Did We Take Our Own Advice from Last Year?

Before I started writing the previous post, I took a look at last year’s Viking Cruise –Reflections post about our Viking Homelands-British Isles Explorer cruise. I ended that post with quite a bit of advice for myself for future cruises, and I thought it would be fun to see if we actually followed through on these recommendations on this cruise. Um, as it turns out, not as much as I would have hoped!

Before leaving home, it’s important to research what to do in each port and to carefully read the description for each tour to make sure it’s what you envision. . . .

I didn’t do as much research as I probably should have, but we were quite pleased with all the Viking tours. We did not feel the necessity of booking private tours on a river cruise.

In between all the tours, try to build in time to relax. . . . Alas, I likely won’t heed my own advice since I want to see it all.

Unfortunately, I mostly ignored my advice once again. On the positive side, however, I did decide to cancel an all-day excursion and just go with the morning tour. That was a very wise decision. I even skipped out on another tour and created a sea day for myself. Still, we were on the go most of the time, and Tim and I were exhausted by the time we got to Paris. I haven’t quite figured out how to solve this one.

Tim and I both took way too many photographs and should have simply enjoyed what we were seeing with our own eyes, rather than through the lens of a camera. We also need to practice taking selfies of the two of us together. . . .

Tim did a better job this time, but I think I was even worse. I haven’t quite figured out how to make myself put the camera down, but I’m going to try to work on it. We managed a few selfies, but still need to do a better job.

Speaking of photographs, I learned that it’s really difficult to get decent photos from any moving vehicle, whether bus, train, or plane. . . .

Nothing changed here, but I did try to limit the number of photographs from moving vehicles. It was also hard to get good photographs when venues were so crowded.

This trip confirmed for me that it’s important for us to spend as many days as possible in the cities where we will embark and disembark our cruise. . . .

We definitely followed this advice and continue to believe that this is the strategy we will follow if at all possible.

. . . from now on, if at all possible, I will only fly in lie-flat business class for an overnight flight. . . . On the other hand, I have concluded that premium economy is fine for a daytime flight. . . .

We made it a point to book lie-flat business class seats for our overnight flight, and it was everything I hoped it would be. We had booked premium economy for our return, but we accepted an upgrade offer to business, and it was wonderful. It’s going to be difficult to fly any other way in the future.

My final thought is to pack light. . . . We did ok, but we’re going to try and do better next time.

Tim and I did pack lighter this time and did not check any bags. It was tight, but we managed and seemed to have everything we needed. This strategy likely won’t work when we travel in colder weather, since those items take up much more room.

That About Sums Up How We Did!