Host Jazzbeau

This is one of the qualitative differences among cruise lines that don't show up when people just crunch the numbers. I have seen Viking lollipops with at least 3x that many passengers in tow.

I just thought of something that had never occurred to me: that close to the North pole, you will be passing through time zones like nobody's business. Will you gain an hour each time? [That would argue for the NW passage over the NE in my book!]

If your cabin is short on storage [we do not travel light...] I think there is a small area under the lid of that stool. Just be sure you check it when you are packing up to leave!!!

So it's not just towers with you – anything involving stairs is on the list!!!

At the moment T-Mobile service only works from land-based cell towers (and on airplanes). Still waiting for Elon Musk's second tweet 'joking again'...

I haven't yet seen a ship review that lauded the effectiveness of the 'negative pressure' cigar lounges. The stink is always smarter than the engineers...

Sign me up!

Don't believe in enforcing cruise line rules?

I've been on coaches mfd by Mercedes Benz. Does their AMG subsidiary do racing coaches???

You don't have to print them. Nobody wants to see them.

If I were the bartender I would have used the 'hose' to dowse her with seltzer and put out the fire. [But then, I wouldn't be the bartender the next day. Too bad.]

What AMA did on our cruise was a canal cruise, walking tour of Amsterdam and bus to see some windmills and then rejoin the ship in Wiljk bin Duurstede in time for lunch (after the ship had transited the boring canal stretch). That way our introduction to river cruising was on an actual river, and the afternoon sail was a good chance to catch up on jet lag.

The entry fee is 55 NOK, which comes out to 5.69 Euro

The booster never expires. You are still considered fully vaxxed and up to date.

That's all I need to know [and I live near 'Gotham' – but won't go there any more...]

Maybe they would look better in a bottle. Particularly after you drained the bottle!!!

Latest update (per Wall Street Journal – sorry, paywall): SpaceX, T-Mobile to Connect Satellites to Cellphones in Remote Areas “It means no dead zones anywhere in the world for your cellphones,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk said at an event at SpaceX’s facility in Texas.

I have had very good luck with TAs, but there are horror stories here about TAs who never get back to you, fail to get you price reductions, and in general act as a major block to getting anything done. This applies to both internet TAs, who are sometimes just order takers who forget about you once they get the booking, and small local TAs, who may be overwhelmed or completely lacking in knowledge of the issues you care about. OTOH when you find a good TA it's great to have somebody in your corner in case things go upside down.

I agree with your thoughts. When we booked a Viking Ocean cruise a few years ago, our TA was able to give us a huge rebate [10%] – but Viking changed the rules later and this is no longer possible. But they do still allow small rebates, and I'm guessing the few hundred you were promised fits the new policy. As I posted above, I don't think the Viking rep will lose anything if you pay the deposit with her and then transfer the booking to this TA to get the rebate. But do be aware that once you transfer a booking to a TA they 'own' it and if you later sour on their service it will be hard to get the booking back or deal direct with Viking about it.

Thanks for starting this. Hope the internet is good enough to allow you to keep up to date on posting!

Aren't Cochem and Bernkastel on the Moselle? [I may be wrong – I'm an American, and they covered Geography during the Baseball Season so, you know...]

I agree with @CJANDH – while it's very convenient to fly into Amsterdam [most years...] the sail from Amsterdam to Cologne is pretty boring. I would choose either of Scenic's alternative itineraries: Charming Castles & Vineyards of the Rhine & Moselle (Frankfurt to Basel in 7 nts) – with a few days at the end to see Lucerne and then fly home from Zurich – or if you've got lots of time Romantic Rhine & Moselle (Amsterdam to Basel with extra time in Holland and Belgium, and on the Moselle in 14 nts) – and still try to fit in Lucerne.

We don't really talk much about American river cruises on this board, because both American Cruise Line and American Queen have their own boards. Now that Viking are starting on the Mississippi that may change, but we lack a river Naiad like @notamermaid over here!

When I was a student in France in 1967 one of my classmates bought a VW Beetle. He was involved in an accident with a 2CV [the French at that time were under the impression that you could use the horn or the brake, but not both simultaneously!]. If he pointed it out, you could see the scratch on the VW bumper. The 2CV was totaled...

Hanging at 11 – let's go to the videotape!!! Seriously, we don't have all the facts about this situation in Hungary. But in general, meteorologists are being paid for their supposed expertise. If they are wrong, they shouldn't be able to hide behind the 'computer models' – or else the computer programmer should be getting their salary. [This is different than in the early days of US TV, when all a 'weather girl' needed was a pretty face...]