Heidi13

This is an interesting question, as the Canadian Coasting Trade Act isn't as cut & dried as the US equivalent, which is the Passenger Vessel Services Act. The Jones Act is the US Cabotage Laws for cargo. Viking recently came afoul of the Canadian Act on the Octantis, when pax booked B2B cruises, which meant embarkation and disembarkation in a Canadian Port, which is contrary to the Act. A quick summary of the Canadian Act - it states no foreign flag ship may transport passengers between Canadian Ports, if a Canadian Flag vessel is available. The owner of the Foreign-Flag vessel needs to request approval of the Minister of Transport, who must promulgate the request to determine if any Canadian tonnage provides or can provide the service. In the absence of Canadian tonnage, requests are normally approved. I worked this coast for 30 years and we have no Canadian tonnage for this route. R/T Alaska cruises have taken place on Foreign-Flag cruise ships out of Vancouver since the 1970's, as I worked the Island Princess and then Sun Princess Alaska seasons in '79 & '80. Other cruise lines also offer R/T cruises from Vancouver and we have booked at least 4 B2B Vancouver - Whittier - Vancouver cruises on Princess over the years. However, I am not privy to whether the cruise lines get a blanket approval, or each has to request approval of the Minister. If each cruise line must apply, all Viking need have done is submit a timely request. For B2B from Seward, this is a closed loop cruise from a US port, so the US PVSA applies. Provided the cruise visits Vancouver, it is in compliance with the Act. Summary - while the B2B out of Vancouver should be OK, it is not a definite yes, you should have no problems with a B2B from Seward.

We tend to stick with a cruise line that works for us. Spent 40 years, both working for and then cruising as a pax with what is now a mega ship mainstream cruise line. Ditched them in 2015 after a terrible World Cruise. After our final cruise with them, we spent a couple of years researching options, finally selecting a smaller ship cruise line that is our current preference. They will continue as our preferred cruise line until their standards don't meet our expectations.

Welcome to Viking. TA's are supposed to follow Viking policy document which states they should not sell below the Viking posted fares on the website. Therefore, the TA that contacted you should not be under selling the website prices. With respect to using a TA or Viking direct, I always use a TA, transferring the booking even if we make them on board. When you experience issues, a TA is invaluable. The TA's are also limited by the Viking policy on the amount of OBC they can provide, which is based on the length of the cruise.

First of all, welcome to Cruise Critic. Wow, an all encompassing first question. My suggestion is to spend some time going through many of the old threads, as you will find lots of this information included. Unfortunately the search function isn't the best. Having completed 2 full Alaska season in 70's & 80's and a number of more recent cruises as a pax I have been many times from Vancouver. My suggestion is to forget about cruise lines until you research and determine your Alaska priorities, which could include: Are you interested in a pre-cruise excursion Are you happy with the mainstream SE Alaska ports (Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway) or do you want to visit smaller ports and Prince William Sound Glaciers - how many glaciers do you want to cruise and is Glacier Bay a must see. Personally, I have been in Glacier Bay well over a couple dozen times and have never failed to see the glaciers. The Ranger talks are also most interesting. I have missed other glaciers due to ice, which includes Hubbard. Wildlife - whales normally there for most of the season. Fish run starts about end June/early July Daylight - end of June is best, but May to mid/end August is OK Weather - May on average is driest, avoid September Routing - my preference is the full Inside Passage route favoured by the smaller ships. If mega ship (>1,500 pax) is your preference, I would favour Vancouver as those ships spend some time in the Inside Passage. Seattle ships go up and down the Pacific Ocean, west of Vancouver Island Time in port - not all cruises are equal. Again the Seattle ships have more distance to travel and must spend time in Victoria. So they must run at higher speed or spend less time in Alaska ports Personally. I prefer 1-way southbound cruises with Prince William Sound, possibly a stop in Valdez, Sitka, Glacier Bay and the other regular SE Alaska ports.

If your cruise left from the USA, you would require a negative COVID test to enter the country and then whatever requirement the cruise line has. Since you are entering Canada, no negative COVID test is required for fully vaccinated arrivals, as of last month. However, you must still comply with the cruise line's requirements. How I read the requirements, Canada now has less requirements than if you left from the USA.

Shade can be increased based on the ship's design, but smaller ships have less pax vying for the shade areas. On our preferred smaller ship cruise line, I have never seen a shortage of space in the shade.

Just stumbled onto my most recent list, so thought I would cut and paste. This is just a summary, the actual document was more comprehensive. I developed an extensive "Statement of Requirements" listing everything that was a must have and others that were optional/preferences. Some of our requirements that we included: # pax - looking for 750 - 1250. Too small restricts entertainment options Pax space ratio (GT/pax) - prefer > 50, but no less than 40 Pax/crew ratio - prefer 2:1, or better Meals (MDR) - quality meals, with options for destination menus Alternative restaurants - couple of options, with preference to no additional fees Cabin service - must be available 24/7, with preference to costs being included in fare Entertainment - not interested in wacky pool games, marriage games, etc. Prefer small group of singers/dancers supplemented with guest entertainers. Lectures - focus on destination Spa suite - preference if included Laundry - since we do longer cruises, must have pax laundry. Preference if included Wifi - preference if included Kids - preference if none Casino - never use, so preference if none Art Auctions, Photogs, Shops expanding into public spaces - not interested Port/sea day ratio - I did develop a minimum ratio, but don't recall the numbers Hours in port - again, I developed a minimum number of average hours in port, but don't recall the numbers

When out walking, I have seen the HoHo bus pass Ogden Point Cruise Terminal. However, most of the ships arrive late afternoon and the service shuts down about 18:00 to 19:00 Best to check their website schedule for bus arrival times to determine if it is worth it.

After 40 years both working for and cruising with Princess, their 2015 World Cruise was our last with them. We have since completed another WC with Viking and have another booked for next year. Prior to booking our first Viking cruise, I researched numerous cruise lines, starting with our "Statement of Requirements" of what we want from a cruise line. Since no cruise line will meet all our requirements, our list included "Must haves" and "Nice to haves" With respect to port intensive, may I suggest that you check more than just the ratio of ports/sea days, as the total number of hours in port is also a key indicator. Another consideration is how many overnights and how many double overnights in a port. Having 1 or 2 overnights is when you really get a chance to tour a port. Also, when they have overnights, are they ports of real interest, or did the cruise line include them for overland tours and/or end of segments. Segments are also a key factor on World Cruises. Most cruise lines are unable to fill a ship for the entire cruise, so sell segments to fill the ship. Segments can create a completely different atmosphere on a World Cruise, which can be either positive or negative. As the cruise approaches, they may even sell new shorter segments to fill the last cabins. On our 2015 Princess WC, to fill the last cabins on departure Sydney, they sold fares for: Sydney - Melbourne Sydney - Freemantle Melbourne - Freemantle Our current preferred cruise line does not require segments on their World Cruise, with our 2022/23 WC being entirely sold out for a year already, and it doesn't sail until Jan 2023. After our last Princess cruise, the "Rig of the Day" was a key factor for us. We have always enjoyed dressing up for formal nights and when I worked the ships, every evening was formal. However, the standards have seriously eroded, to where shorts, tank top and flip flops were acceptable dinner attire in the restaurant. For this reason, our preference is now no formal nights, but with dinner being smart casual. To summarise, rather than suggesting the cruise line that meets our needs, I suggest doing the research to find one that meets the most of your expectations. I note in other similar threads, I have included a summary of some of the criteria we used.

Book the shore-ex on MVJ. Once you select the tours head to checkout and they will apply the cost from your vouchers, or OBC (if applicable to shore-ex). Any outstanding balance will be charged to a credit card. Please remember, when selecting shore-ex and placing in your cart, they are not actually confirmed until you complete the checkout process. On longer cruise, some pax have selected tours and by the time they went to the checkout, some tours were sold out.

You also have employment experience where you hopefully have an employer that provided training, appropriate sized masks and additional levels of protection. My comment on masks are also based on my experience and science. Our HSE rules required an annual fit test and seal test with an irritant spray. If you could smell it you failed, since the mask wasn't working. Yes, I wore a mask diligently and endeavoured to create the best seal possible, but I was under no illusion that the mask provided the 100% protection, I attained with masks at work. For that reason alone, the mask was only a single layer of protection. Most of the general public have no training and many of the masks I observed were too small, badly fitted or of an inappropriate material to provide any meaningful protection.

This is hardly an effective point to raise, as the US CDC has never agreed with Viking's COVID policy, since it was first promulgated in December 2020. The US CDC has never equalled Viking's standards for daily testing or even 100% vaccinations.

If you have that much faith in a mask, then I suggest it is a fairly safe bet that you have never worn a mask in an environment that is dangerous to life and health. Having worked in environments on Chemical Tankers where 1 breath meant death, I don't have the same level of faith in the average COVID mask. Prior to wearing a mask at work, we required training, fitting (mask sizing), testing and a mandatory requirement of being clean shaven. Yes, masks can and do work, but they must fit properly and most importantly, they must seal properly. In addition, the filter, or fabric must be appropriate for the risk. When wearing a mask, if you can smell anything, the mask isn't working. Most masks that I see people wearing are providing minimal protection. At best, they are a single layer of a multi-layer protection, in accordance with the swiss-cheese model of risk management.

When quoting something, I suggest including all the relevant information. I noted that it did not include any scientific data, but was based on the experience of having about 1,000 people on a ship for over 4 months. Yes, I agree it is somewhat far-fetched, but you can't dispute the results experienced, especially over the past 6 weeks when they have docked almost every day. As you noted, nobody knows the virus load required to infect others, so in the absence of such data, the Viking Star experience provides a reasonable experience.

If you have booked with a TA, I believe the menu option to see your Guest Statement is not available in MVJ. Port arrival departure times are available in the calendar section of MVJ.

Since the Brazil incident was this year, I expect that pax were vaccinated. It wasn't just a single ship, it was multiple cruise ships, with 2 of them quarantined. I suspect we clearly have a different definition of "Safe". Making everything 100% safe is neither practical nor ecumenically feasible, hence the reason risk management is all about risk mitigation. I suggest you review the situation on Viking Star, where the same pax have been aboard the vessel for 4 months already. One of the pax wrote an interesting article in his daily blog post, with respect to the COVID situation on board. Although they did go a couple of months COVID free, the ship has experienced a number of COVID infections on board, but lately they are not experiencing any onboard transmission. Having zero on onboard transmission disputes your statement that people have already infected others before they test positive. It might not be scientific, but it is real life data with about 1,000 people on a cruise ship for an extended period. The blog post also notes Viking's response to a question, "Why they don't quarantine close contacts anymore", is because their PCR test identifies the virus before it is contagious. Again, it didn't provide any supported scientific data, but it is proven on the ship. Personally, I look for real life examples and the current situation on the Viking Star seems to be working well, so I for one have no issue with Viking maintaining the non-invasive testing regime.

And that in a nutshell is why Viking still do daily testing. COVID will continue to come aboard cruise ships. With an older demographic and no masks or social distancing, the daily testing helps to mitigate the risks of further spread, as has happened on other ships. I suspect Viking are trying to prevent the same as happened in Brazil, where the authorities quarantined 2 entire ships and suspended cruise ship operations from all their ports.

In most ports the pax return on board is 1/2 hr before the posted departure time. You will find this information published in the Viking Daily, along with contact details for the Ship's Agent. Departing the vessel, at the gangway, you will also find a board posted listing the all-aboard time

We have used Luggage Forward. Brilliant service, as they ship the package to you 6 - 8 weeks ahead of the cruise. They have clear instructions, especially pertaining to prohibited items. Note - they do check the cases and remove anything prohibited. They provided a 3-hr pick-up window on our preferred day, which was about 3 weeks before the cruise. Handed the cases to the driver at home and next saw them in the cabin.

Aft end of Dk 2 is often well sheltered and has lots of space so as not to impede the walkers/joggers.

While weather is never guaranteed, September is not the best time to cruise Alaska - increased chance of rain and early season storms. You also have increasingly shorter days. I did 2 consecutive Alaska seasons and both of the 70 kt storms we encountered were in September. However, the previous week was blue skies. Departing from Seattle, you will head up the West Coast of Vancouver Island in open ocean. On the return, you do Victoria, then Vancouver, so the assumption is you will again bypass the Inside Passage for the open ocean trip south. Last season, I recall we has an early storm that impacted some ships. Ports are good, but note they are all in SE Alaska, since none of the mega ships out of Seattle goes up to the spectacular Prince William Sound.

Only if you fill them and aren't in a suite😁

Even if not posted before embarkation, the onboard Shore-ex team, work wonders in ensuring you can book the tours you want. On the current WC, few, if any shore-ex were available before embarkation. Tours for many of the ports were released in tranches, at a couple of times throughout the cruise. During our last cruise, the itinerary changed so much, the shore-ex often changed daily, sometimes multiple time per day. The Shore-ex team worked wonders with the multiple challenges provided. I have no doubt your ship's shore-ex team will be as diligent, and once onboard everything will be resolved.

I print the Calendar from MVJ, which shows all your reservations and post that day's schedule on the cabin bulkhead. That page can be used to prove a reservation.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Having spent many months in the Meddy, you can expect anything from smooth seas to Gale/Storm Force winds, with seas of 20'. If concerned, bring your current meds and hopefully you will not require them. BTW - DW uses the wrist bands as her 1st level of defence, and they work for her, up to moderate seas. However, the positioning of the bands is critical.