aungrl

15 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Anxious to see what the response is when the email is sent.

 

We experienced this with a friend that has sailed Viking over 15 times now and she knows her way around Viking both email and phone, and her very consistent response was you can only address this onboard.  Viking will not sell the package to one person in a cabin that is inhabited by two people in advance of embarkation.

 

Highly likely that they will approve onboard if the proper people are approached, but I will be very surprised if this is dealt with prior to being onboard.  It must be assessed by the appropriate crew with the appropriate authority onboard.

 

This is also not the first time that this has been discussed on CC and others have reported the same thing - no approval before boarding, but can be done once onboard.

Sounds like there are enough data points out there that confirm the only way to do it is once you're on board - but if @thekeifer1does end up writing Tellus, I'd love to hear if they do anything in advance, as well.

9 hours ago, thekeifer1 said:

 

I called and Viking’s response was the exact advice offered by CDNPolar above. They cannot do anything in advance on it. I’m supposed to go on the ship and talk to the bursar/beverage folks and see if it can be bought for one person since the other person is under 21. Viking said there was no guarantee that this would be allowed.

Unfortunately, if you call instead of sending an email to tellus@vikingcruises.com, you're likely to get the answer you got.  The customer service representatives who respond to emails at this address are more knowledgeable, (much) more consistent, and generally able to actually help you.  Even though you've called, I'd still suggest sending an email, as per @Peregrina651's suggestion.

8 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

In our opinion yes.

 

We don't want a forward cabin of any category.  We like our mid-ship cabin and book early to have the selection.

 

We booked late for one cruise and there was only a forward cabin available and because the ship had empty cabins after embarkation Viking reluctantly allowed us to move two or three days in.

 

The seas were rough and the motion and the noise in this deck 3 forward cabin was something that we could not tolerate.

Really glad that it worked out for you to move cabins on this cruise.  I'm wondering why Viking would have been reluctant to do that, since cabins were readily available?

10 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

I can’t seem to find the thread I started with Primos, can anyone else see it. I wonder if CC deleted it?  Anyway, here is a promo I received today:

It's still up, Clay, although I've been having trouble accessing it these past few days.  When I click onto it, it starts to open, and then I get the swirl of death while it keeps "thinking about it."  So there may be a glitch with it, given the number of embedded marketing materials, idk!

On 5/10/2024 at 5:25 PM, Peregrina651 said:

 

.

This all looks delicious!  What a great way to start your cruise.  

16 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

Lovely 7:20am flight out of Boston. Landed at dinner time. Passport control was for US passports entirely automated and we were done in no time. No checked luggage to deal with.   Underground to hotel was simple -- and only $2.65pp. Weather yesterday was clear and comfy, low 60s as we wandered out to find dinner. And so

ends Day 1 of our adventure. 

 

We are near the Earls Court Station, staying at the Twenty Nevern Square Hotel. We stayed here in early 2020 and liked the hotel and its location, so we are back. Piccadilly and District line serve the station, very convenient. 

Welcome to the start of your journey!  I'm excited to follow along.  That morning flight out of Boston is my favorite flight...it's such an easy way to go across, land, grab some food, and then be well rested for the next day.  Enjoy every minute!

6 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Much of that thanks to Clay's wonderful posts helping us all live vicariously!

So I have to post something, as I see that we're one away from 1,000.  What a great cruise this has been, and we've all loved following along with you guys!

16 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

I spoke too soon!  Yesterday was my birthday and we were awakened by a delivery of my favorite buns and a handcrafted artisanal birthday card of curated recycled materials made lovingly by Mike😂

 

 

 

After breakfast, we enjoyed the included walking tour of Cherbourg a very nice little town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were lucky that Thursday was market day in Cherbourg.  So many beautiful flowers, vegetables, pastries, breads, cheeses, etc.  

 

 

 

We decided to buy some cheeses, meats, and have a picnic. It was chilly and rain was threatening so we went back to the ship and enjoyed it onboard with our prepaid wine😂

 

 

We enjoyed the spa after lunch and had it all to ourselves! 
 

We had friends join us for dinner at Manfredi’s private room and had a great time.  We had visits from Mukesh-the Hotel Manager, Sam-the Guest Services Manager, and Max-the Excursions Manager along with what seemed like most of the servers and chefs onboard when they delivered a special birthday cake-they even had me “blow out”’the candle😂

 

 

 

 

 

We got back to the room to find another little remembrance of Portugal waiting for us along with another beautiful sunset. 

 

 

All in all, a wonderful birthday!

First, Happy Birthday!  It looks like a perfect day.  And, I knew that at some point, those buns would appear, and no better time than your birthday.  😊

11 hours ago, bookbabe said:

I’ll be the naysayer…we did this itinerary in Sept 2023 and it was meh.  
 

Part of our disappointment was the enrichment content, no Norse studies experts or content at all, which we had expected to find because of the itinerary name and route.  

 

Missed the Shetland Islands due to weather and subbed St Anthony for L’Anse aux Meadows due to Viking’s poor planning.  Wish we’d missed Greenland instead, that’s a one and done for us.

I'm sorry to hear that!  I would have felt the exact same way if we wouldn't have had any Norse-related content.  On ours, we had four excellent enrichment speakers, one of whom focused on Norse content.  

6 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

This was one of our favorite itineraries in Sept. 2019. A plus that the ports are not major tourist stops. Also nothing wrong with sea days in a cold climate. Only regret is that we missed Shetland due to the tail end of a hurricane from the Gulf—have been trying to get back there ever since. Our fourth try since Covid hit is this June. 🤞

Couldn't agree more.  Our favorite itinerary with Viking so far - we loved the quirky, small ports, and also we like stretches of sea days, so this itinerary worked well for that - and we did manage to hit all the scheduled ports on our particular sailing.  I hope you make it to Shetlands at some point...one of our happiest port days.

5 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

Virgin is just fine. I wouldn't plan your trip around the (very) small chance that the flight is cancelled. Just do what's most convenient, which sounds like Boston. 

 

That being said...do you have a reason to restrict yourself to Virgin? There are a few airlines flying that route - Virgin, Delta, British Airways, Jetblue. If you're up for an early morning, British Airways has a particularly appealing morning departure that gets you to London by dinner time and sleep in a real bed that evening...I highly recommend daytime flights to London. 

Plus one on this.  I often fly to Boston just so I can fly across in the day time.  

2 hours ago, cruisepro19 said:

Thank you aungrl, much appreciated. I'll have a look and see if they also ship to Canada.  

They do, but there's an up charge that I've seen Canadians post about on their forums...it seems to me that it might be a little pricey, now that you mention it.  Across the U.S., it's a flat $10. charge, which is reasonable.  Good luck!

4 hours ago, cruisepro19 said:

My mom (senior), is looking for a new lightweight travel backpack that she can use as her carry-on for the airplane.  She is looking for something that has a padded section for her iPad, exterior waterbottle pocket, a few compartments for organization, a light coloured lining or interior so things are easily found, a separate pocket for a cellphone and/or keys would be great.  She also wants something that she can carry comfortably.   She doesn't use any wheeled carry-on luggage because for her, getting it overhead to put into an overhead airplane compartment isn't an option.  Any recommendations from travellers would be greatly appreciated.  

 

Thank you all in advance!

Take a look at Tom Bihn.  They have a few options that satisfy her requirements, and all of their products are both lightweight and indestructible.  (Physical location in Seattle, but most all their business is done on line.  TomBihn.com)

5 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

OMG, new favorite main dish onboard. The feta crusted rack o’lamb is so so good. Sorry that it’s unlikely it will be offered again before they make us leave on May 6th😢. 

Just ask them for it, Clay.  I'm pretty sure they'll make it specially just for you! 😉

3 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Diagram of all the USB connectors 

Well this is super helpful!  Where did you find it?  Thanks for posting.

8 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

 

 

 

 

Great day in Walvis Bay! While we didn’t get the grill surprise that those on the included tour got, we did get a surprise when offered the chance to sand surf!  Mike says he felt like a 10 year old again!

Highly recommend the From Dunes to Ocean optional excursion! We saw lots of springbok, an ostrich, flamingos, pelicans, oryx, and a clear gecko. And the ride up and over the dunes was better and any roller coaster!

Most awesome video ever!  That looks like So. Much. FUN!!

11 hours ago, med02 said:

Following up my original concern with SW Airlines online capability.  After working on this for a couple of weeks I finally received the answer from SW yesterday. Because NCL booked the second segment of travel with a different airline than SW, I am unable to check in online and am not able to print boarding passes online. I will need to call them when the check in window opens to check in and get my boarding passes. Not ideal, but at least I have a workable answer. Because of all the hoops I have had to deal with this process, I tend to agree that NCL's free air is a mess. But also, I will not willingly book with SW in the future. Thanks to all who replied here. 

I don't think you're getting a straight answer from NCL.  Southwest has no trouble accepting a one-way reservation - they sort of pioneered this concept, IIRC - and there is nothing in their system or set up that would prevent you from viewing that reservation, checking in online, and printing or downloading your boarding pass.  I wouldn't be satisfied with that answer, even though I'm sure the thought of spending even more time on it makes your eyes roll back in your head.

13 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Shall I leave some of ours on the pier in Réunion for you?

 

I can also leave some of the chocolate work they did for the Easter lunch today if you’d like. 😂

Wow, these are impressive.  I mean, they're always impressive, but for some reason, these are real standouts!

You'll be fine with the scarf across your shoulders as long as your knees are covered with something else, like capris.  

Sounds like you've answered your own question!

21 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

This incident meets the classic definition of the "Swiss Cheese Model" where numerous issues all aligned.

I remember this being your hypothesis early on when discussions about the situation first began.  This final report confirms your points of view, unsurprisingly, and I - along with many others, I'm sure - very much appreciate you coming back and giving even more details to help further explain and interpret the report.  

17 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

 

You might want to consider Rome / Florence / Venice by train as part of your land excursion. We did a 10 day trip a few years ago and it was fantastic. 2 days in Venice is more than enough. Spend as much time in Florence as possible.

We did exactly this a few years ago, and I completely concur!  We split 14 days across Rome/Florence/Venice, and traveled by train in between.  If we had it to do over, we would shorten Venice and lengthen Florence.  (Spent 7 days in Rome, 4 in Florence, and 3 in Venice on that trip, and would try to take one day from each of Rome and Venice and add them to Florence.)  

14 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

I’m Great time in Koh Samui yesterday.  We did the Elephant Encounter and really enjoyed it.  I saw over on the site that cannot be named that one of our lecturers did a private tour at the same sanctuary and rather than being only on the skywalk, actually was in the ground with them, hugging, being wrapped in their trunk etc.  That would’ve been really great but the time we spent feeding and interacting with them was longer than what a poster over there said was 10 min. We stayed on the raised walkway until they made us leave. FYI-lunch was delicious-if they run out of Pad Thai, it’s definitely worth waiting while they make another batch. I asked our guide if it tasted like what his mother made. He said no, it was sweeter and not as spicy to suit American’s taste. They had packets of pepper flakes which we added to ours.  
 

DVs and Vs recieved tour descriptions for Capetown to London at turndown last night.  Forms were to be turned in between 7 and 9am this morning at Star Theatre. Mike got off the elevator at 6:52.  The line reached to the Nordic Gift Shop and the first person in line was already leaving having turned in their form -he told me later he had arrived at 5:45😳 

 

Did you get what you wanted?

12 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Damn you’ve got good eyes….or maybe it’s I’m just so damn big. 😂. That’s Mike in the light blue shirt to my left. 

If it makes you feel any better, I spotted Mike before I spotted you! 

11 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

FWIW, the rest of us didn’t get our forms until about 11:15 am. 

So how did it turn out, Clay?  Did you get the excursions you wanted?