SantaFe1

I wholeheartedly agree, having lived in L.A. for 45 years. Century city is not where you want to be. There isn’t really anything there, and you would have to take a cab or Uber anywhere you wanted to go. I have never figured out why Viking chose Century City. I myself would book a hotel in Santa Monica, which is what we are doing when we go through LA on our Hawaii cruise next Feb.

Yes.

Another vote for Barcelona Day Tours!

Yes, thanks, Linda.

That’s why we canceled. Booked BIE instead.

One thing you learn if you cruise a lot, or especially on a WC, is that if there is somewhere you absolutely must get to, nothing else will do, then don’t cruise there. Easter Island comes to mind for us. It was a bucket list destination for us, but the tender pier flooded and we couldn’t go. The Captain circumnavigated the island, and we had a great day. So be flexible. As Andy, Heidi13, says “the itinerary is only confirmed when you disembark.” If you must go to Melbourne, fly there!

We loved the Serendip on our WC, and the Geelong Port was interesting, very memorable,

We also have expensive Lexi poles. And we pack them in checked luggage. I think that’s the way to go. I thought about buying some cheap ones for travel, but we both like our poles.

You two are hilarious! You always make me laugh. And that’s a good thing.

You can do both! Book with the gentleman you liked at Viking, and then transfer to your TA within, I think, 60 days, and get whatever perks they can get you. We usually get between $300-$500 pp OBC depending on the length of the cruise. And our TA often also has a few “coupons” for $200 pp that her large firm gets that she can apply. It is win-win. And, once I have transferred, I still have never had Viking say they won’t talk to me. But our TA is just so good, and gets so much done for us, I rarely bother.

And today those two “suspect” included excursions have been removed completely. As has the one in Kauai.

Yep, we do this too. I’m actually keep the ties in our luggage so they are always ready to go. On the WC, we didn’t know to do this, and so bought two bungee cords. Not elegant, but got the job done!

No and No. we are there on a Friday. And on Kauai, they day before, another of this special included excursions is now marked sold out. I just don’t think they are going to be offered, or at least not offered as an included excursion.

I just noticed this a minute ago, and think it is very interesting. Excursions for our Hawaii cruise in February went up last week at 145 days out. On two of the islands, they had the “extra special” included excursions. Today at 140 days out( I.e. not even the owners suite can book yet) I see that they are marked sold out. I sort of think this means they won’t be offered. But who knows. It is certainly very curious!

Well, if this is your WC we are talking about, I certainly hope you get it! My favorites are the ones on deck 7!

Over the years, this has generated a lot of controversy. We very much prefer the slider. We had the door and picture window on the WC and it was months of squeezing past the desk, to the door, which would catch the wind and be hard to open or close. Only thing we didn’t like about our room for nearly five months. Others insist they must have the door, so they can sit on the sofa and look out the window. We don’t spend much time in our cabin sitting on the sofa and looking out. We spend that time on the veranda. So it’s a personal thing, I guess. We now have our favorite cabins, 6008 and 6009. Both forward facing and with sliders. But some people also think it’s ridiculous to only want to be facing forward from the bed. But backward facing is like having backward facing seats on a bus or train. Just makes me feel weird!

I don’t really know about them all. The photo seems to show a slider and a floor to ceiling window.

Jim, here is what I have, it it’s for PV cabins. Not sure that is what you want.

We always enjoy the Fairmont Waterfront. Near the ship and pretty much everything else!

About 9 am. We did this cruise in June. Vancouver was just really a hard place to get good flights from given the restraints Viking imposes. We decided to stay overnight and just take a good flight the next morning at 8 am. And Vancouver is a nice place to spend a day anyway.

You will be right behind the bridge wing. And you will have a slider in 6001.

Our experience is quite different. Because we have a regional airport, we always have to fly to an international airport as a hub, domestically, to travel abroad. (Atlanta, Denver, or DFW usually), We always travel in business, and always have either a 2-2 or 1-2 seat configuration, with regular Business class seats and legroom(!). Never once have had and economy type row with 3-3 with middle seat empty. I’m really sorry you did!

Oh, you know, how much toothpaste do you use in a month, etc. I didn’t want to have to take time to go shopping all the time. We only went once, in NZ, half way though. But here are some of the things they did for us:

Oh, Clay, I think Viking will do you proud. But I say that as someone who doesn’t eat red meat. Our biggest gripe with segmenters was that our trivia team kept changing, lol. We and our our British partners were good, and when we got another good couple we couldn’t be beaten. And then they would go away. But on our WC, they gave Viking dollars to the winners each day, and at the end of the WC we had enough to buy the iconic red and blue Viking Dale of Norway sweaters! You will have fun. Don’t worry. But start making your lists! We started almost a year in advance!! And I learned everything to do from Deec. There had only been one WC before us!

We did the 2019 WC in the southern hemisphere going around both capes with 5 (I think) segments. It wasn’t optimal, but is was mostly OK. Then we did Panama to L.A. as segmenters on the 2021-22 WC. I would have to say we did feel a bit of snootiness towards us by the WCers. Except those repeating from our 2019 WC and it was fun to see them again. So I wouldn’t worry about it.