Twitchly

One more week ... one more week ... one more week ...

I have read that book. It was actually published in the 1990's and is badly out of date,

Are there any more recent books you would recommend?

I have stayed in contact with a waitress from our River cruise who crossed over to Oceans. She actually told us that they treat their staff members well and much better than other lines that she worked for.

That’s great. Did she give you any examples?

Carpman, the book is “Chronicles of a Cruise Ship Crew Member” by Joshua Kinser. I can’t really recommend it; it’s repetitive, and he labors under the misapprehension that whining is amusing. But I have learned a few things.

Mainly, I’m just curious about the whole business—how the ship works, what life is like for crew and staff, how the industry functions, etc.

I’ve been reading a book by a former cruise crew member and have seen a few videos of staff rooms online, and it appears to be a pretty rough life. (Yes, for many folks it ends up being better than what they can find on land. But still.)

I’ve heard anecdotally that Viking treats its staff better than average but can’t find out anything more than that. What do any of you know about how Viking crew members and staff live?

Wow! When I checked a week or so ago, there were still a bunch of rooms available. Remarkable that they would suddenly sell out like that.

So ... now I’m wondering. How common is it for people to suddenly decide they want to go on a cruise the following week? Is this typical in cruising?

I called Viking and they said that I won’t get my cabin assignment until I Board. There has been a lot of movement and filling in the upper categories the last couple of days and now the cruise on 4/14 is sold out except for Owner’s. I don’t understand why they don’t just post our cabin number; if every cabin is full, they must have already assigned us somewhere.

Wow! When I checked a week or so ago, there were still a bunch of rooms available. Remarkable that they would suddenly sell out like that.

Thank you so much for the heads up. I had no idea about the strikes. There's actually a rail strike planned on the day we dock in Le Havre on the Sky. This makes me glad that we decided beforehand to forego the included 10.5 hour tour to Paris on that day!!! That bus ride might not be getting back til midnight. :eek: Thank goodness there are so many other options in that lovely part of France..we'll go for Plan B and with any luck we'll get ourselves to Ruen for a nice day of sightseeing. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43617033

 

We’re on the tour to Monet’s gardens and Rouen ... if they don’t commandeer the buses to handle all the stalled rail traffic. Can’t imagine trying to go to Paris.

Attached news report is FYI.

 

 

 

http://www.news.com.au/world/europe/if-you-think-your-commute-is-tough-check-out-the-strike-thats-crippling-france/news-story/b28747c294914cea8fba58f1620d5c65

Well, darn. I have a feeling our upcoming cruise will have to skip its French port. It’s apparently a fairly common occurrence. [emoji53]

Now if they can just hold it together in Barcelona ...

Something funny has happened to us on our way around the world. We have come to enjoy Sea days the most. Never thought that would happen.

That doesn’t surprise me. Touring, while fun, can take a lot out of you. I imagine we’ll expend a lot of energy on our upcoming port-intensive cruise and extension (7 countries, 11 ports), but we’re just going to be in relatively staid Western Europe. The countries you’re visiting are fascinating but not necessarily relaxing. I spent a month traveling around India once, and it was easily the most exhausting place I’ve ever been. And that’s coming from someone who has lived through riots, typhoons, and a revolution!

Under Meet and Mingle, for Viking Ocean, view your registered party’s information, then Who’s Going?

Currently 27 for the April 14th sailing on the Sky.

Thanks. Sounds like a good crowd!

You will have to tell us how you came by your name. Or will we find out when there’s a full moon?

Congrats. They do a nice job on the M&M.

 

 

 

Hopefully your M&M will occur as scheduled. Did you notice when you signed up how many others were also signed up? On our recent Star cruise, they cancelled the M&M because not enough people had signed up... I think they said they needed at least 10. Enjoy!

How do you find out how many have signed up?

Very helpful info; thanks, everyone. It sounds like I'll be able to make it without too much problem. Hopefully they'll let us stop for the occasional picture!

I agree that whipping through it is less than ideal, but this is probably the only chance I'll have to see it. If the ground were less uneven, it would probably be a blast to do it on a Segway!

I'm reading Washington Irving's "Tales from the Alhambra" to prepare. Fascinating!

A point of clarification please, our first Viking trip. Are the times for the “included” excursions staggered with a friendly competition for more coveted start times? Or, are the bookings you are discussing for additional excursions?

Both. Both the included and optional excursions all become available at the same time. On our cruise, each included excursion has more than one start time, and the coveted times book up.

FYI,,Mamse’s at Explorer’s Lounge, if its busy,, they serve here as well.

They serve tea there??

Many tourists are now avoiding Salisbury. Parts of it are still closed off as police and specialist services try to find if there are still traces of the Russian nerve agent in the various pubs and restaurants. You might want to put a visit to Salisbury on hold.

Thank you, but I think I’d rather support Salisbury right now. I’m not worried about toxins at this point. I suspect Salisbury is the cleanest city in Britain these days.

We've been to Salisbury. It's a beautiful old town...

Glad to hear it! We’re taking an excursion that includes Salisbury and Stonehenge. So much to see, so little time.

It didn't seem too bad to us. It was very hot though and very overcrowded. I'm sure it's beautiful but you couldn't really appreciate it through all those people.

Thanks, I was hoping someone who had taken the tour would chime in. Not looking forward to the crowds but they seem to be unavoidable unless one has the good fortune to stay overnight there. At least we’ll be there in April so maybe not too hot.

Glad to hear it wasn’t wildly strenuous. I can easily walk 3 miles but am not the best on lots of steep climbs.

We are on Trade Routes of the Middle Ages on 4/14, and we still don't have a cabin assignment. We booked a DV6 guarantee. (We took the Mediterranean Odyssey last year and we were upgraded much earlier to a PV1 on deck 6. It was wonderful!) I noticed some of the posts were from people on the same cruise. Did you get your cabin assignment yet?

We’re on that cruise. We booked our cabin last spring and got our assignment immediately.

I’ll bet you get another upgrade. There are still cabins available at most levels.

Well, I read through the first 93 pages. Thanks for the tips all, learned a few things.

 

I'm probably the only single person who will ever post in this thread. Every freaking post mentions DH/DW/BF/GF. *sigh*. Got depressing after a while. But all the best to all of you on your upcoming cruises. And.... I will gladly come back and post some tips of my own after getting done with my first cruise.

Please do! I have a single friend who is thinking of doing a cruise but is hesitant because it seems like it’s only for couples. I know she’d love to hear a single’s perspective.

Viking describes their Alhambra excursion as “demanding.” Other companies describe theirs as “easy” or at most “moderate.” Is there something about Viking’s tour? Do they zoom through it like the Tour de France or make you climb walls or what?

We’ll be at the Alhambra with Viking in a couple weeks and I’m wondering if I should bring crampons or something.

Any non complimentary excursions ........ no prices available.

On our European cruise, most optional excursions range from $69 to $199 per person, unless you’d like to do a spot of diamond polishing in Amsterdam. That one runs over $1K! (You get to keep your diamond, though.) We’re doing a mix of included and optional excursions, including a couple from other companies.

The drinks package doesn’t make sense for us, either.

Any reason why you won't use a taxi? We found this worked great for us.

We’re cheap! [emoji1] We’ll use a taxi to get from the hotel to the ship with our luggage but we’re hoping to take advantage of the shuttle after that.

Lovely! I’m jealous that you all get to eat outdoors. I imagine it will be too cold on our cruise to do that.

Looking forward to everyone’s thoughts on India. I spent a month there long ago. There’s no place on earth quite like it.

I did the same crossing but on the other direction. Barcelona-Mallorca-Cartagena (Murcia)-Canary Islands-Puerto Rico, which is the same route my great-grandfather and his brothers took when they moved from Jaén to Puerto Rico in the 1890s. A rite of passage for me. I also gazed at the ocean all the time, mesmerized by its enormity and the challenge it must have been for our ancestors, almost always a one way trip.

 

How wonderful!

This makes me want to sail from Bergen to New York like my Norwegian great-grandfather did at around the same time.

I saw no signs on our very recent Viking Sea cruise. There may have been some but not in our section. Someone asked me to test if the doors were magnetic. They are not [emoji16]. I bring magnetic clips for thing like excursion tickets, so I tried one on the door and it promptly fell to the floor.

The cabin walls are magnetic, however.

See, this is what I love about this site. Everybody helps each other out by checking out things and reporting back with answers to all our questions, big and small.

I love that we can ask little questions like whether the doors are magnetic, and not only do people here not dismiss you but they actually try to find out for you! How great is that??