Peregrina651

2 hours ago, ddeprez said:

We use a local credit union, and they no longer offer foreign currency! Crazy, huh??  

Not crazy if it saves the CU money to discontinue the service.

6 hours ago, ddeprez said:

so would just like to get opinions on what’s a reasonable amount to bring for 14 days.

Start by figuring out how much you are going to need for tips for tours. That is the minimum amount to bring. Next thing to decide is whether it is better underestimate how much cash you will need or overestimate.

If you are planning on traveling to Europe again, then bringing home some euro shouldn't be a problem.  We keep a minimum of 100€ on hand so that we don't have to worry about stopping in the airport.

I know you said no ATM but I am going to open my big mouth and make a suggestion that you are welcome to ignore. Take baby steps towards ATM usage (if nothing else, you have access in case of emergency (like cash stolen)). Go to AAA for euro but plan to make one visit to an ATM on this trip.  Call it a practice run.

But first, to protect your nest egg, you want a dedicated travel account with its own debit/ATM card (or better yet, a card for each of you).

• Open a sub-account at the CU. (I use a CU and had no trouble doing this).
• Ask that it have its own debit card that is not attached to any of the other accounts that you already have.
• Ask them to set it up as an ATM-only card. (If they can't figure it out, ask them to set the purchase limit to $0). Set the daily withdrawal rate to $150.
• Put $500 in the account.

When you get to Madrid, go to a nearby bank with an ATM in the lobby. Take out 50 or 100€. When you get home, you can compare the two methods.

And if you are staying at the Intercontinental (near the US embassy) in Madrid, go visit the Sorollo Museum. It is just around the corner and it just lovely, small and intimate.

Hope you will join the Far Eastern Horizons roll call for those dates. There are only a couple of us and we surely would enjoy the company.

  May 2, 2025 -- Far Eastern Horizons -- HK to Tokyo 

On 3/18/2024 at 3:31 PM, millybess said:

In our 5 years of sailing with Viking, we've only found 1 agent that is very good and on top of things and very responsive.  She is the only person besides "our" travel agent that we now deal with.  

My go-to person left during COVID. Now I am high and dry.😒

9 hours ago, roxeroo said:

I asked Viking chat box whether or not I would be allowed to use my exercise fins in the larger pool and whether it would be deep enough.  At the depth of 4'8" they report it sounds fairly shallow for me - but many of you report depths making it hard to stand, and breathe - so maybe I will be able to do my water aerobics with my waterproof  earbuds on when there are few in the pool?  What do some of you think? Would this ruin the experience for others, or be tolerated during lower use hours?

Infinity pool shown above (this one is deeper than 4'8"). The Pool on Deck 7 (right), which is about 2-3 times the size of the Infinity pool -- and not weather dependent; there are people who swim laps here. The pool in the Spa (left).

9 hours ago, roxeroo said:

but many of you report depths making it hard to stand, and breathe

They were talking about the Infinity Pool.

From travel.state.gov:

New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA):

• U.S. citizens traveling to or transiting through New Zealand under the visa waiver program are required to have an NZeTA. This is also true for cruise ship passengers. It can take up to 72 hours to process an NZeTA so apply well in advance of your trip. The NZeTA is valid for multiple visits for up to two years.
• If your NZeTA application is denied, you will need to apply for a visa. Visit the Embassy of New Zealand website for the most current visa information.
•  

International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL):

• U.S. citizens traveling to New Zealand for tourism, certain student programs, and short-term business trips are required to pay an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL). This levy is assessed when a person applies for an NZeTA or New Zealand visa. The IVL is not required of passengers that are transiting New Zealand on a transit visa or transit ETA.

There is a difference between a NZe TAand a visa. I took the test to see if I could use a NZe TA. I failed the test. Were I going to NZ at this time, I would need to apply for a visa  (or to take the test again, taking care that I understand what I'm being asked).

55 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

Does that sound right? I hope I did not use a third party site. The Australian visa was only $20. 

Each country sets its own rules and fees for visas. Whether you need a visa at all depends on the passport you carry. The fees you pay also depend on the passport you carry. 

Note also that what you paid may also include the IVL mentioned on travel.state.gov

If you have questions about the visa, you really should ask the New Zealand Consular office in Los Angeles; they may even have a website. They know a lot more about their visas than most of us here -- and not having the right paperwork can cost you your whole trip.

Best to inform Viking at least 30 days before you board, so they can be properly stocked to meet your needs.

Gluten-free can be handled on MVJ. Go to Onboard Experience/Preferences and choose Dietary. The stuff I can't eat is not listed on the form. I tell them when I board; I go to the maitre'd and ask them to add it to my profile.

https://www.viking.com/myjourney/onboard-experience/preferences/allergies

Those with food allergies get special handling at dinner.  Breakfast and lunch we have to handle on our own -- I get one of the crew to walk me down the buffet line at lunch to point out the dishes I need to avoid. Some dishes on the buffet are labeled.  For dinner in The Restaurant and Manfredi's, we get to choose our meals in advance. The next evening's menu will be in your hands by bedtime. Sometimes they will hand it to you at dinner and sometimes they will leave it at your cabin (different ships have different ways of handling it). Your choices must be turned in by 10 am; follow instructions on the menu. Chef's Table checks the profiles of all diners and plans accordingly.

8 hours ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

Recently on Venus (after 3 Star voyages, no Asian corner)…. My husband got breakfast there many times, as well as lunch and/or dinner.

they will also make, with some advance notice, rice noodles fir the Dan Dan.   I cannot eat wheat pasta, so this was awesome!   I, too, visited several times!

the other lunch and dinner offerings varied, but were always yummy!

it was a real “addition “😄

If you are celiac, keep in mind that the noodles are dunked in a pot of boiling water prior to final preparation.  Don't assume that they use different pots for the different types of noodles.   Ask.

It was disabled by Cruise Critic when it moved to this platform a few years. 

Or do you mean on MVJ?  In which case, it may be a browser problem or it may not be a 24/7 feature.

3 hours ago, lackcreativity said:

Are you talking about my husband or our friends?😁

Yes.

ROLL CALLS FOR 2024

(as of this date)

April 5, 2024 - British Isle Explorer - Viking Venus

British aisles April 17,2024 (Saturn)

Viking Venus British Isles Explorer- April 19th 2024 (Venus)

May 1, 2024 British Isle Explorer (Saturn)

Viking Sky May 06, 2024 British Isles Explorer London to Bergen

May 29, 2024 British Isles explorer (Saturn)

June 13, 2026, Saturn, British Isles Explorer (Saturn)

Viking Sky British Isles Explorer / June 17 - July 1, 2024

Viking Sky British Isles Explorer /July 1, 2024-July 14, 2024 (Sky)

Viking Sky- British Isles, July 15-29, 2024

Viking Sky - British Isles Explorer July 29 - August 12, 2024 (Sky)

2024 September 02 - Viking Venus - British Isles Cruise (Venus)

Viking Venus - British Isles Explorer - Sept 2-16, 2024 (Venus)

Best advice: you need some time off from one another each day. You can't be joined at the hip all day long. State it clearly early on in the planning process.

Which do you want to do more? The included or the optional?  Are you willing to give up taking the included so that you can do the optional tour? Those are your first decisions.

On 3/16/2024 at 5:21 PM, OneSixtyToOne said:

Here is a relevant posting in another thread:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2416372-tips-for-new-viking-ocean-cruisers/?do=findComment&comment=67098523

 

This is the second relevant post, written by @Lilyskittymom. I've edited to highlight the ports and "tour names". The author has promised to hang around to answer questions:

A little back story on our cruise.  We were originally booked for Hong Kong to Vancouver but had to shorten it to Tokyo when my husband started having medical problems and couldn't be gone that long.  We had quite a bit of money to spend on a cabin upgrade and excursions.

Since we could book our excursions earlier with the upgrade, we had no problem getting what we wanted and there was no need to look for outside tours.  But there were local guides meeting people who booked private tours at every port.  Clay's suggestion of goodwill guides is something we would have done if it had been necessary.

We did a combination of included and paid excursions and generally liked everything, with the exception of the included tour in Kagoshima, the "Kagoshima Scenic Ride".  It was a rainy day so the stop at the scenic overlook was soggy and the trip to the local museum was ok, but literally something you could find in any city, anywhere in the world.  A private tour would have been a better choice.

I'm not going to get into a lot of detail on the excursions because the descriptions were accurate.  Here's what we did.  Hong Kong - we flew into HK a day early, took the ferry across the harbor, and the tram to Victoria Peak, on our own. We enjoyed the views and the walk down one of the hiking trails.  The next day we took the Hong Kong Walking Tour, which was a nice representation of the city.  Afterwards, we wandered the area near the port, which is home to the largest shopping mall in HK.

In Taipei, we did the "Highlights of Taipei".  Since we didn't have a lot of time in port, this was a good tour for us. 

In Nagasaki we went on the "Atomic Bomb Museum and Park".  The museums in Nagasaki and Hiroshima are very different, and I'd recommend going to both of them if that's where your interest lies.  It was a very good tour.  The Glover Gardens are a short uphill walk from the ship and was definitely worth the visit.  In addition to the main house, and the gardens, there was a museum that had costumes and floats used for local festivals - very interesting.

In Beppu, we did the Steaming Sites of Beppu, which was very interesting.  If you'd like to go to an onsen, look for one close to the port - they're everywhere.  The Viking onsen tour is robbery. I wanted to go to an onsen, but would have had to go to one a bit further away because I have large visible tattoos.  Yes, there are tattoo friendly onsens in Beppu especially.  A Google search will find them.  Instead, we took the Viking shuttle bus (most ports had one) to the area near the train station.  From there, we wandered through shopping areas and stopped at some small neighborhood shrines and temples (Google maps is your friend).

"Ultimate Hiroshima" was wonderful, with its visit to their Atomic Bomb Museum and Park, and the trip to Miyajima Island.  The island was really worth going to - very quaint and lovely.  Again, the Atomic Bomb Museum is very different from Nagasaki's.  We were in port until noon the next day and went on a walk along the water the morning we left.

In Osaka, we were on "Sights of Kyoto", another wonderful all day tour.  Food on the all day tours was always very good and at local Japanese restaurants.  

Shimizu took us to "Highlights of Mt Fuji", another all day tour that took us to the 5th station of Mt Fuji, the furthest you can go by vehicle up the mountain.  Fuji-san wasn't visible when we pulled into port the evening prior, but we were treated to unobstructed views of the mountain the next day - a rare occurrence in April.

Tokyo had us docked at the port of Yokohama, and while the port area is very nice, it was a 1+ hour drive to Tokyo, so the "Tokyo Panorama tour" wasn't as good as it could have been because we spent 2.5 hours driving.  We did go back for "An Evening in Tokyo," which was very nice.  The views from the Skytree and the way the streets are lit up at night was amazing.  Viking guides were available to help people navigate the subway system, for anyone who wanted to head out on their own.  Hopefully you'll be docked in Tokyo itself, which would put you so much closer to the city.

Overall, this was a wonderful cruise and makes me want to go back to Japan.  We were warmly welcomed, and sent off, from the all the ports.  The port areas themselves are surrounded by parks and are well taken care of.  International ATMs can be found at 7-11 and Lawson. Perfectly safe; I got Yen there a couple of times. And the stores are everywhere especially near the ports.  If you don't know about the wonders of 7-11, Lawson and Family Mart, look it up before you go.  They're not the sad version of 7-11 we have in the US.  

Nice to know that it is no longer an Audible exclusive and thus available from other sources.   Libraries may also have the video versions available (not on Libby but from from another service whose name I can't remember).

17 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Here is a relevant posting in another thread:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2416372-tips-for-new-viking-ocean-cruisers/?do=findComment&comment=67098523

 

With permission of the author, @Clay Clayton, here is one of the posts (#2382):

I highly recommend trying to arrange “goodwill” guides in the Japanese ports. These are guides who in exchange for practicing their English tour you for free. You are expected to pay for their meal if you share one and for any admissions to museums or the like. When we did it in the before times, the maximum group size was 6.  We had a great guide in Tokyo and at the end of the day, it cost us each $8 but the best part was having someone with whom we had a real conversation about their life.  While the two of us were in Kyoto, we booked one for our day trip to Hiroshima. The cost there was higher as we didn’t have anyone to split it with and we requested to go to a specific restaurant.  Still was such a great day. Here is a link to where we requested ours:

https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/list-of-volunteer-guides/

Look for "Sagrada Familia" in the Play Store if you use an Android phone or in the Apple Store for iPhones.  When I tried it came right up.

9 minutes ago, ericosmith said:

Be careful.  Some carriers charge for calls even when using wifi calling.  T Mobile for example charges $.25 per minute.  Other carriers may be more or less.  

No charge on our Verizon phones when the calls come from the US. Therefore, no charge for the kids to call us. However, if we make a call to any other country code, it is an international call and is charged as such. (Whether that triggers our Verizon Day Pass, I don't know because I haven't done a call to an international number using calling over wi-fi.)

24 minutes ago, LissaKay said:

Never mind ... I found it. 

Glad you found it and here is hoping that your family doesn't need it.

Here is a tip for keeping in touch.  It works on my phone but for some reason not on my husband's (even though we both have "calling over wi-fi"). We both use  Samsung Android phones. Someone who uses Apple will have to tell us if it works for Apple and how to do it.

Instructions for Android.  In Setting/Connections enable "Wi-Fi Calling."   Put your phone in Airplane Mode. Anytime your phone connects to wi-fi (in a hotel, on the ship), you should be able to receive text messages and phone calls. I say should because it worked for both of us in our hotel in Cairo but it did not work for DH on the ship.

Enjoy your first Viking Adventure!

17 minutes ago, lackcreativity said:

We passed in the wee hours, but my husband got up at the expected time and stood on our balcony for quite some time. Nothing! Come to find out they no longer light the cliff over night because it disturbs the monkeys' sleep. Oh well.

And here I thought it was to save money on lights and help the conservation effort. I guess helping the monkeys helps the environment as well.

I would love to sail through during day light hours so that I can actually distinguish between the landmasses and the sea. Sailing through at night was eerie, especially after they turned off the lights.

@Lilyskittymom and @Clay Clayton, with your permission, I would like to copy your responses to Cattom into the thread that Maria mentions at the end of her comments, Everything "Far Eastern Horizons": Hong Kong to Tokyo

It is actually because of some off-line conversation with Cattom, that I remember some old notes that I had started in 2020 and found the link to the thread that I had started way back when.

Our cab fare was a lot more than 5 euro when we made the trip 6 years ago.  It was closer to 15.

I would like to think that the sell-out problem was the same problem that other cruises faced post pandemic of not enough guides and drivers back on the job.  Japan was among the last to open after the pandemic. Hopefully, this is less of a problem in 2024 and will be back to normal by 2025.

And hopefully we will hear from 2024 cruisers what they faced.

1 pm is the latest time your cabin will be ready for occupancy. Nominal boarding time is 11am but Viking does not like to keep people sitting around the terminal. They will start check in as early as they can and start boarding arrivals as soon as the ship is cleared for boarding. By 12:15 the morning rush (early morning arrivals coming from the airport) should be over and unless your arrival coincides with the the arrival of a bus load of guests, you will be checked in and on board in no time.

At that point, they will be serving lunch in the World Cafe and the Pool Grill with light fare being served in the Living Room Bar and Mamsens.

I don't even remember starting this thread in 2020 but now that I am booked for 2025🤞, I think maybe it is time to bring this informational thread back up to the top. Some of the information is stale after all these years, so maybe folks who have sailed post-pandemic will share their experiences, tell us about the tours they took, guides they used, sights they enjoyed or didn't enjoy, share travel hints with us, etc. etc.

This is not a roll for any sailing; for those you should go to https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/768-viking-ocean-roll-calls/, and find your ship in the list and then look for your sail date.

While you are looking for your roll remember that Far Eastern Horizons is just one segment of the Aukland to Vancouver/Vancouver-Aukland repositioning cruise. You may find other roll calls that cover the time you will be on the ship and you should "follow" those as well, since you never know where you will find helpful information about your cruise, tour shares for your time on the ship and folks who will be sailing with you.

When I started this thread fours years ago, with plans to sail in 2021, I seeded the conversation with the following questions. I hope those of you who have sailed in 2023 will help answer questions for us.

1. •  Does anyone have the Dailies from their cruise that they are willing to share?
2. •  Does anyone have the tour prices. We know that prices will change by the time get there, but knowing the old prices helps with sticker shock.
3. •  Where did they park the ship in each port. This will change from sailing to sailing but it is nice to know what the possibilities are? Was it convenient?
4. •  Was there a shuttle available? Where did it take you?
5. •  Which Viking tours did you take? What was the highlight of the tour? Where you happy with your choice or in hindsight should you have made a different choice? 
6. •  Is there anything in the port that you regret not having done or would have done instead of what you did do?
7. •  What is the best piece of advice you have to share with us?

3 minutes ago, lackcreativity said:

Peregrina,

We have been to Sagrada Familia three times and I never knew there are colorful tiles at the top of the spires. Given Gaudi's other work, I guess I should have thought to look harder!

LOL. That's because you didn't go up the towers and take pictures with a telephoto lens. 😁You can't see all of the detail from the ground. Next time!

I just noticed that there are words on the spire. I can make out Hosana and Excelsis in the picture. There is just so much going on in Gaudi's work, words, mosaic tiles, bas relief, shapes inspired by nature, light and color, transparency. You could spend hours just concentrating on one element.