20250516 Regent Seven Seas Voyager Cruise Bangkok to Dubai, Day 25 - Home and trip wrap-up

Regent Seven Seas Voyager Bangkok to Dubai Day 25 - Emirates 777 outdated business class

After buttoning up yesterday's blog, I collapsed on the bed and slept a little. We had time to kill before our 11:30 pm departure for the airport. We had our bags out at 8:00 per Regent's request.

We checked a little after 9:00 and the bags were still there. I called and they said they would have them picked up. Cool.

We checked at 10:00. The bags were still there. Another call, another promise. 10:45. We would be leaving the ship in 30 minutes. Bag...still outside our door. Wow. Another call. More apologies. 11:00. Finally, our bags were taken. We left and went to the gangway on Deck #4. There were our bags, still on the ship. They were supposed to be out in the terminal for us to pick up. 

This time, at least, the ship had people there and they carried the bags down the gangway, put them on a cart, and pushed them to the bus. It was a final frustration from Regent.

The bus trip was uneventful, even though there was traffic at 11:30 pm. We navigated the odd walk to Emirates Business Class check-in and got our boarding passes. Immigration was automated. We scanned our passports and looked at a camera. The gate opened and we walked through. Security wasn't busy and we sailed through.

Once in the terminal, we went to the Emirates Business Class lounge to hang out for about 90 minutes.

Our 2:50 flight was scheduled to start boarding at 2:05 so we had some time.

While we were relaxing, I got a phone call. It was a woman in The Villages who read one of my reviews of a robot vac/mop that I posted in a Villages Facebook group. She wondered if I could provide some advice on a model to purchase. We had a nice talk and it certainly helps kill some time as we waited to board.

About 1:30, we departed the lounge and walked to our departure gate, B32. They were already open for the typical additional security screening. We boarded shortly after that. 

Emirates has a stellar reputation for luxurious flying so we were excited about flying Emirates Business Class. That excitement ended quickly.

This Boeing 777 had the old-school seats. Yes, they did lay flat, but they were incredibly narrow with zero storage for anything like a phone, Kindle, and such. The charging ports were tucked in an awkward location. Even worse, rather that individual pods, the seats were in a 2-3-2 configuration. That meant that if the aisle person was reclined, the window or middle person had to physically climb over them to get out. On a 15-hour flight, that's a big deal.

Narrow seats, no storage, not what we expected from Emirates

Arlona and I both had aisle seats in the theee-sear middle section. I was in row 7, ahead of the bathrooms. Arlona was in row 9, behind the bathrooms. Even worse, there was a screaming child in Arlona's cabin for too much of the flight. There wasn't much sleep for either of us.

I'm not sure what was going on atmospherically, but wow, we went through many areas with significant turbulence.

On the plus side, the French toast and the scallops were pretty good.

I think that we would have been much more comfortable on our original Qatar Air, Dubai, Doha, Chicago, Tampa routing, but there's no getting away from the fact that Dubai, direct to Orlando saved us a ton of travel time.

We landed ahead of schedule and our bags arrived fairly quickly. Because we have Global Entry, Customs took all of 90 seconds to breeze through. Our driver, Cedric, pulled up about two minutes after we walked outside and we were on our way home. The cloudless, blue Florida sky was a welcome sight all the way home. 

Always a welcome site on the Turnpike

About 80 minutes later, we walked into Kolb Kastle South, happy to be home.

So let's wrap up the trip with final thoughts. This was our first Regent cruise and we were hoping to really like it. The destinations and excursions were great. The room was very nice. The fact that Regent is all-inclusive, including excursions, drinks, basic albeit crappy WiFi, laundry, and specialty dining is great. But it's only great if it comes with outstanding service and it didn't 

If we could book the same itinerary on different cruise lines and we wanted a luxury experience, our first choice would be Viking, followed by Seabourn. Third would be Regent or possibly Oceania. So no new leader in the cruise line game for us.

Still, we enjoyed the trip and saw amazing places. We sailed 5,300 miles and visited seven countries including two new ones. We saw the largest religious compound in the world and our fourth of the seven modern wonders of the world. So, what's next?

A second granddaughter in May, Arlona's 101st annual family reunion in mid-July, and a shiny new knee for me in late-July (woo!), and our next blog entry coming in October when we explore China and more by plane and cruise ship. Until then, happy travels!

 

20250301 Seabourn Sojourn Grand Africa Cruise Day 96/96 - Barcelona to Amsterdam to Home

Grand Africa Cruise Trip Day 96/96 - Home and trip wrap-up plus Viking/Seabourn comparison

After retiring a little before midnight, it wasn't too long before we were awakened by my phone alarm at 2:45. We brushed our teeth, tossed the few items we had gotten out back into our bags, and took the long walk to the elevator. I bring that up as we were in the room the absolute farthest from the elevator, and we were pushing three heavy bags each on thick carpet. It wasn't fun last night, and it wasn't fun this morning.

We were downstairs and checked out at 3:15, and the van showed up at 3:20, right on schedule.

Our driver was obviously a frustrated Formula 1 wanna be as she threw that van through roundabouts like she stole it. Luckily, the airport was just a few minutes away, and we survived.

We checked in and got through security by 4:00 and headed to the airline lounge. It didn't open until 4:30. Dang. We decided to grab breakfast at McDonald's. They were open, but this one doesn't offer breakfast. Dang. We sat there until 4:30 and went back to the lounge.

We had a bite to eat and, more importantly, Coke Zeros. We were ready for our day.

What an odd size - 237ml - but that does equal 8oz

As boarding time approached, we wandered to our gate. They started boarding a few minutes later, or so we thought. They scanned our boarding passes, checked our passports, and sent us down the hall to the jetway. The jetway was closed. We all just lined up and waited several minutes until they eventually opened the jetway and we could board.

We're flying business class, so I looked forward to a nice, comfy seat. Wrong. We were on a KLM 737-800. The only difference between a business class seat and a regular seat was that they left the middle seat open. 

We also got a better meal. That was it. It was like flying some of the discount South American airlines when we went to Galapagos and Machu Pichu. I didn't expect that from KLM.

At least the flight was only a couple hours from Barcelona to Amsterdam.

We arrived in Amsterdam a few minutes early. We went to the first airline lounge we saw. It was packed. There weren't two seats together anywhere. We walked out and asked if there was another one. She advised us where to go. We went through passport control, making our exit from the European Union, and found the lounge she recommended. It was packed, too. We were able to grab a couple of seats, at least, but it sure didn't have comfortable options. It was a little disappointing as we had nearly four hours to wait.

We made the long walk to gate G4. Schiphol Airport is huge, and the walks between terminals are long.  We boarded our Airbus A330 with Delta One personal pods. 

The meals were good. We watched some movies, read, snoozed a bit, and just like that, ten hours later, we landed in Orlando.

Seabourn provided Blacklane private car service, and our driver, Joseph, was waiting for us.

We made the 1.25-hour ride home.

So our trip is done. Here are some numbers.

• Days: 96
• Sea Days: 45
• Port, overland, or travel days: 51
• Miles flown: 12,500
• Miles sailed: 23,000
• Countries visited: 21
• Continents visited: 2
• Calories and drinks consumed: <error - number too large>

To say that we enjoyed the trip would be an understatement. We enjoyed it immensely. Were there issues? Sure, there always are. Seabourn responded well, and we liked the experience. Because we have cruised Viking Ocean so much, the comparison seems natural, so here we go.

We have spent 90 nights on Seabourn and over 300 nights on Viking - 21 River, 37 Expedition, and 248 Ocean.

We believe each cruise line, from Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and so on to Viking, Oceania, and yes, Seabourn, all have their own strengths and weaknesses.

The following are our opinions. Not everyone will agree.

We find the service and attention on both Seabourn and Viking (and my Viking comments will all pertain to Ocean and Expedition as River is a different animal) to be outstanding. Whatever you want, just ask, and if it is possible, it will happen.  Food, overall, is better on Seabourn. However, Viking is better for destination-specific special meals and providing destination favorites like local beers and wines from along the cruise route. We also like the fact that Viking offers a buffet at dinner. They offer fresh sushi on par with Seabourn's Club sushi, plus crab legs, langoustines, salmon, and other fresh offerings nightly in addition to the same food available in The Restaurant, but you can sample different things. Seabourn, of course, offers their signature caviar events, so if caviar is your thing, Seabourn is your choice. If pizza is your favorite, Viking's pizza in the World Cafe is terrific, and they'll make you a custom pie with whatever you want, as long as they have it. Solis on Seabourn is outstanding, and Manfredi's on Viking is also outstanding. Overall, food is a close call, and it depends on what is important to you.

Entertainment is better on Seabourn as it is an afterthought on Viking. Lectures and enrichment are close between the two. I'll call that a toss-up. On that note, Viking streams all lectures and entertainment simultaneously into the staterooms. That's outstanding because sometimes, you might want to see a show but don't feel like going to the theater. The lectures are also recorded and are available on demand. Seabourn doesn't stream anything into the rooms, at least on Sojourn. The lectures are recorded, but there is no camera work. The video just shows the slides, not the speaker. It's hard to watch. Viking gets an edge on in-room viewing experience.

Viking includes an excursion in every port - a terrific perk. We have found Seabourn's excursions, at least on this Grand Africa itinerary, to be quite expensive when compared to similar excursions on other lines. Viking also provides a QuietVox listening aid in all rooms, making listening to tour guides much easier. Viking's pre/post stays are also better as they include excursions/tours. Seabourn's overpriced pre-stay included a hotel with breakfast. We could have booked on our own for much less. Excursions go to Viking.

Seabourn includes all drinks, including alcohol. Viking includes beer and wine with lunch and dinner. The Silver Spirits package is $27/pp per day (as of Jan 1, 2025).  Drinks go to Seabourn.

The rooms are generally nicer, with more storage on Seabourn. Seabourn has better storage and a small but usable walk-in closet. The bathroom with two sinks is also nice. But...the shower is ridiculously small for a luxury line. Plus, they include a large tub. If you like baths, that's a win. If you don't (like us), it's a huge waste of space and would be better used in a livable shower. Viking's bathroom floors are heated. That's a great touch, especially on cooler climate cruises. The shower is also larger, even in base rooms. All rooms include a balcony. Some Seabourn rooms only have windows. What's important to you in a room will determine the winner here. 

Both lines offer similar in-suite entertainment with movies and music on demand and the standard satellite TV with MSNBC, Fox, CNBC, BBC, Sky News, and so on.

Ship size - all Viking Ocean ships hold 930 passengers, with new ones coming at 990. Seabourn's are smaller. We've never felt crowded on Viking, but the theater definitely can't fit everyone.  Some people simply want a smaller and more intimate ship, and Seabourn fits that bill. But Viking's ships are still on the small size, especially when compared to mainstream 2,500-7,000 passenger ships.

I'll address crew one more time - both Viking and Seabourn hire the absolute best crew. 

Seabourn is more formal in terms of attire. They have formal nights with suits or tuxes expected in the main dining venues. Viking is much more relaxed, with no requirements for jackets or ties for men ever.

If you're a spa junkie, Viking wins hands-down. The spa is OK on Seabourn, but Viking ships have a sauna, snow grotto, cold plunge pool, cold dump bucket, thermal pool, and thermal whirlpool, all included.

So, which one is better? It depends on what you want. Only small ships? Seabourn. Outstanding service? Both. Better quality entertainment? Seabourn. Better lectures? I would choose Viking because of the in-room options. Better food overall? Seabourn. Excellent destination food and beverage offerings? Viking. Larger rooms and each level of room? Seabourn. Innovating and interesting itineraries? Both offer great itineraries.

Viking does not offer any shareholder benefits, even though it went public in 2024. They also don't offer any loyalty program other than a couple hundred dollar discount for past cruisers. Viking also regularly requires payment in full 365 days before sailing, although some incentives have moved that to 180 days. Seabourn offers shareholder onboard credit to Carnival shareholders (100 share minimum), an aggressive loyalty program that provides benefits based on your loyalty level, and has a more reasonable payment in full date. Seabourn wins here.

One last thing - onboard credit. If you have some applied to your account before you sail, like shareholder benefit or credit as part of a promotional fare, you can use it before the cruise on Viking. You can book optional excursions using that credit. Not so much on Seabourn. None of your onboard credit is available before you get on the ship, so you have to pay for your excursions out of pocket, stranding your non-refundable onboard credit. This forces you to buy more on the ship or lose the credit. 

The bottom line is that you should choose a cruise line based on the things they do better that are important to you and one that has compelling itineraries that satisfy your wanderlust.

So, what's next? Stay tuned starting in late April for our first Regent Seven Seas cruise from Bangkok to Dubai with side trips to Angkor Wat and the Taj Mahal!

Thanks for traveling with us!

20241126 Seabourn Sojourn Grand Africa Cruise Day 1/96 - The Villages to Barcelona

Grand Africa Cruise Day 1/96 - we're off to Barcelona!

It's time for a new adventure! Today, we're off to Barcelona to begin our next trip - the 90-day Grand Africa cruise on Seabourn Sojourn.

Before we get into this trip, here is an update. As most of you loyal readers know, we set a travel goal of visiting all 50 states (49 - only Oregon to go), all seven continents (done), and 100 countries. We had been using the list of 193 U.N.-recognized member states.  Unfortunately, this list ignores many actual countries that are territories of other countries. Countries like Curacao, Bonaire, French Polynesia, Gibraltar, etc. This meant our list of visited countries didn't truly represent our travels. I went back to the drawing board and updated our list of countries to the full list of 252 countries. Going back through that list, our count changed from 72 countries visited to 87, meaning this trip will push us over our goal of 100 countries. Woo hoo!

Everything began a few days ago. Arlona started laying stuff out. I held out until Sunday and finally broke down, got out the suitcases, and started packing. The big issue is that Monday afternoon and evening are shot as we had golf and dinner with Arlona's neighborhood Nine & Dine group, so I had to start early (for me).

We wrapped up packing Monday and started the home prep - taking the Christmas cactus to a neighbor, getting our mail key to another neighbor, taping off sink drains, putting trickle chargers on the SUV and golf carts, and so on.

Today, we got up early, put the final items into the suitcases, ate a quick breakfast, washed the dishes, closed up the rest of the sinks, turned off the ice maker, water supply, and water heater, and waited for our ride.

This cruise came with door-to-door transportation, so we aren't using our usual company, Creative Concierge. Seabourn contracts with a company called Blacklane. Our driver, Johan, arrived promptly at 6:50 AM and loaded our bags into a shiny black Suburban. Arlona finished closing up the remaining sinks. I unplugged the TVs and turned off the ice maker, water heater, and inside water. We armed the alarm, locked the door, lowered the garage door, and climbed in for the ride to Orlando International Airport.

Traffic was relatively light given that we were on the road during rush hour. We arrived at the airport by 8:15 for our 11:17 flight to Miami.

We are flying Iberia Airlines to Miami and then to Barcelona. They are operated here by American Airlines, so we checked in at Terminal B. The Business Class line was short. Arlona's and my big bags weighed in at 47 and 47.5 pounds, respectively, and our medium bags were less. No issue there.

We moved on to TSA. All the Pre-Check lines were about 5-6 people deep, including the two ladies in our line who were turned away by the agent because they didn't have Pre-Check status. There are huge signs indicating Pre-Check versus standard, but perhaps they weren't native English speakers. Anyway, the TSA check went quickly and we were off to find the American Admiral's Club.

Termina B, looking festive

This club is small but has two floors. Upstairs has a pop machine and seating. Downstairs has food, a bar, and more seating. There are large windows on both floors, but they overlook vehicle storage, so it isn't terribly picturesque.

Still, it's much better than the crowded gate area. We grabbed a Coke Zero and hung out until boarding time. We were flying out of Gate 50 and the club was essentially right next door so it was incredibly convenient.

Since I have a few moments before our flight to Miami, let's talk about this trip. We will spend three days in Barcelona. We will arrive a little before 9:00 AM on Wednesday morning, Barcelona time - six hours ahead of the U.S. East Coast. We don't have any plans for that day as it will be more of a time zone acclimation day for us.

On Thursday, we have an inside tour of Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's amazing church in Barcelona. Friday, we're touring Montserrat, a Benedictine monastery that houses the Black Madonna, and will attend a welcome gala that evening put on by Seabourn. This is our first Seabourn cruise and it appears this will be a significant upgrade over our previous cruises. For example, the Blacklane transport to and from the airport was provided by Seabourn. Everything, WiFi, drinks, laundry, is also included. Excursions are not, and that is a big difference versus Viking or Regent Seven Seas that we're cruising in April. There will be eleven formal nights throughout this journey. While we like dressing up, it is more of a challenge packing for that when you're also packing for three months.

This trip was initially supposed to travel east from Barcelona, heading through the Suez Canal and Red Sea before heading east to the Seychelles. Then, it was to head southwest, down the coast of Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Town before heading north and east along Africa. Then, we were to head east to the Canary Islands, through the Strait of Gibraltar, and back to Barcelona.

With the war going on, and the terrorist threat in the Red Sea, cruises are avoiding that area. Seabourn retooled the itinerary completely. Now, we will depart Barcelona, ultimately heading west through the Strait of Gibraltar, and work our way down and around Africa, and east to the Seychelles. Then, we'll turn around and work our way back. The ports have been split, hitting some on the way out, and others on the way back. We will stop in Cape Town in both directions. 

We opted to take a Seabourn overland excursion on the way back. When we dock in Durbin, South Africa, we will disembark for a week. We will fly to Johanessburg and spend a day. Then, we will fly to Zimbabwe and spend a couple of days at Victoria Falls. From there, we'll fly to Botswana and spend three days at the Chobe Game Lodge in the Chobe National Park. Throughout the trip, we'll have multiple game drives, a river cruise on the Zambezi River, and more. All that begins on January 22, 2025. We'll rejoin the ship in Cape Town and continue up the west coast of Africa back to Barcelona. We will fly home on March 1, 2025.

As we sat in the American Airlines Admiral Club, we watched our aircraft, a Boeing 737 Max 8 arrive from Miami.  

American Airlines starts boarding 30 minutes before the planned departure time. Shortly before that, we left the club and walked around the corner to the gate. A couple of minutes later, they called Group 1 and we boarded. We launched and arrived on time. I discovered a key feature that Boeing apparently does not include on their 737 Max 8 aircraft - heat! Wow, it was cold on that flight! A constant cold (not cool, not chilly, cold!) breeze blew on us the entire flight. I was happy that our flight time was only 40 minutes or so.

Our departure is scheduled from the same terminal where we landed, so that was nice. We found the Admiral's Club and headed in. This one was huge. Tons of seats, tons of electrical outlets, plenty of food, a full bar, Wi-Fi - nice. We grabbed a bite and relaxed.

Some bread, a deconstructed chicken pot pie, and a little charcuterie - there may or may not be Aviation Gin mixed in with that Diet Coke...

They put a tray of salted chocolate chip cookies out right after we finished eating so we had to sample those too.

Arlona, getting some reading in on her Kindle - there may or may not be some Tito's mixed in with the cranberry juice...

I had plenty of time to write up today's adventures while in the club.

We are trying something new this trip. I took advantage of Black Friday sales and bought a four-pack of Samsung SmartTtags. SmartTags are Samsung's answer for Apple AirTags - tracking devices that can help you locate things. We can't use AirTags because we don't use Apple devices. Without an iPhone or iPad, we're out of luck. Samsung SmartTags work the same way. My phone connects to them when they're nearby. When they aren't nearby, They report their whereabouts to any other Samsung device. Given that Samsung and Apple are the leading cellphone providers, there is always someone nearby with a Samsung phone. Once a phone senses the SmartTag, it anonymously sends that information to the cloud. I can then use the Samsung SmartThings app to display the tag's location on a map.

I placed one tag in each of our bags, giving them all meaningful labels (Garry big bag, Garry small bag, Arlona big bag, Arlona small bag) so we could tell them apart.

Here, you can see my phone's location (the blue pin) and our four bag pins all stacked on top of each other so I know all four of our bags are at the airport

It all just works and is pretty slick. In the event of a lost bag, the app will be able to tell me where the bag is, anywhere in the world. It is a cheap bit of insurance and for me, some cool tech. My only complaint is that they use CR2032 coin batteries. There are competitors from Pebblebee and others that are rechargeable. They use Google's Find My Device network and work similarly, but I couldn't get them before we left, and they were considerably more expensive. So for now, SmartTags it is.

As we sat in the Admiral's Club, we chose to sit on the "quiet" side. The side with the food is much busier with loud conversations going on and people milling about. The quiet side has comfy chairs and more subdued lighting. It is where people go to read, relax, work, and so on. Well, that worked for a while. There must be a lot of late flights here as the place kept filling up. As it did, more people were carrying on conversations on their speakerphones (and not in English so I couldn't eavesdrop!), or simply talking in what I equate to an outside voice. Oh well...

I monitored our aircraft's inbound flight from Madrid. It arrived a little late, but still nearly three hours before our flight. It is a Boeing 777 - what we flew when we came back from the river cruise this summer. That means it should be comfy with individual pods in Business Class. Nice.

As I type this, everything shows as on time, and boarding is planned in about 45 minutes. With that, I will wrap up this initial entry for this 96-day journey. We should arrive tomorrow morning in Barcelona, ready for a slow adjustment day.

20241001 Western National Parks Tour Day 20/20 - Omaha Zoo and home

American West Bus Tour Day 20/20 - Visiting the Omaha Zoo and the Airport Zoo

All good things must come to an end and today is the end of our western tour. We still had most of today since our flight was at 4:00 so we made the most of it and visited the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Omaha.

We enjoy seeing decorative sewer covers

The zoo's most prominent feature is its Desert Dome.

The dome holds an entire desert habitat and that's where we started.

Blue-bellied Roller

Mongooses, snuggling

Burrowing owl

Red Bishop (I think)

They had a nocturnal exhibit as well - this lizard was pretty cool

Oh - they had bats. Lots of bats.

We left the desert and continued walking around the zoo.

Gorilla

I didn't catch what type of primate this was

We walked through the aviary.

Roseate spoonbills

A type of ibis

Scarlet ibis

Another unusual ibis

African crowned crane

Arlona spent $0.25 and fed the koi

Between the koi and ducks, it was a frenzy

Nursing baby elephants

We saw lots more but didn't photograph everything. We only touched on the entirety of the zoo. We were impressed with the size of the place and the variety of animals on display.

We would not have time for dinner with our flight schedule so we checked our places for lunch and settled on Smoking Jay's BBQ. 

We both chose the daily special - mac & cheese loaded with smoked brisket.

Wow, was it delicious

The owner, Jay, was a great guy and was working hard to make sure all the customers were well taken care of

We continued on to OMA - Omaha's Eppley Airfield. This is where the second zoo comes in. The Southwest gates were bordering on mobbed as it seemed all flights departed around the same time. When we transferred planes in St. Louis, it was the same.

Let's do a quick trip wrap-up.

• Nights: 20
• Hotels: 14
• Miles: 4,400 - Bus - 2,700; Car - 1,700 miles across two vehicles
• States: 11 - New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska (plus Texas and Missouri for airline layovers  so 13?)
• National Parks: 8 - Mesa Verde, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Glacier, Badlands
• National Monuments/Sites: 5 - Monument Valley, Devils Tower, Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore, Grant-Kohrs Ranch
• Other stuff: Omaha Zoo, Corn Palace, Wall Drug, Code Talker, Smokejumpers, Fort Missoula, Mormon Row, helicopter tour, river float, Salt Lake City, Bluff Fort, Durango, Santa Fe, and more

This trip raised the state count for both to 49, with both of us only lacking Oregon.

Based on this experience, I would definitely recommend EF Go Ahead Tours as a tour operator. Everything was organized and planned extremely well. Bus touring is different than cruising as you live out of a suitcase, but for this type of trip, this is a great way to go.

So now, it's on to the next adventure. Come back at the end of November for our next big trip, a 90-day roundtrip cruise from Barcelona, circumnavigating Africa on Seabourn Sojourn. We will be taking a one-week safari as part of that journey. We're excited and I'll be writing about it. See you then.

20240828 Viking European Sojourn River Cruise Day 27/27 - Amsterdam to Montreal to The Villages

Viking European Sojourn River Cruise Day 27/27 - The travel day getting home

Nothing starts your travel day better than waking up to this text: 

Your flight AC901 to Montreal is delayed because airport limitations on an earlier flight caused the scheduled aircraft to arrive late and will now depart at 13:25 from Gate E2. We apologize and are working to get you on your way.

Oh well, we have several hours at Montreal airport, so this shifts one of those hours to Amsterdam.

Getting off a river cruise is weird when you're used to ocean cruising. First, your bags don't have to be out until 45 minutes before your scheduled departure from the ship. Second, your bags are just placed by the exit and then taken to your transfer vehicle when you exit. Third, for us, we were again docked next to another Viking vessel so we had to walk through it to leave. Finally, we didn't have to scan our cards to leave. Very different, indeed.

In less than 30 minutes, we arrived at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

Lovely sunflowers outside the airport

Check-in went well as did immigration but security was another story. Both my backpack and carry-on caused alerts. The guard passed the backpack but needed to look in my carry-on. A power converter and a jewelry roll with some watches apparently was suspicious and had to be swiped and scanned for illicit materials. This resulted in essentially completely unpacking and repacking one side of my stuffed carry-on. Yea. With that behind us, we headed for the Aspire Lounge to kill the three hours before our flight. 

The lounge was roughly 675 miles from our gate. Perhaps I'm exaggerating, but it was a hike. Just before we got there, we met up with fellow cruises from our flight who said not to bother. They were just there and there was a queue. How long? 105 people! On a Wednesday. At 10 A.M.! Yikes!

With our plan for the lounge effectively killed, we walked the 863 miles to gate G7 (they changed our gate from E2 to G7 right as we checked in) and found a place to sit and wait for our flight. Terminal G has absolutely nothing in it. No bars, no eateries, nothing. So far, not a fan of Schiphol Airport.

We boarded per the delayed schedule. Once again, we got a Boeing 787 Dreamliner with individual seat pods in Business Class.

Montreal was a zoo. We had to go through security again and all the security lines were stopped as US Customs, yes, we cleared US Customs in Canada, was falling behind. After a few minutes, they started up again with 20-year-old standards. Take laptops out of bags? Yup. Remove shoes? Check. The only thing we didn't have to do was take out our liquids. Did they have body scanners? Of course not so my hip set off metal detector. Still, I didn't have to unpack and repack my carry-on like in Amsterdam.

What did pay off was Global Entry. Everyone else turned into the long Customs line. We walked up to the camera, waited for the green light, and walked to an agent. He looked at us and said, "Arlona and Garry Kolb?" We nodded. "Welcome home." Less than a minute to clear Customs. Booyah.

We made our way to the Maple Leaf Lounge for the 2.5-hour wait until boarding for Orlando. Snacks and cocktails smoothed the wait.

Boarding started right on time and ended quickly. So quickly that the pilot requested a move-up in the schedule and got it. The flight was bumpy but we got in early and amazingly, our bags only took 20 minutes. This meant we got out of the airport more than 30 minutes earlier than planned. Woo!

The ride home was uneventful and traffic was light. Getting home shortly after 11:00 rather than the planned midnight was a bonus.

Always a pleasant sight when coming home from a trip

We were up at 6:30 A.M. and got off the ship at 8:30 A.M., Amsterdam time, so 2:30 A.M. EDT. That made for a nearly 21-hour travel Almost 24 hours without sleep.

So... a trip wrap-up.

Did we enjoy the trip? Absolutely.

Did Viking provide a great experience? Yes, indeed.

Are we glad we saw the places we saw? Most definitely.

Would we do another river cruise? Ehh...maybe.

Don't get me wrong, this has nothing to do with Viking. The service was stellar. Their reaction to hiccups was outstanding. Ok, the room was a postage stamp. A well-appointed postage stamp but still a postage stamp. Sure larger rooms are available, but at more than double the cost. That's a whole other trip! There is no flexibility in dining and limited menus. Did I mention that the room was small? The fact that the Sun Deck was closed for five days so we could fit under bridges didn't help either. 

If we find a river cruise with a compelling itinerary, we would consider another one, but for the moment, I think we're ocean cruise people.

We're taking a bus tour next month so we will see how we like that. It means we will live out of suitcases and we generally don't like that. If it works, then perhaps a train trek through Europe might be in the cards at some point.

For now, the trip is done and we're home...for a couple of weeks. The bus tour in the American West is up next. Well, sleep is next.  Until the next trip...