CurlerRob

HAL followed this route some years ago and Oceania's WC leaving this month is as well. The only downside from many of these routings is that they seem to be west to east, which puts pax on the harder side of the time changes (tough problem to have!). 🍺🥌

Possibly the doors were key locked / unlocked by your cabin steward when you were not there. I have experienced this on other lines when foul weather was encountered. A normal safety precaution. 🍺🥌

Yep - we're bummed too. I had been dreaming of the "dual cape" route! We have limited interest in retracing a path we've already done. The wait continues ... 🍺🥌

This is disappointing, as we have sailed that track and are not overly interested in a repeat. We had been hoping for a "dual cape" voyage. As you did earlier, I speculate that, as with the 2023/24 decision, this is the path of least resistance and lowest cost risk for Viking. Unfortunate indeed. 🍺🥌

I continue to be so impressed with your civility and calmness given a very painful situation - kudos to you! So many others would be in full rant mode, which doesn't really help with such a huge disappointment. Here's hoping that Viking's compensation will allow you to take a similar trip on again - you have unfortunately missed out on most of two of the finest countries in the world. Keep well! 🍺🥌

It's the Great Lakes, not the Antarctic 😁. The ports will be dock or tender. None will require Zodiac or SOB for access - which is not to say that those craft will not be deployed for pax usage when appropriate (Point Pelee or Mackinac for example). 🍺🥌

Those would certainly work. Frankly, we usually wind up buying or getting a plastic bottle of water on our travel to the ship. We keep one each for bedside use throughout the cruise and just take them off the ship for excursions. Recycle at the end, and we're all good. 🍺🥌

Yes to the ice - certainly for the shipboard sized cubes. Refrigerator cubes would be 1 or 2 at a time but would still fit. Only thing we found was that cold water/ice caused the bottles to sweat. We just wrapped it in a small towel when taking it ashore in a knapsack or bag. 🍺🥌

We experienced no real differences in evening wear on the two lines. Slacks and collared shirts for men on both, the occasional sports jacket in a specialty restaurant. Women mainly in slacks and a blouse. Occasional outliers in both directions - dressy or more casual. In general, pax conservatively dressed. What you have seen on Viking will be perfectly consistent on O. (We did receive a bizarre memo from O that suggested jacket/tie and cocktail dresses - totally confused as to where that came from, as it was way offside with O's posted dress code. We just ignored it based on the various postings on CC and were quite right to do so). 🍺🥌

They do - or at least did in November. @edgee may be referring to the large, heavy glass bottles of Vero water in the cabin (or finds the aluminum bottles heavy when full ...). 🍺🥌

Andy, I fully agree with your overall thrust here - just a couple of small corrections based on a recent trip we had on Oceania. (We were on a small ship, so did not have the additional restaurant offers but I researched them before our trip). I believe that your reference to the extra charges on 2 Oceania ships must be to the venues "Privee" and "La Reserve", available on Marina and Riviera. Strictly speaking, they are not specialty restaurants. Privee is a uniquely decorated private room for 10 guests, at which you can order from either of the steak house or Italian specialty restaurants. There is a charge for the room booking, I believe $250. I suppose it could be somewhat analogous to the private rooms in CT and Manfredi's (which of course are free on Viking), but there are some differences that might justify the extra charge. La Reserve is a specialty experience in conjunction with Wine Spectator. In the evening, it offers 7-course, wine-paired meals, customized by the chef and WS experts. The pricing appears steep - $100 to $165 pp. Personally, I'd put this event more in the category of Viking's "Kitchen Table", which also carries an additional charge. Oceania does limit the number of reservations you can make online. On our recent trip, we were constrained online to 2 sittings at each of the two specialties on our ship. And when they were released, the normal "crush" happened with bookings - impacting available times. That said, once onboard, it was very similar to Viking in that you could easily move times or request additional seats directly (not online). Cheers! 🍺🥌

Regrets on your situation and the extra cost to 'escape', Jim - but big kudos for the calmness you are showing. These boards are too often filled with folks ranting about stuff that happens. It gets old ... Safe travels home and a Happy New Year! 🍺🥌

Good to know, although in this case I didn't see specifically where the OP's parents were flying from, or whether they were using a US carrier - perhaps I missed it ... 🍺🥌

I think I can see Fortune of War from the cam ... or more likely just wishful thinking! 🍺🥌

I would expect that the airline (whether through Viking or directly) would provide a refund or at worst a credit for the trip, although this could be subject to the fare class used by Viking Air. Most trip cancellation/interruption policies cover a loss due to common carrier failure to meet schedules due to weather issues. For example, from a current policy of mine - "Missed Connections, Travel Delay - An involuntary change in the schedule of an airline flight, tour or cruise ship that is providing transportation for a portion of your trip, which causes you to miss a connection or to interrupt your trip". Hopefully, this will be the case for the OP's parents. 🍺🥌

... and the floggings will continue until morale improves! 🍺🥌

Regarding video conferencing, or even basic email, unfortunately it is not predictable. Across multiple cruise lines and around the world, I have experienced everything from excellent video calls (sometimes even on the 'Surf' types of package no) to zero connectivity and the inability to load simple websites or do emails. So much depends on your location, weather, and overall usage by pax and crew. My rule of thumb is to never expect that I will have connectivity at any point. If you have a mandatory call, I'd look to a cellular data-based connection. 🍺🥌

Just a note that the $100 penalty is for shorter cruises. Longer hauls up the penalty to $1000 and kick in at 180 days. Be sure to ask in advance and/or check your invoice. 🍺🥌

Unfortunately, I have yet to find a cruise line, regardless of price, that provides a consistently reliable and reasonably fast internet system. Some of that is due to the nature of satellite communications and global location, more of it is due to the exorbitant cost to the cruise line of providing anything remotely resembling a land-based service. None of us would like the effect on our cruise or internet fares if the lines offered anything close to a "home service". There are some excellent eSIM vendors who provide large amounts of data for a very reasonable price - although that only helps when in, or very close to port. 🍺🥌

Sorry if it was an indiscretion - the vessel ownership is public information on the web (as was the charter fee - which itself is quite unusual for that sort of charter). Ah well, at least you get to live vicariously, and hopefully have or will get a tour at some point. Cheers! 🍺🥌

Interesting connection ... you'll know that Ahpo is owned by Michael Lee-Chin, who also was the primary contributor to the new patient tower in our local hospital. Great yacht but a bit out of my snack bracket for charter. Perhaps you get a discount? 🍺🥌

Can't tell for sure from the picture - Cane Garden Bay, or Jost VD perhaps? (Doesn't look like Sydney's Peace and Love Bar) 🍺🥌

Perhaps meant for the Christmas Crackers thread? 🍺🥌