longterm

I stand corrected! Another reason to look for insurance other than TripMate from Viking.

One important thing that you probably already know is this: if you should decide to change your cruise for whatever reason--which Viking will allow you do, giving you a credit towards another cruise--any trip insurance is not transferrable, so you lose the money you spent on trip insurance. We've bought trip insurance for some cruises but not all; I would tell you we have a formula for deciding which we've insured, but we really don't. For example, we didn't get insurance for our next cruise to the Panama Canal in March, but we did get insurance for the river cruise next fall. We've used Air+ when we've flown in early for 2 different cruises and it was fine for us. We've berthed in the front of the ship on the 8th deck (a junior penthouse) and didn't notice any issues at all with rough seas. We've also had rooms in the center of the ship, and honestly I haven't noticed any difference at all. On our next cruises we'll be midships, lower deck, so I'm curious to see if I notice any difference at all. Of course, it also depends on the seas at the time, but when we rounded the tip of Italy, where seas were extremely rough, we had no problems at all.

Perhaps luggage forwarding requires different rules than with carryon or self-checked baggage; I always travel with a Kindle, iPad, and laptop; sometimes I've put my laptop in my suitcase, but usually all of those go into a carryone backpack or rolling briefcase. I put electronics in suitcases ALL the time; when I'm on a trip where there won't be a Nespresso machine, I bring my own (just like what is on the Viking ships), and have never had an issue with it.

If you have an iPhone, you can plug it in and use it for ambient sounds. We sleep to ocean sounds every night; there are lots of them on the itunes store, so just choose one, and put it on LOOP, and it'll play all night long. I have an old CD that came from the Nature Company years ago, and is 40 minutes of gentle ocean surf. I created a playlist, and put that CD on there 15 times, which means it'll play for 600 minutes, or 10 hours. Works great, and we've used it for years in hotels and onboard Viking ships.

I totally agree; we're planning a train trip through Switzerland and Italy and will return to Venice that way. Unfortunately, they're managing to make cruise ship visits so difficult that it's going to end up ruining their tourist business there (perhaps that's their end game). We were on the Italy, Adriatic & Greece cruise in March; we were apparently one of the first cruise ships back to Venice after the pandemic. We docked at Fusina, then the ship moved to Marghera the 2nd day, then back to Fusina again. The bus jaunts back and forth from the ship weren't bad, but I wish we had gotten to get there on a cruise when docking in the lagoon was still an option. Had they allowed vaporettos or private taxis from Fusina to St. Mark's Square, the experience would have been better--but that's not an option. Docking in a chemical plant wasn't what we expected either; on our beds that morning we found a sheet of paper telling us what to do if we heard an alarm warning us of a problem in the chemical plant. Didn't warm the cockles of my heart. Having said all that though, it was great seeing Venice, and we look forward to returning--by land.

If you haven't already, sign up at myVikingJourney.com and enter your booking number; you'll then be able to see a rectangle for ONBOARD EXPERIENCE; click there, then you'll see a tab for DINING & BEVERAGE; you'll see the date on which you can make dining reservations. I'd recommend that you make them as soon as they're available, since Manfredi's and Chef's Table fill up quickly. Sometimes you'll only see 8pm reservation options; I grabbed those and then went on board the ship and moved them wherever possible.

It's easy to use; while I would expect you'll never need it these days, it would be a huge pain to have to sit in the terminal while it gets sorted out. We'll definitely have it ready when we go on our March cruise, if Viking says we'll need it... it's like carrying an umbrella--a pain to carry with you, but great when it rains.

A physician friend of mine told me long ago to always pack Pepto-Bismol tablets; he said that if we were to eat these every day we'd never suffer from a stomach ailment while in a country like Mexico, where tap water is notoriously unhealthy. We did the smarter thing and avoided tap water, but if you get a mixed drink with ice, it's probably made with tap water. We also bring the antibiotic Cipro as well; having travelled a good bit in Southeast Asia, I learned long ago to prepare.

The woman we had in Athens was a local; she was only with us for those 4 days, but we were really glad to have her. She had to organize Covid testing the morning before our departure--which turned into a bit of a mess when the medical technician showed up almost an hour late after a wreck on the freeway, and the temperature in the hallway outside the meeting room was about 80 degrees. She also had to be at the hotel the next morning at something like 3am to get us all to the airport. I know, it was her job, but she did it particularly well.

Ah, makes sense. Just like railroad engines, which are "electro-motive," and are actually electric engines on each wheel, powered by huge diesel generators. Hadn't thought about it being the same on a ship, but it makes total sense.

Interesting; I didn't know there were ships running on LNG. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the diesel used on large ships a less-refined type of diesel? I would have to think that at this point, there are only a limited number of ports that can refuel hyrogen-powered ships, right? If so, where would you think these ships are going to be situated?

We tipped our director in Athens, because not only did she help us find a good place to find an inexpensive suitcase (to haul back treasures), but she also arranged a driver for us. She also directed us to a nearby Greek restaurant that was home-owned and really excellent.

Wouldn't the engines be drastically different? I know nothing about hydrogen engines, but I always assumed they were totally difference, since they don't rely on the same sort of combustion mechanisms that gasoline/diesel do. But of course, I ask this knowing absolutely nothing about either hydrogen engines or giant ship engines, and I can tell from your posts that you DO know! 🙂

I agree. My wife and I never talk politics outside a tiny group of like-minded friends, but we decided that it might be time to try to influence the vote in our state--so we put a campaign sign in our yard, hoping we might sway one of our neighbors. I tend to think of this discussion in a similar vein; if a discussion about tipping encourages others to give a little extra to the workers on Viking cruises, then that's a good thing, IMO. It's a private choice, of course. Another adage my wife and I live by, that I read somewhere a long time ago: "Never pass up the opportunity to be generous."

True. I have a few rules I live by: a) Be honest, even when nobody is watching or when you might be able to get away with something; b) Pay it forward; c) Ask yourself what your motivation is.

But if it makes me feel good, and at the same time, makes THEM feel good, I'd call that a win-win.

Yes, it's good to be able to see Port Talks later in the evening if you missed it earlier (which we invariably did).

Same on cruises we’ve taken; unfortunately, the TV and movie channels almost never worked on our last cruise. Hoping for better on next cruise in March. Not a huge movie selection, but on a cruise we don’t watch TV anyway. The list of lectures haven’t changed in a while either.

I've been reading in the Panama Canal forum for the last hour, and have a lot more information than I had before: Partial vs. Full Transit Most people who have done both recommended a full transit; however, looking at ports of call for the partial (Fort Lauderdale to Fort Lauderdale, which we're doing) versus full transit (Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles), we prefer the partial transit. The other point that was often made was that although most who have done both transits prefer the full transit, the partial transit is a great experience and well worth it. Most of the people who commented said that if you ARE doing the partial transit (as we are), the ferry excursion gives you the entire transit experience. It's a full day, but we're definitely going to choose this excursion. Train ride The train ride is also a full day, but a lot of the time it's not near the canal and more for railroad buffs than for those who want to see the canal. Embera Indians excursion The excursion to see the Embera Indians sounds great, and had good reviews, but we can only do one, so we're going to go on the ferry excursion. Here's a link to the Panama Canal forum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/54-panama-canal/ Bob

The TVs in the rooms are throttled so that you can't turn them up very much; at their loudest it's often too low to watch a movie, especially with the way movie soundtracks are these days.

On our trip in March, TV almost never worked...

We're going on the Panama Canal cruise in March, so I'm starting to plan our excursions. Has anyone done the Panama Canal Railway excursion? I know that it's a one-way train ride and the other way will be by bus; any info on how the excursion would be most appreciated. Thanks! Bob

Here's what we do: we usually prepay for gratuities, and then we always give our room steward an extra tip, since he's the one person who works for us every day. If we do order room service, we tip the server; having seen videos showing the rooming spaces on cruise ships, and knowing that these people are gone from home 6 months at a time, we personally like to "pay it forward" by being a little extra-generous with ship employees. We don't leave tips in the restaurants however, at least haven't in the past; I don't know what ship workers make, but my guess is that, by US standards, it's not much. We were in Cancun a week ago; on the last day there, our room wasn't made up because we were in it that afternoon; room servicing ends at 6pm at that hotel. At about 10 minutes before 6 we spotted the maid in the hallway, and she came over and was about to start cleaning the room. I slipped her a $20, and the look on her face was priceless--we made her day, and my wife and I still talk about it; I expect that the daily pay for a housekeeper in Cancun is not much more than what we gave her. Our new plan is to pick one person on every trip we take, and give them a really special tip; on a Viking cruise we'll probably pick a random person other than our room steward.

Sorry to hear your wife got food poisoning; that is NO FUN at all. Glad you enjoyed Corfu; we had one of our best meals there at a a little cafe we happened to walk by. Had avocado tzatziki, which was amazing and which I’m yet to be able to duplicate. Stopped at a little cafe for coffee, and when I inquired about the espresso cups, the manager, who happened to be sitting nearby, gave me one. Very nice gesture! We were pleasantly surprised by all the stops down to Greece; one of these days we’ll go back. A beautiful part of the world. I sincerely hope your wife feels better quickly. Bob

I agree with you about Chef's Table; we've tried it on each cruise, and been disappointed each time. While I wouldn't say it was 'bad,' I'd just say that meals in the other restaurants were always better for us. My vote would be for Chef's Table to be converted to a specialty restaurant like Manfredi's, but with of course a different menu; my vote would be for seafood, or perhaps for themes that change--but not the way Chef's Table is now. I'd rather have menu choices.