Tips for New Viking Ocean Cruisers

[tubeamps]

we were on deck 8 and never heard a thing beyond ourselves.

[roothy123]

The other maritime provinces (e.g., Nova Scotia) are on Atlantic Time, one hour ahead of Eastern Time. Newfoundland is on its own time, 30 minutes ahead of Atlantic Time. Noon Eastern would be 1:30 PM in Nfld.

Thanks for filling in the blanks for me. When we cruised, our Captain chose to ignore the half hour time difference and we stayed on the time of the previous port (Havre St. Pierre, northern Quebec). That worked out fine, since even if we had used local clocks to time our arrival back to the ship, we would have been on time (or early) due to the half hour difference. Ignoring the half hour also meant that clocks and watches on the ship didn't need to be changed again once we got to our next port (Halifax, Nova Scotia).

[vnb2003]

I looked for this on Amazon is this the speaker you're talking about? Thanks, Pat

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No, not this one. Mine is small round one and the price was $20 or $30. My son immediately bought one for his wife when he heard it. :)

[roothy123]

No, not this one. Mine is small round one and the price was $20 or $30. My son immediately bought one for his wife when he heard it. :)

If you can't find something small like what vnb mentioned, or don't want to spend a lot of money for a speaker, there are others, although I don't know the quality. I do know, however, that the Jam unit a friend lent me sounds pretty good paired with my Android Samsung phone, playing something from Youtube: http://www.pbase.com/image/166083588 (There are other colors besides pink!) Pairing to the phone was simple.

 

I think the speaker pictured costs around $20-$30 and it's a "Jam 2" or "Jam Plus" as opposed to an older model that's simply a "Jam" bluetooth speaker. I just ordered a similar but a little more base-y and recent version of a Jam - the Jam Replay. It's about the same size, etc. but base is supposed to be a little more prominent - but hopefully not real boomy, as all I'm looking for is normal, good sound! It was $28 including shipping from NY to MD on B & H Photo, which I found from either googling or looking at Amazon.

 

I know Target has some bluetooth speakers, but when I looked a couple weeks ago, they seemed more expensive - $60-$100 range. I was just looking for something cheap and small, as I don't think I'll use it a lot.

[jiminyC_fan]

What we DID hear were the slamming doors! Some folks would leave their cabin and instead of easing the door shut they would let it slam, and it would shake the wall. It was crazy. You'd be in bed and hear KERBLAM...SHAKE!!

 

That's a pet peeve of mine wherever we go, cruising, hotels, whatever. I don't get the slamming of doors.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

I just signed up for this: https://step.state.gov/STEP/Index.aspx

 

For Americans traveling abroad, the U.S. State Department offers a free service that allows U.S citizens to register their whereabouts, current or planned. The State Dept sends visitors information about safety in their destination country, contacts them in the event of an emergency and helps friends and family get in touch with them if there's an emergency.

[CharTrav]

There's also a mobile app associated with it. Called Smart Traveler.

 

 

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[RJ2002]

I just signed up for this: https://step.state.gov/STEP/Index.aspx

 

For Americans traveling abroad, the U.S. State Department offers a free service that allows U.S citizens to register their whereabouts, current or planned. The State Dept sends visitors information about safety in their destination country, contacts them in the event of an emergency and helps friends and family get in touch with them if there's an emergency.

 

We always register our trips. You never know when there may be an emergency in the country you are visiting.

 

There's also a mobile app associated with it. Called Smart Traveler.

 

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Thanks, didn't know the app was out there. Is it any easier to enter data in the app vs. the website?

[jiminyC_fan]

We've used the STEP program before. I can't tell you how many notifications I was getting when Stockholm and St Petersburg had the attacks. Avoid this location, be on the outlook for that, rally's, protests etc. The program is great.

[CharTrav]

Thanks, didn't know the app was out there. Is it any easier to enter data in the app vs. the website?

 

Hard to say. I haven't worked with either recently. Sorry. [emoji53]

 

Correction. Just did. It is pretty easy. May get complex if a cruise hits multiple countries. But not hard to do. I did it for Viking Homelands. And when your trip is over you can delete it.

 

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[vnb2003]

We've used the STEP program before. I can't tell you how many notifications I was getting when Stockholm and St Petersburg had the attacks. Avoid this location, be on the outlook for that, rally's, protests etc. The program is great.

 

I agree. They even provide a small map and name of the streets to avoid in case of protests, demonstrations, etc. We use STEP every trip for the last 8-10 years

Edited August 27, 2017 by vnb2003
missing letters

[WAPAVO]

I always take my mini Ipad on the shore excursions and I snap a photo of the Bus and it's license plate to make sure I get on the right bus. Sometimes they do not have their Group Number displayed.

[vnb2003]

I always take my mini Ipad on the shore excursions and I snap a photo of the Bus and it's license plate to make sure I get on the right bus. Sometimes they do not have their Group Number displayed.

 

It's very strange and I'm not saying this never happened to anyone but we always had our group number on the windshield. We had it on the river cruise and the ocean cruise as well

[Queenie1603]

I always take my mini Ipad on the shore excursions and I snap a photo of the Bus and it's license plate to make sure I get on the right bus. Sometimes they do not have their Group Number displayed.

This sounds like a good idea. I am in Crete at the moment. Two buses, one white, tour 11, one blue tour 56 but same tour company. Our courier on white bus 11 made it very clear to all of us re our meeting point, bus colour and tour number. We all returned on time - with 6 extra passengers who came to the wrong bus. It took a little time for our courier to sort it out and get everyone on the correct bus - we all had different hotels so needed to be on the correct bus - sometimes however well the signposting is people get to the wrong place - so any back up will help.

[2martinis]

Maybe this has been asked before, in regards to the included beer,wine,sodas at lunch and dinner, are they only served in the dining rooms and at certain times, or can you get one at a bar at certain times?

[CharTrav]

Maybe this has been asked before, in regards to the included beer,wine,sodas at lunch and dinner, are they only served in the dining rooms and at certain times, or can you get one at a bar at certain times?

 

Beer and wine only during lunch and dinner. Think you can grab a soda anytime. There's a dispenser in the World Cafe as well as a coffee and tea maker available all the time. Coffee and tea arrangement is the same as they do on Viking River.

 

 

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[2martinis]

maybe i didn't specify are the beers and wines only served in the restaurants ,is it any restaurants and is it served the whole time the venue is open? Like the pool grill has a bar so does it only serve until a certain time?

[Dauntless]

maybe i didn't specify are the beers and wines only served in the restaurants ,is it any restaurants and is it served the whole time the venue is open? Like the pool grill has a bar so does it only serve until a certain time?

 

The times for lunch and dinner at each venue are in the Daily. During those times the drinks are included. Outside those times, you will be charged.

[sleepybobo]

What's your opinion about the free WIFI on-board? Is it reliable?

 

I'm going to the Venice, the Adriatic and Athens sailing in October. I'm wondering if I should buy a data SIM card, so that I can still go online on shore.

 

Any one has any suggestion on the best way to stay connected without paying AT&T for its lousy international plan?

 

Thanks!

[deec]

WiFI was surprisingly reliable for our Barcelona, Baltic & Beyond on the Sky last Spring. We also used it sometimes successfully ( although sometimes delayed) to communicate with each other while on the ship!

[sleepybobo]

WiFI was surprisingly reliable for our Barcelona, Baltic & Beyond on the Sky last Spring. We also used it sometimes successfully ( although sometimes delayed) to communicate with each other while on the ship!

 

Thanks! Good to know that WIFI is reliable. I guess we can communicate each other using Whatsapp on the ship.

 

Any one has experience with internet connection in Venice, Split, Dubrovnik, Kotor, Corfu and Athens? Wondering how accessible and extensive WIFI is in these ports.

[Peregrina651]

Thanks! Good to know that WIFI is reliable. I guess we can communicate each other using Whatsapp on the ship.

 

Any one has experience with internet connection in Venice, Split, Dubrovnik, Kotor, Corfu and Athens? Wondering how accessible and extensive WIFI is in these ports.

 

DH and I use WhatsApp to stay in communication while on the ship and we asked our children to install it as well so we could reach them if necessary. Fortunately, we haven't had to try out the telephone capabilities yet. I haven't yet tried to figure out communications while we are off the ship and we just keep our phones in airplane mode for the duration of our travels. As long as DH can check his work e-mail each day, he is a happy camper.

[roothy123]

We found internet on Viking excellent, at least for a cruise ship!

 

Sometimes there is WiFi (usually free) in the port terminals near where you dock, so that's one option if internet on Viking is slow.

 

In that part of the world, I personally wouldn't spend money on phone/data service unless you KNOW you might really need it - for example, decent chance of an emergency at home. Even if there's an emergency, Viking doesn't charge much to make a phone call, so that's yet another option.

 

We didn't use anything to communicate on the ship. I just went looking for my spouse if I felt the need!

[roothy123]

The times for lunch and dinner at each venue are in the Daily. During those times the drinks are included. Outside those times, you will be charged.

That sounds right, although one thing I'm not sure of is whether you can get beer or wine at the Pool Grill and Mamsen's during their posted hours, or if the included beer/wine is just provided at the typical lunch/dinner venues (Dining Room, specialty restaurants, World Cafe). Does anybody know?

[sleepybobo]

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

I don't need phone service. I don't plan to check work emails neither. I try to stay as disconnected as I can during vacation. But I feel better if I have access to internet off the ship, so I can use apps, such as Google Maps, Trip Advisor and of course CC Forums. ;)