Sunflower & The Scientist

We love sea days, we have a very busy schedule at home and need down time. Activities are not a big thing for us, we enjoy relaxing, reading, drinking endless cups of coffee, exercising, enjoying evening music, doing a little dancing and eating great food.

We've never had towels left for us and didn't know if it was okay to take one from the pool area.

We love the World Cafe, but my husband is always frustrated by the lack of cooked veggies. sounds like he is not alone. I enjoy the sushi bar.

That is a really good suggestion....another that would be only about 15 min by cab, is Coronado. It is a charming little town with an incredible beach. The historic Del Coronado Hotel is there and a beautiful place to walk through.

Our experience from Oslo to Bergan sounds different than yours. We boarded with the Viking Rep and she took care of everything, I don't even recall seeing the conductor. We were fairly scattered on the train so she walked back and forth the whole way trying to keep contact with the group. No one received any help with having people move who were not in their assigned seats, the Viking Rep said to just try to sit where you could. It was a very awkward situation but people tried to make the best of it.

FYI...Viking gives you an envelope with information when you arrive. It will have your seat assignments for the train. When we went two years ago, the seat assignments were really messed up. Couple were spit up in different seats and people not with Viking, got on and took any seat they wanted, leaving Viking people standing there puzzled where they would sit. There were people in both my husband and my seats but somehow we found two seats together. Other couples were not so fortunate.

We loved deck 4. (We were in 4000) It was so convenient to walk through the door at the end of the hall and into the Explorers Lounge.

Thanks for that info!!

Thanks...I thought that was the only option we would want. They say there is a shuttle but we don't want a trip around LA dropping people off here and there. We are thinking also of hopping on a ferry and checking out Catalina.

I know this has been discussed somewhere, but I've searched and can't find the info. What is the best way to get from LAX to San Pedro port. We don't want to do a bus. Is the best way a taxi, and has anyone done that. Thanks...

The wildlife boat in Dunedin NZ was our favorite excursion of the entire cruise. It's a very small boat that takes you out to see a huge variety of wild life and it is amazing. If you are prone to getting sick it might not be a good choice as it's a bit of a wild ride at times.

We were responding at the same time with the same thought....expedition ships have done an exceptional job with food in the WC.

Octantis has an amazing selection of wonderful breads fresh out of the oven, at their little bakery section. I am sure you could find what you'd like there, and if you didn't I would guess the baker would make sure you got a crusty crust on your bread.

I don't disagree with that....

We are doing our first river, and I was wondering about that. We have gotten up and moved in the World Cafe when people have been coughing (no covering of their mouth of course) at a table next to us. On river cruises we will kind of be stuck I'm guessing. On our last cruise I could not believe how rude people were coughing with uncovered mouths right next to people. On one excursion at each stop people moved to either the front or back of the bus to get away from one woman who was coughing up a lung the whole time. By the end she was sitting with all vacant seats around her.

I think that many excursions are very dependent on who the tour guide is, so in some cases it would make a rating system a bit difficult. I've been on tours that weren't good at all, but talked to others who had an excellent tour guide and the excursion was great. We had a tour guide on BIE last summer that said she was hung over from the night before and she basically dumped us at a little library. I'm sure other guides would have had much better reviews.

Not always true. There are often people wanting excursions that are sold out. We have gone to the place where a specific excursion is meeting and asked if there is anyone wanting to cancel. It has worked very well for us and the person wanting to cancel. Also, sometimes there are waiting list so cancelling is not a problem.

We have never heard a sales pitch. In fact, we love Viking because we haven't heard sales pitches anywhere onboard unless we've asked for the information. We love port talks but always listen to them on the TV as it's easier and more convenient. They really give a clearer picture of what the port is going to include and how to structure our day.

We were on New Zealand and Australia in very hot weather and I wore a sweatshirt in the living room and World Cafe. I am always cold. My husband found the temps to be quite acceptable. On all our other cruises I've gone prepared with warm clothes but not had to wear them as the temps were not overly cool, in my opinion.

We'd be right behind you! I'm so thankful for this review. This sounds like our worst nightmare.

We did this as well and can't say enough good things about our experience. Arriving at 7:30 AM and expecting have to leave our luggage and come back and check in later, they surprised us by letting us in our room where we were able to take showers and rest for a few minutes before heading out to explore. We were there on Dec. 31 as well. It was crowded for the holiday. For us Waiheke Island was not a good experience as it was over crowded, but we really enjoyed Auckland.

I think this is a great thing for Viking to do. We've had two experiences where people over estimated their abilities and it caused issues. My husband is very athletic and was on a Viking kayak excursion. The kayaks were two person kayaks and a woman was put in his kayak that had never kayaked and should not have been attempting to do the excursion. The waters were rough and he had to do all the work for two people and worry about her not causing any safety issues. It was very unpleasant for him. On another cruise line excursion where we both were snorkeling, an elderly frail woman had snorkeling on her bucket list, which was totally unrealistic. The guys running the excursion were very kind to her and basically carried her for a while, but then had to take her back to shore which messed things up for the rest of us. I don't think our experiences were the norm. Most people recognize what their abilities are. Some "demanding" excursions might not be demanding, but there are those that are!

I think there are a lot of us booking while our TAs are out until the 2nd! We got a good deal...she kept giving us discounts for this and that. We spent the last 24 hours going round and round on which cruise to book and it came down to two by last night. We booked Canada New England Scenic Shores this afternoon. I'm not sure if we'll get the OBC from our TA since she did not book it, but we saved enough to make us happy. We've got a Rhine river cruise coming up in May, and in 2025 we are on for Italy.

We aren't typically last minute people, but we decided to do the $25 holiday sale which ends in two day. We always book through our TA. But we realize she will be out for the next two day. I thought I have seen people say that they booked through Viking and then switched it to their TA. I'm just interested to hear from someone who has done that successfully.