PasadenaDave

I saw Andy’s post on his blog and commented there. I continue to have the experience that Princess and HAL come nowhere near what Viking provides and I say this despite having to follow up to be refunded a Viking cancelled excursion. today we booked New Zealand to Australia for next December. The agent was working from home in Arizona. She was most helpful and found our information from past cruises in the system quickly. We were satisfied with the service despite what the cost of flights are now, but that isn’t Viking as I regularly fly to Sacramento on Southwest and prices are up 40% since March

Do you suggest doing a pre cruise in Auckland on your own? It seems with a compact city and language similar to North American English that paying extra for a Viking pre cruise doesn’t seem necessary.

Galataport is the cruise terminal. This is in the city which is huge. I’m not certain what you cal “the city itself”. Istanbul is very congested and sometimes it can take forever to go only a few miles.

Holiday Inn is to NCL as Hilton is to Viking?

Clay and Mike, I am following you again. Today I frequently doze off as yesterday we flew Amman-LHR-LAX. We did Viking Nile on the Ra with pre cruise in Jerusalem and post in Jordan

Well I just had two drinks with lunch. Both Stella’s. We are alongside in Aswan Egypt on the RA. We flew to Abu Simbel and back today

You are being redundant as a martini contains gin, anything else is another drink

This was inexcusable. Follow manufacturers specifications especially when dealing with pressurized items

I equate the overpriced gondola ride to sitting next to the stage at Moulin Rouge....AMAZING. I have to add that we had the bonus to to on the musicians gondola so it was just the two of us. I think we were in many videos posted on Instagram based on the number of cameras aimed at our boat

I would echo longterm. We also docked at Maghera last May at the end of our cruise. We also did a few days post cruise in Venice. I have concluded that Venice is a place to be properly visited by staying on one of the islands and not part of a cruise. This is not to say that you should not take a cruise which concludes in Venice, we did and we would again and this time spend even more time in Venice. Now I will point out that if the water taxi takes 1 hour 20 minutes to St Marks from Chioggia then that really isn't that much different when considering an entire day than transit to St Marks from the Venice Cruise Terminal. Given the time spent ship to water bus, wait to depart and travel to destination the shorter trip would probably be 45 minutes. Yes a ship in Venice allows for one to return to the ship during the day and then back out for the evening but given the requirements facing cruises, Chioggia is probably the best option of any other cruise lines except for very small ships which are still allowed in Venice

I guess that I am the Ocean Pacific as someone referred to me as the OP. I really enjoyed Ocean Pacific shorts, made of corduroy. We like the over Christmas itinerary and expense or crowds early January are not an issue as we would not extend the trip. Arriving one day early and staying one extra day is enough given the length of the cruise as we really don’t like being away longer than three weeks. We do enjoy days at sea and have done Hawaii round trip from San Pedro.

We are looking at Viking next December. What is the preferred direction or does it matter?

You might want to research parking at a monthly rate in a structure elsewhere in San Pedro or Long Beach and take a cab or Uber to the ship. It might be cheaper. We did roundtrip to Hawaii in November 2018 and one day had 35 foot seas but we hit them head on and thus it was gentle up and down. Remember that the Pacific is big and deep allowing for a long fetch. The seas might be big but not steep like in the North Sea or Med where smaller seas are much more uncomfortable

We did Hawaii from San Pedro in 2018. The sea days were very relaxing and enjoyable even the day we had 35 foot seas which we hit head on. The water wasn’t that rough given the long fetch. The worst part of the trip is the required stop in Ensenada

Actually a tortfeasor who fails to consider Medicares interest in a claim can later be called on to pay the lien in effect paying it twice

And to think that the spouse of a hard working doctor was upset that he couldn’t wear jeans in the dining room! What is the world coming to?

I recall a time at Guest Services on Viking last May in which clearly two of the young Vikings were in training mode. I found them to be attentive and helpful, It was clear that they were being trained and a more senior advisor was present. I would tend to think that most people who spend the money required to sail on Viking would be patient and understanding of staff being trained on the job especially after a pandemic with a labour (bowing to Brits, Canadians, and Aussies on these boards with spelling) shortage. Those who earned the money to travel in this manner understand the time it takes to become versed in the tasks at hand. One does not instantly know how to do things. The eye roll? Not a training issue but a flaw of youth and character

I'm not defending this current situation at Southwest, but I am fortunate to live where this airline truly excels, the Southwest. I routinely fly Burbank to Sacramento up and back the same day for less than $150. For an additional $20 I am able to change the return flight if space available for no fee that same day, My longest journey with them is Burbank to Denver. I never fly Southwest for longer flights, but like I said, I use them where they provide excellent service. I don't think JetBlue will rebook you on another airline either.

Jim Avery, sorry to hear about being stranded in San Juan. The trouble with San Juan is that you can't drive there from Phoenix.

Also keep in mind that insurance does not provide for seats to magically appear to get you to your destination.

But before the impacts of weather in the Midwest and Northeast, Seattle and Portland had almost two full days of Airport closures from ice. The New York centered news cabal doesn’t think much happens west of Chicago

Yes, but it is still very early in the process and this is the busiest travel period of the year before throwing in major weather issues. For crying out loud Southwest had 2/3 of their flights canceled Monday. None of this is easy for the airlines, travel companies or travel insurance providers. I say that despite my low expectations for customer service these days. You are correct in that nothing is clear.

Flying between Christmas and New Years provides little leeway for changes given how full flights are. Flying Boston to Ontario, CA twenty years ago December 26,Jet Blue, missed flight due to snow got on standby to Oakland. We had over two hours delay and multiple de icing sessions. We pulled back to the gate and people were offered to get off but we were told that there were no seats on the airline leaving Boston until January 3. Flight loads are higher now so I suspect it is tough to find an empty seat anywhere in the US for the remainder of this week. I have great sympathy for them, but this matter might be out of everyone’s control, but they should get the courtesy of an answered or return phone call.

The bus wound up the steep road above Kotor which was amazing in and of itself amazing. We stopped at the top for the view which was obscured by clouds and continued to a place where they make protuitto the traditional way and had a local sandwich and beer or wine. We continued through the National Park to Cetinje with a house tour of a former leader and learned history and we walked the town square getting a feel for life in a non tourist area. The bus then made the long descent to Budva on the coast and then back north to Kotor and the ship. The guide who was the same as the walking tour “Vladimir” he said some of us with this name are good, made for a very informative day. I would say 2 1/2 hours on the ground at the three stops but the first was only ten minutes I admit that I was hesitant when we signed up for this tour but I was blown away. I must include the disclaimer that I like mountains, scenery and seeing how locals live outside of tourist areas. If you are an in shape hiker there are some very steep trails leading out of town. I would have liked to have hiked up a few hundred feet in elevation but that is for another visit

We did both of those tours in Kotor. Walking in the morning and highlights a few hours later. We loved Montenegro, especially the highlights tour up in the mountains. Kotor is a magical place. We actually preferred it over Dubrovnik and we loved Dubrovnik!