Sleep7

👋Hello everyone! I wish Viking had more shorter Mediterranean itineraries.. Since week long cruises are ideal for us and even more ideally if the cruise begins on a Saturday or Sunday my dream Viking cruise would be... A 7 day cruise from Rome (easy flight from JFK) that is Sicily intensive. I absolutely LOVED "White Lotus" and would love to visit as many ports in Sicily as possible by ship. Who's with me??😃🙋‍♀️

👋Hi CCWineLover! I'm so looking forward to following your grand adventure! Thanks so much for posting.. loving it.🤗

🙋‍♀️Hi Azulann! I lovelovelove that you are traveling with your sister. My sister is my best friend and I feel so blessed about that. I am looking forward to your cruise reports.. wishing you the best time ever!!🥰

Hi FranYAlice! No worries about the bed.. DH is 6'3" and was totally comfortable sleeping.😊

Oh you're so welcome. I found another menu or two on my blog.😃

Hello! We were on the Onward in April and I took some pix of the breakfast and dinner menus in the dining room, dinner patio menu and the breakfast area for gluten free passengers. Hope that helps.😊

🙋‍♀️Hey Phil! I better make sure "Pocketbook Porn" is allowed on this site.. don't want to be banned from Cruise Critic!🤣

😊 Oh! I guess this really has become a thing... didn't realize other cruise lines were doing it as well. I actually think it's a great fit.. at least for Azamara where it seems like most promotions include a ton of OBC. The selection was varied and the purses in good condition. No bargains for sure but you are assured that they are authentic so you can buy with confidence which is nice. 🛍️

👋Hello! I don't know if you are interested in a pre-loved designer bag (for yourself or even a gift) but we were on the Onward last month and the ships shop had a large display of them. 🛍️

👋 Oh thanks so much RexMesiter for that info.. great to know when promotions usually appear for the cruises in the time frame that I'm interested in. My fingers are crossed that it's more than a stateroom upgrade or better liqueur.. both of which I could take or leave. I guess time will tell. Thanks again for your help.😊

👏 BRAVO Selion!! 👏 Awesome spreadsheet of price changes.. I love that! I'm a computer zero so my spreadsheet would be done with paper and pencil but that is a great idea.

👋 Oh thanks so much Selion for taking the time for such a thoughtful response. So I guess if I'm waiting for a true bargain I should aim more for the end of the year to look for a promotion code rather than in the next few months. We are a little bit flexible with our dates.. DH works in a group where he and his partners claim the weeks they want off months in advance and there can only be one person on vacation at a time. I guess I could block off the week of one of those cruises and hope for the best. The weeks can always be put back in the "pot" for grabs if we don't need them. We have gotten spoiled as far as prices since of our Viking Ocean cruises were in late 2021 and mid 2022 when COVID was still a factor. I will keep checking the availability and see how the cruises I am interested in are selling and go from there. Thanks!😊

🙋‍♀️Hello wise pals on the Viking Board. Just an opinion question.. What do you think the chances are that there will be a promotion code coming soon for a decent discount on either the "Italian Sojourn" or "Venice, the Adriatic and Greece" sailings at the end of March of 2024. I guess minimum free airfare and best case scenario a great discount on the almost 4K pp fare. Nobody has a crystal ball.. but anyone have any thoughts or experiences with something similar? Thanks in advance.😊

🤣Since I know that nobody on this forum can sleep at night until I hear back from Global Blue.. just "chatted" with them today and they did finally get my form.👏 Hi Claudia, Thank you for contacting Global Blue. I am glad to inform you that your form Doc-ID **** has arrived on 16.05.2023. Since the standard processing time of our Tax Free Forms is about 5 weeks from their delivery to our company, your refund is currently being processed:

😁Still waiting to hear back..

Hi Combine! So glad you enjoyed "part deux" of your cruise. Also so glad to hear that your disembarkation at Chioggia and the transfer to VCE went smoothly. I have been wondering about that for a future cruise and you have set my mind at rest. Hope you had an easy trip home!

Hi! We recently were in Rome and stayed at the Doubletree Monte. It's a nice hotel in a good location and you can use/earn Hilton points if you want to.

👋Good morning! Just had a little update and heads up for the shoppers out there. I am having an issue with my VAT refund and Global Blue due to the ever changing (and eventually improving) world of VAT refunds. To modernize and streamline the VAT process many European airports are now using automatic machines to scan your form on, which when you get the "green light" you don't have to send your form in for a refund. It's just automatically credited back to the credit card you purchased the item with. When we were in FCO on our way home I went to the customs area and first scanned my form at the machines but it wasn't accepted. I luckily ran into a Global Blue Rep there who brought me over to the customs agent who stamped it and then she added it to the stack of forms she had in her hands that she was going to send into Global Blue. Since she couldn't make a copy for me she told me to take a picture of it which I did. Turns out if you buy your items in one country (Monaco/France) and fly out of another country (Italy) the automatic machines won't work and you will need the traditional envelope that the store usually provides you to mail the forms back to Global Blue. I didn't have the envelope since my saleslady thought we were flying out of France. Since it's been almost 2 weeks and my form isn't in the system yet I did fill out a Global Blue inquiry form online but haven't heard back yet. Just something to keep in mind if you are planning on claiming a VAT refund when you leave Europe and have purchased your items in one country but leave from another. I have received many successful refunds in the past.. each process a little different but they all ended up back on my credit card in due time. I will post again when I have an update.👍🏻

🤩Oh my goodness kozycz! Your post truly made my day. Thank you so much for your incredibly sweet compliments on my review. I'm so glad that it has reassured you that your upcoming cruise will be as AZAMAZING as ALWAYS. It was so fun for me to capture every moment big or small last week and relive it by writing and rereading my posts. Shout out to DH who knows "the camera eats first" and that all food needs a pic before anyone digs in. 😁 Thank you again.. I'm TRULY touched. Enjoy every moment of your cruise!!😃

Thanks HostJazz!😊

Ahh.. so interesting. Thanks Bloodaxe! I knew there was more to the story than what I wrote so thanks for filling in the blanks.🤗

🙋‍♀️Thanks for clearing that up Jazzbeau.. I appreciate it!🤗

👋Good morning Mrs.Dukes! Well thanks so much for your sweet compliments and I'm very glad that you enjoyed reading my trip report. It was truly fun to write and brought back the lovely memories of last week. I'm honored it lit a revisit Italy spark in you.🇮🇹 Yay for being retired!! Thanks again.😃

👋Hello jmklade! You are so welcome.. thanks so much for taking the time to read my review and for your kind words. I actually know exactly what cruise you are going on in October! We were going to book that cruise but then I found this one in April and booked it instead as 7 days is better for us than 9 days. October is such a lovely time in the Med.. true weather perfection. Great choice.😃 I'm glad that my "boots on the ground" reporting put your mind at ease that all is well on the ships even if their IT situation is very frustrating right now. Going on your first Azamara cruise is the BEST!!! Everything is so new and exciting and in my opinion is a huge step up from RCL and X. Enjoy every moment!!!🙋‍♀️

😍 Oh thanks so much Karen!! Your post is so sweet and complimentary. It was just lovely to meet you and your friends on the cruise! I'm so glad that looking at the pix brings back the smiles of such an awesome week. Hope you had an easy trip home and that we cross paths again.🤗