nanabeth

We had several sea days on our last cruise. We stopped at guest services before going to our stateroom and booked a tour of the bridge, a galley tour, and a cooking class.

We were in a PV. We asked our room steward to just bring scotch each day. I requested a bottle of wine. When it was almost empty they brought another one. We took the champagne with us to the Chef's Table to drink with our Thanksgiving feast. We also requested fresh ice at 4:00 each day. And yes, we usually bring a couple of mini bottles home with us.

There is no passenger cabin between 6001 and the bridge. There is a veranda between the 6001 veranda and the bridge that only be accessed from the bridge. I never saw anyone on that veranda. At the end of the hall is a locked door to the bridge. Sorry for the confusion. As I said before I never felt a lack of privacy.

We were in 6001 for our Alaska cruise last August. We loved it. I would often be sitting on the veranda and see the Captain or one of the crew standing on the bridge. I would wave and he would wave back. The veranda next to the bridge is for the crew. The one on the left is 6001. One day we were leaving our room just as the Program Director walked into the hallway after finishing making an announcement over the loudspeaker. We enjoyed chatting with him for a few minutes. I didn't feel like there was an obstructed view at all. We liked it because we were close to the Explorer's Lounge and Mamsens and not very far from the elevators and stairs. We loved it so much we booked two more cruises on deck 6.

Our first ever cruise was the West Indies cruise on the Viking Sea in January, 2022. We did the two day pre-cruise extension in San Juan. It was one of the first cruises after COVID and there were few passengers and a full crew so we felt very spoiled. The only down side was we weren't allowed to go out and explore on our own. One of my favorite excursions was the Barbados Photo Adventure. Even if you are not a photographer it was a wonderful tour of Barbados with an excellent guide Ronnie Carrington. Another favorite was the Rain forest and Waterfall by 4x4 in Dominica. It was a little more challenging because we had to walk up stone stairs to view the waterfalls. Another really fun excursion was the St. Martin's by 4x4 to the airport to watch the planes landing. We did two catamaran trips. From Tortola we went snorkeling and from St. Thomas we went to a National Park beach on St. John. We also enjoyed the included tours we took. We loved it so much we are doing the same cruise again in February. This time we hope to do some exploring on our own.

We've only done two ocean cruises in our life, both last year and both with Viking. The first was a January West Indies Cruise. Many passengers canceled the cruise at the last minute because of Covid fears so there were only 150 passengers and 450 staff! We were spoiled and we were hooked. In August we did the Alaska and the Inside Passage. We loved it. We have two more coming up. Counting the days until we board!

We did Seward to Vancouver in August, 2022 with the 2 day pre-cruise extension in Anchorage. We loved it. Whichever way you go I would recommend either doing the extension to Denali or go on your own. We did not do the Denali extension because we had already been there when we traveled around Alaska by RV in 2013.

We loved being in 8006 on our first Viking cruise. It's just steps away from the secret entrance to the Explorer's Lounge where we spent happy hour every evening. There was no issue with noise at all.

I'm a southerner, too. I've been on two Viking Ocean cruises and never saw grits. I never asked for them, though.

Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us. We are doing the Panama Canal and Central America cruise on the Mars in November 2023. After reading about your adventures I am even more excited about the trip! Thanks for answering my question about the Costa Rica excursion.

Was this the included excursion?

We are sailing from Seward to Vancouver with the pre-cruise extension in Anchorage. Does anyone know if Viking will test us before boarding in Anchorage? When we get off in Vancouver we will be going straight to the airport.

We will be on the August 21 Anchorage to Vancouver cruise, our second Viking Ocean cruise. Looking forward to hearing about your experience!

We're doing Seward to Vancouver in August. Looking for recommendations for the best excursion to see brown bears in the wild.