sswansen

Hello - I'm not sure which itinerary you are looking at, but we're ending in Walvis Bay in March 2024 and the flight from there goes to Cape Town where the hotel is Capital 15 on Orange.

I have recently run into this problem.  When I asked my TA to have my requested suite on the 6th floor set to a twin bed configuration, she replied back to me with the following:  I have spoken with Explora and unfortunately, all suites in the “OT1” category are only equipped with a king size bed. To obtain 2 twin beds, we would have to move up a category to “OT2”.  

As you've noted, the only twin rooms on deck 7 (OT2) are adjoining rooms and I was not thrilled about that, so I ended up having to go up another category to deck 8 (OT3).  

I also have never run into this when cruising.  I would be curious to find out if the king beds actually can be separated or if they are truly a single king boxspring.

1 hour ago, daleandrews said:

Interesting stuff. 

 

We are scheduled on the 24 day September cruise from Glasgow to NYC via Iceland and Greenland.  Did you hear any discussion as to when excursions might be posted?  I had earlier heard rumors of this month (February) but lately there was also a report that excursion booking and an updated website might not be up until April.

I also attended a webinar yesterday and I believe they said February 16th for the excursions and also for the early 2025 itineraries for Explora I.  

For those of you who've eaten in the S.A.L.T restaurant on the Moon or Dawn, does the menu change every night?  When and where is the menu posted?  Thanks!  I'm looking forward to enjoying the S.A.L.T. venues on the Dawn this October.

On 4/9/2022 at 7:58 AM, Eggtuary said:

Day 12 - Barcelona, Spain

 

I am SO thankful to the folks who suggested using Viator to book our own tour of La Sagrada Familia!  My wife and I got a private tour by a fantastic guide.  Not only was he interesting, easy to understand and super pleasant, but he also brought along a tablet on which he would pull up pictures from time to time to help better explain the points he was making.  For instance, there was a statue from the time of Jesus's life that they ended up using Gaudi's face for, and our guide was able to pull up a photograph showing how true the likeness was.  

 

Of course, with it being a private tour, we could go at whatever pace we wanted.  Our guide also saw that my wife's knees were really acting up on her from all our touring, and he arranged for us to get to the elevator.  Plus, he spent a lot of time outside of the basilica in various places, where we not only got wonderful pictures, but also a better appreciation for how truly amazing the place is.

 

We wanted to sample some local tapas before returning to the ship, and our guide again gave us a great suggestion.  After stuffing ourselves on a delicious sample of unique local flavors, we ended with a dessert that was essentially a crème brûlée on top of a Krispy Kreme doughnut with cinnamon sugar sprinkled on it.  Yum!!

 

After going back on board for a couple of hours to rest and finish packing, we went back out for An Evening of Flamenco.  This was a really cool experience, though they had an awful lot of us crammed into the venue.  The excursion was advertised as providing a "snack," which made everyone laugh because they gave us a ton of food, again in the form of tapas.  Some were much better than others.  

 

Day 13 - Disembarking (Barcelona)

 

I'm glad we paid for the airport transfer with Viking.  They made everything quite simple, including getting our bags all the way up to the ticketing/check-in counters (which were surprisingly far from any available doors).  

Thank you for this information!  We'll be in Barcelona for 4 days before our cruise and based on your experience I think a Viator tour might be a great idea for one of those days.  Can you tell me the name of the tapas spot that your guide recommended?  That dessert sounds amazing!  Thanks.

I have a cruise on the Dawm coming up in October and there is a S.A.L.T. excursion that looks amazing but there is no price listed yet.  I can't sign up for excursions until 3/30/22 anyway, but I wanted to make sure I knew in advance which excursions I wanted to book.  I was thinking this excursion would be priced higher than many, but I certainly hope it's not $599 per person - that would put it out of the running for me.  Does the excursion pricing show up only when you're able to book excursions or sometime before?  That would be helpful in the selection process.

Thank you so much for sharing such a detailed report on your experiences!  I truly appreciate it.  Sounds like Atlas is improving, and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your trip.  My cruise isn't until Oct. of 2022 so I have quite a while to see how things progress.  Cheers!

Food onboard the Silver Muse - YouTube

This video from 2019 has menus and lots of food photos if that sort of thing interests you.  This is not my video, just one that I found when looking for Muse food info.  

I'm following this thread and hoping that we hear some good feedback on the inclusive wines.  We have a cruise booked for 2022 and the food and wine aspect are a big thing for us.  I did see a picture on Instagram that shows champagne being poured - it's called Henri Favre and it was a brut.  If you Google it, it doesn't get stellar ratings on the first sites that pop up, but the reviews seem to concur that it's a decent bubbly, just not fantastic, but perhaps a good drink for the value - I have not personally tried it.  I'll stay hopeful that Atlas and their staff continue to improve as they gain experience.

Hi Joyce - thank you so much for the pictures and the updates, very much appreciated!  You mentioned that the food has been excellent - I would love to see a pic of a menu if you get the opportunity.  Sounds like so far it has been a great travel experience, I hope it continues to be amazing. 

32 minutes ago, saddledowndani said:

I’m following 2 people with public Instagram accounts that are on the first cruise. Looks like they are both travel professionals that may have been invited. @traveltalkweekly and @disneytraveldad. 

Thank you for that info!  I am not on instagram much but I decided to look and I went ahead and followed #atlasoceanvoyages and #worldnavigator so I can see all photos with these hashtags.  I'm so excited for any pictures and live updates.  

It's interesting, I had seen communication previously that showed 7 dining options including a restaurant call Journeys which was going to be the "first plant-based restaurant at sea".  The dining options still sound fantastic and I can't wait for my cruise which is a long 18 months away.  Thank you so much for posting this update on dining.

Hello all - does anyone know if Atlas has an online portal you register for once you've booked a cruise?  Somewhere you can view the details of your upcoming cruise.  Thanks!

This is an interesting thread to read.  I just did my first Oceania cruise (Sirena in February 2020) specifically for the food reputation and was quite disappointed with the food and the drinks.  I found the main dining room food to be just average.  There was one night when my sister ordered the Maine lobster and it was inedible - she said it was mealy and did not taste fresh.  The gnocchi in Toscasa were dense and gummy, the caviar in the MDR tasted fishy instead of fresh and briney.  And the bartenders.....most of them had to refer to the menu to mix a drink and they were inconsistent at best.  The one bright spot was dinner at Red Ginger - every course was fantastic.  Unfortunately we did that on the first night so everything was downhill from there.

I've sailed Princess over 20 years ago and Silversea, Viking and Oceania in the last 2 years.  Of those, I probably would give the nod to Silversea (although I thought their food was even better in the early 2000s vs. 2018).  I have not sailed with them since they were bought by RC.  I was very pleasantly surprised by the food on Viking and would not hesitate to book another cruise with them. I would hands down take Viking over Oceania for food based only on the 1 cruise I've done on each line.

I love a good eggs benedict - the pork product that Viking uses tastes like country ham and it's delicious.  Also had some amazing berries and mascarpone in the Restaurant.

We went on our first Viking ocean cruise in December and had some really great food.  All of the creamy pudding-y / trifle-y type desserts were delicious.  During the chocolate extravaganza, the Chocolate Amarone was one of the best chocolate confections I have ever tried.  And the pastries in Mamsen's were delicious - I only tried the one with the blueberries, but it was fantastic, their berries on the ship were so good.  Lastly, not a dessert really, but the almond croissant was perfect with a cup of coffee.

3 minutes ago, JER/MPR said:

Thank you so much!  It was the Spirited Sidecar that he had and he really enjoyed.  I was a big fan of their Nordic Tom Collins.  Really very much appreciate you posting this.

Viking_TorshavnMenu (1).pdf 2.46 MB · 1 download

Does anyone have a picture of the Torshaven bar menu?  My husband and I did our first (amazing) Viking cruise in December 2019 and he enjoyed a cocktail on our last night but he cannot remember exactly what was in it.  If someone has a picture of the signature cocktail page from the Torshaven menu, I would greatly appreciate it if you could share.  Thanks!

Hello, and thank you to so many of you who have provided such great information on this board.  I’ve read through the “Tips for New Viking Ocean Cruisers” and gotten so many helpful tips, and really learned a lot.

I’ve only done 4 cruises – my first was a Princess cruise in the late 90s, then I moved to Silversea and have done 3 Silversea cruises over the past 15 years.  I love the small ship, inclusive, relaxed atmosphere of Silversea and hope to try several more cruise lines over the next 5 years or so – starting with Viking 😊.

Does anyone have any experience with crossing the Atlantic (Lisbon to Miami) in December on a Viking ship?  I’m just curious what to expect as far as rough water goes.  

I’m also curious what to expect traveling during Christmas – decorations, special shipboard activities, shows, meals?  I’d love to hear some seasoned travelers’ accounts of sailing with Viking ocean during Christmas.

Thanks in advance!

Thank you for taking the time to post the Manfredi's menu!  I'm looking forward to my first Viking cruise in December.

Hello - thank you for the great information!  I saw in a different thread that the menu in Manfredi's has been updated.  If you have a chance to snap a picture to share it would be greatly appreciated.  Happy travels!

https://www.rivercruiseadvisor.com/cruise-companies/viking-river-cruises-vs-uniworld-river-cruises/

This article has a grid that compares a good number of the river cruise lines.

Thanks so much for the update! We board tomorrow and we're excited! We've spent the last 4 days in Puerto Rico and really enjoyed ourselves.

Thanks Declady! Hope you have a wonderful time on your cruise.

Declady, I am sailing on the Wind in late February and was able to book two spa appointments, but after just now checking, they are no longer showing up on my schedule. The dinner reservations and excursions are still showing, but both spa appointments have disappeared from the lineup. Strange.