Twitchly

Wow!! Next time we run into the Tragedy of the Missing Pistachio Buns, we’ll just tell them we’re close personal friends of Clay Clayton.

The cardamom-infused waffles with brown cheese and fruit at Mamsen’s. Sigh.

Sooo … how did the subject come up? “Good morning! Lose anything lately?”

If you ever found out how they got there, please let us know!

Wow. Just checked the 2025 price for the British Isles cruise we took in 2022. It has doubled in three years. We wouldn’t be able to take it now.

You could also just approach someone to see if you could join them. This happened to me during afternoon tea one afternoon; my husband was getting a massage at the time, so I was sitting alone and a nice gentleman asked if he could join me. He was gracious, not pushy, and we had a good chat. His wife, who was supposed to accompany him on the trip, had passed away. So he decided to go by himself, which I thought showed real courage. While we were talking, a handful of other pax stopped by to talk with him; he had apparently managed to meet quite a few folks on the ship who seemed genuinely happy to include him at meals and other events. I was impressed.

Living the dream! (Vicariously for some of us.)

Yes! Envy is a terrible thing.

There’s that red suitcase. Dang, I love that thing.

I just want to say I deeply appreciate the “live from” posts here. We seem to be doing mostly land tours lately (Holy Lands last spring, Nova Scotia and PEI this coming June), which I’m greatly enjoying, but cruising is a special world unto itself. Thank you for letting me live vicariously until our next Viking cruise!

This was exactly our experience when sailing the previous September.

Our last cruise with Viking was the British Isles in September 2022. I recall the demographic being 60s, 70s. No walkers, wheelchairs, etc. It’s a port-heavy itinerary with multiple tenders, which may have put off the more senior crowd. People by and large dressed according to the Viking standard. So basically we didn’t see the infirmities or sloppiness described in this thread.

Are either of the current world cruises scheduled to go through the Red Sea?

Looking forward to the pithy commentary!

Loved that cruise. We’d do it again in a heartbeat. Yes, we had quite the swells in Biscay. No storms, sunny skies, but massive swells. Fortunately neither of us got seasick (I took ginger capsules). At one point we sat on the top deck and listened to the crashing of dishes from somewhere below. (Ship tilts waaaaay left — crash crash crash. Then waaaaaaay right — crash tinkle crash.) We felt bad for the staff but I have to admit we enjoyed the experience.

The beds are our least favorite feature. I like firm, but we found these on the granite side of hard and woke up achey each morning. Made me think of my stoic Norwegian great-grandfather, who thought nothing of pulling his own teeth. Next time we’ll definitely ask for a topper. Or four. No problem with the food, though I’d love to see more local cuisine.

When I sprained my knee during our cruise last year and was stuck on the couch, I was very grateful for the door/window configuration that made it easy for me to see outside with my leg propped up.

Safe travels, and thanks for sharing your fascinating trip with us!

Gorgeous! But wow, that weather.

Wow!! That’s almost hurricane strength! Impressive that the ship handled so well.

After we had to cancel our Holy Land cruise, we ended up doing a land trip instead (more than a year later). In retrospect I’m very glad it turned out that way. A couple of days there would not have been enough.

I’m finding it all fascinating. Thanks for doing this!

I don’t think we had to give a reason back then. Viking was still operating under pandemic rules, which have likely changed. We got vouchers that had to be used within a period of time.

No refund was offered. We got vouchers that had to be used within a couple of years. We used them for a cruise to the British Isles in 2022. No penalty, because the cruise itinerary changed substantially and also because Viking allowed people to cancel more easily during the pandemic. I don’t know how Viking handles these things now. A call to Viking or your TA might be helpful, or better still an email to tellus@vikingcruises.com so you can get their answer in writing.

We booked this cruise for January 2022. Israel was still shut down due to Covid when we booked it many months in advance. We didn’t get an update from Viking until just weeks before we were supposed to sail; Israel still remained closed, so Viking altered the cruise to focus more on Mediterranean islands and Greece. We elected to cancel the cruise and take a different one later. (And visit Israel ourselves on a land tour this past spring.) I imagine this situation will be similar.