New Viking Ocean Cruiser - Advice?

[Peregrina651]

4 minutes ago, SRHall64 said:

Due to medications he is taking my dad must avoid caffeine.  Even though we are American we are tea drinkers rather than coffee.  Does anyone know if they have decaf Earl Grey or English Breakfast tea bags on board or should we bring our own?

 

Always safe to bring your own.

[knoxclone]

I have to avoid caffeine as well, and on our last cruise the only caffeine free tea offered was chamomile, and one other lemon herbal tea.  I was glad I had packed a zip lock w decaf earl grey and constant comment.  

 

However, given Viking's fabulous  onboard customer service, someone may be able to provide it for you - I  just did not inquire as  I had brought my own. 

[LindaS272]

I always bring my own decaf black tea (Barry’s Irish tea) but all the VO cruises we’ve been on have had decaf black tea.

[CharTrav]

5 hours ago, SRHall64 said:

Due to medications he is taking my dad must avoid caffeine.  Even though we are American we are tea drinkers rather than coffee.  Does anyone know if they have decaf Earl Grey or English Breakfast tea bags on board or should we bring our own?

If your cabin has a coffee maker - it can be used to just dispense hot water to make tea (herbal and regular). If all you want is tea just tell your cabin stewards and they will supply you with just tea bags and the kind you want.  Also - the coffee/tea station in the World Cafe has a large selection of teas you can make. And.. lest I forget - tea (various kinds) are served at the Viking Bar on Deck 1. You can also bring your own tea bags and then use the hot water dispenser in the world cafe or in your cabin. 

 

Coffe brewers are In PV cabins and above;  however, I'm quite sure that if you're in a DV or V, your steward will get one for you if you ask. 😉

Edited June 16, 2021 by CharTrav

[Peregrina651]

3 minutes ago, CharTrav said:

If your cabin has a coffee maker - it can be used to make tea. If all you want is tea just tell your cabin stewards and they will supply you with just tea bags. Also - the coffee/tea station in the World Cafe has a large selection of teas you can make. And..: lest I forget - tea (various kinds) are served at the Viking Bar on Deck 1. You can also bring your own tea bags. 

 

Coffe brewers are In PV cabins and above;  however, I'm quite sure that if you're in a DV or V, your steward will get one for you if you ask. 😉

 

Coffee brewer is standard in DV and above. You can ask your steward for an electric kettle instead of a coffee brewer.

[Squawkman]

My wife had issues getting decaf black tea on our last VO cruise (11/19). She got it once by asking a bartender, but decided to bring her own from now on.

[LindaS272]

1 hour ago, CharTrav said:

If your cabin has a coffee maker - it can be used to just dispense hot water to make tea (herbal and regular). If all you want is tea just tell your cabin stewards and they will supply you with just tea bags and the kind you want.  Also - the coffee/tea station in the World Cafe has a large selection of teas you can make. And.. lest I forget - tea (various kinds) are served at the Viking Bar on Deck 1. You can also bring your own tea bags and then use the hot water dispenser in the world cafe or in your cabin. 

 

Coffe brewers are In PV cabins and above;  however, I'm quite sure that if you're in a DV or V, your steward will get one for you if you ask. 😉

Every VO cruise we’ve been on, the first thing we do when we get to our cabin is ask our stewards to ditch the nespresso machine and give us a proper electric kettle. Then we ask them (or room service) to bring us a small pitcher of milk to stash in the fridge. Can’t beat the comforts of home (& then some) on a Viking ship!

[rbslos18]

Speaking of decaf tea, is fresh brewed decaf coffee available in the Living Room?

[CharTrav]

7 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Coffee brewer is standard in DV and above. You can ask your steward for an electric kettle instead of a coffee brewer.

I checked. I thought I saw PV and above. Mmmmmm.  Checked again. You're right. My bad. 🙄

 

Didn't know about the kettle. Nice to know. 

[MSEm]

I have gotten decaf coffees both hot and cold in the living room.  The best coffee on the ship.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

On 4/16/2021 at 7:56 PM, JeriGail said:

Check out this forum:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2416372-tips-for-new-viking-ocean-cruisers/page/45/

At 45 pages, it's very long, but it has tons of useful information.

I started that thread so long ago - hope it's still current!  But probably the basic things haven't changed much.   I still recommend taking a lanyard, realizing that ocean ships are different than river ships,  making your Manfredi reservations as soon as possible, not forgetting to at least try World Cafe and Mamsen's, etc. And there's my favorite place at sailaway if other places are crowded - back of the ship on 2!

Roothy

 

[JeriGail]

1 hour ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

I started that thread so long ago - hope it's still current!  But probably the basic things haven't changed much.   I still recommend taking a lanyard, realizing that ocean ships are different than river ships,  making your Manfredi reservations as soon as possible, not forgetting to at least try World Cafe and Mamsen's, etc. And there's my favorite place at sailaway if other places are crowded - back of the ship on 2!

Roothy

 

Thanks for starting that thread - it's great!

[CharTrav]

Was going to post an alternative "newbie" link -- but it looks as tho that topic is covered.  By the way -- I'm not sure that the planetarium is no longer on the Orion.  I believe it's still there.  Even when it was first built .. the deck plans provided for the VO ships do not distinguish between the ships. I downloaded these deck plans before covid. I grant they may be temporarily not using Orion's planetarium. It's also possible that they've removed it but I frankly can't see how they would -- it's such a big thing; not even to repurpose it for the testing facility they added.  Actually -- I've sent a text to a person I know who was on the Orion in Bermuda last month. Will report back what I find out.

 

[LindaS272]

1 hour ago, CharTrav said:

Was going to post an alternative "newbie" link -- but it looks as tho that topic is covered.  By the way -- I'm not sure that the planetarium is no longer on the Orion.  I believe it's still there.  Even when it was first built .. the deck plans provided for the VO ships do not distinguish between the ships. I downloaded these deck plans before covid. I grant they may be temporarily not using Orion's planetarium. It's also possible that they've removed it but I frankly can't see how they would -- it's such a big thing; not even to repurpose it for the testing facility they added.  Actually -- I've sent a text to a person I know who was on the Orion in Bermuda last month. Will report back what I find out.

 

This thread has a couple of posts about the planetariums:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2790990-are-there-differences-between-the-viking-ocean-ships/

 

Bermuda pax have confirmed Orion still has its planetarium. In the thread above, someone said they heard that Jupiter was going to be tearing out its planetarium, but the person was not able to provide me with a source for that—what they posted as the source only had the discussion that people had hoped the planetariums would have been taken out during the lay-up—but they weren’t.

[CharTrav]

1 hour ago, LindaS272 said:

This thread has a couple of posts about the planetariums:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2790990-are-there-differences-between-the-viking-ocean-ships/

 

Bermuda pax have confirmed Orion still has its planetarium. In the thread above, someone said they heard that Jupiter was going to be tearing out its planetarium, but the person was not able to provide me with a source for that—what they posted as the source only had the discussion that people had hoped the planetariums would have been taken out during the lay-up—but they weren’t.

I thought Orion was the only one with a planetarium. But I just got a text from a recent Bermuda pax - who also said the planetarium was operating. And said he didn't like it. Oh well. I'm intrigued  tho - why do folks not like it? Hoping that it would be removed? I'm looking forward to it when we board the Orion in 2023 (BS/MS Physics - 😊)

Edited July 19, 2021 by CharTrav

[LindaS272]

7 hours ago, CharTrav said:

I thought Orion was the only one with a planetarium. But I just got a text from a recent Bermuda pax - who also said the planetarium was operating. And said he didn't like it. Oh well. I'm intrigued  tho - why do folks not like it? Hoping that it would be removed? I'm looking forward to it when we board the Orion in 2023 (BS/MS Physics - 😊)

Because it’s not really a planetarium. It’s a small cold, uncomfortably tilted imax theater with three rotating films not even necessarily related to the part of the world you’re traveling in. We did our first two cruises on ships without it and enjoyed the expansive upper level of the Explorer’s Lounge. On our third and fourth cruises, we were on Orion and Jupiter, respectively. We did one show on Orion in SE Asia and didn’t bother with the others. They had the same northern hemisphere shows on the Jupiter when we were in the Southern Hemisphere and we didn’t attend. The planetarium bubble takes up a huge portion of the upper lounge so we didn’t spend time there as on our first two cruises. We did these four cruises in eight months from July 2019 through to mid-March 2020 so were able to compare in a short timeframe. That’s just our experience. YMMV.

[dcl999]

Has anyone had any experience with a low salt diet? I can tolerate a normal amount of salt, including the salt in most cheeses but not all the extra salt that’s present in the delicious sauces and dressings. Am I better off just asking for sauces and dressings on the side and avoiding choices that are probably higher salt?

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, dcl999 said:

Has anyone had any experience with a low salt diet? I can tolerate a normal amount of salt, including the salt in most cheeses but not all the extra salt that’s present in the delicious sauces and dressings. Am I better off just asking for sauces and dressings on the side and avoiding choices that are probably higher salt?

 

If salt content is a concern, you can include that in MVJ. On board you receive the menus the day before and the galley prepare meals according to your needs.

[dcl999]

14 hours ago, dcl999 said:

Has anyone had any experience with a low salt diet? I can tolerate a normal amount of salt, including the salt in most cheeses but not all the extra salt that’s present in the delicious sauces and dressings. Am I better off just asking for sauces and dressings on the side and avoiding choices that are probably higher salt?

Sorry, didn’t make myself clear. I read someone who had some lactose problems ended up with no cheese, cream for coffee, etc. He could avoid enough dairy with his meal choices but wanted some of the dairy free sorbet. I wondered how Viking interprets low salt. 

[Tom.in.nc]

16 hours ago, dcl999 said:

Sorry, didn’t make myself clear. I read someone who had some lactose problems ended up with no cheese, cream for coffee, etc. He could avoid enough dairy with his meal choices but wanted some of the dairy free sorbet. I wondered how Viking interprets low salt. 

You can specify low salt on MVJ then at the dining venue you can clarify what YOU want adjusted for your meals.

Viking is very accommodating to dining restrictions.

 

Tom

[PKNC]

We are scheduled to go on our first Viking cruise,  Nov 18 Athens-Istanbul, after two cancellations of other cruises. Turkey requires a tourist VISA, does anyone know how long it takes to get one these days or historically? I'm hesitant to send in the paperwork to Generations VISA and pay the $109 per person now, in case we are cancelled again, with the Delta COVID variant starting to spread.

[Azulann]

4 minutes ago, PKNC said:

We are scheduled to go on our first Viking cruise,  Nov 18 Athens-Istanbul, after two cancellations of other cruises. Turkey requires a tourist VISA, does anyone know how long it takes to get one these days or historically? I'm hesitant to send in the paperwork to Generations VISA and pay the $109 per person now, in case we are cancelled again, with the Delta COVID variant starting to spread.

When I did a cruise from Istanbul  and a week staying Istanbul  post cruise  , I  got the Turkey travel visa on line. It was very easy. Paid by credit card and the visa was emailed to me. I know I paid a lot less than $109.00 . But it was  over five years ago.

I loved Istanbul . Hope you are planning to stay  a couple of days after your cruise ends. 

[Heidi13]

8 hours ago, PKNC said:

We are scheduled to go on our first Viking cruise,  Nov 18 Athens-Istanbul, after two cancellations of other cruises. Turkey requires a tourist VISA, does anyone know how long it takes to get one these days or historically? I'm hesitant to send in the paperwork to Generations VISA and pay the $109 per person now, in case we are cancelled again, with the Delta COVID variant starting to spread.

 

When I researched Visa requirements for our next cruise, Turkey required an eVisa, which is available online. Here is the website link.

 

www.evisa.gov.tr

[PKNC]

Thank you both so much for these tips!

[Mich3554]

23 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

When I researched Visa requirements for our next cruise, Turkey required an eVisa, which is available online. Here is the website link.

 

www.evisa.gov.tr

We applied for an electronic visa for Turkey July 2019.  In pre covid times, you get the results immediately.  I think it took me a whopping 15 min to apply, receive and print out 2 visa….and this was after a false start with a procurement site.