SJD117

Sedate.

As I wrote above, we paid the discretionary service charge at every restaurant — so we don’t know the process for reversing the charge.

We just returned from a 12-day trip to London. Every restaurant in that wonderful city added a discretionary 12.5% service charge to our bill. This didn’t bother us at all; the service and food were both excellent, and we appreciated that we didn’t have to pay the charge (though we did every time). That’s why it’s hard for us to understand the angst on this thread about the Viking gratuity. Like the restaurant charges we paid, the gratuity is discretionary. So if you don’t like the service Viking provides, then don’t pay the gratuity! There — problem solved.

@Clay Clayton We visited the Queen Victoria shopping arcade in 2017 on our three-week trip around Australia. Nice place!

What’s the rush? That part of the cruise is two months away! 😁

Glad you were able to make it! Nelson is one of the nicest South Island towns to explore.

If I recall my Wellington geography correctly, the shaded peak on the left is Mt. Victoria, rising above Oriental Bay. The views from the top are spectacular -- highly recommended, And if you walk down, you get bonus points if you can find the theatre that hosted the world premiere of Lord of the Rings. It's on the way into town.

The tram is pleasant but nothing remarkable. Much nicer views of Wellington and the surrounding area are available from the Mount Victoria lookout, just off Oriental Bay.

That may explain why I took a bus to Napier rather than a ship. 😀

Sorry you had to miss Napier — it’s a nice town with some great Art Deco buildings. Back in April 1998, I spent several days and nights in Napier, living on the cheap at a local youth hostel. One day I rented a bicycle and rode out to the Hawke’s Bay vineyards. (Fun fact: NZ’s ex-PM, Jacinda Ardern, was married last month at the Craggy Range winery at Hawke’s Bay). I have a vague recollection of seeing quite a few vineyards, drinking a lot of wine, and weaving my bicycle back to Napier in an inebriated state. Fortunately I wasn’t pulled over. If that had happened, I would have seen Napier from the inside of an Art Deco jail. Enjoy your cruise! And enjoy the Land of The Long White Cloud!

I stayed in a youth hostel in Auckland in 1981. Would that help?

Having been to Hawaii 25 times, on my own, no cruise ships, no excursions, no tourist ticky-tack, I’ve never understood why people feel Viking-offered excursions are necessary to see and enjoy the state. They are not.

I spent six weeks in China in 1983, back when the country was just opening to tourists. I survived. You will, too.

“A serious chunk of cash” = “That’s some serious coin!” We’re on the same page.

I wouldn’t call a $300K outlay for a cruise “economical” in any universe. But that’s just me.

That’s some serious coin!

You were lucky. On our last Viking cruise (Norway and Iceland), we suffered through what had to be the worst moussaka ever made. Oh it was bad. 😬

We traveled to all of the major Tahitian islands in 1987. On Bora Bora, I recommend renting a bicycle and riding around the island. You’ll be able to hear the soft crunch-crunch of dead crabs on the roadway as you ride over their shells. Think of the sound as especially melodic Polynesian music.

The actual routing may vary, however, depending on which war is being fought at the time and where.

“Our room and our attendant are perfectly clean.” @Jim Avery, did you mean to say something else regarding the room attendant?

Your observation is right on the money. We spent several days in CT on our own about 15 years ago, as part of a three-week trip around South Africa. It’s a great city in a spectacular location. But it’s an island of sorts, surrounded by some very poor and ramshackle settlements (especially toward the CT airport). And the veneer of colonialism is never far away. Did you visit Robben Island or take the tram to the top of Table Mountain? IMO, those are the top sights in CT along with the drive to the Cape itself.

Is the movie Captain Phillips available for streaming on the WCs?

I imagine Viking's insurers will have a major say in whether the WCs transit through the Red Sea. Insurance companies being a conservative lot, I'd put the odds of such a transit as slim to none.

Having been to Kauai more than a dozen times, it’s hard for me to imagine spending just a day on the Garden Isle. But I’d make the best of it — I’d rent a car, head to Waimea Canyon, then backtrack and drive to the North Shore. Busy day but feasible.

The conflict in the Red Sea appears to be widening. How will that affect the WC itinerary? Any word from the ship?