OneSixtyToOne

We had wonderful desserts aboard the Sky last January. It all depends on the skill of the pastry chef. Ricotta cheesecake aboard the Sky: When we did the Grand European river cruise in 2016 the desserts were a work of art. Every night we waited in anticipation to see what the chef had prepared.

Departure Day - It’s Déjà vu all over again. Yogi Berra’s words have never rang so true. Just last January we were here at LAX dodging a torrent of rain from an atmospheric river hitting California and it’s been raining ever since. I’ve never seen anything like this in almost 50 years of living here. Several major storms have hit us and it looks like that trend will continue. The good news is the drought has been officially declared over. The bad news is our flight is at least 30 minutes late and that leaves us only 90 minutes to catch our connection in Frankfurt to Venice. Fortunately we have booked the pre-cruise extension. I tend to do this just to have a buffer. We were notified that our departure from Venice on Monday has moved from 3:00 PM to 10:00 PM. The email had some boiler plate message about tides but IMO it has more to do with the Italian air traffic control strike on Sunday. Anyone planning to fly into Venice on embarkation day may have a problem. So while we wait, I’ll repost a photo of our plane. This will probably be my last time on a 747, my first being a TWA flight to Rome in 1970. The last 747 built recently flew out of Boeing and had permission to have its flight path spell out 747 across Washington State. It’s definitely an end of an era. To understand the impact of this aircraft, i’ll end this post with a link to one of my favorite TV series, Connections with James Burke. In this episode, he connects the 747 with the similar innovation of the fluyt freighter in Holland in the 16th century. This allowed the Dutch East India Company to become the richest corporation in the history of the world. (I thank Viking lecturer Russel Lee with providing me that bit of trivia.) Here’s hoping my next post will be from Venice and not a hotel in Frankfurt.

Good to know. We have booked this excursion and will be there next week. I will be doing a live post of our cruise starting later today.

World Cafe hours are 6:00 AM - 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM. Room Service is available 24/7 as is coffee in the cafe.

On our trip last January, it was 8:00 AM.

Price is $25 per day per person. Both passengers must buy it. You can purchase it on My Viking Journey in the Onboard Experience section.

Hoping to see Finse onboard one day. Her paw print is on the Finse Terrace of the explorer ships BTW. https://viking.tv/tv/our-viking-family/the-world-of-finse

How long is the drive on the Krka waterfall excursion? We just received an email from Viking notifying use that the Sky will be leaving Venice late this coming Monday (10:00 PM instead of 3:00 PM) and arriving at Split at 1:00 PM instead of 8:00 AM. The email states that excursion times will be adjusted and to check when we board. The email also states that it’s due to tides but I have a feeling it’s leaving Venice late because Italian air traffic controllers are striking from 1-5 PM on embarkation day and this is just a buffer to allow affected passengers to arrive in time.

Based on my experiences water is always available as you leave the ship and on the bus. They stick a bottle in your hand as you depart.

Prices (SSP and menu) increased on Jan 1 so it really depends when the photo was taken. We were aboard the Sky in January and the price was $9.50.

I can't get on either. Probably a system issue.

The coins being referred to aren't collectables like the original circulated coins. They are bullion and only worth the current melt value. You will never get anything above that value. The US Mint has used past designs of famous coins (eg. Walking Liberty) to give them the allure of being collectable when they are really just precious metal in an attractive package. If you actually had a silver dollar from the period when they were in circulation and used as tender, then, yes they are worth much more. These are not. Also it seems very inconvenient to find a gold and silver seller to exchange for actual notes. If I was a service worker, I would prefer cash to something I needed to barter with. A former boss of mine once gave these to his staff for Christmas one year. I have it in a drawer somewhere because I never wanted to do the legwork to cash it in.

They work great. In fact new phones no longer have a physical SIM. I bought one for our European trip last January. I purchased 3 gigabytes for 30 days for $13. I used only half the data in 2 weeks. I turned off photo synching unless we were on Wi-Fi. I also bought a data stick to save photos and video to. Can never have too many backups. My wife’s older phone did not support eSims and she sent a text and got a notice from Verizon that she has just been charged $10 for 24 hours of international calling. After that she disabled her cellular and I set up a hot spot on my phone for her use, and, yes, she has since bought a new phone for our upcoming trip.

They are collectible/investment 1oz silver bullion coins from the US Mint. Never heard of anyone actually using them. https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/american-eagle/silver-bullion

I seem to recall that some poster has stated that they have replaced some of the older machines on at least one ship (Sea?) with combination washer/dryers. As a result of the poor drying capability, there is a shortage of dryers on other decks.

I’ve posted this in the roll call for the Mediterranean Odyssey that embarks April 2nd in Venice, but in case anyone misses it, be aware. If you have not made pre-cruise arrangements, flying into Venice on embarkation day may be problematic. Italian air traffic controllers are striking on April 2 from 1:00PM to 5:00PM. I suggest you check with your airlines. Since this labor action seems to be concentrated from now until Easter, I wonder if it will affect any of our excursions or docking?

FYI Croatia switched to the Euro as of Jan 1 of this year.

Free pressing and shoe shine, laundry is DIY. Penthouse Suites get free laundry and dry cleaning.

Lol On our Mediterranean Odyssey roll call someone from Hawaii stated they will NOT be bringing any Aloha shirts.

They scan your passport at check-in. It appears to be an LAX thing.

We will go through passport control (bags will be checked to final destination). In January we went through Munich and passport control was less than 5 minutes. I’ve heard horror stories about Frankfort.

What happens if you miss a connection when using Viking Air? Who should you notify? We only have a 2 hour window in Frankfort and we’re not confident we will make the connection.

Here is the entire 7 hour trip https://youtu.be/xisVS_DKpJg

FYI The saunas are located in the men and women's locker rooms. The ice room and steam room are located in the common pool area.

Paris is very easy to navigate using the Metro. For us, Paris is all about the art. The state art museums have separated their exhibits by time frame. The Louvre is everything pre Impressionism, the Musee d’Orsay is Impressionism and post-Impressionism. The Pompidou Center is Modern Art. You can get a skip the line Paris Pass that includes most of the major museums. I consider the d’Orsay a must see. It’s a converted train station and it houses some of the most famous French works of art in the world. On the upper level, the clock face of the former train station is made of glass and you have a tremendous view of Sacre Coeur. You can spend the whole day in the vicinity of the d’Orsay. Across the river is the Musee l'Orangerie, a specially constructed building to house Monet’s giant waterlily paintings. Also within walking distance is Rodin’s mansion, where in the garden you’ll find The Thinker. His home is filled with hundreds of his sculptures. Napoleon’s tomb is also nearby. All are worth a visit. I love Monet so for me any trip to Paris must include a visit to Musée Marmottan Monet. Here you’ll find his most famous work that named the entire era, Impression Sunrise. The Picasso Museum is also a great place to visit. Sainte Chapelle has the most amazing stained glass in the world. d’Orsay: Sainte Chapelle: