PlanoTim

On 4/6/2023 at 6:46 AM, chengkp75 said:

I think one of the best things about cruising into Portland is to get up early, and get some nice photos of Portland Head Light from the sea, a perspective that is rarely seen in photos of the light.

 

As for intown things to see.  There is the Museum of Art (with a nice Wyeth collection), the Victoria Mansion, Longfellow House, Portland Observatory for views out over Casco Bay, the Narrow Gauge Railway, shops and incredible restaurants (a nationally known top 10 "foodie" town), breweries and distilleries with their tasting rooms.  Then there are schooner cruises and the Mailboat Run on the Casco Bay Ferry to see the islands of the Bay.  The East End beach in town isn't much, but there are Crescent Beach State Park, and Kettle Cove (right next door), that are about a 20 minute drive from the airport.

 

I would recommend the Grill Room, the Oyster Room at Boone's, Street & Co, Scales, Petite Jacqueline and Fore Street for dinners.  Duckfat, Nosh, and Kings Head for lunch.  Becky's Diner and Miss Portland Diner for breakfast/brunch.  Luke's for lobster, or Portland Lobster Co for lobster "in the rough" (picnic tables).

I agree with chengkp75. Portland is a great foodie town.  Street & Co and Fore Street are a couple of our favorites, too.  Becky's Diner is good for lunch as is Gilbert’s Chowder House.  We like J’s Oyster too.  Allagash Brewing usually has a food truck for good lobster rolls and good beer.

Maine Brews Cruise has some fun excursion-type offerings like walk, talk, & taste tours and brewery/spirit tasting tours.

There is so much to do in and around Portland.  A sail on the wooden schooners is fun.  There are also lobster boat excursions that can be interesting.  Taking the ferry to Peaks Island and renting bikes for a couple hours is a nice way to spend some time.  In addition to Crescent Beach mentioned above, we also like Higgins Beach and Pine Point Beach (might need a car).

If you have a car and like shopping, Freeport is just 20 miles north.  The patio at Jameson Tavern (right by LL Bean) is a nice place for lunch.

If you like zany (overpriced, IMHO) museums, then the International Cryptozoology Museum may be for you.  Trust me, it is like no other. 👽  Thankfully it has a brewery on one side of it and a distillery on the other. 😜

I hope you enjoy your visit.

I guess I'll be the dissenter here.  I've been to a couple of Buc-ees, but it isn't worth the effort in my opinion.  The parking lot is over crowded.  The store is WAY over crowded.  The bathrooms are clean, I guess, but the 5 minute wait (10 minute for the women) just wasn't worth it.  I just don't get the Buc-ees craze.

On 12/17/2022 at 2:30 PM, Hey! Jude said:

If you have your own winter hiking boots, can you wear them on the Glacier dog sled excursions or are you required to the wear the boots they supply. thanks

Hey, Judi.  In my experience with glacier excursions (but not dog sled), the tour provides overshoes that go over whatever shoes you have on.  They sort of wrap around your ankles, zip up, and strap on.  Here are ones like I have seen used.  I don't believe we were given the option to just wear our own footwear.  Perhaps it is possible.

I hope that helps some.
Tim

I've always liked the cinnamon rolls in the WC, so ooey goey.  But on our recent Alaska cruise they were "different" and not nearly as good as usual.  Their croissants are good and I like the pistachio bun from the Viking Bar (deck 1).  The Lyonnaise potatoes in the WC are good but the hash browns are tooth-breakingly hard - no tender middle at all.  The best location for breakfast...the Aquavit Terrace.

Just now, powderhorn said:

They pay port fees so trust me....it's in your fare......

True, they pay them to the port, but they aren't charged separately to the passengers, so can't really be refunded.  It's just a different paradigm that some (most) cruise lines, I think.

6 hours ago, uktog said:

Interesting point, we have missed port insurance and our insurers queried why port charges were not refunded with Viking.  I do not know the outcome of that conversation as the insurers settled in full with us but it was clear they found that non refund to be a practice not followed elsewhere.  Our decisions to cancel were made very early and in the case of one port the weather conditions reported were not what was actually showing on all forecasts or indeed what transpired on the day.  It felt like an early decision was made, it allowed the ship to crawl to the final destination (our last two ports were cancelled) so a saving on the fuel budget and two lots of port fees....hmmmm

I don't believe Viking charges port fees, so there is nothing to refund.

On 10/20/2022 at 7:31 AM, Mimiya11 said:

Bumping this thread to see if The Kitchen Table is still not being offered?   

We did it on our Alaska and the Inside Passage cruise on Viking Orion in early September.  It was less interactive than our pre-COVID experiences, but still fun.  I almost like the format we had this time better, where the chef did most of the cooking and we were able to help a little.

Tim

3 hours ago, molymoo said:

If you don’t mind my jumping into your thread I have a question about the Embera excursion.  I understand that they have items for sale and as it apparently supports the village we would certainly consider a purchase.  What currency should we plan to use?  We have read that dollars are readily accepted in Panama but wonder about the village.  Can’t seem to get an answer by researching yet.

My wife says she used US Dollars.

14 hours ago, Liz Masterson said:

What did the ladies thing of the Emberá Indian Village visit? How difficult was the trip? Did they feel like the visit was respectful? Sometimes I worry about these kinds of visits being exploitive in some way.

Hi, Liz.  My wife and sisters really enjoyed the Emberá Indian Village excursion.  Their guide was from that village and they thought the interaction with the people there was very informative.  They had an opportunity to interact with the villagers and learn a bit about their life.  I remember them remarking how they felt they connected with the children there.  There was an opportunity for them to purchase some woven items.  They enjoyed their time in the village and didn't feel it was exploitive.

On 10/16/2022 at 11:01 AM, knoxclone said:

Although I have previously asked for suggestions, now that we are less than 3 weeks out from our Panama Canal cruise, I am hoping for some addditional advice regarding excursions - especially from those who have done the itinerary post covid.

 

My bucket list has been always included  transiting the canal, and everything after that is gravy... ( I would probably just be happy transiting  back and forth - I'm a geek that way!)  Has anyone done either of the train excursions? or the boat tour of the canal?

 

Likewise,  does anyone have any additional insight/recommendations regarding the excursions, specifically the snorkeling in Belize, the rainforest aerial tram in panama  or the horseback in Roatan? Also, there are two separate Tortuguero Canal excursions - One is included, the other optional - any recommendations?

 

We lost Key West, which although disappointing, Viking has provided OBC, so I am ok with that...

 Thanks much!

 

We did the Panama Canal & Central America cruise aboard Viking Sky immediately before COVID.  We had a really good time.

I and my 3 brothers-in-law did the Panama Canal by Ferry excursion while our wives did the Emberá Indian Village visit.  It was interesting to see the canal operation from a much smaller vessel.  We left the ship (in Colon) for a very-early, pre-dawn motor coach ride to the Pacific end of the canal.  We immediately boarded the boat and had a nice continental breakfast as we left the marina in the early rays of sunrise.  The Viking passengers (less than one bus load) were the only ones on the multi-level boat and it could have easily held 4-6 times as many passengers.  We went through the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks with a tanker ship.  We spent most of our time in the outside spaces at the front and back of the boat.  This allowed for a very up-close view of things.  Traveling through the locks is rather slow going, so I wouldn’t exactly call it exciting, but it did allow us to see the operations from a nice point of view.  We had a nice buffet lunch and there was a small cash bar and a few gift items for sale.  After exiting the locks, we traveled through the canal to Gamboa, where we boarded another motor coach for a ride back to the ship.  We all enjoyed the excursion, but agreed that our less-geeky wives may have been a bit board.

The Sharks, Rays & and Island Getaway excursion in Belize was really fun.  It was pretty much as described and the tour operator did a good job.  The snorkeling with the sharks and rays is mostly in a sandy area, so there isn’t much to see other than the stars of the show.

We did the included Tortuguero Canals excursion because our planned ATV Ride & Rain Forest Trek was canceled by the vendor.  The canal excursion was just okay.  It was fairly short, but we saw a crocodile, monkeys, and sloths.  There were a number of bird sightings, too, but birds don’t do much for me.

I hope that helps some.

Tim

On all of our Viking cruises the Viking Band had two singers (a male and female) and a 4-piece band - drums, base, keyboard, and guitar.  We have always thought they did a good job.

We’ve had plenty of times when we’ve had great Viking service.  Here are a couple form our recent cruise.

We were eating dinner in The Restaurant on the first night of our Alaska and the Inside Passage cruise.  The menu didn’t have a chocolate dessert selection.  My wife kidded the waiter that that shouldn’t be allowed.  He said he would take care of her and she chose one of the non-chocolate options.  When dessert came, she was severed what she had ordered and he also brought her a chocolate mousse (from room service?).  There was another night or two that didn’t have chocolate and he brought her a chocolate option without being asked.

The wine steward also had fun with my brother on this cruise.  My brother prefers beer (Coors light) rather than wine and he was presented his beer bottle like it was a bottle of rare wine – draped on the sommelier’s arm for approval.  I think he even gave my brother the cap to inspect and poured him a sample to taste.  It was fun.

On 9/26/2022 at 3:59 PM, workfromship said:

My wife and I are frequent cruisers and currently living it up on Carnival Vista. We ALWAYS order lobster on the first formal night and are ALWAYS unimpressed with it. The mushroom risotto that also comes with the dish is always bland and gummy, nothing like a real risotto.

Here's a pro tip: Get the Pan Striped Bass!

 

I got out of my comfort zone last night and tried the Pan Striped Bass instead and was blown away due to how great it was! Not only was the fish perfectly cooked with a crispy skin, but the gnocchi that came with it was so flavorful! I'll definitely be getting it again in lieu of lobster from now on.

My wife and I sailed on Carnival Vista earlier this year.  We had the lobster in the main dining room and it was very good - the best lobster we have had in 30 years of cruising.  My wife is from Maine, so we are quite familiar with good lobster.  Carnival Vista's lobster wasn't quite on par with the best lobster dishes we've had at home or in Maine, but it was very good.

If I were in your situation, I would purchase the lowest level Wi-Fi plan (or higher if you wish) and use WhatsApp or iMessage (if you have an iPhone) for initial contact.  Then you can call back from your room at $1.99/minute or do a Wi-Fi call using your phone or via WhatsApp or turn off airplane mode and make a cell call.  We were on Carnival Vista earlier this year and this worked for us.  We had the Social Wi-Fi plan and were able to use WhatsApp to make a video call on a sea day.

On 9/23/2022 at 7:46 PM, islandchick said:

Glad to hear about the bbq, that sounds nice. As far as the salmon, everyone that has responded has mentioned that you can get salmon but I was wondering if they ever served alaskan wild salmon- there is a big difference. Also, can anyone who has been on this cruise remember what types of dishes they offered on the regional menu in the dining room?

It was a few days into our cruise before we saw the first destination menu.  I think it was only on 2-3 nights that we noticed.  My wife chose all the selections one night and had a crab cake, baked fish (halibut?), and a chocolate dessert.  She said all three were good.  I think another night had borscht on the destination menu (maybe the day we were supposed to go to Sitka?).  We ate in the specialty dining rooms two nights, so the destination menu may have been offered those nights.

1 hour ago, jmfdr said:

Thanks, everyone, for your responses.  The SS package for our 3 week+ cruise is $518 pp, which I thought expensive considering we might like the included dinning wines just fine. I thought we should try out the included wines prior to buying the package.  We enjoy a glass prior to dinner so will just purchase that.  

 

Further question about purchasing wine on board without a SS package----will we be able to select wines to purchase that are included in the SS package or will only be offered the generic included wines?  We are not wine snobs but both have our likes and dislikes in different varietals.  

Depending on when you have your pre-dinner glass, it may be meal time already and the included wine would be available at no cost.

18 hours ago, holech said:

My questions are…

1. In the Penthouse Veranda cabin refrigerator, is there space for wines I bring onboard. If so, how many bottles can I fit in at a time?

2. How many choices of included wines are available at lunch and dinner? ( 1 red and 1 white?)

3. Are the included wines the same at lunch and dinner.
4. How often during a 14 day cruise do they change the lunch and dinner wines? (every 3 days, once a week…)
5. How many varieties of wine are available on the Silver Spirits wine list (rose, Pinot Grigio, rioja, Cabernet etc.). I assume it’s a much larger selection.
 

Thank you for the info.

 

 

Here is the count of wines by the glass available on our Alaska and The Inside Passage cruise on Viking Orion a few weeks ago: 

Sparkling - 1
White - 13
Rose - 2
Red - 13
Port - 1

I hope that helps some.
Tim

16 hours ago, ClevelandKid said:

I was hoping that the hotel information would be finalized at about the same time as the air.  Viking says "at this hotel or something similar".  On this extension, Viking offers nothing beyond the hotel and the meet and greet and I would like to plan the day and know what my base of operations will be.

We did a pre-cruise extension in Vancouver, BC before our Alaska & The Inside Passage cruise a few weeks back.  We were notified what hotel we were staying at exactly 1 year before our arrival date.  Our air reservations were changed a number of times after the original flights were communicated.  But the hotel did not change.  Of course, your experience could be different.

I hope that helps some.

Tim

We sailed on Viking Orion (south-north) a couple of weeks ago.  There was Alaskan king crab in the WC at least one night.  We didn't dine there, but I heard mixed reviews on it.  Grilled lobster and steak was offered one night in The Restaurant, as was lobster thermidor.  There was a lobster or crab mac & cheese (I forget which) that was pretty good.  I had it as an appetizer one night.  The poached Norwegian salmon is always available, but that tastes like canned salmon to me.  However, they are happy to grill a piece of salmon if you prefer.  There was a seafood buffet on the aquavit terrace on the day we visited the Hubbard Glacier in Yakutat Bay.  They were grilling salmon, shrimp, and scallops to order.  They called it a barbeque.  Being from Texas, that isn't the term I would use. 😋  It looked nice, though.  We didn't have any because the line was pretty long.  We were traveling as a party of 8 and I believe everyone enjoyed the seafood they had.

Sorry, I didn't capture any of the menus.

Tim

I suggest you call Viking (the number is in MVJ) after the time that your cabin category can book dining reservations and arrange the private dining room.  That is what we have done,  The specialty dining room doesn't have any tables for a party larger than 6.  They can probably put some 2- and 4-tops together, but the private room for a party of 8-12 is much better.  Hope that helps.

Tim

9 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

i will second Mollymoo on age and active.  We have only ever seen one 20 or teen ( have to be at least 18 on Viking) but lots of that age in the crew.  We find the crew to be exceptional and we have a number of FB friends from the crew.  Also, the ship is much more refined and beautiful compared to Carnival.  Much less crowds and very much better food.  Shore excursions and docking locations can also be much better based on the ship size and passenger load.  I started life traveling Cunard which you know has an older demographic for the most part and I have loved all of them.  Even our fun Carnival cruises.  I think you two will have your own idea of what to do and will have a great time on Viking.  Bet you get lots of "free" drinks when your fellow pax learn you are honeymooners....🍸

Speaking of the crew on board, we’ve had a crew member join us on many (but not all) of our non-included Viking excursions.  We were told by the hotel manager that it served two purposes.  First, it helped Viking keep tabs on the “quality” of the excursion that the tour operator was providing.  The second benefit was that it served as a small reward for the crew member.  Of course, the crew are typically younger than the passengers.  We’ve been on excursions where the crew member was outgoing, fun, and an absolute blast to be with – the leader of the conga line around the catamaran.  Others have not interacted with anyone at all and kept completely to themselves.  So, there may be opportunities to interact with the younger crew on an excursion.

23 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Pre-Covid, what you describe was the norm.

 

The problem is that post-Covid Viking is enforce a 6 to a table limit and we don't know when they are planning on revoking the current protocol.

 

At this point, my suggestion is that folks who are traveling in a group of more than 6 contact the people at tellus@vikingcruises.com to resolve these issues. Traditionally, this department has been the "Mike Holmes" department, tasked with the job of making things right. They are higher up the customer service ladder and can do things that the call center cannot. If nothing else, they will get the message that folks traveling together are not happy with the current restrictions.

 

 

 

 

Thanks.  I wasn't aware of the limits. ☹️  We're all getting together to do some cruise planning tomorrow.  We'll have to see if the tellus@vikingcruises.com folks can help us out.

11 hours ago, planada said:

100% agree to the party size limitations in the dining room. We have 7 in our party. Only able to book 6 so one is left out. We never could get ANY specialty restaurants booked because we are in a DV and reservations were full even BEFORE it was our turn to book. Was able to get that ONE reservation for 6 in the main dining restaurant only. Very frustrated with Viking at this point and we don’t even leave until

August. 

We have traveled as a party of 8 on two previous Viking cruises.  We pretty much had our own table in The Restaurant and did two dinners in each of the specialty restaurants (in the private room) on both cruises.  I think there was even one time when our table wasn't ready in the main dining room and they sent us to Manfredi's private room again.  Oh, the sacrifices we made. 😁  I think on one of the cruises we called Viking when it was time to book our specialty dining (we were all in DV) and they booked one meal in the private room of each specialty right then.

I'm hoping we have the same luck later this year on Viking Orion.  And I hope all goes well for you once you board.

21 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Tim,

 

The tides come in around the top of Vancouver Island and also along Juan de Fuca at the bottom of Vancouver Island. The 2 tides meet just South of Campbell River. Therefore, in Georgia Strait the flood tide is going North and Ebb tide is southerly. North of Seymour Narrows, because that tide is coming in from the top of Vancouver Island, the flood tide is southerly and ebb tide heads north.

 

To give you an idea, I suggest having a look on Google maps and I'll try to explain how the tides run in this area. Hopefully, it will give you an idea.

 

Coming south through Seymour with a 16 kt flood is definitely interesting, as the ship is doing about 30 kts and is not very responsive, requiring lots of helm. You basically keep her in the middle and use lots of helm, when you need to turn.

 

Coming into a 15-16 kts flood tide, is more challenging, as we ran the back eddies, to pick up time. If you check out Seymour Narrows, the flood tide comes south through the narrow gap and then alters to port, following the channel. As with similar tides, this creates back-eddies close to the shore. We ran up the back eddy on the stbd shore (Maude Island), then had to judge the wall of tide coming through the gap, as we must get the ship's head moving into the tide before hitting it. We used full stbd helm to get the swing started before hitting the tide. If too late, we had to use port helm and take a round turn.

 

The BC Coast Pilots don't transit in these extreme conditions and to be honest, being older and wiser, I would not run max tides anymore either, if I still took ships up there. I would probably use a wider interval than the pilots, but not anywhere close to the max tides. Did it 40 yrs ago, 4-times a week regardless of how the tide was running.

Thanks so much for the description.  Are you sure you’re not talking about zipping around in a kayak? 😜  That sounds like a true challenge.  I bet it is wild to zoom through a narrow channel at 30 knots.  The proximity to shore must make it seem even faster.  Looking forward to heading through there on Viking Orion the last day of August.  Thanks!

Tim

On 6/5/2022 at 11:00 PM, Heidi13 said:

We have discharged entire ship's cargo at anchor, so a little baggage and stores is not impossible. Might be a little more work for the crew, but easily doable with planning. Vancouver Harbour has inner anchorages located just off Canada Place, so closer than most tender ports.

 

The departure time is significant, as it dictates which tide the ship uses at Seymour Narrows, which is 100 miles from Vancouver. The BC Coast pilots will only transit within 1 hr of slack water, as the tides can reach 16 kts.

Thanks, Captain Andy, for the info you share with us here on CC.  You mention the 16 knot tide that can happen at the Seymour Narrows.  Is that just the tide coming into the Strait of Georgia or is there a similar tide going out?  I know little about seamanship, but I would think transiting a narrow passage would be difficult going with a 16 knot tide as well.  Am I all wet?  Thanks,

Tim