JDincalif

We stayed at the Edgewater, literally right next door to Pier 66. Hotel staff put our bags on a luggage cart and walked us to baggage drop. It's not inexpensive but we found it to be a good base for exploring the waterfront and other Seattle sights.

☺️ Until that happy day, thank dog we have this forum to keep in touch with 'survivors' and friends. Stories, information, expertise, support - a truly lovely community. Wishing happy holidays to all and many delightful adventures in the year to come!

The Viking Sky incident is the oldest "Current (open) Investigation" listed on the Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority website. https://www.nsia.no/Marine/Current-investigations Web searches for the AIBN now direct to the NSIA website. The listing of published/final reports does show many investigations lasting more than a year from incident to final report, but a casual perusal of the list confirms that 3.5 years is an unusual length of time for an investigation to remain open, Covid interruptions notwithstanding. We continue to monitor the site for the final report, and will post a link here when we see it. Hope that if anyone else sees it first they'll do the same!

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Ah, remember the good old days, when it might have been a diner of an earlier generation who wouldn't have recognized 'our' music🤭

Clarifying that travel insurance covered the voucher amounts when these were applied to a subsequent cruise; uncertain whether any insurers provide coverage against 'use it or lose it' voucher expiration deadlines. When in doubt, a cash refund seems to be the prudent course.

We too (in the US) were able to insure voucher amounts through TravelGuard/AIG, and were reimbursed without issues when covered events interrupted our cruise.

Maybe contact tellus@vikingcruises.com for information, or to see if one can be purchased directly from Viking and shipped to you?

We purchased the blanket in May while we were on the Viking Mars.The label reveals the name and web address for a New Zealand (!) company.

Andy, we presume we speak for many fellow March 2019 Viking Sky passengers when we thank you once again for your expertise and insights. You helped us to understand what happened and to heal following those 20-something hours on the Viking Sky. Our experience: Hearing the GES after hours of ship rocking/rolling/shuddering/slamming, we were worried yet reassured by the fact that we thought we knew what to do and what to expect: dress warmly, proceed downstairs to our assigned muster station, probably wait there for a while until the situation settled. When the captain announced that 'mayday' had been called, our concern deepened. Then when the captain announced the order to abandon ship *but* that the lifeboats could not be used, we became truly alarmed - no muster drill had prepared us for this. We recount this with deep and abiding gratitude for all those on the ship and beyond who worked tirelessly to see us to safety.

Costa Concordia gave us pause at the time, but we easily resumed carefree optimism until the 2019 Viking Sky emergency. It's difficult to predict how passengers will respond one way or the other in an actual emergency based on muster drill behavior. During the Viking Sky drill, we observed the usual passenger grumbling (one person, drink in hand, maneuvering the stairs without difficulty, complaining all the way down several decks that she wasn't allowed to use the elevator) and obliviousness (attempting to take a seat in the MDR muster station, we were told by a fellow passenger "You can't sit here, these seats are saved"🙄). Yet when the actual emergency commenced, we were impressed by the reasonably calm compliance and cooperation we observed among our fellow passengers. On cruises since then we've been a bit more organized, making sure that any vital items are ready for grab and go if needed. Yet our pleasure in cruising remains undininished.

While reservations were somewhat limited prior to embarkation, we had no issues reserving acceptable dining times and excursions once onboard.

We were on the Chairman's Invitational Cruise from Rome to Barcelona, the second group to sail on the Mars immediately following the Chairman's Naming Voyage from Valletta to Rome. We enjoyed the serene elegant uncrowded spaces, the unpretentious relaxed atmosphere and the attentive service that characterize the Viking Ocean voyages.

We enjoyed our stay at the H10 Marina Barcelona - reasonably close to the cruise port and with easy access - walking and other transportation - to the many pleasures of Barcelona.

On the Viking Mars we accidentally found that one of the closet clothes bars came off surprisingly easily and just might work for your purposes if you don't mind rehanging your clothes each time.

Just got off Regatta in Seattle and saw roughly 19 passengers (some of whom may have been uninfected traveling companions) transported to a hotel to complete the CDC recommended 5 days isolation. The problem with estimating the number of passengers quarantined as a measure of potential risk is that it's skewed by the fact that only those passengers who test themselves and fess up or those who report to the medical center with symptoms are subject to quarantine.