SantaFe1

We have had a solo guitarist on every one of our eight VO cruises. Varying ability. But we had one on the Star last month. I wonder if your glitch was just a contract confusion? We usually enjoy the guitarist in EL.

And the TV in your stateroom, of course.

I’m pretty sure we don’t have any 50s. Maybe a 20 and some 5s and 10s. But what you are saying is that if I gave them to a cab driver at the airport s/he wouldn’t take them? I do believe we have always used a CC for a cab at Heathrow anyway. Am I wrong about this?

Thank you. I read something about this yesterday, and really didn’t quite know what it meant. I think we will just get Pounds when I arrive in London. I think we have a few in the safe anyway from previous trips.

I see that that the $ to £ rate is not that good anyway. And B of A is even worse. But I might get $100 in £5 notes for tipping. I have to check, I think we have a few pounds in he safe, but probably not small notes.

I have done this on a WC, but would prefer not to do that when most of the cruise is one currency.

I don’t know where to ask this, so this is always a good place for seasoned travelers. I want have small bills in pounds (£5) for tipping on excursions. On our trip ending last week to Hawaii, the ship would change large bills into smaller ones. But that was $US to $ US basically. Does anyone know if I can change £20 or 50 notes for 5s on the ship? Or should I just order a bunch of small notes from B of A before we go? TIA.

Yes. They did this last year when they raised the price of the package.

I had a glass of Jacquart on the SSBPone night. The package covers drinks up tom$18 now, I believe. I didn’t like it that much. We also had a bottle in our frig. We never opened it. We had wine delivered instead. On some cruises they have taken the sparkling wine out in order to give us wine. On this one, they just left the Jacquart, which probably tells you something…

I absolutely agree. They are wonderful, and when we had to cancel in 2020 due to the emergence, they promptly refunded, including the timed ticket to La Sagrada Familia.

Last week on Star we had the Mexican menu while in Mexico. It was an octopus tostado, chicken tamale, a granita I don’t remember, beef short rib off the bone in molé, and three chocolate dessert. All good but the short rib which was over cooked and just smothered in this thick, gooey sauce.

Wow, what a nice and really helpful thing for you to do. I’m not on this WC, but I think you will have helped so many. Kudos to you and your husband!

Wow, that’s quite a dilemma. On our WC we spent weeks pondering what to do. We ending up not getting YF but getting malaria. But I really had to think and research for a couple of weeks. Good luck with whatever you decide.

The Kruger excursions were optional and offered as 2 or 3 day safaris. They were several thousand dollars, but we had more than enough Viking OBC given as a WC perk to pay for them. We had to go from our docking at Mozambique on a bus into SA, and then go through a rather diligent customs there, then on a different bus and into the Park. We had a late afternoon Safari and an early morning Safari the next day. They were excellent!!! Then on a bus to the airport where we flew to meet the ship in Durban. We also did a day trip Safari at Bandia outside Dakar and didn’t enjoy it that much. As your friend said, really not a Safari. Our WC also had an overland excursion of maybe 5 days. We did not take it. But again, except for Mozambique, where many people did not leave the ship, and Dakar, where i wouldn’t leave the ship if I had it to do over again, we really enjoyed our trip up the W coast of Africa.

We did much of this on our 2019 WC, going across the Indian Ocean from Australia. We really enjoyed Africa and our two day Safari in Kruger. Only place we didn’t enjoy was Dakar. Glad they finally told you!

Oh, I hate to hear this, from both of you.

My husband also had it and didn’t bother to finish it. A big, dry slab of meat on the plate. I only tasted a small bite, but the tomato sauce had the distinctive taste of being canned. My seafood risotto, which is a favorite, was also just inedible. They served it on a flat dinner plate instead of a shallow bowl, so it did t look very appetizing to begin with. And the rice was just tasteless, and the seafood almost nonexistent. It was like eating the proverbial wallpaper paste. Now I make risotto in some form almost once a month, straight from recipes from Marcella Hazan. And we go to Milan just to eat risotto, so I think I know real Italian risotto. But I’m sure some liked both of these things, so each to their own.

Sail in!

We tried the new menu in Manfredis last night, menu #4. And like most others really missed the old menu. This is most definitely NOT Italian. We were told that about 90% complained about the change in menu. I hope we get another menu in May for our BIE cruise.

We arrive a couple hours late, but the shore ex team has miraculously saved most if,not all of the excursions, getting them pushed back a few hours. It is stormy looking out right now, but the sun is supposed to shine all day, and 75 degrees. Sure beats winter!

Yes! Maybe that’s it. I’ll try tomorrow, although by then we will be in port. Thanks.

I think they serve very safe renditions of recipes that perhaps some on Viking have never tried. We like the Chefs Table best, but it certainly isn’t adventurous or highly spiced.

The seas have finally calmed down a bit, and folks are out and about again. Yesterday we did a bridge tour and had a much better dinner at Chefs Table than last time. We had the Lotus menu with delicious Thai basil lamb chops. This afternoon we went to an Old World premium wine tasting that was almost opulent and certainly a lot of fun. However, all these days of bad weather have made our arrival in Honolulu a couple of hours late. All excursions have to be adjusted. We will see what we get! Sorry, still can’t attach photos. I can’t imagine why. I can attach them to anything but CC.

Absolutely agree!

Wish we were going as soon as that, Linda. We have it in Nov. 2025, over Thanksgiving. I can’t wait for that one.