fudgbug

On 1/31/2024 at 7:49 PM, Paulbud said:

I am booked on the Explorer with an arrival in Tokyo on April 1.  The itinerary shows an arrival time of 8:00 AM.  My flight was changed and now departs from Haneda at 10:30 AM. I would like to disembark as early as possible. Does anyone know how quickly I can get off the ship?

 

 

Depends on how long it takes to clear the ship.  Our recent cruise first departures from ship was around 8:30.  A 10:30 flight from Haneda is cutting it real close.  We got off of the ship at 9:10.

20 hours ago, toseaornottosea said:

Looking for a luxury hotel in Tokyo for pre-cruise stay.  Suggestions welcome including best areas to stay.

Palace Hotel opposite the Imperial Gardens and a wonderful place to stay.

On 3/21/2024 at 10:37 AM, GMIAC said:

How are the shore excursions? We just booked, for our March, 2025 sailing, the Highlights of Osaka tour for one day, and the Highlights of Kyoto for the next. Are these good tours which cover most of the must-sees?

Highlights of Osaka was a long bus ride out to Osaka Castle then a long walk from the parking lot to the castle. If you don't like long walks, perhaps you should choose something else. The garden around the castle was very nice.

In Kobe now.  The shuttle will take you to the Motomachi shopping Street.

On 3/19/2024 at 10:44 AM, mj_holiday said:

For those of you who have flown into Narito, could you give me an estimate as to how far is it to luggage and customs/immigration.  I am trying to decide if I need to reserve a wheelchair for this walk.

We just came through Narita March 15th. Reserve a wheelchair as it is a long walk then the lines through immigration are long and slow. 

On 7/17/2023 at 10:51 AM, Youn2122 said:

Thanks for replying.  Do you know if the balconies on deck 5 are larger?  Also any concern about shade from upper deck if you are on deck 5 in aft Vs deck 4?  On pictures there seems to be a little more overhang there but maybe not(?)

There is an overhang from 5 to 4 that we liked and some might not.

On 2/13/2023 at 2:56 PM, fudgbug said:

We LOVED the Song of Flower and the Hanseatic when it was Radisson!

 

Same here! We LOVED the Song of Flower and the Hanseatic.  Sailed Diamond once and really enjoyed the dining room.  The rest of the ship? Meh!  At the time, our cruise was in the Caribbean and a volcano was erupting so we missed a port.  To this day I remember the ash on the ship's deck.

Rose3232 - Yes, please post. Our great grands are 14, 17 & 18. 

On 12/30/2023 at 7:01 AM, Heidi13 said:

 

San Pedro has 2 cruise ship berthing locations - World Cruise Centre Berths 91 - 93 and the Outer Harbour Berth # 46.

 

If using Berth # 46, the Doubletree is well located for access to that berth, but has few retail/restaurant options in the local area.

 

The Crowne Plaza is almost mid-way between both berthing locations and in addition to an in-house restaurant, has numerous options within a couple of blocks of the hotel. Prior to our World Cruise, we found the hotel open to negotiate room rates, when we had multiple pax from our cruise. We stayed 2 nights pre-cruise, having breakfast in the hotel and lunch/dinners at a local restaurant/pub.

From the Doubletree, you can take an Uber or Lyft to Raffaelos Ristorante at 457 W 7th St., San Pedro 310-514-0900.  Though I don't remember Lyft cost, it was reasonable for a good dining experience.

On 12/22/2023 at 6:17 PM, SantaFe1 said:

Well, I am sad to hear this!  May change my birthday to Chefs Table, which we love.  Thanks for the input!

Love, love Chef's Table!

On 12/23/2023 at 2:34 PM, Peregrina651 said:

 

Interesting.

On board Viking Star now.  The new process for dry cleaning is wet cleaning.  Haven't tried it.  Laundry is returned in 24 to 48 hours and beautifully done.  No complaints here.

On 12/15/2023 at 10:50 AM, deec said:

how is the tuna at the grill?

so sad to hear about the disappointments.

The tuna at the Pool Grill was great as were the onion rings. :-)

On 12/15/2023 at 5:02 PM, wildcat68 said:

We were booked on this cruise and had to cancel due to illness.  I’d appreciate any updates you have about the seas, weather and the cruise in general.  Sounds like we are missing some rough seas for now.  

Yes, you are missing some very rough seas!  Sorry that you had to cancel due to illness.  I hope that you are feeling better now.

On 12/15/2023 at 9:31 AM, PGI GUY said:

We are on the Star enroute to Hawaii.We have had some issues, this our 9th VO cruiseand things are not going well.Im writing this on my phone in hvy seas, so please excuse  my errors. We had dinner in Manfredies and experienced the "new" menu and not in a good way. There is no veal itms of any kind, no lasagna, no osso bucolic, how can they call it an upscale italian restaurant with out any veal items. I ordered the mushroom powder rubbed rib eye. What I was served was a very thin ribeye that was ordered med rare, it was a grey sad looking piece of meat. My wife ordered chicken parm, it came out looking like it came from the supermarket freezer section. I requested to speak with the wine steward,he appeared with two bottles of house wine, Isaid we had the beverage package and would like a recommendation for a wine. We'll he walked away and returned with the wine list and walked away not saying one word.

The next day I went to guest services and spoke to a supervisor who said the head chef would contact me very soon, that was 3 days ago, nothing yet from him. The head of the beverage dept did contact me and wine problem has been resolved.

Last night I did speak with a manage at Manfredies who said that the current menu has not been well received and anew menu will be introduced in 1 or 2 months.

Remember the thick burgers at the pool grill? They have been replaced with a very thin frozen Patty and are not chargrilled. They are cooked on a flat opener grill and they load up the grill with frozen meat and as it defrost on the grill and starts to cook in excess water the boil on the grill resulting in a grey thin disc which was then served on a cold untrusted bun. The menu has been downsized and the hot isn't much better.

 

Yesterday the sewer backed up in our shower and we had to change cabins. We usually book another Viking Cruise while on board,  I think we will not be doing that on this trip and await to see how things play out.

 

We're on the same cruise and haven't encountered any of your problems.  Have had lunch at the Pool Grill and the burger was fine as was the hot dog.  Had dinner last night in Manfredi and the chicken parm was great as was the short ribs that was superb.  We have the SS package and just asked for the wine list and made our own choice.

Food choices and service throughout the ship has been wonderful.

I guess different strokes for different folks.

2 washers and dryers on the Constellation Deck 5 right of entry into Fitness Center

I posted it here because of the number of Viking Ocean cruisers who just maybe have recently tried Viking Mississippi.  We sailed the Mississippi this past November and said "never again" because of the dining experience.  We really liked the ship, the cabins and itinerary.

If anyone has recently been on the Mississippi with Viking, would you kindly post your dining experience.

Many thanks!

4 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Let's not underestimate how many cruise. ship guests do not wash their hands leaving the bathroom and are responsible for spreading this.  Let't not assume that this is the staff.

 

All you have to do is google statistics for the number of average people that don't wash their hands.

 

I have been in a Viking ship public bathroom many times that someone leaves without washing their hands.... n

"now I have the virus on my fingers after washing my hands because I touched the handle to get out."  Use a tissue or paper towel on the door handles. 🙂

On 5/6/2023 at 4:53 PM, Xerxes10 said:

Possibly a computer glitch

Nope!  We had our travel agent check and the answer from their American Cruise Lines sales executive was that they were all sold out.

For our Alaska cruise, excursions were "Sold Out" the day that they became available!  Now how can that be?

57 minutes ago, moogwan said:

And let us not forget the little, quirky Song of Flower!

We LOVED the Song of Flower and the Hanseatic when it was Radisson!

6 hours ago, bitob said:

I’m on voyager and I’m thinking of booking a future cruise on navigator

 

what area of the ship should I avoid?

 

is there a navigator suite in a location without vibration??

Stay away from aft. Mid ship lower decks good.

1 hour ago, springtravel said:

These are super cute.  I noticed they have a 23" inseam, where does that hit on your leg?  Any chance you will post a pic with either of you wearing?

A 23" inseam would hit at my ankle. 🙂 🙂 Perhaps I should buy some! 🙂 🙂 

1 hour ago, Lonedaddy said:

Why does Regent keep sending out URGENT- safety video emails,  When I have already watched it within 72 hrs of embarkation!  Twice in fact - do their systems not register that?  I click the box too!

You'll have to watch it on board too then you will be able to use the TV!

On 12/28/2022 at 11:43 AM, Cienfuegos said:

My wife and I added the Viking cancel for any reason coverage to our Viking Greek cruise scheduled for early December.  Due to emergency surgery, we were obliged to cancel at the beginning of November. We notified Viking and received a cancel confirmation. And filed the documentation with Trip-Mate in early November. Their paperwork, our hospital and surgical info, etc prob 18 pages.

 

Heard zero from Viking or Trip-Mate the administrator. Nothing on the Trip-Mate site about receiving our information. Their phone rep said they are swamped, expect three weeks or more for anything to show up. Viking was no help.

 

We received another confirmation of our cancelled trip from Viking in early December. Magically, the Trip-Mate site updated that night to show all documents received and under review. That was December 5.

 

It's now December 28, and still no resolution. Trip-Mate's representative says the review may be completed as early as next week. If approved, the payments will be made within 30 days. That pushes it out to February.  "If approved", what's to approve?  We cancelled for any reason.

 

From the beginning of November when documents were filed to the beginning of February when payments could be made seems like an outrageous amount of time since they've had access to the supporting documents for the entire time.

 

We have been happy with Viking Ocean and its operations over two cruises, and have recommended Viking to others. But the choice of Trip-Mate and the deliberately slow walking of all steps in our reimbursement seems inconsistent with Viking's requirements of full payments well in advance when it is receiving payments.

 

Next time around, we will be sure to get our travel insurance coverage from a company which does right by its policyholders.  "Cancel for any reason"  We cancelled and provided evidence, and they still slow walk the whole process.

We had a similar situation.  It took about 4 months for resolution and constant checking.  One needs to have patience.