May B

A friend of ours always stayed in one of those, before they were designated singles. The only one time she complained was when she was taking an afternoon nap and the production company was rehearsing. My recommendation is to book as early as possible, to get the first stateroom forward of the elevator lobby. Then the theatre won’t be overhead, just the entrance to the theatre. Our friend chose that location b/c her dad had taught her to mind your pence and the pounds will take care of themselves.

Keith means 9:00 PM!

That’s why I like T-Mobile. Gives me plenty of included data, pretty much worldwide. That’s a good reminder, and we’re getting better and better at using it!

See you there!

Yes, we just got one a day or two ago! That and emails are how Mr B finds cruises! Sure enuff, there were two in there that tempted him. And I must confess that’s where I noticed my very first booking code for, I have no idea what it gives me, but for SOMETHING.

My family of three just booked the cruise on Dec. 22nd. We love having the Connie four miles away from us!

My mother-in-law was the perfect example. She was a bit hard of hearing, as well. She didn’t go far in school but she read the NYT every night! The word she mispronunced best was iron. I guess she read it on the side of the box as a newlywed in around 1935. Thx, FlyerTalker, for the great post.

Definitely looking forward to your feedback once you step aboard Crystal. Did I tell you we almost didn’t go to Umi Uma on our first Crystal? Luckily we ran into acquaintances from home, who were not Crystal newbies. She urged us to dine with them at Umi Uma, and we agreed to try it, so she changed her reservation from two to four and of course we loved it. Now they’re our very good friends, and the four of us will dine there in November, G-d willing and the Creek don’t rise.

My brother took Italian so he could learn from Italian chefs in their native tongue. 😳 He cringed when I mispronounced bruschetta, but now I’ve mastered that, as well as Civitavecchia. Heck, how many of us were mispronuncing Gabriel Allon’s wife’s name (Chiara) in our heads until we heard somebody do it correctly? I’m often curious about the number of syllables. Port of Rome: six; Oceania: four; new name of Italian restaurant on Crystal: nine. No wonder we can’t pronounce it! Or is it eight?

To this I say, that’s the price you pay to have a bathtub. I will gladly pay it, b/c I really don’t care much about carpet and furniture. In fact, if we list, say, 25 things that might impact my own personal enjoyment on a cruise, that would be number 24 or 25. Glad to hear about Umi. Enjoy Osteria. Heck, enjoy the whole thing! Please have a soak in the tub for me, if you’re so inclined. I lost my bathtub when we moved to a condo in 2020 and I miss it!

It was my good friend and Crystal mentor, PTIgirl, who had asked Keith about it, b/c she hadn’t seen it. That’s why I wondered if it had magically then appeared, or … what? 😃

Whew!

So, Keith, is that map still on the wall, or from your archived photos?!

You are entitled to one reservation at each, Umi Uma and Osteria, and you make them as soon as you can (now starting at 60 days out). That’s for shorter cruises. plus, there’s more, but the short answer is you never should get off the ship at end of cruise w/o having dined there

How did you know we’re out of state? Well worth it, imho. He went on to get his masters at PhD at Stanford, and has now been at the same company for 26 years. He likes it there, and they like him. He actually was sure he’d do grad school in Ann Arbor, as he thought getting into Stanford was a stretch. He’d probably still be on the faculty there, if he’d done that!

Go blue.

Funny (to me), b/c if I were from Europe I might say, oh! you and I are continent-mates! Or, oh, you’re just 1000 kilometers from me! And folllowed by, happy to meet you, with a smile.

Actually, walked right by both of those. Mr B always goes into markets anyway, even if only to check out the fish etc.

Where’s my sad button? However, this varies from ship to ship, and perhaps even from cruise to cruise on the same ship.

Have you gone into grocery stores? We found a primitive in Civitavecchia, and also ran into a little wine tasting in Kotor. Those are just two that come to mind.

Plus can look at The Restaurant’s menu! If there’s something you love for a night with a Manfredi’s or CT reservation, just cancel the reservation, and go for your favorite.

My very limited experience tells me that Viking fares and promos change once a month, on the 1st of the month. Availability, however, does change, I believe, and can be trusted. If you see a better fare or promo, remember you will be responsible for whatever penalty would be in effect for cancelling what you already booked. Also, once any serious penalties kick in, you would be saddled with them, even if moving to a higher priced category. Promo codes are discussed in a separate thread. I was actually unaware of them until I came home from my first Viking Ocean. I think they would be worth pursuing, as you can tell from the last few posts. Have fun, checking all of this out! I hope your cruise will end up being, like mine was, an example of Viking at its best.

Seair: The Chef’s Table and Manfredi’s are no extra charge. I found that the podium outside the Chef’s Table is a good place to sort out a reservation, and you’ll be able to look at all the planned menus for your cruise (subject to change, but fairly reliable). You won’t have to take a 9 pm reservation. You won’t have to go back and spend your cruise checking back. I don’t know when your booking window opened up, but iirc, mine was at 3 pm eastern, noon Pacific time. There have been recommendations for how to best achieve your most preferred shore excursion, but that’s a moot point now. Still, go to the shore excursion desk early on. You might get lucky.

This is what I always want to say when somebody advises Keith not to spend so much time on the computer, so he can enjoy his vacation. Keith is a big boy. He knows how to enjoy his vacation!

I think Mickey might’ve meant, change the food items, but I love your reply, duque. Mickey, easy to go to the podium any time to see the menus for the entire cruise, iirc. Also easy to change, cancel or add another reservation. When the menu is posted, however, it might change (one item, or perhaps even the entire theme) prior to your actual reservation.