I should have posted this months ago!...But life intervened. (Actually, perhaps I did post this recently but wasn't logged in properly because of my long absence! Please bear with me!)
It is official! Our Viking cruise
that was first booked for February of 2020 was the one where we gave up our
cabin in exchange for a fabulous upgrade to an Explorer Suite with an aft
wrap-around balcony. That was rescheduled at the time for a sailing in July of
last year to enjoy the upgrade, no issue there.
I don't need to tell you what
happened to that voyage to the Land of the Midnight Sun! We again rescheduled,
after much discussion with Viking to maintain our upgrade, for July of this
year. The Viking Star was totally refitted with a complete lab to meet daily
testing requirements. The UV robots were onboard and the temperature cameras
were in place. My flights were confirmed and then ---the next day---all June
and July cruises were cancelled by Viking if they included multiple countries!
Bye bye long awaited and greatly anticipated return to the high seas.
We have confirmation today that we
will sail in July of 2023 on the brand new Viking Venus and the Midnight Sun
will be shining! Why not in 2022 you ask? All the suites, at any level, are
sold out! And that even before this year's cancellations!
My conclusion is that my friends and
I are not the only ones anxious to get back to travel and meeting new friends
and being pampered on a luxury cruise ship by the finest crew possible. All
while enjoying the new experiences of exploring our world: it's history, it's
cuisine, and, most importantly meeting its people!
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Next
up is the cruise my friend Carol and I booked for January of '22. It
also involved lots of booking and cancelling, but this time from another
cruise line. Just confirmed - as much as anything can be in this
'current climate', that will be sailing as expected on January 5. Round
trip from Los Angeles to the long desired South Pacific! We had been
waiting for an itinerary confirmation of changes. Hawaii is out - extra
days in Tahiti, Bora Bora, and Rarotonga are replacing those stops.
Long week of sailing at the beginning and end to cover the distance but
bonus of the South Pacific feeling. And sea days on the new Viking
Orion should be excellent. No complaints with the shipboard experience I
am sure. Our suite accommodations should be as fantastic as the much
anticipated ones that Ruth and I have awaited.
It
will be a little challenging packing, getting ready, meeting the
testing obligations during the already busy Christmas holidays. Add in
that I will be ushering many, many Atlanta Ballet Nutcracker
performances and hosting an on-again off-again family Christmas Party.
Fingers crossed you will be hearing from me often in the next few weeks!
Please choose to follow me so when everything is working right you don't miss a moment of the experience!