tcdcruiser

Thanks for the update. I was hoping to met up with Oscar for our July PP cruise. Any word on a possible return date?

Happy cruising.

Is Oscar Perego still aboard the Pacific?

Thanks

Does anyone have any experience or advice regarding luggage shipment (FedEx, etc.) between the US and Santiago.

Plan to visit Machu Picchu before a 30 day cruise that departs Santiago and would really, really like to not take the cruise clothes all the way to Machu Picchu the week before the cruise.

Thanks in advance.

yes. at least on the last 2 one day cruise i have taken.

Heard embarkation delayed due to coast guard inspection. Anyone know why?

Cheers

I too was aboard for the 12/10 sailing. While I agree "dire" is too strong "tired" IMHO is a better word to describe the condition in a few areas. The upholstered furniture near the Explorer's Lounge and Sabatini's on Deck 7 were as bad as I have ever seen. The sofa in my mini was clearly well beaten from long use.

Nevertheless, the service, food, and entertainment were excellent. Best embarkation ever - arrived aty 1130 AM, lunch in the MDR by 1215 PM and luggage delivered before 2 PM!

I'll be back aboard in October 2016 for the Hawaii cruise and hope to see new furniture.

Cheers

Searched without success. What's the story about the new SF Cruise Terminal on rainy days?? Do I recall that some queues may be outside?

Cheers

Does this imply that repairs are complete? I hope to board for the 12/10 cruise.

another aft vote. the comment about forward having more motion i think is true. ever notice a ship with MDRs forward?

another aft vote. the comment about forward having more motion i think is true. ever notice a ship with MDRs forward?

So a meta upgrade is an interior to balcony, or balcony to mini suite, or mini suite to full suite? Not this silly stuff a few cabins down the hall?

Aboard the Ruby a few days ago. Purchased a frig magnet and had the Princess sales rep hand me the magnet AND my cruise card (in direct contact) to me at the sales counter.

Go figure

This appears to be the official URL for the Argentina's Embassy in the US. The URL provides information and payment instructions for the entry fee.

http://www.embassyofargentina.us/embassyofargentina.us/en/consularsection/tramites/reciprocityfee.html

Prices do vary based on demand and season. Nevertheless having a method to compare cruise to cruise is useful.

I use a concept I called cost per person per day. I only include cruise plus tax and port charges.

I find my Princess cruises over the last five years vary between $175 and $225 per person per day for a mini suite. When I find a cruise for $275 per person per day I think twice.

iMHO find your range and do the math.

Happy cruising.

Used my fcc today with a big box TA. Had to call to make it happen rather use just the web. No problem.

In 2017 the Crown will stop in BA for 3 days and 2 nights. Does anyone know if you can leave the ship overnight. Hope to visit Iguazu Falls.

Happy cruising.

IMHO

This is another example of Viking (priced like sebourn and Oceania) acting like carnival.

Travelers who appreciate fist class service will remember when it is time to book the next cruise.

Visited Rotterdam a few weeks ago on the Royal.

Princess typically docks very close to city center. Near the Erasmusbrug bridge , adjacent to the old Holland America HQ building.

Of course - no idea if the ship will be on time.

The docking location is very close to the Metro (intercity subway) Wilhelminaplein that can take you to the Rotterdam Central Train station.

I was aboard the Viking Hlin and the Royal Princess during the month of May 2015. Here is the CC URL for the Viking cruise http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2219219

While it is difficult to compare I can offer a few thoughts.

Stateroom

While small, the Viking cabins are fine. I usually book a Princess mini suite but nevertheless found the Viking cabin adequate. You will find the showers quite smaller than Princess.

Staff

Very comparable to Princess.

Food

Very comparable to Princess.

Entertainment

Viking, due to space constraints, has no entertainment. However, the piano player was quite good.

Cost

Here's the big difference. Price per person per day on Viking is dramatically more expensive. Cost for our Viking Veranda Cat A stateroom (7 days) was $10k and the Princess Royal Trans Atlantic (14 days) for a mini suite was $5K.

Final Thoughts

We were delighted with the Viking ports (Rhine River), but was disappointed in the shore excursions. Viking prices their product as if they were Seabourn, but fail to deliver that level of service.

Rothbury

The shuttle drops off and picks up directly in front of st Nicholas Catholic Church. Amsterdam central train station is several hundred yards away.

We did not know the shuttle location until we embarked and returned to the city center.

You are correct Viking transfers from ams knew where the ship was docked.

Here’s my review of the May 19th sailing of the Viking Hlin from Amsterdam to Basel. I am an experienced ocean cruiser but this was my first river cruise. I journeyed to Europe on the Royal Princess and returned to NYC on the Queen Mary 2 (Queen’s Grill or QG). I mention QM2 QG since it is an interesting comparison as the Viking voyage and the QM2 first class voyage were the same length and same price.

Embarkation

Viking’s pre-cruise documentation stated that the ship would be docked not far from the Amsterdam Central train station. Viking provided a map with the 3 possible docking locations. Arrived at each location and was unable to locate the ship or any Viking personnel. Eventually found the ship (using MarineTraffic.com) about 5 miles away in an industrial area. I had to download the app onto my smart phone while in the taxi to find the ship! Overheard a number of other passengers complaining at the service desk on this issue.

After embarkation learned that the shuttle only ran once per hour and we had a 50 minute wait before we could return to Amsterdam. The embarkation area is very industrial with no retail and no taxi nearby. Given the remote location the infrequent shuttle was disappointing.

The Stateroom

While small our Veranda Stateroom (Category A - #307) was quite adequate and very well designed. The tiny balcony was a delight as it offered lots of light, fresh air and very nice views. The overall cabin layout is quite cleaver and thoughtful. Lots of electrical outlets for all the battery operated gadgets.

The Food

IMHO the food was very comparable to your typical ocean cruise. Nothing special. Very close to the quality and composition of the meals we ate aboard the Royal Princess the 2 weeks earlier. The Viking food was a distant second to the meals aboard the QM2’s QG Dining room.

Ports of Call

The destination cities and historical structures were stellar. Cologne, Marksburg, the middle Rhine River valley, Strasbourg (etc.) are all wonderful destinations and well worth the visit.

Tour Guides

IMHO (again) Viking needs to make some changes.

For example, we arrived near the Cologne Cathedral (the signature attraction) and spent the first hour walking the blocks nearby. It seems that large groups (like Viking) are allocated time slots for the Cathedral. Flow control I suppose. So we wandered the nearby blocks for an hour until our moment arrived. Independent visitors can walk into the cathedral at any time.

Another example. Arrived Strasbourg and spent the first hour on a drive-by of the suburbs. While I appreciate the importance of the Council of Europe versus the European Union, driving by the modern buildings was a waste of time. An extra hour walking the streets of La Petite France or seeing the EU HQ from a moving bus window?

Another example was the Heidelberg Castle. While a must see destination within the town, the castle is mostly ruins. Our tour group spend 40 minutes standing in the sun on one side of the structure and 40 minutes on the other side standing in the shade. Standing and looking at the structure, with our guide talking, seemed like hours and not minutes.

A final example. Opted for the extra cost tour of Colmar. Quite a lovely village. After the first 45 minutes of the walking tour we walked pass the church that contained the 1516 Issenheim Altarpiece – the town’s most famous artifact. A visit to the Altarpiece was not included in the walking tour, so we left the group. I’m sure many passengers had no idea what they had missed.

Maybe Viking thinks that they need to create a very tightly controlled shore excursion experience to offer some level of comfort to the inexperience traveler. I think that If Viking wants to attract the baby boomer generation, a group that is a more active and independent, they have some work to do.

Viking Staff

All quite nice and very willing to offer advice and assistance.

End of cruise tipping is a bit odd. For one, you cannot use OBC for tips. This was really annoying since our TA had given me $500 in OBC. As almost everything is included in the base price you are hard pressed to spend any OBC.

Also, the suggested tip of 2 euro per person per day for the cruise director is interesting. If you start doing the math for the cruise director (90 cabins, 180 people, and 40 to 50 working weeks per year) you get to some large numbers very fast. When you consider this money is cash, it is even more impressive. I speculate that Viking has basically hired the cruise director just like you’d hire a commissioned sales person.

Having made this observation about the cruise director's suggested tip, know that I’m very happy to tip. I always auto-tip and always put something extra in the hands of selected crew. The Viking suggestion just seem inequitable.

Disembarkation

Excellent. Taxi and luggage on-time and in exactly the right place.

Final Word

While it was a great voyage I was disappointed in some aspects. Viking has priced the product at a "first class" price point but the embarkation experience, the food quality and guided tours delivered a "coach or economy" rather than a first class experience.

While Your mileage may vary it is also my experience that $40 to $60 USD and a request "the best you can arrange" will deliver a table not six inches from the next patron.

Also.......overheard several irate customers at the customer service desk discussing the issue.

Totally familiar with the three documented and disclosed Viking docking areas in Amsterdam. The ship was located in a area several miles from all three. Viking did not share the change. I was able to locate the ship via marine traffic.com.

Thankfully due to cc I was aware a change might happen. As such I had marine traffic.com loaded on my smartphone.

Boarded the Viking hiln yesterday in the industrial area outside of town. Noted one other river ship adjacent to the hiln. Many, many other river boats adjacent to Amsterdam central rail station.

Viking shuttle only ran once per hour. Not exactly convent.