyen. When the excursions first appeared on MVJ we signed up for the included walking tour for the second day and scheduled an independent one for the first day.   
 
Earlier today, someone on our roll call noticed that another included excursion had been added.  Since this one involves wild life and a boat we figured we could do the walking one ourselves, so we signed up for it.  Since the times overlapped, I had to first cancel the walking tour. Since I know from previous trips that Viking offers one included excursion per port, I didn’t think about trying to book the initial walking tour on day 1. But, someone on another iteration of this itinerary just posted they had switched and now they’re booked on both included tours.   I checked and MVJ will allow me to do so, but I am afeared! I don’t want to get canceled out of the boat trip.  
 
Has anyone ever had Viking provide 2 included excursions in one port and been able to take both?

@Clay Clayton thanks for asking this question.  I am booked on the 02 August departure of your cruise and have booked the wildlife boat tour on Day 1 and the included walking tour and museum on day 2 in Longyearbyen and was wondering if we can do both . Hopefully someone will have been in this same situation and can offer so insight. 

On 6/9/2023 at 3:53 PM, MarkCruises said:

P.S.  We are doing the 14 day Norway on August 2 from Bergen.

We are on the same ship doing the 28 day to NYC and have not found it a problem to get reservations at Manfredis’  on board  or the Main dining room if flexible ( the key word here being flexible😉)

23 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

Ok, this is the sweetest dog in the world.  She loves ALL people.  She loves NO other dogs.  She is NOT hypoallergenic  Do you really want her aboard?  We pay big bucks  to have her well looked after at home.  If you can’t do that, then don’t cruise.  I am tired of this thread. ( sorry to be so grumpy!)

 

What a lovely dog with such expressive eyes !  You can tell that she is happy in her home. 

 

8 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

Thank you, Valerie!  We are good. Pierre is off Paxlovid, and and I finish tomorrow.  It is truly the cure worse than the disease.  I am so tired of Paxlovid mouth!

 

I remember two years ago when we all went to Iceland on the inaugural cruise.  That was scary, but we all made it!  And I’m so glad we did it!  We are off to Alaska the end of May for a big anniversary. Where are you going next, before the WC?

Glad to hear you are recovering. I have heard about the Paxlovid  taste; sounds nasty . You will enjoy the beauty of Alaska and congratulations on a big anniversary  ! 

We are off for a 7 week trip in about 2 weeks doing a TA , Austria, a Krakow to Berlin trip and then somehow got talked into meeting our son , daughter in law and 1 year old grandson in Cancun for a few nights ( thinking they want a babysitter for a few days there 🤣) . August sees us doing a Viking  Bergen to NY trip after visiting friends that live outside of Oslo and then family in NY at the end of the cruise . Then it will be time to focus on the WC.

On 3/21/2023 at 3:38 PM, SantaFe1 said:

Thank you all for well wishes.  I have had a very mild case, as did my husband.  Just got off the phone with my doctor who says I am free to go on Thursday, but must wear a mask everywhere for another five days.  Easy enough to do.  She also told me that we would have immunity for about another 90 days (long enough to get us through our upcoming Alaska cruise).  We will also take a couple of tests and some Paxlovid.  

Oh no , sorry to hear about you being sick . This is what happens when you put “boys and beer “ together 🤣. I hope you are both feeling better soon.

4 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

Really, that's news to us. Wife uses The Hopper & Booking.com and more as means of checking airfares. She's been watching for some time. We fly from Des Moines (Iowa/USA) to Venice in late October 2023, take our 20-night cruise, and then fly from Barcelona back to Des Moines in late November 2023. She recently got the airfare for $1016 PP roundtrip. Total cost. All taxes and fees included. Economy. United Airlines. O's airfare is NOT even close to this. And we'd have to pay more just for us to get from our small airport to one of their American starting points or drive to Chicago (for example) and pay to park.

All depends on your departure city and the time of year .  As the OP mentioned, from Tampa it is crazy high ; same from the DFW area. Airfare is never a one size fits all thing.  All about supply and demand in the market you are flying from. Late October can be very different than the middle of summer when it comes to pricing.