SantaFe1

Completely agree. We were there last month. We didn’t have the best weather, but still the walk out to the ring of Brodgar was well worth it to us (but like you, we are archeology buffs). They are not Stonehenge, but their situation is more dramatic. And, did you hear about the two men spraying orange paint on the Stonehenge stones today.? Just awful. Anyway, a few pics from the Ring:

Exactly the same with us on our WC. Every time we take a VO cruise we go to the restaurant once, just to give it another chance. And every single time we have such a disappointing experience that we never go back, but we do enjoying trying each new menu at Chefs table, and we always eat at Manfredis once or twice.

We, and many other Viking passengers, stayed at the Crowne Plaza in San Pedro, near the cruise terminal. They have a shuttle that takes you over to the terminal, every 30 minutes. Lots of restaurants around. Not luxurious, but just fine for a night.

Yes, on the River cruises we had this too. The excursions open before the PIF. But most of the River excursions are included, so no problem. I waited to book the optional excursions until we made PIF.

In my opinion, Star is looking it’s age. We were on in Dec-Jan 2021-22 and then again in Feb. 2024. Two years ago we had a cabin with a ripped pleather couch. This year, I don’t know, everything just looked tired. I wouldn’t necessarily avoid it, but our cruise on the much newer Neptune a month ago was much nicer. Can’t speak to the drawers, since we always book PV which has drawers in the closet.

Yes, yes, yes! Agree with all of this. Except for brand new cruises, they have done the excursions before and the excursions manager has all this info. It should be written into the descriptions so we know sooner that the day before, when the excursion can’t be cancelled!

We stayed in 6095 on Star when all we could get was a PV guarantee room. We hated it! The noise wasn’t really a problem, some chair scraping for about ten minutes in the morning when getting set up, maybe 6:30ish, but that was all. But we hated the overhang! It impeded views and photos. And the room is far away from a set of elevators and stairs. We always opt for 6 forward, and this room was just the antithesis of that.

The Limo was $160. We booked 3-4 days ahead. Uber Black might be a better option. Will look into that before our next cruise in April.

I was surprised too, but Same on our cruise—the captain didn’t close off anything, not even the outside venues, although most people just stayed in their cabins. The dining venues were often empty as people had room service or just didn’t feel like eating. I took this photo of our position in a big set of pacific storms back in February.

Yes, I had heard that Uber Black, like a limo, could pick up from the second level, the departure level. I have no idea the difference in price between Uber Black and the limo.

Well, we ship our big suitcases by Luggage Forward, so we don’t have anything but hand luggage, but they were very helpful with that. I’m sure they would take care of everything. They were so accommodating. But next time I will tell them just to meet me on the second floor, since we have no need to go down to the baggage claim.

Blacklane quoted us a set price, and when we figured out what a taxi would cost on the meter without traffic it was just $60 more. With traffic, it might have been the same. They have two guys to do the service. One meets you with a sign at the luggage carousel and then takes you upstairs to the second level where the limo is waiting. It was just perfectly coordinated. We are originally from LA, and we always took a taxi to and from the airport from home. I just can’t imagine having to go through all the rigamarol now.

Problem with a taxi at LAX is that they can no longer pick you up. Curbside. You have to walk or take a shuttle to the LAXit parking lot just outside the airport and then get in line for a taxi or wait for your Uber. I just hate this. Last time, and we will do this again next April, we used Blacklane limo service. Limos can pick you up on the second level. We had absolutely perfect service, and as Jim said, about 45 minutes unless it’s rush hour,

We were on 6 forward, our preferred cabin.

We did this is February 2024. Those terrible storms that ravaged California that month were out there for us. It was very rough both going and coming. Not much fun, although we don’t get seasick. And not a lot of bang for your buck with only four days in Hawaii, and Ensenada really not a nice port. If we go to Hawaii again, we will fly and DIY.

We took masks but foolishly didn’t wear them. But then again, my understanding is that they protect others from a sick you, rather than the other way around. But still, we could have done better. On the airplanes we have our own pod, or suite with a door closing us off, and use the lounge for long layovers, so we can distance. But this last cruise was the worst for sick people coughing all over us since Panama Canal in 2021, where there were twenty cases of Covid and we had to miss ports.

We also started feeling poorly at the end of the trip. Our day in Bergen, we broke off from the walking tour and just went at our own pace. Then came back to the ship, packed, got up at two the next morning, left the ship at 3:30, were in transit for 24 1/2 hours, up for 30. We went to three markets the next day, then, on Saturday, my husband, who has asthma, started coughing badly. Used inhalers, tested for Covid, negative, but he is only now feeling a bit better. People on this cruise should have taken a clue from Andrea who stayed in her cabin for two days, and stayed in when they were sick. We were coughed upon all day every day on busses. I remember missing a day in St. Petersburg years ago because I was coughing so badly. I just didn’t want to subject others to me ( this was pre-Covid, too). Where are people’s manners? Or just common sense???

I’m really sorry to hear this. We love Oslo. I can’t believe you couldn’t find something else to do that Sunday. There are so many museums. And was Carmen not good? I love that opera. But I do know that at the end of a trip, we are sometimes just tired. Do plan to go back!

I meant dinging. Geez, if we heard singing I would have been pounding on Guest Service’s door, lol.

Then I must tell you this story. We often travel over our anniversary ( in fact it’s tomorrow, and we are just back). A few years ago, on our anniversary on the ship, we exchanged cards in the morning and I set them up on the desk. That evening, when we got back from dinner, there was a special cake and champagne for us. I guess our room steward reported it. So you never know. But that was nice.

You are right, I should and will do that. In addition to not liking the room, we lost that wonderful feeling you get upon embarkation where you go to your cabin, drop off hand luggage, and go to a wonderful lunch on the Aquavit terrace. We spent time arguing at the guest services desk, and by the time we were finished, I wasn’t even hungry!

Yes! I heard it constantly when in the room, although we were on deck 8 and there aren’t very many cabins up there, so fewer people coming and going. I would say we heard singing as late as 2 am and as early as 5 am.

It was not the most pleasant of surprises. There was a lot of turmoil checking in, and no room key for us. We had to tender over on the Greenwich boats with a checkin person and meet for half an hour with the Guest Services manager. She seemed completely flummoxed about why someone might not want the upgrade. But I don’t really like the Junior suites. They are cluttered and crowded. Two chairs and a sofa is just too much and instead of feeling roomy they feel cramped. The two huge TVs right next to each other are just laughable to us. And the TV attached in front of the mirror over the desk at the foot of the bed renders the mirror useless, and there is no good place to dry my hair. We did enjoy the larger bathroom, and the free laundry. But the room location was terrible. Very Noisy. Second worst ever, the worst being a Guarantee room. We could afford to book a PJS if so inclined, but do not. We picked our room a year in advance, and we always book the same room, deck six, forward. I asked to have that room back, but they had already given it away. If they had asked, I would have said no, especially when I saw where it was. So I guess I would call this a forced upgrade.

Nope, on our BIE cruise this past month we were upgraded from PV1 to PJS1. We have a TA and no reason was given. And no advance notice. All our luggage was tagged for our original cabin.

We are looking at the same thing. On our British Isles Explorer cruise we had many, many excursions where the bus ride was 90 minutes each way and only 75-90 minutes at our destination, whether you booked with Viking or on your own. Our next cruise is a Viking River cruise, which we hope will give us destinations with less time on the bus. I also wish Viking would post the bus times in the description of the excursion. They certainly know them, since the bus time is always given in the port talks, and Viking runs these excursions several times a week.