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Living the dream! (Vicariously for some of us.)

1 minute ago, millybess said:

I love the red bags that Mike made for them. 😊

Yes! Envy is a terrible thing.

17 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

 

 

 

There’s that red suitcase. Dang, I love that thing.

I just want to say I deeply appreciate the “live from” posts here. We seem to be doing mostly land tours lately (Holy Lands last spring, Nova Scotia and PEI this coming June), which I’m greatly enjoying, but cruising is a special world unto itself. Thank you for letting me live vicariously until our next Viking cruise! 

7 hours ago, Tas353 said:

I did this cruise last September We did stop in Orkney. It was amazing. We missed Highlands- Ullapool due to weather and missed the Shetland Islands also due to weather. The Ullapool miss was a sea day and instead of the Shetland Islands we went to Stavenger, Norway. 

This was exactly our experience when sailing the previous September.

Our last cruise with Viking was the British Isles in September 2022. I recall the demographic being 60s, 70s. No walkers, wheelchairs, etc. It’s a port-heavy itinerary with multiple tenders, which may have put off the more senior crowd. People by and large dressed according to the Viking standard. So basically we didn’t see the infirmities or sloppiness described in this thread.

2 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

This is concerning:
Maersk Pausing Red Sea Transits 'Until Further Notice' After Attack

https://gcaptain.com/maersk-pausing-red-sea-transits-until-further-notice/

 

Are either of the current world cruises scheduled to go through the Red Sea?

8 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Looking forward to seeing all the World Cruisers in LA next Tuesday.🥃

Looking forward to the pithy commentary!

6 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Bay of Biscay off the coast of France. Biscayne is Florida.
It’s on Trade Routes of the Middle Ages (a great itinerary). We had rougher seas in the Bay Biscay than our trip around Cape Horn.

Loved that cruise. We’d do it again in a heartbeat. Yes, we had quite the swells in Biscay. No storms, sunny skies, but massive swells. Fortunately neither of us got seasick (I took ginger capsules). At one point we sat on the top deck and listened to the crashing of dishes from somewhere below. (Ship tilts waaaaay left — crash crash crash. Then waaaaaaay right — crash tinkle crash.) We felt bad for the staff but I have to admit we enjoyed the experience.

The beds are our least favorite feature. I like firm, but we found these on the granite side of hard and woke up achey each morning. Made me think of my stoic Norwegian great-grandfather, who thought nothing of pulling his own teeth. Next time we’ll definitely ask for a topper. Or four.

No problem with the food, though I’d love to see more local cuisine. 

When I sprained my knee during our cruise last year and was stuck on the couch, I was very grateful for the door/window configuration that made it easy for me to see outside with my leg propped up.

Safe travels, and thanks for sharing your fascinating trip with us!

Gorgeous! But wow, that weather. 

4 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

At tonight’s port talk they briefed us on the Beaufort Scale. We were at a 10-11 today. Bridge recorded an 80 mph gust. Ship handled beautifully.

Wow!! That’s almost hurricane strength! Impressive that the ship handled so well.

4 hours ago, RD64 said:

@millybess everyone was looking forward to their Holy Land cruise- but was nobody interested in doing it as an actual land vacation - just a drive-by?

After we had to cancel our Holy Land cruise, we ended up doing a land trip instead (more than a year later). In retrospect I’m very glad it turned out that way. A couple of days there would not have been enough.

I’m finding it all fascinating. Thanks for doing this!

On 10/18/2023 at 3:52 PM, Thankfully1 said:

When you canceled did you say why?
 

Israel is the only reason I am on the cruise, set to said 11/28. I want to cancel. I have Vikings “cancel for any reason” travel policy. Did you get a credit when you cancelled ? I am thinking unless I am sick or injured it will be a credit to be used within a year. 

I don’t think we had to give a reason back then. Viking was still operating under pandemic rules, which have likely changed. We got vouchers that had to be used within a period of time.

1 hour ago, dreamercruise said:

Did Viking refund you cash or future cruise credits when you cancelled the cruise on your own? Was there any cancellation penalty?

 

No refund was offered. We got vouchers that had to be used within a couple of years. We used them for a cruise to the British Isles in 2022. No penalty, because the cruise itinerary changed substantially and also because Viking allowed people to cancel more easily during the pandemic. I don’t know how Viking handles these things now. A call to Viking or your TA might be helpful, or better still an email to tellus@vikingcruises.com so you can get their answer in writing. 

We booked this cruise for January 2022. Israel was still shut down due to Covid when we booked it many months in advance. We didn’t get an update from Viking until just weeks before we were supposed to sail; Israel still remained closed, so Viking altered the cruise to focus more on Mediterranean islands and Greece. We elected to cancel the cruise and take a different one later. (And visit Israel ourselves on a land tour this past spring.) I imagine this situation will be similar.

We’ve had both slider and door/window. We liked both for different reasons. 
 

The slider was easier to open. It’s nice having one big expanse of glass. Biggest con: you can’t really enjoy the view from the couch. That bothered me.

The door/window combo was much better for sitting on the couch and looking outside. That turned out to be a Godsend when I sprained my knee and had to spend a lot of time stuck on the sofa.

I’d just ask if we could be moved. That way the other table can continue to enjoy themselves and so can we. 

More local music and cuisine. I’d love to be more immersed in the places we visit. 

16 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Fully agree,  I am totally fed up with piped in music EVERYWHERE!   You can't escape it.  Live performances are different.  Kill the piped in terrible music.

THIS. 

16 hours ago, Redtravel said:

Not everyone talks quietly.  Viking has lots guests.  Some may have hearing loss. 

There was a period there when I spent a lot of time with elderly parents and friends who couldn’t hear well, and I found myself bellowing in restaurants. I noticed the occasional glacial look from others but there was only so much I could do. 
 

Ironically, I find people with hearing loss often speak very quietly themselves, which makes my one-sided bellowing seem all the more idiotic. 

1. Allow customers to pay in full for their cruise closer to the sail date. See other cruise lines for inspiration.  
 

2. Mix up itineraries, regularly add new destinations. Keep it interesting.

Those are the top 2 reasons I’ve heard for customers — current and potential — to book elsewhere.