millybess

We will be in Hong Kong for a couple of days before we board Orion. We're staying at the Shangri-la Kowloon which we booked independently, but happens to be the same hotel Viking uses for the pre-extension. The hotel overlooks the harbour and has many restaurants, which is what we were looking for. I'll let you know what it's like. We are travelling independently in Hong Kong. Here's an outline of our plan: Museum of History Kowloon Park Maritime Museum Avenue of Stars Signal Hill Garden Symphony of Lights on the Dukling Star Ferry to Pottinger Street The Escalators Mon Mo Temple Peak Tram Repulse Bay Stanley Market The day after we join the ship, we have reserved 2 Viking excursions: Kowloon Highlights Hong Kong by Vintage Tram

It sounds like you had a really great trip. I’m glad you enjoyed Krka Falls and that you were able to go back up the way you came down. That would make a huge difference. Did you end up going to Corral de la Moreria in Madrid for dinner and the flamenco show? Our Amazon trip was very good. We met a lot of new friends. The crew and food were amazing!! We had a laundry tour, a galley tour and a bridge tour. I showed the captain a photo of me sitting in his chair with a Viking helmut on and he told us a very funny story about a certain pilot who boards and always has to wear the Viking helmut. The captain and all the senior crew were always around, stopping to talk to the passengers. We met up with Ronnie Carrington in Barbados. He is quite a character with a wealth of knowledge and local stories. We’re glad he was recommended here on CC. He is doing another exhibition in Toronto this summer. Afterwards, we met up with friends who winter in Barbados. It was a very fun day. We were able to tender in French Guiana and walk around, but it was incredibly hot that day. Still, it was an insightful experience. On the ship the movie Papillon was shown, but many were disappointed that it wasn’t the original Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman version. We did the piranha fishing excursion which was a lot of fun and we had a really great guide. On that excursion we saw a few birds that we had never seen before. The Boi Bumba was colourful. There were many talented dancers, and we got some nice photos. We weren’t very fond of Manaus. We had a terrible guide. As you know, the ship overnights there and we talked to a couple of senior officers on the ship who said they worry about the crew getting off there for the evening. We could certainly see why. For the whole trip we saw 1 mosquito on the outside of our balcony door. But we did see some other weird-looking bugs. We are leaving on the 5th for Hong Kong, which is a trip we’ve been looking forward to for a long time. We’re doing many private tours in Japan and they are requiring a lot of preparation.

Do injectables have to travel in checked luggage on a flight, or can they be in your carryon?

@TayanaLorna How was your trip? Did you get to Krka Falls?

I was just looking at Cruisemapper to see if you were underway. Maybe there were more late pax.

Thanks for this. I hope we have the same experience on Orion.

I should add that we have spent a lot of time in Venice in the past, so we had no desire to go back. If you've never been, your time might be better spent there. Murano Burano was something we had never done, which is why we did it. When we docked in Chioggia, most of the excursions to Venice were by boat. This was usually indicated in the excursion description. We quite liked the boat ride.

No. We did it on day 1, but it seems from reading this thread that it might be offered on day 2.

Glad to see you've arrived. Enjoy your evening.

Is there a large welcome committee hanging over the side?

On Jupiter we didn't use the planetarium. We were too busy doing other things. But, yes, we also missed having the extra space in the upper lounge. I hope your experience on Orion is repeated next month when we will be on Orion from Hong Kong to Vancouver. We have several sea days between Japan and Alaska and I think we would enjoy a presentation by an astronomer. Usually when we board our habit is to grab lunch at the Pool Grill while we wait for our luggage to arrive. But I think this time I'll be checking out the Asian Station.

Thanks for letting us know! That's good news. Is tomorrow a sea day?

Yes, I usually hang out there, which is why I don't know how I missed it!🍨

I am not sure where you are docking, but we did a b2b last year and we were docked in Chioggia. On the "off-day" we did a very nice and relaxing stroll through Chioggia. We would definitely do it again. It's a nice spot. We would also recommend the Murano Burano tour. It's a very relaxing boat ride and we enjoyed the tour very much.

So it is an open space like other stations in the WC? I really don't know how I missed it. Thanks for starting this thread (although I'm always happy to go off-topic 😉)

We also book directly with Viking and transfer to an agent. That is good to know. I'm glad you've found competent agents. For us, they have been few and far between. And it's not just us. We have encountered 3 officers on 3 different cruises who have been subtly amused dealing with the sales offices.

I hope you were away on time and that they held the ship for you. Let us know how it went.

Sounds delicious. Thanks much!!

Thanks very much. Do they have a menu posted by the window? How would one know what to order -- unlike the other rather open stations in the WC?

I guess it's like a tour guide. It all depends on who you get. We really like the presentations by the historians on Viking. But, we've run into a few that have put us to sleep.

I'm re-reading your post and it would be great if they had a resident astronomer on board, even without the planetarium. Especially for TAs and other voyages where there are a lot of sea days.

Well, it's certainly not their sales offices that are going to do that for them. It's the onboard ambiance, the crew and the $25 deposit. In our 5 years of sailing with Viking, we've only found 1 agent that is very good and on top of things and very responsive. She is the only person besides "our" travel agent that we now deal with.

Too late. We're on Orion next month, but thanks. So do they have a menu posted at this window?

That would explain how we have missed it. So it is a window from the kitchen then?

That would be lovely. We would very much enjoy that.