trinicruisegyal

Thanks...It's interesting that the Viking Ocean FAQ doesn't state that the items are prohibited (they also aren't listed as examples above), but the Viking River FAQ explicitly states that they are prohibited in the electrical voltage section. Modern electronic devices can accommodate different electrical currents, so you probably won’t need a current converter. Please note that heat-producing appliances, such as irons, steamers, curling irons and heaters, are potential safety hazards and therefore not permitted on board. Every other cruise line that I've sailed with has prohibited items like clothes irons and hot plates and heating pads and made exceptions for hair styling tools.

The FAQ under "What is the electrical voltage in the Staterooms" states... You will find both 110V and 220V electrical outlets in your stateroom. All outlets are European style (2 pin) with a ground, except for two US 110V sockets above the desk and one US 110V socket on each side of the bed; there are no UK 3 pin sockets. Should you need an adapter, they are available for sale in the onboard shop or can be found at most electronics or travel stores. (Remember that if you’re staying in a hotel for part of your journey, you’ll want the appropriate adapter for that country as well.) In your stateroom, you will also find a USB socket to charge cell phones and tablets; just bring the appropriate cable with you. Most modern electronic devices can accommodate different electrical currents, so you probably won’t need a current converter; exceptions to this are curling irons and other appliances that produce heat; hair dryers are provided on board. Is there another section of the FAQ which says curling irons aren't allowed? OP...I don't recall whether I was able to use either the curling or the flat irons that I walked with in the bathroom...but I certainly used them at both the desk and at the bedside tables.

I’m curious…this is the inaugural sailing of Jupiter, correct? Has Viking done anything special to commemorate the occasion? Do you think that some of the deficiencies that you have experienced may be as a result of this being the first voyage? I imagine that the entertainment especially on a ship’s first sailing will not be as polished as those on sailing number 100. When you said that there were no included tours on the first day in Livorno, do you mean that none were ever scheduled for that first day? Did anyone onboard indicate whether this was an anomaly just for this cruise or if it’s Vikings’ new practice in this port? We had a similar experience a year and a half ago when we booked a 14 night cruise only to find out that it was two 7 night cruises…we found out shortly after we booked as there was no separate Roll Call for the 14 night cruise only the 7 night sailings were set up. In the end I joined 4 roll calls in order to keep up with the persons who would be onboard for some portion of our voyage. It certainly isn’t a new practice by Viking and it’s one that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, Viking has even edited the ‘overview’ on the website of each of these cruises to indicate the cruises that have been combined. For example Mediterranean Antiquities says “Cruise a richly historic canvas. Combine Journey to Antiquities and Iconic Western Mediterranean for a magnificent 15-day cruise from Athens to Barcelona. Explore the storied sites of ancient Greece and Rome, the glamour of Monte Carlo and the rich history of Marseille, uncovering classical treasures and vibrant cultures at every turn. Overnight stays in Athens, Florence and Barcelona give you ample time to immerse yourself in the culture, allowing for the most enriching discoveries.” We actually rather enjoyed the changeover of guests halfway through, the doubled speciality restaurant reservations, the fresh bottle of champagne midway through…my only complaint would be the absence of Viking excursions on the first day of the second leg…for us this happened in Barcelona on day one of an overnight stay and we planned well in advance to visit a couple places that were important to us during our ‘free’ day as Viking only offered two tours (none included) during turnover day. Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Last year we were interested in two PS3 cabins and at the time we booked only the two ADA cabins were available, our TA suggested that if we did not need the amenities of the ADA cabins that we would be happier with a PS1 cabin ( all of the PS2 cabins were sold out)...we booked two of those instead. CruiseCritic has photos of the ADA cabin 6021 on Viking Sky here... https://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/viking-sky-992/accessible-penthouse-junior-suite-411902/ And photos of PS2 cabin 7002 on the Sky here... https://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/viking-sky-992/penthouse-junior-suite-411913/

We did a similar cruise as the second leg of a roundtrip cruise from Rome last New Years. One of the great things about the itinerary is that it’s possible to do more than one tour/activity per day; for us we took a Viking tour ‘first thing’ in the morning, had lunch back at the ship and then spent the rest of the day exploring the various cities on our own. The free shuttle buses offered by Viking or in some cases the port were key to us being able to easily do this. Some ports we had a plan for what we wanted to do with the second half of the day before we left home. For example in Marseille we did the included tour which was a bus ride around the city, got some shopping done, had lunch back onboard and then caught the train to Aix-en-Provence and spent a few hours wandering around, did some more shopping caught the train back to Marseille and were back onboard in time for dinner. In other ports like St Tropez (I know this port was dropped from your itinerary) we took cues from that morning’s tour and shaped that afternoon’s adventure which included a walk, coffee and some Tarte Tropézienne (at a café recommended by our guide that morning) and a ride on the St. Tropez Christmas train. I think that if you already know that you would like to avoid bus tours where possible you may want to look into either exploring on your own or organizing private tours with others on your cruise. We felt that as it was our first Viking cruise that we wanted to experience the tours that were included, so that on any future cruises we would have a good idea what their tours are like and know whether to skip them or not. Plus the Viking tours were great for our small multigenerational group, as there was just the right mix of driving and walking. During November in the Mediterranean you shouldn’t need the winter coats, however I would suggest that you walk with them because you really never know. We walked with ours last December/January, the weather was fantastic during the cruise…my husband grumbled about having unnecessarily walked with his coat and gloves, so he packed his coat in his checked luggage when we left the ship. We left for home from Rome, had an early flight into Munich and then were scheduled to fly from Munich to JFK and then home to Trinidad. We left Munich for JFK and were diverted into Detroit due to a winter storm. We had to spend the night in Detroit, it was 0 degrees Fahrenheit when we landed and had to find the shuttle to the hotel the airline provided and then we got bused to JFK the next day. After the super long bus ride we ended up with a 12 hour layover in a terminal at JFK with no heat (they closed the terminal a few hours after we left), couldn’t get a room at any hotel nearby…it was a nightmare…but hubby was thrilled to have his coat and gloves.

I would like to second SargassoPirate's recommendation of the Hilton at the Rome Airport for all the reasons stated. We stayed there last year ahead of our Christmas/New Years cruise (the second leg of our cruise was Iconic Mediterranean; we did a round trip from Rome) we were a group of six and stayed 3 nights, we organised Viking transfers to and from the airport (quite easy but not necessarily the most cost effective option). Whilst you can walk to and from the terminals at the airport, the hotel does in fact have a shuttle to the terminals, which is great if you are overpackers like we are. The only downside that we experienced was that whilst the majority of the drive into Rome is quite scenic there was a lot of traffic, which we were told was due mainly to it being Christmas week.

Actually they are listed without names (aside from Jupiter) on the new luxury cruise ship page https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=3015 instead of the page you cited (River cruise ships on order also have a separate page).

OP, there are some additional photos and details here... https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2644118 The photos Peregrina651 posted were of persons sitting on the stairs and some standing in the general area enjoying the entertainment that was taking place on Deck 1 of the Atrium. Because of the vantage point the photos were taken from you can't see the surrounding party. We were pleasantly surprised by how fun and well attended the party was and we were definitely not bored. There were people on the 'dancefloor' from the start of the event until well after its scheduled end time...the photo I posted of folks on the dance floor is actually a screen grab from a video that I took at 12:47...the crowd started to really thin out around 12:30, but there were plenty of people celebrating until after 1.

Cruisecritic has a bunch of photos of 6021 in the Viking Sky photo gallery...here is the link https://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/viking-sky-992/accessible-penthouse-junior-suite-411902/

Clay Clayton posted photos of the Torshavn Menu on one of the Silver Spirits threads... https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=55510203&postcount=126 Unfortunately it doesn't show any additional options under $15, hopefully Viking has since made some additions (his post was made in March 2018). We contemplated bringing a bottle of our favourite scotch with us, but opted not to do so as we had the Silver Spirit package, on our next Viking cruise we will likely just walk with a bottle of one of our favourites.

We didn’t have to go to guest services, we asked our Room Steward when we boarded and he very quickly facilitated the request. Three of the four of us were ‘present’ when the request was made, 3 of the 4 had the same last name and our TA had made a request in advance to Viking, I don’t know if those three factor impacted the ease with which the room steward accommodated our request but I felt I should mention them. Sent from my iPhone using Forums

During our fourteen day cruise, we had six reservations for Chef's Table, we ended up cancelling one as we would have repeated one of the menus. We had Asian Panorama, Routes des Indes,Venice Carnival, Sweet and Salty and Erling's Scandinavian Bistro. It's difficult for me to pick a top two, as I thought everything was good, and each menu had memorable items. The only item that I did not care for was the Spicy Tuna first course which was a part of the Indes menu.The two most memorable menus for me were Asian Panorama and Erling's Scandinavian Bistro.

We had a PS1 on deck 8 of the Star, whilst the balcony in that room was wider than the nearby DV1s the depth of the balcony is exactly the same. The best photo I have seen of the deck 9 overhang in relation to balcony is on the same blog OneSixtyToOne mentioned but on the page about the penthouse jr suites...this is the link to the specific photo which I believe would be helpful https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rvK6m4kPVqM/WwEjyIqzDXI/AAAAAAAADa0/0olp6cnOlqA5i2Ub9kMqarJe8kDXAjbBACLcBGAs/s1600/12.jpg

On our Viking Star NYE 17/18 cruise there was a major event in the Atrium and the Viking Daily states that there was an event in the Explorers Lounge, though it ended with sufficient time for one to arrive at the celebrations in the Atrium well before midnight. All the other bars/lounges maintained regular opening hours. There was no specified dress code for either event, however most persons would have met a semi-formal dress code, there were a number of people who were dressed more formally. Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We did that cruise as a part of Mediterranean Explorations last year over Christmas and that specific tour wasn't offered. I suspect that it was because the Vatican Museum only opens late/at night at certain times of the year and unfortunately Christmas/NYE doesn't appear to be one of them. I did a lot of tour research both before and after excursions opened for booking specifically about the Vatican & Sistine Chapel and I came to the conclusion that one's best bet for a small group tour of the Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel at that time of year was to do one of the early entry tours offered by one of the reputable well rated/reviewed tour companies. In the end after all of the research we opted to not sacrifice our sleep and or getting onboard early on embarkation day (which was the only day we could comfortably incorporate the early tour).