trinicruisegyal

Thank you, the video is perfect.

Thank you. You helped immensely, as I hadn't noticed that the cabin appeared longer on the deck plans, even though it does also look a bit narrower. Hopefully I will find out soon enough.

I have cabin 12926 on the Viva on hold, it is the last H5 (Haven Owners Suite with large balcony) cabin on the sailing that I'm looking at; the NCL website says that "Stateroom 12322 and 12926 do not have a separate bedroom or bathtub"...has anyone stayed in either 12322 or 12926 on the Prima? or is staying in one of these now on the Viva? What was the cabin like? Is the layout pretty much the same as the other H5 cabins but the bedroom isn't enclosed?

3 hours ago, just_dont said:

Thanks...It's interesting that the Viking Ocean FAQ doesn't state that the items are prohibited (they also aren't listed as examples above), but the Viking River FAQ explicitly states that they are prohibited in the electrical voltage section.

Modern electronic devices can accommodate different electrical currents, so you probably won’t need a current converter. Please note that heat-producing appliances, such as irons, steamers, curling irons and heaters, are potential safety hazards and therefore not permitted on board. 

Every other cruise line that I've sailed with has prohibited items like clothes irons and hot plates and heating pads and made exceptions for hair styling tools. 

The FAQ under "What is the electrical voltage in the Staterooms" states...

You will find both 110V and 220V electrical outlets in your stateroom. All outlets are European style (2 pin) with a ground, except for two US 110V sockets above the desk and one US 110V socket on each side of the bed; there are no UK 3 pin sockets. Should you need an adapter, they are available for sale in the onboard shop or can be found at most electronics or travel stores. (Remember that if you’re staying in a hotel for part of your journey, you’ll want the appropriate adapter for that country as well.) In your stateroom, you will also find a USB socket to charge cell phones and tablets; just bring the appropriate cable with you. Most modern electronic devices can accommodate different electrical currents, so you probably won’t need a current converter; exceptions to this are curling irons and other appliances that produce heat; hair dryers are provided on board.

Is there another section of the FAQ which says curling irons aren't allowed?

OP...I don't recall whether I was able to use either the curling or the flat irons that I walked with in the bathroom...but I certainly used them at both the desk and at the bedside tables.

I’m curious…this is the inaugural sailing of Jupiter, correct? Has Viking done anything special to commemorate the occasion? Do you think that some of the deficiencies that you have experienced may be as a result of this being the first voyage? I imagine that the entertainment especially on a ship’s first sailing will not be as polished as those on sailing number 100.

When you said that there were no included tours on the first day in Livorno, do you mean that none were ever scheduled for that first day? Did anyone onboard indicate whether this was an anomaly just for this cruise or if it’s Vikings’ new practice in this port?

We had a similar experience a year and a half ago when we booked a 14 night cruise only to find out that it was two 7 night cruises…we found out shortly after we booked as there was no separate Roll Call for the 14 night cruise only the 7 night sailings were set up. In the end I joined 4 roll calls in order to keep up with the persons who would be onboard for some portion of our voyage.  It certainly isn’t a new practice by Viking and it’s one that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, Viking has even edited the ‘overview’ on the website  of each of these cruises to indicate the cruises that have been combined. For example Mediterranean Antiquities says “Cruise a richly historic canvas. Combine Journey to Antiquities and Iconic Western Mediterranean for a magnificent 15-day cruise from Athens to Barcelona. Explore the storied sites of ancient Greece and Rome, the glamour of Monte Carlo and the rich history of Marseille, uncovering classical treasures and vibrant cultures at every turn. Overnight stays in Athens, Florence and Barcelona give you ample time to immerse yourself in the culture, allowing for the most enriching discoveries.”

We actually rather enjoyed the changeover of guests halfway through, the doubled speciality restaurant reservations, the fresh bottle of champagne midway through…my only complaint would be the absence of Viking excursions on the first day of the second leg…for us this happened in Barcelona on day one of an overnight stay and we planned well in advance to visit a couple places that were important to us during our ‘free’ day as Viking only offered two tours (none included) during turnover day.

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

On 12/14/2018 at 6:33 AM, KruiserKat said:

Does anyone have any info/photos on cabins #6020 and #6021 on Viking Ocean? How do they differ from "regular" PH Jr suites?

 

Would greatly appreciate any responses! 

Last year we were interested in two PS3 cabins and at the time we booked only the two ADA cabins were available, our TA suggested that if we did not need the amenities of the ADA cabins that we would be happier with a PS1 cabin ( all of the PS2 cabins were sold out)...we booked two of those instead.

CruiseCritic has photos of the ADA cabin 6021 on Viking Sky here... https://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/viking-sky-992/accessible-penthouse-junior-suite-411902/

And photos of PS2 cabin 7002 on the Sky here... https://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/viking-sky-992/penthouse-junior-suite-411913/

We did a similar cruise as the second leg of a roundtrip cruise from Rome last New Years. One of the great things about the itinerary is that it’s possible to do more than one tour/activity per day; for us we took a Viking tour ‘first thing’ in the morning, had lunch back at the ship and then spent the rest of the day exploring the various cities on our own.  The free shuttle buses offered by Viking or in some cases the port were key to us being able to easily do this. Some ports we had a plan for what we wanted to do with the second half of the day before we left home. For example in Marseille we did the included tour which was a bus ride around the city, got some shopping done, had lunch back onboard and then caught the train to Aix-en-Provence and spent a few hours wandering around, did some more shopping caught the train back to Marseille and were back onboard in time for dinner. In other ports like St Tropez (I know this port was dropped from your itinerary) we took cues from that morning’s tour and shaped that afternoon’s adventure which included a walk, coffee and some Tarte Tropézienne (at a café recommended by our guide that morning) and a ride on the St. Tropez Christmas train. 

I think that if you already know that you would like to avoid bus tours where possible you may want to look into either exploring on your own or organizing private tours with others on your cruise. We felt that as it was our first Viking cruise that we wanted to experience the tours that were included, so that on any future cruises we would have a good idea what their tours are like and know whether to skip them or not. Plus the Viking tours were great for our small multigenerational group, as there was just the right mix of driving and walking.

During November in the Mediterranean you shouldn’t need the winter coats, however I would suggest that you walk with them because you really never know. We walked with ours last December/January, the weather was fantastic during the cruise…my husband grumbled about having unnecessarily walked with his coat and gloves, so he packed his coat in his checked luggage when we left the ship. We left for home from Rome, had an early flight into Munich and then were scheduled to fly from Munich to JFK and then home to Trinidad. We left Munich for JFK and were diverted into Detroit due to a winter storm. We had to spend the night in Detroit, it was 0 degrees Fahrenheit when we landed and had to find the shuttle to the hotel the airline provided and then we got bused to JFK the next day. After the super long bus ride we ended up with a 12 hour layover in a terminal at JFK with no heat (they closed the terminal a few hours after we left), couldn’t get a room at any hotel nearby…it was a nightmare…but hubby was thrilled to have his coat and gloves. 
 

8 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

If you are flying home from Rome, I can recommend the Hilton at the Rome airport for several reasons.  Cruise ship transfers drop you at the airport and the hotel is just steps away.  Conversely, the airport is just steps from the hotel when flying home.  AND, the hotel operates a free shuttle into Rome with several stops.  When you are ready to return to the hotel, just wait at one of the shuttle stops at the appointed time.  

 

We've stayed at hotels in the city on several occasions and found that the Rome airport Hilton is the most convenient all things considered.

I would like to second SargassoPirate's recommendation of the Hilton at the Rome Airport for all the reasons stated. We stayed there last year ahead of our Christmas/New Years cruise (the second leg of our cruise was Iconic Mediterranean; we did a round trip from Rome) we were a group of six and stayed 3 nights, we organised Viking transfers to and from the airport (quite easy but not necessarily the most cost effective option). Whilst you can walk to and from the terminals at the airport, the hotel does in fact have a shuttle to the terminals, which is great if you are overpackers like we are.  The only downside that we experienced was that whilst the majority of the drive into Rome is quite scenic there was a lot of traffic, which we were told was due mainly to it being Christmas week. 

15 hours ago, photopro2 said:

Sadly there is no mention of any of the new Viking ships on Cruisecritic's own new cruise ship page https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles.cfm?ID=167#2022

Given the extent of Viking's expansion maybe Cruisecritic staff should look at giving that page an update!

 

Actually they are listed without names (aside from Jupiter) on the new luxury cruise ship page https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=3015 instead of the page you cited (River cruise ships on order also have a separate page).

OP, there are some additional photos and details here... https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2644118

Having seen that previous thread, I'll admit that that picture makes it seem as though everyone was quite bored. Not much of a celebration - just waiting for the inevitable.

 

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The photos Peregrina651 posted were of persons sitting on the stairs and some standing in the general area enjoying the entertainment that was taking place on Deck 1 of the Atrium. Because of the vantage point the photos were taken from you can't see the surrounding party.

We were pleasantly surprised by how fun and well attended the party was and we were definitely not bored. There were people on the 'dancefloor' from the start of the event until well after its scheduled end time...the photo I posted of folks on the dance floor is actually a screen grab from a video that I took at 12:47...the crowd started to really thin out around 12:30, but there were plenty of people celebrating until after 1.

Cruisecritic has a bunch of photos of 6021 in the Viking Sky photo gallery...here is the link https://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/viking-sky-992/accessible-penthouse-junior-suite-411902/

Clay Clayton posted photos of the Torshavn Menu on one of the Silver Spirits threads...

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=55510203&postcount=126

Unfortunately it doesn't show any additional options under $15, hopefully Viking has since made some additions (his post was made in March 2018). We contemplated bringing a bottle of our favourite scotch with us, but opted not to do so as we had the Silver Spirit package, on our next Viking cruise we will likely just walk with a bottle of one of our favourites.

We didn’t have to go to guest services, we asked our Room Steward when we boarded and he very quickly facilitated the request. Three of the four of us were ‘present’ when the request was made, 3 of the 4 had the same last name and our TA had made a request in advance to Viking, I don’t know if those three factor impacted the ease with which the room steward accommodated our request but I felt I should mention them.

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During our fourteen day cruise, we had six reservations for Chef's Table, we ended up cancelling one as we would have repeated one of the menus. We had Asian Panorama, Routes des Indes,Venice Carnival, Sweet and Salty and Erling's Scandinavian Bistro. It's difficult for me to pick a top two, as I thought everything was good, and each menu had memorable items. The only item that I did not care for was the Spicy Tuna first course which was a part of the Indes menu.The two most memorable menus for me were Asian Panorama and Erling's Scandinavian Bistro.

We had a PS1 on deck 8 of the Star, whilst the balcony in that room was wider than the nearby DV1s the depth of the balcony is exactly the same. The best photo I have seen of the deck 9 overhang in relation to balcony is on the same blog OneSixtyToOne mentioned but on the page about the penthouse jr suites...this is the link to the specific photo which I believe would be helpful https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rvK6m4kPVqM/WwEjyIqzDXI/AAAAAAAADa0/0olp6cnOlqA5i2Ub9kMqarJe8kDXAjbBACLcBGAs/s1600/12.jpg

On our Viking Star NYE 17/18 cruise there was a major event in the Atrium and the Viking Daily states that there was an event in the Explorers Lounge, though it ended with sufficient time for one to arrive at the celebrations in the Atrium well before midnight. All the other bars/lounges maintained regular opening hours. There was no specified dress code for either event, however most persons would have met a semi-formal dress code, there were a number of people who were dressed more formally.

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We did that cruise as a part of Mediterranean Explorations last year over Christmas and that specific tour wasn't offered. I suspect that it was because the Vatican Museum only opens late/at night at certain times of the year and unfortunately Christmas/NYE doesn't appear to be one of them. I did a lot of tour research both before and after excursions opened for booking specifically about the Vatican & Sistine Chapel and I came to the conclusion that one's best bet for a small group tour of the Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel at that time of year was to do one of the early entry tours offered by one of the reputable well rated/reviewed tour companies. In the end after all of the research we opted to not sacrifice our sleep and or getting onboard early on embarkation day (which was the only day we could comfortably incorporate the early tour).

I'm actually with my Dad on a trip right now to visit his audiologist...he also has both "in ear" and "behind ear" models, so I asked him his thoughts based on our December/January Viking Star experience. He suggested that you should definitely walk with your own headphones as he felt the comfort and the quality of sound through the headset Viking provided with the QuietVox device negatively impacted his tour experience. I would add that the headsets are not particularly comfortable...On my next Viking cruise I plan to walk with my own headphones and I don't have any hearing issues thus far...my sister and my son both opted to use their own headphones for the duration of the cruise as they found this a more comfortable option (my husband and I only had Bluetooth headphones with us, which didn't work..sighhhhh).

Do you by chance remember what you paid for the Viking transfer? Thanks for the information

We paid $49 per transfer between Fiumicino and Civitavecchia (Rome) at the end of last year. I don’t imagine Barcelona would be more as I believe it’s a far shorter distance from the airport to the port.

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Who the heck was making a noise with golf balls when putting? Just what sort of people are they? I can appreciate noise from balls during chipping practice, but putting - there should be virtually no noise, not so?

The first time it happened I went upstairs to confirm the source of the noise...if the balls stayed on the putting green there would be no noise, these were rolling off of the area and landing on the deck/walkway next to the area. We sailed over Christmas/New Years, so there were quite a few multi-generational groups onboard, these were the younger members of one such group, they were very enthusiastic and not at all good at putting.

We were in 8007 on Viking Star, there were a few afternoons where we were conscious of the sound of golf balls landing on the deck around the putting area which was above us. Fortunately this area is only open during the day, so even though it 'disturbed' my daily post excursion/pre dinner nap a few times, it wasn't really an issue for us...also this only happened during the first segment of our cruise; so I suspect the group who were enjoying the putting green weren't on our second leg.

Thanks Peregrina. I think having feedback on excursions offered is the main thought. For me, it would mostly be for the optional excursions vs DIY or private. Except possibly Trinidad. That might be wise to stay with ship sponsored from what I have read.

Oooooooo...Trinidad (well Tobago actually). I agree that you should definitely stick with a Viking excursion instead of attempting to plan anything on your own. Aside from the inclusion of a dive, the Viking excursions on the website cover pretty much most of what there is to do on the island.

If you or anyone else has any questions about Tobago please feel free to ask...if I don’t know I will seek out the answers as I’m going to be there fairly regularly for the next 6 months as we are renovating our house there.

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Aside from the options at the regular bars Torshavn had an additional selection of about 5 'higher end' rums, including the Diplomatico Reserve mentioned above and Angostura's 1919 (which is from Trinidad hence the mention). We spent a good deal of time at the bar in the Explorer's Lounge and witnessed the bartenders checking for and sourcing different liquors and wines from Torshavn, etc. if a passenger wanted something that wasn't stocked in the Explorer's Lounge. They also offered recommendations and substitutions if an item wasn't available.

We have just booked our first Viking cruise over Christmas in 2019. Very excited!

 

I have seen Christmas meals discussed and it seems there may be some special items on offer for the 24th?

 

 

 

What about entertainment? Any special shows or entertainment? Christmas carols? Local entertainers brought onboard?

 

 

 

Thanks for any info anyone may have.

Take me with you, there were no special ‘Christmas’ meals listed in the Viking Daily (there was a special lunch listed in the Daily on New Years Day on the second leg of our cruise).

Entertainment/Events...Christmas Eve

“The Night Before Christmas. Join us for an intimate Christmas evening as your Entertainment team share some of the favorite holiday stories and music.” Star Theater. This show ran twice for the night.

“Christmas Eve Service. Join your fellow guests and crew for a special late night Christmas interdenominational service.” Star Theater

Christmas Day...

“Christmas Carols. Join your fellow guests and crew for Christmas carols in the Atrium.” Atrium

There were no local entertainers brought onboard on Christmas day; it would have been logistically impossible given that we left port around 1pm. We did have local entertainers onboard on the first night of each of our 3 overnight stays in port. “Academia Vocale” (Opera) in Rome, “La Rumbeta” (Rumba Catalana) in Barcelona, the “Orchestra of the Istituto Superiore Pietro Mascagni of Livorno”, in Livorno.

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