May B

I don’t think I’m the average luxury cruiser, as I’ve only done Crystal. Despite everybody saying it would spoil me and I’d never do other lines, I’ve done quite a few Celebrity and a few Royals, many for cncenience. Coincidentally, my first Crystal was in 2015. I always remind myself to go with accurate expectations, as much as possible.

So shall I hit the Like button or the Laugh button? And I think they have a new ocean ship debuting soon, too. They sure figured the whole thing out, somehow. They’ve only been on the ocean since 2015. And they’ve been in a few oversold positions lately, offering bumps. Mr B and I just discussed what we’d do if we’re offered a bump for our cruise on Viking Jupiter this June.

I recognize that stop! It was on our first river cruise. It’s the place with the cute sculptures with the street sewer covers. It would be good if I could remember its name. But I’m happy just to recognize it. Oh! Bratislava?!

I really hate that one. I wish I could unsee it. And now two of us have reposted it. What could we have been thinking?

Scary! Or something like that, anyway.

The ship somebody reported having “no” entertainment on was Viking, not Oceania. That having been said, though, I must tell you I remember ZERO about the entertainment on the one Oceania cruise we took. I remember plenty about the food and about the ports we visited (Mediterranean, so of course very port-intensive), and even about the bridge game we enjoyed. That was 2014. We had a fun post-cruise trip to Cappadocia.

WOW I actually feel sorry for her.

Yesterday somebody told me that a third party (she claimed she couldn’t remember who it was, so I have absolutely no point of reference) thought their Viking stateroom was a big disappointment, and there was “no entertainment” on their Viking cruise. I said this person clearly had inaccurate expectations, and I can guarantee there was not NO entertainment on the ship. Obviously the cruiser had incorrect expectations for the entertainment, too. But I don’t think either of those incorrect expectations would’ve come from marketing. Am I wrong? They also said, “Viking doesn’t have a casino!”. I said, don’t tell me this person expected a casino! Oh, no, no, the other one said. 😳

Hi Jim, nice to be chatting with you here. It sounds like I have missed something. What is Manfredi’s private room?

I did not think private messaging has been activated. Please advise.

Best wishes to you and to your sister for the best possible medical outcomes.

I didn’t know that was an option! Thank you, Roy!

We loved the Palau de Musica. Tours are available in English but sell out in advance. I’m guessing it would be nice to attend a performance there, too.

This reminds me of the Blind Men and the Elephant. Actually, we also know every once in a while there’s a one-off on a cruise line we usually love. Frustrating, but not the end of the world, thankfully. Sometimes even worth laughing about … later, anyway.

Pretty soon, the rest of us are going to abandon ship and leave these threads to the naysayers.

Upper right in the photo of the three.

Nobody wanted to watch the lecture on t.v., later or the next day? Must’ve been a wonderful lecturer! And I guess if people were willing to take three hours for dinner (color me skeptical), they didn’t care about the evening entertainment. Or perhaps they changed their plans, after the first time they went to a full dining room at 7:30.

And we don’t even have any at-sea days! Thank you so much for that great description. I really appreciate it, OneSixtyToOne. We leave in two months. So very much looking forward to it. And next year on June 24th, we cruise out of your home port! Eight nights, to Vancouver, not on Viking.

CB, I don’t understand how “this probably explains” about Serenity vs Symphony. Which part explains it? I feel like I must be missing something obvious.

Thank you for this info, especially as it’s so very current. If I understand correctly, an enrichment talk is given at 6:45 pm, to be concluded by 8 pm. I know you were in the Mediterranean, but I’m guessing the Baltic may be similar. Is this pretty much every evening? Are they also recorded, to watch at a later time on our stateroom t.v.? Is the only “entertainment” the musical groups, in the bar areas?

I love it!

The funniest part to me is that the singles are called “cozy” while the doubles, which to the best of my knowledge are the exact same size, are called classic. I’m guessing I’ll be in a cozier situation, with Mr B in my classic stateroom, than my friend will be, by herself in her cozy stateroom. I prodded her to book quickly, so she got the very first stateroom forward of the elevators. On a previous cruise, she was a bit further forward and she DID complain about the theatre noise … when she was napping in the afternoon and a rehearsal was taking place!

Do you run a program for this or do it manually? I look forward to the answer to this 😉.

While our resident nay-sayer isn’t impressed with this news, the LACK of it could be perceived as a cause for concern. Mr B’s boss used to say “money first in case of fire”. You wouldn’t leave $100 in the cash register, to go up in smoke. Just my way of saying, while these agreements have not been instantaneous, upon NC opening up for business, any time a new one is announced is another small piece of good news, imho. I hope the UK will get included soon, too.

But not “my” Phil! 😎 I was in awe of how grown-up your daughter was (and of your DH’s socks).