Ultimate World Cruise 245 days and all the parts. Ongoing review, questions, opinion

[Peregrina651]

Yes, but  the flights are still very long.

[OnTheJourney]

Loved the flight. We flew business class with Argentine airlines. Length is nothing compared to flying to AUS / NZ. And, it was nonstop. Can't beat that. 

Edited April 22, 2020 by OnTheJourney

[SM77]

On 4/21/2020 at 1:38 PM, deec said:

Thanks, Jim....maybe we will do this "once!"   I have vouchers burning a hole in my imagination and dreaming of WHEN!  Pat wants to go to Antarctica.  I hate being COLD! 

Deec,

I have to weigh in here.  We did the Buenos Aires to Santiago South American Cruise just last December.  We were the first run of the itinerary (aside from the WC) - I would agree about Brazil - I had been to Rio de Janeiro & the capital for business in 2001 right after 9/11 and it was enough for me so I told my husband who wanted to go to South America for his 70th birthday that we would start in Buenos Aires.  To be honest, I was disappointed in both Buenos Aires & Santiago - just too much graffiti and not particularly attractive - they are just big cities.  Montevideo was lovely, all the smaller ports were just wonderful, as described above by DaveSJ711.  The opportunity to see penguins up close and personal was quite an experience.  The Falkland islands are full of nature.  The opportunity to sail around Cape Horn and to see the Amalia Glacier was spectacular.  We loved Ushuaia and sailing in the Beagle Channel.  I did a live post for this itinerary - we sailed from Dec 4 - 18.  We did have awful weather the day in the Chilean Fjords so we missed the beauty.  I was surprised by how much I enjoyed our South American cruise - you are there for the beauty of the region and the wildlife.  It's worthwhile to check out the roll calls for South America, I think you will find the comments helpful.  And of course we were so lucky to be on the Jupiter and its outstanding Viking crew - 

Edited April 23, 2020 by SM77
made a mistake - correcting it

[DaveSJ711]

13 minutes ago, SM77 said:

Deec,

I have to weigh in here.  We did the Buenos Aires to Santiago South American Cruise just last December.  We were the first run of the itinerary (aside from the WC) - I would agree about Brazil - I had been to Rio de Janeiro & the capital for business in 2001 right after 9/11 and it was enough for me so I told my husband who wanted to go to South America for his 70th birthday that we would start in Buenos Aires.  To be honest, I was disappointed in both Buenos Aires & Santiago - just too much graffiti and not particularly attractive - they are just big cities.  Montevideo was lovely, all the smaller ports were just wonderful, as described above by DaveSJ711.  The opportunity to see penguins up close and personal was quite an experience.  The Falkland islands are full of nature.  The opportunity to sail around Cape Horn and to see the Amalia Glacier was spectacular.  We loved Ushuaia and sailing in the Beagle Channel.  I did a live post in the roll calls for this itinerary - we sailed from Dec 4 - 18.  We did have awful weather the day in the Chilean Fjords so we missed the beauty.  I was surprised by how much I enjoyed our South American cruise - you are there for the beauty of the region and the wildlife.  It's worthwhile to check out the roll calls for South America, I think you will find the comments helpful.  And of course we were so lucky to be on the Jupiter and its outstanding Viking crew - 

 

We sailed on the Jupiter from February 27 to March 15.  With the exception of a drizzly day in Punta Arenas, we enjoyed great weather the entire time -- lucky us!  The temperature got up to 70 degrees in Ushuaia the day we were there.  Locals told us it was the warmest day in the entire season.

 

Our captain was very pessimistic about our chances of anchoring in the Falklands.  But the weather gods smiled on the Jupiter -- we pulled in to Port Stanley on glassy-calm seas.  A bunch of us jumped in Patrick Watts's jeeps and off we went on the bump-bump-bump trip to Volunteer Point and the aroma/noise of thousands of king penguins.  What a day!   

[deec]

Thank you ALL....I think this trip connecting to the Transatlantic will be in our future....if not 2020 ( afraid I will still be uncomfortable traveling)  then we will wait until 2021!   However, much to our family's dismay we went with another couple on a cruise to Asia in October of 2001....never felt safer.   But right now is a great time to be thankful, hopeful and dream for a new way to share the world.

[Jukebo1x]

54 minutes ago, deec said:

Thank you ALL....I think this trip connecting to the Transatlantic will be in our future....if not 2020 ( afraid I will still be uncomfortable traveling)  then we will wait until 2021!   However, much to our family's dismay we went with another couple on a cruise to Asia in October of 2001....never felt safer.   But right now is a great time to be thankful, hopeful and dream for a new way to share the world.

Well said. 
Stay  healthy & Stay safe!😌

[Heidi13]

May 2nd, today is when many of us should have been disembarking the Viking Sun after completion of the 245-day marathon cruise. Sadly, all of us are already home.🙁

[Azulann]

it is a bittersweet day for all of you  who should be in UK disembarking.

 Instead, at home with memories that are unique for all times.

Cheers!

[OnTheJourney]

4 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

May 2nd, today is when many of us should have been disembarking the Viking Sun after completion of the 245-day marathon cruise. Sadly, all of us are already home.🙁

 

"Sadly" you are all already home, huh?  Geez, what a bummer. Yeah, I'm pretty sad that I lost my whopping 8-day cruise last month also.  😏  Sorry, but you all had what you had - which was really quite a journey - and should be more than grateful for such an extensive experience. Many folks lost not only one or more cruises and didn't get to go anywhere - or, even worse, wound up trapped for weeks on ships with CV -, but lost several upcoming trips as well due to the pandemic. You all had things pretty good judging from what was posted here, and were all extremely fortunate to have had a pretty successful journey totally virus free. While you're lamenting the ultimate demise of the WC - which is understandable - in the meantime people have lost loved ones by the hundreds of thousands. It all needs to be placed in perspective, ya know?

Edited May 3, 2020 by OnTheJourney

[OnTheJourney]

4 hours ago, Azulann said:

it is a bittersweet day for all of you  who should be in UK disembarking.

 Instead, at home with memories that are unique for all times.

Cheers!

 

Well, I would have also enjoyed disembarking in London last March at the expected conclusion of our cruise on the Sky, and instead wound up in tears - scared out of my mind - while watching my wife hoisted off the top deck of the ship a hundred feet below a waiting CHC helicopter. Unique memories indeed. 

Edited May 3, 2020 by OnTheJourney

[DaveSJ711]

11 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

 

Yeah, I'm pretty sad that I lost my whopping 8-day cruise last month also.  😏  Sorry, but you all had what you had - which was really quite a journey - and should be more than grateful for such an extensive experience. Many folks lost not only one or more cruises and didn't get to go anywhere - or, even worse, wound up trapped on ships with CV, but lost several upcoming trips as well due to the pandemic. You were all extremely fortunate to have a pretty successful journey totally virus free. It all needs to be placed in perspective. 

 

For still another perspective:  Almost 70,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the USA alone.  The word sad doesn't begin to describe this loss.

[OnTheJourney]

7 minutes ago, DaveSJ711 said:

 

For still another perspective:  Almost 70,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the USA alone.  The word sad doesn't begin to describe this loss.

 

Agreed...was just trying to make a point. I don't mean to offend, but the world cruisers, relatively speaking, had a pretty nice time of things on the Sun, not to mention an experience that probably the majority of cruisers could never even contemplate doing. 

Edited May 3, 2020 by OnTheJourney

[Heidi13]

On 5/2/2020 at 5:11 PM, OnTheJourney said:

 

Agreed...was just trying to make a point. I don't mean to offend, but the world cruisers, relatively speaking, had a pretty nice time of things on the Sun, not to mention an experience that probably the majority of cruisers could never even contemplate doing. 

 

Since you were not aboard the Viking Sun, quite frankly you have no idea how the passengers handled the numerous changes to the itinerary and dealing with the COVID-19.

 

Although we didn't receive the cruise we booked, we still enjoyed the experience and had no issue with visiting 21 ports (30 days in port) and 67 sea days, I can assure you many of the passengers did not agree they had a, "Pretty nice time".

 

If passengers had such a great time, perhaps you should ask the Customer Service Reps, why they received hours of abuse every time ports and/or tours changed, or we even got to a port, but couldn't get ashore.

[vnb2003]

42 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Since you were not aboard the Viking Sun, quite frankly you have no idea how the passengers handled the numerous changes to the itinerary and dealing with the COVID-19.

 

Although we didn't receive the cruise we booked, we still enjoyed the experience and had no issue with visiting 21 ports (30 days in port) and 67 sea days, I can assure you many of the passengers did not agree they had a, "Pretty nice time".

 

If passengers had such a great time, perhaps you should ask the Customer Service Reps, why they received hours of abuse every time ports and/or tours changed, or we even got to a port, but couldn't get ashore.

Well said Andy!  

I was very glad when whiners finally departed. 

It was so unfair to the crew and Viking. They did as much as they can and some to make up for something that was out of their hands...and minds

[DaveSJ711]

2 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Since you were not aboard the Viking Sun, quite frankly you have no idea how the passengers handled the numerous changes to the itinerary and dealing with the COVID-19.

 

Although we didn't receive the cruise we booked, we still enjoyed the experience and had no issue with visiting 21 ports (30 days in port) and 67 sea days, I can assure you many of the passengers did not agree they had a, "Pretty nice time".

 

If passengers had such a great time, perhaps you should ask the Customer Service Reps, why they received hours of abuse every time ports and/or tours changed, or we even got to a port, but couldn't get ashore.

 

You said earlier that "we enjoyed many days in a virus-free bubble."  Considering everything that happened on land, the bubble you enjoyed wasn't a bad place to be.

Edited May 4, 2020 by DaveSJ711

[OnTheJourney]

9 hours ago, DaveSJ711 said:

 

You said earlier that "we enjoyed many days in a virus-free bubble."  Considering everything that happened on land, the bubble you enjoyed wasn't a bad place to be.

 

AND...with the last few weeks spent in an Explorer Suite yet!  A pretty nice "bubble" indeed!  Sorry to hear that some pax gave the management, etc. grief over lost ports. It's to be expected I suppose - but nonetheless conditions on the Sun were apparently far better than on something like the Diamond Princess. The 8 remaining guests were treated like royalty from what I've read - definitely an amazing journey for sure. Can't imagine what it was like to go from that into a CV world. It's enough of a paradigm shift sometimes to simply come back from any cruise to the 'real world'. THIS world sometimes still seems like living inside a Michael Crichton novel. 

 

Anyway, Andy.....thought you might enjoy perusing this, since I know you have your own travel website as well..  http://www.worldwidewaftage.com  Came across this here on CC on one of the threads about people waiting for refunds, etc. 

 

Take care and stay safe...

Edited May 4, 2020 by OnTheJourney

[CCWineLover]

So glad to have had the chance Andy, to read your informative and inspirational posts!  You truly are a glass totally FULL person - much appreciated!  What an experience !

 

onthejourney - wow - I had been thinking often during these last months of CV about The Andromeda Strain ! 

[OnTheJourney]

1 hour ago, CCWineLover said:

So glad to have had the chance Andy, to read your informative and inspirational posts!  You truly are a glass totally FULL person - much appreciated!  What an experience !

 

onthejourney - wow - I had been thinking often during these last months of CV about The Andromeda Strain ! 

 

Yeah, really. I read that book decades ago. Scary to sort of actually be in a somewhat similar scenario. 

[Heidi13]

5 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

 

Anyway, Andy.....thought you might enjoy perusing this, since I know you have your own travel website as well..  http://www.worldwidewaftage.com  Came across this here on CC on one of the threads about people waiting for refunds, etc. 

 

Take care and stay safe...

 

Thanks - have already checked out the daily posts on Tom's website. They were meant to join us in Bombay (Mumbai) for the final segment back to London, after spending time in India.

[OnTheJourney]

3 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Thanks - have already checked out the daily posts on Tom's website. They were meant to join us in Bombay (Mumbai) for the final segment back to London, after spending time in India.

 

Ah!  Somehow figured that you might even know him - quite some interesting journeys they've had. It would not be for me to sell everything, etc. and travel constantly. I assume they get some money from sponsorships?  I know little about how all that works. 

[Eaches]

Hi Dee,
Hope y'all are doing well and staying safe.  Travel seems far, far away at the moment.  You are asking if we would recommend investing the time, effort, and money to go back to many of the areas we recently visited on the London/LA portion of the world cruise so here goes.  I had to think about this a bit as a number of people on this board have posted that the South America voyages were their "best trip ever".  I  am sure they were.  In no way am I intending to demean or in any other way disagree or take away from another's experience.  It is your opinion just as mine is simply that.  My opinion.  Yes, my original posts during the voyage were less than "wow".  Overall we found everywhere we went in South America rather disappointing.  Mainly I am amazed how their governments/regimes can take a huge continent, full of beautiful spaces and rich with resources and turn it into third world cities.  Time after time guides took us to the evil Colonial Era buildings for photo ops.  We realized those were mostly the only interesting buildings in most towns.  Lots of slums, garbage, graffiti and crime.  After a seagoing career and lots of personal travel including two Viking WCs, I have been to over two thirds of the countries out there.  Possibly I have just been exposed to too many third world dumps full of garbage, slums, graffiti, and crime.  We have come to the decision that going to a few more third world places simply because they are on the list of places yet seen is no longer for us.  When this crazy is over we are intending to spend our travel funds going to places we know are nice, returning to enjoyable, beautiful, fun places.  Again, just our opinion but to answer your original question no we would not go to the effort, time, and cost to return to any of the places we visited on the recent WC.  The Inaugural world cruise we shared with y'all was fantastic.  Yes we went to some dumps but we also had some of the world's most spectacular places on our visit list too.  One of our fellow passengers was also on the 245 day cruise with us.  You will remember her, tall slim, long dark hair and she and her husband ate lunch most days at a table in the Aquavit Bar.  Anyway, we were chatting one day prior to arriving in NYC and they told us they were disembarking in NYC and re embarking in LA.  When we asked why, she responded: " everyone should see South America.......Once". We understand fully what she meant.  Hope this helps and again, not trying to insult anyone else's great experiences.  Hope to sail with y'all again some day...[emoji483]

Jim,

We where going on your trip, but decided to do a across country with a Canadian Rockies Train adventure along with a stop in Hawaii/tour instead. I’m so glad we did it .
We Love Viking Oceans but we are about played out of places to go, so we are doing the New Viking Mississippi River Travels in 2022 .
We traveled with you on the 1st Viking WC and loved every minute! Hopefully Viking can do the same wonderful vision a little closer to home .


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[deec]

Eaches...always loved your pictures!

[OnTheJourney]

Some of the itineraries planned for the Mississippi / Great Lakes cruises do look very interesting. I've had my eye for some time on a few other companies that have been doing this sort of thing for quite awhile. One is American Steamboat and the other is Pearl Seas (which does not do the Mississippi but have very nice Canada / Great Lakes trips).