The Virtual Explorers' Lounge

[deec]

BEST place to celebrate a birthday!!!

[SantaFe1]

We are almost 14 months out, but I am wondering where to stay in Long Beach the night before our Hawaii trip in Feb. 2024.  I know some of the world cruisers who left from LA have stayed the night before and might have a suggestion.  We are from LA, but I must say, I’ve never stayed in Long Beach.  Do I remember the Crowne Plaza mentioned?  

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

We are almost 14 months out, but I am wondering where to stay in Long Beach the night before our Hawaii trip in Feb. 2024.  I know some of the world cruisers who left from LA have stayed the night before and might have a suggestion.  We are from LA, but I must say, I’ve never stayed in Long Beach.  Do I remember the Crowne Plaza mentioned?  

 

You are most likely departing from San Pedro, either the World Cruise Centre or Berth # 46. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza, which is about equidistant from both berths and is in town, so good selection of pubs and restaurants close by.

 

If you know you are using Berth # 46, the Double Tree is closer to the berth, but not much around, as it is out of town.

[SantaFe1]

8 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

You are most likely departing from San Pedro, either the World Cruise Centre or Berth # 46. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza, which is about equidistant from both berths and is in town, so good selection of pubs and restaurants close by.

 

If you know you are using Berth # 46, the Double Tree is closer to the berth, but not much around, as it is out of town.

Thanks. Looks like Crowne Plaza will fill the bill. I know it’s months away, but it’s too cold to do anything today except stay in and dream.  

[Heidi13]

4 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

Thanks. Looks like Crowne Plaza will fill the bill. I know it’s months away, but it’s too cold to do anything today except stay in and dream.  

 

We were very happy with the CP, I suggest watching the rate every few days, as they do post some special rates.

[Jim Avery]

If you are in a Long Beach state of mind there’s always the Queen Mary. 🍸

[SantaFe1]

1 minute ago, Jim Avery said:

If you are in a Long Beach state of mind there’s always the Queen Mary. 🍸

You know, I saw that.  I lived in L.A. nearly all my life, but have never seen it.   Something to think about.  But at this point, I do t even know where the ship will dock.  

[CharTrav]

More news btw about poor Orion -- https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1715151/viking-orion-passengers-fungus-outbreak-ship-stranded-australia-new-zealand,

Don't know if this is the "sea snail" issues we read about last week or not.  I have my fingers and toes crossed that all this will be resolved in time for us to board on Jan 19 in Auckland.  Maybe some of you old sea hands can offere some insight on this.  And btw --for the life of me I am thoroughly confused about the path they say Orion travelled on.  Makes no sense at all -- the Australia & NZ cruise does not EVER sail directly from Sydney to Auckland -- it's always south from Sydney to Melbourne, and Tasmania and north up the eastern coasts of N & S Islands of NZ ending in Auckland.  And then the reverse.

[Peregrina651]

Char --

 

Have you been following the conversation on the live thread?

 

The OP of the thread commented about the Australian news broadcast that the UK article is  based on.  OP said that it seemed that the report was based on information from a passenger.  No wonder there is a lot wrong information in the news reports. There is more accurate information on the thread.

 

It is an Aukland to Sydney sailing, so ignore everything the article said about route.  I don't know all of the calls they did make in NZ but I do know that calls to ports on the South Island were cancelled. Their last call in NZ was Wellington and from there they headed directly to Adelaide (which was not on their itinerary).

 

Currently, the ship is in the process of having the hull scrubbed before they enter Australian waters. Nice pictures on the live thread.

 

[CharTrav]

1 hour ago, Peregrina651 said:

Char --

 

Have you been following the conversation on the live thread?

 

The OP of the thread commented about the Australian news broadcast that the UK article is  based on.  OP said that it seemed that the report was based on information from a passenger.  No wonder there is a lot wrong information in the news reports. There is more accurate information on the thread.

 

It is an Aukland to Sydney sailing, so ignore everything the article said about route.  I don't know all of the calls they did make in NZ but I do know that calls to ports on the South Island were cancelled. Their last call in NZ was Wellington and from there they headed directly to Adelaide (which was not on their itinerary).

 

Currently, the ship is in the process of having the hull scrubbed before they enter Australian waters. Nice pictures on the live thread.

 

Obviously I haven’t been following the live thread ‘cause I didn’t know where it was so thanks for the link. Yeah, the articles that I read were like all the same. The wording was almost the same. It was bizarre and I couldn’t figure out head or tails what was going on based upon the the broadcast from live 10 in Australia and the articles were hopeless. So thanks for the link I will go read it. Good that I posted here. I’ll add that live link to our roll call for the Jan 19 sailing.   

[Pushka]

27 minutes ago, CharTrav said:

Obviously I haven’t been following the live thread ‘cause I didn’t know where it was so thanks for the link. Yeah, the articles that I read were like all the same. The wording was almost the same. It was bizarre and I couldn’t figure out head or tails what was going on based upon the the broadcast from live 10 in Australia and the articles were hopeless. So thanks for the link I will go read it. Good that I posted here. I’ll add that live link to our roll call for the Jan 19 sailing.   

As an Aussie and having followed the live thread and also on FB, we were laughing at the News presentation last night it was so wrong.  I expect next time there will be preventive cleans before arriving into NZ. 

Edited December 31, 2022 by Pushka

[CharTrav]

2 minutes ago, Pushka said:

As an Aussie and having followed the live thread and also on FB, we were laughing at the News presentation last night it was so wrong.  I expect next time there will be preventive cleans before arriving into NZ. 

Thanks! My head was spinning when I looked at the cruise map they were showing and has been replicated across the 5 or 6 articles that read like slightly modified transcriptions of the news broadcast. Gives one a real appreciation for how misinformation propagates like a wildfire. I ..to my shame ….got sucked into the maelstrom of it. At least I redeemed my idiocy by checking here. Looking forward btw to visiting your country later next month. 

[SantaFe1]

We are not big New Year’s Eve people.  10 pm is about it.  But just wanted to reminisce that four years ago today, we flew two days early to Miami for the 2019 WC.  We were supposed to fly Jan 2 for the Jan 3 sail away.  But there were blizzards coming and American had already canceled flights.  The highway had been closed two days before to even get to the airport.  So Viking flew us to Miami two days early, backward through Phoenix.  We had to stay at an airport hotel that night, because all else was booked.  We arrived at 11 pm, had a glass of champagne at the bar, and went to bed.  Two boring days in Miami, and then on to our ship for the adventure of a lifetime!

Last year on NYE we were transversing the Panama Canal.  Covid was raging on the ship, but I still have a picture of us drinking French champagne and having a good time.  
 

So to all who are currently traveling or hope to do so again soon, Happy New Year!

 

 

Edited January 1, 2023 by SantaFe1

[CharTrav]

I'll just offer a simple Happy New Year to all! From me, our two idiot cats (Joey & Monica) and, without his knowledge I'm doing so, my husband. I may have met some of you at some point and certainly hope, for those I haven't met yet in person, that I will. You are all a great bunch of people. 👍🏼

[UWDawg]

On 10/28/2022 at 12:27 PM, Clay Clayton said:

Isn’t it past time for the 2024/25 World Cruise to be announced?

2024/25 Viking World Cruise posted. 
Viking often makes pricing changes as of the first of the month so I wanted to check the prices for the upcoming 2023/24 World Cruise before the end of the month and as of the first of the month/year.  When I checked I noticed that Viking has posted the 2024/25 World Cruise.  Unfortunately, it appears that the 2024/25 WC will have the same itinerary as the 2022/23 and 2023/24 Viking World Cruises.

 

Stateroom prices are unchanged.  I noticed one change to the benefits package:  The shore excursions credit was restored to $2000 per person; if I recall correctly, back on 10/1/2022 they had dropped the shore excursion credit from $2000 per person to $1000 per person.  The current offer is identified as expiring March 31, 2023.  Additionally, they increased the estimated value of the benefits package to $60,000 per couple, where it had previously been estimated to be up to $50,000 per couple.

 

• https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/world-grand/viking-world-cruise/index.html
• https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/world-grand/viking-world-journeys/index.html

 

[CharTrav]

4 hours ago, UWDawg said:

2024/25 Viking World Cruise posted. 

Must have done it last night. I checked the schedule yesterday afternoon and it wasn't there. Have the 2023-2025 editon of my consolidated schedule prepared. Guess I'll add that today and post; think that's the only addition since the last update to the 2022-2024 edition. 

[Clay Clayton]

5 hours ago, UWDawg said:

2024/25 Viking World Cruise posted. 
Viking often makes pricing changes as of the first of the month so I wanted to check the prices for the upcoming 2023/24 World Cruise before the end of the month and as of the first of the month/year.  When I checked I noticed that Viking has posted the 2024/25 World Cruise.  Unfortunately, it appears that the 2024/25 WC will have the same itinerary as the 2022/23 and 2023/24 Viking World Cruises.

 

Stateroom prices are unchanged.  I noticed one change to the benefits package:  The shore excursions credit was restored to $2000 per person; if I recall correctly, back on 10/1/2022 they had dropped the shore excursion credit from $2000 per person to $1000 per person.  The current offer is identified as expiring March 31, 2023.  Additionally, they increased the estimated value of the benefits package to $60,000 per couple, where it had previously been estimated to be up to $50,000 per couple.

 

• https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/world-grand/viking-world-cruise/index.html
• https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/world-grand/viking-world-journeys/index.html

 

Thanks! Wonder what makes up the other $8000 of value?  Maybe it’s reflective of a soon to be announced price increase on daily service charge and other increased fees-works out to be close to $30pp/pd. 
 

I guess Mike and I are gonna have to decide if we are going to wait another year hoping for a different itinerary 🤔

[Clay Clayton]

5 hours ago, UWDawg said:

2024/25 Viking World Cruise posted. 
Viking often makes pricing changes as of the first of the month so I wanted to check the prices for the upcoming 2023/24 World Cruise before the end of the month and as of the first of the month/year.  When I checked I noticed that Viking has posted the 2024/25 World Cruise.  Unfortunately, it appears that the 2024/25 WC will have the same itinerary as the 2022/23 and 2023/24 Viking World Cruises.

 

Stateroom prices are unchanged.  I noticed one change to the benefits package:  The shore excursions credit was restored to $2000 per person; if I recall correctly, back on 10/1/2022 they had dropped the shore excursion credit from $2000 per person to $1000 per person.  The current offer is identified as expiring March 31, 2023.  Additionally, they increased the estimated value of the benefits package to $60,000 per couple, where it had previously been estimated to be up to $50,000 per couple.

 

• https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/world-grand/viking-world-cruise/index.html
• https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/world-grand/viking-world-journeys/index.html

 

I don’t see one starting in December 2024-just January 2025. Wonder if after folks complained last year that the WC really didn’t begin until LAX if they decided to make it official?

[Lilyskittymom]

37 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

I don’t see one starting in December 2024-just January 2025. Wonder if after folks complained last year that the WC really didn’t begin until LAX if they decided to make it official?

It's there - begins Dec 19, 2024.

 

Maria

[rockjock75]

Have Kitchen Tables experiences restarted on any ocean cruises?

[OneSixtyToOne]

6 minutes ago, rockjock75 said:

Have Kitchen Tables experiences restarted on any ocean cruises?

 

Our upcoming Mediterranean Odyssey in April has a Kitchen Table listed for Barcelona. 

[OneSixtyToOne]

FYI Today (Jan 1) Croatia switched to the Euro and entered the passport-free Eurozone.

[CurlerRob]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

I guess Mike and I are gonna have to decide if we are going to wait another year hoping for a different itinerary 🤔

 

Yep - we're bummed too. I had been dreaming of the "dual cape" route! We have limited interest in retracing a path we've already done. The wait continues ... 🍺🥌

[SantaFe1]

7 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

dual cape" route

This was the 2019 WC route.  We loved it, as we had never been to S America of Africa.  The regular route is predictable on many lines.

[CurlerRob]

3 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

This was the 2019 WC route.  We loved it, as we had never been to S America of Africa.  The regular route is predictable on many lines.

HAL followed this route some years ago and Oceania's WC leaving this month is as well. The only downside from many of these routings is that they seem to be west to east, which puts pax on the harder side of the time changes (tough problem to have!). 🍺🥌