TayanaLorna

In Tierra del Fuego National Park near Ushuaia there are several awesome hiking trails. The one that begins to the right of the beach on which the End of the World Post Office is located is particularly spectacular. We used Nicolas from Alma Calma as guide for this. At the Puerto Montt, Chile stop we hiked the trails at the Osorno Volcano. We had a clear blue sky day and the views were endless. There was also a hike from the Osorno Volcano down to the Petrohue Waterfalls area. We hiked those trails also but drove between the 2 spots. We used AndresO from Tours by Locals.

Hi Jean. You will be on the Amazon at about the same time we were on the Viking Sea - 930 max passengers but we had around 890. Would NEVER go on a larger ship but may try a smaller one. Vikings cruise was San Juan to Manaus or the opposite. Some people did it back to back to avoid the limited international flight options out of Manaus. Yours sounds like a very nice itinerary. We have had great luck with Tours by Locals in South America and went over to MUSA in Manaus with a TBL fellow too. The concert sounds beautiful. The acoustics in the theatre are supposed to be incredible. If the reception is in the salon on the second floor...Wow...wait until you see it. I posted some photos but they don't do it justice. Hope the ship is able to stop in French Guiana as choppy waters sometimes makes tendering difficult. It is where we saw the monkeys very close up. The path leading to the penal colony buildings is an upward incline, hard packed but not paved. I think a wheelchair could travel on it. We never had 90 degree days in the Amazon as the sky was mostly cloudy but the humidity is what gets intolerable. However all our excursions via boat were delightful due to a nice breeze. We are over 70 and did not get vaccinated for yellow fever. When going ashore outside a town or on a boat, we wore lightweight, loose long sleeved shirts and long pants. We sprayed our clothing with deep woods type insect repellent but only once saw mosquitoes when hiking in dense forest. A wide brimmed hat was helpful and a rain poncho essential. We brought raincoats and small folding umbrellas but never used them. We found the cheap plastic rain ponchos worked the best because they covered our camera gear and legs too. We each had a pair of good binoculars. Viking provided them but they were more like opera glasses. Ours are better. We had lots of US bills in $1.00 and $5.00 denominations as almost everything we purchased from the indigenous tribes on shore was $1.00 or increments of $5.00. We had BRL also which i got from our local bank before we left but did not really need it. The locals gave us the exchange rate of BRL$5.00 equaling US$1.00. That's about it. Clothing for the ship is whatever you like to wear for warm weather or in air conditioning within the dress code for your cruise line. Happy planning for the next 6 months. Our next trip begins in February for a combination of self guided land trip in Madrid, Umbria region of Italy and Athens with a 2 week cruise Rome to Venice and then Venice to Athens. Happy to go off season and in cooler weather.

There could also be bridge tours, galley tours, yoga classes, wine tastings, mixology classes, cooking demos and don't forget Tea at 4 pm.

Thanks for your kind words Jean. Happy to help. The first question in my mind is what month is your trip? I recall our Iberostar guide commenting as we were going through the flooded forests, that where we were would not have been possible in low water a few months ago. I also recall excursion reviewers complaining that there were few water lillies and the lake was rather dry. Again due to low water season. If your travels are January-April, taking both excursions would be fantastic. December its possible depending. Is the Maica Lake excursion through Gil? Heard his tours are fantastic. We did ours on a typical double decker river boat and could only go so far. Would have been awesome to transfer to smaller vessels and go further. The Maica Lake region is much closer to a major town and it is totally different then traveling up the Amazon from Manaus. You will travel along the waterfront of Santarem which is quite interesting and uniquely picturesque. Its a nice combination of town and traveling to a close but totally different rural area. The trip from Manaus will pass through the Meeting of the Waters whose separation can be viewed clearly from satellite. You will pass under an impressive bridge and it will take about an hour to reach any of the stops. It sounds like you will be visiting many of the places we did. I believe there is only one dolphin (Bota) platform licensed for guests to swim with them - unless they are only taking you to a beach and hoping dolphins show up. The main lake for seeing the water lillies is where we stopped. We docked at a floating restaurant with indigenous crafts and from there walked a wooden platform to the lake with lillies. We did not eat at the restaurant. There are many places to canoe through the flooded forests and it is amazing. Pirahana fishing will most likely be there. Our indigenous village visit was exceptional but no telling if you will be going to same. Our trip from Manaus was around 4 hours. We visited the dolphin platform and the village with plenty of time at both places. The other places we visited were on day excursions from the anchored Iberostar Grand Amazon ship. The trip back to Manaus was much quicker as we had the help of the current. This part of the Amazon is different with high bluffs in places where you can really see how the seasonal floods scour its banks. Your excursion should be 6-8 hours to see all you described. If you are going to a concert in the Teatro Amazonas (Amazon Opera House) I am jealous. Some day visitors have had the pleasure of hearing an orchestra practicing but we did not. Enjoy. There is a young travel couple who do UTube videos of their travels. Their channel is called Jumping Places. They are from Brazil and travel all over the world. They did a series of 8 or so videos of traveling by local boat from Manaus to Santerem, Alter do Chao near Santarem, Manaus impressions and several day and multi day trips from Manaus. They are all interesting and show what they see unlike some UTubers who love to talk into the camera showing little scenery. You might have to search back a year or so for their Amazon series. What cruise line are you using for your Grand Voyage? Happy planning! Lorna

She had emotional problems.

You will most likely get reservations at more desirable times once you board. Out of our 5 cruises so far, the place to make reservations on Day 1 has changed each time. Last cruise it was at the desks outside the Chefs Table and Manfredis on Deck 1. Each desk made reservations for either restaurant. Other cruises it has been portside at the entrance to the World Cafe on Deck 7. The World Cafe is the usual location after Day 1. And then sometimes there was a desk by Guest Services on Deck 1. So check all locations on Day 1.

I haven't seen a CT menu preview available pre cruise since 2020. On our three cruises since then have had to wait until boarding to see menu. Yes, if you don't like a menu that you booked, you can change your reservation to another day.

I can certainly understand your expectation and disappointment in failing to receive a vegetarian meal when dietary preferences/needs were previously listed. However the Chefs Table is a set menu venue with the foods paired to a particular wine or liquor. Often the entire menu other then dessert and the palate cleanser contains some sort of meat, fish or fowl. If the menu items are changed, then it is no longer a true Chefs Table wine pairing experience. Perhaps it is better to avoid a CT menu heavy on animal protein or be sure to meet with the Chef earlier in the day to assure that the animal options will be switched to vegetarian.

We had the main course changed to salmon when a friend did not eat lamb and a dessert substitute to a brownie due to allergy to mango.

Room service does deliver alcohol, wine and beer. However I do not know if the wine and beer would be included (free) if the lunch order (or dinner order) was outside of the lunch/dinner hours for the different restaurants. The included beer (or wine) is the selection of the day not any beer on the menu and there is one red and one white wine offered per day as well.

It is better then above Torshavn since shows are over by 10 pm.

I will second that.

Generally the WC, Pool Grill and Mamsens are open for lunch 11:30 am -2:30 pm and the Restaurant noon- 1:30 when open. The WC can have lunchtime variations. Dinner is 6-9 pm. Exact times are posted in the Viking Daily so check each day and don't assume the times for one day are same for all. The Pool Grill and Mamsens are also open for Snacks later in the afternoon. I don't know if the Snacks hours also include free wine and beer. Viking says wine/beer are included with lunch and dinner not snacks. So the question remains - what about Room Service? Can folks only get included wine/beer delivered during posted lunch and dinner times or can one order "lunch" to their room at 3:30 pm and get a free beer? This is getting complicated...

Never saw the Iceland airport so empty!

I think Mamsens has been open 10 to midnight on all our cruises. Late and snacks are not our thing. I love their soups at lunch and often go there to avoid WC crowds.

Brilliant. Plus dealing with clearing into the US can be done without worrying if you are gonna make your connection. Miami can take a half hour or 2+ hours to clear in and go back through security.

I agree that multiple connections are stressful and tiring as we age. We are to the point where we can deal with one connection and layover must be at least 3 hours. If travel to where we want to go requires more connections then we will do a layover. Or if the timing of connections is too short or the trip costs too much we will try to be creative in our flights. For example we are going on a Med cruise in 2024 from Rome to Athens. So we are flying SJU to MAD round trip. We stay over in Madrid one night and fly to Rome next day. Then on the return we have a one way ticket ATH to MAD with another layover in MAD to catch the return flight of the round trip ticket. Three tickets, a pain yes. But on the way we get a good night's sleep in Madrid before we fly to Rome to begin a 17 night busy port intensive Pre and cruise. On the way back we spend 2 days/nights exploring Madrid. We saved over $700 per person over the cost of Viking Air so that should cover our days in Madrid.

I live in PR and getting ANYWHERE to/from San Juan on a direct non-stop flight - even to the US - is hard. For a European connection Iberia has a non-stop between San Juan and Madrid but it does not fly every day of the week. If there is a non-stop Heathrow to San Juan, then you only have one connection. Flight time SJ to MAD is 7 hours. The return is 8 hours

I stayed up one night to try the soup. It was a Midnight Sun cruise with sea days to sleep in so easy.

YES! When we cruise i am delighted to be able to wear black without being covered in dog hair (we have only 2 now). In the EL I always fold those pelts to the skin side to avoid the shedding.

I am the Walrus....

Yes it is. WC or ask for it. We stock it in our room for tea before sleep.

Viking will reimburse you for optional excursions if port stop is cancelled usually to the means by which you paid. Some excursions but not the port can be cancelled also. We were docked in a port and all water based excursions were cancelled because it was too windy. That time the reimbursement went to our on board account.

Was it the Alberobello excursion that was sold out?

Corfu also? Thought it was only Rhodes.