CDNPolar

Here is a video.... Even though he says that bathing suits are required in the sauna - nobody is policing that.

You are NOT supposed to take pictures in the spa area... some do, but technically, it is not allowed. These are just off of Google but you can also find Viking videos that showcase the spa. Are you thinking of taking a Viking Cruise? We have been on six now and we have three booked in the future.

The Viking Spa is set up this way: Men's change room has Men only sauna and cold plunge pool. Nice relaxation area and nice change rooms and showers. Not huge... 2 showers only. Never that busy. The open wet area is coed. Large hot jetted pool - perhaps 18 X 24 feet Steam room Snow Grotto Ice water Bucket shower regular shower lounge chairs So the only "private" non coed is the mens locker with the sauna and plunge pool

Our trip on the Nansen this past January...

I know - what a life.... I feel your "hate".... Haha

We were the most diligent of all on board I am sure. We did NOT eat anything that was not provided by the ship or the hotel. Odd thing is that we were the only 2 of 70 people that got sick... so where did it come from? We will never know. Our friends doctor felt it was the falafel and my doctor thought it was dairy related, but the day of the falafel on the ship, we all ate it. The night before me getting sick the only dairy was cheesecake for dessert, and everyone was served cheesecake. Again, I was the only one. It will remain a mystery.

I know right? We are big Viking fans. This was a Viking ship in the large Spa open room. We have never felt any negative attitude towards us, and I believe that this was just a passing comment that anyone would make in jest... but I should have been more forward and clarified for them how is the "bread winner" in the relationship. I am certain however that they did not think we heard them.

I don't know if I mentioned this anywhere before or not, but I had a great "internal laugh" because my husband is quite a bit younger than me, and he is Asian, so he looks even younger than he is... We were in the spa on the ship and my husband was in the giant hot pool, and I was moving between the steam room and the snow grotto and a comment was overheard that I don't think was supposed to be and that was: Directed to me. - He is the "sugar daddy". Well, that just made me laugh, because in reality my husband makes quite a bit more money that I do annually, so in actual fact, it is the other way around. We have never yet experienced any overt discrimination, in fact the opposite, we have felt quite welcomed.

Exactly - they are filling their ships. Why would they reward return passengers.... I am still waiting for my reply that I asked for in writing. Viking have called me now three times when I could not answer the phone, and so they are NOT giving me an answer in writing to a simple question about how these vouchers can be used. I will call back again. After three calls they gave up.

We were on the Nile cruise with friends. 12 days total with 8 nights on the ship and 4 in port at a high end hotel in Cairo. We were told very directly when picked up from the airport that they did NOT recommend us eating or drinking outside of the hotel or ship. We could if we wanted to, but they highly recommended that we did not. On the second last full day on the ship of 70 guests, our friend doubled over in pain and had vomiting and diarrhoea. Bad to the point that the ship called a doctor. Pain injections and anitspasmodics and antibiotics. 3-4 hours after the doctor visit she felt "human" again and was fine to leave the ship the 2 days later. 24 hours after leaving the ship, I woke early - 4am - in the hotel and had diarrhoea symptoms. This was the day of the Pyramids and yes, I had to miss it. I did not have the pain that our friend had. Our tour guide was checking on me through my husband throughout the day and because I was not getting better, the tour guide called the hotel and the hotel called in a doctor. Doctor and Nurse arrived with a big bag and an IV pole. IV with antispasmodics, and the pharmacy delivered 3 boxes of pills, and 90 minutes later they left me in my room to recover. The pills were two types of antibiotics and one antispasmodic. Neither doctor could say exactly what caused our symptoms, but the interesting thing is that of the 70 people that spent 12 days together, we were the only two that got sick. No one else was even mildly sick. Doctor "laughed" at me when I showed him Immodium and said, this will never work in Egypt. I asked the doctor how many tourists he sees and he said that "This is my business". $200 UDS for my hotel / house call and $10 for the meds. I have been told that there is an Egyptian cure for this but no one named it. Just be very careful with what you eat and drink and from where in Egypt.

The news now is definitely calling it Norovirus.

If this is Norovirus, which it likely is, there is no cure, you just have to let it take its course. Not sure if Pepto or Immodium would do anything for you or not. I got something in Egypt that the Egyptian doctor laughed when I mentioned Immodium, as it did nothing. Literally no change after many doses. WE MUST CONTINUE to wash our hands, and Norovirus is passed because people are not washing their hands after using the restroom and then touching utensils on the buffet and door handles. Disgusting. How is it spread? Noroviruses are very contagious. They are found in the stool (feces) or vomit of infected people. From there, noroviruses are transferred to food, water, or surfaces by the hands of infected people who have not washed adequately after using the bathroom.

Thanks for your comments. We will likely book the extension privately as we can do so for half the price and achieve the same.

Why did you enjoy this more? Because it was all India? Were the ports on the cruise not interesting enough?

There was a poster on CC before our Antarctic cruise that indicated that Hurtigruten changed their cabin - to an upgrade - when they arrived at the ship. We did NOT like this. I am not in this for a free upgrade or a paid upgrade - as we spend time and effort booking our preferred cabin by number and location on the ship. (I know some folks on here will think this silly). We wanted the cabin we booked. So, we called our TA and she spoke with her Hurtigruten Rep and they INSISTED that Hurtigruten NEVER do this... so I can only suppose that the poster on CC lied? No. I think that there may be a chance for you to get an upgrade just before sailing, but with our cruise, the ship was not full - and down at least 100 passengers from full capacity. No upgrades were offered that we were aware of. Yes, we spend a lot of time choosing our cabin, but regardless of the cruise we are on, we only spend time in the cabin to sleep, shower, dress and then we are on a deck where we can have 360 view not on our balcony. The views on the deck while sailing around the Continent were spectacular from the top deck, and you only got a small view from the balcony. You get a "snapshot" view from the balcony but you still have to dress like you were going to the top deck. Here is our XTD cabin 829 on the FN

Happy to hear JamieLogical that your friends are moving ahead. Personally as a gay man that grew up through the 70's and 80's and lived through so much discrimination and fight to get to where we are today, I sometimes think that we all have to be realistic that change in these areas does NOT happen overnight. There are some great and thoughtful responses here that make me think and addressing things that I did not think of initially such as immigration requirements to countries where only M and F exist as legal designations... makes you think. As much as I take for granted as a Canadian that the world is open and accepting because Canada is, the fact is that it is not. My husband and I realize without a doubt that there are many countries that we have traveled to and will travel to that we could be arrested and imprisoned just for the fact that we love each other and are a couple. Unfortunately the world does not move in step... I have a question though, for those that have a gender X on their passport, drivers license, etc., are there countries that you might not be able to enter now because they don't recognize that gender X? I don't know this and I am curious of this. Does the Canadian government when issuing a passport with gender X give you a run down of countries where this might not be accepted? Can you arrive at a country and be denied entry because you have gender X on your passport? As an over 60 gay man who again, lived through the fight in Canada and now has a wonderful life because of that fight, I don't know some of these things. I am a live and let live individual. I don't pretend to understand an individuals feelings or choice to not declare themselves as male or female, because I don't have those feelings, but I believe that every person has the right to be who they feel they are inside. Again, happy your friends will be cruising. I hope for them it is an amazing experience.

On an antarctic cruise you don't need to overpack. There is no formal. Everyone arrives for dinner in sweats and shorts and t-shirts. You see people at breakfast wearing the same gear at dinner.

Yes, we did have a solid balcony from the railing down which was the RED LINE from outside the ship. To be honest, we never really noticed that we did not have glass all the way down. We spent more time on the top deck when viewing and cruising than ever in our cabin which is the norm for us. If we were not on the top deck outside - where we can get 360 view - we were in the lounge sitting on one of the sides looking out.... But this may be a deal breaker for you.

I also don't think that I would be afraid of the cabin you have - 722. As per the other response, that elevator is near the front of the ship and not heavily used as the main elevator bank is direct access to the restaurant and that is most heavily used. We also noted that many people - including ourselves - just used the stairs more.

Are you on the Fridtjof Nansen? Are the cabins smaller on 7 than 8? No, not really, you are in an XT cabin and the same cabin category on deck 8 is the same size. Deck 8 also has ME category that is bigger. We were in 829 which is an XTD category. We chose this cabin because first it is as close to mid ship for the Drake Passage as you can get, and if you look at the configuration of the cabin it is wide rather than deep. The balcony is 15 feet (or more) wide and you have the equivalent of 3+ sets of windows that the deep cabins only have one or two... This balcony and window set was perfect for viewing as we just had more space. If available to change, I would personally from our experience go with the XTD 721, 721, 728, or 730 - these are well back from the elevator lobby and we heard no noise from anything. Also the wide nature of the cabin was in our opinion far superior to the deep cabin.

Call Viking Air Plus and ask them for the number and then you have it.

We were on deck 8, BUT, I never once saw anyone in the wellness centre. Not once, and we did go past there regularly because we always took the stairs. The other thing is the Hurtigruten deck plans are mis-leading. Our cabin "looked" like it was part of the elevator lobby on the deck plan but in actuality it was so far away that it had no bearing on noise that could have come from the elevator or stairs lobby. I would suggest that you name the ship and the cabin number so we know exactly where you are and hopefully someone else has stayed in that cabin or beside. Also what Itinerary you are sailing? We did Antarctica on Fidtjof Nansen and I think that we were either in the Drake Passage when no one was about, or we were gazing at the beauty of Antarctica and no one was exercising. The other thing is the Hurtigruten forum is not high traffic... be patient for an answer.

Call the cruise line and ask them why they ask this....?

If you booked the flights through Viking Air, then Viking have an emergency number you can call 24 hours if you run into problems. I don't have it at my fingertips now but there is one. Call Viking Air yourself and ask them - they will guide you. The airline won't help you - I don't think - as if there are changes, Viking was the one that paid for the flights and they have to fix anything.

I personally believe that this is just "age old" standards that companies ask this for demographic statistics. On cruise lines, I don't particularly get it because most (high percentage) are couples that travel together and some would be families. Does it matter? No, not really. I have been after my company and some providers for many years now to at least add an "Other" category that someone could choose, but still nothing happens. I wrote Viking Cruise Lines last year after a cruise where every entertainment event and every Resident Historian lecture has countless "Ladies and Gentlemen" throughout the presentation. I asked that they consider that in today's world, they should not be so limiting in how they are addressing an audience and that this was not inclusive. I was not surprised in the fact that I did not get any response from that email. Not even a thank you we will consider it. I truly believe that this is a marketing statistic thing and no one has given it any thought at the cruise line. I understand why your friends would be upset by this but in my opinion (don't hate on me for this) Rome was not built in a day and we cannot expect that every organization will move with the times.