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We had no issue getting seated for 2 or dining with new friends in The Restaurant. WC, we almost always ended up at larger tables, but that was part of the fun was chatting with folks.

That's really interesting. I did end up talking to the head chef and he said that all food is Viking recipes and that it should be consistent. He also indicated that the food is loaded up at the start and not replenished until the end which has some impact on what's possible. I was able to navigate a bit better to find what I liked after a few days. But overall, found Manfreddi's to be very good, Chef's Table to be borderline terrible, and everything else somewhere in between that. My husband is wanting to go to Greece and that's a place that's so known for its food and I'm not sure I could do a Viking trip to a region famous for delicious food. Other than that, I loved my cruise so much and would love to go again. Maybe Antarctica where there is no local food 🙂

What are you up to today? We are doing the animals one. We are on the 6th floor. Chef’s Table was pretty bad the other night. We are there again tonight and i would hope they could at least step that one up. We haven’t done manifreddi’s yet i’ve found the congee is pretty good for breakfast. Last night i had the venison at The Restaurant, and it was maybe 3 out of 5 stars, which is better than a lot. The orange juice somehow got better also. Vegas can manage to do great buffet food, at scale. And i think folks are being overly forgiving in expectations. i don’t expect everything to be outstanding but I do expect at least SOME of it to be. And i would not expect anything to be inedible, and yet, i have found a lot of that. Also, our excursion tomorrow is 5 hours and lists a snack. Yesterday’s snack was one tea biscuit (and i didn’t even get one! LOL!) not sure about that either. p.s. I’m not griping about everything. The Viking staff are amazing, the spa facilities are beyond expectation. And i enjoyed yesterday’s default excursion (and the totem pole lecture on ship was great to isten to on the tv AFTER the excursion 🙂 )

I appreciate the French fry tip! It is subjective to some extent. You might like fish and i might hate it. You might dislike spicy and i may love it. But no one likes dried out food, and few like flavorless food. Even the orange juice tasted like water (though this morning tasted like orange juice.) i did discover congee this morning and that was happy making for me. But the hash browns tasted of old oil. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ it is what it is. I’m enjoying the heck out of everything else. I just thought the food would be great, especially at Chef’s Table.

I have been disappointed by the food on Viking. Much of it seems bland. Almost all of it is the taste of disappointment. Chef’s Table had decent plating but none of it was great. If it were a restaurant and i got a bill for it, I’d have rated it 2 out of 5 stars for the food and 5 out of 5 for the service. i lived in Vegas for a long time and i know that you can provide tasty food at scale. (Vegas has some great buffets that probably easily turn 1000 people in a day.) The crew is so fantastic. And when they ask “how is everything”, i don’t feel like i can say what i think, in part because, i don’t think there’s anything they can do. i’m also wondering if food has gone downhill as it seems people generally like the food. Other than that, everything else is beyond expectation.

I brought a checked bag. My husband mocked me relentlessly! 😂 But it was still a bit too small and i should have got a bigger suitcase! It does seem ridiculous but it also meant i could have all the liquids i wanted! We leave tomorrow. i appreciate everyone’s help.

Don't you need a vacuum for the compression?

We're in NW Montana and up until literally today, it's been pretty wintry. 🙂 We prefer cooler weather and don't do well in heat. (I've also wondered if the room would have some way to get cool air in but i guess with the balcony that's all good.) My favorite weather is sunny, dry, 40°-70F (but sunny and dry might not happen either, but that's ok.)

We are going to Alaska. It sounds like we should expect rain, cold, and warm. Packing for cold weather or variable weather always takes more suitcase room. Trying to also pack for outdoor things and indoor cruise things is adding more complication. I'm trying to limit myself to just a carry on and am struggling, in part, due to bulky items but also, for vacay, I usually just have comfortable outdoor clothes and nothing dressy. I have some thermals that don't take up much room. I'm thinking 2 pairs of jeans. And a few daytime not jeans outfits. Any advice would be gratefully received. I am aware we can do some laundry! Thanks