JohYo

On 1/9/2022 at 12:11 AM, donaldsc said:

 

I am one of those who basically believe that a ship is just a big bus that gets me to places that I want to visit.  Of course I don't want a totally bad old ship with lousy food and nothing to do between places but given that most ships are basically comfortable etc., I really don't don't care about most of the ship board atmosphere. 

 

I am not interested in trivia.  I am not interested in the movies that they show as I don't do movies on land.  I don't shop on board.  I don't play bingo.  I don't go to the spa.  On the sea days that I find basically boring, I usually sit and read unless there is a good lecture and most of the ship board lectures are where to shop or what places to visit.  The places that they say you should shop at are the ones that have paid to be mentioned in the shopping lectures.  I have already researched the places that I want to visit and have arranged to visit them on a private tour.

 

So why do I cruise instead of fly.  The main reason is that a ship is an efficient and cost effective way of getting from point A to point B to point C to point D etc.  If I just want to get from point A to point B and stay at point B for a while, going by air is far superior to going by ship. 

 

Also, in many cases I would be far better flying to point A and then driving to points B, C and D.  I can think of one trip to New Zealand where I wanted to do a driving vacation and my wife wanted to do a cruise we did a cruise.  There were several instances where it took the ship almost a full day to get from point A to point B while I could have driven it in 3 or 4 hours seeing scenery on the way.  Also, there are almost no New Zealand to New Zealand cruises and almost every New Zealand cruise starts in New Zealand and ends up in Australia which wastes a full day getting from New Zealand to Australia.  That said, there are places in New Zealand and places in the Chilean Fjords that can only be done by ship.

 

So will I continue to cruise - yes.  The reason is that sometimes going by ship is the best way for me to see the stuff that I want to see and  more importantly my wife doesn't want to be packing and unpacking every day.  Also, that fact that I am getting older is a point in favor of ships.  In my younger days, we did land trips varying in length from 1 months to 3 or 4 months.  I don't think that I would want to do that now.  I would like to pick 3 or 4 places that are interesting and stay in each place for a week or so but I have not convinced my wife of this.

 

One last thing.  We have booked 3 cruises in late 2022 and early 2023.  One is a B2B cruise on a Star Clipper sailboat in the Greek Islands because spending 2 weeks on a full rigged sailboat in the Greek Islands sounds really cool followed by 8 days on a Viking river boat in southern France because I have never been on a Viking river boat or in southern France.  In early 2023 we are doing 10 days on a Viking ocean ship in the Caribbean not because I am interested in the Caribbean but I want to see what the Viking ocean ships are like.

 

Sorry for the long winded post.

 

DON

Hello Don

Because you like driving, I think you would love touring Italy that way (by automobile). They tail- gate, speed and are very impatient drivers but you'll get use to it in a couple days as long as you stay aggressive in your driving to 'fit in' 😉

We spent a few weeks driving from north to south and staying at fantastic AirBNBs. Because you've probably seen the larger cities like Rome, Venice etc., on past cruises, the Italian experience in small towns and countryside will be thoroughly enjoyable to you both. A much easier pace that you control and the Italian people are wonderfully kind and accommodating. Their food is simply prepared and delicious in so many ways! Do your research and go there. It's the only country in the world that my wife said she would love to tour again by car.

Cheers,

Johnny

Thanks TxCityKat

As you've suggested, I'll merge my 2 treads.

Turtles06 must be a fast scroller! I don't have the patience for that!

I'll change the date format which will help make it easier to locate said thread and remove the South Africa thread (I don't know where that Roll Call came from)

I'm not expecting any replies for at least another 6 months.

In my past Roll Calls (Japan, Baltics, Alaska etc.) I received most of my replies withing 1 month of departures making it difficult/rushed to organize independent excursions. Hopefully responses for this cruise will improve as my research indicates, there are many opportunities throughout this cruise for independent tours/excursions.

Thanks Again

Johnny

I've started a roll call 'Amazon Viking Star - 11/29/2020' but it does not show up on the Viking Star roll call forum. I can locate my roll call looking in my profile settings. My concern is that if I cannot easily view the roll call, others can't thus I will not get responses from people on the same cruise.There are two roll calls posted. I want to see my Roll call on the same page - am I missing something? Posted roll calls existing are ...Viking Star Roll Call - November 1, 2020

and Viking Star Roll Call - November 29, 2020

Hello Momilani

We are looking to book on Dec., 24, 2019 'Magnificent Mekong' and have only one concern for now. Insect repellant. While the bugs don't usually bother me much, my wife is a bug magnet and swells terribly when bit. What do you recommend?

Thanks,

Johnny & Yvonne,

Toronto, Canada

Thanks Mark,

My wife is a bug magnet and really swells up when bit! It's a serious problem (insect bites) for her. There is some very good repellant with high deet (I think around 10 or 12 deet?) that is available but if you have info on what the locals recommend, I'd like to know that.

The insects don't often bother much with me (I think it's my Irish blood :p!)

We just got back from a road trip around the Netherlands and Belgium with my 2 daughters and brother-in-law and everyone got a lot of insect bites throughout the trip. I got one bite on the last day - lucky me!

Good info about the ship as well.

Did the ship retain an on-board doctor? We both got very ill earlier this year on a Viking Nile cruise and the on-board doctor saved us big-time!

I'm also thinking about booking my own flights this time as we seem to have better luck when we do this on our own. There is also a $ savings as Vikings fares are inflated somewhat to cover their advertised reduced air fare and airport transfers to hotels and/or ships.

Having said that, Vikings airport transfers are usually very good and stress-free!

As I research this trip more I will probably get in touch with you again.

Thanks again,

Johnny

Hello Highland Dancer

We are looking to book this cruise for Dec 24, 2019 and would love to hear about you experiences on this cruise.

THX,

Johnny & Yvonne,

Toronto, Canada

Hello Tring

Have you completed your cruise? If yes, any concerns?

We want to book with Viking for Dec. 24th 2019 sailing 'Magnificent Mekong'

I was thinking on booking my own flights as Viking has disappointed us on two previous cruise flight bookings.

THX,

Johnny & Yvonne,

Toronto, Canada