DanBarb

We are on a similar cruise next April to May, although on the Viking Lif.  Enjoying your report😄😄❤️

15 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

Amsterdam to Budapest. WOW!  If you haven't seen those cities already, go early and stay late; so much to see in both places.

Thats the plan. 3 days early in Amsterdam and then 2 extra days in Budapest.  

Wow Peregrina, that is an awesome response and a lot of the info I was looking for!!

Thank you so much.  

I have done a google flights search, Alaska Airlines partner search as I have about 500K in miles with them.  We will be flying out of Seattle to AMS, then from BUD back to Seattle.   Airfares seem reasonable and with a nonstop there and a one stop coming home.  

Im wondering if economy plus is worth the 799 per person.  I’m 6’5 and 220 lbs.  

i tried some sample airfares and wasn’t able to book premium economy on the google flights.  Maybe too far out?

i have set a reminder on my calendar for 275 days out, per your rec.  Maybe I can get more answers then.  

Thanks again

I’m following this thread too.  We are doing our first Viking RIVER Cruise April/May of next year.  Lots of good info here already.  I suspect the VR product is somewhat different from the VO product.  We are 294 days out and trying to figure out the airfare options.  We have airfare included,  but I guess there are a number of factors/upgrade options we need to discover.  The research has just started.  

I know this is a VO thread but it is the first one that popped up.  I’ll try to find a similar VR thread.   

We've done several Windstar cruises.   First Viking river cruise.   

We have our 5th cruise coming up next May. It is the first one that the price keeps rising. We normally book early and then find some sales to reduce the price. It doesn’t look like that will happen this trip. The price is already 1000 USDper person higher than when we booked. May 19 sailing to the Greek Islands.

We just returned from the Yachtsmen's Caribbean itinerary on March 1. Long, tortuous flight back home to Seattle but a great trip! The drink package seems to be for serious or professional drinkers. I could probably break even if I tried really hard and started drinking at breakfast. My wife wouldn't stand a chance of drinking enough. As far as the hassle factor of signing the chit, it wasn't a problem for us. Very unobtrusive.

Soft drinks and coffee and tea and iced tea were all included without the drink package.

The per beverage cost seemed to be higher this trip. I don't know if that is specific to the Caribbean as our last two cruises were in the Mediterranean and the per drink cost was about 20 percent less.

Thanks Snowcat.

As long as there is plenty of notice then I guess it is ok. I also book my airfare 300 days out. Based on your comments I'll not worry about my February cruise on the 'Surf.

Is that even a thing? Can a sailing be chartered and thus leave you stranded with no berth?? Seems like a bad business practice....

That's funny! I was thinking specifically of Candles when I wrote that. Looking forward to my next visit to Candles....

I'd vote for that LED travel flashlight so that I can see the menu.

Loving your trip report. Looks like a fabulous journey. I accidentally stumbled onto the SilverSea site. We are Windstar people and our next cruise is a similar itinerary to what you have just done. Thanks for all the great info!!

very nice. That is our next cruise after the Caribbean this February. I'll make sure that I am awake when we pull into port. :):)

You think about all the Cruisers out there and only 22000 who are members of this forum World Wide. All the cruise lines not that many do any postings.

Folk Singer. Not that being confused is an unfamiliar state to me, but I don't quite get your comment to my post. Color me confused.....:confused:

No problema Lotsasmiles. You voiced one of my frustrations with these message boards and I couldn't help but try to defend someone with a name like Lotsasmiles.:):)

My wife and I are Windstar cruisers, so we likely won't meet on a cruise ship, however, we are frequent visitors to Cabo. If you are ever in Cabo over Thanksgiving week, look us up. Dan

@Lotsasmiles,

I found that thread you referenced. Absolutely amazing. Even after you clarified your initial post, which was very clear and didn't need clarifying, the flame throwers were unchastened and still very self righteous. Unbelievable. The first flame thrower, Don, ought to be taken to the "less cranky institute" for a refresher course. Dan

@Lotsasmiles.

I have experienced the same thing on these forums, both TA and CC. If you don't have 10000 posts and a billion sailed flags, your posts go, at best, ignored, or more often, flamed. It is curious to me as you would expect more from people that obviously have a shared interest. Somewhat perplexing.

Great news! Heading to the Office to put my bare feet in the sand and an ice cold corona in my hand! November 15th baby.

This post is of limited appeal to the majority of you, but on my last trip(rome-venice) they had Peter Michael Chardonnay available by the bottle. This is my wife and mine's favorite California Chardonnay and it was available at $100 per bottle. We get it from the winery at $90 a bottle, so not much of a mark-up.

We enjoyed it so much the first night that we ordered another bottle 2 nights later and they said they didn't have it, nor had they ever. I was flummoxed until I realized I ordered Michael Phelps(the Olympian) and not Peter Michael. Once I realized my mistake, with my wife's help of course, we all got a good laugh and we enjoyed our second bottle of Peter Michael. I have a tendency, to this day, to make that same mistake when talking about that wine......:(:(