lackcreativity

I will not dispute your observation, only stress your point about this being a subset of cruisers. We began our travels with Globus, and loved those trips back in the day. You can visit places not accessible by cruise ship, and spending all your time in the places you visit is a bonus. We didn't even mind the buses! However, as we aged, we found that even with the support offered by the tour company, the constant packing and unpacking, every morning with an early departure, and yes, now the long stretches on the buses became tiring. That's when we tried our first cruise (Viking). We are not going back. We may branch out to Oceania in search of new itineraries, but the ease of travel is of importance to us now. Glad that we all have so many options.

Agree completely! We do not always have the time to add on extra days pre/post cruise, so this is important to us. It also allows a little cushion at the start of the cruise in the event of air travel issues.

I have agreed with this up to now. However, when I can't find an itinerary in the area I want to cruise that covers any new territory, I have a dilemma. Oceania has three options that look really appealing. The price is better than the one new cruise Viking has introduced in the Mediterranean, and Viking's offering is 25% sea days. Two of the ports are in Algiers and Tunisia, and when Viking used to go there, those stops were frequently canceled. That could end up with a 15 night cruise with six sea days. I have always valued the on board experience with Viking. I love their port focused approach and the adults only environment. But I need to be able to find new ports, so if that means I need to have a casino on the ship, it doesn't mean I have to go in it. If I cruise in April or October (and we do), I hope there won't be many children at that time. I expect Viking will remain my first choice, but it may not remain my only choice.

If I may borrow your Newbie thread for just a moment, I have two quick Potential Newbie questions. Does Oceania provide shuttles from the ship if you want to do your own thing? Does the * after "Airport Transfers" indicate they are only available if you arrive on the day of embarkation? Thanks!

Vineyard View, Thanks for all your efforts in providing this comparison. We have been happy Viking customers also, and initially it was the search for new itineraries that prompted us to start looking at other lines. It now looks like price will be a significant issue as well. It still seems complicated to do the comparisons if you try to get too detail focused, so big picture will be my focus. Thanks again!

I have heard that voice in my head over and over again, yet continue to disregard it. I am not even sure why. We continue to insure through TripMate, in spite of all the good advice I have read here about the folly of that decision. We had a very positive claim experience with them on our first (land-based) trip abroad years ago, and so we take the lazy approach of just continuing to do so. If we ever suffer a loss because of that, I have no one else to blame. Up to now, even with a variety of rescheduled cruises, we have been able to avoid any vouchers. Currently, we accepted a move-over offer on a river cruise with incentives too good to pass up. I am not sure if this is considered a voucher or not. However, since the offer left us taking the rebooked cruise with the cruise itself being free and significantly upgraded, our loss would be a lost experience, with minimal financial impact. JVilleGal, I wish you happy travels. Sometimes being an adult is hard, but generally it is the best thing you can do!

During our recent experience with an overbooking on a Viking river cruise, it was stressed that they were looking for volunteers. I don't know what would have happened if no one volunteered, but given the opportunity they presented us ( and we quickly accepted!), I doubt that they would have that happen very often.

I was initially very excited about this new itinerary, especially with the overnight in Malta. At first, I was willing to gamble on Tunis and Algiers, even with their history of cancellations. My current reservation is based on the possibility/likelihood that those two ports might be canceled and replaced with two more sea days. Now I enjoy a sea day here and there, but that would create a quite expensive sixteen day cruise with six sea days. I realize that is a lot of "ifs" in that outcome, but it still gives me pause.

Scheduled for June 26, 2024. That's a little later into the summer that I would prefer since I tend to wilt in the heat, but we needed to find a sailing where both Explorer Suites were available! Think that the morning excursions will be the way to go.

We are travelling with another couple, trying for the third time to celebrate their 40th anniversary, which was now four years ago! They actually saw the email we both got first, and were excited to make the switch. We were happy to agree. The temptation of moving from the standard ("Aquarium class") river cruise cabin to the Explorer's Suite was just impossible to turn down.

This was our first Viking cruise (in fact, our first ever ocean cruise) and we loved it. Santorini and Dubrovnik were the highlights for us. Venice is of course in a class by itself, and the Acropolis was amazing too. Zadar and Katakolon were at the bottom of our list. From Koper Slovenia I was very conflicted, wanting to see both Ljubljana and Predjama Castle. We chose the castle and caves, and it was terrific, though footing in the caves can be tricky. I still wish we could have seen both! We did this cruise in April, six years ago, and the weather was lovely. July will likely be very hot, so if that bothers you like it would me, take that into account in your planning. Early morning excursions would be a good plan I should think.

I don't really meet your requested criteria since I didn't take either of these Viking excursions. However, we have been to Rome on two short stays by land and on a third visit with Viking during their included excursion. The first excursion you described sounds like a very good choice, seeing a good selection of highlights of Rome. The walking portion takes you through the area of Rome that most stuck with me from our first trip. Of course, you will only get a glimpse of St. Peter's, but to visit the Vatican would really take up most of your day. I would recommend #1. Enjoy!

We just accepted a Moveover Offer from Viking for the Lyon & Provence river cruise that we should still be sailing on right now. In our particular offer, we were offered a rebooking of the same itinerary for 2023 or 2024. Complimentary cruise fare on the new sailing meant a refund of the cruise fare for the original cruise and no charge for the cruise fare on the rebooked one. In other words, we pay nothing for the cruise portion of the rebooked trip in an upgrade to a suite. Airfare and insurance move from the original trip to the rebooked one. In fact, we got a partial refund on the insurance since the new insurance does not cover any cruise fare. I do suspect that should the future cruise get canceled, there is no refund of cruise fare that we didn't pay anyway. They even include other perks, including the Silver Spirits beverage package. In other words, they made us an offer that we couldn't refuse!

I too am interested in multiple ports in Sicily, even though I didn't watch White Lotus. However, we will have to agree to disagree on the seven day cruise. I know those of us who are still working can have problems with limited vacation, but for me the transatlantic flights are too much of an ordeal to go for just seven days. Eleven to fourteen days makes me happiest!

Viking must have a devil of a time trying to provide enough variety to suit us all. I love the Viking shipboard experience, and a sea day here or there is welcome. However, it is the itinerary that draws me. Specifically, charming medieval towns with cathedrals and castles are the places I crave. Add in a museum here and there. If beautiful scenery surrounds them, so much the better, but not a requirement. Glaciers leave me cold (sorry) and miles of open fields and mountains begin to bore (not you, Tuscany). Palm trees are nice enough, but island hopping for beaches holds little appeal. Is it any wonder that Europe in general and the Mediterranean in particular is my destination of choice?

Selion, We are looking at booking a Viking cruise for 2024 under the $25 deposit, but were cautious about having to pay the entire insurance cost at booking. I think I will investigate Travel Guard if it is accurate that we can insure that $25 deposit and still have the coverage for pre-existing conditions. Does that then eliminate the cancel for any reason coverage that we would get through Viking?

If you are even asking about coverage for pre-existing conditions, it makes me think it is something you might need. I certainly don't need to know any of your particulars, but speaking just for me and my spouse, we would not travel without it. I would say we are pretty healthy 70 year olds, but I can say that because pharmaceuticals keep our typical age related conditions at bay. However, things can go awry at any time, and you might say insurance companies are always going to look for a way to deny a claim. Back when we started traveling ( in our 50's) we worried about elderly parents needs that might cause cancellations. Now it is us!

Personally, I don't think I will ever tire of Barcelona, but love the Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica idea. Can we fit Palma de Mallorca into that one, or is it too far out of the way? How about Genoa?

We too have been big Viking fans, and really expected to finish out our cruising years with them. Now, as I sit here with my print outs of three Oceania itineraries, to compare with the one new Mediterranean cruise from Viking, I am a bit sad about this. Our experience cruising with Viking has been an almost entirely positive experience. A few glitches were minor, and we never got involved in any difficulties with the shore-based operations, as most of our bookings were pretty straight forward. We have managed the early pay issue by always booking a second cruise while we have one already booked, so again, not an issue for us. Our primary difficulty with Viking is our focus on sailing the Mediterranean, and Vikings constant repetition of the same ports in that area. Marketing the same ports in different variations under different names does not provide the variety we were seeking. I thought the new Malta, Morocco, and the Mediterranean itinerary had solved the problem for us. However, while we like travelling in shoulder season, I am not certain if the off-season dates for these cruises are to my liking, and the price does seem to really have jumped over what we have paid previously. While Tunis and Algiers are of interest, I also know that those ports have frequently been cancelled, which would leave six sea days in a sixteen day itinerary. Hence the investigation of another cruise line. I am not sure where we are going to end up in this search. Old loyalties are strong, and comparing the apples vs. oranges of what is included by different companies gets confusing. It was easier when we just knew where to go. Thanks to everyone for their input in this interesting topic that Heidi13's sad decision has begun.

The website is finally back up and running normally. I have often heard complaints about MVJ not being available, but this is the first time I have experienced such a prolonged down time on the website itself. Thanks to all who commented.

We have never prepaid gratuities, but have thought about doing it. Thanks for the heads up about extra effort needed to get it refunded in the event of unexpected cancellation. I'd like to picture all the crew on board getting a little envelope of cash at the end of each cruise, but even if it goes into Viking's coffers and then is used to pay their salaries, I would not decline to pay. Since I have only sailed with Viking I can't say for sure, but I bet the Viking crew is the hardest working and most pleasant on the seas!

I cleared all the browsing data and cookies and so forth and even restarted the computer (isn't that the go to when things aren't working?), but now I go straight to the 403 Error. Not even the home page. Don't know what I will do all weekend if I can't spend it planning our third next cruise!

One of life's mysteries. It is a 403 Error. Whatever that means. Maybe tomorrow.

Hmm. I have tried Edge, and Safari, and Google (not Chrome) and nothing is working for me. Thanks for checking.

Is it just me? I have not been able to get past the home screen on the Viking website since mid-day yesterday. It's not just MVJ, it's the whole Viking site.