Parsley Cruises

Bergen - it almost always rains. Gerainger is very pretty and has a wonderful chocolate restaurant at the bottom of the hill. Wouldn't guarantee whales - it's a matter of chance really.

We really enjoyed being forward on the bow for leaving port parties, but this was by special invitation only. The events were well hosted by the crew, and extremely enjoyable. We've enjoyed this perk leaving port from Lisbon, and also from Reykjavik. The refreshments provided were quite different - cold items leaving Lisbon, and leaving Iceland it simply had to be soup and other hot drinks and nibbles.

I can appreciate that there is a safety aspect to this activity, and I can fully understand why it is limited to invitation only - but boy oh boy there's nothing quite like it.

We did get up once very early to get as far forward as we could when doing the sail-in for our very first Norwegian fjord, and that was quite unforgettable too (it was on a balcony underneath the Bridge), no refreshments, but it was just us and very moving.

Once we were lucky to have a balcony at the aft of the ship, pretty much central location, and for the sail out of Stockholm that was awesome, too.

Were the jeans made of denim? We are going to be onboard in cooler months, and were planning to take needlecord or corduroy trousers. They are cut like denim jeans, but obviously are in fifferent fabric and different colours. They do look very smart casual when worn with coordinating tops.

Anyone with experience of flying to Venice and the transportation to Marittimo ( the port)?

I love the old 747 and have spent many hundreds of happy hours on the type but things have moved on with newer aircraft designs, especially in the area of cabin pressure and humidity.

It is also of note that BA made a great fanfare a few years ago about refitting their 747’s but this only applied to the newest 18 out of (currently) 36 aircraft. The remaining 18 will not be refitted and the whole fleet will gradually go out of service by 2022. Generally this means that one now has a 50/50 chance when flying on a BA 747 of getting a fairly recently updated interior or a rather tired and out-dated interior and in flight entertainment.

Unfortunately the Heathrow / Miami route operates out of terminal 3 and comments suggest that this is where the older aircraft are used with the refits operating mostly on the “premium” routes out of T5. So flying to Miami on a BA 747 I would say there is a much better than evens chance you will fly on an old aircraft with an old interior.

That said the 747 upper deck 4 across set-up in Club World may still be a better option than the 7 or 8 across seating that BA packs into its other business class cabins. IMO American Airlines offer a much better business class product on the route with 4 across seating in the same cabin width that BA puts 8 across! If Viking would upgrade you to business on AA that is certainly the way I would go.

 

Flying American should give you a little extra time to transit Miami too. (especially useful if the first leg is delayed!) Although the exact schedule might change depending when in the year your flight is, currently the AA57 Departs 09:45 and arrives MIA 14:20. Giving a transit time of 5 hours 40 mins to the AA379 at 20:06. The BA 207 Departs 10:40 and arrives MIA 15:00 giving 40 mins less transit time. In both cases you would get to San Juan at 22.43 so you would not be in bed much before midnight, after about 22 hours of travel hotel to hotel. This is why we opted to leave a day earlier and overnight in Miami (without spending 5 hours in transitin the airport straight after our TA flight) so we could arrive in good shape and enjoy our 3 days/2 nights in San Juan to the full.

Of course you will have your own angle on this Parsley Cruises and I am not pushing what is just my opinion. This post is simply to explain my logic and give my own point of view in detail in case your flights have not yet been ticketed and you want to check again with Viking on the options and also for others in the UK who might look at this in future.

Thanks for the info, but with 40+ years between us in the aviation industry, we've made our choice and won't be changing it. There's nothing wrong with the older aircraft, and nothing wrong with T3 LHR either.

The flights are a very small part of the holiday, and with a couple of days in San Juan before embarkation we should be fine.

However, thanks for your opinion.

We're opting for flights from LHR and making it all the way to San Juan via Miami then having a couple of days rest before embarking the ship.

We'd prefer a 747 if possible, and we'll go for business class on all flights. We are hoping to leave as long as possible for the transit through Miami, just in case.

Serene, calm and peaceful every time!

Well, as you say, those people in the more costly cabins should have a couple of perks, and we think that the slightly earlier embarkation is ok, and also the option to book excursions and restaurants a bit earlier.

Viking suits us because there are no specially reserved areas, no blasted butlers; and no class system. Nice. No fuss, no formal nights - blissful. For us a cruise is a time to relax and not be fussed and bothered - and that's what we're looking forward to.

Personally, we'd like to see the excursion details available to view and browse a bit earlier. This seems to be the norm with other cruise lines. Seeing (yes, we know, not able to book excursions until x days prior to embarkation) the details of the various excursions would enable us to tailor our research better, and not waste time.

We did a northern lights cruise to Norway but with P&O. It was in February and luckily we did see the lights but it was pure luck as the second night we were in Alta, the most northern point of the trip it was thick cloud. One tip I will give you is go to the expense of buying proper Arctic weather clothing. On the excursion to see the lights we were stood out for over two hours before they came out then out for a further two hours while they performed a magnificent display. It was -20 and a huge amount of people were so inadequately dressed they had to go back to the ship because they were so cold and missed the lights. The sort of coats people wear for a uk winter, jeans and knitted hats doesn’t cut it in Arctic Norway!

There is no need to rush out and get expensive cold weather clothing for this trip. Do not let the thought of hugely expensive kit put you off.

It is simply a matter of dressing in layers, and ensuring that those layers are up to the job. We get our stuff from Mountain Warehouse, and mianly buy ahead when they have their sales. Ski socks yes, thermal long johns and thermal vests and fleece tops yes, ski trousers yes and a winter jacket with a minimum of minus 20 degrees C ; we have bought all those on the sale at Mountain Warehouse, and even gloves and fleece hats too. One tip which might be super helpful is try and get a Buff, and if you are keen on photography you may need to search online for special gloves which have finger tops which open and fold back. You can get the special silk inner gloves from Mountsin Warehouse. For information a Buff is like a tubular affair usually. Very colourful and consisting if two types of fabric. You can wear it around your neck, but also bring the top of it up over your ears, and put your hat on top of it. It will look smart and trendy, it is versatile, and above all nice and cosy when it is seriously cold.

We always treat all crew members with respect, and a friendly greeting is always part of that. We steer clear of over-familiarity, but there is no harm in being pleasant towards crew.

If we can see that the ship doesn’t leave our emvarkation port until the day after our embarkation port, the if we have had a relatively short outbound flight, we don’t mind flying out on embarkation day.

But, if the flight in quite long, or if the ship has one or more sea days straight after leavinv the embarkation port, we always fly out early.

We have not been lucky to see the Northern Lights on a cruise, in spite of having done several very northerly cruises. None of the cruises was during summer months. However we fell in love with Iceland, and now visit Iceland by air, and that is when we get to see the Northern Lights. Seeing the lights cannot be guaranteed, and we felt that flying to Iceland and staying a while would improve our chances. It worked, and we can’t wait to go again.

There is a website on which you can monitor your chances of seeing the lights, and we find it quite helpful. Try http://www.spaceweather.com. Good luck. Scroll down towards the bottom on the left hand side, and the map image will be helpful.

Have you seen the roll call for this one on the relevant page?

We're on this cruise too. We've done some of these ports before, but can't wait to return.

In Corfu for us it has to be a gentle stroll from the ship into town, and go around that area on foot. Ok, so it feels like a longish hike to get from the ship all along the pier, but it's not that far really.

In Dubrovnik we are looking forward to getting into town - our previous visits have been further afield, and so we'd like just to visit Dubrovnik itself. Our previous visits have been during the warmer months, and then there used to be a kayak trip, but we that doesn't appeal in November.

We've also done Venice a couple of times, and it's easy to walk from the ship (which I think might be berthed in Maritima) and investigate the wonderful little side streets, small squares and all those small bridges too. Previously we've made our way to the centre and then been able to get a small boat back to the ship (usually from Monumento). We have found that a couple of hours can take us through quite a lot of the main places through to get the boat back to the ship.

Useful information can be found on whatsinport.com .

I could be wrong, but I don't think there is a guarantee as to which way in the ship will be docked.

"Finger's crossed" is unnecessary pessimism. If you go to Manfredi's or the Chef's Table, it will generally be with reservations in advance. You will have reserved a table for two and that is what you will get. If you go to the World Cafe, you sit where you choose and you don't wait for service, since it is a buffet. If you go to the Restaurant, there are a very large number of tables for two, and you would rarely have a problem.

No, it's not a pessimism (unnecessary or not) - we're being optimistic, with a 'glass definitely well over half full sort of attitude.

Having put up with situations on other cruise lines, we feel that it's best to not be blinkered and hope that we get situations in future which we are more content with. In the event that we have to put up with something we don't really like, then we can always laugh in the face of adversity and put it down to experience. So, it's finger's crossed, most definitely!

Being the sort of person who is quite capable of making reservations and reading terms and conditions, I realise that the seating in the alternative locations can be reserved in advance. I was referring quite simply to the main dining room only.

It is rare that they will seat you at a larger table unless you have asked; if you ask for a table for two that is what you will get. At the larger tables, they wait for everyone to be seated before taking orders, which is why they will not start one if they do not think they will be able to fill it quickly.

Ok, so it's finger's crossed for a small table then - if I go to eat, I want to be served promptly not sit around waiting for persons unknown. However, being a glass half full sort of person, if there are no small tables, we can always go and eat somewhere else. :)

If two passengers go into the restaurant and end up sitting on a large table (either because there's nothing smaller available or because that is where the staff have directed them), will the waiters take the orders with just two people sitting at the table, or must the passengers wait for others to be seated at the large table?

Looking back at our previous cruises, having a butler is a bore when you are on holiday. We just like a nice large suite and privacy. We find that making our own reservations (if not doing so online) can be a positive thing to do.

During our 30+ cruises we've never been without a butler. At first it was interesting, but now we are more than happy to go without a butler. We like to unpack and pack our own things - we then know where our stuff is whilst on the cruise, and we can pack to suit ourselves ready for leaving the ship (we don't always go straight home). So having a Butler for us is completely unimportant - like formal nights (we can happily go without those too).

Cruising with Viking seems to be just right for us - looking forward to our next cruise.

Herculaneum is far superior to Pompeii - I'd go back to Herculaneum in a heart beat. Far more interesting, far more accessible with less closed-off bits, and fewer school tours going around. Also better choice of modern day stuff closeby (shops and restaurants and stuff). Pompeii tends to get really crowded.

This is a thread which virtually answers my question about booking excursions - are you saying that when we are about 90-100 days from departure that we can browse the planned excursions available? That would be great, and let me get on and read up stuff before deciding. Then I think we have to wait for our cabin grade dates for excursions to come up - right? Hope so.

Why not get layers - dressing in layers gives you more flexibility, maybe a thicker jacket isn't a good idea?

We don't judge a book by it's cover - and so long as people aren't turning up in ripped jeans and dirty tee shirts or swimwear in the restaurant for dinner, it's relaxing and ok by us. Smart (and that's clean and pressed) jeans, nice top and accessories - no need for bling - maybe sometimes really nice pants - but it says smart casual, and there's no need and no point in getting all gussied up.

We are on the May 9 sailing on the Viking Sea. I am intrigued with Iceland so anxious to go there in May this year. I think you made a good choice. I’m going to price the post-cruise to Oslo.

 

 

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Iceland is awesome! Love it to bits. Have a great trip.