CCWineLover

Love it! You must be East Bay or San Jose area - to be wearing Shorts and Tee Shirts in the summer in San Francisco area! What was it Mark Twain once said? We like Viking because of the casual dining. Don't need a jacket or a tie! Do have golf polo shirts and 2 slacks that still fit 🙂 but that's also why we enjoy the World Cafe. Never felt underdressed or overdressed.

We also try to be adventuresome and book some outside tours. We've had great success - in South America and Europe! Try not to get too down - you are supposed to be on vacation! If it is a horrible trip for you, you can always take your money elsewhere in the future. Life is too short to stay discouraged! Carpe Diem!

Yikes! We do this cruise in 2 + weeks. Lots of negatives you state here. Wow. We've been on 11 Viking cruises and certainly the past couple have had dining service issues. Did this one bad excursion and the dining service issues make the whole trip bad? Did you have anything good that happened? What things did you enjoy that were good or unexpected? Was the entire trip a downer?

A bit too vague - what people may like or think is not to be missed might not fit into the types of places you like. Let us know what are the kinds of places that you like? (i.e. cities, small towns, places with hiking or adventure, walking places, touristy places). Norway has it all. So - it all depends on your interests. We did Midnight Sun last summer and there was a wide variety of places from large to small, unique to similar. Anyone of which could be labeled by someone as can't miss (or conversely, avoid).

Who reported it as "an explosion" ? The Polaris?

Wow - wonderful that Marta is still working at Barcelona Day Tours. We did the exact tour you did but back in May 2019 ahead of our Trade Routes Cruise. Marta was absolutely one of the best guides we've had - and we learned so much that day! We were in Barcelona exactly a year ago, ahead of taking the Sea from Barcelona to San Juan (like you). We had a wonderful (albeit cold day!) at the Christmas Markets. Enjoy!

Most likely you'll know the menus on the day you embark and see what the schedule is.

Yes - except that we take many different trips (not just Viking) and can use our great TA for everything (not just Viking). FYI We also have a good Viking rep contact as well as a backup. I've never felt that our TA was getting in the way as a "middleperson". When anything goes wrong they've earned their weight in gold!

I disagree. Everyone has their own opinion on Ta’s. I think those who don’t like them haven’t had good ones. Those who value TA’s have a fabulous one.

I don’t believe we can name names of travel agents/agencies in Cruise Critic. Have people email you if you are interested.

Bring them and also a backup. Try it when you get on and see. Our experience is each ship is slightly different in how they enforce the company policy. I've seen people stopped and I've seen people do just fine. Take a chance. The long sleeve dress shirt IMHO will sway the odds!

Thanks for the info, Joe! I'll have to look into it, as our current one is just about to be retired 🙂

Jupiter and Orion. Been to both - once was enough but went 2nd time to see if we were missing something. No we weren't. Got a stiff neck though 🙂

Hi Dee - We were also gone on Thanksgiving last year - on the Viking Sea from Rome to Barcelona to San Juan. We spent Thanksgiving day in Nice & Monte Carlo and came back to the ship at 7 PM to have a wonderful "American" style Thanksgiving dinner - all the usual trappings! Even our Brit fans joined in. Then on our ship, the next day Viking started putting up Christmas decorations - a little each day.

Yes looking forward to hearing how your trip goes. We were on the exact same cruise on the SEA exactly one year ago - same ports, same time frame. You will absolutely love Madeira - it was an unexpected treat!!

You are probably right! As per umbrellas - something the OP should be aware. Yes, Viking gives out umbrellas, which is nice. However, they are quite large - basically like golf umbrellas. We often bring our very small collapsable umbrellas of our own to use (maybe 12-15" long), since they are more handy and less awkward. Just a thought.

What does 'onto' mean for subject?

Andy - you wouldn't know that on some of our cruises. Maybe people missed that lesson growing up! I heard one guy respond to a request by another woman to take his hat off in the Restaurant, and he replied, I need it to keep my bald head warm. 🙂

Fantastic, Dee!! (We also enjoyed Madeira - an unexpected jewel, on our TA last Dec. )

Not only that, Dee, for us the Chef's Table not only had great service, but . . because it is a much quieter, more relaxed atmosphere than Manfredi's and The Restaurant, we actually had many opportunities to talk with the wait staff. Some great discussions, and it is where I learned about the wine app Vivino. The staff is so rushed at the other 2 restaurants, it is not only harder to talk with them but harder to hear them if you do! They bend over backwards for you in CT. Always remember the time the couple sitting in front of us were having a discussion with the waiter. They were new to Viking and new to Chef's Table and obviously had NO clue as to the type and style of CT. They like the nice, quiet, intimate setting, but didn't want any of the menu being served. They insisted on having a Big Steak and Potatoes! The staff didn't argue (but did educated them for future references), but instead went over to The Restaurant, got them that meal and brought it back! Now that's something!

We should save your post and tell people to look at it - every few days it seems we get posts from people who complain bitterly that they can't get any advanced reservations and are so unhappy. This will give them hope!

Same with us, Michelle! Likely Fall 2024 and yes, hopefully the Opera House is having shows. Remember when we were there in Buenos Aires in Jan 2020, all you could do was take the tour. (which was still good). Perhaps we'll see you in a couple!

Good eye! We want to take this sometime. We've cancelled twice (once COVID and once because Africa and Brazil are still closed to Viking and those would be highlights to us, as well as still having do do COVID morning test tube testing). We will likely try again for this in 2024 (March or November) if things improve a little in South America.

Good luck! Some recent poster said Viking Consultant had told them on board that Viking is in the process of creating brand new itineraries for 2025, given that so many people have taken so many of the "traditional" itineraries. They thought this might be done within 8-10 months, which doesn't help you however. Are you wedded to the Mediterranean? There are some interesting itineraries that aren't there. I always just search putting in a year (like 2024) and seeing all the cruises available. I've found some interesting new Transatlantics that way. Also, are you able to use the vouchers on a river cruise? There are a number of unique river cruises out there.

Have done 10 Ocean Cruises. It usually changes every 3 days, but it can be 2 or 4 occasionally. When you book, you will not know what the menus are on any given day. The ship doesn't even know. We learned that they plan out the menus one month ahead of time, and even then, they can change slightly, although once the cruise starts, they usually stay what they are published. We generally learn the menus and the schedule when we board. We then make reservations or change ones to the days we wish. There are a large number of possible menus that have been served, but it seems that lately there are some common ones that seem to appear on every ship (Asian Panorama, Mexican, Routes des Indes, Xiang, etc.). Do a forum search on Viking Ocean threads for menus. You'll see quite a number of moderately recent posts with all kinds of information. Many have even taken pictures of their menus. On MyVikingJourney you can see sample menus (not necessarily ones that you might get but possibly). There is one or more menus with seared Ahi (Tuna). Please note that even if there is something you will not eat, don't avoid the CT just because of that. Viking is more than happy to substitute something for you. I for example, don't care for lamb, so they always give me a nice NY Steak or a Salmon steak instead. I'm sure you'll find many items on the menus that you DO like so enjoy!