PasadenaDave

Don't underestimate the issue of non-stop versus multiple stops. If your local airport is not a major international hub, you might find yourself flying a short flight from home airport to Hub and then change again in Europe. Each segment brings risk. Depending on where your home airport is, consider driving or flying a budget airline to a hub for a direct nonstop flight. I recall a business trip to London in the early 90's when we changed return flight routing from Heathrow to LAX to Heathrow-Dallas-LAX. It was a Friday afternoon and after flying forever and then changing planes to drop down to an MD-80 to LAX was misery....and I was still young!

I have also had hit or miss activity with the "Los Angeles" office. Most recently in arranging flights LAX-Tokyo and Hong Kong-LAX. The Los Angeles agent from her home in Phoenix with a dog barking was very helpful and efficient, as well as patient with me as I worked through having to log out of My Viking and reload to see the booked flights. Confirmation of the booking showed up in email while on the call prior to it being populated in My Viking Journey. Pre-Pandemic, I spoke with a local person from the office. I do some consulting and some small organizations have the remote work issue dialed in. The large customer or lack thereof service firms are sorely lacking.....but not always

Paul McCartney had an issue with “medication” Japan.

Also you can bring on a bottle or two or three or.....

We booked our stay with airline miles so did not pay attention to the price. Also the hotel on miles was cheaper than Hilton or M Social. There could have been a myriad of reasons for that. We find that we use air miles for hotels rather than flights as flights seldom work for us as always your miles may vary

Look at BritoMart, much smaller than the hotels you list but that means no waiting at desk and excellent service all of these places are within a five minute walk.

We docked in Napier in December a beautiful day, but we don’t think we will go to another winery as they are all basically the same except for tasting. Don’t get me wrong, I loved seeing the geography, but Napier is a cool town and we would have preferred to explore it rather than wineries

We did the included inclined tram ride and tour of the city and botanical gardens in Wellington. Don't do it. The inclined tram is fun to ride and easily done on your own, but you have likely visited and will do so again much nice botanical gardens

Thule, Greenland. My father was an early visitor in that he did the site development for the airbase prior to the famous fleet arrival. Sadly the base doesn’t accept visitors, but I have photos that my father took of the Inuit living in their traditional ways. He was part of a very small group of construction workers allowed to have contact with the Inuit, due into the fact that the construction contingent was a small group at that time.

We find that when we return to LAX from an overseas flight, that there is often a line for Uber but none for taxis. Given surge pricing and airport fees, we always opt for a taxi. The price may or may not be higher for a cab, but after a 12 plus hour flight, the small extra cost, if there is one is worth it.

We stayed at Hotel Britomart two blocks from Shed 10 in December. Great place and great location. We didn’t see any other cruisers. Quiet new hotel

If many people dropped off the WC in Mumbai and the segment from there to Cape Town was offered, that might entice many people. There aren’t many opportunities to cruise that part of the world.

December 18 taxi from Auckland Airport to hotel two blocks from cruise terminal was $65 New Zealand. No waiting and no hassle

Lesson on following directions, “don’t hang clothes to dry on the balcony”

TLCOhio, Thanks for all of your posts as they were most helpful on our Auckland to Sydney cruise recently. The highlights of the trip were Tazmania and the Art Gallery of New South Wales

We were there on Christmas Eve with Viking which has only 930 passengers. The port is a very small town. A shuttle is required to get from the ship to the town which is close. Suttles were provided free of charge to both town and Christchurch from the ship. I don't know if Viking paid for the shuttle into Christchurch or not. I think it might have been the greater Christchurch Chamber of Commerce or Tourism Bureau. I think it is provided locally to both boost visitors to the CBD and not inundate the small town. The trip into the City isn't long, perhaps 15 minutes

We took a taxi from Marriott Circular Quay to the airport last Thursday at 7:30 in the morning very little traffic as it was holiday time and the price was $65. Last month when we arrived at the airport in Auckland and grabbed a taxi to CBD it was reasonably priced and easy to find no wait or need for local phone/data plan

I monitored a trial in the Santa Barbara courthouse last January, it was a very cold week and that court is truly historic especially the heating or lack thereof system. The courthouse grounds are beautiful and the library upstairs is amazing. Turn right and go up stairs after going through Security. Assuming that you will be there tomorrow, Monday it will be open

Final Post, except for questions Today was one long January 4 which began in Sydney don't ask me how many hours ago. We took a taxi from the Marriott and for $65 AUS and 23 minutes we were at the airport at 7:50 but the counters didn't open until 8:30. Note that I heard that the price of light rail from Circular Quay is $18-$20AUS per person so I think spending $25 AUS extra for no hassle and no luggage trudging and learning the system to be money well spent. Flight boarded and departed timely and but for a few bumpy spots including one major drop we arrived a few minutes early. It is now early afternoon PST and I had a 55 minute nap, hoping to stay up until 8 or 9 tonight. Happy Cruising

We got home this morning from the long flight from Australia and I am wasted. This cruise had more people needing assistance from walkers, scooters and canes. There were also many young people in 20-40 range, I think that was due to the holiday season when the entire family could get time to go together

There was much talk at each port concerning Biosecurity. I think all cruise lines learned from last year the problems with sea creatures riding for free. To me this is nothing to worry about. Oceania is the only cruise line that I have been told is close to Viking. One person on this cruise prefers them but most comparisons rank Viking tops. I think it comes down to itinerary.

Wednesday January 3 We slept in until 8:30!!! That never happens. We had a rude awakening in that there was no Living Room to visit. Never fear, I found a great coffee place in the alley next to the Marriott. We visited the Sydney Museum which is a top notch small museum with exhibits on the history of the area and excellent video about settlers encroaching upon aboriginal lands. Also great photos, dioramas and memorabilia from the Opera House. We walked to the Rocks area for a late lunch and saw a gigantic ship loading people. A short walk through the Contemporary Art Museum which wasn’t too our liking. Resting with tea and proper Cadbury chocolate. We will pack for a taxi at 7:30 tomorrow to the airport.

Tuesday January 2. Gr’aunt, I will reply to your message later. today was “get evicted day”. My wife got our cappuccino’s from Living Room as she was up and ready early. We were leaving the ship by taxi so our departure time was 8:30 to 9:30. We ate at World Cafe joining crowds in living room around 8:00. I had seen people struggling with luggage on gangway as they self-carried. Note, that this is Viking, only 930 passengers max, have them get your luggage ashore as it is easy to find. when our color was called we were the first off the ship, I didn’t check the time, but we barely broke stride from gangway to luggage to first taxi in line. Arrived at Marriott to a zoo, many with Viking excursion. Room wasn’t ready but they had a room to relax and have tea. No sooner was tea done when room was ready and in room at 0945. We were on our way soon and people from the ship were still checking in. A fun day at Art Gallery of New South Wales including walk to and from 12,000 step day. Relaxed in room and I had a sauna and swim. To early dinner and Opera, La Traviata where I saw a colleague whom I previously worked with. We had a similar experience in 2019 in Paris! To bed exhausted, what a great city and the opera was amazing

Monday, New Year’s Day. 0630 cappuccino from Living Room with normal 0800 visit to Nordic Spa. We ate breakfast at World Cafe before the Giant Brunch was set out in Wintergarden. This was a huge spread that we nibbled on after watch entry into Sydney Harbour. This is an amazing sail. We took the included coach tour to South Head and Bondi, it was windy and damp but people were swimming. I don’t understand the attraction to Bondi Beach, a small crowded beach, but a great party atmosphere if you are young. We packed, ate at the World Cafe and set bags in the hall for pickup. Note that we docked at Circular Quay, but moved at 11:30 at night to White Bay Cruise Terminal, I neither felt or heard the ship move. We are staying here on our own until Thursday and I will post our activities to help future travelers

Sunday, New Year’s Eve a sea day. Nordic Spa to start the day. Breakfast in World Cafe and watched passengers beat crew in Baggo. Reading, a one mile walk, a nap and lunch at the World Cafe to fill up the day. Dinner in restaurant where we were the last to be seated, our choice at 8:30. Prime Rib and Eton Mess. We explored finding Torshaven for the first time out of now 29 Viking Ocean nights. We enjoyed a drink while watching NYE from Sydney on the screen. Watched some big party at the pool, only time a crowd on Viking and in bed at 11:45 to watch the television from Sydney until the fireworks began. The first time up at midnight NYE in many years, but sleeping almost immediately. Happy New Year