Live (fingers crossed) Alaska May 26 on Orion.

[Peregrina651]

2 hours ago, Pushka said:

Mine is a TZ70. I think a google search will show the US version. 

 

That would be the ZS50 in the US, which has been superseded by the ZS70, 80 and 100. The model differences are mostly in the software while the lens and body have stayed pretty much the same. I have the ZS40 which I love for travel because it fits in my pocket but still has all the functionality of a DSLR or mirrorless (neither of which fit in my pocket).

Edited May 31, 2019 by Peregrina651

[Pushka]

1 hour ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

That would be the ZS50 in the US, which has been superseded by the ZS70, 80 and 100. The model differences are mostly in the software while the lens and body have stayed pretty much the same. I have the ZS40 which I love for travel because it fits in my pocket but still has all the functionality of a DSLR or mirrorless (neither of which fit in my pocket).

 

That sounds right. I also have a later model but weirdly I prefer non touch screen 

[Peregrina651]

8 hours ago, Pushka said:

 

That sounds right. I also have a later model but weirdly I prefer non touch screen 

 

Interesting. Well, this sounds like a conversation to pursue at a later date,  by e-mail. I'm thinking about upgrading and would like to talk more about why you don't like the touch screen.

[Pushka]

Last night we had a beautiful evening gliding out so slowly from Juneau. It was very still and at times I was the only one on the deck outside Explorers lounge. Stunning Serenity. 

 

All we needed was a whale. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 31, 2019 by Pushka

[Pushka]

More dog sledding. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 31, 2019 by Pushka

[Pushka]

[Little Monty]

6 minutes ago, Pushka said:

G’day Pushka .. your wi fi must be better than ours. I can see a couple of photos but not the videos.

 

Regardless, I’m glad you are enjoying.

 

Cheers from Norway, we are now heading for the Faroe Islands and then Iceland. 🍷 LM

[Hunding]

1 hour ago, Pushka said:

Last night we had a beautiful evening gliding out so slowly from Juneau. It was very still and at times I was the only one on the deck outside Explorers lounge. Stunning Serenity. 

 

All we needed was a whale. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pushka

 

Sorry.  I was home last night.

Love,

The Whale

[Peregrina651]

Tip for everyone.  When you respond to Pushka's posts by quoting her post, it is possible to edit what has been quoted and delete all but the picture(s) you are referring to. This will make the thread easier to read.

[Pushka]

Friday. Skagway. Our planned plane flight didn’t proceed so it was a quiet day and we just stroked along the shops. At last we had a berth. Four ships in so Street was crowded. Found a great quilt fabric shop in a side street. I’m no quilter but knew these fabrics were beautiful and SIL will be very pleased. 

 

Next day was Icy Strait Point which was Saturday. Another tender. Plus a ridiculously short time in port. Last tender was 2.30pm. Doesn’t Viking advertise extended times in Port? And everyone is tired of all the fuss of tenders this cruise. We had a private whale and sea life excursion booked. It’s always hit and miss with wildlife. We did capture these photos. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No one saw any bears. Another couple were on the small zodiac Viking tour and said they were freezing, cold and wet and saw little wildlife, just a couple of seals. It was an expensive excursion. The kayak tour was cancelled. 

 

Having returned to the dock bevause of the short time here here we had to get onboard pretty much straight away. We had wanted to try the zip line but no time to do so. The other ship was staying in Port until 7.30pm so people could do multiple tours. 

Edited June 2, 2019 by Pushka

[Pushka]

Today was Hubbard Bay and it was spectacular. As a group of new friends, last night we decided that with the patchy comms onboard at the moment, that we would be getting near Hubbard Glacier much earlier than the daily stated, which was 8am. So we got up at 6.30 am and dressed warmly and watched as we entered Yakutat Bay towards the Glacier. We started seeing it in the distance about 5 minutes later. Sure enough at 7.30 am it was announced that we had entered early and the commentary started. It was a mad dash for everyone to get their view but we already had that plan sorted. 

 

Just beautiful. You can hear the crack that sounds like thunder, continuously. We both managed to (accidentally) capture calving but really it is accidental. Crew were handing out hot chocolate on deck 8. Originally we weren’t that close but we gradually moved closer and closer. There was a pilot boat guiding us. 

 

Too many pictures but here are a few. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by Pushka

[Pushka]

Calving. Middle and near the ocean. 

 

[Heidi13]

Hubbard is definitely one of the more impressive glaciers in Alaska🙂 Good to hear you are getting some positives.

[angelhelly]

Thank you for the account! I look forward to be on that trip soon.

 

I did find this going around

 

https://viking.panomax.com/orion

 

This is the view from the Orion. The vista is just gorgeous. I just can't wait!!

[Pushka]

Oh my. What a stunner today. 

 

Valdez. Also my birthday and wedding anniversary. Off kayaking. And we are Berthed. Bonus. 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2019 by Pushka

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, Pushka said:

Oh my. What a stunner today. 

 

Valdez. Also my birthday and wedding anniversary. Off kayaking. And we are Berthed. Bonus. 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday! Happy Anniversary!

 

Oh, my what a gift you have been given today, yes? Enjoy every minute of it!

[Pushka]

And the Kayaking excursion just finished was spectacular. 

[Pushka]

Just into Seward. Had a spectacular day yesterday Kayaking amongst the icebergs at Valdez. Need to transfer pictures from the camera. And stunning weather. 

 

 

[harbourside]

Can you give us a general overview of this cruise.  I am going on the Orion In September.

I have just read a review of the cruise before you (Japan to Vancouver) and it wasn't very flattering.  The reviewer had done 4 previous tours with Viking and the Orion was not up to the standard of the other ocean cruises

Bad service in the World Cafe (not getting served beverages until meal was just about finished, both at breakfast and lunch).

Manfredi's  - overcooked food, barely edible

Did you do any of the included tours?

 

 

 

Edited June 6, 2019 by harbourside

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, harbourside said:

Can you give us a general overview of this cruise.  I am going on the Orion In September.

I have just read a review of the cruise before you (Japan to Vancouver) and it wasn't very flattering.  The reviewer had done 4 previous tours with Viking and the Orion was not up to the standard of the other ocean cruises

Bad service in the World Cafe (not getting served beverages until meal was just about finished, both at breakfast and lunch).

Manfredi's  - overcooked food, barely edible

Did you do any of the included tours?

 

 

 

 

Can you give us a link to the review you are referring to?

 

Also, have you seen this thread about the cruise? The person who started it was actually on board Hong Kong to Vancouver.

Far East and Alaska included tour reviews

[harbourside]

16 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Can you give us a link to the review you are referring to?

  

Also, have you seen this thread about the cruise? The person who started it was actually on board Hong Kong to Vancouver.

Far East and Alaska included tour reviews

Where to begin? Tokyo to Vancouver   - Link  to preview

 

[Pushka]

12 hours ago, harbourside said:

Can you give us a general overview of this cruise.  I am going on the Orion In September.

 

 

 

 

 

I am going to do that but wanted to sort through a few issues we had first. 

 

First up, Alaska was fabulous. Stunning, and everything we’d hoped for. But in many ways that best experience was Alaska the destination and I believe every cruise line could have delivered this product. 

 

I felt we had a very bad experience on disembarkation night. This was outside our balcony until midnight. Calls to Guest Services were made but nothing done. Having been on many other cruise lines we’ve never experienced anything like this before. 

 

 

 

Remember land of the midnight sun so it’s very bright even though it’s 11.15pm. Everyone is in bed as we have to disembark tomorrow. It only stopped around 11.45pm. Closing the door did not conceal the heavy metal clanging. 

 

The food was outstanding. Manfredis we had service issues from start to finish. We cancelled our second reservation. The buffet was great. The Restaurant was lovely. Chefs Table enjoyable. 

 

As Jim Avery has mentioned in a different thread, we have to determine what best works for us and currently we don’t think it’s Viking. 

 

I’ve just read that review. Communications, or rather, lack of them, and conflicting instructions, was one of our main issues. I’ve never been ‘told off’ so many times for following a set of instructions if someone has a different set. 

 

I’ve not been on Viking before so can’t comment on what used to be done but so many loyal Viking cruisers have told us that this isn’t the way Viking does things. So something has gone badly astray. 

Edited June 6, 2019 by Pushka

[Seaharvest]

On 6/6/2019 at 1:18 PM, Pushka said:

 

I am going to do that but wanted to sort through a few issues we had first. 

 

First up, Alaska was fabulous. Stunning, and everything we’d hoped for. But in many ways that best experience was Alaska the destination and I believe every cruise line could have delivered this product. 

 

I felt we had a very bad experience on disembarkation night. This was outside our balcony until midnight. Calls to Guest Services were made but nothing done. Having been on many other cruise lines we’ve never experienced anything like this before. 

 

 

 

Remember land of the midnight sun so it’s very bright even though it’s 11.15pm. Everyone is in bed as we have to disembark tomorrow. It only stopped around 11.45pm. Closing the door did not conceal the heavy metal clanging. 

 

The food was outstanding. Manfredis we had service issues from start to finish. We cancelled our second reservation. The buffet was great. The Restaurant was lovely. Chefs Table enjoyable. 

 

As Jim Avery has mentioned in a different thread, we have to determine what best works for us and currently we don’t think it’s Viking. 

 

I’ve just read that review. Communications, or rather, lack of them, and conflicting instructions, was one of our main issues. I’ve never been ‘told off’ so many times for following a set of instructions if someone has a different set. 

 

I’ve not been on Viking before so can’t comment on what used to be done but so many loyal Viking cruisers have told us that this isn’t the way Viking does things. So something has gone badly astray. 

That activity outside your cabin is really bad.  As you know I am one of those people who have been on Viking before and have repeatedly said this is not their standard.  At this point I will focus on the good things, the things we enjoyed about the ship and the activities, and certainly the location. We have already booked a South American Cruise for December. I will do some prep work with Viking to try to identify any ports where we will tender to cut down on confusion when scheduling independent excursions.  I will also hope that they do learn from their experiences and there will be better communication. I am certainly sorry, Carol, that your experience was as poor as it was but given everything I can certainly understand why you think Viking is not for you at least for now. Hopefully you will continue to read reviews and if you hear they are getting better, maybe you can give them a second chance.

[Pushka]

I tried multiple times in the months build up to the cruise to get an official response to the number of tenders. It was my shore excursion provider and not Viking who told me of the tender issue in one port, Skagway. Viking didn’t mention this even after I queried them directly. 

 

And had to laugh at the CD port presentation of Sitka stating it was happening tomorrow when it reality it was Skagway. Because of our embarkation they couldn’t fit that talk in at all. 

 

We did the ships excursion in Seward on the first day. There were 3 groups all going on the one ship, Kenai area. They called group 1 down then the second and the third. However the buses they booked to take us to that docking area were filled with just the first group so we were left standing around on the dock where all the buses were coming and going. The port people asked us what we were doing there and we said Viking had called us down. She said it was really dangerous us being there with all the traffic but by this time all the Viking reps had gone. And by this time another bolus of passengers arrived from Viking. She said she’d never seen such disorganisation by Viking. We just shrugged. 

[Captain_Morgan]

11 hours ago, Pushka said:

I tried multiple times in the months build up to the cruise to get an official response to the number of tenders. It was my shore excursion provider and not Viking who told me of the tender issue in one port, Skagway. Viking didn’t mention this even after I queried them directly. 

 

And had to laugh at the CD port presentation of Sitka stating it was happening tomorrow when it reality it was Skagway. Because of our embarkation they couldn’t fit that talk in at all. 

 

We did the ships excursion in Seward on the first day. There were 3 groups all going on the one ship, Kenai area. They called group 1 down then the second and the third. However the buses they booked to take us to that docking area were filled with just the first group so we were left standing around on the dock where all the buses were coming and going. The port people asked us what we were doing there and we said Viking had called us down. She said it was really dangerous us being there with all the traffic but by this time all the Viking reps had gone. And by this time another bolus of passengers arrived from Viking. She said she’d never seen such disorganisation by Viking. We just shrugged. 

 

And sadly this is the issue with the cruise industry in general in my experience....once you've paid your way, the company has little to no interest in doing anything of substance to make wholesale changes to improve the 'minor' issues, or what they consider 'minor' because they know the majority of people either wont say anything or just accept it as part of the process.

 

If a cruise line is doing a brand new itinerary you'd expect them to have some hiccups, but you'd also expect them to have sent someone or a team of people ahead to scout the locations, meet with the tour operators, sort the logistics, etc. to at the very least minimize the 'minor' issues and that way they could better communicate to their guests when these things come up.

 

We were on the Sea over the winter and had a similar issue to you with the loading/unloading of luggage from our side of the ship.  Unfortunately due to the logistics involved (many people arrived very late on Viking organized flights) it meant luggage loading went very late into the night, and then when we arrived back in San Juan the unloading started at silly o'clock in the morning.  

 

At the end of the day, the only way that any company big or small eventually gets the message that their customer base is unhappy is when people speak with their wallets.  Complaining to someone onboard a ship (in this case) who has no actual power or ability to change the issue is futile as all they will do is include the concern in an email to the office which will no doubt be ignored, or minimized.  At least when you pay for the likes of Carnival, NCL, etc. and get that 'bargain basement' price you know what to expect, whereas when paying a premium for Viking you shouldn't be literally told to wait in traffic...