Goosebear Mum

Actually, as a couple, it is US who offer, then the person on their own knows they’re welcome. If we see someone look for a table, we’ll say ‘you’re welcome to join us, if you wish’. I feel that is far more welcoming. It's scary as a solo to ‘ask’ especially when there is sadly a reluctance by some couples who feel (bizarrely) scared/threatened by someone in their own… Well, neither of us is like that, and we offer 🙂

Following with interest, as we’ll need to do this soon. I am VERY reluctant (and husband will be more so) to upload info to some random app. We’ll too use the email and see what happens…

main menu on right hand side… chicken with rice, coleslaw and chips… strange to have rice and chips, but then they add GRAVY too??? That just sounds a bizarre combination to me… rice, coleslaw and gravy! I’d love to know what that was actually like 😂

Thanks, and I’ll enjoy following ‘along with you’ 🙂 We were on Aurora in May, and we noticed a lot of post covid changes, frustrations, but the itinerary made up for them. Enjoy Good luck with embarkation tomorrow. I’ll be looking out for your final report on the yellow fever certificate vs GP letter saga!

Thanks all. Sounds like I will have to use ‘old fashioned’ phone… Shame, as I use ‘online’ for almost everything nowadays, I hardly ever need to try and find a convenient time (when I’m not at work, and when Support is open) to sit in a call wait! Also it’s a shame, as I’d have liked to check suitable location availability before progressing further. Maybe they’ll sort this out one day, to save their support (real people) time… 😉 GBM

Thanks, this is what I was finding/suspecting too!

Hi. I‘m in the UK. When I go to look on the Viking website at cabin availability for booking, only 5 numbered cabins ever appear in the drop down list, always only 5 (unless fewer remain.) I know there are more. Has anyone found a way to get around this? (And not by using a travel agent!) I’ve tried PC browsers, Android and IPad. The drop down list never scrolls Thanks GBM

I've just realised you may be on board, not just reporting that Aurora is going into a storm. Honestly you’ll be okay, Aurora is built for oceans and storms. She’s tough and I’d feel safe in anything the Captain and coastguard feel safe she can go out into. Pack everything away in your cabin that’s loose. Start your sea sickness tablets now, if you think you’ll need them. Don’t wait till you start feeling ill. And if you can, enjoy the ride, and you’ll have a story later. (Hug)

Yes, Maud was very unlucky to get hit by a very short wave length (what the news reported as a rogue wave) which broke the Bridge window glass. Not sure it was a true rogue wave, but a short wave length in a severe storm. It was on the BBC and Daily Mail, as I sent the video to my husband, that a passenger happened to record, from the cabin TV. Obv it goes ‘blank’ as the ship lost power. Everyone thankfully was okay.

We were in a force 12 in her, Christmas cruise 2015 and she handled it with ease, never felt scared once (and I could have done having been in a boat explosion 40 years ago) I know the cruise year, as it was my husband’s first time on a ship/cruise, and we were unsure how he’d be. We woke with him yelping ‘what was that’ as he leapt out of bed as the ship ‘hit a pothole’ as the captain likes saying. Husband promptly flew across the cabin hitting the table. Once I’d checked he was okay (husband, not table!) we both burst out laughing. He soon learnt to always have one hand for holding onto something. Husband then spent time by the balcony (inside!) fascinated by the waves coming ABOVE our B deck balcony. We have moved house twice since, so not sure where the captain’s notes are for wave height, but it was reported as storm force 12. I knew, after that, that my husband would never need sea sickness tablets (unlike me!) p.s. edit, I am sure if P&O think it wouldn’t be safe, they’d divert. They have always seemed (rightly) risk averse to me

Yes, we do NOT pack light, and the steward has always brought us loads of hangers (I hang everything I can/can fit on the rails. On our longer cruise I also found useful: magnets for walls, to attach postcards/excursion tickets/horizon/etc/etc All general over the counter meds we may need, to save going to dr. Inc antihistamine and insect bite cream (did need it after a Caribbean beach trip for sand fly bite) We now also take medium laundry bags (the types clothes can go in, in the washing machine) and put all small items into it. Saves looking for stray socks, etc at the bottom/back of washing/dryer machines!) Enjoy the cruise. 🙂 If you enjoy art, you’ll likely find watercolour classes (for complete beginners upwards, high quality art materials are available to buy for a small (actually good value) fee if you don’t have them) and a lot of other activities which are never on shorter cruises 🙂

Viking confuses me over their use of deck 2, the “promenade” deck, as V and some passengers seem to assume now that it’s for jogging, whereas its name means it’s for walking! I’ve read a few live blogs, where passengers (who jog) have grumbled about the people actually using it for, hang on… promenading! I’ll be enjoying reading along with this thread, as I hope to do a WC when we retire.

Interesting, as dictionary definitions would not agree with p&o’s definition!

Yes, we had an ‘overnight’ in Hamburg where we actually left in the very early hours, I cannot remember when, as I was asleep, but 1am or 2am. I only found out before the cruise, as I always look up the local cruise port arrival/departure times. I do think P&O ought to make these clearer, when an overnight is not a true overnight… we don’t spend most or all of the night in port.

This is what puts me off booking a river cruise, otherwise I’d love to do them. But we just cannot face being sociable if we’re tired at the end of a long day walking around a town, etc. we just like to sit and chat to each other, eat our meal, and move on to relax somewhere.

My Garmin has a manual mode. You just have to set the time synch to manual. I’d have thought all would have a manual setting. I set mine to manual on every cruise, as I keep to ‘ship time’, in case it differs from satellite/local time.

Santa arrives at the funnel on Aurora! (Well, he has done on our previous Christmas Eve cruises!) All harmless fun which everyone got into the spirit for 🙂

I have not yet booked my first Viking cruise (I’m UK too) but yes, I certainly get (more than) my fair share of daily emails AND post! I'm afraid so far they have been binned, so I cannot share any codes with you. I’ll look at booking with Viking in a year or two, when (hopefully) the mortgage is out of the way. Till then I’m with cheaper P&O… I never realised Viking would spend so much on postal marketing…

Do Americans have a less derogatory meaning of wino? In the UK it’s used to describe those who are habitually drunk on the cheapest stuff, and are usually homeless people. Certainly not something I’d ever wish to describe someone on a cruise as….

I was wondering too.

From Googling: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vela_(constellation) satellite). Vela Constellation List of stars in Vela Abbreviation Vel Genitive Velorum Pronunciation /ˈviːlə/, genitive /vɪˈloʊrəm/ Symbolism the Sails Right ascension 9h Declination −50° Quadrant SQ2 Area 500 sq. deg. (32nd) Main stars 5 Bayer/Flamsteed stars 50 Stars with planets 7 Stars brighter than 3.00m 5 Stars within 10.00 pc (32.62 ly) 3 Brightest star γ Vel (1.75m) Messier objects 0 Meteor showers Delta Velids Gamma Velids Puppid-velids Bordering constellations Antlia Pyxis Puppis Carina Centaurus Visible at latitudes between +30° and −90°. Best visible at 21:00 (9 p.m.) during the month of March. Vela is a constellation in the southern sky, which contains the Vela Supercluster. Its name is Latin for the sails of a ship, and it was originally part of a larger constellation, the ship Argo Navis, which was later divided into three parts, the others being Carina and Puppis.

Agree, I have not understood the logic of Viking cabin layouts, the more expensive the cabin, the worse the location. It puts me off spending more!

Honestly calm down everyone. This is currently Israel and Gaza, just as elsewhere there is Yemen, Russia, Ukraine, etc. Israel and Gaza have had frequent bombings, this time it’s far far worse, but so far there is no sign of it about escalate outside of those countries. The UK (honestly, some people listen to wind up media too much) and Cyprus are currently safe. Viking will not send you somewhere unsafe, if anything changes so will the cruise. If Cyprus is ever unsafe, the whole Mediterranean and cruising will be unsafe as NATO will then be involved. .

I am in the UK, I would have no issue with Cyprus at the moment, it’s well enough away from Israel and Gaza. Personally I wouldn’t have been going to Israel for years now. Obviously it’s escalated on a massive scale, but honestly Cyprus is nothing to be concerned about. It's not yet WW3…. If anything changes, Viking will be the first to put your safety as priority.

That’s true, I was on a much smaller vessel (Akademik Ioffe), so everyone who wanted to, always had at least 2 long zodiac or long landing trips a day, occasionally 3. Everyone could be off at the same time. I’d certainly now go to Antarctica with Viking, if I could afford to, but I’d go knowing it was not ‘full expedition’ but ‘luxury expedition’, I’m possibly now of an age where I’d prefer the luxury side (!) and fewer hours a day off the ship 😉