sharkster77

Agree 100%---paying in advance doesn't bother me--if if bothers others, then there are plenty of other cruise lines to travel with. As said, I like what I get from Viking, and I like not paying for things I don't want or need, like full beverage plans, or butlers. I like choosing which optional excursions I pay for and take. We are not brainwashed, we just like Viking's product. We don't all have to think the same way and like the same things, n'est pas?

That's how I label photo folders, so I can sort them by date, and actually find things.

The shelf in Viking aquarium cannot be sat on , unless you bring a ladder!---it is a solid wall that juts out at least a good foot or more from right under windows. It can be used as shelf space, that's it.

True Jazz, but I put copies of the two floor plans side by side and I didn't see any difference in actual floor space. Aquarium is 150 sf (with unusable bump-out) while french balcony is 135 sf (w/o the bump-out). The bump-out made for more shelf space, nothing more. Makes no difference to us, frankly, since paying $1K to $1.5K per person just to get the french balcony window is not worth it. If it's worth it to others, no problem!

Viking's aquarium class has a bump-out under the high windows that is probably a foot wide. That is floor area you cannot use. The french balcony rooms do not have that bump-out since the balcony window is there. If you look at Viking's floor plans for both standard room and french balcony room, the amount of usable floor space appears to be the same, due to the lack of the bump-out in french balcony rooms. At least it looks that way to me 😉

WWI was a five year horror for the UK, as compared to the one-year+ time the US was involved. A generation of young men was lost, especially in Scotland. When we were in Scotland last September in the days leading up to the Queen's funeral, we noticed that every city and town, large and tiny, had a WWI memorial in town, which ended up being the place for leaving flowers etc., mourning the queen. The notes left were quite heartfelt. Downton Abbey fans may remember that the village planned and built a WWI memorial---something that happened everywhere in the UK.

Others, please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the Battle of Colmar Pocket took place a ways outside of town, so I do not think Colmar proper would be visited on the WWII tour.

Our 2019 Rhine Getaway had a different itinerary than it has today. Yes, Marksburg and Heidelberg went from included to optional, replaced with Koblenz and Speyer. We skipped the Rudesheim dinner because we heard it included a lot of drinking games, which is not our thing. Additionally, the music was supposedly not traditional German music (unless Sweet Caroline, for example, is German trad music!) Some on our cruise simply walked into Rudesheim and were able to eat at the same restaurant, without paying for the antics of the excursion.

Isn't the thing with Warsaw vs Krakow that Hitler viewed that since Warsaw was inhabited by Slavs, an inferior 'race' in his mind, so he leveled the city, while he viewed the people of Krakow as closer to his Aryan ideal, so he left the city untouched, intending to set it up as one of his imperial capitals. So Krakow has retained its charm while Warsaw had to be completely rebuilt. If my take of this is not correct, please enlighten me.

In 2019 we did 2 optionals: Bruhl palaces while in Cologne, and the Medieval Colmar tour. Both were excellent. Those who did the Colmar WWII tour raved about that one. None of the others appealed to us. What we enjoyed very much was staying in Strasbourg after the walking tour, having an inexpensive lunch at a bakery, and strolling the streets while munching on macarons, looking at store windows. We grabbed the shuttle back to the ship at 2:30. It all felt very "French". Marksburg Castle was one of our included tours--I believe it is optional for you--we enjoyed that as well. We also had Heidelberg included instead of Speyer, though our cruise director walked us into Speyer after we got back from Heidelberg. We had a pleasant one-hour stroll before getting back to the ship for dinner.

Wife is 50% Polish, so Poland was on our radar until, you know, stuff started to happen to the east. We saw 9-night tours for only $2K pp. There is a TV show called Flavor of Poland where a Polish-American actress (Alexandra August) visits a city or region of Poland for half the episode and also visits a restaurant to learn about that region's cuisine. For the last half, she goes into her kitchen and creates a meal based on what she learned on her visit. 13-ish half-hour episodes. Made us realize how beautiful Poland is. We found the program on one of the satellite PBS stations (PBS World, or PBS Create, not sure)

Although I will add, since I no longer have "stereo" hearing, it is tough to pull a voice out of a crowd of voices---I do a lot of smiling and nodding, hoping I'm not agreeing with anything horrid..........

That is EXACTLY what I do!!!

I have 100% hearing in one ear and 0% in the other---I always mention to the person on my deaf side that if they speak to me and I don't respond, I'm not ignoring them, but didn't hear what they said. Folks are very understanding when I explain this to them.

Fair enough, but if you haven't river cruised before, I will add that embarkation day is no where near as crazy as it is on an ocean liner, it's all rather low-key. For example, they just ask your name, no showing passports or complicated check in. Same with disembarkation. No announcements, people just show up at the appointed time for their airport shuttle, cab to train station, etc.

Wouldn't it just be easier to ask the cabin attendant (or whatever they're called) for extra hangers if more are needed?

It's really more a function of what you are plugging into the outlet, not the voltage of the outlet itself. My point is that in most cases a converter is not necessary. Just need the correct adapter.

Phone chargers laptop chargers, almost all chargers are dual voltage. Even wife's travel CPAP is dual voltage. She also has a dual voltage curling iron she picked up at Target for ~$10. Can't think of anything one might bring on a cruise or trip that would require a voltage converter---just an adapter for the plug. This is probably why hotels provide hair dryers---a hair dryer that would require a voltage converter would probably burn out if one was not used, which then becomes a fire hazard.

The bottom line is travel insurance----too many folks got burned when Vantage went under recently---one should never be vulnerable to losing thousands of dollars in this way. I feel safe depositing early with Viking because of travel insurance---I'd otherwise be a fool.

The flip side to paying early is that if you have to cancel before 120 days from sailing, you are only out $100 per person. My travel agent tells me this is a smaller penalty than other cruise lines (this is her words, not mine---don't shoot the messenger if this is not the case).

Are talking about hamster wheels (in-cage) or hamster balls, which allow them to roam the house?

Ah, OK. On Tulips and Windmills, we sail AMS to AMS. Doing a post-extension in The Hague. We do Antwerp, Bruges, and Ghent in Belgium.

Viking did tell me the ship left Ghent (not Antwerp) at 10PM. Did not see a extensions from Viking that did Bruges and Ghent. Saw Amsterdam pre and post, and The Hague. EDIT: Bruges and Ghent are extensions on "Holland and Belgium", a different itinerary than "Tulips and Windmills". @Mitina, you must be on Holland and Belgium? A major difference between the two is that H & B does Keukenhof at the beginning, while T & W does it at the end.

Thanks @Host Jazzbeau, I have time to sort this out, but your info is very helpful. As I said, I could not go to Ghent and not see the altarpiece! As far as I can tell, Viking does not have excursions into Ghent, included or additional. Something I plan to pester someone about!

We sail on the 5th, when you are ending---we may cross each other on the gangplank! I sent a question to Viking about this, and they didn't really answer my question, except to say the ship is docked in Ghent until 10PM--be back on board by 8PM. Never said how easy it would be to visit Ghent on our own.