Mackdogmolly

I had to look that one up!

I love the special brunches on Azamara

That would rule me out, thank god 😂

I thought the bed was a little too firm too, but I still got a good nights sleep. The pillows were nice, much like Azamara’s

It was 10 nights and we didn’t miss any ports.

Oh, and Viking is not really set up to do sea day brunches the way Azamara does. Their main dining room is split in two with the kitchen in the middle, so it isn’t really one big space. Mars did have a fun little event on the 3 sea days, however on the aft pool terrace at lunch time. One day there was a pasta station, with different kinds of pasta, one day a Cuban sandwich station, and one day a Cesar salad station with both salmon and chicken toppings.

Just off the Viking Mars Classic Panamá Canal sailing. I agree with a lot of @uktog’s positive points about Viking. Mars is a beautiful ship, brand new, and even with a full sailing, it never felt crowded, even on sea days. We were a little disappointed in the food, however, although I know this is both subjective and can vary from chef to chef and ship to ship. The Chef’s Table was good, although the salmon substitute I had was over cooked. Nothing really outstanding in the main dining room and my pasta of the day in the Italian specialty restaurant was just ok. As Ann said, the Pool Grill has a nice salad bar, but there is no table service. The included wines were hit or miss, but I had the SS package so had more options. They were out of a couple of the Chardonnays, but I could usually find something drinkable by the glass. The main pool has a retractable roof, which in spite of several nice days, was only opened once, and it was unbearably hot on a warm day when closed. We much preferred the open air aft infinity pool deck. But getting bar service there (or on the main pool deck) was a challenge. The bars had solo or duo classical performers, at volumes you could speak over, which made for a pleasant cocktail hour. We only went to the “nightclub” once and didn’t enjoy the band, so we left. The guest speakers were a mix, all pretty good, including marine biologist, Dr. Greta Aeby, who was on our last Azamara cruise. The included excursions were pretty basic and lining up outside for excursions is the one time we really felt like cattle being herded! We never met anyone other than people from the US, although everyone was perfectly friendly. I do prefer the more international mix on Azamara. Would we book another Viking cruise? Probably, if the itinerary appealed and the price was right. But for now, I’m looking forward to my next Azamara cruise.

Depending on the length of your cruise, you might look into purchasing the Indulgence package, which, among other things, gives you internet for 2 devices, I believe.

So happy to see that he will be Captain for the Antarctica cruise!

If it’s any consolation, I’m on a Viking cruise at the moment and my TA OBC is nowhere to be found.

Have fun in Panama City! Visit the old town! Take a monkey tour or a rainforest hike! Lots to do!

The veranda cabins are about the same size on the two ships, but the Viking bathrooms are much larger in the standard veranda

I would show up around noon.

Me either. Fortunately, on my next Azamara cruise, many of us on the roll call are staying at the same hotel pre cruise and have organized a private food tour the day before embarkation. So at least some of us will be well acquainted! Not so on the Viking cruise I’m embarking on next week. No M&M and we will really have to put ourselves out there to meet people!

Oh, that would be perfect.

They seem to schedule it at sail away, which is the worst possible time, IMO.

Well, at least they reserve a space!

Me too. As well as Venice, when you could still dock there (and experience that fabulous sail away).

As of right now, all US flights to/from Israel have been canceled- at least for now

Best of the Best. It’s a dinner for those in the top suites

My TA, while not exactly discouraging me, did express a lot of frustration a few months ago. Now he says it has gotten much better.

Ahh. Well, I enjoy all of the other stuff. I book the hotels, flights, excursions, etc, but I leave the Azamara shoreside (and the hours on hold) to my TA.

I’ll be going through the canal in less than 2 weeks on another line. I’m not worried.

This is exactly why we use a TA. They absorb all of the pre-cruise pain, and we just enjoy the ride.

Same