TayanaLorna

WOW look at that!

Yes! That's the mirror. I don't use it as i don't wear much makeup but others have referred to it as a make up mirror. Sorry but I did not realize it did not have magnification.

Try Colchagua Transport. They do tour/transfers and people have loved them for vineyard tours and tastings. Can probably stay on ship until 9-9:30 as long as you are out of your room.

I suppose it is possible to open the lid to that compartment, see the little storage sections but not open the lid far enough to realize there is a mirror in there. Most people expect a magnifying mirror to be in the bathroom just like we prefer to use the hair dryer in the bathroom but cannot. LOL. I got tired of our room steward coiling the cord and putting the hair dryer back in the bag so I use one of our wall magnets to hang it next to the desk. They dont like it when you leave it plugged in so I unplug it.

I enjoyed following along. Glad you got out cruising.

That is strange. It was on the Star, Sea, Sky and Jupiter. I wonder if it was eliminated on the newest ships. That would be strange since it was a popular feature.

Yes but you have to find it. In the DV and PV cabins at least, it is in a lift up door compartment in the middle of the desk. The door that lifts up is the mirror and the compartment has little slots where one can put make up, earrings, camera cables, usb cords etc

We like room service if we have an early excursion. But just grabbing a muffin and a yoghurt is probably the quickest. My splurge breakfast starts with smoked salmon and a couple wedges of brie cheese from the WC. Next trip I get a bowl of mixed fruit. After that I check out the eggs of the day or just get the scrambled eggs, crisp bacon and a croissant with marmalade. Avoid? Don't really like any of their breakfast sausages and the breakfast potatoes are meh. Breakfast memory? First cruise and first breakfast in the Restaurant. All 4 of us order the Eggs Benedict. We waited forever for the meal. Then our waiter comes out of the swinging door carrying our tray at the exact same time another waiter tried to go back through the same door carrying a plate of dirty dishes. Waiters collide, all the food and plates clatter to the floor. Amazingly our replacement breakfast was served very quickly with profuse apologies. Stuff happens. LOL

I enjoy a sampling of the 3 herrings with a thick slice of black bread and a bowl of mixed berries from Mamsens. This is probably my most unusual breakfast.

My served breakfast choice also. Only on a sea day for else with no morning excursions.

In JFK, look to see if your luggage is tagged through to Buenos Aires. If it is you are checked through and do not claim your luggage until BA. Also if you have one ticket number for both flights your bags will be checked through. Chances are you will arrive in the international terminal as it's US to Brazil and depart from the international terminal as it's Brazil to Argentina. If you don't change terminals you should not have to go through passport check. All you do is find your next gate Google Sao Paulo GRU airport. There are sites that give you an airport map and even tell you what terminal each airline uses. I was looking at a Brazil domestic flight connecting to an international flight to the US. I was even able to find out how long a walk it was between my domestic arrival terminal and the international departure one.

Cruise ship pre cruise hotel/transfer packages are always way more then one can do on their own. In 2020 we did hotel (THE #1 B&B in all of South America), an all day private tour up into the Andes including lunch, an all day tour to Pablo Neruda's seaside home, a local lunch, winery visit/tasting with drop off at ship, all taxis to restaurants and all meals with drinks not included in tours for less then the ships 2 hotel nights with transfer to ship. Unfortunately the B&B closed and the excellent couple who did the tours are no longer in business so I cannot recommend. Covid casualties probably. However i found everything through Trip Advisor thoroughly reading the reviews, descriptions and viewing photos. Did not use Colchagua Transport who does transfers as well as tours/transfers because they did not go up into the Andes. But they got rave reviews and are still in business.

You are absolutely right! We all should take our cruise or region specific Covid protocol discussions to more specific pages.

Curious about this too. When we were in Santiago the taxi driver from airport to our B&B did not speak English nor did the driver who picked us up after dinner one evening. The B&B sent us directions in Spanish which we printed out to give the airport taxi. The B&B called the taxi for us to go to dinner and the restaurant called the taxi to take us back. Uber drivers are usually locals using their own cars. I wonder if they speak English.

Good to know. Haven't cruised since Dec ' 21.

It makes sense that the protocols are cruise industry and government joint initiatives. Countries in South America are also opening to more international cruise ships this fall/winter. Our itinerary takes us to Brazil and our MVJ document was recently updated to include Covid testing. After Viking we are taking a small river ship further up the Amazon. It is a Brazilian ship that has been sailing Brazil only for over a year. When we first reserved this cruise last May, we were advised that we had to take a Covid test upon boarding. Over the summer, that requirement was dropped. So the Covid testing for Viking appears to be a cruise industry/govenment agreement for international cruise ships.

In 2020 we used Elizabet Jeckel through Tours By Locals. We found out that she has her own company and runs it with her daughter. She is excellent. She uses a driver so she can focus on the guiding. That was really nice as we would get dropped off right at the particular sight without having to find a parking space. Her company is Iconic Buenos Aires. She has facebook page and a website. www.visitarbuenosaires.com or iconicbuenosaires.com

When we traveled with Viking we were required to show our ORIGINAL vaccination card not a photocopy or on a phone app. We kept it in our room safe just like we would our passports.

I agree - what stress? Tested daily for 2 cruises. No big deal. Masked and wore a contact tracer too. Did not have a single Covid case on board. Stress that you might test positive and be quarantined? Yes, but wouldn't you quarantine anyway if you got Covid? Delighted that we will have testing on our Caribbean and Amazon Adventure (Brazil).

In July 2021 when we were on the Sky, it did not. However by the winter of 2021-2022 they were added. Many posts reported and confirmed the additions.

That happened to us once. American cancelled the AM flight and put us on an 11:30 pm flight the day before. That was our final night on the ship so they changed it to actual debarkation day for no charge. They only way i knew was watching it. That reminds me...time to check our flights.

All the Viking ships except the Star and Sea have 3 drawers in the DV closets (wardrobes) now. Its good for those of us who want more drawers. There is still the same hanging clothes space but half of it is above the drawers and a shorter space. The location of the closet alongside the bed is not ideal but DV is still a very nice room.

We had Paulo on the Sky in July 2021 and he was the best guitarist we have seen on our Viking cruises.

That's too bad. They were a great couple and tour guides. Try Colchagua Transport. The do transfers as well as tours. People raved about them for winery tours.

The webcams on Jupiter and Orion have not updated for quite some time either.