Viking Jupiter Review
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Wanted to see more of South America. Have been to Brazil. Wanted to see Argentina and Chile. We have been on Viking before and was very happy with the company.
Some of the shore excursions could have been better. Viking should do a better job of "vetting" the local tour companies and tour guides, and doing a better job of explaining what the tour is about. We don't need the "hype". We went on a wine tour, which was good, but many wealthier Americans have been to the California wine country (or other areas). They don't want a "regular" wine tour, like a walk through the vineyard by a tour guide, they want to see more details - like a talk by an experienced wine-maker. Tours should include more options for men - like a tour of an auto plant, or a wind turbine factory, or a copper or lithium mine. Certain individuals should be allowed to tour the ship's engine room. The tours should have more realistic explanations instead of "Sweeping views of coastal panoramas", it should instead say "fantastic views - on clear days", and give people a percentage of clear days based on the time of year and historical data. Viking caters to an older crowd. Some members of that age group (me included) need to use the restroom often - especially after coffee in the morning. The tours should ALWAYS include a restroom break at least once every hour. As to "enrichment" , In South America, there is a lot of political unrest. How about a talk by a local political activist? Or an economist giving their view of the world economy? Viking chooses only "safe" (non-controversial) issues. I think they should be a bit more open to slightly "loaded" topics. The ship store should carry a wider variety of items (and not be so "hidden"), and the ship doctor should have Scopolamine patches available, (instead of just meclizine tablets), of course any side effects should be explained. The public areas should have more temporary seating capacity. Everyone cannot fit in the central common area during special events (New Year's Eve) for example. My wife and I went back to our cabin on New Year's Eve because there was no place to sit or stand. Any time a area is full, it should be fed via video to the big monitor in the pool area.
Cabin Review
Very nice cabin. Only two complaints: The sliding door that led to the deck is very heavy and cannot be locket open. If not locked, it slams open and shut as the ship moves. In rough seas, it could hurt someone badly if it shut on a body part. Also, my wife and I like to sleep with the door open, so we can hear the sound of the ocean. In order to do that, I had to force door to stay open by wedging a chair in the opening. A small change could be made to the upper center rail in the door (it could be field-replaceable), that would allow the sliding rod (that moves up and down when the handle is turned), to catch in a series of notches in the upper-center rail. That way, the door could be "locked" in any intermediate location. Similarly, the cabin closet doors can slam shut and are heavy enough to hurt fingers. A small air cylinder (similar to a car shock absorber) could be added to the door at the top. This would allow the doors to slide smoothly until they were near closed, but the air cylinder would "cushion" the closing. Another option would be to use a spring-loaded "stop" that would prevent the closet door from fully closing. The stop would have to be manually pressed (or pulled) in order to let the door close completely.