soundcruiser

just_dont, several excursions were marked as Sold Out before our booking window opened.  I'm not sure about times within excursions - maybe someone else has noticed if those are marked as Sold Out before their window opened. 

Interesting - our booking window opens in 15 minutes, and no email from Viking yet.  I'll go to TellUs and let them know!

Viking hasn't handled this especially well!  I did go to the Facebook page and saw the post, but it was by a fellow cruiser and not an official Viking announcement.  Someone posted that they had received an email from Viking the day before their signup window - I will look for that tomorrow.

Pushka , thank you for "taking one for the team" and spending all that time on hold!! Have a wonderful time in Alaska! Hope you have time to enjoy other parts of our Pacific Northwest!

Mediterranean Odyssey.  We went to Alaska on HAL several years ago - you are in for a treat!

Thanks for checking for us, Pushka! I'll be interested to hear! Sounds like we have a similar (same?) sail date.

I second just_dont!  We sign up in two days - it makes a big difference if it's midnight (for us) or noon!!  I've not received any notification in MVJ that I know of!

I got all of our first choices at the DV booking date - did stay up ( we are in the Pacific time zone) to book right at opening, though!

Travelpanther, my husband and i did the chocolate workshop in Tallinn - liked it so much that we have made truffles from their provided recipes for Christmas gifts the past two years!! The young woman who was our "teacher" was adorable!

We also used Tzar Travel in SPB for two days - organized an excursion on our roll call and the six of us had a ball! We saw waayy more than we could have using Viking's excursions for two days!

In Eidfjord, we took the Flamsbana tour in the morning, and hiked on our own in the afternoon after we got back!  A beautiful port.

Thanks, K9 pal.  We are definitely looking at the Krka excursions, and I have thought one of them should be tops on the signup list. You confirmed that! We'll be in Venice the day before we embark so we'll probably just grab a gondolier near our hotel for an evening ride!

Marseille

Avignon and the Palace of the Popes - $99

In the footsteps of Van Gogh - $149

Le Castellet and wine tasting - $99

Summer in Cassis and Calanques - $89

Motorcycle side car ride through Provence - $499

Scenic Marseille - INCLUDED

Discovering Aix-en-Provence - $69

Historic religious sites of Marseilles - $69

Provencal picnic and Aix-en-Provence - $249

Handicrafts in Marseille - $79

Barcelona

Scenic Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey - $79

Jewels of Modernism - $129

Gaudi: The great architect of Modernism - $149

Grand home of Barcelona - $159

Panoramic Barcelona - INCLUDED

Gaudi architecture - $89

Best of Barcelona and Our Lady of Montserrat - $119

Leisurely walk through Barcelona - $69

The Gothic Quarter: Back to the origins of the city - $79

The artists of Barcelona - Miro, Picasso, and Gaudi - $99

Royal Academy of Medicine and Requesens Palace - $99

An evening of Flamenco - $149

Whew! It was fun zipping through all of these at once - helped me rethink a couple of tentative choices so far!

Rome

Snapshots of Rome - INCLUDED

Highlights of Rome and the Colosseum - $199

Treasures of Rome along the Tiber River - $199

Panoramic Rome and St.Peter's Basilica - $199

Sistine Chapel and Vatican City - $239

Ancient Rome - $199

Rome on your own - $69

Rome on your own, by foot and by Vespa - $199

The Etruscan necropolises of Tarquinia - $69

Roman catacombs and Vatican City - $109

Picturesque Ostia - $69

Vatican museums and private visit to Villa Farnesina - $269

Florence

Florence and the Leaning Tower of Pisa - $119

Florence and the Pitti Palace - $159

Italy's art and architecture - $159

The Renaissance treasures of Florence - $209

From Tuscany to Pisa - INCLUDED

A day in Tuscany - $139

Scenic boat ride and Villa Puccini - $69

Leonardo da Vinci's Museum and historic Lucca - $109

Florence on your own - $79

Cooking in a Tuscan castle - $249

Fiat 500 experience and Florence on your own - $199

Market and food of Florence: Extension to Florence on your own - $59

The craftsmen of Florence: Extension to Florence on your own - $79

Lucca on your own - $49

Carrara marble quarry and mining town - $119

Monte Carlo

The Kitchen Table - $249

Exclusive visit to Villa Rothschild - $199

Perfumes of Grasse and St. Paul - $129

Nice, Eze, and Monte Carlo - $89

Gardens of Monte Carlo - $79

Panoramic Cote d' Azur - $79

Walking tour of Monaco - INCLUDED

Leisurely walking tour of Monaco - INCLUDED

Walking tour of Nice and Musee Matisse - $219

French Riviera by helicopter - $299

Nice on your own - $49

Rome

Snapshots of Rome - INCLUDED

Highlights of Rome and the Colosseum - $199

Treasures of Rome along the Tiber River - $199

Panoramic Rome and St.Peter's Basilica - $199

Sistine Chapel and Vatican City - $239

Ancient Rome - $199

Rome on your own - $69

Rome on your own, by foot and by Vespa - $199

The Etruscan necropolises of Tarquinia - $69

Roman catacombs and Vatican City - $109

Picturesque Ostia - $69

Vatican museums and private visit to Villa Farnesina - $269

Florence

Florence and the Leaning Tower of Pisa - $119

Florence and the Pitti Palace - $159

Italy's art and architecture - $159

The Renaissance treasures of Florence - $209

From Tuscany to Pisa - INCLUDED

A day in Tuscany - $139

Scenic boat ride and Villa Puccini - $69

Leonardo da Vinci's Museum and historic Lucca - $109

Florence on your own - $79

Cooking in a Tuscan castle - $249

Fiat 500 experience and Florence on your own - $199

Market and food of Florence: Extension to Florence on your own - $59

The craftsmen of Florence: Extension to Florence on your own - $79

Lucca on your own - $49

And some more on Corfu:

Corfu's natural and historic riches - $99

The handcrafting tradition of Corfu and Kerkyra - $69

Traditional flavors and modern cuisine of Corfu - $149

Mt. Pantokrator hike and old Peritheia - $139

The Greek Orthodox religion on Corfu Island - $59

Paleokastritsa Monastery and Corfu - $59

Naples

Pompeii: City of beauty and ruin - $84

Pompeii and pizza - $99

Panoramic tour of Naples - INCLUDED

Sorrento and Pompeii - $109

Italian Riviera by land and sea - $89

Neapolitan hike - $49

Royal palace of Caserta - $59

Pizza and piazzas - $69

Ancient Herculaneum - $69

Naples, above and below: A walking tour - $69

Here are some more excursions:

Dubrovnik

Flavors and traditions of Old Croatia - $199

Dubrovnik by Cable Car - $74

A Renaissance garden and views - $74

Dubrovnik by land and sea - $69

Dalmatian Coast wine and food tasting - $109

Dubrovnik walking tour - INCLUDED

Panoramic Dubrovnik Riviera and Cable Car - $89

Dubrovnik's fortfiication: A city wall walk - $79

Croatian delight: Wine tasting - $79

Corfu

Panoramic Corfu and Old Town walking tour - INCLUDED

Corfu by mountain bike - $89

Corfu by 4X4 vehicle - $149

Paleokastritsa coastal views by boat and Old Corfu - $79

Scenic Corfu and Theotoky Estate and Winery - $79

Traditions of Corfu's Old Town - $69

Old Town and the Achilleion - $49

Zitsky - here's what was populated in our MVJ a week or so ago for our 5/25 MO:

Venice -

Evening gondola ride - $109

Private evening gondola ride for two - $229

An evening at the opera - $139

Venetian islands, Murano and Burano - $99

Exploring historic Padua - $79

The Island and the Abbey - $79

Hidden Venice on foot - $69

Unraveling St.Mark's Square and Doge's Palace - $69

Secrets of Doge's Palace - $99

Creative master class in Murano glass blowing - $199

At a glance: St. Mark's Square - INCLUDED

Visit to a Venetian carnival workshop -  $79

Private visit of Palazzo Nani Berando - $149

Peggy Guggenheim collection extension to included tour - $99

Rezzonico Palace - extension to included tour - $94

Split

Highlights of the Split Riviera - $79

Pilgrimage Site of Medugorje - $139

Krka National Park and Dubrava Falconry Center - $159

Krka Waterfalls and the town of Skradin - $149

Krka National Park Walk - $89

Cetina River cruise and Split walking tour - $79

Charming Trogir and village heritage - $129

Dalmatian cooking class - $159

Split walking tour - INCLUDED

Ancient Salona and medieval Trogir - $69

Flavors of the Dalmatian coast - $79

I'll post more as I have more time - at least this gets you started!

Thanks so much, Dauntless and LeRenardrouge! This is the kind of info I need! I'll try the folks at tellus@viking and see if they can shed any additional  light . I know when we did the Flam excursion on VH they seemed to add enough buses to take everyone who wanted each time slot. If I don't get a definitive answer we'll probably book private transportation/tour just to be safe. It looks like there are many good options!

Awww, you're such a softie!! Good to know they are both great!

Thanks, Dauntless and Soccermom! These are some really good looking options.  Soccermom, is there a reason you used RomeCab instead of having ItalyTour drive you?

Thanks, Jim! We'll definitely add them to the list of options!

For those of you who have done this, or been able to see the details once sign-ups open for your cruise, are there multiple times/buses for this excursion?  We are beginning to plan the excursions for our May 2019 sailing, and are considering doing this one, along with taking the train or hiring private transportation.  Then we'd either hire a private guide, or be guided by the transporting company, depending on what we choose. We need to compare costs/timing/type of experience among all the options, and one thing to  know is the likelihood of the Rome on your Own selling out - if there are multiple buses, it's usually less likely.  

Thanks in advance - I so appreciate the wisdom of this group!😃

I found Seat61 to be super easy to use - lots of helpful things: instructions on how early to buy, whether to buy 1st or 2nd class,  links to the railways' websites (where you can purchase tickets), videos, and photos.  Holler if you have any difficulty - I'll try to help!

Eurodl, if you are considering train travel at all a great website is Seat61.com. The man who runs this has compiled the most complete collection of info on European train travel that I can imagine! Just enter your departure city on the first page under "train travel within europe" and go from there. We actually are planning a post cruise trip from Barcelona to Paris - a high-speed TGV duplex train whisks you between the two cities in about 6 hours 25 minutes! 

I agree with Phil - not fast enough to stream, but great for most other purposes.

Hi, Shirley! How wonderful to be looking forward to your first ocean cruise! As a veteran (?) of two cruises now ( Alaska on HAL and Viking Homelands) and one who gets seasick easily on smaller boats, I'll say that you are much less likely to experience seasickness on these ships than small craft. However, leaving nothing to chance, I go equipped with (1) ginger capsules, (2) seabands that you wear on your wrist, and (3) Bonine (meclizine) . I take a ginger capsule every day, wear the seabands, and take half a Bonine the night before we are due to sail in more open seas, since even a little makes me somewhat sleepy. Haven't had a problem at all, even when the ship was rocking and rolling! Both of our cruises have been mostly through relatively sheltered waters, so I haven't had a severe test yet, but so far, so good.

Just thought I'd throw in our experience with using Viking Air, Air Plus, and business class to add to the CC data base! We booked our May 2019 trip (Med Odyssey) today for $3220 pp mixed cabin on Delta - Delta One SEA to AMS and on to MUC (business on KLM), then comfort plus coming home nonstop from CDG. The $3220 includes air deviation, air differential, and Air Plus. Have been watching prices like a hawk the last 6 months - this is $1200 pp less than if I booked directly with Delta today, though if I'd booked with Delta many days in the last month it would have been $3480 ( or $268 more) for these particular flights. The prices have really been fluctuating. We also have seats all selected - were able to select the Delta One and KLM seats immediately after booking Viking Air but could only upgrade to comfort plus ($120 pp) and select those seats once we had paid for the entire cruise. We used a TA who has been checking with Viking weekly to see if the "air differential" that Delta adds to their Delta One price on Viking Air had decreased any. The first week after we began checking it dropped $350 - since then it dropped another $12 and has been stable. Since the Delta price to book directly has increased lately, we decided to jump on this, get our choice of seats, and spend less time doing mock bookings every day!