TayanaLorna

Its been in the news that the Greenland glaciers are melting quicker then initially thought. Melting glaciers calve more? I don't know.

I believe the cruise you mention was/is called In the Wake of the Vikings and was a once a year repositioning. I had an interest in it until i followed reports where they had awful rough weather and missed ports. Perhaps July and August are better times for the area.

I haven't been to Rome for ages and never with Viking but am very familar with their excursion descriptions. First know that Rome and the port where ship is docked is a one hour drive in the very best of traffic conditions and could be double that time. So you will be in a bus a lot of time. "Panoramic" means seen from the bus. Sometimes panoramic excursions have photo stops but these do not say so. Both excursions say walking to, around and inside sites. That sounds like what you want. Consider this - what time of year is your visit? If it is in the heat of the summer, you may welcome visiting the inside of a museum as i would think it would be a cool break with air conditioning.

Interesting you should say that. Awhile back, Cruise Critic had a drinks package comparison write up of the major cruise lines. Vikings package at $20 per person back then was well below any other cruise line and more comprehensive. Plus it was easier to understand what is/is not included and the cost limit per drink was higher. I would bet that even at $25 pp now it is more economical.

That sign is awesome. Serendipity.

The model ships seemed to divide the space into 3 cosy sections. What struck me about Saturn photo is the room looked very open and minimalist.

LOL to see wine list as one of your first posts on board.

That's different. Never saw chess table and missing ship models in glass display boxes.

In 2020 Majestic Iguazu Falls - 13 hours - cost $1099.09. Iguazu Falls overnight was $1599.00.

I thought it looked hazy on the Panomax. Bon voyage!

Right...we went to Brazil.

Received that email only and my first reaction was "oh no"! Then I thought Viking only requires completion of the initial 2 doses one month apart. Thoses doses when received in 2021 protected against the original strain and most likely do nothing to protect against current strains. Although a hand full of countries required proof of booster vax, Viking did not. So just like if you had a flu vax 2 years ago, a Covid vax 2 years ago no longer provides much protection.

Did you complete the Verifly app before your cruise? We had to do Verifly before our February cruise. Never showed vax cards because Viking has access to Verifly when completed for Viking.

For all our Covid and post Covid cruises, Viking has used the Verifly app to confirm you had vaccinations. Viking usually notified us about this a month before travel. When you download and complete the app with uploading your photo and your vax card, Verifly will give you a Green okay to travel message and you are done. You do not need to show this as Viking is notified or has access to your completed Verifly. We were also told to bring our original vax card as some countries required it. Only during our 2021 cruises did we show it.

Linda, For me the worst part were the days between Barbados and the mouth of the Amazon - a sea day, French Guiana, sea day. The humidity was positively dripping - the decks were always wet, moisture was dripping down the windows, and it looked like rain was streaming down the veranda partitions. The Caribbean islands always had a breeze so it was warm and comfortable. Once on the Amazon, the dripping stopped. I think the lack of salt laden air reduced the clinging moisture effect. Humidity yes. Temperatures were not that bad - 80's maybe - but combine that with humidity, you get the "feels like" higher temperature. On the ship we always had the escape to AC. Once near the equator it was not comfortable to me eating outside other then early morning breakfast. Walking through the main pool area became so unbearably hot that we would use the forward elevators to get to the Explorers Lounge. As far as excursions, French Guiana was self exploration, warm and humid but as we were on our own and could go at our own pace, it was fine. Having a cloudy sky helped. Santarem included tour buses were not air conditioned but a friend who is very heat intolerant said it was not bad for the city tour. I took the Maica Lake/Pirhana Fishing boat tour and the temps were delightful. We could get out of the sun under a canopy and there was a breeze. My DH took the Tapajos Forest hike and said temps were not bad. He wore long pants and sleeves in case of bugs too. In Parintins, the tender ride and walk to convention center was short and the Boi Bumba included dance show was in AC. In Manaus, most of the optional excursions are boat based and cooler and the city was cloudy most of the time and not bad and there was AC in buses. I was concerned that it would be most steamy further up on the river boat we took and was delightfully surprised it was not. The big difference between the Viking Sea and the Iberostar Grand Amazon was the Grand Amazon had a top deck that was entirely open but 3/4's of it was covered. There was always a breeze and you could be in the shade. We spent most days up there. I discovered why we rarely use decks 8 and 9 on Viking ships - there is no shade and its freaking hot in the sun. Even most of the dining on the Aquavit Terrace is in the sun. I hope i haven't scared you away from the Amazon whether with Viking and/or a river boat. The humidity was worse then I expected but the temperatures were not. There was always AC to escape to and one can choose excursions according to ones tolerance. And with Vikings big windows, one can watch the scenery pass by in the comfort of AC.

Correct. Our week after Viking in Brazil was not insured. The cost of the river cruise, hotel and airfare was small compared to Viking cruise. My biggest concern was lack of medical coverage. Our next cruise we are doing Viking pre and post so the risk would be cost of airfare if we do our own.

We always use the TripMate insurance through Viking because we have no choice. None of the companies most US based travelers can insure one who lives in Puerto Rico. I found one other company but their premium was the same as Vikings but did not include Cancel for Any Reason provided by Viking. Having to pay for Vikings insurance so far in advance without having any risk until 120 days before the cruise really stinks. Other companies will insure you for your actual risk (deposit) and then your cruise fare total when you complete payment which is great. Adding Cancel for Any Reason to those policies is either not possible or very expensive. It is now possible to insure Viking Vouchers through TripMate which was a huge complaint previously.

I did a review of the Quality Hotel if you are interested. Recommend getting a Superior Room not a Standard Room and one on a higher floor.

Manaus Quality Hotel - March 6 & 7, 2023 Based on a reader's interest in the Quality Hotel, I will give some background and a review of our experience. As I mentioned, we were happy with the layout, spaciousness and cleanliness of our room and the hotel staff, as well as customer service at the reception desk were great. There was always someone who spoke very good English whether at the front desk or in the restaurant. The breakfast spread was extensive with many choices. The coffee was served the same way as on the Grand Amazon with a warm pot of milk which I loved. There were fruits, juices, cereals both hot and cold, sausages, meats, eggs, quiche, baked goods, pancakes and french toast. Many items kind of had a unique Portuguese twist which was fun. It was the only place we found manioc edible - it was made into a hot cereal. Breakfast was included in the cost of our room. At mid-day there was another huge spread for lunch but not included. Dinner was served also and we enjoyed our two nights although there were probably much better restaurants in Manaus. There was a small bar just outside the restaurant entrance which was near to reception. It was not a dedicated bar in its own space where people would hang out. Although the hotel was along a busy road, we did not notice any traffic noise. The location was convenient for getting to the airport as well as for getting picked up for a tour. There was a big Mall about a 5 minute walk up the road but we never went there. It was an okay stop over for 2 nights while we went on a city tour, however, it was not really a place for self-exploration or walking around. I did a lot of research prior to booking and my choice came down to the Manaus Intercity, which Viking was using for their pre or post extensions, and the Quality Hotel. I chose the Quality for its proximity to the Tierra y Mar restaurant across the street which we never got to and for the size and layout of the room with a nice seating area. The pricing between the two was similar. There were many hotels on Trip Advisor in the same price range with quite a few much cheaper. I felt that we didn't need to spend more. Where we really wanted to stay was the Villa Amazonia Hotel in an historic building and location near the Opera House square with a top rated restaurant. However the cost per night was $250 vs $78 per night at the Quality Hotel and economics won. Our South Africa friends who we met on the Iberostar cruise had stayed at the Juma Opera Hotel in the same area as the Villa Amazonia and loved it. Pricing is the same. They also said walking around the square in the evening was very safe. Surrounding the square were several restaurants and many served at tables outdoors. If cost is not an issue, staying in this area would be a much better cultural experience with the added bonus of self-exploration during the daytime. We did, however, have an issue at the Quality Hotel during our stay. I do not give the hotel a bad review because of it but I have a recommendation for future travelers. Here's what happened. The first night the toilet in our bathroom stopped flushing. For the middle of the night use, if its yellow, let it mellow is fine. However, for the morning... well, you get the picture. So at 5:30 AM, I went down to use the public rest rooms in the lobby and then found the night desk person and told him about our room issue. He said they could not get anyone to look at the toilet until later in the day but offered to give us another room. First he found a room on the 17th Floor but after looking further saw one available on our same 4th floor. It would have been nice being on a higher floor but certainly much more convenient to just drag our stuff down the hall rather then having to use the elevator. We didn't have to tightly repack everything that way. The room was smaller but the same layout. It had twin beds instead of a Queen which was okay for a night. However the towels were frayed, the view out the window was dismal and things like the light next to the bed was broken and only one out of the two bathroom lights worked. The last thing we wanted to do is have to move again. So oh well - we were going to be out most of the day touring anyways. The hotel was did not help us move but were quick in solving the new room problem. We told them about the issues with the new room but chose to stay in it. As it turned out, they did not charge us for all the beer and bottled water we drank from the room refrigerator. Unlike the Viking and Iberostar ships, it was not included. My recommendation is to get a room on a higher floor. In reading all the Trip Advisor reviews, writers many times said get a room on a higher floor while those who had a lower floor rooms gave poor reviews. We reserved a Standard Queen Room through hotels.com on Trip Advisor and were on the 4th floor. We could have reserved a Superior Queen Room which were situated on Floor 7 and higher. The rooms all looked the same other then the higher floors having better views. The Superior Rooms cost more and I think they may get better maintenance and attention by the hotel. So, I would recommend reserving a Superior Room and then try to get a higher floor for the city views. I wish we had done so. As far as hotels near the Airport, friends who were staying in Manaus only one night and flying out early stayed at the Ibis Airport Hotel and liked it fine. They disembarked from the Viking Sea, had an Historic City Tour that day and then stayed overnight near the airport. No Hotel photos here. Trip Advisor displays more hotel photos then you could ever want to see.

At the time (2021), our Viking agent said he could give us whatever OBC was offered for a future cruise. At the time the offer was double the Explorers Discount ($400 pp) and $200 pp OBC for the future cruise. He could not give the OBC for cruise we were already on since we had to use it while on the cruise and we were already home. And he could not get us a shorter 6 month final payment. On our last cruise in February, the offer was $100 pp OBC for current cruise for each cruise booked. Pretty pathetic compared to the 2021 offer.

Wow, thank you so much. I think i have one more day to finish it up.

Looking forward to your review. Interested in sailing smaller ships. One thing i love about Viking ships are the huge windows. Other then the Living Room and Atrium levels, no matter where you sit you can see outside.

Vela means candle in Spanish. Barco de vela means sailboat. White?

Your VIKING AGENT IN THE US will not get a commission if you book on board. I asked mine this specific question. YES you can transfer any cruise whether made on board or with a Viking agent to an independent TRAVEL AGENT and get their discount and OBC.

I had a Viking agent I really liked and asked him this question. He said if we book on board he would receive no commission although he could service our account. He did say that he would be able to offer us the same deal within two weeks of our return. We found out he COULD EXCEPT for the shorter final payment period.