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islandchick

By islandchick,
in Viking Ocean

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Murt22 Great Review Rare

Murt22

Posted
Posted

We had prior notice that our first leg would be 2 hours late and it was about 2 3/4 hours late but we had a big layover anyway, so that was OK. Our ANC flight was also delayed a bit, but when we got to ANC had to sit on tarmac awhile, then they took forever to get the skybridge connected. We ended up about 45 minutes late so that wasn't bad. The biggest frustration came when we had a hard time finding the Viking rep and another couple from another flight had the same issue - but eventually we found her. She didn't really say much to us, just put us on a bus with 2 couples from another cruise ship. They were going to the Marriott, but our paperwork said the Hilton, so he dropped us off at the Hilton - which is a pit by the way - and they didn't have our reservations. We were supposed to be at the Marriott and no one told us - we had to Uber over there. The Hilton is very shady. Apparently the travelers who came earlier in the day were told at the airport that the hotel had been changed. We landed after 9:30pm and didn't end up in our rooms until at least 11:30pm. We do the Denali train tomorrow, so hope that is worth the extension. Today's Anchorage day was kinda meh. We'll see how dinner is tonight.

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cmmaxwell03

cmmaxwell03

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2 minutes ago, Murt22 said:

We had prior notice that our first leg would be 2 hours late and it was about 2 3/4 hours late but we had a big layover anyway, so that was OK. Our ANC flight was also delayed a bit, but when we got to ANC had to sit on tarmac awhile, then they took forever to get the skybridge connected. We ended up about 45 minutes late so that wasn't bad. The biggest frustration came when we had a hard time finding the Viking rep and another couple from another flight had the same issue - but eventually we found her. She didn't really say much to us, just put us on a bus with 2 couples from another cruise ship. They were going to the Marriott, but our paperwork said the Hilton, so he dropped us off at the Hilton - which is a pit by the way - and they didn't have our reservations. We were supposed to be at the Marriott and no one told us - we had to Uber over there. The Hilton is very shady. Apparently the travelers who came earlier in the day were told at the airport that the hotel had been changed. We landed after 9:30pm and didn't end up in our rooms until at least 11:30pm. We do the Denali train tomorrow, so hope that is worth the extension. Today's Anchorage day was kinda meh. We'll see how dinner is tonight.

We booked the Marriott on our own. All extensions were sold out but that’s okay. Gives us a chance to do what we want. 

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Murt22 Great Review Rare

Murt22

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I found this forum too late. We have cancelled our pre-excursion in Athens for next year and also our Viking air as we are going to come earlier on our own and want to make the choices of airlines, etc. We are meeting some of our fellow cruisers and just getting on the bus instead of wondering how to get somewhere is the positive side of it.

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zzookiemookiw

zzookiemookiw

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20 hours ago, cmmaxwell03 said:

We booked the Marriott on our own. All extensions were sold out but that’s okay. Gives us a chance to do what we want. 

How many days are you spending in Anchorage? We spend one night in Seattle because Viking couldn't get us a flight to Anchorage on the 6th. Hopefully all will go smoothly.

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cmmaxwell03

cmmaxwell03

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1 hour ago, zzookiemookiw said:

How many days are you spending in Anchorage? We spend one night in Seattle because Viking couldn't get us a flight to Anchorage on the 6th. Hopefully all will go smoothly.

We arrive in Anchorage on the afternoon of the 5th.  Seattle isn't too bad.  We live about an hour south of there 🙂

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zzookiemookiw

zzookiemookiw

Posted
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27 minutes ago, cmmaxwell03 said:

We arrive in Anchorage on the afternoon of the 5th.  Seattle isn't too bad.  We live about an hour south of there 🙂

Hopefully we will be on the ship on the 7th. We fly from Seattle to Anchorage & then are bussed to Seward.

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Murt22 Great Review Rare

Murt22

Posted
Posted (edited)

Quick note- boarded Friday, less than 10 min wait. On board w champagne, went to room, met steward then off to Explorers lounge to try that “fancy” champagne. Jacquard Brut but apparently not many bottles left so switching to something else. Got my SS back in no time. Husband is a Bud man and they were out in EL but he supposedly got it in WC. Chefs table menus are: Le Route de Indes. Asian Panorama, Lotus and Xiang. Weather awesome, Kenai Fjords cruise was awesome including super pod of orcas and breaching humpback. Internet sucks. 

 

Edited by Murt22
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cmmaxwell03

cmmaxwell03

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1 minute ago, Murt22 said:

Quick note- boarded Friday, less than 10 min wait. On board w champagne, went to room, met steward then off to Explorers lounge to try that “fancy” champagne. Jacquard’s Brut but apparently not many bottles left so switching to something else. Got my SS back in no time. Husband is a Bud man and they were out in EL but he supposedly got it in WC. Chefs table menus are: Le Route de Indes. Asian Panorama, Lotus and Xiang. Weather awesome, Kenai Fjords cruise was awesome including super pod of orcas and breaching humpback. Internet sucks. 

 

Thanks for the update!  I have been keeping an eye on the ship's camera and the weather has looked great!  We are 17 days out 😉

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dd57

dd57

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We had done the Kenai Fjords cruise before, so yesterday we did the Resurrection bay cruise.  It was great too.  Porpoises followed our bow wave for over 5 minutes; a pod of humpback got close to us and deep dived, raising their tails; saw puffins, stellar sea lions, seals, and countless birds.  The boat maneuvered very very close to cliffs until you felt you could touch them.

 

Today we did Highlights of Valdez.  I had thought from the description that we would go higher up in the mountains but didn't.   But the salmon are running now so the stop at the fish hatchery was amazing to see the masses of salmon and black bears feeding.  Our guide Betty was made the trip with her humor, stories of living in Valdez, and living thru the 1964 earthquake.

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cmmaxwell03

cmmaxwell03

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12 minutes ago, dd57 said:

We had done the Kenai Fjords cruise before, so yesterday we did the Resurrection bay cruise.  It was great too.  Porpoises followed our bow wave for over 5 minutes; a pod of humpback got close to us and deep dived, raising their tails; saw puffins, stellar sea lions, seals, and countless birds.  The boat maneuvered very very close to cliffs until you felt you could touch them.

 

Today we did Highlights of Valdez.  I had thought from the description that we would go higher up in the mountains but didn't.   But the salmon are running now so the stop at the fish hatchery was amazing to see the masses of salmon and black bears feeding.  Our guide Betty was made the trip with her humor, stories of living in Valdez, and living thru the 1964 earthquake.

Thanks for the info.  We are also signed up for the Resurrection Bay Cruise.  What is the size of the group  on the excursion?

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dd57

dd57

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4 Viking bus loads, which are never full.  I would guess maybe 160 people.  The bus ride was maybe 5 minutes to the dock and was mainly to get us out of the commercial harbor and around the corner to the small boat harbor.

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cmmaxwell03

cmmaxwell03

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11 minutes ago, dd57 said:

4 Viking bus loads, which are never full.  I would guess maybe 160 people.  The bus ride was maybe 5 minutes to the dock and was mainly to get us out of the commercial harbor and around the corner to the small boat harbor.

That's awesome that they charter the whole boat! I did not realize the excursion included a bus ride and I'm relieved to hear it's a short one.  I promised my DH we would not be on any lengthy bus rides LOL.  Thank you again for the information 🙂

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