TayanaLorna

Drink the offered glass of champagne and go to lunch. Make additional specialty restaurant reservations if you wish. When your stateroom is ready, unpack and watch the safety video (required) on your room TV. Walk decks 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9 exploring all the spaces and learning where things are. OR check at Guest Services Deck 1 to see if they have ship tours for new guests.

Congrats Clay & Mike. So happy you went for it.

I agree that Barcelona Day Tours is excellent. Barcelona is amazing. Finally getting to Madrid this winter but been to Barcelona twice.

We used Sentir Patagonia for Puerto Madryn. It was an all day excursion and was excellent. Saw sea lions with pups, elephant seals, all kinds of birds, Magellan penguins with young and a great lunch at an estancia.

I would be more concerned about yellow fever. If contracted, its a death sentence. Dengue fever is most concerning to pregnant women or those who wish to get pregnant. Any disease could be dangerous for the elderly. Most cases are mild and resolve themselves but some could require hospitalization. Just like Covid. Its easier to avoid and protect yourself from mosquitoes then coughing, sneezing, breathing cruise ship passengers. Do your research, assess your risk and make your decision. I live in the Tropics and we had a dengue break out/scare a few years back. I guess i am more relaxed about it

I never noticed that. Thx.

We had the Patrick Watts tour in the Falklands scheduled but the ship departed the port after determining that tendering was dangerous. Fortunately we also had an excursion booked to Peninsula Valdez from Puerto Madryn. Can also have penguin tour from Punta Arenas but it is weather dependent as you go by boat.

The only place i can think of on board where he would need to negotiate stairs are the 2 or 3 steps up into the Wintergarden. Tea is served in that gorgeous space. However the overflow is served in the lanai along the sides of the Wintergarden with no steps. The Star Theatre where evening shows take place as well as lectures, port talks and movies during the day has stairs to seating up and down. However there are some rows of seats level with the entrance doors. In the Explorers Lounge on Deck 7, you will see a staircase to the lovely upper Explorers Lounge on Deck 8. Deck 8 EL can also be reached via the forward elevators. From there just walk down the short hallway of staterooms to the end and there is a door directly into the EL. You can also reach the Deck 9 forward "sports" deck and outdoor seating areas by using the forward elevators. Don't avoid the World Cafe self serve buffet or carry all the food to the table yourself. The staff is happy to help carry your dishes if needed. Enjoy your cruise.

LOL now that would be me. First time in that pool i did the doggie paddle then the breast stroke but was just swimming in place. Then i learned there was also a bench along the right side that i could grab on to or sit upon.

Nikon D56 with Nicor 18-400 mm zoom lens was the camera that captured most of the wildlife close ups. I used a Panasonic ZS100 but do mostly landscape, city scenes, people, buildings etc. I am a birder so i just use binoculars when touring for wildlife. Unless you are doing a river cruise separate from Viking, i would not worry about running out to buy a new camera/lens. Other then the monkeys in French Guiana, the wildlife/birds we photographed were on our excursions in a small skiff from the Iberostar Grand Amazon 3 day trip further up the Amazon from Manaus after Viking. I hope we have not given the expectation that what we saw is what folks will see from Viking. Please closely look at dates and locations. Ok that said. We bought some nice raincoats with hoods for the trip. However we found that what worked best was the cheap hooded ponchos that i also threw into our suitcase. The raincoats were fine when we could duck into a shelter from the rain. The hooded poncho was essential when out on a trail, in the forest or in an open skiff. The poncho kept our gear and legs dry. Actually the worst camera experience was going from the air conditioned cabin or the AC of the Explorers Lounge to our veranda or the outside Explorers deck. The lens would immediately fog up! My DH just said we should have left our cameras on the bathroom floor to keep them warmer. IpPhones take great photos and i don't recall our phones fogging.

We considered watching Papillion again before going. It is painfully long as well as depressing so we did not. Remembering it and imagination was enough.

Thank you. We loved doing it - both the traveling, photography and writing. I can never manage a live report as others do. We are always too busy experiencing.

Sure thing BettyRuth

I beg to differ here. Yes it is a current which one can swim against. You won't have enough room to do the crawl more then a stroke or two but you can certainly tread water with the breast stroke for exercise and aerobics. The strong jets are at the head of the pool opposite the entrance stairs. Most people make their way to the jets where there is a long bench for sitting and being massaged by the water action.

Hear hear!

On our upcoming trip to Europe i chose the slightly upgraded fare to get 1 carry on bag, one under seat item and 1 checked bag as well as the ability to chose seats in advance and flight change if necessary - all included. Its out there. Check each fare class.

By missing your nieces graduation you are teaching her some valuable life lessons: - Don't be afraid to seize the moment and opportunity. - Travel is an education in itself - Live life to its fullest Do it!

I never even knew there were crew access doors across the hall from staterooms until i saw them open one time. Never noticed slamming noise from them. However we have noticed guest stateroom doors noisily slam. We became very conscious of catching our own door and quietly closing it so as not to be those annoying guests.

Deck 3 atrium is pretty quiet if the room is borderline. More importantly it is near the tenders. If your iitinerary has tender ports, you may hear noise if tenders are launched on that side. Then again, folks have enjoyed watching the tender operations from their balcony.

No no no...Viking is very civilized. I would say most guests use the Viking transfer and with that you get a specific time. Yes there will be Customs on the dock. Of course, Viking clears in the ship and passengers but when you disembark in the terminal Customs & Border Patrol will be there after you claim your luggage. All they asked us is if we had anything agricultural or fresh fruit/vegetables. Plants, seeds are not allowed nor are some fruits depending on what disease is prevalent. One time we came in mangoes were not allowed due to disease elsewhere in the Caribbean. No one asked how much alcohol we were bringing in or jewelry or gifts etc. Go figure.

For those who have done this Extension in Athens, can you tell me what time.Viking transfers you to the pre cruise hotel (Marriott)? Hotel, breakfast and transfers are included in the extension but no excursions. Does Viking offer any paid excursions on Day 1 (disembarkation) either with pick up at the ship or the hotel? Or do they offer any paid excursions on Day 2 from the hotel? It has been our experience that paid excursions are offered but we have never learned about them until we get to the hotel and talk to the Viking staff working there.

At 5:30 or 6:00 am there won't be a line of taxis to the airport. Suggest pre arranging one or paying for Viking transfer. Taxi takes about 20-25 minutes and costs $30-35. Viking transfer is $49 usually.

My pleasure. I love journaling and we both enjoy taking photos so happy to help. Our deck crew said there were more, larger and different top deck insects on the January cruise then our end of February dates. So maybe you will have a bug show in December.

Don't worry. Footsteps from runners would normally be heard if the exercise deck was above. People on the river cruises with the expensive upper deck cabins have complained about hearing the runners on the upper deck. I have walked the promenade and noticed that we walkers irritate the few runners because we are slow and walk and talk with friends rather then walk in single tile. They have to dodge us. Promenade means a place for strolling, a leisurely walk, a public place for pleasure - not a running track.

Hmmm...don't know. Thinking of past cabins and in the PV's we have had, the back of the sofa was on the same wall as the headboard of the bed. In DV's, the 2 chair backs have been on the same wall as the headboard. Seems like the fore/aft bed orientation list would work. Got that somewhere but changed phones recently and not up to storage speed locations yet.