Into the Midnight Sun—a live voyage blog from Viking Venus 6/14/24

[DrKoob]

9 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

You were leaving the EU and going to the UK, another country. Norway to Denmark is within the EU (Schengen area) so it’s like domestic travel in the U.S. Once you left the EU they needed to record that you exited.

But we had our passports stamped when we left the ship, again when we left Bergen and again in Copenhagen as well as when we arrived here in London. That's just ridiculous. And I know we will have to do it again when we leave UK today and again at home. I get a lot of those but don't you think six times the ship to home is a bit much? 

[Hobson1754]

7 hours ago, DrKoob said:

But we had our passports stamped when we left the ship, again when we left Bergen and again in Copenhagen as well as when we arrived here in London. That's just ridiculous. And I know we will have to do it again when we leave UK today and again at home. I get a lot of those but don't you think six times the ship to home is a bit much? 

Unfortunately that’s one of the prices we’ve had to pay because of Brexit!!! A really sore subject with me.  Anyway, thank you for your great blog- we’ve really enjoyed it and hope your experience in Bergen didn’t sour your trip too much.

[Islander500]

Not going to focus on your unfortunate Bergen experience. So disappointing, though, and I hope you have fully recovered.

 

Jim, your trip blog and the PHOTOS were magnificent!  Thank you so much!  We are scheduled to do the same cruise next June and I am so excited.

 

Kathleen, thanks for supporting Jim's passion for what he does as it allows all of us to enjoy your beautiful journeys. 💞  

[giahw2014]

We are on this cruise exactly one year from now.   We are in our early 70's and have visited large cities and famous museums and decided on a cruise with focus on wonderful scenery this time.  You have confirmed through your blog and gorgeous photos that it is the absolutely the best choice. You frequently mentioned the "panoramic" included tours. Wondering if you joined any of Viking's optional excursions. If so, what did you think of them?  Thanks again for all your postings!

[SJD117]

@DrKoob Sorry to hear about your experience in Bergen. It resonated with me because I was assaulted in Paris in 2015. Because I had a corroborating witness, and also due to the incident’s severity (I was punched multiple times in the head), I reported the assault to the Paris police — who didn’t seem very interested in my case. No charges were ever brought to my knowledge.

[FoggyEthan]

Clarifying (if anyone cares) about the passport stamping:

 

Norway is NOT in the European Union, but it is a member of Schengen, along with Denmark. Inter-Schengen flights are supposed to be like domestic flights, but in recent years with heightened illegal immigration in Europe, the rules are being ignored by many countries. e.g. I had to go through immigration from Berlin when arriving into Paris for no good reason.

 

The UK has never been a member of Schengen, even when it was still in the EU. Along with Ireland, they maintain their own UK-Ireland unified system.

 

So when you disembarked from the cruise ship, you were technically "arriving" into Norway, since you're free from the ship. i.e. stamp time. When you flew to Copenhagen I have no idea why they asked you to go through passport control. Flying to the UK is then treated as a departure from Schengen -- the US does not stamp on departure, but the EU/Schengen does.

 

Ironically you would have skipped the stamp in Copenhagen if you had arrived internationally, i.e. from non-Schengen, since you wouldn't have had to either enter nor leave Schengen. You could have stayed international the whole time.

 

International travel is a mess. Nothing is consistent. e.g. the UK requires you to pass through a passport checkpoint even when transiting international-to-international, and then go through security again. The USA in that same situation not only requires you to enter the USA but also requires you to claim your checked bag, go through customs, re-check the bag, then go through security.

 

I'm sure that this is more than you wanted to know. 8-) You're welcome!

[DrKoob]

30 minutes ago, FoggyEthan said:

Clarifying (if anyone cares) about the passport stamping:

 

Norway is NOT in the European Union, but it is a member of Schengen, along with Denmark. Inter-Schengen flights are supposed to be like domestic flights, but in recent years with heightened illegal immigration in Europe, the rules are being ignored by many countries. e.g. I had to go through immigration from Berlin when arriving into Paris for no good reason.

 

The UK has never been a member of Schengen, even when it was still in the EU. Along with Ireland, they maintain their own UK-Ireland unified system.

 

So when you disembarked from the cruise ship, you were technically "arriving" into Norway, since you're free from the ship. i.e. stamp time. When you flew to Copenhagen I have no idea why they asked you to go through passport control. Flying to the UK is then treated as a departure from Schengen -- the US does not stamp on departure, but the EU/Schengen does.

 

Ironically you would have skipped the stamp in Copenhagen if you had arrived internationally, i.e. from non-Schengen, since you wouldn't have had to either enter nor leave Schengen. You could have stayed international the whole time.

 

International travel is a mess. Nothing is consistent. e.g. the UK requires you to pass through a passport checkpoint even when transiting international-to-international, and then go through security again. The USA in that same situation not only requires you to enter the USA but also requires you to claim your checked bag, go through customs, re-check the bag, then go through security.

 

I'm sure that this is more than you wanted to know. 8-) You're welcome!

One of the best dissertations on the subject I have read. Having lived in airports for the last three days, it wasn't more than I wanted to know. It just shows me how stupid the entire thing is. 

[deec]

My solution ...try to give yourselves plenty of time...breathe, smile, try to be polite...go where they direct and don't try to figure out WHY you did not have to do that last time!!! 

[uktog]

7 hours ago, DrKoob said:

One of the best dissertations on the subject I have read. Having lived in airports for the last three days, it wasn't more than I wanted to know. It just shows me how stupid the entire thing is. 

It is so complicated and for us in the UK post Brexit a fact of any travel we do. Unfortunately any flight I do for a nice weekend away that’s over 80 minutes involves passport stamping and immigration lines. You’re so lucky in other countries! 
 

Loved your blog. So sorry about the incident in Bergen. It’s sad but nowhere is now exempt from mindless board hoodlum violence and destruction. 
 

Thank you for taking us on your journey 

[SteelCity Cruiser]

17 hours ago, giahw2014 said:

We are on this cruise exactly one year from now.   We are in our early 70's and have visited large cities and famous museums and decided on a cruise with focus on wonderful scenery this time.  You have confirmed through your blog and gorgeous photos that it is the absolutely the best choice. You frequently mentioned the "panoramic" included tours. Wondering if you joined any of Viking's optional excursions. If so, what did you think of them?  Thanks again for all your postings!

We did the BIE last year (in June coincidentally) and if you want breathtaking scenery, I suggest taking the Ffestinog (spelling?) Railway excursion in Wales if it's available when you book your excursions (it sells out fast).  It is a long day, but totally worth it - both the bus ride (about an hour) to and from the rail start and end.  Also, do the Oslo-Bergen (or Bergen-Oslo) train in Norway before or after the cruise, which is ranked as one of the top scenic train rides in the world (some of the many photos I took from the train are here: https://zenfolio.page.link/Jck8k , which also includes photos of our time in Oslo and Bergen).

 

[DrKoob]

Our own Amazing Race...30 Days...3 countries...2 very tired people

 

This is the last post of a 30-day trip. It is going to be written over a very long day or two. I am starting this while sitting in the lobby of the Hilton Garden Inn at London Heathrow. It is 6:08 a.m. here in London. We flew in here from Copenhagen on SAS yesterday, and we will fly home at 12:45 p.m., arriving at SeaTac in Seattle at 2:30 p.m. this afternoon. So it is going to be a long day.

 

The worst part of any vacation for us is flying...and airports—just the total hassle of them. As we have gotten older, it becomes more and more of a hassle every time. I do my best to make it better, and some stupid thing (like yesterday's screwup on Passport Control in Copenhagen) screws up the entire plan. I will let you know how the whole day went before I finish this post.

Air travel is also strange. It messes with my head. For instance, I sit here now in London at 6:00 am, knowing that before I go to bed tonight, in my own bed, in Redmond, I will have boarded a plane, flown nine hours, gotten off the plane, cleared Passport Control again, been driven home, unpacked, gone shopping for groceries, grabbed takeout Mexican food from Ooba, eaten it and watched a few TV shows we have to catch up on. By the time my head hits the pillow in Redmond, it will be 5:00 a.m. here in London. When is Scotty going to invent the Star Trek Transporter so they can just beam me up and beam me down? That's what I want.

 

I should also add that we have those miserable Virgin Atlantic Upper-Class seats to contend with on the way home. No recline unless you flip them into a bed. And while I can usually sleep on the way out from the USA to Europe, going back is much worse as it never gets dark. When we arrive, it will only be a couple of hours before my usual bedtime, but at the same time, the middle of the afternoon and there will be lots of stuff I need to do...one of them is getting back on schedule for PDST.

 

 

So, let's get this review of our Viking Venus cruise on the way. To sum it up in one sentence, although there were tiny things that irked us just a little bit, this may have been the best overall cruise experience we have had (other than Celebrity Flora in the Galapagos—but that's a yacht, not a cruise ship) so far. And this is our 39th cruise. That says a lot.

What we loved

1. Our Stateroom. I detailed that with photos on this page you will find by clicking here. Stateroom 5030, our home for the last two weeks, is ideal. Big enough that I am not stubbing my toes to get around the bed, it has plenty of storage, a great verandah and, as far as I am concerned, the perfect spot on the ship. Deck five on a Viking ship means only two flights up (I never take elevators on a cruise except to bring luggage on or off the ship) to the buffet and Explorer's Lounge (my favorite place on a Viking Ship) and only three flights down to the specialty restaurants, the Living Room and to get off and on the ship in most ports.
2.  
3. The ship. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And to my eye, Viking Ocean ships are just about perfect when it comes to appearance. Nothing ever jars my eye. The color palette for the entire ship just works for me. Some folks say it's just Viking and IKEA getting together to design a ship. Well, if that is the case, that's fine with me. But it is a really high-end IKEA. Just think of Scandinavian design. Clean, muted, nothing jarring. No flashy colors. No Las Vegas at all! See photos of what I mean in a previous post by clicking here.
4.  
5. The quiet. Even though there is music in some venues sometimes (I wished the pianist in the Living Room had played a little softer the night we had drinks there), it is a very quiet ship. There is always someplace I can go and sit in silence to write, process photos, read or have a conversation. But the one place that breaks this for me is The Restaurant (a Viking ship's main dining room), which I find to be VERY loud. Other than that, I love the quiet.
6.  
7. The crew. I mentioned in a previous post. They are the best overall crew we have ever sailed with.
8.  
9. Itinerary. This was a good one. Some of my closest friends would have disliked the temperatures. They prefer warmer weather. We like the cold. That's why we live in Washington State. It's cold but not too cold, wet but not too wet (Seattle averages 37 inches of rain a year/Bergen 88 inches of rain a year), and perfect for us. I always prefer cold over hot. You can always put on another sweater or jacket if you get too cold, but once you are naked, you can't get any cooler without AC 😁. I would have picked Norway as the most beautiful place on earth if we hadn't been to Scotland before the cruise. We loved every port we stopped in (I will forgive Bergen for one teen's actions), and we have already told others they must do this cruise. Kathleen said to remind you that the weather changes by the minute. We didn't get snow, but our full day in Bergen is a great example. We went up the funicular in beautiful sunshine, barely a cloud in the sky. An hour after coming down, the rain was also coming down...horizontally. A deluge we had to take shelter from for an hour (with lunch), and then it was back to sunshine.
10.  
11. Embarkation and disembarkation. Smoothest ever! Less than 20 minutes from car to ship on the front end and 10 minutes from ship to car on the back end. It doesn't get much better than that unless it's during a pandemic and no one else is getting on or off. OK, river cruises are easier but I am talking ocean here.
12.  
13. Cruise Director Andre Gaffney and his activity staff. He does outstanding port talks—lots of info. And for us, the best part was that his port talks were televised live every afternoon (before a port day), so we could have a cocktail from our included mini-bar while we watched the port talk from our stateroom before dinner. It became our routine. His announcements during the cruise were also excellent. His assistant (I am so sorry that I can't remember her name) runs the best trivia game at sea. She is excited, in control and asks questions that are just hard enough to challenge you but not too hard so that she stumps everyone. I just wish the trivia had been at a different time. They were either at noon or 8:00 p.m. At noon, I have lunch, and at 8:00 p.m. I am in bed.
14.  
15. Entertainment was perfect for us 😜. I put the emoji on there because, for us, on a Viking ship (river or ocean), the entertainment means watching Downton Abbey on our stateroom television. We just don't do shows anymore. I guess we are old or just jaded—they all seem the same. So after dinner, it was back to the stateroom where I would process photos, Kathleen would read, and we would watch an episode of Downton. Of course, we have already seen the entire series (and both movies) when they first came out, but it's nice to catch up with old characters we love again. And we only watch it on Viking ships. So, on our 3-week Med cruise in the fall of 2022, we watched seasons one, two and a little of season three. On our December 2023 Christmas Market River cruise, we watched the rest of season three and a little of season four. We finished four, five and the first three episodes of season six on this cruise. Guess what we will watch on our October 2025 Douro River cruise 😁?
16.  
17. Shore excursions. Every single Viking-included excursion (even the one on Orkney) was better than any of the included excursions on our 2022 Viking Sky Mediterranean cruise. My favorites were our guides in Greenwich, Tromsø and Geiranger. We did feel a little short-changed in Lerwick when our excursion was cut from 2.5 to 1 hour. Not cool. But the rest of them were great. And all the "luxury motor coaches" were pretty nice.
18.  

Let's talk about the food

We ate in the following spaces (in order of the number of times we ate there), and this is what we thought of them: (Before we start, a word about the Steve Test. My brother Steve created this test about six cruises ago. It works like this: If you eat in a restaurant while traveling, and that restaurant is near you once you get home, would you go there again?) 

1.  
2. The Restaurant/Main Dining Room. We ate there once. For lunch. On a sea day. When the sea was at its worst, rocking and rolling. We figured we should go there then because no one else would be there and because it was close to the water and much less rocking than the buffet on deck seven. We were right about the rocking and the emptiness. We were four of about 30 people there. Still, it was a little louder than the buffet, and the food was basically meh. I had a dry Rueben sandwich that was not on rye bread, had little Russian dressing and came with almost cold fries. The service could have been more consistent as well. See why we don't eat there? That's a fail on the Steve test.
3.  
4. The Chef's Table. This is one of the ship's specialty restaurants. It features a fixed menu. They rotate three menus throughout the cruise. You can see the menu on the Viking app or on your television and know what menus are coming up. The only problem is that you can't see them three months before the cruise when making reservations. We had reservations for two nights. When we got on board and looked at the three menus that would rotate through our cruise, we canceled our first reservation. Three people in our party of six could not (allergies) or would not (preference) eat anything in the first three courses. We did keep our second reservation, and when we got there, the menu did not match what was on the app or our TV. Thankfully, the menu had turned to a Mexican meal, and everyone could and would eat all of it except the first course. It was very good and restored my faith in The Chef's Table. The food was excellent. The molé sauce was a LOT better on Oceania Vista but the rest was great. That's a pass on the Steve test, but only for this menu.
5.  
6. Manfredis. This is Viking's Italian specialty restaurant. We ate here twice on our previous 21-night Viking Ocean cruise, and once Kathleen got food poisoning, and the other time was just meh. This time, there was no food poisoning, but it was still meh—just not great Italian food. Maybe I say that because I am half Italian, love to cook Italian food and love a great Italian restaurant. We went to one in Glasgow (Banca di Roma), and on a scale of 1-10, the one in Glasgow was a nine, and Manfredis is barely a three. This does NOT pass the Steve test—FAIL! Come on, Viking, you can do better.
7.  
8. Mamsens. This is a small deli-type place just inside the door of The Explorer's Lounge. They serve amazing Norwegian waffles with fruit, sour cream and brown cheese for breakfast, which I love. You can also get substantial pastries there. Actual Norwegian bakery goods. YUM! At lunch, they have great open-face sandwiches that I also like a lot. When we were on Viking Sky, there were usually three choices: two meats and one seafood. On Venus, there were just two choices (one less meat), so we ate there less as Kathleen couldn't eat the seafood choice. But they still pass the Steve test with flying colors. I could eat breakfast there every day.
9.  
10. The Pool Grille. I love this place. It's out by the pool with delicious hamburgers, hotdogs, a few salads, fries and onion rings. It's in the open air when the weather is good (it has a roof that opens and closes). I ate a few lunches there and loved the food. It's a big fat PASS on the Steve test. I would eat here once a week if it were near our house.
11.  
12. The World Cafe/Buffet. As you know, if you have followed along, we ate here for most dinners, about half of our lunches and breakfasts. We thought the food was of high quality and well cooked, and the hot was usually hot, and the cold was usually cold.One of the nicest surprises was the new Asian counter, where you could get some excellent Asian food prepared in front of your eyes. And the two guys that worked that counter were great! What we didn't like (compared to our Viking Sky cruise in 2022) was that there seemed to be less selection. Please don't misunderstand me. I am not saying there weren't plenty of choices every day. It was always a completely full buffet. But the same food was often repeated over and over again. For instance, on the first night, Steve and I were thrilled to find a massive seafood display with ceviches, seafood salads, salmon, marinated octopus, and so much more. There was also an outstanding selection of sushi on the opposite side from the fish...but it was exactly the same EVERY NIGHT! I mean, in 14 days, how often can you eat the same fish dishes or the same sushi? At lunch, that seafood spot was the salad bar. But at night, that went away. That means if you just wanted a salad for dinner, you better like seafood because that's all there was.
    
    There was too much red meat. I mean a lot of red meat. Beef, venison, veal, lamb...all stuff we love, but too much of it. Kathleen said, "It was like your choices were red meat or seafood. If you want to eat vegetarian for a night, good luck." There were always steamed veggies but very few vegetarian entrées. We loved the red meat dishes but we are going to have to go full vegan for a few weeks to get over this cruise.
    
    Lastly, pizza on Venus was the WORST I HAVE EVER HAD on land or sea. I am a pizza lover. I make the best pizza I know of. Of course, I am a little bit prejudiced. During the entire cruise, they only had three kinds: Margherita, cheese, and one night, they even threw some mushrooms on one. It was just awful.

 

Overall, the food was as good as any cruise we have ever been on, except last year's cruise on Oceania Vista. It just needs a little bit of improvement. We ate too much. Over on the blog there are some food pictures to make you hungry.

 

 

What we DID NOT love

Nothing. I can't find a single thing I really disliked. It was just as we expected, except that the ports were so much better than we thought they would be. As you all know, I was unhappy about the speed of the internet, but that wasn't Viking's fault. The problem lies with Elon Musk, Starlink and a lack of satellites at the poles. Get with it, Musk.

 

We are home!

We are back home. Never been gone a month before, and this feels weird. We woke up yesterday at the Hilton Garden Inn (located right inside Heathrow between Terminals Two and Three), grabbed coffee, and walked across to Terminal 3 to check in with Virgin. The check-in part was great, as was Virgin's almost private security checkpoint just up from their counters. But we were under the impression that it wouldn't be far from the check-in to the Upper-Class Club lounge. Unfortunately, it was. Once out of security, we had to traverse the entire duty-free area (which I hate because there is always so much perfume, and I am highly allergic to scents) and finally got to the famed Virgin Upper-Class lounge. Other than the size, we were not that impressed. The food service was fine, and it gave us a nice place to wait until our flight, but it just didn't impress it that much. We have been in the BA first-class club at Heathrow, and it WOWed us, but that was a few years ago, so it may have changed by now.

 

The flight itself was better than the flight over. We think the plane was newer because almost everything worked. On this one, you could recline the seat a little, but it was still one of the narrowest seats I have ever been in, either in Business Class or Economy. I told Kathleen I had had more shoulder space on our SAS flight the day before than in a Virgin Upper-Class seat. That's sad, considering what you pay for the seat. We will NOT be flying Virgin Atlantic again. For our next trip to Europe in October, we already have tickets on British Airways.

 

Thanks to Welcome Pickups, getting from SeaTac to home was a piece of cake. I can't tell you enough good things about how much I love that they are now my go-to transfer company. They are fairly priced, great drivers and cars. Just outstanding. They communicate with you throughout the entire trip by text, WhatsApp or phone—the best. They are the ones to use if you need to get from point A to point B on a trip. We used them four times on this trip, and not a single problem.

 

One last observation (rant?)

We found one thing in Europe that we really do not like. We think this trend started there, and we have seen it in some hotels in the US. Even the ship was doing it. But last night, for the first time in a month, I slept in my own bed...under a top sheet. What has happened to top sheets?  Everyplace now has a bottom sheet and a duvet/comforter combo. No one has a top sheet anymore. Where did they go?

 

I hate the new trend because I like to be cool when I sleep but I do like to have something covering me. But when it's one of these new duvet cover/comforter things, I spend the night throwing it off, getting cool, pulling it back on, getting hot, throwing it off, and so on and so on and so on. I just hate it. And you can't tell me it is easier to take the cover off of one of those and put it back on than it is to make up a traditional bed with bottom sheet, top sheet and duvet on top of that. OK, rant over.

 

The end...really

That finally does it. It's 2:45 a.m. in Redmond, but my body still thinks it's 10:45 a.m. (which it is...in London). I am going to follow this up with a post just featuring what I consider my best photos from the trip, but that might be at the end of the week. For now, it's shopping, working out, walking, running errands, paying bills, etc. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

 

Yesterday, Kathleen said to me, "30 days is too long! Never again." I told her, "Tell me which day to take out." We couldn't figure out where to cut. We loved our four days with our dear friends Paul and Gail in Leeds. We LOVED Scotland, and the cruise to Norway was a perfect length, so I am not really sure how to cut it, and neither is she.

1. 
    

[Hanoj]

@DrKoob, did you order room service? If so, did it meet your Steve test?
 

Thank you for your detailed blog posts, and especially your photos post on your travel blog. Just fabulous!
 

 

 

 

[deec]

thanks for a great live post!! Your photos were terrific and brought so many memories!

I think Kathleen, you and your camera will absolutely be awed by your Douro river cruise!  We had way too much rain last fall but loved every minute of it.  Be prepared for "luxury coach rides"  and very few walk off ports!  Hoping you do the post to Santiago de Compostela worth the bus ride and extra stop on the way home.

 

PS your room steward on any Viking ship will be happy to put a top sheet on the bed for you!

[DrKoob]

On 6/30/2024 at 10:22 AM, giahw2014 said:

We are on this cruise exactly one year from now.   We are in our early 70's and have visited large cities and famous museums and decided on a cruise with focus on wonderful scenery this time.  You have confirmed through your blog and gorgeous photos that it is the absolutely the best choice. You frequently mentioned the "panoramic" included tours. Wondering if you joined any of Viking's optional excursions. If so, what did you think of them?  Thanks again for all your postings!

We didn't do any of the optional tours this time. For me, I was really just looking for the beauty of the places we went so I was happy to do the included tours first thing in the morning and then do photo walks in the afternoon. 

 

I did hear good things from other passengers about the kayaking tour in Geiranger and as you saw my brother and his bride loved the e-bike experience in Bergen.

[DrKoob]

5 hours ago, deec said:

thanks for a great live post!! Your photos were terrific and brought so many memories!

I think Kathleen, you and your camera will absolutely be awed by your Douro river cruise!  We had way too much rain last fall but loved every minute of it.  Be prepared for "luxury coach rides"  and very few walk off ports!  Hoping you do the post to Santiago de Compostela worth the bus ride and extra stop on the way home.

 

PS your room steward on any Viking ship will be happy to put a top sheet on the bed for you!

I had no idea you could get a top sheet! Thanks for that. 

 

On the Douro we are doing our own pre and post. We are meeting four friends in Madrid for a week during which we will take in Toledo and Seville. Then post we are head to Lisbon for four days. Everything is booked so we may have to come back for the Compostala. 

[DrKoob]

6 hours ago, Hanoj said:

@DrKoob, did you order room service? If so, did it meet your Steve test?
 

Thank you for your detailed blog posts, and especially your photos post on your travel blog. Just fabulous!
 

We did not order room service on this cruise. Since we were traveling with folks, we always ate together. But on our 2022 Med Cruise we did several meals with room service because we were quarantined. We liked the food but there was a very small selection of entrées at all the meals. You can only eat the same thing so many times. When you add it my bride's shellfish allergy, that further reduced the choices.

 

And thank you for the compliment. You are very welcome. It's a labor of love for cruising, travel and photography. Stick with me, I will do it again in October on the Douro River. 

[harbourside]

10 hours ago, DrKoob said:

1.  There was also an outstanding selection of sushi on the opposite side from the fish...but it was exactly the same EVERY NIGHT! I mean, in 14 days, how often can you eat the same fish dishes or the same sushi? At lunch, that seafood spot was the salad bar. But at night, that went away. That means if you just wanted a salad for dinner, you better like seafood because that's all there was.
   
   T

I sometimes had a salad in the evening on Viking Mars.  The salad bar in the evening was where the Breakfast fruit selection was.   When unable to face food again, a Ceasar Salad made to order from the salad bar was just all I needed.  But I also needed the icecream bar.  On our second to last night I was returning to be table with icecream, and a guy asked me where did I get that from.  He obviously only used one side of the buffet and was not aware, icecream was served on the other dessert side. 

[FoggyEthan]

Re top sheets -- it drives me nuts as well. Very common in Europe but I also see it in the USA. I'll ask for a top sheet and they can usually do it. But if not I'll just take the quilt out of the duvet cover and treat it like a blanket. I admit this can be a little "gross" depending upon just how cootie-squeamish you are, but it's better than waking up all night long.

 

Re getting around airports -- at almost all airports you can pay extra for "VIP" services. It's usually $250-$500 per person per flight leg, so you have to decide if it's worth it. It almost never provides access to a lounge. On arrival they will meet you at the plane and escort you through all processing and get you to your luggage or to your next gate. Or on departures they meet you at the curb and get you to the correct check-in line, through all the process and to the gate.

 

Often / usually they can expedite the security checkpoints, and sometimes immigration and/or check-in. Some airports have their own service -- e.g. at Frankfurt you can pay to be picked up directly from the tarmac and driven to the terminal, if you would need a bus. Dublin has its own service with private rooms to wait in. But most airports you just go with a private company that arranges the service with a local provider. A little google searching should find you the answers.

[LindaS272]

4 minutes ago, FoggyEthan said:

Re top sheets -- it drives me nuts as well. Very common in Europe but I also see it in the USA. I'll ask for a top sheet and they can usually do it. But if not I'll just take the quilt out of the duvet cover and treat it like a blanket. I admit this can be a little "gross" depending upon just how cootie-squeamish you are, but it's better than waking up all night long.

 

Re getting around airports -- at almost all airports you can pay extra for "VIP" services. It's usually $250-$500 per person per flight leg, so you have to decide if it's worth it. It almost never provides access to a lounge. On arrival they will meet you at the plane and escort you through all processing and get you to your luggage or to your next gate. Or on departures they meet you at the curb and get you to the correct check-in line, through all the process and to the gate.

 

Often / usually they can expedite the security checkpoints, and sometimes immigration and/or check-in. Some airports have their own service -- e.g. at Frankfurt you can pay to be picked up directly from the tarmac and driven to the terminal, if you would need a bus. Dublin has its own service with private rooms to wait in. But most airports you just go with a private company that arranges the service with a local provider. A little google searching should find you the answers.

I’ll take the Windsor Suite at Heathrow. Immigration comes to you. 😎🥂

[FoggyEthan]

3 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

I’ll take the Windsor Suite at Heathrow. Immigration comes to you. 😎🥂

At Dublin, the service includes a private immigration line, and the price is actually surprisingly reasonable. It's a separate area just for a few people.

[DrKoob]

1 hour ago, harbourside said:

I sometimes had a salad in the evening on Viking Mars.  The salad bar in the evening was where the Breakfast fruit selection was.   When unable to face food again, a Ceasar Salad made to order from the salad bar was just all I needed.  But I also needed the icecream bar.  On our second to last night I was returning to be table with icecream, and a guy asked me where did I get that from.  He obviously only used one side of the buffet and was not aware, icecream was served on the other dessert side. 

Yes, you could get a Ceasar salad but that was every single night. I want the same salad bar that is available at lunch. But they take it away for the seafood display. I just want more variety from day to day.

[DrKoob]

17 minutes ago, FoggyEthan said:

Re getting around airports -- at almost all airports you can pay extra for "VIP" services. It's usually $250-$500 per person per flight leg, so you have to decide if it's worth it. It almost never provides access to a lounge. On arrival they will meet you at the plane and escort you through all processing and get you to your luggage or to your next gate. Or on departures they meet you at the curb and get you to the correct check-in line, through all the process and to the gate.

 

Often / usually they can expedite the security checkpoints, and sometimes immigration and/or check-in. Some airports have their own service -- e.g. at Frankfurt you can pay to be picked up directly from the tarmac and driven to the terminal, if you would need a bus. Dublin has its own service with private rooms to wait in. But most airports you just go with a private company that arranges the service with a local provider. A little google searching should find you the answers.

We learned a free way to get that same service. Have an injury. Kathleen had hurt her knee during the trip could just not walk the distances at LHR where gates can be miles away. Same coming home to SEATAC. Both places we asked for a wheelchair. WOW! Got us right through everything quickly. But still hate airports.

[aungrl]

13 hours ago, DrKoob said:

What has happened to top sheets?  Everyplace now has a bottom sheet and a duvet/comforter combo. No one has a top sheet anymore. Where did they go?

We've noticed this, as well, and my husband is 100% in your camp.  We end up 'undressing' the duvet and using the cover as a top sheet, which has to create all kinds of work for the staff, but seems to be the only option.  (We always leave a better tip when I've resorted to this!)  Occasionally we've been able to request a top sheet and get one, but less than half the time.  (It was actually the head of housekeeping at a London hotel who first told us just to take the duvet cover off and use that as a top sheet.)