Time in port, first two legs of the Maiden

[id4elizabeth]

So, I decided to call Viking and asked about port times and they told me it was part of the new registration website and not available yet. When I told him about your info, he says "Oh yeh, that port info IS on the invoice now, so gosh, I'll just send you a new invoice." Duh. So, he sent me a new invoice, but all I got was the travel guard policy and the Viking terms & conditions - no invoice. So I called back and was told there's a problem with the invoicing system and Operations is working on it and they will get it to me soon.

 

Assuming I get it, I'll post it. I'm sure the part up to Barcelona will be the same, but since I'm doing the whole 50-day, the part from Barcelona to Stockholm will be new. However, I have no clue how to post something like that. Whenever I try posting spreadsheets or photos, it ends up being a garbled mess. If you could tell me how, I could post it for everyone.

 

The other tidbit he told me was the Jan 15th date was "iffy" but it would be soon. AUGHSFWQY%$#!!!

 

Yes I agree we're going to have a blast! No matter what - as long as we're floating and the toilets and showers works! And we get fed. Actually add that the spa needs to be functioning. I will admit to not being very laid back - control freak is more like it. I was an Information Systems Engineer on huge multi-year projects for way too long. Too many PERT charts in my background.

 

As far as Frakle, Jejeje - have no clue!

[id4elizabeth]

Bear_Music - OK, I got the entire port times for the whole 50 days, but I got it as a JPG file as well as part of an e-mail message from the Viking rep. He said he took a screen shot. Now, got any idea how I can post that?

[algaes]

from http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1234944

 

"For posting a photo in a Cruise Critic post you need to find a photo hosting service on the Internet. In particular, one that will allow "hot linking" so that your photo can be displayed inside a web page that belongs to someone other than the hosting service. You upload your photo there, and get the URL of the photo. Then use the Insert Image icon to insert the image link into your post. The photo will appear in the post, not the link. Again, vBulletin allows only up to six images in a Cruise Critic post and this includes smilies."

Edited January 14, 2015 by algaes

[id4elizabeth]

Oh boy - that sounds like it may be beyond my abilities. Leo, I know you "gave" me your e-mail in another thread, but if you'll disguise it again, I'll just forward you the message with the port times to your e-mail.

[id4elizabeth]

By the way, St Petersburg looks good. Gets in at 7:00 am on May 26 and leaves at 6:00 pm on May 27. That gives us two full days in St Petersburg - just in case that was one of the ports that concerned you. I haven't gotten to planning anything there yet, but on one of the days there, we were going to hire a private guide to go see some of the out-of-the-way places in St Pete. We were there in 2012 for 6 days, so we've seen many of the major sights, and wanted to do something different, although I think the other day we will do the Viking palace tour. The day we went to Peterhof in 2012 it was pouring down rain, more like a freezing hurricane, so we didn't get a great feel for the gardens and would like to go back. Don't know if you've been to St Pete or not, but are you interested in a private (certified) guide one day? Certainly don't want to go through the Russian visa process again! Also, not the Alla tour with a big group though.

[Bear_Music]

My email address is the same as my username, at yahoo dot com. Send me the JPG or whatever you have and I'll get it up for you.

 

"Farkle" is a VERY fun dice game to while away half an hour. "Jejeje" is Baja Spanish for a giggle :-)

[Love2Sew]

Bear_Music and Elizabeth

 

My husband and I appreciate all your efforts and posted info. I'm the planner, he's more laid back and ready to enjoy the ship. Although we're on Deck 6, hoping we can get together at some point.

[rjscott]

My husband and I played Farkle on New Year's Eve with some friends. It's a fun, fast game.

 

Becki

[sitraveler]

Is there any interest in a get together?

 

I'm thinking 1:45 outside at sail away.

 

Lou

[Bear_Music]

Is there any interest in a get together?

 

I'm thinking 1:45 outside at sail away.

 

Lou

Sounds like a plan. Up on the "weather deck", Deck 8?

[rjscott]

Sounds like a plan. Up on the "weather deck", Deck 8?

 

Sounds great!

 

Becki

[sitraveler]

Anyone who cares to join up?

 

If the weather is cool I'll wear a blue

Viking River Cruises jacket.

 

I wonder, since the info was available in 2013, why Viking couldn't publish something until now.

[roothy123]

Sounds like I'm talking about Thanksgiving, but I'm not:

 

I'm not on your cruise (just a friendly intruder) so can't express interest in your get together. However, I just wanted to relate what happened to me in trying to organize an informal get together at sailaway on my last cruise (Lisbon, gorgeous city for sailaway, 688 pax ship, about 20 people on my Roll Call). 1:45 may not be sailaway for you, so my experience may not be relevant, but here's my story:

 

There appeared to be lukewarm interest on the Roll Call for a get together (maybe I "talk" too much on Cruise Critic?!), so I simply told people that if we wanted to try to informally meet, I would be at one of two nearby places at sailaway. I posted a picture of myself with my husband. When sailaway came, the "weather deck" was so completely packed with people that I knew it was going to be very difficult for anyone to find me. I'm an avid photographer, and I wanted to take pictures from the railing if possible. That turned out to be almost impossible, but at least a few people came up to me to say hello after recognizing my picture on my Roll Call post. After about a half hour I just gave up on others finding me and went where I often go to take pictures (up on a higher deck, also outside, but no shelter and no tables/chairs). So the informal get together was a bit of a bust. Of course, it may just be that others were more interested in taking pictures of beautiful Lisbon than of meeting me - I don't know! It was no big deal, as I met plenty of lovely people later during open seating, more sailaways, etc.

 

So the way I see it I should have planned something farther away from sailaway, but of course, I had to work around the muster drill, as Oceania always does it before the ship sets sail. (Sometimes you also have to work around dinner, which often comes right after sailaway.) Also I should have perhaps chosen a less popular spot to meet, and stayed in one very specific spot, despite my desire to move around for photography.

 

As to the Turkey times in port, I was a little surprised that it would take that long to travel from (in my case) Ephesus/Kusadasi to Istanbul. Then I looked at a map and saw where Istanbul was located. The ship has to wiggle around some islands, cruise through a very narrow path once it gets to the "Golden Horn," cruise through the Sea of Marmora and up past part of Istanbul to get to its berth in Istanbul. I'm not a mariner, but I can see that this will be a slower journey than simply cruising from, say, Venice down to Croatia.

 

Sitraveler, I'm guessing Viking wanted to give their new Captain and the navigator a chance to approve port times....last night I was watching something about Norwegian. They brought their new captain to the shipyards when their latest monster ship was being built so he would know about the ship from its inception.

 

Maybe the ports wouldn't approve the port visits and times until it looked like Viking actually would have a ship to visit their ports? I don't know....

Edited January 14, 2015 by roothy123