Heidi13

I attach an old wine list from 2018. While some of the wines will have changed at least it provides the number available 708276682_Viking-Ocean-Cruises-Wine-List2018.pdf

On modern cruise ships you cannot turn off the supply air, as it is required to maintain a small positive pressure in the cabin. This is a safety feature to restrict the ingress of smoke into the cabin during a fire.

Princess Cruise were a "Premium" cruise line back in the 70's & 80's, but have since been Carnivalised. Sorry, but Princess are no longer in the "Premium" category.

We can now purchase BC Wines in some grocery stores, but I am not aware that Costco is included. You will have lots of options from Govt Liquor Stores and private liquor/beer & wine stores. I don't head downtown Vancouver very often, so hopefully someone else can suggest some of your best options. @martincath

Haha - Certainly not these days, but back in the 70's, no problem.😁

Welcome to Viking and good to read you enjoyed the experience. Unfortunately, as with everything in life, you get what you pay for. You will find many cruises with cheaper base fares than Viking, but with most cruises, the base fare is not a true reflection of total cost. We have completed 2 World Cruises, first on Princess and then 5-years later on Viking. The Viking cabin was almost twice the cost of Princess. However, at the end of the cruise, the total cost per day was identical, as the Viking cruise was all-inclusive. Having spent 40 yrs both working for and cruising with Princess, it was our final cruise with them, as their standards kept dropping. The Viking cruise was vastly superior in every regard. With Viking, since all the V & DV cabins are identical, except for location, you can reduce your daily cost by dropping to DV4, which are midships on Deck 4. We had no issues in this cabin category. Viking also have different per diem pricing in different regions, with some DV 4 cabins around CAN $350 pp/day. When I last compared pricing across regions, Europe was the most expensive.

On our Viking cruise we had some type of outdoor buffet many days.

Last I heard they are using the Island & Coral Princess. Not sure which ship sails from US and which sails from Australia. Coral is the better ship since they ruined Island by installing additional cabins back aft about 7 yrs ago.

Affirmative, the latter half of the MMT was definitely unusual, but on the first half of the cruise it was reasonably normal, especially on the NZ & Aus coasts. Certainly not as intensive as most Meddy cruises, but we had ports most days. Personally, I don't have much of a change in routine with port or sea days, as on sea days I am out walking on deck by 06:00.

Torshavn, which is Viking's late night venue may not be as lively as the mass market ships, but on our World Cruise, we were there until at least 23:00 most evenings, as were many of the regulars.

Have flown to/from Sydney a number of times over the years, with the latest being Sydney/DFW/YVR. As a teenager and early 20's it was nothing to sit in economy for 14 to 24 hr flights, drinking the plane dry, but now it isn't so easy. We don't fly over 5 hrs in anything but Business/First. In addition to comfort during the flight, we also consider the expedited check-in & security clearance available in many airports and the comfortable lounges prior to the flight, and during any connections.

Viking does have shore-ex at that port. If nothing is showing in MVJ, I'll suggest that is a question for the Shore-Ex Manager once onboard.

Nobody, including KBs Mum has mentioned income on this thread. Having worked in the industry, I am well aware of the "Party" cruise lines and which length of cruise, or even cruising region, encourages an even higher level of partying/rowdy conduct. More drinking and partying normally means less well behaved pax. Back in the days when I worked Aussie Cruising, there is a very good reason we carried 2 police officers from Sydney on each cruise, who assisted the crew breaking up the numerous drunken brawls. Those were 2-week booze cruises. These cruise lines are well known, and pax is most definitely NOT based on income, it is based on the type of pax that each cruise line directs their marketing efforts, and the cruise experience provided. Every cruise line, regardless of the pax income levels, have decent pax and rowdy pax. Viking are no different. The Carnival model is directed to mostly younger, party type pax on short cruises, which translates to "Booze" cruises. Although I have never worked for, or cruised with Carnival, I have experienced this type of pax on many cruises. Conversely, Carnival's longer cruises attract a different type of pax, that are generally less rowdy. Personally, I don't assume Viking pax are generally better behaved than the mass market party Lines, as I have experienced both. On Viking, all pax weren't perfect, as we did have some questionable conduct, but it was minimal. On all my mass market experience, both working and as a pax, the percentage of obnoxious and/or rowdy pax was definitely substantially higher. Having also observed this obnoxious/rowdy conduct on a mass market Line World Cruise, it clearly has nothing to do with "Income"

Welcome to cruise critic. Unfortunately, you have no guarantee that you will experience similar weather to previous years. However, in January you have a high probability of rougher, rather than smoother seas. Have crossed the N/Atlantic many times in winter and seen everything, except smooth seas.

For large vouchers, Viking are willing to split the total into multiple vouchers. When we cancelled the World Cruise, they would have provided multiple vouchers of $10K.

Unfortunately, weather is always unpredictable, with early March having greater probability of hitting some snotty weather than April/May, but definitely better than some of my crossings in Jan/Feb. Heading into the Meddy, is a bonus as you avoid the Bay of Biscay and Western Approaches. Assuming you stop in the Azores also limits the Latitude, so theoretically missing the upper North Atlantic. Surviving 6-days at sea is easy, with so much to do around the ship, or simply sitting in a nook or cranny and reading. On the Magical Mystery Tour we survived about 50-days without getting ashore. One downside of an E'bd transit is the clocks moving ahead 5 or 6 hrs, which means a number of short days. Cloxs are traditionally moved at 02:00, which means an hour less sleep, but some Masters do move them at 12:00 on TA's. You may wish to consider a W'bd transit, flying home, as the cloxs move back, giving 25 hr days.

Not sure if you are aware, but Viator is not a tour provider. They are a broker that resells tours from other companies. Personally, I will only deal directly with the tour operator, only using Viator to research the name of the actual tour providers. This information is usually provided somewhere in the Viator tour descriptions.

I also would not make PIF more than 1 yr in advance. Don't like a year early, but can live with it. They can request earlier PIF, but they certainly wouldn't get any more than a deposit 2-yrs in advance. If Viking can't accept that, I wouldn't complete the reservation.

Great questions, but I note while our preferred cruise line has one of the youngest fleets, the technology is applied where it should be, making the ships cleaner and safer. Personally, I ditched smart phones when I retired 10 yrs ago and haven't missed the infernal thing, due to living with it 24/7 and way too many work calls received in the middle of the night. I won't be getting another one, and while many say they are now required, I survive well without one. When cruising with our preferred cruise line, you can only reserve the 2 alternative restaurants (which are free), which can be done on a cell phone with an app, booking on the cabin TV, or walking to the reservation desk and meeting face to face. Other than spa services and shore-ex, nothing else requires reservations. Room service is still ordered by hanging the form outside the door at night and in the buffet, made to order requests are submitted by walking up to the relevant station. Entertainment, lectures, etc are still first come first served, no booking required. For us, if cell phones are required to enjoy the services on a mega ship, it is just another of many reasons to avoid them.

I recall the days back in the mid-1970's when BA introduced the shuttle service from Glasgow to LHR. No ticket required, simply turn up 10 mins before departure and you were guaranteed a seat. If the flight was full they had a standby aircraft available. Could also pay onboard, although I recall the unions curtailing that service. Hourly departures. We hear lots of complaints about Viking wanting early PIF, but nothing about the airlines, which want payment in full upon booking these days.

Affirmative, on sea days Viking normally present up to 3 lectures per day. Each ship has a resident Historian, who presents lectures based on the ports of call. They also hold small round table discussions/Q&A sessions. In addition, they can have up to 6 lecturers, all presenting lectures based on the region and ports of call. On longer cruises they may also have a resident wildlife expert and resident astronomer.

You bet, even with the whisky, haggis is still offal.😁

Spent many years as Captain on our Ro/Pax, but left cruise ships when still a Navigator.

That reminds me of SS Oriana, when I met Judi. At breakfast, she managed to have a mug of tea, while I tucked into a plate full of bacon & eggs, and all the trimmings, washed down with a pint of "Heavy". Great days & great memories. Mind you I was 4-8 watch, so had already worked 1/2 day by 08:00.

Having spent more time cruising Alaska than most, I respectfully disagree. Yes, Alaska is all about the itinerary, but it is also key to have a ship with great spots to observe the scenery. The OP asked about "Observation Decks", which I consider a very valid question, as not all ships are equal. Many of today's mega ships have special areas requiring an additional fee in the best viewing areas. Many, such as the "Royal" Class don't have Promenade Decks. Personally, having spent most of my time in Alaska on the Bridge, I look for ships that have fwd observation decks unencumbered with glass. The Viking ships have an excellent fwd observation deck on Dk 7. Although the Island/Coral are no longer in Alaska, they had excellent decks below the Bridge, which were great for viewing, but the top deck had blue glass all across the fwd end. Some of the "Grand" Class ships also had a huge bridge wing to bridge wing observation deck atop the Bridge, which had impressive views.