Live from the Viking Sky (Ft Lauderdale to London) December 20, 2023 - May 6, 2024

[millybess]

7 minutes ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

There must be more than one Mexican menu?  We had it on Venus 2 weeks ago, appears to be different.   I cannot find my menu, but if I do will post.

Yes, there are two different Mexican menus.  On our recent cruise, Chef's Table posted one, but served a different one.  Later in the cruise Chef's Table served the one they had originally posted.

[SantaFe1]

Last week on Star we had the Mexican menu while in Mexico.  It was an octopus tostado, chicken tamale, a granita I don’t remember, beef short rib off the bone in molé, and three chocolate dessert.  All good but the short rib which was over cooked and just smothered in this thick, gooey sauce.  

[GTXgal01]

16 hours ago, UWDawg said:

For what it's worth, I scanned the excursion descriptions for the revised ports for the Viking Sky WC (Port Louis, Mauritius to Cape Town, South Africa) and included the summaries in a Word file.

 

** Port Louis, MAURITIUS - March 30

MUPLU01 - Port Louis & National Botanical Garden [M, 3 hr, Included]
MUPLU03 - Tea Route [M, 7 hr]
MUPLU04 - Scenic South Tour [M, 7½ hr]
MUPLU05 - Sailaway Catamaran Cruise [M, 7¼ hr]
MUPLU06 - Ile des Deux Cocos [E, 7 hr]
MUPLU07 - The Reef by Submarine [M, 3½ hr]
MUPLU09 - Mauritius from Above [E, 1½ hr]
MUPLU10 - Ile aux Cerfs [E, 7 hr]
MUPLU11- Ile aux Aigrettes [M, 4½ hr]
MUPLU12 - Coral Reef Certified Dive [D, 4 hr]

 

** Le Port, REUNION - March 31

REPDG01 - Vanilla Plantation & Cirque de Salazie [E, 4½ hr, Included]
REPDG02 - Saint-Leu & Turtle Observatory [M, 4½ hr]
REPDG03 - Creole Culture of Réunion [M, 4½ hr]
REPDG04 - Piton de la Fournaise Volcano [M, 8½ hr]
REPDG05 - Wild Southern Shores [E, 9 hr]
REPDG06 - Helicopter Tour [E, 1 hr]

 

** Richard's Bay, South Africa - April 4

ZARCB01 - DumaZulu Traditional Village [M, 5 hr, Included]
ZARCB02 - St. Lucia Boat Cruise [M, 5 hr]
ZARCB03 - Huhluwe-iMfolozi Park [M, 5¾ hr, Included]
ZARCB04 - Zulu Nyala Day Safari [M, 6¾ hr]
ZARCB05 - Cape Vidal [D, 8 hr]
ZARCB06 - Bird-Watching in the St Lucia Wetlands [D, 5½ hr]
ZARCB07 - Bonamanzi Game Reserve [M, 6½ hr]
ZARCB08 - KwaZulu Natal Overland [M, 3 Days]
      o    2 nights at a private game reserve
      o    3 game drives
      o    flight to Ggeberha
ZARCB09 - Botswana & Victoria Falls Overland [M, 5 Days]
      o    1 night in Johannesburg; 2 nights in Chobe National Park; 1 night in Victoria Falls
      o    4 guided tours: 3 Game Drives; Victoria Falls Walking Tour
     o    Flight from Richard's Bay to Johannesburg, Johannesburg to Kasane and Victoria Falls to Cape Town

 

** Ggeberha (Port Elizabeth), South Africa - April 6th

ZAPLE01 - Snapshots of Ggeberha [E, 3½ hr, Included]
ZAPLE03 - Scenic Addo Elephant Park [M, 5 hr, Included]
ZAPLE04 - Sundays River Mouth Ferry Cruise [E, 4½ hr]
ZAPLE06 - Townships of Port Elizabeth [M, 4 hr]
ZAPLE08 - Pumba Private Game Reserve [M, 7½ hr]
ZAPLE13 - Kariega Private Game Reserve [D, 8 hr]
ZAPLE14 - Amakhala Private Game Reserve [D, 8 hr]
ZAPLE15 - Sibuya Private Game Reserve [D, 8½ hr]
ZAPLE16 - Schotia Private Game Reserve [D, 5½ hr]
ZAPLE17 - Kwantu Private Game Reserve [D, 8½ hr]
ZAPLE18 - Nyosi Game Drive & Wine Tasting [M, 4½ hr]
ZAPLE19 - Bellevue Forest Reserve [D, 4½ hr]
ZAPLE20 - Addo Elephant Park Panorama [E, 5 hr, Included]
ZAPLE21 - Eastern Cape Overland [M, 3 Days]
      o    2 nights in the Sibuya Game Reserve
      o    4 game drives
      o    Flight from Ggeberha to Cape Town

 

** Cape Town, South Africa - April 8

ZACPTO1 - Introduction to Cape Town [M, 3½ hr, included]
ZACPT02 - Table Mountain [M, 3 hr, included]
ZACPTO3 - Chapman's Peak & Ou Kaapse Weg Scenic Drive [E, 3 hr]
ZACPT04 - Panoramic Stellenbosch & Wine Tasting [M, 4½ hr, included]
ZACPT05 - Cape Peninsula & Cape Point [M, 8½ hr]
ZACPT08 - Cape Malay Spices & Cuisine [M, 4 hr]
ZACPT11 - Sunset Ocean Cruise [M, 3 hr]
ZACPT12 - Table Mountain & Signal Hill Sundowners [M, 4½ hr]
ZACPT13 - Aquila Private Game Reserve [D, 9½ hr]
ZACPT14 - Kirstenbosch & Constantia Winelands [M, 4 hr]
ZACPT15 - Robben Island [M, 5 ¼ hr]
 

 

Africa Excursions List 2024-03-02.docx 47.87 kB · 42 downloads

Cory, Thank you very much.  Pam and Dayne

[Tango_01]

We on the Neptune got the Tour Descriptions for Mauritius to Cape Town last night and, as expected, many were surprised with the included tours, especially the safaris. Included "safaris" are actually visits to parks and reserves, which are fine, but I wish Viking had been more upfront about how they were calling them. This morning we found the tour order forms in our doors and were told that tours will be assigned on a first come first serve system, so Guest Services was for for some time a camping area. We put our names for the KwaZulu Natal Overland and then will fly directly to Cape Town so we can spend time there as well, skipping Port Elizabeth. The list of tours available at each port is impressive and Viking has done a great job putting this together in such a short period of time, but the way it is being rolled out and communicated is messy. One can even see the frustration in the Guest Services agents because they can't answer some basic questions. We are also still waiting for arrival and departures times in the ports of the new itinerary. Let's hope for smoother sailing days ahead!

Edited March 4 by Tango_01

[UWDawg]

Would someone on the Neptune please post a photo of the booking form?

NEVER MIND... Booking forms were just delivered to the staterooms on the Sky.

Edited March 4 by UWDawg

[Clay Clayton]

So, higher categories were able to book excursions via paper forms ahead of everyone else who will do so on the app in 15 min. The excursions appeared on the app this morning and all the overland are sold out.  It appears that one group (PVs?) was able to book via paper this morning as at 8 am there were 8 slots on the two less expensive overland trips but by 10:30 they joined the 5 day one as “Sold Out”. Some folks complaining about lack of transparency, but given the Karens and Kens lined up at Guest Services, I suspect Viking decided better to handle the higher categories more discreetly.  Hate it for us that we are all in a scrum but I would be really perturbed if I had paid for an ES and not gotten priority. Thankfully we had already decided to not spend all our credits as well as new money on any of the overlands so seeing them sold out didn’t ruin our day. 
 

 

Viking delivered to everyone’s room at 11:30 paper forms for those that don’t want or can’t use the app and I think as their Plan B if the app crashes.  Hopefully it  won’t and all this angst and drama will be over by 12:15🤞

[LunaSeaRetreat]

Just now, Clay Clayton said:

So, higher categories were able to book excursions via paper forms ahead of everyone else who will do so on the app in 15 min. The excursions appeared on the app this morning and all the overland are sold out.  It appears that one group (PVs?) was able to book via paper this morning as at 8 am there were 8 slots on the two less expensive overland trips but by 10:30 they joined the 5 day one as “Sold Out”. Some folks complaining about lack of transparency, but given the Karens and Kens lined up at Guest Services, I suspect Viking decided better to handle the higher categories more discreetly.  Hate it for us that we are all in a scrum but I would be really perturbed if I had paid for an ES and not gotten priority. Thankfully we had already decided to not spend all our credits as well as new money on any of the overlands so seeing them sold out didn’t ruin our day. 
 

 

Viking delivered to everyone’s room at 11:30 paper forms for those that don’t want or can’t use the app and I think as their Plan B if the app crashes.  Hopefully it  won’t and all this angst and drama will be over by 12:15🤞

Hi Clay,

We are on the Neptune and as far as I know no app choice was given. Our room steward was giving them out at about 8:30 when we went to breakfast.  I handed it in downstairs and joking said," Don't forget to put the date and time on it."  She laughed and said she would and wrote something on my sheet.  She put it on top of a neat pile of about 10 forms.

Cynthia

[Hobson1754]

14 hours ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

There must be more than one Mexican menu?  We had it on Venus 2 weeks ago, appears to be different.   I cannot find my menu, but if I do will post.

I agree, we also had it 2 weeks or so ago on Saturn and it was my least favourite menu we’ve had in Chefs Table 😏

[Clay Clayton]

The app wouldn’t allow anyone to book excursions, about 12:45, Cruise Director Bruce announced that “as you have learned, the app is having technical difficulties, if you haven’t already, please bring your completed forms to Guest Services and excursions will be booked on your behalf.”   So the Plan B is apparently working but would have been so much less frustrating if he had made that announcement at 12:05….my swiping finger about has a blister from continually opening, swiping to the new ports and then closing and trying again #firstworldproblems

[cruising denise]

New topic:  Cape Town disembarkation.  We had decided as of last week to disembark in Cape Town, thus preserving the ports between Singapore and Cape Town, but avoiding the long stretch of sea days coming around the west coast of Africa (and we have another cruise for Morocco in 2026).  Viking did a great job arranging our new business class flights.  We researched and requested the best flights for us, and they came through within about 12 hours.  Our plan is to stay for 5 days and enjoy the local area.  However, we just got a call from Guest Services that they are working on the approvals from the local authorities for us, and in order to disembark in Cape Town (even if we are going straight to the airport), we must have the yellow fever vaccine.  As we will not be in areas where it is prevalent, we had planned to get the malaria treatment, but not the YF.  It appears we will now be getting the YF vax, too.  Just an FYI for any others considering Cape Town.

 

It is not clear to me whether this would be required for passengers going on shore excursions, as I see no difference between getting off the ship, touring and getting back on the ship, or getting off the ship and heading straight to the airport.  But then again, the rationale for government authorities and regulations is not always apparent to mere mortals like myself...

[vslparis]

Just now, cruising denise said:

New topic:  Cape Town disembarkation.  We had decided as of last week to disembark in Cape Town, thus preserving the ports between Singapore and Cape Town, but avoiding the long stretch of sea days coming around the west coast of Africa (and we have another cruise for Morocco in 2026).  Viking did a great job arranging our new business class flights.  We researched and requested the best flights for us, and they came through within about 12 hours.  Our plan is to stay for 5 days and enjoy the local area.  However, we just got a call from Guest Services that they are working on the approvals from the local authorities for us, and in order to disembark in Cape Town (even if we are going straight to the airport), we must have the yellow fever vaccine.  As we will not be in areas where it is prevalent, we had planned to get the malaria treatment, but not the YF.  It appears we will now be getting the YF vax, too.  Just an FYI for any others considering Cape Town.

 

It is not clear to me whether this would be required for passengers going on shore excursions, as I see no difference between getting off the ship, touring and getting back on the ship, or getting off the ship and heading straight to the airport.  But then again, the rationale for government authorities and regulations is not always apparent to mere mortals like myself...

I think that I would question that. You only need the vaccine if you are coming from infected countries and when I looked at those countries the other day, we were not stopping anywhere that was on the list. Things could change of course, but I certainly would ask them to clarify.

[big_red5312]

2 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

So, higher categories were able to book excursions via paper forms ahead of everyone else who will do so on the app in 15 min. The excursions appeared on the app this morning and all the overland are sold out.  It appears that one group (PVs?) was able to book via paper this morning as at 8 am there were 8 slots on the two less expensive overland trips but by 10:30 they joined the 5 day one as “Sold Out”. Some folks complaining about lack of transparency, but given the Karens and Kens lined up at Guest Services, I suspect Viking decided better to handle the higher categories more discreetly.  Hate it for us that we are all in a scrum but I would be really perturbed if I had paid for an ES and not gotten priority. Thankfully we had already decided to not spend all our credits as well as new money on any of the overlands so seeing them sold out didn’t ruin our day. 
 

 

Viking delivered to everyone’s room at 11:30 paper forms for those that don’t want or can’t use the app and I think as their Plan B if the app crashes.  Hopefully it  won’t and all this angst and drama will be over by 12:15🤞

We're in a PV and got forms last night as backup for the app. No mention of early turn-in.

[Clay Clayton]

Just now, big_red5312 said:

We're in a PV and got forms last night as backup for the app. No mention of early turn-in.

FWIW, the rest of us didn’t get our forms until about 11:15 am. 

Edited March 4 by Clay Clayton

[aungrl]

11 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

FWIW, the rest of us didn’t get our forms until about 11:15 am. 

So how did it turn out, Clay?  Did you get the excursions you wanted?

[Voyager82]

Denise:

Brian and I are also thinking of disembarking in Cape Town.  How is Guest Services helping you with local authorities?  We have had our yellow fever vaccinations but do not know if there is "paperwork" to fill our for Cape Town disembarkation.  We also are planning to stay for a few days prior to flying to Norway to catch another Viking cruise.  Is it possible to meet you later tomorrow so we can compare notes?  Thanks.  We are in room 3069.

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, aungrl said:

So how did it turn out, Clay?  Did you get the excursions you wanted?

About 10 this morning, the excursions appeared on our calendars on the app and we got all our first choices! So happy campers here!

[cruising denise]

Just now, Voyager82 said:

Denise:

Brian and I are also thinking of disembarking in Cape Town.  How is Guest Services helping you with local authorities?  We have had our yellow fever vaccinations but do not know if there is "paperwork" to fill our for Cape Town disembarkation.  We also are planning to stay for a few days prior to flying to Norway to catch another Viking cruise.  Is it possible to meet you later tomorrow so we can compare notes?  Thanks.  We are in room 3069.

Hi!  We are getting off the ship for 3 nights in HCM and won't be back on board until Friday.  We can try to meet up then but yes, Viking is handling our disembarkation.  We have been told it is not yet approved by the port authorities but it is actively being worked.  We were informed we would have to have the YF vax, which we now plan to do.  They have already switched our flights to the ones we wanted out of Cape Town on Apr. 13th.  So far that is what I know.  I was told that we should know about approval for disembarkation within the next few days.  Keeping fingers crossed as there are no good disembarkation options after that.  If we got as far as Morocco there wouldn't be any point in disembarking, and I'm not anxious to leave before CT.

[vslparis]

22 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

About 10 this morning, the excursions appeared on our calendars on the app and we got all our first choices! So happy campers here!

Interesting, no shore  excursions showed up on my app until around noon  . I even deleted and reinstalled the app. Even once they did show up , I couldn’t book on the app. Turned my paper in right after noon and only got two of my first choices. One stop it was the third choice 😬. However, I know to keep checking so hopefully some of my first choices might become available.

[Tango_01]

Happy Thursday everyone! We on the Neptune still don't have the official arrival and departures times in Colombo and the ports after it. It is interesting that you on the Sky got the information on February 24 but we still don't have it, more than 2 weeks after. There are a few "unofficial" drafts circulating among passengers provided by some guest services agents, but it would be nice to have some kind of tentative times, even if they are not final. On the positive side, it is a beautiful day at sea and the crew is working extra hard to keep everyone happy. 

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Tango_01 said:

Happy Thursday everyone! We on the Neptune still don't have the official arrival and departures times in Colombo and the ports after it. It is interesting that you on the Sky got the information on February 24 but we still don't have it, more than 2 weeks after. There are a few "unofficial" drafts circulating among passengers provided by some guest services agents, but it would be nice to have some kind of tentative times, even if they are not final. On the positive side, it is a beautiful day at sea and the crew is working extra hard to keep everyone happy. 

 

Unfortunately, there are no tentative times, when booking ports. The cruise line will submit a request to a port for space on a specific date and times. Submitting a request is hardly a tentative time. Once the first port is confirmed, it still isn't tentative, as it can easily change based on subsequent ports.

 

You also need to consider the entire itinerary, as once the first port is confirmed, if different to the requested times, it may impact the 2nd and subsequent ports. Failure to receive confirmation of requested times can actually result in port changes.

 

My definition of tentative is the entire itinerary is confirmed, but they are still working on ship's agents, shore-ex, stores, bunkers, etc.

 

Therefore, nothing is tentative until the entire itinerary is confirmed.

[Clay Clayton]

On 3/6/2024 at 3:22 PM, vslparis said:

Interesting, no shore  excursions showed up on my app until around noon  . I even deleted and reinstalled the app. Even once they did show up , I couldn’t book on the app. Turned my paper in right after noon and only got two of my first choices. One stop it was the third choice 😬. However, I know to keep checking so hopefully some of my first choices might become available.

We weren’t able to book on the app-just that the booked excursions showed up when I posted. 

[Wavetripper]

Tomorrow may bring our two ships Neptune/Sky closer than we have been on the whole WC thus far. At that possible range on the NHA BE River a telephoto lens may not even be necessary. Just a smile and wave. 🤚 Cameras at the ready. 

Cheers See you on the NHA BE.

Edited March 7 by Wavetripper

[DJVKN]

See you later Sky. Enjoy your journey!

[Wavetripper]

Hello Sky!!! From us to you. Cheers 

 

 

[stretchcruz]

I think I see Clay....to the left, blue shirt in the middle 2 pictures?