OneBag

The key to booking different excursions for the two of you is having TWO DIFFERENT logins for the two individuals. Then you CAN book separately. I cannot book my husband's separate excursions using MY login, but I can book "the two of us" excursions and my OWN. Hope this helps others.

Yes, thanks, that's important to know, two logins are required. That's not clearly spelled out but Viking did tell me that in a previous email when I asked about booking different excursions on the same day. We managed to make a mess anyway and I think it had something to do with how we were logged in and out and didn't have to happen,

Not that it is any longer relevant for us but maybe for others, do you know if the two accounts can be open on 2 different computers simultaneously if both people are working at the same time? Or does one of you have to log out of their account before the other can log in? I know Viking can't make any modifications to an account if I'm logged in at home--my V rep and I had fun waiting for each other to log in and out as we did things.

...Where I had trouble was when I wanted to sign up for one shore excursion and my husband another. You can do this but on one day's shore excursions I had to get Viking Customer service involved. Our shore excursions overlapped, and the website wouldn't let me book mine without cancelling his, and visa-versa. It kept saying there was a scheduling conflict….

Nothing has changed. I had the same problem today--a month later. You'd think they'd want to fix that so people aren't having to phone in and tie up their reps. It took almost half an hour for her to manually book our "conflicting" excursions that don't conflict. I can't complain--the phone was answered quickly, I didn't have to wait to speak to anyone, the young lady who helped me was very nice, and we're good to go now.

But. Do they not have IT people? Do any Viking reps communicate website issues to IT? It's like the ice bucket kerfuffle: is anyone actually in charge of fixing problems at their source or are they just running around putting out fires one at a time? I'm really not so much complaining as scratching my head over the lack of organization and communication.

Friends of ours were showing us around their new house and when they got to the master bedroom suite they joyously ushered us into what they proudly referred to a "European" bathroom. What we found ourselves standing in was a very un-European sized walk-in cavern, a room the size of the average living room, with an 11' ceiling and NO shower curtain…or shower door, or any door anywhere, or room dividers, or even a potted plant or anything to shield the goings on in the tub, from the goings on in the shower, toilet, bidet, sinks…and easily half of it clearly visible from the bed, because, of course, there was no entry door to this marbeled palace of exhibitionism.

I'm not sure how "European" that room really is. On our budget, no European hotel room has a bathroom larger than a closet. Most are still boasting en suite like that's extra special or something. Come to think of it, though, none of them have shower curtains; they usually have that little half-sized floppy glass thing that keeps most, but not all, of the shower spray in the tub and off the floor. :p

Is Flyer Talk a different website, or is that a sub-forum here at CC.com? I did a quick search when I was on the main forum page and I didn't see any Flyer Talk sub-forum. There are three more flights after that from London to Stockholm that day so surely they can get us on one of them.

With three more flights available and leaving out of the same terminal, you should be fine. It's the T5 to T3 connection that's dicey.

Flyer Talk is a different website -- Flyertalk.com -- frequent flyers sharing info and not-so-frequent flyers seeking advice. The link to the forum is at the top. it can occasionally and quickly get a bit ugly in there depending on the topic but that's easily ignored.

I agree with CTLeeA. If you can change it, you'll not only have a better chance of making your connection, but your vacation won't start off on an unnecessarily bad foot with stress and worry over making your connection.

If you can't change it, head on over to Flyer Talk for advice from frequent flyers on how to navigate a short connection at LHR.

1:05 is enough time for your checked bags to make their connection even if you don't so the usual reminder about being able to live out of your carry-ons potentially overnight is especially apropos, especially if your connecting flight is BA's last one out that day.

...Speaking of proper shoes, my husband and I both always bring our hiking boots with us on our cruises. Yes, they take up room ( I wear a 10 and he a 12) and weight, but they do give us support on those uneven surfaces and they also keep our feet from becoming fatigued from the rough surfaces. Unfortunately, his boots he had on this time didn't keep him from turning his ankle, as they were a lower profile. So, OneBag, while I envy you and others who can do carryon only, I don't see it in my future. :(

...

You're so right, Becki, shoes are enormous--in importance and, in our case, size (I am an 11 and my husband is a 12). Shoes are our #1 problem and our #1 priority. Neither of us can wear hiking boots for very long due to peculiarities of our feet and ankles. We both have all sorts of foot issues that, when addressed, cause us few or no problems, and when not addressed can wreck the day (or many days). So the not very attractive walking shoes that weigh a ton and take up too much room in the bag are always on the feet when traveling from one place to another, even at the airport. Not ideal style-wise but I learned my lesson years ago when United lost my bag for awhile and I had to walk around on cobblestones in my stylish shoes for 3 days.

I hope your husband's ankle injury is minor. Sports wrap and tape, if you can locate some, can add some stability and minimize swelling.

Just the facts - you decide if it is worth the $69 per person charge plus driver & guide tips….

Thanks for the detailed description. Sounds like the experience matched up pretty much with what Viking promised, so that's good. Plus you got nibbles and clean bathrooms as a bonus!

With long (or longish) coach tours, I always struggle with "is the drive to and from worth it" because it can sometimes be hard to tell if the actual destination tour will be. It sounds like the scenic drive was lovely and the wine tasting was an "experience." I'm not sure whether I'd come away from it annoyed or pleased to have a mildly humorous story to tell about wine tasting outside Dubrovnik. :)

...when you cruise, you usually end up with a lot of luggage. Of course, if you're like "One Bag," I suppose dealing with the bag(s) is no big deal, but unfortunately I never seem to be able to travel lightly!...

LOL, it took a while to get my head around a "mix and match" wardrobe that fools nobody, and I still find the one bag process to be a huge pain before the trip, but it's a delight after. Since we're traveling extensively by rail before and after the cruise, we need to keep it manageable and won't be able to enjoy the "unpack once and you're done" benefit of a cruise.

Thanks so much for sharing info on Viking excursions. I'm feeling more confident with our choices thanks to the feedback here and look forward to hearing more as the Star works its way around Europe.

It would be enormously helpful if those of you who have done Viking excursions -- both complimentary and optional -- could give a brief review of their general experiences with Viking regarding organization, quality, size of groups, etc. We're a few days away from our booking window and I've got a mix of optional and complimentary excursions on our Wishlist along with a couple of "on our owns" but I'm not fully committed to this plan. Input from those of you who have taken Viking's excursions would be very much appreciated! P.S. Your ports aren't my ports, so unless you're feeling generous with your time for the benefit of others, general information is all I am looking for.

I would like to thank everyone who has taken time out of their cruise days to post their personal experiences on the maiden voyage. We chose a July departure because we figured some bugs would have been worked out by then and to get some feedback from earlier cruises. (Also because Scandinavia...brrr.) Regarding feedback, we've not been disappointed. Personally, I am just as happy to read criticism as I am to read glowing reviews. Reading about the negatives, should those issues remain, is very helpful in readjusting expectations. It's always better, in my mind, to be happily surprised than to be sadly disappointed. With very few exceptions (and there are a few), most of what I have read here is less of an issue if it is anticipated instead of an unpleasant surprise.

Regarding communication, I will give them this: they do answer their phone and eventually email. So yay. However, the information is more often than not unreliable, contradictory, or irrelevant (as if they don't actually read email). That's as good as it gets, at least in my pre-cruise experience.

If Viking is reading this, I would really like to stress to them that their communication with passengers pre-cruise is absolutely horrible and it sounds as though it isn't much better on the ship, at least at this point. This is an enormous fail. Communication is the beginning of any relationship and if problems are not addressed, it can spell the end. Viking is enjoying the benefit of an unusually large percentage of loyal customers who have had excellent experiences with Viking's river cruises. This group is likely to be more forgiving and patient with Viking than new customers. If Viking would like to turn their new customers into repeats, I believe they need to address their communication problems a.s.a.p., starting with splitting customer service into Rivers and Oceans. The people who answered the phones when I've called know nothing about Oceans. They often begin by talking Rivers, then have to thumb through Oceans info and/or put me on hold to talk to someone else, as if they've never heard of the Homelands cruise. The only explanation I can come up with for this is that instead of having dedicated CS reps for Oceans, they have simply added Oceans to the ever-growing list of cruises Viking reps have to know about. If I'm wrong and they have a dedicated group trained specifically for and dealing specifically with Oceans, either the reps should all be fired or the trainers should.

None of that is my problem, though. Thanks to CC and the folks who have shared their frustrations as well as their joys, we're eagerly looking forward to a great cruise that will probably include some happy surprises plus some less happy ones and some inconveniences that would have seemed more dire and unpleasant had we expected a well-oiled machine. Well, actually, I hope the actual machine is well oiled. Or siliconed or whatever they use as a lubricant on ships these days.

We had booked Early Dining in the Main Restaurant. So far we've sat at different tables with different waiters. We asked about it tonight at the Restaurant desk where the line forms and were told that it's all Open Dining. There is no fixed time and the only need to make reservations is when you have a large party and want to sit together.

 

So those that are worried about not getting early dining can rest easy - it's all first come first served. We've always come early and when we leave about 7:30 there have been plenty of empty seats around.

 

Others may have had different experiences, but to us there's been no fixed dining.

Thanks for that info, though I'm now thoroughly confused. Our dining res window opens in a few weeks. The early/late/open dining info that I was able to see at MVJ has disappeared, though the "No Daily Dining Preference Set" message remains. Perhaps something has changed or is changing.

Weeks ago I had a question for Viking and one of the (many conflicting) responses was "we're having problems with the website" which I now believe was code for "we keep changing things and breaking it". I'm sure we won't starve or be forced to sit upright until midnight to stave off GERD. It's actually strangely fascinating to watch this tale of the trials and tribulations of a new venture unfold. I hope everyone on board is having a great time regardless.

So much good news coming from maiden voyage pioneers! Thank you to everyone who has taken time out of their days to post info for us back home waiting our turn! I hope everyone on board has a fabulous day today.

When we booked our trip, for us it was mainly all about the ports/excursions. Now, with all the wonderful photos and descriptions of the ship, I'm glad every day is not a long day in port--I have a feeling the "worst" thing about our ruise is going to be that we can't be in two places at once!

The information regarding dining and excursion priority has been available since the beginning. It was in the downloadable brochure when Viking Oceans went live and Viking reservations was clear when we booked (May 24, 2013) that the primary difference between cabins other than size and some incidental (to us, anyway) amenities was booking priority for excursions and dining.

Having said that, there wasn't any information (and still isn't for those of us still waiting for our booking window to open) at all about how dining reservations would actually work and whether they really matter if you're not especially fussy about where you eat (which we aren't). The Viking rep only talked about getting reservations for the specialty restaurants. There was nothing about having to choose between early or late seating, choosing table types or whatever for the entire cruise. I still don't know how any of that works because the information is locked being a wall on My Viking Journey, I can't see it until our booking window opens. All I know is what I've read on CC.

So while it may have been clear that X level cabins got to book X# of days prior, as far as dining goes, that was framed only as a benefit for getting reservations in specialty restaurants.

I'm guessing Viking hadn't worked any of the details out in May 2013. Frankly, I don't think they've worked out the details yet. I think that's why they shut down the Wishlist and ability to browse at MVJ. We knew we were beta testing; now we're running into the bugs.:rolleyes: Fortunately my husband and I are able to be somewhat flexible with dining so whatever happens happens, but I understand eating after 8:30 or standing around for lengthy periods waiting for a table is difficult for some folks and I empathize.

You can "shop" the excursions well before you can book them. It lets you see the times/features/costs of each excursion for each port. You do this *not* from My Calendar but from the Menu>Shore Excursions and then move across to the city/port in question.

 

You can study the excursions available and even add them to you "Wish List" so it'll be quicker when your booking window opportunity *does* open up.

 

So far I've found that some excursions have disappeared from our itinerary and after they were placed on my Wish List--I'm *guessing* that's because higher "ranked" passengers have already purchased/reserved that trip on their earlier booking date and it's no longer available. Still wondering, though if that's what that means....

For folks whose booking window hasn't yet opened and are waiting to "shop" excursions and use the Wishlist, I have an update from Viking.

I spoke with someone at Viking--really several people and I had to beg and be patient for call backs--who told me that we will not be able to browse excursions or use the Wishlist until our booking window opens. She made reference to problems in the past with some excursions not being available when the booking window opened--as some here have already attested to--so the ability to browse and add excursions to a Wishlist prior to the booking window has been disabled.

If by "booking window" you mean the ability to actually *make* a reservation, then yes, we have been able to see the excursions and add them to our Wishlist for the past four weeks yet we do *not* have the ability to make our first reservations until March 24.

That's very helpful, Ukalady. Thanks. The "problem with the links" explanation just didn't resonate, but from what you've said, perhaps there is a browse window that opens up X days prior to the booking window. So if the theoretical browse window was 30-31 days prior to the booking window, your 4 weeks prior to 3/24 is on target. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that this is the case. If it is, I should be able to browse next week sometime as my booking window is 36 days out. That would be nice. My problem is my calendar is such that I won't have the time in late April to browse, choose and book all at once! 4 weeks prior to browse and create a wish list is perfect.

We aren't able to see anything there, but our cruise is quite a ways off, so I wasn't really expecting to see anything. Maybe Viking hasn't negotiated with the tour companies yet for late September tours. ...I suppose if I were at the helm, I'd also want to make sure the ship can actually achieve the speed they want to keep the schedules they've published, as arrival and departure (and tides) can affect excursions.

Sure, that makes sense. But in our case the first booking window for our 7/11 Homelands cruise opens less than a week after the maiden voyage launches from Istanbul (? I think, somewhere nowhere near Bergen), so there won't be much useful data generated for our cruise by the time booking starts.

One Viking rep told me it was a problem with my browser. (Nope.) Another said we'll be able to browse and use the wish list before the booking window opens, but he was not sure exactly when that would be. The third one said the problem was that some "portions of website are still under construction" and to check back in a few days. A fourth said I should be able to browse now but "there is a problem with the links" which should be fixed in a few days but when a week went by with no change and I inquired again, the response was that they really have no idea when the "matter" will be resolved but to rest assured that they're working on it. This sort of thing does not inspire confidence.

I am very grateful to those here who have posted they're experience with Viking river cruises post embarkation as being a better experience than their experience with Viking pre embarkation. This is our first experience with Viking and these personal reports are reassuring. To give them credit, they do answer the phone and respond to online and email inquiries swiftly, so at least I don't have to wait long to receive these vague, inaccurate replies.

You can "shop" the excursions well before you can book them. It lets you see the times/features/costs of each excursion for each port. You do this *not* from My Calendar but from the Menu>Shore Excursions and then move across to the city/port in question.

 

You can study the excursions available and even add them to you "Wish List" so it'll be quicker when your booking window opportunity *does* open up.

 

So far I've found that some excursions have disappeared from our itinerary and after they were placed on my Wish List--I'm *guessing* that's because higher "ranked" passengers have already purchased/reserved that trip on their earlier booking date and it's no longer available. Still wondering, though if that's what that means....

Can anyone whose booking window is still in the future actually browse excursions at My Viking Journey and add them to their Wishlist? I know I can't.

I have been back and forth with Viking on this for weeks. We're 37 days out from our booking window today but are not able to browse excursions at My Viking Journey and therefore cannot create a Wishlist. (I can see what's supposed to be available on the generic website, but that's generic and unreliable). Viking has given me several (mostly contradictory) explanations, the latest being "there's a problem with the links and we're working to resolve it." I'm skeptical. Fixing links takes minutes, not weeks, unless what the links are linking to are the real problem, i.e., the excursions themselves. I can understand hitting some rough patches, especially with a new venture. What I don't like is getting the runaround, being told something different every time I call or email. It makes me question their competence. Their FAQ a says you should be able to do this once you've signed up at My Viking Journey but obviously that's not true.