Lvwindstar007

31 minutes ago, What was that? said:

 

Where is Viking Sun? It is reported in the Baltic Port of Mukran, Germany, and no cruises until May.

We are supposed to be on the Sun's 21 May 2021 departure from London.  I think I will wait until after the new year to firm up our air travel.  We usually fly in/out from PHX since we have a place there but we live in "warm today" Reno.

5 hours ago, Segmentersfloattheboat said:

 

We do!  And we have!  Our first Viking Ocean cruise, we chose a DV2 on deck 5.  Second cruise booked "GTY" - this was booked fairly last minute (within a month) and we were offered a DV6 "GTY" at a special price - I remember our TA telling me not to phone her (to moan! 😉 HAHA!) if we landed up in a stateroom we didn't like as she told me quite clearly we could be anywhere on the ship but definitely not a lower category!   This was the first time we ever booked a GTY.  I was aware at the time that there are a few staterooms on deck 3 where noise seeps upwards.  However, we ended up with a DV2 on deck 5.  Wonder if sometimes, your previous stateroom choice has anything to do with allocating a "GTY".  I say this as last year we booked a Seabourn cruise on a GTY basis and we again received a nice upgrade and interestingly enough it was to the same category we had booked on our one and only SB cruise several years ago.   Next year, if we sail, we have booked a GTY on Regent - it was all that was left when we booked other than the Regent Suite and that is way above our budget!  We have sailed with them once before, so it will be interesting to see what happens.  

We did at GTY on a 30 day cruise on Regent two years ago and it worked out just fine.  I wouldn't hesitate to do it again on Viking.

On active duty in the US Navy, my LST was departing Charleston SC and a sailing surfboard got too close to us, unnecessarily.

The owner sued the Navy over the incident and I believe the case was dismissed.  We had right of way as I understood at the time.  I was at sea detail in the engine room as engineer officer so didn't see the incident.

We are sort of lucky in that we have a small house in Phoenix, so we fly the night before to Phoenix and then leave the next day non-stop to London.  This year we have the companion pass free on Southwest.  We had Viking Air Plus and Bus Class but canceled because we could get a better deal on British Air from Phoenix.  Our cruise starts in Stockholm and ends in London and we are going to spend a few days in Wales visiting friends after the cruise.  Jack in cloudy Reno

Two days ago she was at sea doing 12 knots.  I expect it was a full power test run.

According to our rep, the ship will be at Colon for our 7 Dec departure.  FWIW

Sorry I was confused.  Yes we are on the Windstar on which we have done the canal cruise before.  Still want to know about the new locks and if we will use them in early December.  Jack in Reno

Does anyone know if Windstar (actually Windsurf) uses the new locks for the canal transit?

We had an excellent Grand Puget Sound cruise on the Constellation in May this year.  There were few if any of the issues noted

by DC0743.  The time in Poulsbo was too short.  I and a Navy buddy wanted to visit the Navy Undersea museum in Keyport but that just could not be done although we got told that it was possible.

Jack in Reno

This is the one we did two years ago.   We use PG's Business Class which was very nice on Fiji air from LAX to Fiji (full lay down seats) and also Cathay Pacific from Bali to Hong Kong with the long flight to LAX with fully lay down seating.  Both long flights were on new aircraft.  Fiji used to lease 747s and I had picked out our seats in the upper section but they bought new aircraft.  I know you can get from Bali to Sydney on Quantas and thus east.  It may be too soon but have your TA ask or call yourself.

A few years back we picked up the PG in Fiji and sailed to Bali.  She was to be dry-docked and refurbished in Singapore.

The new planes that Fiji air has are quite nice...at least in business class.  The full recline seats are great. We did the Fiji to Bali trip two years ago and used their air package.

We were on a fairly recent Paul Gauguin cruise from Fiji to Bali and at one of the stops the first loaded tender was 1 1/2 hour to land and ours was about 1 hour.  People were very upset esp on the first one...yes plenty of diesel fumes and lots of heat...not much air.  The problem was that the Port captain shifted our landing twice while the tenders were in the water.  Nasty but not the fault of the PG crew.  But we were still in paradise!

Our only experience  is on the sailing ships.  We prefer the lowest deck nearly amid ships for the best ride.  We have been offered upgrades but turned them down...but we would take a suite in the Surf if offered.  We have done at least 15 WS cruses over the years.  

We are doing the Baltic Jewels followed by the Midnight Sun back to back departing 30 May 20.  We leave from Stockholm and finish in London.  We are also extending in London for four days to visit friends in Wales.  We paid for the Viking Air Plus and the extended time.  We are also trying for Premium Plus seating on the long legs.  We live in south meadows area, Reno and also have the issue with an extra stop/connection.  I might try out of Phoenix as we have a second home there.    This is our first Viking Ocean cruise but we did a river cruise two years ago and used their air and flew Business class which worked out just fine.  Jack in Reno, NV

We are doing the Viking Sun next year for a b to b from Stockholm to London.  If it was available we would have done one of the Windstar sailing ships.  I think both the Wind Surf and the Wind Star have had Baltic itiniaries fairly recently.  

I like the IC on Papeete, but you need to call to get the best day room rate.

Back to the OP's question: Does the range 10 to 20 USD per inport/tour day sound right?

I am planning on lots of TB shirts and also Renn Spooner Hawaiian shirts on our 24 day cruise in late Nov. Of course we will be in the tropics the entire Amazon trip.

We are big fans of Windstar but have only traveled on their sailing ships. We like the country club casual dress environment. The service is superb, but everything is not included...esp the alcohol. They now have an inexpensive laundry package which is wonderful. For a Caribbean cruise I would prefer one of the Windstar sailing ships, old and refurbished as they are. But not a true luxury experience. FWIW:cool:

All three sailing ships have stabilizers that help somewhat. Low and center of ship staterooms are the most stable. I have been on 15 or so

Windstar cruises and have never been more that mildly affected. My wife always takes some Bonine at the start of the cruise and in rough waters and it really works for her. The ship should have some in reception or outside the Dr's office.

Kinda off topic but quite a few years ago, I was hiking up the Bright Angel trail at the Grand Canyon and a women wearing heels was coming down fairly late in the afternoon. People do crazy things.

We have done a 7 day on the Wind Song (rip), a 7 day on the Wind Spirit, a 14 day Society and Marquesses on the PG as well as a 16 day Fiji to Bali on the PG this past spring. I think the old saying "some is good, more is better" is especially true in the South Pacific. Do what you can afford and enjoy. Jack in Reno but headed for the Wind Surf out of the Barbados for 14 days.

A minor thing...the Windstar sail ships do not heel with the sails up. They ballast the appropriate side tanks so that they stay roughly level while under sail. They are flat bottomed ships much like the LST I used to drive years ago, essentially no keel. They do have active stabilizers which help with roll. FWIW, Jack in Reno

Every Windstar cruise we have sailed on (about 12 or so) has always sailed at least some of the time and on several Caribbean ones we sailed 95% of the time, occasionally under sail only. FWIW: Jack in Reno