CDNPolar

I may be wrong, but you must 'activate' your new cards when you receive them, and to the best of my knowledge the existing cards you have are valid until you receive and activate the new ones. I personally don't think that you have anything to worry about.... Other thoughts from others that have experienced the same?

This is purely from observation, but I will back this up this coming week when I talk with the Chef. I have sailed Viking River and Ocean. Both in my opinion bring on Fresh Fish in many of the ports that they dock at. Many of the larger lines - bigger ships - will bring on most of their food at the beginning of the sailing and this could mean frozen fish. We have however on both Viking Ocean and River seen fresh fish being brought on at various ports where we have docked. Our knowledge is that Viking have many ports that they refresh their stocks and one of the stocks is fresh fish.

We board on Saturday December 23rd in Amsterdam and sail the Rhine to Basel. Are there any concerns now with either high or low levels that would impact our sailing?

This is all interpretation. This is direct from Viking River website re Dress Code. Yes, it says "casual" but for evening it specifically states "elegant casual" with suggestions. No where does it state that sweat pants and t-shirts are part of "elegant casual". During the day dress is casual but again it does not go into detail. At night it states what is acceptable for elegant casual. One of the problems and this has been discussed many times, is the ships do not enforce dress codes. What is the dress code? During the day, dress is casual including shorts (if the season is warm), slacks or jeans and comfortable shoes for walking tours. There are no “formal nights” in the evening; recommended evening dress is “elegant casual.” For ladies, this may include a dress, skirt or slacks with a sweater or blouse; and for gentlemen, trousers and a collared shirt. A tie and jacket are optional. Some shore excursions visit religious sites that require modesty of dress. To avoid being denied entry, we recommend men wear long pants and refrain from sleeveless shirts; and for women, clothing that covers the knees and tops that are not sleeveless or too revealing.

I am not familiar with these meds and the requirements either. I take three injectables and they are all safe from anywhere around 56 days at room temperature. They specifically state that the temps should not exceed 30C or 86F during that time. Regular room temp is how I store these at home once a syringe is first used. I don't put it back and forth to the fridge. If you are going on a cruise longer than 60 days, then it would be a problem. I have not done it, but I did in the beginning have concerns about storage and emailed Viking and I was told that the medical centre would store them for me on request. I am not asking you to disclose your medication nor am I suggesting that because I don't know what it is that it does not need proper refrigeration, but talk with your pharmacist and get their input because many medications today are manufactured with prolonged storage out of refrigeration in mind.

We only book deck 3 mid-ship on Viking Ocean. We were forward once and had to ask to be moved because the seas were rough and the crashing and motion was bothersome. We are happiest mid-ship and proximity to the elevators does not matter to us. We have never found Viking ships noisy from the elevator lobby. We will walk to the forward elevators to go to spa which we wear our robes, and if we are behind the atrium, then you must walk through the open atrium seating area in your robe... but that is ok. During the afternoon when we generally use the Spa, there are not that many people there.

We arrived in Ushuaia very early as we were a 6am flight from BA. All we got was a bus ride through the town and then dropped off. We found our own restaurant for lunch and basically walked around. We were far too early for embarkation and had to return to the bus by a certain time and driven to the ship which was a stones throw, but we were told in NO UNCERTAIN TERMS to NOT walk to the ship, only go with the bus. I don't think they want you on board before a certain time. Cannot answer most of your other questions... The flight back to BA from Ushuaia is part of the cruise fare, so you could forego that but you won't get any refund or discount. I guess that it really depends on whether you want to spend time in BA or not and whether the flight or transport to Chile is more from Ushuaia or BA?

You would wonder wouldn't you....

Ok - gotcha! This was done to get the bag to the next destination to meet you. I see. Probably also a way to highlight to airline and airport staff that this bag is redirected and to stand out for that reason?

When I say what I said, I am not talking about well fitting, clean, relatively new and in good condition t-shirts, shorts, and sweatshirts. There should be some common sense used here. I am talking about raggedy old ill fitting clothing that is for the back garden on a Saturday, not for a cruise ship dinner. I have seen much of this that is inappropriate in my opinion. This is the same challenge that Corporate North America has with casual Friday. Some understand what the dress code means and some do not.

Interesting... I have not seen this before. Something that you did not apply to the bags yourself. Interesting.

Hope you have had your Canadian interview first and already? You must do that first before the US interview. The actual interview is going to have a range of time based on if there are any "issues" that they want to discuss. I had a discrepancy in name from Nexus to Passport that they corrected - FINALLY. They also questioned me about travels to North Korea when I had not been there, but had travelled to South Korea. I question if that was a real error in my record or if they were testing me? I don't know why they would test that, but in any case, because of these two things, I may have been a longer interview. I think in total I was 10 minutes in front of the agent. It is pretty straight forward. The only factor may be how backed up they are, and how long you might wait to get to see an agent.

I hesitate to say this but someone very close to me went and took swimming lessons before their first cruise. To them, this was a requirement for self preservation and safety in case of a disaster.

I may have already posted this, but in case I have not: Larger size bandaids for the unexpected heel blister. The ones that I carry are fabric and about 3 inches by 2 inches. They are a live saver if you get a heel blister.

We leave Friday and just checked and even our final documents don't show port times just dates. I agree with all the above here and we never book outside tours on a River Cruise unless there is a very generous cancellation policy.

Agree and we get it. I can stomach most all types of clothing and do for the most part, but that does not stop me from looking at some folks and ask myself silently if they looked in a mirror before leaving their cabin, and wonder how they thought what they were wearing was even remotely appropriate.

...and remember to apply the voucher at the time of booking. You cannot apply one of these $100 for $200 vouchers on a cruise that is already booked. This is why we don't buy them because at any time we have one or two Viking cruises booked into the future... we would be giving Viking that $100 per voucher for a couple of years at least.

Great story for the information you shared and that AC was willing to "accept" your location data. We were dealing with BA on this where the same suitcase on the way to our cruise and the way home both times was stuck in Heathrow, and when we told BA we knew where the bag was, their response was "good for you but we don't have access to your data, so you will have to wait until we locate the bag and then we will contact you." I don't envy the 3 hour Uber ride that you did, but so good that you located the luggage and were able to get it.

We leave this Friday for Treasures of the Rhine and because of the time of the year - on the ship over Christmas - I hope that the dress is elevated from Sweats and t-shirts at dinner. I will comment back after the cruise, or during... I frankly don't care about breakfast and lunch, but I personally feel that dinner should be elevated somewhat...

Have not seen any caffeine free drinks... but that does not mean that there are not. Email tellus@vikingcruises.com and discuss with them. They will likely advise you to contact them about the specific sailing and ship 60-90 days in advance and request what you are looking for. Viking will always say however that the product you are looking for must be available in the country/ports you are visiting. We requested Kefir and we were only told that they would stock it if available. When we got to the ship they knew nothing about it and they did not have it. Does not mean that the request did not get to the ship, but no one we talked to even knew that there was a request. They most likely have a standard supply of the diet/zero cola drinks but not necessarily caffeine free.

What I want to see is a loyalty program better than what exists now. The free air and other reduced pricing rarely hits what and when we want to travel. As we are approaching 10+ Viking cruises, we would like to see something that is of benefit to us booking in the future - regardless of the other promotions that could be there.

I say to the OP - Wow - I am shocked at this and how this man reacted to your concern and right to be in a non-smoking area. You were completely within your rights to say what you did and you should expect that the passenger would appreciate the situation and put the joint out. However - with all due respect - what I have learned in the last few years (or more) is when there is something happening that is against the rules or just plain wrong, I leave the area and don't say a word. I just up and leave. We don't know today how anyone will react. We have violence happening all over the place today. This man obviously felt entitled and you challenged his entitlement to be there smoking a joint. I understand and appreciate your situation and your desire for retribution, but next time, please, just walk away and protect yourself.

I stayed and worked (contract supplier) in many upscale hotels when I worked in the industry, and it was not a case that you "needed" to bring your own sheets or pillowcases... it was a thing I feel that some people just were not going to trust any hotel no matter the star level, and they wanted their own. Just made them feel safe and better.

Great review - thank you for posting!

Others have posted here receiving compensation for missed a missed port. We were on the same cruise as one member that claimed to receive $1000 voucher, but we did not complain / call so we got nothing. Not even an email, just an announcement by the Captain that the winds were too high to dock. All you can do is call or write and see what happens.