TayanaLorna

I had forgotten about all the flowers blooming! Was the gal the guide whose mother and aunties worked gathering the eider feathers?

Thank you.

Yes i recall the ship was scheduled to arrive at 3 am but was at the dock around 1 am. We disembarked around 9 am but a whole lot of people got off earlier. We did have to walk by CBP who asked us if we were bringing anything fresh or agricultural in so as long as they are there at 6 am.

Seems most non-stops are early morning or late afternoon to the states.

You will want to be at airport 7:15-7:45. Hardly anyone in PR works between Dec 15 and January 6 so traffic should be light. Plan on half hour to get to airport. Yep Jim Avery has it about right.

One of my favorite Mamsens breakfasts is a bowl of mixed berries, a sampling of the 3 herrings and a thick cut slab of the black bread with butter. Love your reporting.

Love their soup for lunch.

I believe the yellow fever vax is RECOMMENDED not required for Brazil and Argentina. Never traveled to Rio or Iguazu Falls but been to Buenas Aires. Spent 10 days in Amazonia February-March on a cruise to Manaus, then river boat cruise further up the Amazon, then finishing with 2 days in Manaus. We are in our early 70's and did not get the vax nor bring Malaria meds. Wore long sleeved shirts and pants thoroughly sprayed with insect repellent when in forested areas. Out of a 21 day trip (including French Guiana) only saw mosquitoes once and that was while hiking (or should I say bushwhacking) on a forest trail that was very narrow with dense vegetation.

You are very welcome. Glad my ramblings are useful to someone. I love reading reports about places we want to travel and actually chose our next cruise based on others experiences.

March 8, 2023 - Manaus Historic City Tour We awoke to a rainy morning, the first continuous rain of the trip. We had a great relaxing breakfast at the buffet having planned an afternoon excursion for a change. Ray & I chose to just hang out at the hotel during the morning while our friends went to the Brazilian Army Zoo ignoring the poor reviews received from Viking guests for this portion of the Included excursion. They wanted to see the monkeys, big cats and other Amazon animals and birds up close and take photos from which she would paint. They loved it so guess it depends on how you feel about zoos. The hotel arranged for a taxi to get there but, not speaking Portuguese or able to call for an Uber in the language, they did not know how to get back to the hotel. Fortunately a woman at the entrance gate called a car to transport them. We reserved our city tour on Trip Advisor through Viator before we left home. The description indicated it was a group tour and there could be up to 12 participants. We were delighted when our guide arrived with his personal vehicle to pick up just our group of 4. We chose the 1 pm tour and were very happy the rain had stopped by then. We drove by of several historic buildings - the Relogio Municipal (clock), Customs House, Cathedral of Our Lady of Conception, and down a street with colorful nicely rennovated buildings. As there was just our group, we could ask our guide to pull over so we could get out for photos or just a quick look around. One of our main stops was at Largo de Sao Sebastiao (St. Sebastian Plaza) surrounded by the Amazon Palace of Justice, the St. Sebastian Church and the Teatro Amazonia (Amazon Opera House Theatre). Tickets to the Opera House were included but we had only a limited amount of time actually inside the theatre due to a private event soon to start. This was one complaint I had of the tour - our guide should have known about the event and timed our stop at this location differently. However, we had time to take pictures and were also able to tour the reception room, see the costumes display and get inside of one of the upper boxes. IAfterwards we walked around the plaza for a bit. In the center of the Plaza is a Monument dedicated to trade routes with the continents of America, Asia, Africa and Europe. The pavement of the Plaza is very interesting and quite vertiginous with its wavy pattern representing the meeting of the waters. Our next stop was the Palacio Rio Negro, a palatial 19th Century rubber barons estate featuring period decor, historical exhibits and gardens. We had an inside tour of this gorgeous home and learned about the history of its occupants. It was originally occupied by the family and then by different Governors. The period furniture was a mix of both eras. We were surprised to learn that the home was originally situated on the water with its own dock. Our final stop was at the Mercado Municipal Adolpho Lisboa - the municipal market filled with all sorts of fish, fruits, vegetables, dry goods, medicinals, local goods, souvenirs and restaurants. The building was designed by Gustave Eiffel, the French Civil Engineer who designed the Eiffel Tower. Gorgeous ironwork. Our guide advised us to watch our shoulder bags and cameras and kept a good eye on us and our surroundings. In one shop Ray asked if they had a product for rash and itching. The owner recommended a certain soap that we purchased. Our guide, Jefferson, from the Iberostar, often times discussed certain plants, trees, leaves etc with different healing powers. One regret once home was not paying more attention to this information, writing it down and asking questions. We loved the soap and wished we had purchased more of these home remedies when in Manaus. We had our final dinner at the hotel once again. Before dinner we met a fellow at the bar. He was from Italy but had been in Brazil for ten years working in the soybean industry. It was an interesting conversation and the only politics we heard while in Brazil. None of our guides mentioned anything political nor breached the subject of the deforestation of the Amazon and the potential consequences. This fellow was very pro Bolsonaro, believed in developing the Amazon and very critical of the Indigenous tribes. He was also very critical of foreign nations "throwing" thousands of dollars to Brazil to save the rainforest. We kept our opinions to ourselves as best to do when traveling. Was Manaus as scary as I thought or were lead to believe? No. I was most worried about being in the Port on our own but it seemed people looked out for us. Would I venture from the port on foot independently? Probably not. We felt comfortable because we pre arranged most everything. We are in the 70 year old age range. If I was 50 I would probably have done it differently. Victor Transfer Tours did such a good job picking us up at the port that we engaged the same driver to take us to the airport the next morning. He kept close contact with us through WhatsApp and even sent us a message that he arrived early as the traffic that morning was quite heavy. We were done with another wonderful breakfast, packed and almost ready to go. We arrived at the airport way early about 3 hours before our flight but better then rushing. The GOL counter was not even open yet and the airport was empty at 10 am. Even though we purchased tickets through the American Airlines website on an AA/GOL codeshare flight, check in was with GOL as they were the operating carrier. Luggage drop off once open was easy, got boarding passes and proceeded to Security which wasn't quite open yet either. The gates were empty but for our flight and it was a breeze boarding. Unable to get seat assignments until 48 hours before the flight, I was able to use the GOL website and reserved 2 seats 8D and 8F while we were at the hotel. We were fortunate that the center seat was not booked. Our flight was delayed taking off by 30 minutes reducing our connection time in Miami from 1 hour 50 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes. American had already messed up our 3 hour 15 minute connection by changing the time of our flight to San Juan. Miami Airport was insane. The fellow at Mobile Passport took about 5 minutes with each person and then did not call the next person for 10 minutes. They finally let us go through the TSA line. Usually Mobile Passport for us is quick as TSA. After we collected our baggage, we found the security line was so long that the connecting flight baggage drop off point was way way up the security line. Needless to say we missed our flight and it was the last to SJU that evening. American put us on the 6:30 AM flight on stand by the next day and there were only 2 people ahead of us. So what to do? Sleep on the floor in the airport? Not! We got a shared room with our friends (double/double) at the airport hotel splitting the exorbitant cost and got some food and wine at Margaritaville the only place open by the hotel. We managed about 6 hours of sleep and a shower at the hotel. It was easy peasy getting to our gate at 5 in the morning as the place was empty. We all got on the flight with our friends being the last to board - whew. Overall, other then the GOL delay, the flight was great. We were served 2 meals, watched movies, the plane was a new 737 MAX 8 and economy was comfortable for us. Took less then 6 hours from Manaus to Miami vs flying 4 hours in the opposite direction to get to Sao Paulo, Rio or Brazilia to take a 10-12 hour connecting flight to the States. A no brainer for us. I had been watching this GOL flight on Flightaware for months and it was always on time or early to Miami. Ah well, at least it was on the way home and I had a contingency plan with our dog/house watcher. So beware of connecting times if you fly into Miami. The Amazon & Caribbean was truly a great adventure. Would I have been satisfied with only the Viking portion? Probably not. I did a lot of reading and research prior and knew that I wanted to get into the back waters of the Amazon and that none of the Viking excursions provided that nor was there the time to do it aboard Viking. Were the 3 stops along the Amazon on Viking worthwhile. Yes!! So if your are planning your own trip on the Amazon, thoroughly enjoy yours. And now for final photographs...

Yeah i noticed the last photos were 6-13.

Thank you so much. Sounds exactly like something we would like. Did you request Stratos or was it just the luck of the draw. I googled Georges Taxi Athens and a few came up. Is it georges taxi dot com for the website?

Gosh I wish I knew this. My friend spent 5 days in Covid quarantine with nothing to do but read or play a game on his phone. He cannot hear a thing without his hearing aids and could not watch anything on the Viking TV programming as no Blue Tooth or sub titles on movies.

On the Sea last February, a pan of sticky buns was served in the World Cafe for breakfast on several mornings. It was available in the pizza area on the SB side. Not same individual pistachio buns that Clay likes but sticky buns nonetheless.

I looked every morning when on the Sea in February. No.

When you upgrade a cabin you pay the price of what that cabin cost at the time YOU originally booked the cruise not the current sale or promo price. So if a PV cost $7599 when you booked your cruise and the current promo has it for $6599, you still pay the difference between what you paid for your DV and $7599.

That's disappointing. We had Starlink on the riverboat we took up the Amazon after Viking and it was good.

Thanks Andy. Yes it was the Sea Spirit. Her track (if correct) clearly showed going deep into at least 2 fjords/bays (?) but i did not look at her itinerary to see if she missed ports. Perhaps if the ship is Greenland located and continuously plys the waters there, she is in a better position to determine if an area is safe to enter or not at the time.

I hear you. Our next cruise is the Med in February with 3 day pre to Umbria area in Italy, 14 night cruise no sea days then 2 nights post in Athens. I get exhausted thinking about it.

We are on same itinerary in winter 2024. Venice is a turnover day for the Rome to Venice and then Venice to Athens back to back cruises. Others on same itinerary have indeed reported excursions available to sign up for once on the ship. Apparently these tours are only for those people staying on the ship for the 2 legs not for those people disembarking or embarking in Venice. So don't worry. Perhaps someone who has stayed onboard for the 2 night Venice turnover can share what the excursions were.

This morning I looked on Cruisemapper for the Saturns current location. I noticed a boat icon actually in Greenland with a track showing it had made several stops along and into waterways on Greenland's western coast. I clicked on it to learn it was a Poseiden Adventure expedition ship with a hull reinforced for ice. I don't know the ice class rating of this ship vs that of Viking expedition. So for those who wish to have a better chance of visiting Greenlands ports, there is an alternative, as this ship visited ports in the last week that Viking had to cancel.

On the previous by the glass wine list, real French champagne was $16 per glass which was over the SSBP limit of $15 per drink at that time. "Champagne" was never included on Ocean in the parameters of the SSBP. The bubbly wines were very limited in the old list too. I see that now there are more choices for bubbly, Proseco or CAVA by the glass and within the SSBP limit. That's a good thing.

On our Midnight Sun cruise we were so very fortunate to make the Shetlands, Orkneys and Edinburgh. Cruises prior to ours and in previous years missed one or the other islands and i believe one cruise missed Edinburgh due to the chop making tendering too bouncy that summer.

Ah we loved Cape Breton Island when we did a camping trip all around it oh so many years ago.

In the winter of 2024 we are doing the Italy, Adriatic & Greece cruise with 4 days pre in Italy and 2 days post in Athens. No sea days. Whew, exhausted already. At 10 years your wife's senior, i too think i may need some down time and appreciate the comments here. I am looking at the potential excursions and planning to have a long tour one day and then a shorter easier day the next. I enjoy the background history and info a guide provides on a walking tour but hate to be herded and rushed around. So am thinking of doing a little preliminary reading and just self exploring towns where the ship docks close or provides a shuttle.