Marguerite-a-Ville

My husband was stationed in Fairbanks in the late 60's, and he would very much like to go back to see how it's changed.  Since Viking does not have cruisetours like some of the other cruise lines, does anyone know of a tour company that does the land tours the way, for example, Princess does...part bus, part railway with the glass dome, from Anchorage to Denali to Fairbanks?

Great advice, everyone!  I've just ordered the Apple / SD card cable and will definitely be taking at least six SD cards.

14 hours ago, Coral said:

In 2020 - Princess has Pacific Princess going (both North Bound an South Bound). This ship has less than 700 passengers which is going to be a great size. It will go to Glacier Bay.

 

There are other ships and lines that fit your criteria but this is going to be a great small ship. Most mass lines don't put a ship this small there and it has been a long time since Princess has. This ship usually does Europe in the summer.

Thank you so much, Coral!  That sounds like it fits the bill.  Will definitely look further into it.

Thank you all for the recommendations.  I'm going to look into each of these.

This is what I'm looking for:

An Alaskan cruise followed by a land tour that ends in Fairbanks, as my husband was stationed there in the 60's and he wants to see it now.

Must include Glacier Bay.  I've been on a Celebrity cruise that did Hubbard Glacier, so I'd much prefer Glacier Bay.

I've been on Viking, Celebrity, Norwegian, Oceania, Carnival and Royal Caribbean, and I've found that I prefer the smaller ships...but I would not mind a larger ship if it went to Glacier Bay.

This cruise would be in 2020.

Aside from taking a laptop, what is the most reliable and compact way to backup photos from a smart card?

Thank you Peregrina651.  Your advice is very helpful!

CCWineLover, my absolute favorite private tour in South America was in Stanley, Falklands. We went through Estancia Excursions to Volunteer Point.  A long, bumpy ride in a 4-wheel drive vehicle was totally worth it when we arrived and were able to walk among thousands of King and Gentoo penguins and view them in their natural habitat.   

Thank you, Orangegurl and LunaSeaRetreat...that worked!  How nuts is it that you get a message saying that the reservation cannot be made, but then you can make it!!  Oh well, all's well that ends well.

Thanks cmaasfamily...we have 8 more traveling companions who won't be able to make their dining arrangements until next week, so hopefully we will be able to get into the restaurants at the same time.

We have a Penthouse Veranda booked for a May Empires of the Mediterranean cruise. As our dinner reservations became available today, I stayed up until midnight to book them.

I tried to book Manfredi’s for dinner on day 3 of our cruise. Every time slot was taken between 6 and 8. So I tried all the other nights (except 1, where we were having dinner on our excursion), same time slots, and there were no availabilities.

is this normal, or could there have been a glitch in the system? What good is being able to make 2 reservations at each specialty restaurant if you can’t make a single reservation at a decent time?

On 2/28/2019 at 7:54 PM, vnb2003 said:

We stayed in 5097 and we were fine. The overhang could bother people on the 6th we floor do to open eating area above and pool traffic.

Oh good, thanks vnb2003!

36 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

This blog gives you a detailed view of the cabins in question:

https://viking-cruises-cabin-guide.blogspot.com/p/cabins-to-avioid.html

Thank you OneSixtyToOne! That's very helpful.

8 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

The shaded area reflects the deck overhang on 7 deck.  It is the open deck at the World Cafe where you can walk to the infinity pool without going through World Cafe.  It would not obstruct your deck 5 cabin at all.  Possibly some welcome shade in the heat of the day.

Great, thank you Jim!

Looking at the deck diagram on the Viking website, there is a shaded area underneath the Deck 5 PV1 cabins.  Is this an obstructed view?

8 hours ago, Cindy said:

 

Thnks! I love taking the pictures and trying to tell a story with them!

 

We did the Kotor-Perast-Budva tour and were gone about 8 hours. We pretty much put ourselves in Mladen’s hands and told him to show us Montenegro! He did a great job of reading us and we had a wonderful day!

Thank you for the info, Cindy!  We're all over that tour!!

5 hours ago, G. GIRL said:

 

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=620462

Hi I hope this works. 

Regards

Gill

Thank you G. Girl! 

On 1/14/2019 at 5:19 PM, Cindy said:

 

That’s my blog!😄 I highly recommend M Tours and Mladen. Our day could not have been any better!

 

Cindy, what a fantastic photographer and blogger you are!  Thank you for sharing your link...I'm going to explore your other adventures later.

I looked at the M Tours website, and they have a variety of tours on their home page.  Which one did you take, and if you took a custom tour, how many hours and what was the cost of it?

4 hours ago, stardaisymoonbeamdakota said:

Thank you!  Is the Viking shuttle free from Plaka to the ship?

 

Hmm, I just assumed it was free so I never asked! 

Perhaps someone who knows will chime in.

4 minutes ago, stardaisymoonbeamdakota said:

Please tell me which tour you are taking and where you are  staying.  We will be in Athens and are researching ahead! Thank you, Val 

Marguerite-a-Ville.url

Val, we are doing a half-day Athens tour (no Acropolis or museums, as we're doing those on our own) through George's Taxi. www.taxigreece.com 

We are going to do it on the afternoon we embark, so pickup at the port.  But they will pick you up from your hotel if you wish.

4 hours ago, MarkTapley said:

When we were in Athens in August, the Viking shuttle picked up just east of the Plaka.  On the street opposite Hadrian’s Arch.

Thank you Mark!

I just got off the phone with Viking, and learned that there is a shuttle from the city to the port every 30 minutes.  What they could not tell me is where the shuttle picks up.  I'm mostly interested in whether there is a pickup at the Plaka, and how late the shuttle runs.  We are doing a private tour, and I'm trying to determine whether we should have the driver take us back to the ship, or if we can explore the Plaka first and then catch the shuttle. Of course, we can always hail a cab if necessary...but it would be nice to take the shuttle.

The ship will be at the port overnight, so there is no hurry to get back on board.

Our itinerary shows that we get into Venice at 3 am.  What is the earliest we can get off the ship?

On 1/23/2019 at 9:44 PM, zumbarho said:

Today I looked into doing a private tour to Ljubljana, Postojna Cave and Predjama Castle from Koper. It's a 7 1/2 hr tour for $650 and I think the van holds 7. We are 4 ppl. so if you are interested, let me know. I will double check the size of the van in case your husbands want to come. I also looked into an excursion from Kotor to Perast,(Lady of the Rocks) Budva, St. Stefan etc. which is 6 hrs and $580 for 8 people. 

Rhona, what tour company are you using for the Castle and Cave?

lackcreativity, thank you for this information. 

13 minutes ago, zumbarho said:

Today I looked into doing a private tour to Ljubljana, Postojna Cave and Predjama Castle from Koper. It's a 7 1/2 hr tour for $650 and I think the van holds 7. We are 4 ppl. so if you are interested, let me know. I will double check the size of the van in case your husbands want to come. I also looked into an excursion from Kotor to Perast,(Lady of the Rocks) Budva, St. Stefan etc. which is 6 hrs and $580 for 8 people. 

Thank you so much for this info.  I probably won't be making a decision soon...need to get together with the other folks, and then convince my husband that I would really be ok doing an excursion without him.  😁   But if the space is still available, I'll be in touch with you.  Don't hold it for me if you have any other takers! But I do appreciate it.