keokukjoe

Dinner at Chef's Table last night, California menu was lovely. The halibut in a champagne vinaigrette was superb. Feta cheese and his lovely wife stopped by to say hello. Nice to finally meet! Interesting lecture about the history of Spain yesterday. Like our PV1 cabin. More than enough room and so much storage space. Crew is lovely. For fellow passengers, go to guest sign up today to sign up for the optional liquor and wine tastings which are included with the SSBP. They are filling up fast. Included offerings are: Single Malt, Old World Wine, Armagnac and Gin tastings. Looking forward to our sea day today after our exhausting 30 hour journey yesterday.

We have an 8pm reservation at Chef's Table tonight. Maybe we'll see you there and can tell you how a single missing screw in a wing panel on a Delta 717 almost made us cancel our trip!

Per "Google Translate": Investigation of very serious marine accident south of Cape Horn The Norwegian Accident Investigation Board has decided to investigate the maritime accident with the passenger vessel Viking Polaris. On Tuesday 29 November 2022, the vessel was south of Cape Horn, when the ship was hit by a large wave and several windows to the passenger cabins were smashed. One passenger died and four others were injured. Last updated: 01.12.2022

See you on the 3rd!

Is the cost for the wine tastings mentioned in the 'Viking Daily" included if you purchase the Silver Spirits package? Thanks.

In the future I recommend that you speak to Steve at the Trip Insurance Store. He has policies that cover the value of the vouchers. He's very detail oriented. Also his policies are less expensive than TripMate and if you need to make a claim, he and his staff intervenes and gets things processed correctly.

I understand that the room service breakfast menu doesn't have certain items that we would like (eg eggs benedict, lamb chops). Is it possible to "write in" these items and get them for room service?

Check MVJ, Pre-Cruise requirements. Recently updated to show new masking and testing (pre-cruise and/or on-board) requirements for certain countries. This was updated on 10/19.

That's great news but have you received the reimbursement yet?

Thanks for your great summary. One question, did the Silver Spirits package cover the cost of the whiskey tasting? Wishing you safe travels home.

We had no problems making dining reservations. Received email from Viking titled 'Please Make Your Dining and Spa Reservations Tomorrow" on 9/23. Reservations were supposed to be open at 8PM PST on 9/24. They were actually open early in the AM on 9/24. We were able to reserve our allotment of "guaranteed" reservations at the times we wanted. My only problem with their system is that one makes reservations for "Chef's Table" without knowing what the menu will be. May have to change them once on board.

Now that the passenger counts are finally getting back up to almost pre-pandemic levels, are the crew numbers approaching normal or are there noticeable staff shortages impacting service? Thanks.

https://www.unionesarda.it/en/italy/the-wind-breaks-the-moorings-of-a-cruise-ship-over-a-thousand-people-on-board-h1m9ga0w https://www.ravennanotizie.it/cronaca/2022/09/17/la-viking-sea-con-870-passeggeri-a-bordo-e-circa-200-membri-di-equipaggio-e-stata-riportata-in-sicurezza-alle-13/ And there are others.

Hopefully you will be able to resume your cruise soon and that Viking will make certain that everything is safe before proceeding. Best news is that no one was injured. I'm concerned about your statement that: "The provided service hasn't met what we experienced on our 2019 B-A Rhine trip." Several of the written reports about this incident state that there are 800-870 passengers but only 200 crew. I hope that is not correct. That is far below the passenger/crew ratio that Viking advertises and if true, may be the reason you are not experiencing the level of service that you expected. I would greatly appreciate it if you would please let us know the passenger and crew #'s on your voyage. Guest services can give you that information. And before any "Viking Cheerleader" chimes in, we have a right to expect staffing levels to be what is advertised and if a line can't do that for what ever reason, including Covid, they need to limit the number of passengers on the ship.

I pray that you are all safe. Did you feel the crash into the rocks during the storm? So frightening.