Jump to content

jrkstl

Members
  • Posts

    517
  • Joined

Everything posted by jrkstl

  1. I too noticed this! We booked the Malta, Morocco and the Mediterranean cruise for March of 2025, and our DV5 category room has jumped up almost $5K! I can certainly understand a minor increase, but this seems to be a bit much. Wondering if it's maybe a website glitch? All dates of this itinerary sold out quickly, and I noticed that the prices were as high for the just-opened 2026 dates too.
  2. We have just returned from our wonderful "Empires of the Mediterranean" cruise aboard the Viking Neptune and had an amazing time. We booked this cruise immediately once the dates opened up 2 1/2 years ago as we were celebrating with a friend her retirement from teaching - she can finally travel in the Spring and Fall now 🙂 Since we had our choice of rooms (I had done the research regarding slider vs. door PV cabins) so we booked 4016 and 4018 - both wonderful choices! Normally, we wouldn't spend the $ required to go from the DV cabins to the PV, but this was our cruise that utilized the 125% COVID credits, so why not? Reason for my post? I wanted to point out something to consider should you be faced with this "dilemma:" I love sitting out on the balcony, especially while cruising at night, enjoying a nightcap before bed. There is something wonderful about being out there while cruising at night - weather permitting, of course. The husband always goes to bed earlier than me, so I encountered a strange issue that I hadn't considered. When you are out on the balcony, there isn't a way to latch the slider closed. A couple of nights I had to hold the slider closed due to winds, so that the inevitable whistle of the not-quite-closed slider wouldn't disturb him. This was kind of a pain, actually! So - lesson learned. If we were to book a PV cabin again, I'd choose the door/fixed window for this very reason. YMMV Cheers! Jeff
  3. We did the NL cruise this year and loved it very much! Regarding port vs. starboard, I don't think that it really makes a difference. Plenty to see from both sides, but as others have said, you'll want to be up front or on top to view the scenic areas. We began in Bergen and ended in London so that we could stay a few nights and enjoy all that London has to offer. We like to have something to look forward to after a cruise as disembarkation can be a real bummer. Things to know about this itinerary - the schedule for ports, etc. can and probably will change due to Mother Nature. We only got as far north as Narvik, since there were big storms in Tromso and Alta. If you're subject to motion sickness, please come prepared. Cruises in this part of the world are known for the ever-changing North Sea, and it can get rough. I didn't have an issue with it personally, but it was much more intense than I ever expected. Two of our group, even prepared for the possibility didn't fare as well. All turned out good, but know before that it can be a crazy ride 🙂 BTW, this was our first ocean cruise, so now that we survived the North Sea, we'll probably be okay cruising most other parts of the world. Also keep in mind that seeing the Northern Lights is very hit or miss. We did actually see them one time, but apparently the group both before and after our cruise got multiple opportunities. And know that sometimes the NL are not as visible to the naked eye, but seen better via a camera lens. Would totally do this cruise all over again!
  4. So here is our experience with traveling the "In Search of the Northern Lights" cruise this past Feb/March on the Viking Venus, which was our first ocean cruise: My husband and I are both vegetarian. On some days, the World Cafe had a few options, but it was not as overwhelming as I had assumed the choices would be. We were usually able to find plenty to eat, however. Regarding the main Restaurant, we ate here the most evenings as we enjoyed the dining experience (lots of cruising time/sea days on this itinerary) and were not in any particular hurry. On each dinner menu there were sometimes two or three vegetarian main course options, and all were really fantastic. We dined at Manfredi's one night, and had plenty to choose from. We didn't, however, eat at the Chef's Table, so no experience there. Our forms have been marked "vegetarian" for years now (we've traveled quite a few times on Viking), and we sometimes have a chef speak to us, but mostly this doesn't happen. Regarding the forms, we find that they are hit and miss as to how much the ship staff pays attention to them. Frequently, we'll have the beds separate upon check-in because I guess that assumptions are made regarding two males - LOL!
  5. Does anyone known when the ship will actually arrive in Tilbury at the end of the Northern Lights trip? I cannot seem to locate the anticipated time. We are spending four additional nights in London on our own and need to book transportation to our London hotel. I would assume that the ship will dock in Tilbury probably while we sleep. Does 10AM sound like a good time to meet a car service? I’m thinking that we’ll need to vacate our staterooms by 8AM, but wonder if it’s okay to stay on board for a bit, grab a bite, etc. Thanks in advance for any advice! Jeff
  6. Meant to add that we thought the included excursions were fantastic and very thorough. While I'm sure the optional ones are great (Viking typically does a great job on them), you won't feel like you'll be missing anything should you chose to not book any optionals. Jeff
  7. Hello! We took this cruise in April of this year, and didn't opt for any optional tours. While a couple of them sounded intriguing, we were very happy that we had a bit of downtime to enjoy the lovely Portugal scenery. You'll love this trip! Jeff
  8. Thanks so much notamermaid for your frequent river level updates! We embark on the Viking “Cities of Light” cruise next Friday in Bamberg, and I’m thrilled that things seem to be in much better shape. Been following details for most of this year. Even though our first river cruise on the Danube in 2015 involved a ship swap, it’s so good to know that this is probably not happening this time 😀
  9. No, I don’t believe that Viking will give you the choice of fare class. When booked, I asked how much to upgrade to Premium Economy - so there was that choice - and of course the option to book Business Class, but that was it.
  10. A couple of things. First, Air Plus used to be a $50 pp fee to use their services, plus any additional $ needed to book preferred itineraries in the event that the flights chosen were outside of the contacted amount. In the five or six times we’ve used the service, the flights we wanted were always included in the amount paid. They have recently upped the price to $100-$150 pp, so it will be interesting to see how this is handled going forward. We have always added Air Plus to our booking. I am happy to note that the trips we have that are already booked with the $50 pp fee are being honored at that price. I just worked with them the other day to get the preferred flights we wanted on our Northern Lights trip for next February. And finally, our Cities of Light trip coming up in a couple of weeks was booked during the anniversary sale with free air and we were able to use Viking Air Plus for this trip as well.
  11. We have had many wonderful moments like those posted, which is why we keep coming back to Viking! One that stands out: It’s 2015 and we are on our first river cruise (first cruise of any kind, actually) on the Danube. After lunch, I brought my Diet Coke glass to our room as it was still full. When moving a bed pillow, I knocked the full glass over onto the bed and needless to say made a mess of the very white bedding (all the way down to the mattress pad!) I was too embarrassed to report it, but did my best to clean it up. During dinner that evening, I came back to a fully remade bed with clean everything!
  12. So I did find the correct ones 😀 The link I posted above will ship to the US - just not sure how much they’ll charge… Good luck! Jeff
  13. https://www.az-boutique.com/transparent-water-glass-tumbler-35cl-sold-by-6-ice-blue-salto-arcoroc.html These maybe? Jeff
  14. Interesting topic! So far our cruising experiences have all been Viking River. Since we are a gay couple, I suppose it explains why like-minded people gravitate to us (we’ve met some incredible people, some of which we’ve traveled with again!). But we typically keep the political discussions to a minimum. I’ve noticed that most travelers that make the effort to experience other countries and other cultures are typically more open-minded, so the discussions are usually great. We have two Viking Ocean trips booked for 2023, so it will be interesting to notice the differences. Jeff
  15. To make all of this even worse, we traveled in early April to a Viking pre-cruise stay in Madrid. We followed the rules and had a test done 72 hours prior to boarding our Iberia flight to Madrid (it was a close call as back then Viking simply stated 72 hours before boarding your first flight - we had a four hour layover in Chicago, but then stated "First International flight" around the time we tested). After sweating all of this out - NO ONE LOOKED AT OUR TEST RESULTS. Not from Viking, not from American Airlines, not from Iberia, not from the arrival airport in Madrid - NO ONE. AA did look at our Verifly app, and we had to do a Spain entry form which was checked by Iberia in Chicago and scanned upon arrival in Madrid, but not one single person looked at our PCR test result. YMMV... We just booked another Viking River cruise that begins in Prague in October and we're traveling there a couple of days early on our own. Hopefully before then there will be more clarity...
  16. We just visited Madrid a couple of weeks ago prior to our Douro river cruise, and loved it very much. It was our first time in Spain too. Viking put us up in the Hyatt Regency Hesperia, which was in the financial district of town, but a short walk to the Metro. The Metro was super clean and very user-friendly too, BTW. We used it to get everywhere! Things to know - when you buy your initial pass, they (like Paris) have a ten ride deal that is a good value. You will need to pay a couple of Euros to purchase the plastic card, but it is re-loadable, and you only need one card for your group. If more that one of you are using it, simply pass it back and each person scans the card. There is no scan at the exit turnstiles. We spent most of our time near the Plaza Mayor area, and enjoyed wandering around the side streets, etc. And we did a quick visit to the Reina Sofia museum to see Picasso's "Guernica." We happened to do this on a Sunday while they have free entry, but they close at 2:30 on Sundays so we only had about an hour. Glad that we made the effort though. Madrid was clean, seemed very safe and tons to do. Just be careful of pickpockets and of the typical tourist scams. Enjoy! Jeff
×
×
  • Create New...