Gropo

We used this service twice. First was on Alaska Inside Passage cruise. Worked fine, as advertised, bag was in stateroom before we arrived. Second was on British Isles Explorer cruise … not quite as good. Pickup was fine. Used their ( that is, DHL’s) website to track the bag. It showed arrival in England, and shipping to warehouse in London, then showed that it had been delivered to the ship. It showed delivery to ship even tho the ship had not yet arrived at port! When we arrived at the ship, bag was not there and nobody knew where it was. Thru good effort by Viking staff who contacted Luggage Forward, as well as my own calls to Luggage Forward, the bag was found in London and sent to ship in time for departure. So, did it work? Yes, but with a lot of unnecessary angst from misinformation. Will I use them again? Hmmm…the jury is still out on that one. Maybe. Probably.

Well, to each his own… If you are doing straight Aquavit, allow me to suggest the Viking Label Aquavit… I’ve only found it available if specifically requested, or you wind up with Linae. The Viking label stuff is much less harsh. On Orion and Venus, they seemed only to have it at the bar in the World Cafe. I don’t think it’s available onboard, but in Iceland I had a couple shots of the local Aquavit known as Black Death … worst hangover ever!

Had a great cocktail on Venus recently …. Viking Royal. Squeeze of Lime+Aquavit + …. What? What was the bubbly used to top it off? I don’t remember. Perhaps I had too many.

The Manfredi reservation came off without a hitch. During service ALL tables were eventually filled. Food was fine. Only glitch was that four different people introduced themselves as our waiter. They were right, each of them served or removed. Maybe a staffing issue? Overall, pretty good.

On Viking Venus right now. Was able to secure pre cruise, on day reservations opened, only Manfredi’s one time and Chef Table one time, for PV1. Eventually, checking back several times, got both of them reserved one more time. On board, checking with the Viking Voyager, the last two had been dropped without notice. After dinner at both, first time, we presented our confirmed reservation from the final documents and they added us to the reservation list. Dinner scheduled second time at Manfredi’s tomorrow … we shall see.

We appear to be on the same cruise. Just as a counterpoint: We went on the included Dublin City tour. Fairly disappointing. Can’t really see much from coach windows on narrow streets. Most commentary was about how the Guinness people paid for about everything good in Dublin, and about which intersection we just past where X number of people were shot during independence rebellion, which apparently happened in several locations … but did we need to go to all of them? The stop at the Art Museum was more for a restroom break than to see any exhibited works. So, in Dublin, I’d recommend spending on one of the optional tours. Someday we will return to see Ireland. Do you just get what you pay for? Somewhat. On the other hand, today we were on the included bus ride thru Anglesey. Great countryside views, good narrative, but only one stop for photo opportunities. Still, we were satisfied.

Thanks, all.

Is there a good way to dispose of medical sharps ( insulin needles) on board Viking ocean ships? Does the medical center accept them? Thanks.

Cool! You can just make them out on Google Earth. I’ll keep my eyes peeled as we approach Liverpool on Venus next week. Thanks.

Just curious: What is height of tides? In our place in Maine they are 28 ft.

To return to The Tapestry…. Stated above ( sorry, don’t know how to properly do quotes): I’m sure you already know, Duke William of Normandy landed near Hastings in 1066 and took the throne of England by killing King Harold and defeating his army. The tapestry depicts this invasion. King William’s Norman associates quickly established themselves as the ruling class across much of England, laying the foundations for many great castles, churches and cathedrals. They physically dominated the countryside and, in the same way, they also imposed Norman culture. But wasn’t Harald himself descended from Vikings ( Danes or Swedes) at least on his mother’s side, and so couldn’t much of what might be Norse-Norman culture already have been part of the existing culture before William and friends arrived? Whatever, Enjoy The Tapestry story in any event.

We have been on two cruises with Viking (Alaska and New Zealand-Australia) both on Viking Orion. At the Aquavit Bar I was served Aquavit with a Viking label on the bottle. I understood from the bartender that barrels of this spirit had been on Viking Sky’s (?) around the world cruise. I’m not sure how it then got onto Orion. We are to be on an upcoming Viking Venus cruise in a couple of weeks, and I’m wondering if Viking label Aquavit might be available, or if the availability on our past cruises was a fluke. Anybody finding Viking Aquavit on Venus or other ships? Thanks.

Thanks. Good info, just what I was looking for. Thanks again.

As has been mentioned, PV includes pressing and shoe shine. Might PV arrange for laundry for a fee? If so, does anyone know the fees? Also, would one arrange this, if available, thru one’s Cabin Steward? Thanks.

Great! Thanks for the feedback.

We are going on the British Isles - Bergen cruise in late April, and the Iceland Extension. Wondering if anyone has been on this extension, and what experiences were. Thanks.