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On our January cruise, the Viking sparkling wine was included in the SSBP.  It is not champagne, but it is sparkling wine and was good enough for me.  The included prosecco was also good enough for me. I enjoyed both.

My wife enjoyed the additional, better quality wines that were included in the SSBP over the included wines at lunch and dinner.

rafinmd, when are you boarding the Bach?  My wife & I are boarding on July 22 cruising to Amsterdam (our first river cruise), then embarking on the Serenity to cruise to Lisbon (our 3rd Crystal ocean cruise).  Are you doing the same?

They will not prorate the package.  We ordered it before we boarded and it was great.  We definitely got our $s worth and all of the bartenders quickly learned who we were and our drink preferences.  We sail Viking again in December this year and will definitely purchase the package.  

both NF and Montaudon are being loaded from the dock

Lucky you.  I think they are both great, along with Jacquart, Roederer (one letter away from being the GOAT "f") and Monopole.  I even enjoyed the sparkling wine on Windstar and Viking.  When I am on such trips, it all tastes great to me.

I'm going to be on the same river cruise (our first river cruise) immediately followed by the Serenity from Amsterdam to Lisbon, so I guess I will be jumping to the river cruise forum, then back to this one.  I am surprised CC has only one forum for all river cruises, but I assume I will learn why soon.

BTW, the highlight of Basel......it's the hometown of the true original GOAT.....RF.

There is a lot of video on the Oceanos helicopter rescues.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BFux2AAMso

The guitar player entertainer took control and organized the whole thing. Nova did a special on him. 

That guitar player is Moss Hills, now a CD on Silversea.  I have sailed with him twice on the Silver Spirit.  He is a great guy, puts on a great show and is fun to talk to.

1 hour ago, cmaasfamily said:

If your concern with pounding feet is noise, not to worry. Zero chance anything outside could be heard inside. The deck is not really one where anyone would hang out either. No deck chairs, etc. Frankly, when the ship is in motion the deck is not good for much of anything, the wind is ferocious. We tried walking after dinner and it wasn't exactly pleasant. Also, since you circumnavigate the main dining room windows, you end up providing a comedy show coming and going in the wind. 

 

That's said, I and a (very) few other brave souls, tried running early in the morning. The ship isn't that large so a lap is pretty short, there are narrow blind corners which require slowing down, crews are often out with hoses in the morning. All in all, not worth the trouble. Next time: treadmill or off the ship. I don't recall any walkers in the morning either.

I concur with this post.  I have run laps on both Crystal ships (and they were good runs) and the SS Spirit and Regent SS Mariner (both OK runs), but did not want to run on the Viking Orion deck.  Would not have been a good run.  Just ran at each port, if possible, or on a treadmill in the fitness center.

We enjoyed it very much.  We have also sailed SS, Crystal, Regent, PG and Windstar.  I will sail any of these lines again.  I hope to sail the Ovation or Encore in the future.

You can read my thoughts on the cruise here...

Thanks Del Rio.  Based on that deck plan and a few pics I have seen, I expect they do only have 1 sink.

Does anyone know what replaced the casino?  Nothing is noted on the new deck plan.

We were are on an AK Sojourn cruise last June.  There are heaters, built in above, near the pool grill and on the back terrace of Colonnade from what I remember.   They worked, but were not real effective IMO unless you just under them.  There were none of the movable ones that I remember and none near the pool.

Not that it would affect our decision as we are considering a Star Legend cruise, but can anyone confirm that the normal suite bathrooms on the Legend only have one sink?

I miss listening to Daniel in Torshavn, and seeing Ivanka, Boban, Rufin and so many others. 

Am enjoying your posts.

Have you looked into Silversea, Crystal or Regent?  They are all wonderful too.  I have sailed all of them, as well as Seabourn, and as I often say, they are all great and none of them are perfect.  I also recommend Viking Ocean.  They are not officially in the luxury category, but they are just as good based on my experience.

I did the full survey.  I didn't think it was too intrusive.  I answered in a way that I hope will make them change it for the better.

There was no charge on the Sojourn on our Alaska cruise in June last year.  I doubt there will be on the Encore either.  FWIW, it was never crowded and the snow grotto was great for swollen joints after a good workout.  The steam room was also great, but it did attract a few more people than the snow grotto, including the entertainment singers to treat their voice.

I was just in Melbourne too, on Viking, and then went to the AO.   I love your pics of the port.  Brings back great memories.  We ran from the port to Bondi beach, but took an Uber back.  Did not want to do near a half-marathon on vacation. 

The bev package is a great deal and worked easy for us.  Unless you are a high, high end drink “snob”, you will enjoy it IMO.  My wife drank a pino noir, Malbec, sparking wine, Bloody Mary or many different beers available all on the plan.  I mainly drank the sparkling wine.  It’s not champagne and not good enough form some, but it was plenty good enough for me .

Note that if there are 2 of you in a cabin, you both must purchase the package.

In in my opinion it really is nice to cruise both and enjoy the difference!  It usually comes to the itinerary and time of year that dictates our choice.

I second this.  Both are great.  Neither is perfect.  I also love Silversea, Regent, Paul Gauguin, Viking and Windstar.  Assuming we feel the price is fair, date and itinerary are the driving factors.

There is one on the Orion; I know that for sure as of Dec 30 - Jan 13 cruise.

Have a wonderful trip, from someone not far from DFW.  We were on the Orion from Auckland to Sydney for 14 nights, including NYE, and had a wonderful time.  Looking forward to following your posts.

I guess we were just quite lucky then.

You were lucky.  I would have preferred much more open air areas, even by the pool bar and pool grill.  We didn't have the best weather every day, but we did not have weather so bad that warranted closing the roof 50% or 100% as much as they did, IMO.  Given that, it was still great to visit the pool bar and grill, just not lay near the pool.

They will bring you extra hangers, remove the coffee pot

We had both of these done for us and it was gladly done.  Needed to remove the coffee pot for extra space because of the lack of drawers.  Still loved every minute of it!

I think on my next trip, I will 'opt out' of the checked luggage fee. I would like to pay the ticket and baggage handler directly

This made me LOL.  Just wanted to state that.

Is there no dry sparkling available on the package? For me, that's a serious omission. I knew that Champagne was excluded but was hoping for a reasonable (dry) substitute.

On the Orion NYE cruise, there was a sparkling wine (Romer), the Viking sparkling wine, a spumante and a prosecco all included in the plan, by the glass.  Not all of these were available at every bar, but at least two of the four were.  I thought the Prosecco was average and the Romer, while not Drappier or Vueve, was plenty good.

All other things being equal (which I realize is not the situation here now that more detail has been provided, but still gonna say)....Spirit....hands down!