Rare May B Posted June 12, 2023 #51 Share Posted June 12, 2023 (edited) Patti, I just saw that two staterooms just opened up on your cruise! Must’ve been no-shows. Talk about last minute! 😳 Edited June 12, 2023 by May B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Azulann Posted June 13, 2023 Author #52 Share Posted June 13, 2023 5 hours ago, May B said: Patti, I just saw that two staterooms just opened up on your cruise! Must’ve been no-shows. Talk about last minute! 😳 I do know that one couple on our roll call canceled in the last weeks due to illness. It is currently 4:30 AM on our overnight in Stockholm. Last night around 9 pm people were still boarding for the first time. We are on starboard and overlook the pier. Saw a gropuof 6 arrived by car service with chauffeur driver . Maybe last minute sickness or flight problems. I would hate to have to cancel or miss a cruise after planning for over a year , but I know it does happen. BTW, how do you know that suddenly two staterooms have just opened? Are you a travel agent? 😀 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare May B Posted June 13, 2023 #53 Share Posted June 13, 2023 1 minute ago, Azulann said: I do know that one couple on our roll call canceled in the last weeks due to illness. It is currently 4:30 AM on our overnight in Stockholm. Last night around 9 pm people were still boarding for the first time. We are on starboard and overlook the pier. Saw a gropuof 6 arrived by car service with chauffeur driver . Maybe last minute sickness or flight problems. I would hate to have to cancel or miss a cruise after planning for over a year , but I know it does happen. BTW, how do you know that suddenly two staterooms have just opened? Are you a travel agent? 😀 I know b/c I was looking at cruises to see if I could find a satisfactory substitute, in case I get offered a MoveOver. 😁 Months ago, you had announced that both of our cruises were sold out. Mine kept opening up again. Finally it stayed sold out. I was surprised when yours showed availability. I was certainly surprised when yours showed up at all. I was looking at it probably when you had already had your dinner! I hope you’ll be able to fall back to sleep! And, bon voyage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Azulann Posted June 13, 2023 Author #54 Share Posted June 13, 2023 (edited) Day 1 final recap Dinner in Manfredi's with couple form our roll call. two entrées were very good, two were ok. Swordfish and angel hair pasta with tiger shrimp scampi were very good. The stark was good by not rare enough , and halibut was just ok, nothing special. Had a nice Banfi white wine with my meal. Observation on available wines.: Yes ,you can get two kinds of champagne by the glass, also Cava and Prosecco by the glass. The Cava is not listed in the bar menu on tables next Viking Bar , but just ask. It is listed on Wine menu in Manfredi's. Shout out to Richie in Guest services🎉 After a full meal with wine, being bone tired, I went to take out my contact lens and could not find my prescription glasses . I realized I left them at hotel when we checked out earlier on Monday. Richie called the hotel and yes they had my glasses. Asked for a taxi to deliver them to pier ASAP. they arrived by Stockholm Taxi in 20 minutes, and it only costs me 430 Kroner, which I gladly paid. Having a full ship is very noticeable compared to my last Welcome back cruise. There is a bustling energy by crew who are always saying hello , can I get you anything Madam, welcome aboard, pleasure to be of service, Day 2 is a excursion to Viking Museum in morning and our informal m&g 4:30 - 5:30 on infinity pool area before sail away at 6pm. Kent, I am so looking forward to the sail away from Stockholm. In closing I realize that the sun is up at 4:00 am here in Stockholm. And this also seems to be my new wake up time these days😮 Edited June 13, 2023 by Azulann 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CCWineLover Posted June 13, 2023 #55 Share Posted June 13, 2023 Wonderful report! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janetcbl Posted June 13, 2023 #56 Share Posted June 13, 2023 12 hours ago, Azulann said: Day 1 final recap Dinner in Manfredi's with couple form our roll call. two entrées were very good, two were ok. Swordfish and angel hair pasta with tiger shrimp scampi were very good. The stark was good by not rare enough , and halibut was just ok, nothing special. Had a nice Banfi white wine with my meal. Observation on available wines.: Yes ,you can get two kinds of champagne by the glass, also Cava and Prosecco by the glass. The Cava is not listed in the bar menu on tables next Viking Bar , but just ask. It is listed on Wine menu in Manfredi's. Shout out to Richie in Guest services🎉 After a full meal with wine, being bone tired, I went to take out my contact lens and could not find my prescription glasses . I realized I left them at hotel when we checked out earlier on Monday. Richie called the hotel and yes they had my glasses. Asked for a taxi to deliver them to pier ASAP. they arrived by Stockholm Taxi in 20 minutes, and it only costs me 430 Kroner, which I gladly paid. Having a full ship is very noticeable compared to my last Welcome back cruise. There is a bustling energy by crew who are always saying hello , can I get you anything Madam, welcome aboard, pleasure to be of service, Day 2 is a excursion to Viking Museum in morning and our informal m&g 4:30 - 5:30 on infinity pool area before sail away at 6pm. Kent, I am so looking forward to the sail away from Stockholm. In closing I realize that the sun is up at 4:00 am here in Stockholm. And this also seems to be my new wake up time these days😮 Enjoy the sail away through the archipelago. The area is scattered with hundreds of small islands where people have summer homes…they will no doubt be out waving to you as you sail by. Grab a glass of wine, find a good spot outside and enjoy! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Azulann Posted June 13, 2023 Author #57 Share Posted June 13, 2023 (edited) Day 2 Sail away from Stockholm Recap of the day. Perfect weather continues to hold, blue sky and sun all day! Viking does provide a shuttle from ship to Opera House to ship throughout the day. Many excursions, passengers out and about all day. We took the Viking Museum tour with 24 other passengers on the bus. Our guide was very informative and funny. Gave great background on the water ways and changes to and from Stockholm from ice age to present day while we stood at overlook on Sodermalm. Viking museum was interactive venue and ended with a 11 minute ride through time , think Viking version of "It is a Small world after all" ride you would find at Disney. You ride in little cars on track in the dark, into lighted diaraomas 😆Kids would love it. I guess I am a kid at heart. Then off to the National museum each of these stops lasted a 1 hr to explore on our own. Saw the Vault containing gold and silver found in burial and archaeological sites throughout Sweden. Always fascinating see the workmanship of these ancient jewelry pieces. Ended in a quirky bar in old town for a glass of Viking mead, and snack of cheese , beef, fruit. Stockholm is a city of museums and theaters ! Had our informal roll call meeting on Aquavit deck at 4:30 I had alerted guest services about the meeting on Monday.. I never got a response to my email I had sent a couple of weeks ago to customer relations at Viking .com At the same time today, "mussel, clams, shrimp buffet was being held on deck during sail away with lots of sparking wine being offered by waiters by the infinity pool. The General Manger . Mr. De Silva stopped by along with asst. CD to our m&g gathering .He said he would provide a meet and greet hosted by Viking later this week with officers in attendance with cocktails and canapés. He took our stateroom numbers and will send an invitation for a time/day that works well with daily schedule. It is a very nice gesture, thank you Viking. Love meeting roll call members face to face and lively conversations ensued. Lots of connections made among our group. Deb shared with us her experience on the Viking Sky when it ran into big trouble off coast of Norway a couple of years ago. I did not realize it was her first cruise ever! Ate in the Restaurant tonight and parchment wrapped salmon, haddock potato soup was excellent . Folks are all settled in now on the cruise and the daily rhythm of a port, excursion or DIY walkabouts leaves me tired by evening. The sail away is so beautiful and unique. Many of the Swedish summer houses are located on these islands. 6,700 islands make up the archipelago including Arland Islands and the town of Mariehamn which is our port of call for Day 3 on Wednesday. Edited June 13, 2023 by Azulann 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newdaytrippers Posted June 13, 2023 #58 Share Posted June 13, 2023 Really enjoying your wonderful trip reporting and your gorgeous photos. How great to be traveling with your sister! Love your descriptive summaries of excursions. DH and I are in an aft DV2 on the fourth deck for our first VO cruise in August, BIE on the Mars. And really love your sailaway photos! Please keep them coming! Through your photos, I can envision glasses of wine on the veranda in our future. But most importantly for you two, have a fabulous time. Cheers!🥂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare aungrl Posted June 13, 2023 #59 Share Posted June 13, 2023 Really enjoying your updates and photos so far! Internet seems to be working pretty well at this point. Looking forward to hearing all about Day 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Azulann Posted June 14, 2023 Author #60 Share Posted June 14, 2023 Day 3. Arland Island ,Marieham view from our balcony. Baltic Sea is as smooth as glass and again blue sky and sun ☀️ oops , uploading if picture failed. it did say in daily that internet is very spotty at this port stay tuned …. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purpleally Posted June 14, 2023 #61 Share Posted June 14, 2023 Observation on available wines.: Yes ,you can get two kinds of champagne by the glass, also Cava and Prosecco by the glass. These are not champagne, but sparkling wine. It sounds as if champagne is not available even with silver spirits😕 so glad you were able to get your glasses! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Azulann Posted June 14, 2023 Author #62 Share Posted June 14, 2023 (edited) 5 hours ago, Azulann said: Day 3. Arland Island ,Marieham view from our balcony. Baltic Sea is as smooth as glass and again blue sky and sun ☀️ oops , uploading if picture failed. it did say in daily that internet is very spotty at this port stay tuned …. Well it is now afternoon WiFi is working fine now. Edited June 14, 2023 by Azulann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Azulann Posted June 14, 2023 Author #63 Share Posted June 14, 2023 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Azulann Posted June 14, 2023 Author #64 Share Posted June 14, 2023 (edited) 13 hours ago, Newdaytrippers said: Really enjoying your wonderful trip reporting and your gorgeous photos. How great to be traveling with your sister! Love your descriptive summaries of excursions. DH and I are in an aft DV2 on the fourth deck for our first VO cruise in August, BIE on the Mars. And really love your sailaway photos! Please keep them coming! Through your photos, I can envision glasses of wine on the veranda in our future. But most importantly for you two, have a fabulous time. Cheers!🥂 You will love sitting in your balcony with you glass of wine watching as the ship leaves port or any other time for that matter. I am glad my pictures posting is working. I am using my old model iPhone 👍My favorite place to sit also is on the open aquavit deck . We eat our breakfast and lunch from World cafe outside . They have tables both in the shade and sun . My sister is currently on lounge chair in the sun for the next hour. Then we go to our appointment with the cruise consultant to book a future cruise while on board . will do the days wrap up later this evening. . I would move to Marieham Arland Island in a heartbeat 💓 🥰 ,if I was younger , my kind of idyllic island life. Edited June 14, 2023 by Azulann 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CCWineLover Posted June 14, 2023 #65 Share Posted June 14, 2023 Patti - so glad you having a great cruise! What future cruise are you looking at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Azulann Posted June 14, 2023 Author #66 Share Posted June 14, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, CCWineLover said: 3 hours ago, CCWineLover said: Patti - so glad you having a great cruise! What future cruise are you looking at? Kent, my sister has never been to Greece. I have been there twice. So we booked the Greek Odyssey cruise in Feb 2025. Four of the ports will be new for me, all on the Greek mainland. The others I have been to and will find something new to explore. We got her favorite aft DV1 stateroom and doing the post Greek extension with Viking too. 🥳 BTW, the wifi is fine now as weasel toward Visby Sweden.Sorry you are having so much trouble on your cruise with it. As others you have said, maybe it is the Northern region you are on you cruise.. Edited June 14, 2023 by Azulann 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Clay Clayton Posted June 14, 2023 #67 Share Posted June 14, 2023 43 minutes ago, Azulann said: Hope you will write a paragraph or two on the pros and any cons of the DV1s on the aft. We had finagled our way into one for our Hong Kong to Bangkok cruise that got canceled. In addition to being disappointed about the cruise not getting to experience that stateroom made me sad. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
photopro2 Posted June 14, 2023 #68 Share Posted June 14, 2023 We are enjoying following along with you and love what they have done with your avatar. I'll save the questions until you get back rather than taking up your time now. Look out for me in the virtual explorers lounge 😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Azulann Posted June 14, 2023 Author #69 Share Posted June 14, 2023 Day 3, Mariehamn , Arland Island Final recap. Took the included panoramic bus tour this morning. Out guide was informative about the history of Arland Islands, the life of islanders, Nordic culture , and its strategic place during the Cold War and today in light of the current Russia/ Ukraine war. As we drove by the Russian consulate , she pointed out that every day at 5pm there are protest in front of the building. They have been waiting for a meeting with the consular for over a year. No answer to their request. She is worried that "Mr. Putin is following in the footsteps of the Russian Czars. " I got a new appreciation of impact in the minds of everyday people who live closers that any Americans or cruise passengers to current realities. Driving over 12 island in our two hour bus tour on well maintained paved roads. I found the landscape to be idyllic , scent of pine trees filled the air, saw deer running across the road, drove by small farms. every turn tone gets a glimpse of the water, Bicycles are everywhere in the town used by young and old, well kept modern sturdy houses with metal roofs. Mariehamn is 5 hr ferry ride from both Finland and Stockholm. It reminded me of Northern MN ,pine forest, outcrops of rocks ,and water. I see why people come to this island during the summer for vacation. I will upload pictures in a separate post because slow wifi. This port was a wonderful surprise. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Peregrina651 Posted June 15, 2023 #70 Share Posted June 15, 2023 5 hours ago, photopro2 said: We are enjoying following along with you and love what they have done with your avatar. I'll save the questions until you get back rather than taking up your time now. Look out for me in the virtual explorers lounge 😁 The "rare" badge is for those whose live posts have been brought to the attention of the management. I'm not sure what the ship is for. There are badges as well but no place that I can find that describes why or how they are awarded. If you go back to Patti's original post, you will see the message from Community Manager Laura at the top of her post awarding her the badge. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Clay Clayton Posted June 15, 2023 #71 Share Posted June 15, 2023 22 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said: The "rare" badge is for those whose live posts have been brought to the attention of the management. I'm not sure what the ship is for. There are badges as well but no place that I can find that describes why or how they are awarded. If you go back to Patti's original post, you will see the message from Community Manager Laura at the top of her post awarding her the badge. Thanks for explaining-I didn’t know why I had “rare” on mine since I prefer my steak “medium rare”😂 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twitchly Posted June 15, 2023 #72 Share Posted June 15, 2023 1 hour ago, Peregrina651 said: The "rare" badge is for those whose live posts have been brought to the attention of the management. I’m glad you explained that. I thought it meant they rarely posted! 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Peregrina651 Posted June 15, 2023 #73 Share Posted June 15, 2023 1 minute ago, Twitchly said: I’m glad you explained that. I thought it meant they rarely posted! Lol. I was always sure that rare meant special; I just didn't know how. Took awhile to figure it out. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camden lady Posted June 15, 2023 #74 Share Posted June 15, 2023 10 hours ago, Clay Clayton said: Hope you will write a paragraph or two on the pros and any cons of the DV1s on the aft. We had finagled our way into one for our Hong Kong to Bangkok cruise that got canceled. In addition to being disappointed about the cruise not getting to experience that stateroom made me sad. I stayed in 5110 on the aft a DV1 on my prior Iceland cruise and I loved it. The balcony was much deeper and that one was covered which came in handy for those rainy times. I really enjoyed watching the wake and leaving ports gave excellent views. The cabin was a typical DV which I like. Tried to get an aft for my upcoming July Norway and Iceland cruise but they were all taken. You will love it Clay. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Azulann Posted June 15, 2023 Author #75 Share Posted June 15, 2023 Pictures of Mariehamn Arland Island 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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