ropomo

It would appear from this thread that expenditures preboarding will not be covered by OBC

Viking has no restrictions on alcohol. They treat you like an adult. You may bring aboard as much alcohol as you want. You may bring your own alcohol to any venue without corkage fee or question anywhere on the ship. You may take glasses from any venue to wherever you want on the ship after being served. The bartenders will even open your wine or mix a drink for you from your bottle.

That is curious. How can veal shank suddenly appear on a ship? Apparently could have been offered before if planned.

If you notify Viking using the tellus email address, they will arrange something for your stateroom. We have done this several times with "something" ranging from most recently chocolate covered strawberries (anniversary) to the first time, a nice small carrot cake and a bottle of wine (both of our birthdays on the same cruise).

We just mention it to the cabin steward and follow up by putting a note in the fridge where the bottles go with our desires. Never had a problem

Not on Octantis, but on Polaris (same configuration), we were able to make reservations in the restaurant and Manfredi's every day we wanted. Some days didn't make reservations until 4-5 in the afternoon. We thought as you, that we prefer sit down service, and generally we do, but found that the WC on the expedition ships to be very relaxed atmosphere, never crowded or "frantic" and the Grill in the WC was fantastic with cooked to order steaks and lobster. From the Grill, there was generally a server that would ask where you were sitting and bring our food to our table after we ordered. Also, the variety of selections was great and allowed us to sample a little bit of everything. In either case, I don't think you will be disappointed.

I should have mentioned, this was in 2011. Apparently, things may have changed since then. Sorry if this caused confusion.

Another alternative is to do it in person. We did this at the Brazilian consulate in Atlanta. You make an appointment, appear for an interview and your passport with visa is available for pick up later in the day or it may be possible for them to mail it to you if you provide a self addressed, postage paid priority envelope. I see you are about a 2 hour drive to Boston where there is a consulate that serves your area. May not be convenient for you, but it's an option and would give you an excuse to go to Boston.

We have booked a Reykjavik, Iceland to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland which turns out to be a back-to-back Reykjavik to Reykjavik and Reykjavik to Kangerlussuaq. In checking on boot rental, the SS concessionaire considers this to be two cruises despite booking it as one cruise and wants $90 per segment for boot rental. Looking at the Iceland circumnavigation, it "appears" that there will be no "wet landings". Is there a way to determine if a port is wet or dry on an expedition cruise? At $360 for two legs and two people, it will be less expensive to purchase boots and take them in an old throw away suitcase and donate the boots to the SS orphaned boots and abandon the suitcase. Flying into Reykjavik, we will not have the luggage restrictions imposed on the charter flights. Would like to determine if Iceland is "dry"

As others have said, getting to Bergen can be quite a challenge. Viking routed us from ATL to Toronto to Copenhagen to Bergen (23.5 hours from our driveway to the ship). Coming home wasn't bad with the Iceland post excursion, Bergen to Reykjavik, three days in Iceland, Reykjavik to Newark to ATL.

Do you think you could use a smaller font to make it a bit harder to read?

While Viking does seem to use the Hilton Nordica primarily, we did the Iceland post cruise after Homelands in 2019 and were lodged at the Hilton Canopy in a great location downtown. Really enjoyed the extension and the Canopy.

Actually, the expedition ships have identical buffet lines with carving stations on both port and starboard. The Grill however is on the starboard side and about 50 ft aft of the buffet/salad lines and unless you walk back there, you might never know it's there. Same with the sushi/cold seafood areas on the port side. There are also mirrored salad stations on each side. Forward of the buffet areas in the center of the ship is the bakery with a wide variety of breads, etc. and a pizza station beside it. Across from those stations is the dessert area with a vast variety of offerings, including gelato and a cold stone style station where you can get mix ins for your gelato

I had steak many nights (filet, strip, etc.) and many lobster tails. All cooked to order and absolutely no complaints. Depending on if a wait staff was present, they would let you know that they would bring it to you when it was ready if you pointed to where you were seated. The burgers at lunch from the Grill were excellent. Also the cooked to order onion rings...........

Additionally, the WC on an expedition ship is significantly larger with larger selection than Ocean ships. The WC also includes the "Grill" which has cooked to order steaks and lobster and a dedicated sushi and cold seafood area that has a wide selection of crab, shrimp, mussels, etc. Other than no table service, it offers a very good dining alternative.

Not needed or possible on Ocean ships. Required on Expedition ships

I would agree with this assessment. However, I will add that if you and your wife have pictures of Navy Seals crashing the beaches in the zodiacs, that is not the case. The zodiacs in the great lakes spent the majority of the time puttering along the coast with a very knowledgeable expedition naturalist piloting and providing very interesting and informative information about the geology, plant life, wildlife and history of the area and what we were seeing. My wife and I went out on zodiacs probable a dozen times and don't remember ever even getting a drop of water on us, even on some of the occasions when the pilot would speed up.

To elaborate further on the "how it works" question you asked. When your excursion booking window opens for your cruise, you will see the available activities. Using zodiac outings as an example, there will be a drop-down menu with a selection of times (generally every 15 minutes or so) that you may choose from. Same for kayaks, subs and special ops boat (special ops boat and subs less frequent). We found that after the first day or so with these activities, there was an abundance of slots available and on many days, we took several outings. Also, be aware that due to US laws, centain activities will not be available in US waters (subs etc.). Before cruise all sub outings were fully booked. By the end of the cruise, there were lots available. The subs were still free on our cruise and the fee had not been imposed yet. I suspect that was due to the word from everyone I talked to that did the subs said they didnt see anything noteworthy, but it did check "ride in a submarine" off their bucket list.

They are provided on expedition ships (Octantis and Polaris)

Looked again and now see what you're referring to. I can only speculate that the terminology is used because there is not really a town, etc. at these locations (there is a town at Silver Islet, but it consists of a general store and a street. The excursions/activities shown are those of an "explorer" (hikes, zodiac outings, kayaking and special ops boat). There are no specific "Life of an Explorer" activities and is probably just a marketing term. In any case, we thoroughly enjoyed this cruise and recommend it. Hope this helps.

Have been on Great Lakes Explorer cruise visiting all sites you mentioned and have no idea what you are referring to.

Other than going through the booking process cabin category by category, is there an easy way to see the booking level for a particular cruise?

We did Homelands Bergen to Stockholm in 2019 departing a few days later (early 20s) and could not complain about the weather we encountered. Raining when we arrived in Bergen, but woke up to sunshine and blue skies the next morning there. Had a little rain in Eidfijord waiting for the Flam train, but cleared shortly after boarding, light rain when we departed Eidfijord. The rest of the trip was sunny with mild temps and never really needed a jacket. Did not encounter any rough sailing. As you know, YMMD. Enjoy your trip!

Yes, expedition is digital. However, hardcopy is available at Guest Services.

I think I read somewhere here that it is only distributed free to pax that sign the photo release form.