Mich3554

We did this tour too for the same reasons. It was a very long and busy day and I can’t imagine trying to tack the Vatican in on top of it.

They are a piece of cake compared to other countries. Chile’s make your head spin.

We cross the border several times each month and at this point dealing with ArriveCAN isn’t an issue. We will be crossing again on Sunday. Once everything is uploaded, it stays in the system and merely becomes a chore of going into the record of telling them when and where we are crossing the border.

Seriously doubt this cruise will be canceled. The Neptune is leaving Europe for the start of the World Cruise in FL in Dec.

Being able to make a reservation on board is still an advanced reservation. If you get shut out of a reservation once onboard, then there is a problem. But I don’t see how making a guaranteed reservation NOW complies with their promise.

We were waiting forever to get through security in (I think) Chile last Dec. Other than the normal Covid madness which had slowed things down to a crawl, someone decided to bring some fruit into the country. Courtesy of this, things slowed down even more as EVERYONE got screened much more thoroughly and our excursions were delayed even further. We go across the US Canadian border frequently enough that we bring very limited things back or over.

Not much dressing up either Christmas or New Year’s Eve. We did get an incredible chocolate extravaganza one year. Viking ships are gorgeous at Christmas, they decorate them up well. Our next cruise will be the third Christmas we spent on board.

Vodafone worked in Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Czech Republic. You do not have to get a plan in each country. You just cannot buy a plan in one country and top off with more data in another.

This is what we do when we travel. At least one of our phones has a data plan when we get to Europe. We have used Vodafone in the past, they work in all countries we have tried, but you cannot be in a different country than where you bought it to top off your data plan (we discovered that the plan bought in Germany cannot be topped off in Prague). This was my goof, I should have bought a bigger data plan than the smallest available, even if it was in excess. Next trip, I think we are going to try Airalo. Downloaded the app, but haven’t had a chance to try it out yet.

This is what we do too. We mostly fly Delta, or it’s partners. When we flew Emirates last year, the seating was different and I had to climb over DH to go to the bathroom. We were seated on the side. For the trip home, there were 3 pods in the center of the plane where we were seated, but and no one in the third, so it was easier to get in and out.

So much of being able to check in early depends on whether the rooms are ready. In my experience, we are somewhere around 50% of the time. Smartest thing I did when we flew to AMS in April was to schedule a tour that afternoon. We were able to drop our luggage, freshen up and go to Keukenof. By the time we got back, our room was ready. I’ll be keeping this in mind the next flight overseas. That was probably my easiest recovery from jet lag I have had.

There is a restaurant that is along the main route along the water where all the pics of Bergen show where they have quite possibly the best seafood chowder ever (even better than mine….and mine is very good). I had the chowder and mussels, I believe DH had the fish and chips. Despite me sharing, he didn’t share his, other than a chip or 2 I could snag from him. I don’t remember him saying that they were the best he has had….but we live in the PNW and I can point out a dozen very good places a stone’s throw away.

Most shows last about 45 minutes.

Our first cruise was on the Viking Sun. It was a Trans Atlantic, Lisbon to Miami. After they dumped up, they were starting a world cruise (which is how this came on my radar). That would have been Jan 2019.

There are frequently 2 shows, the Viking Daily I just looked at had the ABBA show at 7:30 and 9:15.

I have not cruises solo, but on the extended cruise we took last winter, the guy in the cabin next to us was solo. When we all met each other at the Viking dinner they put on for those of us who refused to get off the ship ;), it’s almost like we all formed a separate group. Solo guy wound up always having dinner partners. If it wasn’t DH and myself, it was others. He did say something going on an excursion one morning that he wouldn’t have been going on this particular excursion if his wife was there. His wife was still too concerned about traveling with Covid.

Have you asked your PT if there are alternative exercises that require no, or different equipment? My PT was able to put together exercises for what I could easily find on a ship, or could easily pack.

When we were on the B2B2B last winter, Viking planned an evening for those of us who had gotten on in Barcelona and were continuing on in Buenos Aires to Santiago. As I remember, there were 24 of us and they broke us up into the 2 dining rooms that were available, and we all ate off the Manfredi’s menu. It was a very nice evening.

I think with the other 2 couples who went with us on our river cruise, we got $100 off for each referral, and so did they. But we as a group only booked 3 cabins.

We just got off the Grand European in May. Service is the same phenomenal service you’d expect from Viking. I have my eye on one to book for fall of 2023 right now, after we get off the WC. They are different beasts. River cruises seem much easier as you don’t have the same security. There is a bit more freedom in that a lot of the included excursions are ‘here are the highlights of this town, go and enjoy. The bus leaves at xxx or if you want to walk back, on board time is yyy.’ I missed sea days, you are in a different port (or sometimes 2) each day. I think the house wines are better on the river cruises. We don’t buy the drink packages, and our last trip our bar tab was $88. Usually our bar tab on a 15 day cruise is about $250. Dining is different in that it is much more structured. I don’t think I’d use a river cruise to decide to choose Viking for a WC. There are enough differences that I think you should experience an ocean cruise before you plunk down that much $$. For instance, if you hate sea days (and many do) then a string of sea days which you’ll find on a WC will make you miserable.

When I booked our first cruise, I had a mental list not dissimilar from Andy’s. We had never been on a cruise. There were a few non negotiable by DH. No formal wear, and a small ship, so that eliminated a lot. No kids, casinos or auctions was a plus as far as we were concerned. I found Viking, we got a cabin about 2 months before sailing (it was a trans Atlantic) so we really got a chance to check out the amenities. 6 cruises later and untold thousands of $$$ (I really don’t wanna know how much we have spent on Viking cruises so far), we have no interest in looking further.

Yep. We keep an empty gift card in my wallet for this purpose. The first time I realized this, I dropped my kindle off to charge. It didn’t, I thought it was a funky cord and was ticked off as it was the only cord I had to charge it with me.

Travel by far is our largest item on our budget. Our cars are 15 years old and we have no debt. Yes, stocks have figured strongly in the budget but for the most part, we live pretty lean when not traveling. DH is in a profession where they desperately need his knowledge and are willing to pay for it, so he has accepted contract positions for a set time, then he retires again. Those bolster the travel budget. I guess whether we do this again depends on what happens when we get back from our first WC. The planets seemed to align for us for this one.

We are booked in a PV for the 22-23 WC in Dec. We did a trial run with a 54 day B2B2B last winter to see both how the room worked and changes needed in how we pack. On that cruise, both DH and I took a single 25” bag and a backpack. The cruise went from Athens to Santiago, Chile and we had about a 50 deg temp differential. The PV has a lot of drawers….more than I thought. There were 3 in the desk, 3 in the closet, 7 in the credenza and 2 (?) under the safe. We had more space than we needed, TBH. The big drawer in the credenza was not used (we used it to hold dirty clothes), and neither were the drawers under the safe. However, we DO use the sofa quite a bit, especially at night when DH’s legs are driving him nuts. We could go smaller, but at this point it is what it is. I wonder if it is like flying business….it’s really hard to go back!

Just be aware that when you remove your room key from the slot that controls the power to the room, the power goes off from the USB ports too. So if you are charging something while away from your room, nothing gets charged.