OneSixtyToOne

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Day 1 - “That’s no moon!” A very inauspicious start to our latest journey. We’re sitting in the Delta terminal at LAX waiting for a plane to arrive. It’s late, there’s been an equipment change, our seat assignments are invalid, and we have to wait until an hour before departure for a valid boarding pass and seats. The flight before us is having the same issues. People are complaining that the computer is going to assign a seat when you start boarding. This is a mess. After recent problems with Delta’s computer systems meltdown, visions of the Death Star and “I have a bad feeling about this” crossed my mind. I’ll post an update later.

We took this cruise in the winter last year. There was a rare snowfall covering Mt. Vesuvius. Review of the Viking tours and pictures of Naples start at post 62 We also visited Naples on the Mediterranean Odyssey where we took the Viking tour of Herculaneum. Here is the review starting at post 46

The seating in the restaurant is limited. It’s not designed to seat the entire ship. However, most people eat in the World Cafe exclusively because the nature of expedition cruising is very relaxed and the food is unbelievable great. Reservations should not be hard to come by after people board and see the situation. The World Cafe on expedition ships is unlike Viking Ocean. The food is the best I’ve had on a ship. If you want steak and lobster every night, you can have it. There is a meat case at the grill with cuts of beef, a sushi chef and seafood bar, a bakery, a fresh pasta station, incredible desserts, cold stone custom made ice cream, and all this in addition to the standard buffet fare. We actually canceled our restaurant and Manfredi’s reservations because we enjoyed it so much.

Excursions are refundable if cancelled 48 hours ahead of time, however there is a 72 hour period before your cruise where MVJ is unavailable. So if your excursion is the first or second full day of your cruise, you must cancel before MVJ closes. All others may also be canceled onboard. If you cancel on MVJ, the amount will be refunded based on original payment method. I’ve done it several times as different excursions may become available. As far as credits, I’ve read there is a particular order the website applies them. I’ll let others address it.

To give you an idea of how the toys are deployed, here is a map from our day at Agostini fjord in Chile. Each toy has a designated area. You are transported from the ship to the kayaking site via zodiac. We did a zodiac landing at the glacier and about 45 minutes later, kayakers paddled up the inlet. IMG_5702.mov IMG_5700.mov

We’ve been moved to Deck 5 so no issues with the World Cafe. I contacted Viking about what to do with the pre-printed luggage tags and was told to cross out the room number and write the new one on the tag. Hopefully our luggage finds us in a timely manner.

Why did you dislike the PV1?

No choice. As I indicated, they offered the same deal for a fee last week. Today I received a different email that had ‘“Congratulations” in bold type. Since excursions and dinner reservations had closed, we did not think the upgrade was worth the cost. The upside is free in room alcohol and more space, the downside is we are now port instead of starboard. I suppose I could have called and rejected the offer but I’m not looking a gift horse in the mouth. Also, I’m buying lottery ticket before we leave, just in case. 😉

We just caught a Unicorn!!! We leave Sunday for Iceland's Majestic Landscapes (stay tuned for live posting) and we just received a free upgrade from a DV4 to a PV1. Last week I posted that this cruise was possibly overbooked in the V and/or DV categories as I saw they were selling "Guaranteed" rooms. We received an offer to upgrade to a PV for $500 pp, which I did not respond to. Today we got it for free. The email came from "Yield Management" which means they are in charge of making sure the ship sails as full as possible. This cruise has been heavily promoted in the last few months so IMO the dominoes are falling upward: guaranteed V's moved to DVs, DVs moved to PVs, and possibly PVs moved to PJS. So if you are looking for a Unicorn, don't. They just magically appear.

Here is the website and I found them on Google Maps. https://www.monteverdeinfo.com/cloud-forests

Promo ABS24 https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/promotions.html

It all depends on when you book and when embarkation is. Terms are in the fine print for the promotion. For example here is one current promotion going on now, it may or may not apply to the cruise you are looking at. If you have another booking it’s 6 months. If you don’t, it’s typically more than a year out. Yes we know other cruise lines don’t do this. Viking is not like other cruise lines. 2024: Pay in full by at time of booking if within 120 days of departure. 2025: Pay in full by September 30, 2024. 2026: Pay in full by March 31, 2025. Offer may be withdrawn at any time without prior notice. Offers Expires August 31, 2024.

ANT24

Same on the Octantis. They deployed everything including the submarines.

Viking has one of the highest sailing occupancy rates in the industry so they do things differently. It stems from their origins as a river cruise line. If you have a cruise already booked, they will defer to 6 months. That and a previous sailing discount is in essence their customer loyalty reward program.

The trick is to select “Topics” in the search window and that allows you to select the Viking Ocean forum. If you leave it at the “All” default, the entire site is searched and that is pretty much useless.

Other than the Panama Canal transit, I don’t think there is much happening on that leg.

Do the Chilean fjords instead, especially if you think Antarctica might be a bit too extreme, it’s the closest you’ll get to experience a true expedition experience.

Also of note, if you do order something that needs to be cooked such as steak, salmon, or an omelet you can ask for it to be brought to your table.

One other thing about the V&A. They have the enormous full sized cartoons Raphael created to weave the famous tapestries he designed for the Sistine Chapel. Don’t miss them.

We visited Bayeaux and saw the tapestry on a Viking River cruise to Normandy. It was amazing. If you ever have the opportunity to take their Commonwealth excursion instead of the America oriented excursion, you visit Bayeaux. It was fantastic and there were only eight people on the tour as everyone wanted to go to Omaha Beach instead. On that particular river cruise we were on the Oxford extension, took the Chunnel to London, and did the whole Downton Abbey experience. That included privileged access before all the tourists arrived. There is a copy of the tapestry in the stairwells of Viking Ocean ships. They typically do an educational tour of it lead by the resident historian. They usually schedule it on a sea day. Check with guests services because if offered, you sign up for it after boarding. London Walks does a great overview tour of the British Museum. You skip the line and use the group entrance. The walk concludes in the Museum where you can continue viewing the collections at your own pace. We took it when we were there last summer. It was our third time to the museum and we learned so much about the museum that we never knew. For example one great room full of bookcases and no books was originally built to house King James’s library. That collection is now the glass enclosed centerpiece of the British Library, another place that you should visit. One other place I highly recommend is the Imperial War Museum. They operate Churchill’s war rooms, which are worth seeing, but the main museum on Lambeth Road is phenomenal. I’m a former museum president and IMO it has some of the best exhibits I’ve ever seen in the world. https://www.iwm.org.uk For day trips, two places on your list should be Hampton Court and Windsor Castle, both are easily accessible by train.

From your handle, I assume you’re into quilting. The Victoria & Albert Museum has a fantastic collection of quilts and textiles. The V&A is a must see for a lot of reasons. https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/quilting-and-patchwork

There is a thread about the Oslo Began train extension here: We will be on the train in a couple of weeks and I will be doing a review. Check back in a few days as we start our trip to Iceland as I’ll be live posting. As far as London, I guess it depends on what interests you. The Courtauld Institute has an incredible Impressionism art collection as well as an amazing collection of pietra dura. https://courtauld.ac.uk It’s a short train ride to Bletchley Park where the Enigma code was broken and is the birthplace of the modern computer. https://bletchleypark.org.uk Take the tube to Uxbridge and visit the Battle of Britain Bunker https://battleofbritainbunker.co.uk We always take one or more London Walks tour when there. They feature some very offbeat tours. You don’t need reservations for most of them. Just show up at the meeting point at the designated time. They are always entertaining and Informative. One offbeat walk we enjoyed a lot was Brunel’s London. After a trip down the Thames, we went to the site of the first tunnel built under the Thames and entered one of the old ventilation shafts. It was fascinating. https://www.walks.com For one of the most quirky places in London, visit Sir John Soane’s mansion. https://www.soane.org The Silver Vaults are worth a visit. https://silvervaultslondon.com

You are correct. They also may deploy the “toys” on other days if conditions warrant. We had a SOB ride during a port stop. Also, one of glaciers (Agostini?) allows for a zodiac landing near it. That is the best one to sign up for the zodiac excursion. The Scenic Sailing is unlike ocean in that you are in the fjords close to land and there will be people on deck looking for wildlife. If there is a sighing, they may maneuver the ship to get a better view. We saw whales, dolphins, and penguins in the water. Here is my review of the trip (opposite direction of yours)