Heidi13

Similar to the Chief, when deep sea, we did not get paid to attend any drills. As a watchkeeper, I also lost many hours of sleep. However, when I moved to the West Coast, all the officers and crew received overtime for attending the drills. Being non-union, I was the only one that didn't get paid extra. Must admit, when I left P&O, it was a major surprise that crew were paid to attend drills.

Sydney: - Opera House - I suggest booking the behind the scenes tour. Starts at 06:45 and includes brekky - The Rocks - easy to do on your own, or you can book a guide - Parramatta - catch a ferry from Circular Quay for a round trip up river. You can also explore Parramatta before the return. - Hunter Valley - full day tour to wine country - Blue Mountains - full day tour, suggest using Anderson Tours - Darling Harbour - walk around, lots of attractions, cafes and restaurants Melbourne: a spectacular city to visit - Investigating the CBD on your own is easy. Assuming you dock at Station Pier and not Geelong, the local trains have a station at the end of the pier. You can take the train to the CBD, where local trams are free. Lots of cafes and restaurants along the river. - Yarra River cruise and downtown drive is a great overview, especially if it is your first visit - Koalas & Kangaroos - this is planned for our next visit - Trains, Wine & Wildlife sounds interesting - For private tours, I would consider a full day tour to the great ocean road with Eco Platypus Tours (https://daytourmelbourne.com.au/1-day-great-ocean-road-tour/. They also have a Yarra Valley Wine Tour. Shore Trips & Tours also have wine tours Hobart - Another great port for just wandering around the harbour, with a number of cafes and restaurants. Also has a craft brewery across the road from where the ship docks. - The included tour is good, giving you an overview. - To go further afield, I suggest Tasmanian Sojourn or Historic Tasmania, Countryside & Winery Dunedin I suggest a private tour with Back to Nature Tours – https://backtonaturetours.co.nz/ The Royal Peninsula Tour - https://backtonaturetours.co.nz/tour/royal-peninsula/ was more comprehensive than anything Viking offers Christchurch We did the punting on the Avon Wellington The dock is a fair distance from the downtown, but Viking do operate a shuttle bus. The included tour is good for an overview. We were considering the Seal Watching, then getting a taxi to visit a few craft breweries Tauranga Rotorua is definitely worth visiting. Unfortunately our preferred vendor retired, so we would have to research another option, or use Viking Auckland An easy city to walk around or take the local harbour ferries.

Those were our top 2 choices in Napier and we opted for the wine tasting. It was a couple of years ago, so can't remember the reasoning. Just a quick heads up for Napier. It is a tricky port for docking cruise ships, as it has a narrow entrance and is exposed to the winds, which often blow in the 30kt + range. I have only ever docked in Napier in a cargo ship, as none of our cruises managed to get alongside. In summary, don't be too disappointed if it is too windy for a safe docking in Napier.

Received the confirmation by mail last week and expect the cheque within a couple of weeks, depending on the efficiency of Canada Post.

I have attached a list of Viking shore-ex from 2019/20 that includes posts in Aus/NZ/Meddy. ShoreExcursions List to Mar 27th.pdf

I'm with you Jim. My first trip through the "Desert Ditch" was at night, a few years after it re-opened. Next one was in daylight, when I realised, I didn't miss much at night. Panama is a different story. Even though I have well over a couple dozen transits through Panama, I'm still one of the first out on deck. Still haven't done the new locks and really no interest in seeing them, as we won't sail mega ships and I'm not going back to work.

When we cancelled the WC, I submitted a claim for the retained deposit of $2,000. They received the documents on 29th Aug and approved the claim on 8th September. Due to the cost of both the WC deposit cost and total cost, no local or online broker would accept the risk, so we had no option other than Tripmate.

Not a problem; however, in a real emergency when you need directions from the crew, in accordance with your fee for service model, you will need to pay to receive directions from the crew for a safe route to the Assembly Stations. The stairway guides will all be carrying card readers, so no cash is required. I suggest you pay, as the option of opening the wrong FSD could be fatal. BTW - the cost would be significantly more than your $500 OBC. Since with your model, training requires a fee, you will also be charged should you require assistance with donning your lifejacket and then additional training on how to go to the Survival Craft.

Unfortunately, I haven't sailed up the west coast of Africa, as we always used Suez, so I haven't been to Ghana. I worked for P&O/Princess as Navigator, then spent almost 30 yrs as Captain on our local Ro/Pax.

Sorry, but the size of the ship has very little to do with the seakeeping ability in rough weather. The key factors are the design/scantlings, stability and skill of the Bridge Team in reading the ocean. I have sailed worldwide on many of the smaller, older steam ships such as SS Oriana and SS Canberra, those ships were smaller than most current cruise ships and handled seas way better. Even with 1960's stabaliser technology, they were better than the modern mega cruise ships. Have also completed 2 full Alaska seasons on the original Sun & Island Princess and those ships were way more comfortable than the new cruise ships.

Sadly, as with most maritime procedures, it will take another accident and more deaths to realise that the current system doesn't effectively prepare pax for an emergency response. I guess memories of Costa Concordia are long since forgotten.

You clearly don't understand the objective of the Muster Drill, as they aren't to teach pax how to abandon ship, or even how to get to the survival craft. Pax Learning - the Muster Drill is to teach pax to identify the ship's General Emergency Signal (GES) and on hearing that signal to go to their "Assembly Station", following the directions of the crew stairway and other guides. This gets all pax mustered and accounted for. In a real emergency pax can remain at the Assembly Stations for many, many hours, even over 24 hrs. Pax heard the signal and went to the Assembly Stations, so YES, there was learning achieved. Crew Learning - the crew need experience in both herding the mass of humanity and establishing/maintaining communications, so they are aware of any areas of the ship that are involved in the emergency, and to direct the pax via alternative routes. These are critical skills and the Muster Drills were the only realistic opportunity to train the crew. They can train with other crew, but the numbers are smaller, and the behaviors experienced are not consistent with those found during drills. These drills provided the crew with invaluable experience, so YES, again there was most definitely learning achieved. The original Muster Drills provided both these learning objectives, the current ones do not.

It also depends on the country, as many countries have stricter rules and certification requirements for service animals than USA. In Canada, they cannot prohibit a certified service animal, which is trained by an organisation or specialised person, in accordance with the Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations, from travel. However, if the animal is not trained in accordance with that regulation, it is deemed as an uncertified emotional support animal and is treated as a regular pet. In Canada you can also check the service animal's certification.

The cruise lines can and do set operational standards that are often well above the minimum regulatory requirement. Viking's documentation is often not consistent, and it will probably be resolved closer to embarkation. How far in advance is the cruise?

It is most unfortunate that Ghana is reverting to the original standard for the YF Vaccine, which was 10-yrs. My first YF in 1975 was 10-yrs, but when getting my latest one in 2015, the travel medicine doctor advised that they are now accepted as being lifetime. Since I am now over 65, I will not be receiving YF again, as the risks increase exponentially with age. By 2025, our travel option will sadly decrease. Some countries with yellow fever may accept the waiver, but it is entirely at their discretion. Back in my days sailing on ships, we had to have every vaccination current when we signed on the ship, as some countries would not let the ship dock, if any crew member didn't meet the vaccination standard.

Nothing sad about it, as it is all how you present yourself to the locals. Have spent many great nights ashore interacting with locals. Recall a great night in a cafe just outside the docks in Kobe. We planned to stop in for a beer and ended up staying the entire evening. Ate well and drank well, chatting to and drinking/eating with the local. They didn't speak any English and we didn't speak any Japanese, but we were able to communicate. Having worked extensively with international crews you have many ways to show respect other than learning a few words of the language, especially when visiting multiple countries for only 1 day.

HAL wins for both the ship and itinerary.

Seen everything from a millpond to an outflow Adriatic storm that ripped one of the gangways off the ship.

We have experienced this in a number of ports and they often have queues for US/Canadian citizens, which move fairly quickly. The queues for other citizens move much slower as they check Visas and take finger prints/photos.

Since this is an operational issue that encompasses local regulations, any answer you receive may not be definitive, as you always have the potential for local officials making arbitrary decisions. I have also seen a situation where tenders didn't operate on a schedule but were available to call. Viking always try to accommodate pax needs, so if you mention it onboard, advising when you will return to the dock, I have no doubt the ship will endeavour to get you back onboard.

Sorry, that isn't one of the questions I thought to ask, but recall the Cabin Steward mentioning about a dozen cabins being affected. It's also 20 yrs since I ran a shipyard when we installed one of these systems, so I can't recall the specs.

Every port is different with their regulations for tendering. In similar situations, I have seen tenders continue operating throughout the night. Accepting that from say around midnight, the schedule is significantly reduced. In addition to pax you also have crew wanting to go ashore and they work 24/7. Edit - the schedule will be posted in the Viking Daily.

Jim - you forgot the payment in full 10-years ahead of departure😁

On our cruise the band included 2 singers.

The toilets on modern cruise ships operate on a vacuum system. It doesn't involve flushing, per shoreside systems, as the contents are sucked out and up into a small diameter black line in the alleyway deckhead. When the system doesn't work it inormally results from loss of vacuum. If the entire ship is out, then it is due to loss of the vacuum pumps in the engine room. When a single section is out, it is normally caused by someone flushing non-approved material, which impacts the seals, so the system cannot create the required vacuum necessary to remove the contents up to the black water line in the deckhead. Each cabin has an access door in the alleyway, so the engineers simply locate to offending cabin in the zone and clear the material. This is usually only a few minutes. If the pipes are blocked, it isn't fixed in 10 minutes, and you will see the engineers working in the alleyway deckhead.