Peregrina651

Each embarkation port is different. The facilities are different. Some piers have actualThe requirements imposed by immigration officials are different. Since Covid, docking in Venice has moved from the Statzione Marittima in Venice to the commercial docks a bit further out and now finally to Chioggia. I haven't been following the situation closely and have no idea how things are working currently. There may be helpful conversation in other threads but I wouldn't bother reading anything that is dated before 2023 as it may not reflect the current or most recent information. Iceland is a somewhat unique situation as there is no departures hall on the dock to hold hundreds of waiting pax. However, I believe I read somewhere that better dockside accommodations are coming, which will hopefully eliminate the need to use Harpa. In other words, taking guests to a hotel is a last resort (and Iceland is the only place we have experienced). If there are facilities (at minimum, bathrooms) at the dock, you will head straight there. As to boarding, Viking doesn't force anyone to wait to board simply based on cabin category. The couple sitting next to you waiting to get on the ship could just as easily be in an ES as a V. Two things control when Viking actual starts to let you board the ship: local immigration regs and the width of the gangway (as in not wide enough for two lanes of traffic -- and disembarking guests have priority).

Hey! Let's have some sympathy here! 😉 Been there and done that. That crowd is more likely to be the grumpy, exhausted and jetlagged whose flights arrived at 6am that morning and the only thing they are eager for is a decent meal and a nap.

Viking will start processing early arrivals from the airport as soon as they are set up and will start boarding as soon as the disembarking pax have cleared the ship. In some ports, they have to wait for the ship to empty completely (usually by 10 am). In some ports, they will start boarding guests when there is a convenient break in the exiting traffic; the gangway is one-way traffic. The cabin ready time in the brochure is a no later than time and housekeeping aims to have the job completed by 2pm. Regardless of your cabin class, check your cabin as soon as you board. Folks in DV and V maybe pleasantly surprised. As to lines at check-in, they do happen now and then -- lines for security screening and/or check-in. It depends on the port, the timing of the bus loads from the airport and the pre-cruise extensions and what time you arrive at the port.

Keep in mind that the notes that were offered are pre-pandemic and a lot has changed at ports around the world since then, especially in terms of service and staffing.

and for that one, you need to have cruise on the books that booked before November 21, 2023.

All too often you have to keep asking until you find an agent who knows how to send the list. 😖

If you are lucky, the Viking agent knows how to put your TA's name on the booking. I know that the onboard cruise consultants know how to it, because the last few times I booked on board, it happened automatically and I was e-mailing with my TA, setting up the insurance long before I even got home.

There is no way of predicting the weather or the possibility of missing port because of weather, regardless of the season.

"I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Last trip I booked us side by side in the middle. Not only do I have trouble lifting over my head, but I am also under-tall -- and DH was on the other side of the plane. Before DH could get around to my side of the plane to help me, a gentlemen on my side hoisted my bag in to the overhead for and then hauled it down for me at the end of the flight. For our upcoming trip, I made sure we were both on the same aisle -- one window, one aisle. I'll let you know when we meet up on the ship how it worked out.

LOL. You would have found the next time you stopped by that thread. 🙃 But in a few months from now, when one of the two pages has sunk off page one, it might be of help to readers.

You have me wondering if there has been some change in the laundry product used. The last time we were on board (end of 2021), I had a lot of trouble with the fragrance of the laundry detergent (service and laundrette) and was bothered that it lingered for for multiple washings after we got home. But as I said some place, two people can smell the same product and have very different reactions to it.

Two threads are discussing pretty much the same topic and someone has shared the list of tours on the other thread. See (comments 22 and 23):

I like the way they are offering three areas of the city to explore instead of having everyone going to Vatican City. It will save some folks the time and expense if that is where they wanted to be in the first place. Viking is always tweaking things and I would not be surprised if these changes have come about because of guest comments. I'm looking forward to seeing what 2026 and our non-turnaround stop at Civitavecchia has in store for us.

You are right. I was not clear. I was responding to the lecturer's comment about best Roman ruins and did not limit my answer to accessible from Civitavecchia.

The fun begins at 10pm, after the show in the Star Theater. Viking loves celebrations and NYE is one of their best. I think I've been to four of them and each one was slightly different. The first few were in the Atrium/Living Room. The next was a hybrid with the main party in the Atrium and broadcast on the TV screens at the Pool. The latest one we attended was during Covid and it was entirely at the Pool. We were anchored in Cabo San Lucas and at midnight we watched the local fireworks. Jan 1, the party usually continues with some sort of buffet. Some dance and some prefer to cheer them on Fireworks in Mexico Buffet at the Pool In 2021/22, the buffet was set up in the World Cafe because we were only 400 pax

There is no need to stand in line to get through security at the Vatican unless you are planning on going into St. Peter's. Viking has a relationship with one of the shops at the meeting point and the multiple Viking guides/escorts who wait there while their bus-loads tour the area will be happy to point you in the right direction. Viking knows its demographic and understands the importance of having facilities available for us. 😉

For me, it would be a toss up between Ostia and Herculaneum -- both were sea ports but other than that, they were polar opposites. Herculaneum was small, compact and smothered by the eruption of Mt.Vesuvius. Ostia was spread out and and slowly withered away. Our 2026 trip will be with my sister. I know she has been to Italy before (Junior Year Abroad) but I don't know if BIL has. So, it will be their choice what we do the one day that we have. At this point, it is too soon to even think about; who knows what life will bring in the interim.

Thank you. I'm saving your comment for our 2026 cruise which stops in Rome. I was looking for a non-Rome option and it seems that Crotone is not it.

Put it in writing to Viking at tellus@vikingcruises.com. Everyone who wants to see a fragrance-free option should write in and say so.

In the past, the OYO bus dropped you off and picked you up at the Vatican. I assume that it remains the same (but you know what is said about assuming). I do suggest staying with the bus all the way to the Vatican so that you will know exactly where you have to be and at what time you have to be there. Taking the OYO is a good suggestion. It saves the wear and tear of getting to the Civi train station and back (no mad dash to get back on board before they haul up the gangway). It saves the worry that you won't make the train in time. You only have to worry about getting to and from the Borghese. The should make a toilet stop coming and going (but just in case, use the facility at the museum before you head back to the Vatican; toilet at the Vatican is a bit more complicated and the Viking rep will be able to help you find it).

Don, it is entirely possible that on the Northern Lights sailings (which I assume is what you mean when you say "aurora cruise"), Viking changes the dining hours to accommodate the evening excursions to view the Lights. Normal dining hours are 6-9pm and I have never been on a cruise that wasn't open at minimum during those hours. I suggest that the folks you want to hear from are folks who have done this itinerary already. They can tell you what the dining hours were when they took the trip. If you are really lucky, maybe someone saved the Viking dailies and can share them. BTW, pea soup is served most evenings in Mamsen for the late evening crowd. I understand it is delicious.

Smell is personal --just like the comfort of the mattresses and the taste of the food on board. Most of us seem to find the smell of the Viking toiletries and laundry products acceptable but there will always be a few who will find them intolerable. As one who is sensitive to fragrances and perfumes, I suggest that if you are concerned, bring your own tried and true products, at least on your first Viking cruise, until you have a chance to decide for yourself if the Viking products work for you.

There are certain flower-y fragrances used in manufacturing soaps, shampoos, cleaning products, laundry detergent, etc. that I react to with physical symptoms (nothing anaphylactic). I'm the lady in the shampoo aisle opening bottles to sniff them. You may love the smell of your Irish Spring soap or Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific shampoo but I have quite the opposite reaction and I can't get away from it fast enough. Nothing personal -- and nothing that I have any control over. Add to that instructions from the dermatologist not to use products with any sort of fragrance in them. My creds established, please let Ms. Cruise that I personally do not have any trouble with the fragrance of any of the personal care products or the laundry detergent used on the ship. In spite of the doctor's instructions, I can't be bothered packing my own shampoo, etc. and I used the Viking products. I can tolerate the smell and they don't cause any flare ups to my skin problem. Still, I am bothered by the fact that the detergent fragrance lingers in my clothing and takes multiple washings to get rid of ocne I get home. The only fragrance on board I do have a problem with was used by the gift shop, sprayed inside a travel bag that I bought. Two years later and in spite of the fact that I store the the bag with an activated charcoal odor eater inside it, it still smells. Hope this helps.

😭 But it is the second ship of the new class. Based on the first few of the first class, I am not ready to give up hope. Viking Vela was floated out at the end November and is due to be turned over sometime in 2024.

Thanks for that info. I was wondering. I have always wanted to do a maiden voyage and just happened to stumble into this one because we were looking for a January cruise that wasn't a 14 hour flight. Now we just have to hope the Vesta is delivered on time.