Peregrina651

I have done Natural Treasures. The decision is six of one, half a dozen the other. There is a lot to see from Akureyri and you can't see it all in one day. They each have a variety of geologic features; it just depends on which you like seeing the most. You can't go wrong with either one.

Someone on another thread suggested Citymapper. Said it gave better routing than the Tfl app (which I already had put on my phone). So I downloaded it to give it a test run. Plus it works for multiple cities not just London.

My son and daughter in law went to Japan pre-pandemic and she is sharing a lot of information with me. They are going back in November and will have even more to report. This is from her report: First of all -- temples do a cool thing where they hand paint and red stamp a sheet that you can buy and put in a book called a Goshuinchou. You can buy the book at most temples and they can either paint directly in them or you can buy a pre-drawn sheet and paste it in later to save time. Tip: if you do this, write down the name of the temple so you can keep track of which inscription goes with which location -- it's surprisingly challenging to Google later if you forget. Also, if you have a small unlined notebook, a lot of sites, including train stations, towers, you name it, also have stamps that you can put in the book as a fun commemoration of the location. This is what she is talking about. (I just hope I remember about this when the time comes)

Oops. Faulty memory.

Viking offers the following optional excursion. We are booked on it in May. Orkney’s Stone Age Duration: 4 hours UNESCO Sightseeing Moderate * A REMOTE ISLAND’S NEOLITHIC PAST Witness untold centuries of human settlement during visits to Orkney’s Neolithic and Viking sites. Take a drive through rolling landscapes, passing prehistoric sites such as the Standing Stones of Stenness, dating to the third millennium BC. Stop at the well-preserved Stone Age settlement of Skara Brae, and explore one of Europe’s most complete Neolithic villages. Older than Stonehenge, it has been called the “Scottish Pompeii” because of its remarkably preserved dwellings. Visit the 17th-century Skaill House, built by Bishop George Graham. All 12 of its lairds have been related during its 400-year history, and the house features memorabilia collected from each generation. Return to your motor coach and continue on this circular route, following the coastline of Scapa Flow.

Keep watching. The website can be the last step of the process.

Agreed! Take the cash. Terms are too restrictive. Everything CDN has said is true. Read the cancellation email carefully and respond before the cutoff date.

No. Sit down with Shorex and tell them what happened -- hot bus, lousy guide, unsafe driver, etc.. Having your group number will help them identify the driver guide and hopefully they will not be working for Viking again. This kind of stuff is why it is so important to fill out the surveys.

Not crazy if it saves the CU money to discontinue the service. Start by figuring out how much you are going to need for tips for tours. That is the minimum amount to bring. Next thing to decide is whether it is better underestimate how much cash you will need or overestimate. If you are planning on traveling to Europe again, then bringing home some euro shouldn't be a problem. We keep a minimum of 100€ on hand so that we don't have to worry about stopping in the airport. I know you said no ATM but I am going to open my big mouth and make a suggestion that you are welcome to ignore. Take baby steps towards ATM usage (if nothing else, you have access in case of emergency (like cash stolen)). Go to AAA for euro but plan to make one visit to an ATM on this trip. Call it a practice run. But first, to protect your nest egg, you want a dedicated travel account with its own debit/ATM card (or better yet, a card for each of you). Open a sub-account at the CU. (I use a CU and had no trouble doing this). Ask that it have its own debit card that is not attached to any of the other accounts that you already have. Ask them to set it up as an ATM-only card. (If they can't figure it out, ask them to set the purchase limit to $0). Set the daily withdrawal rate to $150. Put $500 in the account. When you get to Madrid, go to a nearby bank with an ATM in the lobby. Take out 50 or 100€. When you get home, you can compare the two methods. And if you are staying at the Intercontinental (near the US embassy) in Madrid, go visit the Sorollo Museum. It is just around the corner and it just lovely, small and intimate.

Hope you will join the Far Eastern Horizons roll call for those dates. There are only a couple of us and we surely would enjoy the company. May 2, 2025 -- Far Eastern Horizons -- HK to Tokyo

My go-to person left during COVID. Now I am high and dry.😒

Infinity pool shown above (this one is deeper than 4'8"). The Pool on Deck 7 (right), which is about 2-3 times the size of the Infinity pool -- and not weather dependent; there are people who swim laps here. The pool in the Spa (left). They were talking about the Infinity Pool.

From travel.state.gov: New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA): U.S. citizens traveling to or transiting through New Zealand under the visa waiver program are required to have an NZeTA. This is also true for cruise ship passengers. It can take up to 72 hours to process an NZeTA so apply well in advance of your trip. The NZeTA is valid for multiple visits for up to two years. If your NZeTA application is denied, you will need to apply for a visa. Visit the Embassy of New Zealand website for the most current visa information. International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL): U.S. citizens traveling to New Zealand for tourism, certain student programs, and short-term business trips are required to pay an International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL). This levy is assessed when a person applies for an NZeTA or New Zealand visa. The IVL is not required of passengers that are transiting New Zealand on a transit visa or transit ETA. There is a difference between a NZe TAand a visa. I took the test to see if I could use a NZe TA. I failed the test. Were I going to NZ at this time, I would need to apply for a visa (or to take the test again, taking care that I understand what I'm being asked). Each country sets its own rules and fees for visas. Whether you need a visa at all depends on the passport you carry. The fees you pay also depend on the passport you carry. Note also that what you paid may also include the IVL mentioned on travel.state.gov If you have questions about the visa, you really should ask the New Zealand Consular office in Los Angeles; they may even have a website. They know a lot more about their visas than most of us here -- and not having the right paperwork can cost you your whole trip.

Best to inform Viking at least 30 days before you board, so they can be properly stocked to meet your needs. Gluten-free can be handled on MVJ. Go to Onboard Experience/Preferences and choose Dietary. The stuff I can't eat is not listed on the form. I tell them when I board; I go to the maitre'd and ask them to add it to my profile. https://www.viking.com/myjourney/onboard-experience/preferences/allergies Those with food allergies get special handling at dinner. Breakfast and lunch we have to handle on our own -- I get one of the crew to walk me down the buffet line at lunch to point out the dishes I need to avoid. Some dishes on the buffet are labeled. For dinner in The Restaurant and Manfredi's, we get to choose our meals in advance. The next evening's menu will be in your hands by bedtime. Sometimes they will hand it to you at dinner and sometimes they will leave it at your cabin (different ships have different ways of handling it). Your choices must be turned in by 10 am; follow instructions on the menu. Chef's Table checks the profiles of all diners and plans accordingly.

If you are celiac, keep in mind that the noodles are dunked in a pot of boiling water prior to final preparation. Don't assume that they use different pots for the different types of noodles. Ask.

It was disabled by Cruise Critic when it moved to this platform a few years. Or do you mean on MVJ? In which case, it may be a browser problem or it may not be a 24/7 feature.

Yes.

ROLL CALLS FOR 2024 (as of this date) April 5, 2024 - British Isle Explorer - Viking Venus British aisles April 17,2024 (Saturn) Viking Venus British Isles Explorer- April 19th 2024 (Venus) May 1, 2024 British Isle Explorer (Saturn) Viking Sky May 06, 2024 British Isles Explorer London to Bergen May 29, 2024 British Isles explorer (Saturn) June 13, 2026, Saturn, British Isles Explorer (Saturn) Viking Sky British Isles Explorer / June 17 - July 1, 2024 British Isle Explorer Neptune Bergen to London June 20, 2024 Viking Sky British Isles Explorer /July 1, 2024-July 14, 2024 (Sky) British Isles Explorer July 4, 2024 - July 18, 2024 (Neptune) July 10-24, 2024 - British Isles (Saturn) Viking Sky- British Isles, July 15-29, 2024 Viking Saturn - July 24, 2024 - British Isles Explorer Viking Sky - British Isles Explorer July 29 - August 12, 2024 (Sky) 2024 September 02 - Viking Venus - British Isles Cruise (Venus) Viking Venus - British Isles Explorer - Sept 2-16, 2024 (Venus)

Best advice: you need some time off from one another each day. You can't be joined at the hip all day long. State it clearly early on in the planning process.

Which do you want to do more? The included or the optional? Are you willing to give up taking the included so that you can do the optional tour? Those are your first decisions.

This is the second relevant post, written by @Lilyskittymom. I've edited to highlight the ports and "tour names". The author has promised to hang around to answer questions: A little back story on our cruise. We were originally booked for Hong Kong to Vancouver but had to shorten it to Tokyo when my husband started having medical problems and couldn't be gone that long. We had quite a bit of money to spend on a cabin upgrade and excursions. Since we could book our excursions earlier with the upgrade, we had no problem getting what we wanted and there was no need to look for outside tours. But there were local guides meeting people who booked private tours at every port. Clay's suggestion of goodwill guides is something we would have done if it had been necessary. We did a combination of included and paid excursions and generally liked everything, with the exception of the included tour in Kagoshima, the "Kagoshima Scenic Ride". It was a rainy day so the stop at the scenic overlook was soggy and the trip to the local museum was ok, but literally something you could find in any city, anywhere in the world. A private tour would have been a better choice. I'm not going to get into a lot of detail on the excursions because the descriptions were accurate. Here's what we did. Hong Kong - we flew into HK a day early, took the ferry across the harbor, and the tram to Victoria Peak, on our own. We enjoyed the views and the walk down one of the hiking trails. The next day we took the Hong Kong Walking Tour, which was a nice representation of the city. Afterwards, we wandered the area near the port, which is home to the largest shopping mall in HK. In Taipei, we did the "Highlights of Taipei". Since we didn't have a lot of time in port, this was a good tour for us. In Nagasaki we went on the "Atomic Bomb Museum and Park". The museums in Nagasaki and Hiroshima are very different, and I'd recommend going to both of them if that's where your interest lies. It was a very good tour. The Glover Gardens are a short uphill walk from the ship and was definitely worth the visit. In addition to the main house, and the gardens, there was a museum that had costumes and floats used for local festivals - very interesting. In Beppu, we did the Steaming Sites of Beppu, which was very interesting. If you'd like to go to an onsen, look for one close to the port - they're everywhere. The Viking onsen tour is robbery. I wanted to go to an onsen, but would have had to go to one a bit further away because I have large visible tattoos. Yes, there are tattoo friendly onsens in Beppu especially. A Google search will find them. Instead, we took the Viking shuttle bus (most ports had one) to the area near the train station. From there, we wandered through shopping areas and stopped at some small neighborhood shrines and temples (Google maps is your friend). "Ultimate Hiroshima" was wonderful, with its visit to their Atomic Bomb Museum and Park, and the trip to Miyajima Island. The island was really worth going to - very quaint and lovely. Again, the Atomic Bomb Museum is very different from Nagasaki's. We were in port until noon the next day and went on a walk along the water the morning we left. In Osaka, we were on "Sights of Kyoto", another wonderful all day tour. Food on the all day tours was always very good and at local Japanese restaurants. Shimizu took us to "Highlights of Mt Fuji", another all day tour that took us to the 5th station of Mt Fuji, the furthest you can go by vehicle up the mountain. Fuji-san wasn't visible when we pulled into port the evening prior, but we were treated to unobstructed views of the mountain the next day - a rare occurrence in April. Tokyo had us docked at the port of Yokohama, and while the port area is very nice, it was a 1+ hour drive to Tokyo, so the "Tokyo Panorama tour" wasn't as good as it could have been because we spent 2.5 hours driving. We did go back for "An Evening in Tokyo," which was very nice. The views from the Skytree and the way the streets are lit up at night was amazing. Viking guides were available to help people navigate the subway system, for anyone who wanted to head out on their own. Hopefully you'll be docked in Tokyo itself, which would put you so much closer to the city. Overall, this was a wonderful cruise and makes me want to go back to Japan. We were warmly welcomed, and sent off, from the all the ports. The port areas themselves are surrounded by parks and are well taken care of. International ATMs can be found at 7-11 and Lawson. Perfectly safe; I got Yen there a couple of times. And the stores are everywhere especially near the ports. If you don't know about the wonders of 7-11, Lawson and Family Mart, look it up before you go. They're not the sad version of 7-11 we have in the US.

Nice to know that it is no longer an Audible exclusive and thus available from other sources. Libraries may also have the video versions available (not on Libby but from from another service whose name I can't remember).

With permission of the author, @Clay Clayton, here is one of the posts (#2382): I highly recommend trying to arrange “goodwill” guides in the Japanese ports. These are guides who in exchange for practicing their English tour you for free. You are expected to pay for their meal if you share one and for any admissions to museums or the like. When we did it in the before times, the maximum group size was 6. We had a great guide in Tokyo and at the end of the day, it cost us each $8 but the best part was having someone with whom we had a real conversation about their life. While the two of us were in Kyoto, we booked one for our day trip to Hiroshima. The cost there was higher as we didn’t have anyone to split it with and we requested to go to a specific restaurant. Still was such a great day. Here is a link to where we requested ours: https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/list-of-volunteer-guides/

Look for "Sagrada Familia" in the Play Store if you use an Android phone or in the Apple Store for iPhones. When I tried it came right up.

No charge on our Verizon phones when the calls come from the US. Therefore, no charge for the kids to call us. However, if we make a call to any other country code, it is an international call and is charged as such. (Whether that triggers our Verizon Day Pass, I don't know because I haven't done a call to an international number using calling over wi-fi.)