KL's twin towers stay out of sight
New vistas of London will open up when The View from The Shard observation platform welcomes its first paying visitors in February. It might not be as tall as the half-mile-high deck at Dubai's Burj Khalifa, or even Sky100 in Hong Kong, but without a pre-booked timed tickets system there could be queues around the block and half way across London Bridge.
The trouble is, it's impossible to guarantee the weather when scheduling a visit weeks in advance; if it doesn't co-operate, there may be nothing to see and a visit could prove pointless.
My ascent of Burj Khalifa, during a Brilliance of the Seas cruise, provided unrivalled views across the city and the desert at night. I was less fortunate in Hong Kong earlier this year - the summit of the International Commerce Centre was well above cloud level, and it was possible only to catch fleeting glimpses of boats at anchor in the Typhoon Shelter below.
My fellow Voyages to Antiquity passengers from Aegean Odyssey faced a different problem on a visit to Kuala Lumpur this weekend. It wasn't looking down that was the issue, but looking up.
In line with Voyages' theme and ethos, most had signed up for the excursion in order to visit the national museum and possibly to buy souvenirs from the handicrafts on sale at the Central Market, but many were also hoping to see the iconic Petronas Towers.
Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas. While rain is to expected in this part of Malaysia at this time of year - and locals can almost set their watches by its daily arrival - Sunday's torrential thunderstorm was exceptional.
The museum visit involved a hasty dash under plastic ponchos from the coach to the entrance and once inside the tour of the colonial gallery was accompanied by a tattoo of raindrops on the roof and the constant crack, rumble and roar of violent thunder overhead.
The river which gives the city its name came perilously close to breaking its banks, and some sections of the city's roads were flooded, adding chaos to the traffic queues caused by Christmas shoppers (in a predominantly Muslim country).
The twin towers - usually visible from many parts of the capital - remained stubbornly out of sight, concealed by mist and low clouds.
So we settled instead for glimpses of the lavish new royal palace and a drive-by viewing of the national mosque which, appropriately enough, is designed with a roof like an open umbrella. Even more fascinating were the floods and the near-chaos they brought.
But at least we were eventually able to return to Port Klang and Aegean Odyssey, waiting to take us on the next step of the journey, to Phuket.