dd57

On our Majestic Iceland trip I took my waterproof rain jacket with a hood with a stiffish brim. The brim kept the rain off my glasses. I wish I had taken a ball cap as the stiff bill of the cap would have kept the hood from sliding down in front of me due to the wind. Because it was a hood instead of hat, it kept the rain off of my neck in the wind. I used to have a Tilley hat when I used to sail, but to me a hood is more convenient on tours - easily slipped off inside, no extra things to hold, and more all over protection. We had a lot more wind in Iceland than in Norway; a rain hat might have worked in Norway.

My waterproof jacket with hood with a small stiff bill was a lifesaver. It would have been even better with a ball cap underneath. I didn't take waterproof pants, instead using quick dry technical/hiking pants with silk long johns - things I have more use for besides this trip. Silk dries faster than wool. I had a similar rain cover for my DSLR, but got tired of wrestling with it. For simple landscapes I used my waterproof Pixel 5 shooting in RAW. Got some excellent shots. The new cell phones can be an excellent backup.

In case you want another option in Skagway -we did this excursion a few years ago: https://alaskashoretours.com/excursions/skagway/chilkoot-trail-hike-float/ It was a lot of fun. During the hike portion you walk on the beginning of the trail that all the gold rush participants took. You can just imaging them carrying heavy loads through the woods. The guide talked about the gold rush during the hike. We saw bald eagles during the raft float down the river.

I have always either reserved our excursions in advance or we did our own thing with public transportation, so I don't really know if you can get get an excursion at the dock. But if you are at a port on a busy day with 3 or 4 behemoth ships in town, I would bet that all the tours are already booked. There isn't a very flexible supply of tour options.

We took this excursion a few years ago: https://alaskashoretours.com/excursions/skagway/chilkoot-trail-hike-float/ They take you a few miles out of town to the trailhead. The guide talked about the gold rush as well as the flora and fauna along the way. We hiked for a mile or so then got in rafts and floated back down the river. It was a lot of fun. The hike itself was pretty. If you can figure out how to get to the trailhead, that might be an option.

I was on a similar cruise last August. On some days the only time it wasn't raining in Iceland was when we were on a bus. Get off the bus, it starts raining. Get back on the bus, it clears up. Drive to the next spot on the tour, passing gorgeous scenery, taking marginal photos thru the windows. Get off the bus, it starts raining again. We stopped at Godafoss and rain stopped, but there was significant mist. Same at the geothermal areas. I had much better luck in Norway. So take whatever you need to use your cameras in the rain and mist. You might luck out, but better to be prepared.

If you go to the Spanish Riding School website, they have a schedule of events held in Vienna all year round including in the summer. The Viking excursion was the Behind the Scenes Guided Tour. But if you get tickets for the Training sessions, you get to see the horses in action. The sessions are not every day. You can buy tickets on their website.

When we went on the Budapest thermal bath excursion, it was not to Szechenyi, like you say.

We did the Vienna riding school tour - and discovered after we got there that they were not practicing that week. The tour showed us the tack rooms and talked a lot about training, etc, and we saw the horses being exercised walking around in a ring, but I was bummed that we didn't get to see them in action. You evidently can research on their website to learn whether - and what time of day - they are practicing to decide whether or not the excursion is worth it to you. We were there in June.

I believe that they are only clarifying what was true before; excursions have to be cancelled 2 days before. Now they are warning before the cruise.

If you do decide to try Viking again, I recommend picking the walking tour ones. The included walking tours that I took in Iceland and Norway were very informative. In Seydisfjordur, Iceland, which is a tiny town, the tour was led by a local who grew up there. She explained the history of the town, the extreme difficulties in building there, what life is like now, etc. In Alesund, Norway, the tour leader was a history teacher. Yes, the walking pace of both was slow, but that gave us time to look around and take pictures in very scenic towns. I would rather take it easy than be on a death march, as we experienced in Rouen.

Yeah I was really surprised when I opened the bottle and took a big swig expecting still water. This was on the Mars last August. I made sure to check after that experience.

Sparkling water and sodas are free during meal times at dining venues or from room service. If you are in a DV cabin or above your in-room fridge is restocked daily. The crew was even handing out sparkling water as we left for excursions.

I second the comment about cold in Norway and onboard. We did Iceland/Norway last August. I had to buy a wool sweater to wear on the ship and some of the excursions, even in Norway. I wish I had just brought one, although it is a nice souvenir.

Ketchikan has tours to Misty Fjords park either by air or by sea. Awesome high cliffs and narrow waterways. One cruise we took an excursion to paddle canoes on a nearby lake. There we saw lots of wildlife. This was many years ago, so I don't know if that kind of excursion is still available.

Yeah, I haven't noticed anything either. On the other hand the Horizon brand shelf stable milk tastes normal to me.

We went in 2019. What do you want to know?

In 2019 we took the Viking "Whale Watching and Mendenhall Glacier Photo Safari" excursion in Juneau. The excursion was with Gastineau Guides and was awesome. There was at least one person on the excursion who wasn't a photographer, but wanted the experience. Others used their cellphones, iPads, and "real" cameras. The guide did discuss photography and camera settings.

In the US it is called shelf stable milk. For example the milk boxes you can put in kid's lunch boxes that don't need refrigeration. Very common in Europe.

It was 50 to 60 euros. I vaguely remember that it varied by where in Paris you are going. Our hotel was near the Eiffel tower. I bet googling it might tell you the current rate.

Our taxi driver wanted cash for the fixed rate. Luckily we had enough euros. It surprised us after reading how cashless Paris is. Other taxis we took within Paris accepted our credit card.

According to the blogs, they went to Rinca island, not Komodo island. They saw lots of dragons.

If you arrive the first day of the Viking pre-cruise extension, there is no deviation fee. Done it several times.

You can check the schedules for each port here: https://claalaska.com/?page_id=1250 It's a two step process. Download the Berth code sheet first. Then go to each port and download those schedules. In each schedule look at the day you will be there and get the berth code then look it up in the berth code list. You can figure out whether you are docked or tendering. For example the Juneau schedule shows that you will be docked. These schedules are set up each year between the local authority and all cruise lines. HOWEVER, things change, like the rockslide in Skagway last year and schedules are not cast in concrete. When I was on this cruise several years ago, the Viking invoice said we would tender at most of the ports but we docked at every one. Maybe someone with more experience in Alaska can chime in on how reliable these schedules are.

So what I am saying is buried in the conversion rate is Visa's fee. So if your bank says there are no foreign transaction fees, they mean that the bank does not add any on top of Visa's.