55Division

The Sydney to Bali "Komodo & The Australian Coast" cruise is first half of our "South Pacific Sojourn" cruise boarding the Viking Orion in Sydney on February 27. A month ago, and out of curiosity, I looked at the excursions listed on the website for both cruises. For the most part, the excursions were the same except for Day 6. For the Komodo Australian Coast cruise, there were 11 excursions mostly centered around snorkeling & catamaran sailing to the Great Barrier Reef. But when I looked at the excursions for the South Pacific Sojourn, there were only 6 excursions including "Golf on Hamilton Island" and "Tea on the Sea". Nothing too exciting. I emailed tellus@Vikingcruises to ask why there were different excursions on the same ship on the same day but two different cruises. The first explanation was ridiculous, but the second explanation was the passengers on the 17 day Komodo/Australian cruise want a different experience than those on the 29 day South Pacific Sojourn. Huh?! I understand the excursions will probably change again but my concern regarding the discrepancy must have been noted. If you look on the website today, specifically on Day 6, the excursions are still different. There are 4 excursions listed for the Komodo/Australian cruise and 9 excursions listed for the South Pacific Sojourn. Same ship, same day, different cruises.

We’re currently on the Viking Octantis, crossing the Drake Passage on our way back to Ushuaia. It’s been extremely rough. Yesterday we encountered 25 foot swells and hurricane force winds. We’re so sorry to hear of the tragedy and misfortunes on the Polaris.

Thanks Clay for the promo code. We've booked it for November, 2022, saved us thousands of dollars. Again, how is it you received the promotion? We've cruised with Viking six times, but never receive email promotions?

Last month, we took the Alaska RR train from Anchorage to Denali. We were in Gold Star going to Denali and Adventure class on the return. I wanted Gold Star going both ways, but Gold Star was sold out on the return date. We had no choice but Adventure class. In my opinion, Gold Star was well worth it. Again, first class versus economy. There is another option that I was not aware when making our Alaska RR reservations. Check out Wilderness Express. I'm not sure how it compares to Gold Star, but the domed railroad cars are attached to the Alaska RR cars and engine.

After waiting all day to embark, we’re still in Vancouver. Woke up this morning surprised to see we never left the port. A cable broke, safety issue, the captain announced we hope to leave tonight, but if we don’t leave by 18:00, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning.

After waiting all day to embark, we woke up this morning still in Vancouver. The captain announced a cable related to one of the tenders snapped. It’s a safety issue, hope to leave tonight. If we don’t leave by 18:00, we have to wait until tomorrow morning!

Thanks 5Waldos. I agree it's confusing. I thought it was the cruise line requiring the covid test. So either I missed it or the requirements have been updated. This is what I found on Travel.gc.ca Vaccination and testing requirements for Canada To board a cruise ship that will dock in Canada, if you’re 12 years of age, or older, you must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with very few exceptions. Note: many cruise lines require vaccination for children 5 years and older. If you’re entering Canada to board a cruise ship: you’re required to use ArriveCAN prior to boarding your flight or before entering Canada by land and you may be selected to take an arrival test if you’re entering Canada as part of an excursion during the cruise, you won’t be selected for arrival testing Before boarding your cruise ship: all travellers must submit their embarkation test information into ArriveCAN within 72 hours of boarding a cruise, including Canadians and those who just used ArriveCAN to enter Canada: in another country for a cruise that will enter Canada in Canada

While Walgreens administers the NAAT test, I'm not sure they provide a lab certified report for travel.

According to my itinerary, we embark June 12, cruise the Inside Passage on June 13, and arrive in Ketchikan on June 14.