CurlerRob

Jim is quite correct, although even the port website schedule is always subject to change. I've taken to using MarineTraffic to do a final check for the actual dock on the day of embarkation (or earlier if the ship is in port already). They won't normally switch to adjacent ports, but changes to a posted dock are quite common. 🍺🥌

I am not aware of any situations where Viking does the visa work FOR you. On World Cruises, it is common that Viking includes the cost of the 3rd party visa service that they recommend - but you need to take action to initiate and complete the process. The item on the website is likely the connection to their recommended service. If you are not doing the visa work yourself, I suggest you contact Viking ASAP and clarify who does what. Then, you need to get in touch with their (or another) service and understand the process. In the end, we, as pax, are ultimately responsible to have the appropriate visas, no matter who assists us. From our past experience, Australia is simple to do yourself - it's an online application that is straightforward. On our last stop in Singapore, the ship (not Viking) handled the visa - no action required by us. For the other 3 countries, I have read various painful accounts. Good luck - don't delay on this ... 🍺🥌

Thank you for posting this. Fortunately, I have no dog in this hunt, but a couple of observations ... The phrase "open ended offer" indicates a lack of any time limitation, inconsistent with the withdrawal of the offer. The phrase "first come basis" (which I presume was intended to mean first come, first served) speaks to the order of processing of the requests, not any cap on availability. The phrase "oversubscribed" indicates a predetermined level of availability, inconsistent with both offers above. If it were me and I chose not to sail, I would dispute the CC charges and advise O that they had 30 days to pony up the FCC first offered. If they refused, I'd take the story to any and all media that would accept it. I could care less if they refused me future passage - who would want to do business with a company who acts this way? If I chose to sail so as not to potentially lose the fare, I would write again, requesting at least some degree of compensation (even if I would never use it should they provide FCC). Failing that, I'd still try on the media approach after the cruise. The letter you received makes it clear that Oceania offered, then arbitrarily rescinded FCC, acting both unethically and in bad faith. I cannot comprehend the thinking of an organization that would act this way. Best of luck. 🍺🥌

As has been said by the others, no issues / corkage with your own alcohol - this is a major feature that distinguishes Viking. Regarding gratuities, it is correct that you can adjust them onboard should you choose. That aside, I have had gratuity rates increase between booking and sailing on several lines in the past - always was charged the new rate as they are not locked by a booking. As you said, a small amount, and just reflects the increase from $15 to $17 USD. Enjoy your trip! 🍺🥌

I believe the route that Dee is referring to is the Greenland, Iceland, Norway & Beyond trip. 29 days, only 7 sea days with no two seas days together. Still 25% at sea, but not the same stretches as a 'real' TA. Apologies if you were referring to the same cruise! 🍺🥌

Unfortunately, I would not hold my breath on deals for that cruise ... for many years, HAL has had a somewhat similar (though not nearly as port attractive) trip called the Voyage of the Vikings. The HAL trip is legendary for always selling out and never being discounted. We had to cancel Viking for 2023 but rebooked for 2025 - just too good and itinerary to pass up! 🍺🥌

My understanding is that pax who book the full trip have access to all excursions on all segments when their window opens for the first segment. Naturally, this can impact availability for later segments. When we sailed in 2019, we were on segment 2 of the WC. There were some excursions fully booked, but not as many as I'd expected. We were booked for NYC to Bergen this past summer (had to cancel) and we had access to all excursions up front, even though the trip was two segments. 'Tis what it 'tis for both of us in April! 🍺🥌

You may want to consider this tour, although I don't know your port time in Ålesund, which is about 60 miles by sea from Geiranger. One option would be the fjord cruise followed by private car transfer back. You would need a reasonably lengthy stay in Ålesund to make it work. 🍺🥌 https://www.geirangerfjord.no/fjord-cruise-alesund-geiranger

May I suggest you contact Viking, let them know about your concern and ask for a couple of toppers be in place when you board. You can then adjust or modify as needed through your stateroom attendant. Hopefully, you'll be quite comfortable. Enjoy your long-awaited trip! 🍺🥌

Well, most people would😉. Sort of puts the denture issue in perspective ... Sorry, couldn't resist - gotta love autocorrect! 🍺🥌

One more ... 🍺🥌

Excellent information and understandable in some locations. I always confirm the meet location, but would not have anticipated such a situation - many thanks! 🥌🍺

For those who may not have seen Bora Bora, this was taken from near Raiatea. As @WCB stated, they are very close.

Your two points are quite accurate. Two further observations that may help others: 1) Your experience appears much wider than mine - but I've never encountered an airport that did not permit pax to be met once they exited security zones like customs or (sometimes) baggage collection. I'd be interested to know of exceptions for my future consideration? 2) I've always been intrigued by the service provider model (Blacklane, Uber, etc.) so I've spent a lot of time in conversation with the various local contractors. Every one of the Blacklane contractors have pointed out that poor service delivery gets them quickly turfed from the Blacklane 'ecosystem'. So, given my personal experience and that input, I'm comfortable recommending them. As you observed, YMMV. 🥌🍺

We have used Blacklane numerous times in Europe and Oz. We have always been met either just outside the customs exit at an airport, or at the closest available spot when disembarking a ship. We love their service overseas, but find them not price competitive with other options in North America. 🥌🍺

However, glad you got to Bermuda, weather notwithstanding. Our September TA missed it courtesy of Lee and Margo. I'll be interested in your views on Regent/Mariner post your trip. Cheers ... 🍺🥌

Also a fundamental truth of project management ... 🍺🥌

Viking Ocean ships are identical (at least so far). The only difference is a couple of vessels that don't have drawers in the closet. 🍺🥌

Also use MarineTraffic, but note that the free version does not allow satellite positioning for vessels, so you only get the last land-based AIS plus a position projection. In other words, the position at sea may not be precise. You can often find the ship in question by checking the general map, but it takes a bit of work. 🍺🥌

Good to hear about the ship handling. The video is completely consistent with the force 10-11 (48-63 sustained knots) in sheltered waters. Hopefully the weather will have abated somewhat by the time you need to poke your nose offshore in order to get to Cape Horn. On our 2013 miss, the conditions were very similar - 40' seas offshore. There's a reason that the Southern Ocean has its reputation. Best of luck for full completion of the trip! 🍺🥌

Good pics - it's always hard to show the severity of weather from the ship. Reminds me of a trip years ago when we were unable to get to Cape Horn and had to stay inside the channels. Imagine what it's like outside the Straits, or in the Drake! 🍺🥌

Not necessarily a direct effect on the liver, Clay. Many things impact on a given medication - you'd be aware that grapefruit or grapefruit juice should not be consumed with Lipitor. That's because the grapefruit inhibits enzymes that break down the Lipitor - and can result in too high an effective Lipitor dosage - which is what's bad for the liver. Of course, there are other things that affect the liver - but I'm easily giving up grapefruit, not them! 🍺🥌

I would strongly encourage you to heed the cruise lines' counsel - in this case, not to book prior to 11am. They all base their advice on their experiences over time. These boards are full of screaming pax that chose to go against the cruise lines' advice on many issues. When it ended badly, they blame the line. While FLL is very close by, as noted by the others, all kinds of things can happen - why take the risk of sullying a great trip by courting a departure day problem? Just an example - a recent cruise ended in NYC. Arrival time was 0700. Between docking, clearance, disembarkation and a multi-hour lineup for customs (they were woefully understaffed), we finally made it to JFK about 1pm! If the non-stop flight is attractive and you are able, you might consider staying overnight in Ft. Lauderdale and flying the next day. If that's not practical, I'd suggest a later flight. Good luck! 🍺🥌

I think @philw1776 meant a 'jacket with dinner', not the formal dinner type. Silversea requires a jacket on informal nights (no tie). Formal nights are limited in number, but would require a minimum jacket and tie. On formal nights, La Terrazza only requires a jacket for men - room service is the maximum way out on those nights. More traditional, certainly, but no penguin suits every night! 🍺🥌

Just for clarity to @richardbohn, reservations are not required nor taken for the Restaurant (only for Chef's Table and Manfredi's). Just show up and request your 2-top, there are lots. If there's a wait it will likely be very short. Sorry I can't help on the room service question. 🍺🥌