hutch1994

1 hour ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

I'm not one that needs wine or beer at lunch or dinner. Though, I know some households that open a bottle of wine almost every evening meal.

 

Truth be told, I think alcohol consumption would plummet on a Viking ship if said drinks were with a package or by the glass/bottle. When TH says Viking is for the "thinking" crowd, sometimes I roll my eyes as the lectures are too basic, IMHO. But, I would say the crowd Viking attracts is not really the drink, smoke, and joke crowd either. I don't really envision the Viking crowd to be the ones that are on Viking one week and then down in Margaritaville the rest of the time trying to stay forever young and soaking up the sun.

Good call.  Lots of people on these cruises only drink the included wine because it's free.  Otherwise, they probably in a lot of cases wouldn't.

2 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

 

We have had the SSP included twice and even then only had wine at lunch less than half the time. Wine and a meal before an afternoon excursion and I’d be sleeping on the bus. Prefer to be caffeinated.

 

We also have had the package and just either have ice tea or water at lunch.  Just wine at dinner.  

It would be interesting to know how many people would have wine at lunch, etc. if it wasn't included and they had to pay.

1 hour ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

In my experience this is how it works. I’ve always been charged hundreds of euros, dollars, pesos, etc. at check-in and it always gets reversed. It may appear as “pending” for a few weeks and if in that state you cannot dispute it until it clears. Typically the front desk informs you of the amount and the fact that it will be reversed.

We were told zero balance when we checked out.

1 minute ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Most hotels place a minimum pending charge to cover incidentals then reverse it. Is the charge no longer in the “pending” state and is actually due?

216 euros is more than incidentals. Should have never been charged in the first place.  Can see swiping it just in case,  but charging to it is a different story

Got hit with a false charge from the Intercontinental Madrid post extension stay.  Be careful when checking out of hotels.  Protesting it now.  Very disappointed in this.  Thought it was a better caliber of hotel than this.

Be careful when staying at this hotel.  Was part of the Viking post extension in Madrid and just got hit with a bill for $216.00 euros even though we didn't have any charges there and it was a zero bill when we checked out.  This comes from them requesting a credit card for incidental charges.  Naturally, we are challenging this charge.  Very bad form on their part.

Ended up taking the optional tapas tour my viking hotel reps in Madrid.  Thought it was a waste of money.  $105.00 a person which included a total of six different small tapas each along with wine.  For $210.00 could have had a really nice dinner in Madrid.

11 minutes ago, Pigin said:

I concur with the hit and miss.  Unfortunately when I encounter a miss, a single hit does not result in a zero sum game.  Chef Joseph was new to the ship and appeared to be making his mark as the dishes improved as the cruise progressed but still too many misses for a well established product.

 

 

Chef Joseph actually has a very impressive resume.  I attributed it more to the people working under him since in most cases, he is over seeing the item.  He had to work with the staff he is given.  Doesn't do the hiring.

Just finished the transatlantic cruise on Viking Star and found the food for the most part  hit and miss.  Discussed this with Chef Joseph, (executive chef) and learned that probably most of the people working in the galley go through a short training session with Viking before finally being hired and are not professional trained.  More like being a line cook.  He did say that Viking was cutting back on the thickness of the steak cuts and the food style was being revamped, not necessarily to the good.   Appears to be cooking for a more general crowd taste as oppose to authentic versions.  He did personally go back to the authentic original version of lobster thermidor the two of us one night in the main dining room, which by the way was great.  It was really enjoyable talking to him and we appreciably the personal tour of the kitchen that he gave to the two us us.

2 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Sadly we’ve seen some trifectas on our recent cruise.

Giving Carnival a big run for the money in this category.

Just finished the TA cruise and clothing choices for evening were all over the place.  Saw everything from really well dressed people as well as people looking like they were about to clean out their basements in the dining room at night.  Obviously the lady assigning tables did not enforce the dress code which is sad.

Don't know how they transported the luggage today from the ship, but my purple Travelpro looks like it was dragged front side down on the ground for some distance.  Took a beating.  Very disappointed in the handling of luggage.

What happened to the lady that had a mishap in the World Cafe that required major medical attention?  Heard about it on the bus today.

Had a great lobster thermidor tonight prepared by Chef Joseph and also excellent fried soft crab.   One of the best lobster dishes I've had in a long time and coming from Baltimore an excellent take on soft crabs.

Certainly we didn't get our $700.00 worth of wine or drink that we paid for the package.  Could have just spent that amount and picked out what we wanted from the wine list instead of buying it by the glass from the silver spirits list.

11 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

So let me understand here. You are in the middle of an awesome cruise and you took time out to insult what some others like to do on their cruises? I bet you can find something better to comment on about your cruise. Not sure why you thought this was important enough to start a Cruise Critic thread about. 

Have the people who like the rubber duck thing ever forced you to participate? Made fun of you because they didn't? Started a Cruise Critic thread to insult you for NOT bringing rubber ducks on board? Come on. Let people do what they want on cruises. It's not hurting you, is it?

You do you, I will do me.  Think it's a juvenile thing.  Expect better on Viking with their age specifics.

Can you apply unused shipboard credits for additional viking gratuities to be given to ship's personnel.  Have already done the prepaid gratuities and have some shipboard credits still left.

On the Star doing the transatlantic crossing and haven't encountered the silly duck phenomenon on board.  Hooray!!

1 hour ago, CDNPolar said:

 

I agree.

 

All you have to be is considerate of others.  Again, we learned nothing during Covid.

 

We are definitely going to need a lot of help when the next Pandemic hits and I believe that it will happen in the near future.

 

One of the most ridiculous things I saw as Covid was winding down the worst part was a woman on a bus that was wearing a mask, but would pull the mask down to cough into her hand and then put the mask back.

Or the mask wearers that wore their masks resting on their chins.

3 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

Our last cruise was Treasures of the Rhine and that was in December / January.

 

Boarded the full River ship with 1 or 2 that were coughing.

 

By mid way through the 12 day itinerary, 1/3 of the ship was coughing.

 

On the 8th day I had fever and stayed home from the excursions.  My fever broke that night.

 

Coughing, but wearing a mask, I participated the next day.  More than 1/3 of the ship was coughing.  Maybe 10 people, my husband and I included, were wearing masks.

 

Many were coughing openly without covering their mouths with elbow or hand.  We apparently learned nothing from Covid.

 

A few couples that we kept in touch with were sick after disembarking.

 

I did not have Covid, at least from Covid test kits that I had.  Maybe they did not detect the strain, or I had something else.  In any case, this ran through the ship very quickly.

 

Interestingly my husband did not catch it whatever it was.

 

We still travel with masks.

 

Remember that masks are more of a preventative when YOU are sick, meaning you are less likely to transmit whatever you have if you are wearing a mask.  Wearing a mask is about respect for your fellow humans.

Brought our masks for the long bus rides.  That's were we caught it on our river cruise.

Noticed last night coughing has started big time in the explorer's lounge and main dining room.  Moved a couple of times to get away from it.  Want to stay healthy for the remainder of the cruise and post extension.  Came down with major bronchitis on our last river cruise because of coughers.

Noticed that coughing has begun big time in the explorer's lounge and the dining room.  Need to be viligant and keep  a low profile.  Still have 6 days before our flight.  Caught major bronchitis on our river cruise from those coughers.

On 12/19/2023 at 3:27 AM, CDNPolar said:

 

Agree and we get it.  

 

I can stomach most all types of clothing and do for the most part, but that does not stop me from looking at some folks and ask myself silently if they looked in a mirror before leaving their cabin, and wonder how they thought what they were wearing was even remotely appropriate.

On an ocean cruise and the dress is all over the place.  Some people dress like they are cleaning out their basement and others dress nicely.  Personally prefer a more well dressed approach to grunge.

Had a very informative tour of the kitchen facilities with Chef Joseph this morning.