Twitchly

A footnote to your excellent list: there’s a considerable amount of walking on uneven surfaces. Nothing like what we encountered on our (non-Viking) trip to the Holy Land, but we had a couple people who couldn’t do it. They spent some time in a garden area instead, as I recall. Our guides were terrific (we had a separate guide for the long bus trip, and she was interesting), and I highly recommend the excursion. But oh, the crowds. Finally, I recommend Washington Irving’s “Tales of the Alhambra” for a glimpse into what it was like a couple hundred years ago. On my bucket list: to stay overnight at the hotel inside the Alhambra and see the place when the mobs are gone.

Thanks for that. I will never again see those tubular water slides without thinking of a colonoscopy.

I really want to hear about yours. It sold out very quickly for our ‘22 cruise, so I’d love to live vicariously!

I can’t imagine. I get whiney doing dishes again after just 2 weeks.

I’ll be curious to hear what you think of Gorée. I was there many years ago and found it fascinating. It was nearly empty at the time. No idea what it’s like now.

Probably because Carnival sees it as competition to their casinos. Which thankfully don’t exist on Viking.

That’s the bottom line. You don’t really need to deal with USB-A or USB-C outlets on Viking if you don’t want to. You can just plug your phone in as you do now. Hotels overseas are another story. That’s where you might want to bone up on those USB options. And bring a country-friendly plug adapter. You can check with your hotel to see what kinds of USB outlets they have, if any.

Yes, you can bring your usual phone plug. It will work on the ship.

We found the beds to be too hard, and we like a firm mattress. Wish we had known to ask for a topper or two.

How lovely! A part of you is always cruising with Viking. On the other hand, that makes me wonder about the cleanliness of the pool...

This echoes my experience in Asia. Lines are not a thing.

Gack. What a mess. Reading things like this makes me realize my days of traveling for enjoyment in countries with crappy health care are over. (No insult intended to the places mentioned in this article, which may have sterling hospitals for all I know. Long ago when I lived in Africa, such was not the case.)

We wanted to take this pre-extension but it was sold out. Looking forward to hearing about your impressions!

Sounds lovely. The destination performances are always worth going to, in my experience.

One word: why??

Now, if the ducks start wearing baseball caps … 🍿

Nice underwater shots! The beach looks idyllic. Except for the jellyfish. 😳

That’s a beautiful night photo. @Pappri How did you manage it?

Speechless.

We stayed here, too, and enjoyed it. Close to Victoria station and Buckingham Palace. (We ended up staying there the day after the Queen died, so we were right in the middle of things.) If you stay here, I suggest springing for one of the better rooms.

Interesting. I lived there a long time ago, in a remote area. Never saw any of these things. (I would’ve loved to have tomatoes, but the only ones I found were imported and too expensive.) Maybe we just lived too remotely. In our village, the only street vendor eggs I knew about were balut (fertilized duck eggs). Sounds like there is a world of Filipino cuisine I missed!

I would love to hear how Viking would make halo halo! Thanks for posting the menu.

Looks tasty but not especially Filipino. The tomatoes, for one thing. (When I lived there, nobody had them; they have to be imported. They make ketchup out of bananas.) I don’t recall much in the way of cilantro or quails, either. Ah, well. At least there’s seafood.

Me too. I wonder if it includes pancit guisado and halo-halo*? *(A kitchen-sink drink made of crushed ice, sweetened condensed milk, corn, black beans, cubed gelatin, jackfruit, and heaven knows what else. Weirdly addictive in 114-degree heat once one gets over the ick factor.)

Yup. We got that in 2022, as I recall. They stopped allowing changes in the couple of days before boarding, and no changes for the first couple of days of the cruise. We did talk with the excursion people on boarding day about getting on a waiting list for a later excursion and had no problem.