OneSixtyToOne

It was stated that this was dictated by corporate and I assume it’s fleet wide. The 6:45 presentations had to end by 8 although a few went a couple of minutes over and the presenters commented that needed to wrap it up for the dinner crowd. I really think this help decrease the 7:00 PM rush at the restaurant.

I agreed with this back in November because it was the case for our January cruise. However on our upcoming April cruise, DV reservations are currently available, so I believe the situation has been rectified. I'll also note that a schedule change has been imposed by corporate in order to decrease the rush at certain hours for restaurants and afternoon tea. Port talks are at 4:30 PM and lectures at 6:45. We experienced no waits at any dining venues.

No Philly Cheesesteak?

I was on the Sky during the playoffs and they had a party in the pool area at 10:30 PM

1) No. When booking make sure you both scheduled the same times for the excursion. When on board if there is more than one bus / tour guide for that time slot, you can ask to be placed in the same group.

Before upgrading to Air Plus see what is available in MVJ. We were able to change airlines as well as well as depart from a deferent airport than our return, all without Air Plus.

Veranda cannot make ADVANCED reservations. Above Veranda, x advanced reservations can be made. When on board you can make as many as you like, times permitting. Gratuities are included on all drinks, so there is no tipping on board, but many people will personally tip their favorite staff members at the end of the voyage. Depending of your country of booking, other gratuities may be included (UK). For US pax a gratuity is charged per person and is billed when onboard. You can pre-pay but most people don’t because onboard credits can be used for this. If you book another cruise while onboard you’ll get an onboard credit for the current cruise. If you book through a TA or have the booking transferred to them, they may be able to issue an OBC. Other than spa and salon services, there are no other charges. Using the spa facilities is free BTW. Coffee and tea are available 24/7 in the World Cafe. Room service is also 24/7 at no additional charge. Every room has a fridge stocked with soft drinks and mixers, which you can ask the steward to customize to your liking. Above V class they are replenished daily. Higher class rooms also have liquor replenished daily. Also you can BYOB and there is no corking charge. Without the SSP, beer and wine is available without additional charge at meals. You can always top off your glass and take it with you to one of the many lounges.

Pay as you go and it’s also faster if you use EFT since you can pre-enter the info. I was in the middle of our Tuscany post extension when our slot opened for our next cruise. It was 9:00 PM and was concerned (DV cabin) but I was able to book everything in about 10 minutes by paying for each high demand excursions first, then went back and did the included tours. Plan the work, work the plan.

Interesting. We are on the Sky on April 2nd. Have heard nothing about a port change since November. Cruisemapper is listing Marghera as one of the Sky’s home ports. Can anyone who recently has sailed in/out of Venice on Viking tell us where you docked?

Today’s mail Great Lakes Promo GLS23 Longitudinal World Cruse: EBD

Excursions not being available refers to optional excursions. I have not heard of anyone being unable to book an included excursion. Some optional excursions are in high demand and if possible, additional tours will be added (I've already seen this on our upcoming cruise for the Sorento & Pompeii excursion). Sometimes adding additional tours is not possible because of the nature of the tour. For example, The Alhambra restricts the total number of guests allowed per day by all cruise lines so Viking is limited to a single bus. Similar restrictions may also apply to their "Privileged Access" tours. Lack of qualified tour guides has been a big issue post-COVID. A lot of them found other jobs. Dining is much ado about nothing. Our last cruise had no advanced reservations available but we were able to book as soon as we boarded. They were actually not allowing additional reservations on the first day to give an opportunity to those who had not yet reserved a table. On our upcoming cruise there are no tables for two but we are able to book a table where we will be seated with other pax. I'm sure once onboard we can change our reservation get a table for 2, if not it's an opportunity to meet new people (something I really enjoy about river cruising). With the COVID restrictions waning, they are opening up more tables to the advance reservation system.

Besides a discount on the cruise you book, you’ll get an onboard credit for your current cruise (which can only be used before you disembark, but it can be used for gratuities).

It all depends on the the airline. I’ve yet to have to pay for the first bag on an international flight. However some regional carriers will assign free seats at check-in only and to get an advanced seat assignment, you have to pay. This happened recently on the Florence to Munich leg of our last trip. It was only serviced by Air Dolomiti (Lufthansa codeshare) and I had to pay $25 for an advanced seat reservation. If you fly on the same major carrier all the way, bag and advanced seat assignment will be free.

Silk has low colorfastness, so while it can be dyed with natural colors, it will fade fast. That's why chemical dyes are used. https://www.hunterlab.com/blog/improving-colorfastness-in-silk-products-via-spectrophotometric-color-measurement/#:~:text=However%2C silk is also one,and has notoriously low colorfastness.

That explains a lot. I’ve noticed many hotel changes mentioned on this forum. I guess travel is back and hotel space is at a premium.

In Turkey I learned that silk won’t take a natural dye. If it’s real silk and it has any color other than the cocoon, a chemical dye has been used.

From our roll call post. They quote the Hilton. https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/2872312-viking-sky-mediterranean-odyssey-april-2-2023-venice-to-barcelona/?do=findComment&comment=64622903

We’re been to Venice before. The reason we chose the pre-extension is for the convenience of transportation to the ship as well as baggage handling. I also want at least a day buffer in case there are flight delays. Currently getting to the ship on your own will cost somewhere around $200 or more.

The Hilton is on a canal in the Giudecca district. The Marriott is on an isolated private island with absolutely no view of anything. From the map it looks way longer than 15-20 minutes.

Another post script… Here are the videos of the silk spinning demonstration in Turkey. FullSizeRender.MOV IMG_9868.MOV And yes, we bought a rug.

The WMD23 code is now on the main page of Viking Ocean but it doesn’t appear to work for any cruise on the page. https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/search-cruises/index.html

After booking our excursions for our upcoming Mediterranean Odyssey cruise a new invoice was generated. I noticed the hotel of our pre-cruise extension has been changed from the Hilton Molino Stucky to the JW Marriott. It appears it is inconveniently located on a private island close to the Lido. Has anyone stayed there? How long is the boat ride to San Marco?

Glad you had a great day at Delphi. It’s truly an incredible site.

When you upload the picture, a cropping frame of the correct size appears so you can center the photo.

Visit the San Diego Zoo