Twitchly

When we cruised on Sky four years ago, our impressions of the restaurants closely mirrored DrKoob’s. We ended up eating most meals at the World Cafe. So we were very pleasantly surprised at how good the restaurants were last month on Mars. The service was great, too. As for the beds, we’ve been underwhelmed both times. On Sky, the bed was hard and barreled in the middle so we fell into each other. On Mars, the mattress was so firm we woke up stiff and sore every day. We were relieved when we checked into our post-cruise hotel in Bergen and the bed felt like sleeping on a cloud. And this is from two people who prefer firm beds! Interesting to see how passenger groups differ from one cruise to the next. Our recent cruise (British Isles) definitely skewed older, and many people were traveling with groups. Very friendly.

You can pre-pay the standard staff gratuities.

Here’s what happened in our case. We had to spend a bunch of voucher money before boarding our cruise last month, which we managed to do. But during the cruise, several excursions got canceled due to the Queen’s death and to weather (2 missed ports). The money for our canceled excursions went to shipboard credit, not a refund, and we had to spend it by the end of the cruise. (DH got several massages and we both made multiple trips to the ship’s shops.) I don’t know what happens if you cancel excursions yourself, but I assume they too would turn into shipboard credit if they were initially paid for via voucher. Maybe ask a Viking rep?

Whoa. Looks like somebody messed up somewhere. Yikes.

Is that what they’re called? I’ve been calling them “roller boards,” which frankly makes far less sense. I think I’m having a blonde moment. 🤪

Yesterday we flew from Bergen to Amsterdam to the US. Due to weather conditions in Amsterdam (fog?), our flight out of Bergen was delayed initially by an hour, then once we boarded it was delayed another 45 minutes. Our comfortable 3-hour layover in Amsterdam shrank to just over an hour. We made our connection just as it was boarding. Not bad with a sprained knee, but not fun either. (We only had carryons so no luggage issues, thankfully.) But if there’s a next time, we will try hard for a direct flight home. I’d rather take a train from Bergen to Oslo and fly from there if it meant we could avoid taking a connecting flight.

We found Viking’s standard pillows to be quite flat. If that’s what you’re looking for, I think you’ll be pleased.

Yes, I think that was it. Great place!

A few random thoughts before I forget them as we conclude our September 2022 British Isles Explorer cruise on Viking Mars … The passing of Queen Elizabeth II. The floral tributes. The processions and funeral. The end of an era. And now, the new King. Like the rest of Britain, we watched it all unfold, wrapt and honored to be here for it. Unforgettable. Overall, we have been very lucky with the weather, given this was the British Isles. Rain in Liverpool/Chester for our walking tour (which is where I fell on those slick cobblestones and sprained my knee) and two port cancellations. Other than that, we had a mix of sun and clouds everywhere (except, of course, Norway, where we arrived in rain). Temps have run in the 70s (London), 60s (rest of Britain/Ireland), and 50s (Orkneys, Norway). We even got to eat outside on deck a few times, which was a welcome surprise. Our tour guides were uniformly excellent. Not a dud in the bunch. The buses were not terribly comfortable, some better than others but none that I enjoyed riding in. Staff have also been outstanding. Mostly from Philippines or Bali, with a scattering from Zimbabwe, Peru, India, South Africa, and Eastern Europe. Friendly, personable, helpful, and capable. Again, not a dud in the bunch. They really are the strength of Viking Ocean cruises. The food is better than I remembered it. They had a number of slightly spicier options, including many dishes from India that were quite good. (I still don’t think they have figured out Thai food, however.) Lots of salads. We ate more often at the main restaurant and at Manfredi’s than last time, both of which were better than we remembered. No pistachio raisin buns available anywhere on the ship. No one knew what we were talking about. Sorry, Clay. I cannot imagine how much weight I’ve gained on this trip. Good heavens. Bringing just a carryon turned out to work just fine. We did laundry twice in a 3-week trip. We’ll definitely do that again. This cruise had a lot of groups traveling together. The average age appears to be mid-70s. We have met exactly one other passenger who, like DH, is not retired. I’m sure there must be more, but we haven’t come across them. Nearly everyone is American. More Brits on our previous cruise, but then I suppose you wouldn’t expect many of them on a cruise of their own country. The Explorer Lounge ran pretty cold most days, and I say that as someone who prefers a cooler room. We discovered the warm delights of those beautiful reindeer pelts that I thought were fake but aren’t. (They’re also for sale in the shop; if I’d brought a bigger suitcase I would’ve been sorely tempted.) I still prefer the Explorer’s Lounge to the Living Room. Even after dark. The piped-in music has VASTLY improved from our 2018 cruise, so much so that I sent a note to Viking about it. No more banal pop cover tunes (that’s saved for the evening entertainment 😉). Now they play interesting, atmospheric instrumental music by people like Max Richter. Lovely. Do not miss Norwegian violinist Tor Jaran Apold if he plays a concert for you when the ship is docked in Bergen. Glorious. The Silver Spirits package turned out to be more fun than I thought it would be. We mostly used it on various wines for lunch and dinner, and occasionally for a cocktail in the evening. I tried all 3 grappa options in one memorable night at Manfredi’s. Also enjoyed an informative single malt tasting. Neither of us drink much at home, and that won’t change. I don’t need this much alcohol, and I don’t feel that great when I drink it! I doubt we’ll purchase it in the future unless we end up in a similar voucher spend-it-or-lose-it situation. But it sure has been fun trying different things, especially with the unwanted sea days after I sprained my knee. The sprained knee opened my eyes to a few other things as well: * We had a PV room with the door/window combination, and I was grateful for the ability to see outside easily while propping my leg up on the couch, something the slider configuration would not have been quite as good for. I was also very grateful for that couch! * I love being on the ship when everyone else is gone. * I now see the attraction of the included “panoramic” bus tours. On our previous cruise — and on this one until I sprained my knee — we felt like we had to run around and do as much as possible in order to take full advantage of the situation. After I fell, we really appreciated having the overview tours. Otherwise I would’ve just been stuck seeing the closest things to the ship. Also, they’re more relaxing, and because they tend to be short you get more time on the ship or just wandering on your own, something we enjoy. We’ll definitely consider doing more included tours if we cruise again. * People have been extremely kind, and we’ve met more folks (and heard more stories about similar disasters) than we otherwise would have. Various people told us about a woman who fell on the first day and dislocated her shoulder. Eventually we ended up sitting next to her and her son at dinner and had a great time comparing notes about the care we received from the medical staff (her, excellent; me, minimal to nonexistent). The only thing we won’t miss: the bed. Our stateroom bed was on the hard side of firm. Woke up sore each morning. Oh, and the pillows. We probably should’ve asked our steward for some alternatives but I guess we weren’t miserable enough. Well, we have just disembarked this morning and and have made our way to our hotel in Bergen. Of note: Uber is apparently new here, and they were short on drivers this morning. We were unable to get one. One of the helpful port staff (a charming high school senior named Hedda) called a taxi for us. We’ll spend a couple of days here before flying home and facing some sobering realities. This has been a welcome escape and we will treasure its memory in the months to come. Thanks, Viking.