OneSixtyToOne

EBD is a catchall generic promotion that really doesn't do anything. If you go to the website, you'll get the same discount with or without the code. It's used in brochures to get people to call.

Most of Viking’s current promotions expired yesterday (May 31). I expect new ones to be posted within the next few days. I would definitely wait until you see what new promos expire on Jun 30th. They also might run a short notice 4 day 4th of July sale. They tend to do this around major holidays, so you might want to wait until at least then. Subscribe to this post so you’ll be informed of any new activity. Deciding when to book is always a crapshoot. Only you can decide if booking now and getting exactly what you want and paying full fare (especially since you need multiple rooms) is worth it. Again, I would wait at least a few days to see what they offer for June promotions. That being said, recent promotions tend to favor free or discounted air with a small room discount. Some on this forum don’t consider that a great deal because of flight inflexibility. Personally, we use Viking Air discounts on cruises all the time but we live close to two major airports and typically can get flights of our liking. Also worth noting that even if you book directly with Viking, you can transfer the reservation to a travel agent and the TA may give you an on board credit as a courtesy.

Have you considered a Viking River cruise? The Grand European cruise offers exactly what you are looking for. That being said, Empires of the Mediterranean does offer you a cruise that can eliminates long bus rides. Any itinerary involving Rome or Florence will necessitate a very long bus trip unless you opt for a closer excursion.

This could be the exact “Guaranteed Stateroom” situation I described above. I suspect the “guaranteed” late booking got your room and you were upgraded. Much easier to sell a PV than a suite and they want to sail at full capacity.

One of our river cruises was really memorable in part because of the dessert chef. Every night he would create a work of art with a theme of our location. For example, in Vienna the sauce would be drizzled on the plate in the shape of a musical note. Every night we were excited to view his next creation.

Concerning cabin upgrades… my theory is 3 reasons. 1) Overselling a lower class (eg. all DVs) 2) An undersold repositioning cruise, they are consolidating occupied areas of the ship so the staff can be more efficient. 3) Issues with a booked cabin and no other in the same category is available. I’m tracking availability for our next cruise. It was about 50% booked about 3 months ago. In those three months several promotions occurred. Now all remaining Vs and DVs are listed as “Guaranteed” with no cabin numbers. I suspect this is the exact situation that will cause the upgrade dominos to start falling. There are lots of PVs available. The upgrade fairy will visit some luck pax.

We love the aft DV1s. The sail away views are spectacular and the wake is mesmerizing.

Some excursions are dependent on time of year. Tilbury is used outside of high season so some that may effect availability on some excursions.

Were you the people on the river cruise who woke us up jogging above our heads at 5AM? 😉

Here is a link to a blog that explains all the cabin classes and has a ton of photos. It also has a section on cabins to avoid. It’s a few years old but still applies as all the VO fleet is almost identical. https://viking-cruises-cabin-guide.blogspot.com/p/standard-cabins.html?m=1

It’s still there. btw I can’t read your pictures, too small and blurry

There are numerous companies that have charter bus service to/from the Valparaiso port / Santiago. Also, the train station is right outside the port entrance.

Even if you don't have Viking Air, you can purchase from Viking transportation to/from the Airport (must be bought BEFORE you sail, request form is on website) but it is only valid on arrival and disembarkation days. Also, all Viking extensions include airport transportation whether you have Viking Air or not.

Some days we skipped lunch, especially if the excursion times overlapped, had afternoon tea and had a late dinner.

Correct. Your only limitation on optional excursions is time.

For immigration purposes Viking holds your passports until you are ready to disembark on the final day. We didn’t see ours again until we were ready to depart. Then each departing group received theirs. You need to clear this with Viking. Chile gives you a receipt for your declaration when you enter the country and clear passport control and customs. Instead of a passport, that is the documentation they request on demand. Therefore we did not need our passports on shore excursions.

On one of our cruisers last year the lecturer stated that indeed the times were changed by Viking corporate to reduce congestion at the MDR and Wintergarden. It seems to have help.

You just arrive and you’re probably going to want to do it more than once. We find it delightful. You’ll want to arrive early to find seating, especially on sea days, as it can be crowded, with the overflow seating extending outside the main area.

The Chilean fjords are repositioning cruises so they tend to not sail at capacity. On our cruise the travel consultant said there were 320 passengers on board, including 40 on the Longitudinal World Cruise. There are also 250 crew. She mentioned she had a friend on competing expedition ship that had 500 pax with only 150 crew and wondered how they cope.

The “toys” were deployed a number of times. It is highly weather dependent, not so much because of rain but because of the wind speed creating swells. Above a certain number of knots they cannot deploy. If necessary the captain may redeploy the ship to more favorable areas to launch the toys. They do their best to give you the expedition experience. We were able to do two zodiac rides, including a landing near a glacial where we then hiked about a 1/2 mile to get closer, and two Special Operations Boat rides in the fjords (that was a blast, see video in my thread). We could have also done kayaking (too demanding) and taken a sub ride (too costly for our taste). Remember that unlike Antarctica there are also ports to call on so it wasn’t like we hap to depend only on the “toys” for our daily activities. One other thing. The ship has a Chilean pilot for all of the sailing up until Port Williams. This allowed us to pass extremely close to Cape Horn, closer than an ocean cruise. Because of the pilot, we also took some detours in the fjords to see additional ice fields and scenery. Unlike on the Jupiter, you’ll spend most of the time scenic cruising and exploring the fjords in awe. Here is the full writeup of our trip. I took pictures of the briefings that show the deployment routes of the toys as well as wind and sea conditions.

I wonder if they will offer the African portion as a separate leg to purchase. We don’t want to spend months at sea but a trip around the cape sounds attractive.

This is exactly what we do. Great concise, thoughtful answer. We always check google first to see what flights go where and what equipment is typical. On our upcoming trip to Iceland, I changed flights to a different carrier and type of plane because it was a 2-4-2 seat configuration, eliminating the dreaded middle seat issue for LAX to JFK. Did it all through MVJ at no additional charge.

This is a really great deal on the Patagonian fjords cruises from Santiago to Ushuaia. We sailed on the Octantis last October and it’s one of the most enjoyable scenic cruises we’ve ever been on. If you’re thinking about experiencing an Expedition ship and fear Antarctica is a bit too much, this is the cruise for you. Seeing several glaciers up close and watching the calving was incredible. IMG_5195.mov

You can see if there are alternate flights by checking MVJ and go to the “Manage My Air” page. I do it all the time. You can also change your departure airport if another is close by and has better connections. Until you are actually ticketed, you can change flights and seats.

Thanks for the great photos. We were in Split last year right before Easter so the Cathedral and tower were closed. Did you rub the Bishop’s toes for good luck?