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I don’t know how many are currently aboard our BIE cruise, but it was sold out. Staffing seems like pre-Covid levels. No noticeable drop in service.

Here on Mars, our PV cabin has drawers in the closet.

The service is very good; the food is better than I remember it from our previous cruise in 2018. More interesting choices, including Indian curries and some spicy dishes. Very welcome.

We’re currently on the British Isles cruise. We really wanted a railway excursion in Wales, but it was sold out by the time we could sign up, and it never became available before we sailed. As soon as we embarked, we went to guest services and asked to be put on a waiting list — they told us there were 12 people in front of us. Within a day or two, we had tickets for the excursion delivered to our room. They had added a second, later excursion for everyone on the waiting list. Here’s the really fun part: because this was a railway tour, Viking had to work within the schedule and constraints of the railway company. In order to add a second group, they actually had to allow late boarding upon our return. The last tender to the ship was supposed to be at 5 pm, but ours went at 5:45, and the ship pulled out a few minutes later than intended. Impressive too that they managed to find a great tour guide on such short notice! Amanda Whitehead. Outstanding.

For this cruise (boarding at Greenwich and tendering to the ship), we took the Thames Clipper from central London out to Greenwich. Apparently that’s not the usual way people travel to the ship, because there was no one to take our luggage. We had to drag it around ourselves for the couple of hours it took to board. Fortunately we just had carryons, so it was not a big deal, but it would’ve been less fun if we’d brought more stuff. (Other people waiting to board did not have to lug around their luggage, so I’m thinking you’d be fine if you did the normal thing and took a taxi.)

In case anyone is wondering, I just counted and there are: - 14 good sized drawers - 2 small drawers next to the bed - 2 more big drawers in the bathroom - 4 shelves in the room (5 if you have the coffee maker removed) - 4 narrow shelves in the bathroom - 1 closet in which to hang things (with a shelf along the top on one side and a shelf on top of the drawers on the other) Suitcases fit easily under the bed. In short, this room has bagoodles of storage. We’re using maybe half of it, if that. Note: We’re on Viking Mars, which has drawers in the closet. But I believe all Ocean ships now share this newer configuration.

How do I love thee, let me count the ways …

And here is the dark side of packing everything into carryons.

So this is where time comes from …

Today’s view from our favorite lounge.

We too arrived yesterday, and it has been surreal. As our London friends put it, these are unprecedented times for all but the most senior among us. We heard the guns yesterday from our hotel room (which is a stone’s throw from Buckingham palace) and, as I mentioned elsewhere, watched outside the gates as King Charles and his wife entered the palace for the first time as king and queen. I’ve been struck by the multi-national crowds, people from everywhere are here. Very respectful. Next Tuesday, the day we transfer to our ship in Greenwich, the queen’s coffin will be flown to the palace in the morning, and there will be a rehearsal of the procession that will take place on Wednesday. It will behoove us to get away to Greenwich sooner rather than later, I believe.

We arrived yesterday morning, and our hotel is just around the corner from Buckingham palace. The mood is surreal. Yesterday while we were standing with the crowds outside the gates, we watched as King Charles and Camilla entered the palace for the first time as king and queen.

Thanks for that. Our hotel is next to Buckingham Palace. We arrive tomorrow morning. I imagine the crowds will be considerable.

We just heard of her passing. How very sad. She is irreplaceable.

Well, we did it — 21 days’ worth of packing in carryons and one personal item apiece! It helps that the personal item is big, but it will fit under the seat in front of me. Especially when I remove the bulky neck pillow that’s inside! Except that there’s no actual seat in front of us, since we’re in the front row. Guess we’ll see how that goes. We leave for London this afternoon, spending a few days there before we hop on board Mars next week. Hard to believe this is finally happening after canceling last winter! I can taste that waffle now …

Hm. We didn’t receive that. Maybe it went to my TA (who also neglected to put enough postage on the forwarded package containing our luggage tags so we didn’t receive those, either).

Thanks! What 47-page summary is this?

I believe this is true of river cruises, but I’m not aware of included tours on ocean that are for people with mobility issues. Seems like an oversight to me, given Viking’s target age group. That said, many of the included excursions are essentially bus tours (“panoramic”) with a little walking here and there.

Good advice if you don’t plan to use airplane mode and are paying for data as you go. If you are using a $10/day plan from Verizon or AT&T, then just keep the phone in airplane mode until you need to use the phone when out of range of Wi-Fi.

I know this has been addressed here before, but I can’t find it. How does one contact the ship in case of emergency? Or do they just call Viking’s main number and go from there?

Yes, just make sure your phone: - has Wi-Fi calling capability turned on - is in airplane mode.

When we’re in Bergen, I would love to find some of that licorice yogurt we found at a grocery store in Iceland. Sounds iffy, but it was terrific! But maybe the love of licorice isn’t a Norwegian thing the way it is in Iceland …

Interesting, CurlerRob, thanks! In the perfume world, when a scent is described as aldehydic, it has a distinct, identifiable quality. Some think of it as soapy or waxy, probably in part because those products have often used the same aldehydes used historically in perfumes. Chanel No. 5 famously put aldehydic fragrances on the map, and I smell its ghost in Kleenex boxes everywhere. The aldehyde I smelled was part of a museum exhibit on the history of perfume. I can definitely trace a bit of it in cilantro.

This is what we decided to do. We tried for more than six months to get the pre-cruise extension we wanted, but it never became available. So we worked with our travel agent to create our own version, which we are now more excited about than the original!

Very yummy! I definitely pick up the perfume note in cilantro (I love aldehydic perfumes and once smelled pure aldehyde at a museum exhibit), but I no longer associate aldehydes exclusively with soap. I enjoy cilantro in the same way I enjoy other “perfumey” herbs or flowers in food, like lavender. I did used to hate it, though. Not sure why that changed. But I’m so glad it did!