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Love occassional Sea Days. I am actually a bit apprehensive about next year's British Isles Itinerary that is SO port intensive!!

this would be an awesome trip...I wish we were back from our fall river cruises in time to take it!!! This is beautiful country and will be that much BETTER on the Expedition ship rather than regular Ocean which we loved!

Kent, So glad that most are just going with the flow ...the dynamics of every cruise is quite different. Seasoned travelers often make the best shipmate companions. we will be looking forward to your thoughts about Iceland.

Can they be applied to an already booked but not paid for cruise? Can they be used for excursions?

Great offers!!!

IMO Cape Verde is NOT a terrific port. We would have loved more time in Madeira.

Thanks, Kent. Is there a naturalist on board? wondering if cruising along the coast of Iceland you are close enough for bird watching. I don't remember a chess set up in Explorer's previously.

I think it really depends on the passengers on different cruises....sometimes it is difficult to get in unless you are willing to wait until 8pm sometimes walk in...chef's table is the same.

I am still finding both River , Ocean, and Expedition itineraries that will pique our interest. The World Cruise allowed us to experience many "difficult" to get to destinations and now we can focus on Europe, Scandinavia, Greenland and Iceland.

Have a great time. Thinking of doing Bergen to NYC so will be very interested in your (and others on this cruise) reflections on the itinerary.

I wonder if being on the ship will feel any bigger. 18 square feet may help between the bed and the closet in the v/dv cabins.

I wonder if Viking will still mandate that their crew is immunized and at what level.

no corkage fee on viking either for your own wine.

Where do those gratuities really go? the never ending question... wish I knew that they were really distributed to the crew on the ship that I am traveling on...

Thank you so very much for taking the time to do this for me!

Moon Lion....do you have a list/contact that you could easily post about your Independent Tours and the optional Viking's that you most enjoyed. Although this is our first trip to the British Isle, we would prefer not to the "Panorama" bus tours. We find that Viking's included "walking" tours are usually very good.

Even a 24 hour cancellation is not helpful as last minute cancellations might happen due to weather! I have occasionally found tour operators who will let you cancel if weather related.

We did a wonderful excursion from Ushuaia that included a 4x4 ride along a river bed, forest hike, and a great lunch wth local wine that we ate outside and saw dog sled dogs! We started our cruise in Santiago the end of February and many of the penguins were gone as were most the sea lions. Best penguins were on Magdelena Island. Penguins were molting. We missed the Falklands because the islands were closed during Covid. The food on the long excursions was terrible but probably because of covid. A brief glimpse at the excursions now offered appears to indicate that excursions have improved! The highlight of the trip was our incredible naturalist who could be found with binoculars in the Explorer Lounge much of the time and her husband was equally as talented at finding birds, whales, dolphins as we cruised. We would do this cruise again...it is great to combine to combine with a transatlantic crossing!

Kent, I really think you and Pam should stay aboard the Neptune and do the world cruise!!! I am quite sure you would love it! You'd have to reschedule some of your upcoming trips though!

I wonder if one of the new ships that Viking is building ( someone on another group said they were told there are 10 planned for the future no dates given) will be another Expedition Ship so that these ports/water could be safely cruised?

what type of things needed attention? carpet, upholstery ? that is disappointing...I am surprised Viking is not keeping every ship in top condition.

I miss the felt pouches!

where did you get the Memorial Day promo? not in my email, snail mail or Viking web site. Thanks so much for posting!

there is a group on that other site dedicated to Viking Expedition am I aloud to say that? They only let folks who have done or plan to do a trip participate. You will find great information. We have a rescheduled trip to Antarctica in early January with a Viking pre-extension to the "delta" and a DIY Iguazza Falls post. this will be our 7th continent and definitely a bucket list trip. I have read that the early trips leaving in November sometimes have more "ice" to deal with so sometimes it was hard for them to land. I am sure it is different every year depending on weather.

do the other cruise lines suffer from the same mixed experiences with onshore operations?