KTRaveller

We'd gotten the same ad in email and I'm afraid we were too busy booking to post it here -- glad you did Florida Flounder. I just wanted to say that it works!

We booked this offer yesterday for the Southern Atlantic Crossing, Buenos Aires to Barcelona, March 17-April 7. Free airfare, past guest discount, $400 per couple OBC and an overall lower fare due to many sea days (which we love.) There were quite a few sold out dates/cabins at our price point, etc. so it came down to a choice of two cruises with better dates on this one. There were a few not shown in the ad which pop up if you click on Learn More.

Also highly recommend taking extra strong magnetic hooks which will attach to almost every wall and ceiling area in the cabin. They are great for hanging purses, umbrellas, dop kit, lanyards, a shoe bag etc. Just don’t forget to take them home again! They don’t work on river ships which aren’t steel underneath.

forgot the main point -- ordered an iphone14 yesterday and have had some buyer's remorse, or anxiety since...

Your pictures are wonderful and I'm so excited and reassured. I have held on to my Iphone8 for a long time partly because I've loved the camera and wasn't impressed with some of my friends' photos from later models. The salesman told me that the 14 has a really good camera and now I'm more convinced. Thanks!!

Don't forget the gelato bar -- many nut free options there, most likely -- or Mamsen's

Thanks for posting so much from your cruise. Sad to hear that some are being so rude with their devices. They are actually addictive as is becoming increasingly clear. A disruptive drunk passenger would be shown back to her stateroom. Perhaps the same gentle treatment of this addiction should apply! Viking's public spaces are so lovely and serene.

I tried to let Viking know via MVJ chat that my DH was celebrating a birthday on our upcoming October cruise. First the agent told me they'd put it in the record for the date I chose. (On his actual 75th birthday in August he was 3 weeks post shoulder surgery and still in a huge sling contraption and eating with his wrong hand...Not a great look ) Then, I went back on the chat to make sure they'd use his nickname instead of his passport name. That agent told me that they will not recognize birthdays except on the actual date if it falls during the cruise... Years ago we celebrated our anniversary aboard, a few weeks before the actual date because the cruise was our celebration. They didn't ask for proof that time. I'll try guest services when we board. He really deserves a celebration!

Very disappointed to hear this as I hadn't planned on having my phone using data for three weeks in the Mediterranean. I was counting on those paper maps. The ones on our river cruise last fall seemed quite accurate -- old towns' historic areas don't change much! I'm forewarned though, so thank you!

Just want to say thanks to all who took time to report on their good experiences. Like someone said, it's easy to find lots of bad reviews on line because that's when people are inclined to review at all. I also particularly appreciated the clearly well-informed input from Jersey42. We learned the hard way recently that our Viking (Tripmate--Allianz) insurance wouldn't cover the part of our upcoming trip we paid for with their vouchers and stood to kiss $16K goodbye. We were able cancel everything BUT the cruise that we had planned so are still going, even though DH will have to do his PT routines on board twice a day! It was my fault for not understanding or reading the fine print well enough, but we'd had this insurance several times before and I though I knew it. Viking sent a message out in April warning about just this thing but we were traveling on another Viking cruise at the time and the message was just one of many that slipped by. I was annoyed that Viking hadn't done more to let us know about the policy and the opportunity to purchase upgraded insurance -- more than one little email -- so decided to look for 3rd party insurance for the new trip we're planning. Thanks for the education. Kathleen

I've been concerned about the news but haven't seen anyone worried about smokey air or missed ports due to the fires raging in Greece -- including one near Athens, and in Turkey, where they stopped non-essential traffic through the Dardenelles Strait for about 48 hours it seems. This leads into the Sea of Marmara to get to Istanbul. I haven't heard of Viking ships missing the port though. Has anyone found a good way to track this? Thanks

We'd like to STOP getting brochures as we find the website, cruise critic and emails sufficient marketing. Anyone managed to turn it off?

If you go to Viking.TV and search Russell Lee, you'll find all his presentations. I agree, he's lively and engaging, but so are many other Viking speakers. I think the personal connection is key -- telling your own story as part of the architectural one. Some connection to the ports on the cruise is important if possible, but not essential for every lecture -- especially if you end up on a longer cruise with lots of sea days. We had a great speaker about the White House on a recent TA. She seemed shy about interacting with passengers between lectures though -- which seems to me an important part of the job. For me, some of the most fascinating places have been where modern and traditional architecture have been merged in a creative and/or meaningful way. Ghiradelli Square in San Francisco was an early example back in the 60s (who knows what it's become now...) and the Old Post Office in DC was wonderful when it housed the NEA, before it became a hotel under a certain former President's brand. My all time favorite was Coventry Cathedral in the UK -- so very thought provoking for a young person. The underground neighborhoods in York (Victorian, I think) and Perugia (Etruscan) are also interesting examples and technically complicated from a construction standpoint. Another topic I'd like to hear more about would be buildings and former industrial sites which have successfully upgraded to be more environmentally friendly, repurposing the tons of materials on site rather than knocking down and hauling everything off. Hope to meet you on board somewhere. I'd definitely attend your lectures.

We've had the exact same experience -- missed the April 2023 email notification (because we were on another Viking cruise.). Luckily we were able to squeeze in my husband's shoulder surgery between trips, with just enough time in PT before we have to travel just to make the cruise. We had to cancel 3 weeks of plans for Europe before embarkation in Rome, so the value of the airfare to us dropped a lot. I should have had an inkling about this when the trip insurance rate was so low -- it didn't click that this meant it wouldn't cover the voucher value that we'd used to pay for the cruise. If we could have canceled and rebooked at a better time, we would have -- though after weeks of dealing with the post surgery stuff in the extreme heat and discomfort of this summer, we will really enjoy the heck out of the ship!

Our stop there was changed to Rovinj with no explanation. I don't mind very much since it's possible to visit Krka from Split. Rovinj sounds very interesting too -- smaller, which can be good.