Heidi13

Our first World Cruise, which was our first ever Viking Cruise we had PIF at 6 months before departure. For the 2nd WC the basic PIF was also 6 months before, but they had an offer of about 4% discount to pay about 1 year before departure.

When researching private tours, one of the first criteria should be checking their cancellation policy. Personally, I don't consider any vendor that doesn't provide full refunds, if the ship is late or unable to dock. I also prefer vendors that get paid on day of tour, but they are becoming a little harder to find. Many private vendors, especially when you fill their vehicle, are open to negotiation, so I don't book any unless they are open to negotiate price and payment terms. No negotiation, I move on to another preferred vendor.

Not disputing it originated on the Carnival Board, but that isn't a cruise line we have, or will ever consider, so I don't frequent that board. I also note the Mods did not include a note that it was moved from Carnival to Ask a Question. Since I haven't a clue regarding the design or the stability data on either Carnival Paradise or Carnival Celebration, and couldn't even hazard a guess to the year of build, or gross tonnage, I could never provide an opinion as to which had a smoother ride. Especially, since the seas and the skills of the Bridge Teams are also factors. Prior to correcting your erroneous statement, probably due to your limited experience, I did provide a suggestion to the OP, noting a river cruise may be their best option.

Certainly not trying to negate your experiences, but out of interest, how many YEARS at sea is your experience based on? Personally, I have almost 40 yrs at sea, with way too many of them in command of pax vessels. Have also studied Ship Stability and Ship Construction to Master's level. My experience, handling ships in rough seas, and education, indicate the size of a cruise ship has little to do with sea keeping. Design and stability criteria are the key criteria. As I noted previously, the QM2 is vastly superior in rough seas than any of the larger mega ships, as were the much smaller SS Oriana, SS Canberra and QE2. FYI - "Sea keeping" is certainly not a fancy term, as in this industry, "Sea keeping" and "Seaworthiness" are standard fairly terms. With your experience, I'm surprised they aren't familiar to you.

The size of the ship has very little to do with sea keeping abilities. To put it in perspective, the steam liners I worked aboard in the 70's & 80's are smaller than all but the current small luxury ships and the old ships were way more stable and comfortable than any current larger ship. QM2 is vastly superior in rough seas to any of the larger mega ships.

The Seattle itineraries have an increased potential for rough seas than those from Vancouver. Even being in sight of land is no guarantee of smooth seas. I worked the BC & Alaska coasts for over 30 yrs and have experienced numerous storms within sight of land all months of the year. If you want a guarantee of smooth sailing, check our river cruises.

I received my first Yellow Fever vaccination in the 70's and recall I had to visit a special NHS clinic in Dundee, as my GP and local St Andrews hospital didn't provide that service. By checking your NHS #, they might be able to find your vaccination record, if you do end up requiring the YF jab. However, I have not found definitive proof that the older vaccinations get the lifetime validity that is available for the more recent jabs, as YF was originally only good for 10-yrs.

Haven't stayed in a hotel in Auckland, but my suggestion would be to find one downtown, rather than at the airport. Auckland has a great downtown area, which has been redeveloped over the past 20 years.

When booking cruise line shore-ex, you do not have a guarantee that the ship will wait for you. Yes, the Master will provide more consideration in delaying the sailing for late returning shore-ex, but if operational conditions dictate the ship must sail, the pax on a delayed shore-ex will miss the ship. At best the cruise line will assist in getting you to the next port. However, most reputable tour operators that we use, provide a similar service and endeavour to get you back to the ship before departure, as their business depends on it.

I'm having difficulty understanding why you would cancel and suffer a significant financial penalty over the availability of cruise line shore-ex. Superior, more cost effective small group tours from private tour operators/guides are readily available in most ports. Even if you don't wish to spend time on research, you can use 3rd party resellers such as Viator, Tours by Locals, Shore Excursion Group, etc.

The next 2 cruises to Alaska we are considering are also both tender ports (Ketchikan), due to the increased number of ships in Alaska.

You should also consider that Ketchikan has multiple berths. If the ship is docked at berth #1, it is close to the Lumberjack Show, but if at berth #4 the walk is > 1/2 mile. Do you know for certain which berth the ship is assigned?

The port for Ephesus is Kusadasi. Viking normally offer a number of shore-ex to from Kusadasi to Ephesus, both the included tour and a number of optional tours. Viking guarantees that every pax is entitled to a seat on the "Included" shore-ex in every port. They may show sold out on the website, but the shore-ex staff on board the vessel will add additional times to ensure everyone gets a seat on the tour.

The Viking ships are small enough to dock at Ocean Terminal, the berth assignment is made by the Harbourmaster and can be checked on the port website.

Provided you are fully vaccinated and boosted, similar to the vast majority of us, you don't require any anti-viral medications. Even DW, who has other respiratory issues didn't require hospitalisation or anti-viral meds. Personally, unless I was admitted to ICU, I don't want the medication, as the side effects can be worse.

The poster is from UK, where the term "Fit", is still acceptable and widely used. It may not be acceptable in the U.S. but that doesn't mean it isn't acceptable in other countries.

The additional benefit of waiting is not having to deal with early payment in full dates.

I've also been to most of the Meddy ports. When I completed an entire winter season of Meddy cruising, we used Malta as a TAR a number of times, but we never stopped at any African ports other than Alexandria/Port Said. I'll suggest the safety concerns with those ports are just as valid now as they were in the 70's. With the ongoing unrest in Tunisia and Algeria, I'm surprised Viking are adding these ports, as lots of superior options are available that can include an overnight in Malta. No reason they can't stop at the various islands on the north side of the Meddy, then from Gibraltar head down to Casablanca. If memory is correct, the Straits of Gibraltar are only 8 - 10 miles wide, so it doesn't add that much distance to avoid the 2 African ports, which have a high probability of being missed.

I concur with the points you raised, and I expect most of the other posters on this thread have no issues with a limited number of genuine service dogs. When operating within the scope of the U.S. A.D.A , the problem is a business cannot request proof that an alleged service dog is genuine, and is adequately trained and certified. No professional training is required. Based on the reports and photos posted from actual pax on the cruise, I'll suggest we cannot make a definitive determination whether the dogs were genuine service dogs, but I'll suggest some of the reported conduct lends me to believe at least some of the dogs were not adequately trained. Examples of inadequate training are: - Pax queued outside the Star Theatre and a dog was jumping at pax who attempted to pet/play with the dog. This indicates neither the dog nor the owner is adequately trained, as the owner should have advised the pax that the dog is working and please not touch and/or interact with the dog. If the pax persisted, the dog owner should have removed themselves to protect the working dog. The dog, even when approached should not jump. This dog may provide a service to the owner, but from a training perspective, has less training than our German Shepherd & Lab - Dog being fed human food from the table is again indicative that both the dog and owner are not sufficiently trained. A genuine and well trained service dog will sit on the deck, observing the owner and will not eat table scraps. - Photo of dog on Aquavit Terrace sitting on a chair. From the photo, I noted that the owner is not attached to the leash, so the dog was both unleashed and sitting on a chair. Again indicative that both the dog and owner are not adequately trained. - Report of dog loose at a lounger while owner was in the pool. If the owner requires a service dog, why was said dog loose and if I remember correctly, wasn't provided any water. Even if these dogs were capable of providing a "Service", my issue is the owners and dogs were inadequately trained to be brought on a cruise.

The use of hydrogen on board is zero-emission, but the actual production of the hydrogen possibly not.

If memory is correct, only zero-emissions ships will be permitted in fjords that have UNESCO World Heritage Site designations, but only from 2026. Since OP is requesting info on departures in early 2025, the bans will not yet be in effect.

You are considering a cruise where Istanbul is a TAR (disembarkation) port. Although in a number of embarkation/disembarkation ports, Viking do offer some overnights. I note that the greatest majority of cruises depart on day of embarkation and arrive early morning on disembarkation day. Therefore, if you wish to spend time at TAR ports you need to book pre/post extensions. The benefit of arriving in Istanbul early evening is the scenic cruising through the Dardanelles. Having been in Istanbul many times over the years, an early morning arrival in Istanbul misses the Dardanelles transit at night. Therefore, I consider an early evening arrival at TAR port as the best option, as you get the spectacular scenic cruising through the Dardanelles, evening tours in Istanbul and then some additional days to see the attractions after disembarkation. Personally, I would not use a Viking extension.

We had a similar experience. Provided the items were bagged and ready for the cabin steward by 09:00 they were returned by 16:00 the following day, regardless of any special requests.

Every ship should take basic precautions by installing some type of wire and hoses. It just isn't necessary to publish the defenses and any others. To put it into perspective the Ship's Security Manual is a controlled document and the entire contents are known to a very limited audience.

Viking Ocean have used sanitation robots using UV light since they resumed operations after COVID.