PatriciaF

@Mariastrebywe were on the NYC to Montreal cruise on the Star that had to out run Hurricane Fiona! Certainly not in our list of possible weather issues on that itinerary. On the good side, while we lost two ports, we gained an extra day in Quebec City.

Thanks for all the responses. We will be sailing from St Lucia to Barbados. This cruise has a day in port every day. All of them we have seen before--but I wanted to do something special for New Years--so this is what I picked. I look forward to the deck party--has been fun pre-COVID and we didn't have it on our NYC to Montreal cruise- in September where we had to outrun Fiona! Pat

We will be on the Viking Sea on New Years Eve. Anything special done that evening or New Year’s Day? Thanks! Pat

Two of our ports were canceled so our one not included tour in Gaspe we didn’t do. Viking had refunded our credit card for that canceled excursion in 48 hours or less. The included tours are general overviews mostly on the bus. The tour guide in NYC was excellent. In Boston there was a free shuttle that dropped you off near the Aquarium. On the second day we took it in, walked most of the freedom trail..got a bit lost..finding the cheers bar and just took an Uber back rather than walking the mile plus back to the bus pick up and possibly having to wait up to an hour, The Uber was $15 plus tip. We were docked in the old port in Quebec, easy walk to old Quebec especially if you took the ride up hill, $4 cash each US or Canadian. Chateau Frontenac was worth the time to visit and we had lunch their our extra day there. Montreal was interesting and the city had grown since I was last there (1997). We got to the Cathedral during an organ concert which made it extra special. We had a rental car before we got on board. Had to return it at JFK. Took a cab, fix rate of $52 ish plus a toll $2.50 plus a tip. Much cheaper than the $49 per person from Viking. We got to the port a little before 1, had perhaps 20 in line ahead of us, at the buffet having lunch by 130.

@LindaS272It was really strong on our socks--thank goodness, it was far away enough from my nose to not flare up my allergies/asthma. No scent on the sheets or towels in the cabin--so not an issue with its own laundry. @dd57 thank you for sharing your story. My husband thought they smelled nice--I thought it was just way to strong--but I only use the scent free stuff at home.

I think very few are disappointed with their Viking Ocean cruise. Be sure to check out the spa on 1 forward--steam, sauna, hot tub, therapy pool are all no charge. Washers/dryers, no charge--they have a soap dispenser that you need to activate on the wall if you don't bring your own. Make sure to download the Viking voyager APP on your phone or tablet--so much info--I like to be able to see the menus in the restaurant and world cafe for several days before hand. In the world cafe, each side is a bit different. Ice cream only on port (left) side. At night, sushi on port side, shrimp, langostinos, crab legs only on starboard (right) side. We usually sat on the side we thought would have the best view.

We are back from our cruise. Our first and only Viking ocean cruise was in December 2018. This one had all the characteristics we loved about the first one--small ship, great staff, good food, well-organized. Our first cruise ended in Venice--fogged in--finally sailed to Trieste to disembark at 7 PM (vs 8 AM). Got to the port area of Venice around 830 PM. This cruise we had deviations due to Hurricane Fiona. Excellent response from the shipboard crew and corporate in both conditions. Positives: cheerful staff, adapted quickly to our change in itinerary to keep us out of Hurricane Fiona. Good to very good food. We went to tea everyday--a few times only having tea and scones with out the sandwiches. Stateroom service excellent, service in world cafe (aka "the buffet)), Manfredo's, and Chef's Table was very good. The restaurant at dinner was good to very good--but at breakfast and lunch--so slow. Our one lunch on board, took two hours for 3 courses to be served. Viking like other lines appears to be a bit short handed. Needs to improve: the bed is a typical hard as rock European bed--unlike my Princess dream bed I will not be checking out if I can buy the pillows or mattress. Pizza--perhaps authentic Napoli but the crust was so thin (Princess has the rep of best pizza at sea). Will this impact our future bookings with Viking--no we booked a cruise for June 2024 while onboard. Ship appeared to be in good shape. Entertainment was limited but that was expected--we discovered the guitarest up on 7 in the Explorer's Lounge late in the voyage--he was great. We were sorry we hadn't found him earlier. Not too much laundry to use as we did 3 small loads during the cruise--but this time I found the scent of the laundry detergent used by Viking a bit strong. So--if you are scent sensitive, you may wish to bring your own detergent. Smooth sailing to everyone on board now or in the future. Pat

@powderhornGlad you and your family are safe and things are slowly getting back to normal. We had several passengers that we talked to on board from the Ft Meyers/Cape Coral/Sarasota FL area--We hope that they had a home to go back to--

@bobolz originally only one day in Quebec City. No stops in Maine, which was a disappointment but never on the original itinerary. Started in New York, with a day in NY, two days in Boston, Halifax canceled, Sydney a technical stop, paperwork only, Gaspe canceled, then Quebec City, Saguenay, Quebec City, Montreal. Fly home. We are in port today with two ships we were docked by in Boston, P&O Aurora and Celebrity Summit.

@bobolz. Thank you for your update on your adventure. Saguenay La Baie had us docked and two ships using tenders. We are back in Quebec City this morning with sun now and increasing clouds. Flying home on Friday from Montreal. Safe travels.

We are on the Viking Star now. We made a quick visit at Sydney to get the Canadian paperwork done. Then we quickly made progress to the north and west to get as far away from Fiona as possible. Gaspe was cancelled. We had four straight sea days. No big deal and we heard no complaints. We had a sail up to Saguenay just to see the scenery on Sunday. Additional days in Quebec City, return to Saguenay, back to Quebec City, and then to Montreal the next day. Seas were a bit bouncy out of Boston up to Sydney, but been in worse. Smooth sailing on the St Lawrence. A bit rain and cold..but we are southern Californians, so temps under 60 are cold to us.

Thank you for the responses. We have decided to use our credit, pay the extra, and cancel the flights through Regent. American Airlines. Lay flat seats DFW to Buenos Aires and same Rio to New York. And coach to from LAX

And the overwhelming majority do not?

We have a large credit for airfare due to a Covid canceled trip. We can use it to get to Buenos Aires and return from Rio on American Airlines, business class for $1000 out of pocket. Of course, we will get a price reduction of $4000 per person for dropping the airfare with Regent. My husband is concerned that Regent uses Copa or LATAM for its included flights--both airlines have poor reviews and are considered to be on the edge of bankrupcty. Any advice appreciated. Pat

Thank you so much for this. We will be first time RSSC cruisers in March 2023. So, from reading this and other places, no expectation from the cabin steward that he/she will get an extra tip?

We did its first post Covid inaugural cruise FLL to LA, April 27 to May 11. We had some initial problems with the app and it appeared that the program did not work well in the buffet or dining room. Many places aboard ship had to write down your order and it was charged later. I missed Vines. Our sailing was only 50 percent capacity. It is a smaller, older ship. It and its sister ship, the Coral Princess had many additional staterooms added so if sold out there may be lines and service issues. Find my Live from the Island Princess post--the LA to FLL cruisers to post their experiences. Sometimes for us, itinerary outweighs the ship. Pat

It is scheduled for tonight in Princess Theater. The production shows were the formal nights.

I think it is $95 held in the back of the Bordeaux dining room. I think someone on here posted about a Winemakers dinner..but I haven’t seen it. In fact, I haven’t seen anything about spa specials or similar

I have not seen this option in the Patter. It has had arts and crafts but overlap with the Shore Excursion presentation.

None. I have only seen that option on Holland America

I live next door in Long Beach. Pacific Inn is a great place to stay in Seal Beach with easy access south to Newport, Corona Del Mar, and Laguna and the near by areas of Naples and Belmont Shore in Long Beach. I would recommend Patty’s Place and Walt’s Wharf in Seal Beach. For family Italian, Domenico’s in Belmont Shore. The homeless situation is a bit worse in Long Beach than Seal Beach. Unless you have a must see to the north, the traffic is awful. On occasion I had to go to Century City for work…one Friday evening it was 2 and half hours to get home! to me the only must see that is worth the traffic is the Getty Museum.

We like the service and the extra entree option in Club Class. But unlike our 20 days in Club Class in 2019, the service isn’t perfect. My husband only drinks Diet Coke and it was on the table within minutes of us sitting down, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Same with my morning coffee order. But the long break in working may be the biggest reason. I would think the service will be very polished by then.

We did Chef’s Table last night. It was excellent.

So far mixed reviews. Boarding quick and easy. Luggage at cabin before ship left port. Safe had issues, maintenance put in new batteries but real problem was the key paid only worked for a couple of numbers. The minus medallion net is unreliable. Waiters couldn’t access the system for bar orders in the buffet or Good Fellows bar. Most people were done eating by the time their drink orders showed up even something as simple as water and ice tea. Will post the abbreviated Patter when we are back in the cabin