Heidi13

Shouldn't need a new SIM card in each country, as while UK was still in the EU at that time, we could use the phone in each EU country we visited.

The ship must send the crew/pax manifest to Canada Border Services shortly after leaving the previous port. This is reviewed and the ship is provided a list of any pax that Border Services have an issue with. These pax are normally prevented from going ashore until they are cleared by Border Services. Since you completed the ArriveCan and it is linked to your passport, they had no need to delay you heading ashore. Had you not completed the ArriveCan process, you may have been included on the list of pax that required face to face interviews with Border Services.

Once we get to Europe, we purchase a local SIM card, as plans over there are way cheaper than we pay. We don't get into contracts, we just purchase 30 days of service, which can be renewed online, if still over there. Back in 2017, it cost us about UKP 10 per month for calling, text, reasonable data and limited calling back to Canada. For this to work, you require an unlocked phone.

The other factor to consider is if the ship experiences any heavy weather in the Pacific Ocean, she could be late arriving in Victoria.

Google "ArriveCan" and you will find out the reporting requirements depending on whether you embark or just visit a Canadian port.

Hey Jim - your turn to scare everyone next Monday😁

The Southern Cross (Crux) can be seen from the northern hemisphere, but Bermuda's latitude puts it too far north. We used to see it from the tropics, so below 23 N. Best guess is that it is visible from south of about 25N. Hawaii should work.

While the Viking ships have less pax, which relates to a smaller audience, I find it all depends on the specific roll call. On the 2020 World Cruise, the vendor I used in Tauranga was amazed, as I filled his 10-seat bus and had a waitlist in less than 24 hrs. On the 22/23 World Cruise, for the Sydney tour, I filled 2 - 20 seat buses in a little more than 24 hrs and they will probably require a 3rd bus. All depends on how active the roll call is, and I also find the organiser's knowledge of the port, the vendor and the proposed tour helps to allay the fears of many pax that unless they are on a shore-ex, they could miss the ship.

Might be worth checking out the Roll Call for the Neptune's 22/23 World Cruise, as it is now over 5,000 posts and 200+ pages. You could get some ideas on how to generate discussion once fellow pax join.

You have a couple of options: - In those ports you have a number of vendors available that provide private tours. - Once you get onboard stop by the Shore-ex desks and they are normally able to work wonders, as they have cancellations and can often add additional resources. Not sure the issue with the TA being on holiday, as we when using a TA for the booking, we book all our tours ourselves. The shore-ex are booked directly through MVJ.

British Airways still has that configuration on the older aircraft where the window seat pax has to climb over the aisle pax when the seats are in lie-flat mode. Never liked that configuration.

Ships such as the Roald Amundsen are designed as Expedition Ships and I do not believe they have any vehicle decks, so they are small cruise ships. It is most unfortunate that many people still relate a ferry to bare bones transportation, but many of them are now as luxurious, and provide similar level of service as modern cruise ships. Especially in European waters, but even in Canada we have ferries with significantly enhanced the pax experiences operating on both coasts. On the West Coast, we have a ship that daily, alternates northbound and southbound 15 hr voyages through the BC Inside Passage, the parts of the coast that the cruise ships no longer sail. Built as a Cruiseferry, it offers a reasonable standard of passenger service and amenities, and the scenery is spectacular. However, prior to departure they load the cars and trucks onto the vehicle deck and discharge them upon arrival, so it is still a ferry. This would be close to your experience on the Norway coast with Hurtigruten. Even my last command, which carried 470 cars and 2,000 pax had 2 full passenger decks, with 3 venues to eat - snack bar, cafeteria and buffet. The quality in the buffet was consistent with your mainstream cruise lines. That was on a short run of only 1 hr 30 mins.

Unfortunately, only you can determine if the insurance is a good deal, based on your financial risk and level of risk tolerance. The financial risk depends on the length of cruise booked, as the short cruises only require about a $500 deposit and can be cancelled more than 120 days out, with a loss of $100 pp. Longer Grand Voyage and World Cruises have a significantly higher deposit, with a loss of $1,000 pp if cancelled more than 6 months out. You also would need to carefully read the entire policy document, as even the CFAR and pre-existing conditions waiver have exclusions. The other consideration to note is the Viking insurance has very low medical coverage, well below what we consider acceptable. When we use Viking insurance for trip cancellation/interruption, we always supplement it with additional medical coverage.

We brought our own tea mugs and pre-COVID, they were happy to fill them at the LR Bar.

Yes, if the Captain and Officers were in the World Cafe and chatting/mingling with pax that is a reasonable sign that the virus load onboard was low.

The Captain's Tiger is the Captain's Steward. They know everything.

In the marine industry, the Hurtigruten ships are known as I described them in my post - Ro/Pax, which is any Roll On/Roll Off ship that also accommodates passengers. Some of the larger ships with extensive accommodation and pax services are known as Cruiseferries. While they may provide many of the same services and standards as modern "Cruise Ships", they are not classed as cruise ships. With almost 30 yrs in command of Ro/Pax, and many years as Navigator on cruise ships and ocean liners, I do know the difference. Since the enclosed vehicle decks should be off-limits to pax when the vessel is at sea, it is hardly surprising many pax are not aware of the vehicle decks.

If you want to ask one of the Stewards a question regarding the ship's operation, best one to ask is the "Captain's Tiger", not a regular cabin steward.

Since that information is posted on the Bridge, my bet is also with the Captain and any of the Deck Officers. It is also updated, when pax are disembarked for medical, or other reasons.

Doesn't hurt to ask Viking the question, but I expect it is unlikely. Another possible option is to book additional optional shore-ex and then cancel them once onboard. Hopefully, they will refund the credits to your onboard account, which could be used onboard.

We normally book the 2 inside seats, which are connecting. Except for 1 flight, all our business flights with this configuration had a partition that can be raised or lowered. Unfortunately, I can't remember which airline/aircraft didn't have the partition. With the partition down we can chat easily.

Personally, I consider the trains on an even par with the airlines and ferries, where the staff are well paid, as they also have safety related components to their jobs. Unlike a restaurant where leaving a tip is the norm, I would only provide a tip to any staff member that really excelled in providing us with exceptional service.

See my response in post #2. Last time we sailed these waters in January was 2020 and we experienced the outer edges of 2 TRS, with winds of 70 kts+

Best guess is that it is a standard feature included with the forum software that the admins have not activated.

All the upper deck lighting these days is to satisfy the lawyers and risk assessors. The lighting on cruise ships is actually counter-productive for other ships at sea, as it can mask the important navigation lights - masthead light(s), sidelights and stern light. The light pollution lets other ships know something is there, but the navigation lights provide important information on type of vessel, whether it is making way, direction of travel and whether it is crossing/overtaking, etc. The information gained from the Navigation Lights is used to comply with the Collision Regulations, when taking avoiding action.