Heidi13

Liars Club has a panel of 3 on the stage. They are provided an obscure word and each panel member provides a definition. Only 1 is correct. The teams (pax) have to guess which panel member provided the correct definition.

Ports are missed due to prevailing wind and/or weather conditions that preclude safe docking, not due to the size of the port. I expect in the Isle of Man, you will dock/tender at Douglas, which is used by a number of good size ferries to multiple UK ports and Dublin.

Clearly you never participated in the Pax v's Officers Baggo or Liars Club.

In addition to the Atlantic, you also have to cross the Bay of Biscay, which can be snotty year round.

I have crossed the Atlantic way too many times and have experienced everything from a mill pond to 50'+ waves. Weather is always changing, so what someone experienced last week or year provides little clues to what you will experience. The time of year, latitude and direction of crossing also are key factors in what you may experience. Best advice is plan for the worst and hope for the best.

In addition to booking a car service from LHR to a hotel and then again the following day to Tilbury, you may wish to consider this option, which we have used. Prior to flying, book luggage pick-up with Airportr.com. They will pick up your bags right outside arrivals and ship them to your hotel on the same day (usually about 5 hrs). You can then take the Tube or Heathrow Express into a London Hotel. On previous London trips, we have used the Travelodge at Waterloo & Tower Hill. For heading to Tilbury, we would book Tower Hill, which is a short walk from the Tube Station and has a good pub next door with meals. Reasonable breakfast included the next morning. I would then book a car service out to Tilbury.

If flights are included and you elect to procure your own flights, Viking do not normally provide any credit for the cost of the flights not taken. Also, with free flights, if you upgrade to Business Class, you will normally pay the entire cost of the business flight, not the difference.

This is a risk factor that everyone who signs up for a trans-ocean passage should consider. Should you get sick, the Medical Centre is an emergency clinic, they do not have specialists or provide specialised care. Since they have over 100 people onboard, at least they have a qualified doctor.

The MDR is not normally open on port days, especially embarkation day. Lunch is served in the World Cafe (Buffet).

Viking is no different from other cruise lines. Provided you do not require hospitalisation, or specialised care then you can be treated onboard. The Medical Departments are not crewed to provide extended 24/7 care, so if you are hospitalised, they will normally disembark you at the next port with an acceptable health care facility.

Great ships. While we routinely cruised at 20 - 25 kts, I recall once on SS Oriana, when based in Sydney, we opened up all 4 boilers and was making 31 to 32 kts. Amazing experience.

These days, the ship's laundry most likely uses environmentally safe detergents and while they may not be as easy on clothes as what you use at home, it is unlikely clothes will get damaged with 1 or 2 washes. I worked on ships for 4 months, sending at least 2 white shirts per day to the ship's laundry, for cleaning and starch on the collars, cuffs and pockets. All shirts were sent at least once per week and they always survived at least 2 contracts. Rather than fretting about washing stuff in the cabin, or taking excessive baggage, I would consider using the ship's laundry. Yes, we have all heard the horror stories, but you also need to consider how much volume the ship's laundries complete. I'll suggest a very small percentage of pax items are damaged.

Thanks for bringing back some great memories of "Real" sailing. I was fortunate enough to catch the tail end of the great days of steaming on real ships.

Not sure about Shore-ex being available for review a year ahead. Even pre-Covid, Viking used to publish them for review in MVJ about 120-days ahead of the cruise. You can always see a sample of potential shore-ex on the website, when checking out each port on the itinerary.

Hereis some info on the ports you visit Indonesia Bali.docx Indonesia Samarang.docx Singapore Singapore.docx Vietnam Saigon.docx

Affirmative, it was COVID related, but we had no apprehensions, as Viking kept us totally safe, as nobody was permitted to board the ship and we didn't get ashore for 50+ days. When we finally disembarked in Gibraltar, we got a rude awakening as to what the World had experienced during the previous 4-months.

At least with the Carnival Brands, some of the brands do share managers. A number of years ago, HAL and Princess downsized and combined a number of positions, with the same position in both brands filled by 1 person. Same with P&O, Cunard and P&O Australia.. For officer crewing, it hasn't changed since pre-Carnival, with officers assigned to Princess, P&O and P&O Australia ships, with Cunard also added. All are crewed from the same department. As a Princess Deck Officer, our son worked on all brands except Cunard.

You got overtime???? Only overtime we got was on the cadet training ship and it was assigned as punishments, to be worked off scrubbing decks with a hand scrubber and toothbrush for the edges. Usually accompanied by the Physical Torture Instructor, from Yorkshire, standing above us screaming, "Scrub harder lad"

Unfortunately to share all the ship's facilities with the crew you have to reduce the pax count to only 8, retaining a full crew - aka Magical Mystery Tour. For the last 3 weeks aboard Viking Sun, we shared almost the entire ship with the crew. To put it into perspective, other than their cabins, the crew have a decent mess hall, a small recreation room on Deck A at the fwd end of the M1. They also have their outside deck on Deck 9, aft of the funnel. Personally, I found it a nice touch that Viking give the crew use of these facilities. When I worked on the ships, as a Watchkeeping Officer, I had full use of all pax facilities, but the ratings had none. Even non-Watchkeeping Pursers couldn't use the buffet during busy periods.

When travelling the World, it also pays to know where you can safely replenish your stock, by purchasing prescription medications, without visiting a doctor, or having a prescription. With local assistance to recommend a reputable chemist, we have done this in Dubai, Kenya and Thailand.

This is from my notes for Singapore Passport must be good for another 6 months. Need to carry passport ashore & present it upon request. Chewing gum, eating and drinking on the mass rapid transit system are illegal. Medications - Some OTC & prescription meds are controlled substances. Prescriptions are required. Refer to Appendix P, at HAS for extensive list of prohibited medications. Note - I updated these about 1 yr ago for the 23 World Cruise, but since we had to cancel, I am not updating them for any changes. Tendering is when the port has no dock, or all docks are already reserved. The ship anchors off the port and passengers head ashore in either the ship's tenders, or local tender boats depending on local regulations.

Welcome to both Viking and Cruise Critic, brilliant choice of cruise line for your first cruise. Length of Cruise - you can experience 2 metrics - # days and # nights. When referring to the # days it is usually the total of number of days you are aboard the ship, inclusive of the partial first and last days. # nights is number of nights onboard, regardless of whether in port/at sea. Overnights - Viking are all about experiencing the World, so many of their cruises have overnights at embarkation and disembarkation, which provides opportunities to see those ports. When arriving day of cruise, you rarely have any opportunity to see the embarkation port. Similar at the end, if not staying a few days, you disembark and often head straight to the airport. Bali - Cruise ships dock at the Port of Benoa Cruise Terminal, which is located in a lagoon at the south end of the island. You are a number of miles from town, so either Viking shore-ex or private tours are required. Saigon - Viking ships cannot head upriver to the city, so dock at a commercial berth in Phu My, which is between Saigon and Vung Tau. The bus ride into Saigon can be 60 - 90 minutes depending on traffic and which berth. Koh Samui - Is a tender port, as indicated by the anchor included on the pax statement. Although we didn't make it to Koh Samui with Viking, my research indicates they tender to Nathon Pier on the West side of the island. Singapore - You can dock at either of the cruise terminals or a commercial dock. - Singapore Cruise Terminal - is further from downtown, but has an MRT station - harbourfront - Marina Bay Cruise Terminal - close to Marina Bay, it also has an MTR station at Marina South Pier - Commercial Pier - we docked at a container port once that was further out than Singapore Cruise Terminal and it required a taxi or shuttle to get downtown. Edit - prior to using the MTR in Singapore, I suggest researching and reading the local restrictions.

The tanks had the dippers chained to the caps, with a spare dipper in the small gear locker. I had forgotten about the condensed milk, so that brought back some memories.

I recall the days of lifeboat water before bottles and bags. Used to be in containers built into the athwartships benches, with dippers to get out samples. It was ghastly. We couldn't give the Barley Sugars away.

What other ports, as they will determine the route.