Cruise Dec. 24-Jan. 10

[schexc]

No casino...Pegmeister is out

And now Andrea and Paul...

And cpjones...

I think I would consider it. The way the bride contributes to the evil machines, it would be like only paying for the cruise once

[cpjones]

Lamb chops for breakfast = good! No casino = bad! Sorry, but count me out as well!

[Andrea J.]

I am not a big fan of cruising. Too many times being seasick...........a malady that one should never endure.
That being said, Paul loves it and we both like the casinos on board.
We have looked back for the last 8 cruises and all of those and our upcoming Panama Canal cruise in February have been on casino comp.
So, we play and lose and occasionally win, but the offers to come back and play again are hard to turn down. We have been given our cabins and drink packages and all we have to pay are the taxes and tips. It is a good deal for us.

I wish Robin would post...I am anxious to hear how it is all going?

[robin]

It's going great Andrea! Yesterday we did a paid excursion Cozumel(Viking has one included excursion per port, but we have been to different Mayan ruins before). We did Salsa and Salsa which was a small group excursion of maybe 10 couples. We were greeted by a guide, who put us and three other couples in a van taxi to a hotel where we had a blast. We made 5 different types of salsa, a few different margaritas,and sorta learned to dance the salsa and it all was very entertaining and lively and fun. The only thing that irked us was it was only supposed to be Viking at the Salsa and Salsa but there was a group from another ship there who we don't think have the same strict testing and contact tracing. We had the option of staying at the hotel to use their facilities for another hour or so, or heading back. Six of us headed back(3 couples). Stu and I walked around the port, bought some vanilla, a few drinkable and edible gifts before making our way back to the ship. We hung out at the infinity pool and I also did some laundry(free use of washers, dryers and detergent-but I brought my own). Again, we spent some time socializing. I thought that there would be some snobby people on this trip because it is not cheap and at least 350 of them are doing the world tour of 136 days, but everyone has been great. The food and service have been great.

On the Covid front, some more have tested positive and one has left the ship per the captains briefing before dinner yesterday. Contact tracing has been done. I don't know if those who have been in contact or in isolation or not. People are good about following the mask mandate. The only thing we are questioning is how close we are seated to others in the restaurant.

Today and tomorrow we are are sea all day. We are just hanging out today. Tomorrow I have a facial.

So far I have not needed anything for seasickness which really surprises me.

I will try to set up a site for pictures later today.

[Pegmeister]

Oh, that Salsa Salsa excursion sounds like so much fun. I definitely would have enjoyed that. Good to hear that you are finding the other passengers friendly and social. Glad you were able to take time to post.

[B Likes To Travel]

This cruise sounds awesome. I’m glad you and Stu are having a good time.

[robin]

Today was at sea. We walked which was difficult at times because it was very windy, hung out at the main pool, which was nice, but they did not open the roof because it was really windy. The one thing I don't like is both pools are too deep to just stand in-both are 5 '10" deep. We also got caught up on a few things.

The other day we stopped in at their booking desk to ask a question. On the river cruises you can buy certificates for $100 that are worth $200 for future bookings and we wanted to see if they were doing that on this ocean cruise. Well, they don't, but they give you $500 a person off a cruise and onboard ship credit for this cruise. We looked at a few ideas and then settled on pricing one of them and decided to discuss it and come up with questions.

Today this is was my horoscope (I got in the habit of reading it in jr. high). I guess it was fate:

So, in November of 2023 we are doing an ocean cruise beginning in Bali, with several stops in Indonesia and mostly Australia and New Zealand with a pre and post cruise extension. The cruise is long, really long-31 days(but that is nothing compared to some of their cruises.

Tomorrow we are at sea again and I am getting a facial-first one since 2019.

No new covid cases on the ship today.

[Tuckahoe]

I’m enjoying your trip very much! Looking forward to more posts! Enjoy your facial!

[Pegmeister]

Not sure I could handle 31 days on a cruise ship but I am very jealous of the Australia, New Zealand portion of that adventure! I’ve always though I would enjoy seeing Australia. Tom would be horrified if I asked him to be on a plane for 24 hours so it doesn’t look like it’s in the cards. Glad you are enjoying your cruise and that there have been no new COVID cases.

[Dianne]

Don’t know if we could do 31 days on a ship but i wold love to try.
I have a friend who did an around the world cruise of 115 days. She is a widow so she did it alone. This was a small ship, no casino.