Nippy Sweetie

Flights are always included in our bookings with Viking. We've always arrived on the day of the cruise and it's been fine. Better than fine really. Last time our flight was delayed and we worried about getting to the ship. No need to worry. A staff member was waiting for us. Our cases were immediately taken and we didn't see them until in our cabin. Lovely transport with cool water provided and on to the ship. Lovely!

Why not just have the included wines at mealtimes and pay as you go for drinks outside this? Could work out much cheaper and you still have enjoyable drinks.

We've done Cunard dressy cruises and are finished with that sort of thing. However, on Viking cruises , ocean and river, we do change for dinner. I feel the staff has gone to a lot of trouble to present a nice dinner for us and that we should respect their efforts. We're not very dressed up, just showered and changed into a nicer outfit than the one we've worn all day. People can, of course, wear what they'd like and we can draw our own conclusions about them.

@Canal archiveand of course you'd need pocket squares to match your ties. Important to maintain standards!

My DGSs wore ties to school from age 5. Compulsory and smart.

Neither of us even possess any jeans. OH likes to wear a jacket at dinner. Just a linen one and with a collared shirt. I've recently weaned him off the tie habit.

@pontac I remember eating off the ship in a variety of places. They were fine by me and certainly better than on the ship. Just remembered a revolting dish of black pudding mixed through rice. Yuk.

I do love a menu! Thanks for posting. The food on our Douro cruise years ago was so dire that I actually complained. I got a sort of, 'There, there, pat on the head' from head office. I didn't expect much but thought it right to complain. I still remember some of the dishes. Yuk! Subsequent cruises have been fine.

Easy direct travel between Edinburgh and Kings Cross. No need to change. Quite quick too. Probably works out the same as flying by the time you add in getting to the airport in Edinburgh and getting to London from Heathrow.

Also in Europe just plain heavy relentless rain! It happens.

Drought can be a very big problem too!

We'd all like to know that!

It's hard to believe anyone could support the Russian offensive. I know Poland is very worried about the situation. Donald Tusk was talking about this in TV this week.

@CDNPolar I'm glad you were OK. We certainly won't be doing that particular cruise until the Russians have withdrawn completely from Ukraine. That won't be soon I sadly suspect.

Travel via Eurostar would be a nightmare for this UK based poster. We don't all live in London! Paris is a very convenient flight for us here. We were glad of our balcony cabin on the French river cruises and somewhat dreading the basement one for the first part of our next one. It was all that was available at time of booking

6 months out from our next river cruise and I've already booked all our excursions.

I was interested in the Passage to Eastern Europe cruise but didn't go ahead as it seemed to be entering a pretty nasty war zone. We have a lot of Ukrainians refugees here so it's a very point. Otherwise I've been to Budapest a few times. I'm surprised that nobody so far seems to have visited the famous Gellert baths. That is a fabulous experience. So beautiful and so unusual. Highly recommended.

Have a great time @pontac

Glad you found something that meets your OH's stringent stipulations@pontac. I remember being on a TAP plane and actually seeing my case being left on the runway! It was returned to me the next week looking rather the worse for wear. Needless to say, they'd loaded OH's case! TAP? Grrrrr!

Paris is so beautiful though. However, Paris CDG airport is terrifying. We once had a 45 minute connection time and I still have nightmares about it. Staff stunningly unhelpful! Luckily, OH has nerves of steel and pushed his way to the top of the passport queue while I trailed behind apologising to everyone. Others were crying as they'd missed their flight. It was really awful. We made it just as our gate was closing. That was for a cruise on Azamara Onward and with flights organised by them. Never again.

Lagavulin eh? Are you Ron Swanson from 'Parks and Recreation'? 😁

Will do @CDNPolar. On our last river cruise there was a cocktail session. Lots of different kinds were made and we could try as many as we wanted. This meant I tried some I'd never have had before. However, I'm just not a big drinker so could only manage an Amaretto Sour and a Margarita. Dinner was bit of a blur after that!

@pontac Peebles can be nice at this time of year 😄

@CDNPolar surely Viking made up the loss with your brother? After being put off the ship as testing positive for COVID (despite no symptoms), we were taxied from Lyons to Paris and accommodated full board at a hotel for five nights then flown home. Obviously, this was not exactly fun. The day after we got home I was contacted by Viking and offered a cash sum or a cruise voucher. We took the voucher and had a wonderful 12 day cruise plus OBC - FOC. We're sticking with Viking!

I'm more likely to try cocktails I think. Not something we ever have at home. Obviously, I've been thinking hard about how to get through the dratted OBC!