slewis7

I just found this thread and really appreciate all the details as my wife and I will be on the Flora this September.  There are a lot of helpful tips and it will be very helpful in setting our expectations.  Thank you, OP!

1 minute ago, Gray Area said:

This is a gray area! 😀

 

 

If what you mean is it is subjective, I agree.  Also, the experience ends to vary from cruise to cruise on the same line.   I only harp on Oceania for this because they make a big deal of their food quality.

We enjoyed the Golden Circle on our first visit and since we are heading back to Reykjavik this summer, we have already booked a South Coast tour.

We were on this itinerary last summer.  I do not recall details of the sailaway, but Lofoten is spectacular.  I would highly recommend seeing as much of the island as you can during your visit!  We had perfect weather and took a private tour and we were so glad we did!

9 minutes ago, Syd58 said:

Most consider the food on Oceania to be among the best in the industry.. I don't care for the decor in Viking cabins. 

I am not sure about “Most”, but that is what Oceania marketing claims.  In my one experience, I would say it’s about average for the lines I have sailed on (Celebrity, Viking, Royal Caribbean, Holland America) and I have experienced far better (recent Holland America cruise).

We have taken a number of Viking ocean cruises and the food and service is pretty consistent and has varied from good to great.  Viking is an excellent line and we know what to expect when we take it.
 

Our one Oceania experience, aboard their smallest class of ship (the Insignia) was pretty disappointing: the food was just OK and if your tagline is “best cuisine at sea”, that is unacceptable.  Service was fine, but the ship was pretty dated.  It was our first butler experience and the only value we found was the one time we were served dinner in our cabin.  The Oceania entertainment was not even up to Viking standards.  We subsequently canceled our upcoming Vista cruise.

42 minutes ago, stu52 said:

Does anyone have prices on the following Viking excursions:

 

• Vigur Island out of Isafjordur.
• Golden Circle out of Reykjavik
• Northern Iceland's Natural Treasures out of Akureyri
• Skalanes Nature Center out of Seydisfjördur

 

Thanks

I can give you prices for 2 of those excursions for my Viking June 22, 2024 cruise:

Vigur $229 per person

Skalanes $219 per person 

So good to hear!  We are sailing the Millennium on a Japan itinerary in early April and I hope we will have a similar onboard experience.

My wife and I very recently made a new booking with Viking so I have emailed my travel agent to see if we can apply the “Special Future Guest Promotion” retroactively. 🤞

I agree that this is an absolutely wonderful itinerary.  My highlights were our pre-cruise visit to Iguazu, the Antarctica scenic cruising and the last several ports in Chile.  The red eye flight the eve of disembarkation was painful but it was worth it.

As for the Holland America shipboard experience, it exceeded all my best expectations!  I especially enjoyed the food!  Will sail HAL again!

7 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

You can see Tako on several of the "playing for change" videos on you tube. Including Doctor my Eyes which includes the original bass player, Leland Sklar who is playing the original bass from the album.

Perhaps I found the wrong “Doctor my Eyes” video as Tako was not in it.  He is a pretty young guy.

We just got off the Oosterdam and we enjoyed the music in the RS Lounge.  The guitarist, Tako from Tokyo, is a phenomenal talent and he seems to play a ripping solo on just about every song.  
 

On my one prior HAL cruise I really enjoyed the music in the BB King Club; I much prefer it to rock.  Will that type of music still be present on the larger ships?

My wife and I did a HAL horseback riding excursion today in Castro.  It was a very small group of 11 passengers and a HAL rep.  The ranch owner accompanied us on the van and told us about his ranch and how he obtained it.  He was a very friendly fellow named Julian.  After a scenic half hour ride, we arrived and Julian gave us a demonstration of training a horse.  Then we all got saddled up on horses accompanied by Julian and a number of his family members.  The area was absolute beautiful with some nice grades at various spots.  We saw plenty of dogs and passed by a lake.  It was wonderful!  After a 2 hours ride we returned to the ranch.  We were treated to sandwiches, fruit, nuts and honey sweetened lemon juice and then returned to the port.  It was an amazing outing and by far the best ship excursion I have ever taken!

Today is Castro.  Tomorrow is Puerto Montt.  Castro was added to the itinerary pre-cruise when some scheduled dates were shifted and a port was dropped.

I did the El Pedral tour as well today.  Seeing penguins up close was wonderful!

Was that a long cruise pier or what!?

37 minutes ago, 0106 said:

He recommended a book called The Worst Journey in the World as best book describing the actual experiences of the early explorers.

When the lecturer mentioned that book, I jumped on Amazon and was able to purchase an illustrated Kindle version of it for just $0.99!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MK5GMDG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_d_asin_title_o01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Me and my lovely wife tried the Dive-In for lunch today.  We were both quite pleased with the food.  I would rate it above Oceania, Viking and Celebrity for this fare.  The burger, fries and shake were all outstanding as were the sauces.

Looking ahead to Port Stanley, the weather forecast for Sunday currently shows windy conditions.  Hopefully we will have calmer weather. 
 

According to the following relevant web site:

https://www.falklands.gov.fk/maritimeauthority/coastal-state/local-notices-to-mariners/69-local-notice-to-mariners-01-2022#:~:text=Wind condition limitations for tendering,small passenger tenders and zodiacs.

“Wind condition limitations for tendering operations

When the wind conditions are sustained 30 and gusting above 30Kts, Stanley harbour will be closed for fishing vessels and all small passenger tenders and zodiacs. Additionally, the harbour may be closed at wind speeds below these limits on direction of the Harbour Master.”

@Btimmer  unfortunately HAL canceled Punta del Este for this cruise.  We get Castro instead, later on.

Today, after a brief tour of Montevideo, we were taken to the Bouza Winery by our private guide.  It is an absolutely beautiful property.  We had a tour of the facilities and sampled 4 wines accompanied by delicious tapas.  All 4 wines were excellent.  We enjoyed it!

Our driver knew to take us to drop luggage at Costa Salguero (not the cruise terminal).  We are there now awaiting a transfer.  It seems like a smooth process so far.

I am excited to be joining you both here and on the ship for this very same cruise.  Who knows, I may be inspired to post some of my own experiences on your thread, if that is OK.

Let’s just hope us and other passengers can find out where to go today to drop our luggage, without too much trouble!

23 hours ago, haptrav said:

There were mosquitoes in Iguazu Falls when we went there last year.  

We have been at the Falls the last 2 days.  Not a single insect bite for us!  

What a lovely send off!  My wife and I are on this cruise as well.  I heartily mirror these best wishes for a great cruise for “0106” and everyone else aboard with her! 😆

34 minutes ago, Iloveketo said:

It blows my mind that Brazil started this process, issued some people visas and now has postponed it again!

It is pretty amazing but given how incompetently the processing of applications has been, it is hardly surprising that they had to postpone things to avoid significantly damaging their tourism business.  Many of us are upset that a lot of effort and expense was wasted making applications but folks who had to alter or cancel travel plans due to an inability to obtain Visas would be even more angry.

Thank goodness.  Their visa system has been a total clown show. 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡