Harley57

Pete - thank you for the detailed review as well as a trip down memory lane.  I spent several decades working for a Japanese company with many trips to Japan.  I have fond memories of touring Himeji Castle with my colleagues on a very hot and humid June day.  

Mio Buenos Aires in Recoleta.  Many restaurants near by and less than two blocks from the Recoleta Cemetery.  We stayed for two nights last month.  Breakfast was included.  Enjoy your trip
 

https://www.miobuenosaires.com/en/

Ready to Sail - just FYI…I used google flights.com to search options.  It appears there are options on American, United and Delta from Sacramento to Buenos Aires and vice versa. As you noted the flights from EZE to the U.S. leave late in the evening.  Latam has a flight leaving at 3:55pm with stops in Santiago, Chile and LAX.  
 

We disembarked Viking Jupiter 10 days ago in Santiago Chile and faced the same situation with a 11:55pm flight.  We left the ship at 8:15am.  Everyone had to disembark by 9am.  We arranged for a private tour through Tours by Locals with a drop off at the airport by 5:30pm.  We booked a room at the Holiday Inn Santiago airport so we could nap and shower before the long flight home.  We were only at the hotel for 4 hours so while a bit expensive for only a few hours it did help to rest and freshen up.  There may be similar options for you in Buenos Aires.

Enjoy your trip.  

Gorgeous penguin pictures!  Thank you so much for sharing.  We are due to be there next month (fingers crossed) on a Viking cruise.  Seeing your pictures has amped up our excitement.  

We booked a February 2024 cruise back in May, 2023.  Our PIF was July 2023. As others have noted, Viking does have a much earlier PIF date than other cruise lines.  I’m not sure I believe all the comments about cruises filling up 1-2 years in advance as it seems there is still a few cabins available for my sailing next month, but I think it’s highly variable and dependent on the itinerary.  
 

It’s not discrimination against solo cruisers as a 100% single supplement is pretty much industry standard.  For future cruises, you can always take a chance and book much closer to the sailing date so you don’t have the $$$ outlay so far in advance of the sailing date, however, you will be limited on cabin selection and likely pay a higher price than those that booked further out.  
 

This is our 2nd cruise on Viking and we love the onboard product, but we’ll see if we take a 3rd cruise with them.  Hope you enjoy your cruise.

Thanks so much for taking the time to post.  We will be on Jupiter in February from Buenos Aires to Santiago.  While I know our ports of call are different and the ocean ships lack the ‘toys’, I am getting really excited for our trip.  

10 hours ago, Marygar said:

Hi Harley - We might be on the same cruise - we depart on Feb. 12.  How about you?

Yes - we are also on the Feb 12 Jupiter cruise and looking forward to it.

Sorry to hear Norris is in the hospital.  Sending healing thoughts for a quick and complete recovery.  

You are continuing on to Greenland??  Awesome!  I’ll be following along.

2 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

 

Are you sailing Viking Ocean or Expedition?  We will be on the Oct 17, 2023 sailing of Octantis expedition ship from Santiago to Ushuaia. I will be live posting the cruise on the Viking Ocean forum. Be sure to follow along as I attempt to provide relevant information.

 

Question for the forum, we have a 2-day pre-cruise extension in Santiago. Any recommendations for tour guides?

We will be on the ocean cruise (Viking Jupiter).  I’ll be watching for your October posts!

@DCThunder - appreciate the insight.  Thanks

I looked up the Diamond Circle excursion.  While I have not take this excursion, I have done 2 land trips to Iceland.  The Dimmuborgir lava fields have a hard surface path you can follow (I’ll try to post pictures) although there was some up and down particularly at the start of the path.  IIRC at Dettifoss the walk from the parking lot to the falls was ~0.5 miles over a reasonably level path.  This is a very powerful waterfall so there is significant spray the closer you are to the falls which equates to a very wet walking path.  Husavik is a charming, level seaside town.  Perhaps you can get more details by contacting Viking directly.  Enjoy your trip.

Thank you for sharing the spectacular photos of Flam.  

We flew Icelandair Saga ‘Business Class’ in 2019.  They were using older leased 757’s as I think the 737  max was still grounded.  Not impressed at all.  Similar to domestic first class but the seats were very worn, the food was poor and the flight attendants were surly.
 

We flew Icelandair economy extra legroom in March, 2023 on the 737 max.  We choose economy because the fares had increased significantly.   Economy in 2023 was more expensive than Saga class in 2019.  Better experience in terms of flight attendants, seat comfort and cleanliness of the plane.  Boarding process at KEF was disorganized and chaotic.  But we all made it on to the plane and safely home which is all that matters.  Picked up food in the KEF airport to eat on the flight home - much better.  
 

I had no problem carrying on with the typical size roll aboard suitcase.  Plenty of space in the overhead bins.  

These were land trips and we loved both visits.  Scenery is outstanding and the people are wonderful.  
Enjoy your trip.  

@pinotlover - thanks for the insight.  I have a Viking cruise scheduled for February 2024 from Buenos Aires to Santiago that is suppose to visit Ushuaia, Puenta Arenas, Amalia Glacier and the Chilean Fjords.  Do I need to temper my expectations in terms of not really seeing any of the fjords in Chile?  I was hoping it would be similar to a Norway cruise we took in 2015 where we sailed through Geiranger Fjord.  The itinerary map indicates we sail up the channel to the glacier, but perhaps not?  

Any insight you can provide is appreciated.  

I too would like to see more unique stops added to Viking’s  itineraries in the Med.   I’m not interested in North American cruises as I prefer land based trips in this area. An expedition cruise to Antarctica is high on my list.  Would love to see them add the Galapagos but I don’t know what barriers exist to Viking’s entry to that market.  Hopefully they will add some new itineraries in the next few years.  

I’ve been following along and I’m so sorry to hear you tested positive and are missing the cruise to Norway.  Your new accommodations are lovely.  I thoroughly enjoy following your travels and hope you will continue to post.  Wishing you and Iain good health and a wonderful trip to Scotland.  

Thanks so much for ‘taking’ us along.  I’ve followed your blog for years and always find it so enjoyable.

Gorgeous photos!  Thanks for all your efforts on the blog.  I’m enjoying following along.  

Kent4489 and DrKoob - thanks for the helpful info on the hikes and good to know it could differ between itineraries.  Another question - do you sign up for the excursions prior to the cruise?  Or is it a matter of choosing which hike to take once you board?  I presume my husband and I can take different excursions if he prefers the long hike and I prefer the short hike?  Thanks again for the info.  

23 hours ago, kent4489 said:

Easy beach landings, but the longs walks are sometimes rough. We didn’t want to change shoes on the beach so we needed the sturdier soles for the walks. Especially the last hike which was very rocky and a few steep spots. A lot of people did change shoes, so not a problem to just have water shoes or even flip flops, but then you have to change before the walk.

Thanks so much for the informative and enjoyable report.  We are looking at this cruise for a year from now.  Can you estimate the length of the ‘long’ hike?  Are we talking 5+ miles or in the 2-3 mile range?  Is the difficult part the uneven and/or rocky terrain?  Or is extremely steep?

16 minutes ago, ducklite said:

Sure, quarantined on a ship with a population of sick people almost doubled from the day before.  That is not a quarantine.  

I understand the quarantine aspect.  But surely something can be set up on land. Your lack of empathy for fellow human beings is astounding and not in a good way.  

7 minutes ago, cruzingnut said:

 

As the starter of this thread, I must insist that this stop!  If you were not our cruise, you have no place criticizing us.  We were there and went thru all this; you did not.  It was very trying for us and trust me you have NO idea so please, just stop.

 

Linda R.

I can’t imagine how exhausted each of you are after a very trying week and  long travel.   I didn’t take Tampa’s response as criticism but took it as more of a reality check.  It truly is concerning that ships are not being allowed to disembark passengers.   
 

Having been out of the country on 9/11, I realize that how we process events from a distance is very different from those actually being there.  Of course, in this scenario, it applies to both the WC folks and those of us that are here in the U.S. as the situation rapidly evolved.

Please understand that when you start a thread not everyone is going to agree with your perspective.   That said, I appreciate that you did start this thread as a way to track everyone’s return.   I hope that you are able to rest and relax in the coming days.

Safe travels.  Thank you for sharing your adventure with us. 

3 hours ago, Insanityx4 said:

Thanks Andy,

I hope you all get off the ship soon. Emirates is suspending all flights as of Wed. 25th, indefinitely. Safe travels.

I believe Emirates just reversed their decision and will still fly to the U.K., USA AND Canada.  This is from their website https://www.emirates.com/us/english/help/travel-updates/#3515

Safe travels and thank you for sharing your journey with us.