CrusinSubMan

I am sitting at a Pizza cafe in Kotor and at another table is the Editor of CC that is riding us and the Viking Lurker rep. I am sure later they are going to see this post and laugh that I was a few feet away. Anyways I can see they are having some good conversations about the ship, and about Viking Oceans etc.

I am have been starting all my days at the bar in the Explorer's Lounge where I would drink 3-4 cups of coffee.

This morning they radically changed the way they are doing breakfast there and it worked much better. Until now, you had to sit and a server would come take your order. This was for the waffles, coffee etc. The bar folks got to know me and delivered by black coffee quickly after I arrived. I watched various Americans come up and simply want a quick cup of coffee or want to get food directly where they have it displayed.

TOday they had thermoses of coffee everywhere, a self-serve coffee station on the bar and now everyone directly asks for and gets the food they want over the counter.

So things worked much, much better.

They are learning!

Yes I am also surprised by the lack of a chocolate at turndown service also....

That was not a big deal to me. Nor the lack of little animal shapes made from towels.

....Today will be the first tender port.... If experience as told me anything so far on this journey ..... keep an open mind and expect anything with the first time....

My thoughts exactly.

.... An issue I have run into at all of the dining places is that they just don't understand the "common" condiments that people use. ....

I have noticed that as well. They also do not really have an understanding of what most of their guests are likely to want. For instance, most of the American's that ask for coffee have to then answer a second question that goes something like:

"Would you like an expresso?"

or

"A cappuccino or latte or expresso"

Where upon the American says "No just a coffee"

I watched this play out this yesterday in the Explorer's lounge where one lady said "Coffee" three times.

But that is probably something the crew will gradually learn, but its indicative of a lack of really gearing their product and service on their primary target market: "the American".

But the crew has been very flexible and helpful. I wanted a coffee to go the first day in the explorer lounge and they did not have cups. But they sent one young lad to rush up to the other end and get "take out" cups. I waited only about 7 minutes and enjoyed a coffee in the nice china they have there while I waited.

At every port when you reboard the ship you walk through a metal detector that isn't too "strong". I've had my cell phone in my pocket and everything was fine and you don't have to take off shoes like TSA makes you do in the US. So, no, it's not like TSA. To me the reboarding process is just like any other ocean cruise.

 

Alcohol is allowed to be brought on and there is no corkage fee if you ask Viking to serve it to you at dinner or wherever.

Not all alcohol!

Coming aboard in Ephesus they were using the X-ray machine to scan bags on the ship. The operator stopped me and told me there was a bottle in the bag that he had to take from me and that I would get it back "later". I resisted and asked what the rules were as I pulled out a bottle of Turkish wine I had bought. He had pulled out a roll of scotch tape and was asking me room number. I insisted he give me a receipt for the bottle while I kept asking what the rule was on alcohol. The line was backing up to get on board because he was the only person operating the X-ray machine. Then he showed the bottle to the two security people scanning passes and they said it was okay. I asked again what the rule was and they said "16" and then some unintelligible word. Just then a manager came into the security area so I asked him what the rule was and he explained it was 16% or greater alcohol content which would be taken from us and given to us at the "end of the cruise."

So my wine (at 14.8%) was okay.

I told him that this "rule" should be disseminated. Further, I told him they need to provide tags or receipts. Finally I asked him how they would handle those of us on for the full 50 days. He was stumped with that one because he had actually said "at the end of your cruise in Venice."

Anyways, what I will now do if a buy somer liquor or alcohol greater than 16% is keep it in a jacket or in a big pocket as I go on the ship because the humans are not going through a metal detector again (like they have in the port buildings). It is just the bags that are going through the metal detectors. So you can definitely sneak those >16% things on board.

But I found the whole experience very annoying. The rule should be disseminated so you know before you buy something. Most Ports will exceed the 16% threshold for instance, but I would not want a Port I bought sitting around in some hot stuffy space for 40 days etc.

[quote=kathy9;46257531...

Tv worked briefly last night and then froze up again.

We received a 100 pp onboard ship credit for all the TV issues. Kathy

Our TV was working correctly also when we returned from Ephesus and has continued to work. We actually watched a movie last night (The Help) which I am regretting today because it kept us up too late. Our TV is still working but "my calendar" still does not have our tours or reservations showing on it.

Manfredi's left us a voicemail yesterday reminding us of our 7:00 PM dinner reservation which was nice since the "My Schedule" part of the TV system is not populated yet.

We also received the $100 pp onboard ship credit in a letter addressed to us.

....

 

Another peculiarity, speaking of electricity, is that all the lights in our cabin are controlled by the same switch. You either have them all on or all off. So if one person wants to sleep and the other wants to read, it's a problem. There is however a desk lamp with a European end on it that we're thinking of moving to the other side of the cabin near the "seating area" so that it can be turned on and off independently of the overall cabin lights.

 

Off to dinner.

This lighting thing is a design problem in V, DV, PV and PS. All four of these classes have all the lights on the master switch except for the little reading lights and the small lights above the bed. So if you want to use the desk lamp or if (in the PS) you want to pull the curtain so your mate can sleep, you have to sit in the dark or light up the entire space. One fix has been to move the desk lamp to a different outlet that is not not on the switch.

There are 2 lamps in the headboard for reading. Just push the indent.

 

The published exchange rate is WRONG. t

 

Turkish Lira is 2.6' not 2.17. This makes no sense as they do not offer currency exchange.

The exchange rate has been weeks old since we got on board. But I think they are listing one just to be helpful. But obviously when the rate is way off, it is just the opposite.

That was a great meet and greet. One thing that was said at the meet and greet was notable: that the prognosis for getting the IT system working on the ship is no longer soon as in perhaps today but instead hopefully in the next few days. So no information and no entertainment is available in the rooms. The TV basically does not work. I had the Chef's table write down our next four reservations there on a piece of paper.

BTW, the Chef's table first sitting (6:00 PM) was half empty (or half full depending on your perspective) tonight. So clearly there is not a shortage of reserved dining so far.

Our mini in our PV room was stocked when we arrived.

I added a post on my blog doing a comparison of DV and PV rooms with photos.

I will not keep posting here on CC for further blog posts so you will need to watch my WordPress site for that. But I will also post comments and replies here.

This all sounds really positive. That is what we were all hoping for after this long wait!

John, is there an electrical outlet next to the head of bed for those who use CPAP machines during the night? Wondering if my DH needs to bring an extension cord.

There is a dual plug (1 side is 1 euro outlet and the other is US outlet) low on the wall on each side of the bed.

There is no clock or alarm clock in the room, but I guess everyone today uses their phones/ devices.

I noticed an annoying electrical thing tonight though. The room essentially toggled between dim and bright and the desk light is on the same circuit as the bright overhead and corner light so when the room is the dim condition the desk is almost dark. I am going to want an extension cord to move that desk light over to one of the other receptacles above the desk so I can manually turn it on or off independent from the main room lights. But its a euro plug and that side of the desk only has one euro plug (and no US plugs) so I am already using it via an adapter for laptops etc. An extension cord would allow it to reach to the other side of the desk. But you would want a Euro extension cord or else you would need two! adapters just to plug the light in. Or I could just move the desk lamp to the other side. That might be the easy solution. :)

Great first photos John! Is that a Yeti in the Snow Cave? Which restaurant is that in your first look photos?

No Yeti (but he might be in there).

Its the Chef's Table and the Kitchen Table room (where someone is going to have a Birthday dinner!!!). I forgot to take pictures in Manfredi's but it looks like a nice Italian Restaurant should look.

Many thanks for the photos, what's your first impression of the ship? does it meet your expectations?

Good question. First impression is that it feels very nice and comfortable. We are happy to be here.

Very class. There are spaces everywhere to sit, read etc.

People are getting dinner reservations tonight in both reservation restaurants which is nice to see also (they had promised there would be such available everyday).

All we had so far for food was some late lunch on the pool deck and it was very nice food.

There are some glitches.

Right now the television system does not work at all. You can go the main screens but it cannot call up tv, movies, your account or even let you connect a device to listen music. Or maybe that is just our tv:)

One of the drawers in our closet was not sliding and I realized it was not put in right and fixed it.

"Checking in" was odd:

1) No lines which was nice. Lots of folks are not here yet though.

2) We were told to go to reception on board but once we went there the lady told us that we were already checked in (which we did in the building on the pier. Our room key/ ships cards were in our room. So essentially she was telling us we did not need to go there. But also no ships maps or anything. But it seems small enough to get used to quickly. Not like being on a massive ship where you need a map and a compass :)

Thank you for posting! It is completely different seeing the real deal from passengers! We have the same category of cabin and I have to say it looks to be way more than I expected in a very positive way. How is the balcony? Bathroom space? The 'blue picture' looks sooo cold! The pool with water in it now looks really inviting.....all of it I can't wait to see in Barcelona! Really appreciate you sharing these!

The Penthouse Veranda room is nice and pretty much what I expected. Lots of room. Not enough hangers even with the ones we brought, but that arises every time.

Veranda is nice. Door is on one side and a window on the other with a structural piece running floor to ceiling down the middle. Veranda is very deep though, so you can sit back against the wall and be pretty shielded from the wind.

Bathroom is pretty good. Heated floor! His and her drawers and cabinet shelves.Shower. Nice shower stuff.

We managed to fit all of our clothes into drawers etc.

Wonderful photos and so excited for you firsties!

One question.....is the spa free to use....snow grotto.....saunas and the such?

Yep the spa and gym etc are all free to use. They are very nice. Saunas, cold water pool big warm water soaking area and a jacuzzi and the ice room. Plus a decent assortment of running machines, resistance machine and some dumbbells in the gym.

A bit of a disappointment is that it is only open from 8 to 8. Seems to me it could be available both earlier and later. There is a running track outside on deck two where four laps equal a mile though which will probably help me deal with those mornings when I want to run before I eat.

I posted with some first photos of the Viking Star at my wordpress blog at:

https://travelinsubman.wordpress.com

Gotta go to the ships emergency drill.

More later.

.....Where I had trouble was when I wanted to sign up for one shore excursion and my husband another. You can do this but on one day's shore excursions I had to get Viking Customer service involved. Our shore excursions overlapped, and the website wouldn't let me book mine without cancelling his, and visa-versa. It kept saying there was a scheduling conflict. I had no trouble booking spa appointments for just me on sea days, but then there would be no conflict with shore excursions anyway. ...

This is exactly what I was thinking would be a problem. The website does not allow you to differentiate between the two people as far as meals or excursions go. It was convenient if not logical for meals, but for excursions I thought there should have been an option for it to be just yourself or everyone in your party/ room.

Thanks for the quick answers--I'll set my alarm this evening before bed.

 

And, as far as:

 

We *are* usually doing the same things--unless it's back on board the ship and there's live music and dancing. Then Mom is on the dance floor and I'm somewhere else! She's hoping other single ladies like to dance, too....

My wife really wants to dance, but I have been trying to temper her expectations about shipboard life on a Viking Cruise. On our Viking River Cruises, it was a piano man and that was about it. I have not noticed any listing of a disco or anything.

I have all our chosen excursions in my Wishlist as well as Mom's on our separate MyVikingJourney sites.

 

Since we've booked this trip together, when I make the excursion reservations (after midnight tonight), will I be able to book *both* of our excursions with the same web visit or will I have to make mine, log out of MyVikingJourney and then log-in to Mom's to make hers?

 

I'll be doing this on an iPhone and logging in/out is no fun...so I'm crossing my fingers I can do both in one log-in 'cause we're "linked" in Viking's world...

I only had to do it once. Each one I picked was automatically also made for my wife. I guess that makes sense, since they really do not want singles taking table slots etc. I never looked to see what this looks like from my wife's side of things (i.e., if we I looked at it from her log in, can she cancel or change those reservations?) Because we do have a separate log in for her for things she is doing differently than me (the spa, e.g.)

We are PV3 and we didn't have trouble with any of our excursion times or dining window of time. Like you, we like to eat earlier, and the earliest Manifreds dining slots were 7-7:15. During previous cruises we have found that there are a lot of people who enjoy eating later.....so hopefully it all balances out and you are able to book your first choices in dining and excursions.

PV3 also and we got everything we wanted and I went in and changed some afterwards.

Here is a snip from the Youtube video showing the Star at sea.

And here is another

Informed by a Google Alert!

 

 

Why would Viking notify those with existing reservations that such a video is online (he says with sarcasm).

Here is a snip from the Youtube video showing the Star at sea.

Sea Trials!

I remember those well. But Sea Trials for a new ship and the first ship in her class, depsite all the engineering and planning, is like a big sigh of relief that it was all done correctly. (Think of the Mars lander that crashed into the planet because somehad confused metric units of thrust with english units).

The risk of doing a maiden voyage is always that something really significant does not work right. So this is good news!!!