tml1230

outstanding and very useful COMPARISON, thanks again for taking time to share...

thanks for the excellent comparison….after 20 plus princess cruises we did our first viking cruise last spring ….our experiences and opinions mirror your observations…. we enjoyed viking so much we have booked another next spring…being elite status, we are pretty much married to princess and will continue sailing with them but the river cruises take you to some incredible cities…thanks again for your thoughts!

Sitting with 6 or 8 others may be fun for you but some do not like the forced groupie thing. Still after many years of marriage we prefer to eat at a quiet table for two. This is another negative of river cruising from all we have read.

we feel the same as you…we are not fans of the "whats your name and where you from" sessions…having said that we love river cruising and adapt to it…not having tables for 2 isn't a deal breaker for us.

I've done a lot of fishing in the Hawaiian waters. The worse cruiseship voyage we had was 25+ seas coming north to San Diego for a day and a half from Manzanillo.

Best advice... Eat Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches. Will it prevent seasickness NO.

But it tastes the same coming up as it did going down!!!

Aloha and good seas, Tim

thanks for the laugh

we spend the month of April in Paris yearly….your time there will go by so quickly…you may have already done so but check the trip advisor Paris forum…it is really informative with new thoughts and ideas every day…i red it a couple times a week...

have a wonderful trip!

we are doing the reverse cruise next March, our 2nd with Viking since our first viking cruise was outstanding in every way….

i hope you will do some daily reports when your time allows…safe travel….

Sigh, I hope you all can make it to your cruises. I will never fly Air France, literally every message board I'm on to what ever destination they fly, people are fretting over a strike, and this has gone on for years. :( Airlines are bad enough once you board, but we shouldn't need to live in fear if they will even fly!

 

Wishing you all luck!

we fly /use air france twice a year…best crews and service we have found…now US Air?… not so much

safe travels

You will not get a refund, but princess will send a steward to your

home who will clean it for 14 days.

Thanks for the laugh!!

you might consider execucar express which is part of super shuttle family….great service to and from port and LAX…have a safe trip!

Great planning….and i must say GREAT attitude! have a safe trip.

I don't know if I would go that far. ;)

me either…always been pretty special to me, actually would enjoy the flexibility of timing over the most travelled….

ok, as i write this i am only at page 4 of your report….i skipped ahead to page 13 just to say thanks…and wow …such a great and informative report…my wife and i are doing this trip next March on Viking.

From Basel at disembarkation we are taking the train to Paris for our annual month of April in France, so i will be following your journey there too very carefully.

this afternoon i will crack a miller lite and toast you as i turn to page 5 of your essay.

Best regards, thanks again terry

Thank you, kind words would have "been nice" I wish that was all we got. ! I think we will call our attorney, she is quite tenacious!

 

Still please beware of Viking!

wow, …just wow. i completely enjoyed our first Viking cruise (even with a hiccup or 2) and we looking forward to our next one in March…For the record i don't work for Viking, but enjoy watching them play in Minnesota….

first off you will love the ruby and the itinerary…we have done it before and had a great time….the 2 times we had a day in Brooklyn were 2 of our best days cruising….the city is not to be missed and for us, doing it on our own was the way to go…first time we walked out to the cab area and were in Manhatten very quickly…the cab driver gave us his cell number and said to call him when we were ready to return and we did..he got a great tip! as others have said, return to the ship before rush hour. on our second visit there we prearranged with "dial 7" limo service….we were concerned about cab availability and didn't want to waste one minute of our time there…for the few extra bucks it was a good idea as cabs were few around the dock area…we prearranged drop off at macy's…took subway from there and…returned to ship from another area at 3PM….all arranged on line…Have a great time.

Only proving once more that 'what we all know' is often wrong :)

 

Thanks for the kind words from others on here, I am indeed just a random Cruise Critic poster the same as the rest of you.

 

I have no current ties to the hospitality/vacation industry since leaving the hotel sector about 25 years ago so no particular affiliations to promote or defend.

 

I merely aim to bring balance to these debates at times of stress so those reading them will have a chance to keep things in perspective.

I for one always find your posts thought provoking…..

I would not be comfortable with that short of a connection.

 

CDG is a nightmare airport with poor signage and unfriendly staff. I do everything I can to avoid it as I have had so many negative experiences making connections.

we travel to and thru CDG twice a year. We haven't encountered the unfriendly staff, actually just the opposite. You do really need to pay attention to the signage.

Have a great trip!

my wife and i had similar concerns before our first river cruise last March….we really like our time together and prefer a table for two for dinner which you usually won't find on a river cruise. But thats just us...

we enjoy our privacy and don't seek out the "so whats your name and where are you from?" people.

We found plenty of places to be by ourselves and at dinner we met some really nice folks….you are not locked into any group or table….

the entire experience was so good that 45 minutes after arriving back home from the cruise we booked another one for next year...

Just as important, in my opinion…..If you don't go you will be missing Paris….. Not visiting Paris at least once in your life deprives you of incredible memories……if you have been there you probably already know what i mean….Also no matter where you are from, everyone should have the opportunity to visit Normandy. It is a very powerful, sacred place.

we had a similar situation last year….to ease my mind i made sure we did the early walk off (carried our own luggage but first off the ship)…and we booked the execucar express. they are part of super shuttle. for a little more money you get your own driver and he is waiting for you getting you to LAX with time to spare…good luck.

i have used execucar express which is part of super shuttle group…..private vehicle for just your group, well organized and competitive at $65 to SFO…have a safe trip!

Hi Martin, as you compare car rental prices also look at Budget car rental…they are right across the street from Port Everglades in a shopping center on 17h street causeway. they are wonderful to work with and free shuttles to your ship…we use them 2-3 times a year.

also on your way to the keys and key west…the keys start at mile marker 124 and end at mile marker 0 in key west...a great place for a quick stop or lunch is the worldwide sportsman store in islamorada ..about mile marker 82 in the keys. it is on the water, really great store, and 2-3 places to have a good lunch.

my wife and i are spending 45 days on a cruise around Australia and new zealand in november and cannot wait to visit your country. have a safe journey. terry

Someone earlier somewhat compared Viking to Carnival. I just want to add that by no means is it close to Carnival. I have never cruised with Carnival and have no interest in it. I have several ocean cruises under my belt, however. Viking river cruise was superb.

Jiminy, i agree with you completely….and i have sailed on carnival before…

after dozens of ocean cruises we took our first river cruise on viking this spring…when we returned home we booked another one for next spring. it was that good.

PS: i also agreed with your other thoughts….

i can't seem to "wipe" the smile off my face !

I usually stay away when threads become contentious but I think that in almost any medical situation, unless one is intimately involved, you are probably not privy to all of the details. It seems quite a leap to start speculating on whether the care was appropriate or not.

well stated…for the record i am not a health care professional, but i drove by a hospital and 2 ambulances today.

Exactly.

i also agree with the last 2 posts…w just returned from our annual trip to Paris ( we love it there)…after an all night flight we opt for a private car service for $75 euros only. we would certainly feel comfortable taking a cab from the airport for 55 euros but we have become friends with our driver and enjoy the comfort of seeing someone with a card and our name on it after not sleeping for 14 hours…

from the Hyatt to the ship…a cab would be about 20 euros…even with the dollar to euro conversion thats a good deal and something to think about…but it is whatever makes you feel best…have a great trip!!

I'm so glad you had a nice time (apart from the noise). Hopefully, they will get that fixed before the next cruise departs.

 

I have a couple of questions.

Is there plenty of counter top space or shelves in the bathroom? My mom tends to need a lot of space for makeup, lotions, etc.. I was thinking of taking a portable shelf with suction cups.

 

Did you take any of the optional tours? If so, what was your opinion of them?

 

You seem like such a down-to-earth, fun couple. I'm sorry you're not on our cruise. Good luck in Paris. If you find an especially nice market, I'd love to hear about it. If you ever make it to Nice, the market there is spectacular.

Hi …we were really pleasantly surprised by the size of the bathroom…i thought it much larger than what we are used to on Princess ships…plenty of counter space and a GREAT shower with a REAL door…

we didn't do any optional tours but others we talked to said they were good..we about had the ship to ourselves the evening of the Vienna choir and symphony tour…everyone said it was excellent…my music tastes go more towards Luther Vandros and Alan Jackson so we didn't attend.

Thanks for the good luck wishes here in Paris…every day we hit a different market, all are very good …some incredible…if you are headed to Paris let us know we can steer you to some…this is our 5th trip…

also not sure if i mentioned it but the free internet on Viking is outstanding and quick...