Twitchly

You can hear the daily announcements without opening your door. We listened to them on the TV. I can’t remember how we did it (maybe the live ship cam?), but your steward can probably tell you. Ours did.

Penthouse Veranda rooms and up get a selection of spirits in their minibar, which are replenished daily. (I think DV rooms also get alcohol in their minibar but I don’t know if it’s replenished.) You can request which blend of spirits you get, up to a point: for example, you can request another mini bottle of vodka rather than the rum. Or you can request a bottle of house wine rather than spirits. You can also request specific soft drinks or mixers (such as tonic water) daily. Between that and the fact we don’t drink much, we normally wouldn’t be tempted by Viking’s drink package. But we had to use up some leftover voucher money on our last cruise, so we got it. We ended up drinking a good deal more than we usually do, and I must say it was a lot of fun! We tried nearly every red wine on offer by the glass and about a third of the whites. And we enjoyed playing around with various cocktails, too. It was very pampering to just order whatever we wanted and not think about the tab.

I would imagine another difference would be the dramatic and sudden influx of cruise visitors, as opposed to the more gradual ebb and flow typical of land tourists. The sudden arrival in a small town of an additional 2K or 3K people would have a noticeable impact.

That’s what we did (going the opposite direction). Wonderful views of the city from the water and much cheaper than a taxi. Highly recommended.

I’m sympathetic. Cruises are great for many things, but there’s no question they overwhelm small ports and completely change their character.

https://www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2022-11-09/bar-harbor-voters-approve-major-reductions-to-cruise-ship-passengers With a cap of 1K per day, Viking could still squeak in … though maybe not if staff disembark, too.

I got my cheap Rolex many years ago in Hong Kong. It lasted for about 2 years.

The single-malt scotch tasting we recently enjoyed was included in the package. Alas, no wine tastings on our cruise.

Honestly, I would take the “new patterns” thread with a grain of salt. In my experience, social media always emphasizes the darker side of things, and that trend has only expanded in the past few years. For every cretin in a bathrobe with her bare feet on a table, there are 899 people behaving just fine. Our September cruise was delightful.

On our cruise in September, I sprained my knee and had to keep it elevated as much as possible. (It also hurt greatly to bend it.) It’s not hard to do on the ship. There are plenty of loungers and chairs that have ottomans or footstools you can use. I also sat sideways on couches frequently, which are plentiful. On the one occasion when we were sitting on chairs that had no foot stools but only low tables, I took off my shoes and put a pillow on the table and then put my leg on that. On those occasions, I made sure I didn’t put my foot on the table, just my calf. Occasionally I put my leg up on an extra chair or along a banquette (without shoes) when dining at the World Cafe or Mamsen’s, but that felt too casual for the other restaurants so I just avoided them until I could bend my leg a bit. I imagine, though, you may have difficulty on buses. The only time I was able to elevate my leg on a bus was the day I sprained it; the tour guide made sure I had two front seats to myself. After that, I sat with both feet on the floor, just like everyone else.

You know, I think I’m going to do this. Who knows, we might even make some new friends!

Love wasabi, however I can get it!

This is happening everywhere, it seems. We’ve been in numerous restaurants where somebody pulls out a phone or tablet and has a long FaceTime session. At one expensive restaurant, we spent our entire dinner listening to a couple FaceTiming with their kids and grandkids on an iPad. The restaurant was attached to a hotel, so we figured they were hotel guests who treated the restaurant like an extension of the lobby. Maybe they couldn’t get a signal in their room, who knows. In any case, we haven’t been back.

Wonderful! You’re going to love it!

I did notice that our cruise in September had more groups of people who appeared to be traveling together, and the decibel level was noticeably louder in the lounges and restaurants as a result. Aside from that, I can’t say I noticed a big difference from our pre-pandemic cruise. I certainly didn’t see bare feet on tables or pax telling others to stop blocking their view. Gads.

I’m guessing the vibe changes when you aren’t stopping at lots of ports and taking morning excursions, as I believe was the case for much of your very unusual cruise. Without the ports, I would think Torshavn would get a lot more action. I know I’d be more likely to go there if I didn’t have to be ready to roll early the next day.

Yes. A Delta flight on partner KLM.

This. Last month we flew (on Delta) from Bergen through Amsterdam to the US. In Amsterdam, we had to go through passport control but not customs. I would allow at least 3 hours to connect in Amsterdam. That’s what we did, and we barely made our plane due to delays leaving Bergen and long lines in Amsterdam.

Google “Carnival cruise” and “brawl.” Carnival markets itself as a party ship. Perhaps not surprisingly, they’ve been in the news repeatedly for large, multi-deck, bloody free-for-alls. I would expect *any* other cruise line to have better-behaved clientele. (Apologies to all the peaceable and polite Carnival fans who don’t beat up fellow passengers and wouldn’t dream of hogging a poolside lounger. Sadly, you don’t make the news.)

I think I would love it. My husband, not so much.

Ha! I knew I’d find a use one day for this crash-test dummy …

We’ve always interpreted this to mean the restaurants (excluding World Buffet) and theater. Not the lounges. That said, for our cruise last month, I only brought black slacks, no jeans. It was just easier and allowed me to not even think about the question. So arriving late after an excursion was no big deal because we weren’t wearing jeans anyway.

In Twitchly World, reserving a pool seat is ethical if you need to leave to go to the bathroom or briefly run to your cabin to grab something. Fifteen minutes tops. Otherwise let someone else have the seat.

We’ve taken to Viking Cruises, one in the spring and one in the fall, neither to warm-weather places. We did see a few reserved seats, but we didn’t check to see how long they remained empty. Maybe their owners just went to the bathroom or something. In any case, we had no trouble finding a seat by the pool most days.

We enjoyed the Ffestiniog railway in Wales, especially the scenery to and from the train and lunch in a lovely town. It is a long day, but you get to see a beautiful part of Wales. This excursion was sold out, so when we got on board, we went immediately to the service desk and asked to be put on a waitlist. They ended up creating a whole second group for this excursion because of the widespread interest. In Belfast, my husband greatly enjoyed the Saint Patrick tour, which takes you out into the countryside. (I was unable to go due to a sprained knee.) For included tours, we loved the Highlights of Historic Orkney. It included a good overview of the main island, including being able to get out and see the standing stones. There was also plenty of time to wander on our own in a couple of nice villages. We also loved visiting the farm in Bergen. Delightful host and interesting insights.