Alicomp

They didn't have them on the Viking Sea in December. If Viking is reading this thread, it would be nice to have a few sets, especially on cruises with multiple sea days.

Alice

For those of you who don't buy the Viking TripMate trip insurance, which companies do you recommend for travel insurance (delay, interruption, cancel for any reason,etc), not medical insurance?

Thank you.

We are Elite on Princess and just returned from our first Viking ocean cruise. We've already booked another. We loved that there were so many places to sit and read (or whatever). The ships are decorated nicely and not glitzy. We don't drink, but liked having our minibar stocked with Diet Coke every day. We didn't have to buy a soda sticker as we did on Princess (there isn't such a thing on Viking). Also liked no photographers, very few announcements, no art auction, included excursion in each port. We didn't use the spa, but it looked great. The fitness center also had an adequate amount of equipment. There is artwork throughout the ship and if you download a Viking app it will tell you about each piece of art as you are looking at it. I think the Princess buffet is better and afternoon tea is better on Princess, but overall we preferred Viking.

To @Viking Cruises. In Thursday's Viking Daily it says the Viking Sea will be on a test sailing from 11:45 Friday night to 6:00 Saturday morning. We are scheduled to disembark at 7:45 Saturday morning and I am a little nervous that if the test sailing is delayed we might not get to the airport on time. Is there anything you can do to make sure the captain knows there will be people disembarking. I spoke to one of the customer service people and she told me not to worry. I hope she's right.

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If you put tips on your account, they are divvied up at Viking's discretion. The suggested amount per person per day should be in the cruise docs booklet and it will be repeated again once you are on board. The amount can be adjusted up or down. Additional amounts to individual crew members is done in cash.

 

Tip is included in the price of drinks from the bar. I didn't use the spa, so I'm not sure how it works there.

 

We chose to put the tips on our account and then gave additional tips to a couple of people. It was much easier than having to carry so much cash.

When did you tell them to add tips to your account? At the beginning of the cruise or any time during the cruise.

I think we will do the same thing; have them added to our account and then give extra to those who did a really good job.

This will be the first time we will be on a cruise where tips are not included ( although we gave extra to those members of the crew who went above and beyond).

I have read that we can either give cash tips or have the purser's desk (or whatever it is called) add the tips to our account. Has anyone had tips added to your account? How does it work? Do you tell them how much you want to give to each person ?

How have those of you who have sailed recently handled tips?

Thank you.

Alice

We will be on the Viking Sea. I know we will get 6 cans of soda in our cabin and get free soda at meals, but we are wondering if the bars on the ship have soda (or do we need to carry our own soda around the ship). We drink a lot of it.

Thank you.

Alice

We will be on the Sea, our first Viking Ocean cruise, in December.

Are there tables for 2 in the dining room? I did see what looked like tables for 2 in photos on CC - there were a row of tables along the wall, with chairs on one side and a "bench" on the other side. Are these the tables for 2?

What is the timing of dinner? Does everyone go to the dining room at the same time?

Are we assigned tables?

Thank you.

Alice

Thank you.

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We will be in Barcelona pre-cruise on Dec 25 and Dec 26. Will any sites be open on those days? Will restaurants be open?

Thank you.

Alice

I thought I posted this last night but can't find it. I apologize if it shows up twice.

We will be in an Explorer Suite on the Sea. After many Princess cruises this will be our first on Viking. I know our refrigerator will be stocked daily. If we only want soda, how many cans is that per day?

I also read that there is a place in one of the venues that serves lunch that has cans of soda available to take to consume with lunch. Can those cans of soda be taken to the cabin (to be put in the refrigerator)?

Thank you. We drink a lot of soda, and some water, but no wine or alcohol.

Alice

We will be in an Explorer Suite and would only want soda in our refrig. How many cans of soda would be stocked at one time, if all we want is soda?

I also read that there is a place in one of the eating venues that has a "tray" of sodas during lunch. Can passengers take cans of soda from there and put them in the cabin refirig?

Thanks for your help. This will be our first Viking Ocean cruise after many Princess cruises.

Alice

If you have used the Concierge Lounge on the Regal would you please describe it to me? What are the amenities and what are the hours. Is it someplace one could sit and read for a couple of hours?

Thank you.

Alice

The Princess website says on the CP C751 has an obstructed balcony. I seem to remember, but can't fine it, where people have said there is a diagonal beam on the balcony, but it is not obstructed.

Comments?

Thank you.

Alice

We have done it twice with Princess and the process was as CruiserBruce described. Also, when you meet the guide on the day of the excursion they will tell you what they planned and ask if you wan to make any changes.

I am waiting on my preliminary approval but my only big beef so far is the lack of enrollment centers on the east coast between Dulles Airport (VA) and Atlanta Airport. There is exactly one in Charlotte. If you look at other states like Ohio they have an enrollment center in Port Clinton where a ferry to Put-In-Bay goes out of, but RDU airport in Raleigh which is the capital of NC? Nope.

 

I wonder how they choose where enrollment centers are placed. I was looking for an email to ask that question but figured it was pointless.

I recently read that RDU is going to have Global Entry enrollment centers but I don't remember when. We live close to RDU and when we had our interviews 2 years ago we coordinated it with a vacation so we had our interviews in Vegas.

For those of you looking for IT luggage in the US, I have seen it at TJ Maxx. I wasn't aware that it had a good reputation and didn't pay any attention to it, since I'd never heard of it until reading this thread tonight.

EVERY ship is built/planned with the expectation that some people will be outside.

Of course. You took what I said out of context. My point was that when the weather is bad and everyone is inside the Regal, the piazza is very crowded and very noisy. We had terrible weather on most of a 28 day transAtlantic/Baltic cruise spring of 2015 and found that there was no place to sit quietly and read, other than in our cabin. We met a lot of people who complained about the noise and the crowds. We love Princess, but had a bad cruise on the Regal, because of the lack of indoor space when everyone is indoors. That is just my opinion. The Regal is not my favorite ship.

If I recall correctly, we took an elevator upstairs to get to the elite lounge.

Glad to see the comments regarding the space on the ship. We were on the Norwegian Epic in March in the Med and the weather was cool, therefore most people were inside most of the time. The public rooms on the ship seemed to have been designed with the anticipation that a certain percentage of individuals on board would be outside at all times as every venue was over crowded. We're far from anti-social, but it got to be too much. We are on the Regal in November and very much looking forward to it.

We had the same problem with the Regal in April/May 2015. The weather was bad most of the Baltic cruise and everyone was inside. The ship was planned with the expectation that some people would be outside. The area around the Piazza was always packed and there were loud activities all day, beginning with Zumba at 9:00. I heard people with a cabin on the Emerald Deck complaining that they heard the Piazza noise in their cabin. We love Princess but don't know if I would book the Regal again.

Sorry to disagree with those above...however...on both our recent trips (2014 & 2015) to China we were able to easily cash our US Traveler's Checks (as needed) at the Bank of China ...Just had to present our passport...Their banks are very organized and were easy to deal with. We could have also cashed them at our hotel/hotels but the exchange rate was better at the bank, and the hotel would have added on a fee I believe. TC's aren't as outdated as some on these boards may think.

Ashland, Were your tc's American Express by any chance? Ours are and I have heard that they are the hardest to cash outside the US, unless at an Am Ex office.

Alice

There was a female string quartet on the Regal last year (2015), March through July. I'm pretty sure their name was Majestica. They usually played in the Piazza and they always wore the same color dresses (everyone wore blue one night, everyone wore gold the next night, etc.) They were delightful. The first thing I did when we received the Patter was to see where they would be the next day.

There was a female string quartet on the Regal last year (2015), March through July. I'm pretty sure their name was Majestica. They usually played in the Piazza and they always wore the same color dresses (everyone wore blue one night, everyone wore gold the next night, etc.) They were delightful. The first thing I did when we received the Patter was to see where they would be the next day.

Thanks everyone. I'll cash them at home.

We will be in China and Southeast Asia. We have American Express travelers' ' checks from many years ago. We were saving them for an emergency, but now think we might as well use them. Will banks or hotels in China and other parts of Asia cash them? Thank you. Alice