kcpvwill

7 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

May I suggest that posting the exact same content over 6 different threads is a little excessive. 

See above, not sure how to work a quote, I’m a beginner!  

I was going to post the same thing.  Well said Heidi.  I will only post it once and hope that  Tom Worldwide reads our comments here.  

Honoj, your definition is only one interpretation of the word critic.  I prefer the second and nicer version as being someone who evaluates something, thus allowing for bad, good or all points in between.  
 

In this unprecedented situation I can only thank Viking for the way it has dealt with the effects of the pandemic, prioritising safety for passengers and crew and getting people home by whatever means possible.  Sorting out refunds etc. will quite rightly be at a later date but I feel they will do the right thing.  

Dublin has a good hop on hop off open top bus which takes in the major sites, and the centre is easily walkable.  

Just wondered if they have the Downton Abbey movie on the TV?

Thanks russiangirl

No sign of a red ‘book now’ button that I could find, it may not exist if in UK.  I’ve always wondered how you could find out actual available cabins, partly to avoid those (very few) that CC members find noisy.  

Hi again russiangirl

Thanks for your swift response.  Not sure where you are based, but I’ve not seen any book online options on either the UK site or on the US site.  It would be interesting to know how you can do your online search.  

Hi russiangirl

Just wondered how you know how many cabins are available.  The UK website only shows vague idea of availability for each category.  

We did a B2B in September 2019 and we were away for 28 days.  We were in a V cabin and managed fine with storage but we had factored in the need to use the laundry a few times. No problems with availability, all passengers returning promptly to remove their laundry.   Beware of the driers which seemed to be cold or very hot (possibly a fault?) and PJs now five inches shorter!  

We have flown from Manchester to Bergen via Copenhagen with SAS and another time with KLM via Amsterdam.  Viking will discuss options with you.  

On 10/2/2019 at 9:57 PM, kcpvwill said:

Hi

 

We have a specific query about our transfer to JFK for a 20.10 flight from New York JFK to Heathrow.  We are onboard Viking Sea at present and have been told that the authorities do not allow day passes for late departure guests and that we will get further information nearer departure date (8th October) So  it seems we will not be allowed to remain on the ship as Viking has done in other cities.  

 

Has anyone had experience of late flights from New York? Have they provided a central hotel hospitality room for luggage storage and facilities so that the extra time can be used to sightsee?  

 

I can now answer my own question.  Viking has told us that we will be transferred to NY Midtown Hilton at 8.30 am with use of a hospitality room and luggage storage and then the Viking Representatives will tell us when our transfer to JFK Airport is.  We can then use the day for more sightseeing.  

Hi

We have a specific query about our transfer to JFK for a 20.10 flight from New York JFK to Heathrow.  We are onboard Viking Sea at present and have been told that the authorities do not allow day passes for late departure guests and that we will get further information nearer departure date (8th October) So  it seems we will not be allowed to remain on the ship as Viking has done in other cities.  

Has anyone had experience of late flights from New York? Have they provided a central hotel hospitality room for luggage storage and facilities so that the extra time can be used to sightsee?  

Arrived at St. Anthony a bit late so excursions delayed.  But what lovely sunny weather awaited us - quite breezy but not cold or wet.  Scenic drive to L’Anse aux Meadow no sign of a mousse on our bus, but another bus spotted a mousse and 5 dolphins on the drive.  The glorious weather really enhanced the site and it was a pleasure to explore.  We even managed to find a geocache! 

The Viking excursions manager had a job on his hands rustling up enough busses to get us all to L’Anse aux Meadow.  Most of them were yellow school busses.  

When we arrived back the swell had increased dramatically and we bobbed around for a good while in the bay before getting back onboard.  We arrived back at 4.40pm (last tender was suppose to be 3.30pm. ) It is now 5.50pm and there are still at least 3 tender boats in the bay having problems. Still the captain has promised to wait for all! 

The altered schedule was an excellent decision as the seas off L’Anse aux Meadow were worse than the present area.  

Just had an announcement from the captain that the delay is also because of a medical evacuation ( I don’t think weather related) and we are awaiting the return of the final tender boat from that.  

The tender boat crews have been tremendous.  

Hello again from Viking Sea on Into the Wake of the Vikings 

The noon announcement from the captain today said that the sailing last night had been worse than predicted but that things should improve this afternoon and evening.  However for the next port,  L’anse aux Meadows, (a tender stop) he has been advised that tendering would not be feasible and so we are going on to St. Anthony which is within a fjord inlet and much more sheltered for tendering.  We will then be bussed to L’anse aux Meadows for our excursions.  

Tendering to Qatorqok was very smooth and efficient yesterday and we had glorious weather.  Nice place and local school children acted as helpers during our self-guided walk.  Local Greenlander told us about the ‘Love Seat’ and took photos with our camera.  He explained the seat, do take a look, I won’t spoil the story!  

Hello again from Viking Sea

We had another announcement from the captain, after our lovely day in Reykjavík, that we were having another itinerary change.  He wants to avoid the extremely severe weather around the east coast of Greenland by delaying our approach to Prince Christian Sound by 6 hours, so that we can enter the Sound more easily and make the trip less difficult for us.  It is still expected to be turbulent however.  

This will mean that we will not get to stop in Nanortalik.  He expects the next Greenland port, Qaqortoq, to be OK.  

The extra ports in Iceland after the first itinerary changes (avoiding Shetland and Faroes) were cold and a bit wet at times but still to be expected and they showed us some interesting places.

Here’s hoping tomorrow’s sea day will be not as bad as predicted.  Pills at the ready!

We sailed straight away arrivals day Thursday and the CC M+M was on Saturday at 9.45am.  

Having had an alteration to our itinerary on Viking Sea because of hurricane Dorian our CC Meet and Mingle was on the second sea day, Saturday at 9.45am !  

Not it a bad turn out considering the time but some partners had spa treatments booked and others preferred the enrichment lectures.  

Hi again 

Just arrived in Akureyri the first of two extra stops in Iceland after our early dash from Bergen missing out Shetland and Faroes because of hurricane Dorian.  

To answer your question about what did Viking do with late arriving passengers,  I’m afraid I don’t know much.  Instead of the Friday in Bergen,  the changed itinerary was to sail Thursday at 11pm, but I know the ship was still docked at 11.30 when I went to sleep, and I was aware of movement at 2am so Viking Sea set off between those times.  Perhaps they were waiting for some passengers or more likely luggage as when we arrived there were three sets of people filling out missing luggage forms.  I’ve not heard anything more.  

As a matter of interest my Fitbit now thinks I’m an insomniac as the ship motion has been excessive and so it thinks I’m active when I’m really asleep!  

Yes the weather is heavy swell and force 8 winds now, but not, according to the captain’s announcement, as bad as it would have been had we delayed setting off from Bergen.

Unfortunately I did not take the travel sickness pills soon enough and was very sick this morning, but enough of that, now taking them regularly and under control.  Many of our fellow passengers have, like me, spent most of the day asleep and limited eating.

Looking forward to better weather to come and some great excursions in Iceland on 15th, 16th and 17th.  

Glad you got to Shetland, see my post about North Atlantic Itinerary changes for our  ‘In the Wake of the Vikings’ starting today.  

Just met a Viking Newbie who had come from Australia to trace his Shetland roots and now it’s cancelled.  He’s not very happy. 

We have just arrived in Bergen to do ‘In the Wake of the Vikings’ and as we boarded we were told that the ship is sailing tonight directly to Iceland missing out Bergen tomorrow, Shetland and Faroe Islands.  This is to avoid the bad weather predicted for the North Atlantic because of an intense low pressure system developing close to Newfoundland.  They have added 2 extra stops in Iceland instead.  Hope the 2 sea days will be OK.  The Captain wants to get to the relatively sheltered waters near Iceland before the worst of the weather arrives.  

Hi All

Having been on VO 4 times and yet never bothered swimming, I decided to take swimming costume this September.

That got me wondering about changing facilities.  I know there are changing rooms in the spa, but have not seen any at the main pool or at the infinity pool.  Do people change in their stateroom and walk there in their robes or have I missed something?  

Thanks 

Not sure if the US will be the same as the UK but we phoned the London office and they put us on an unofficial waitlist for ‘In the Wake of this Vikings’.   We continued to monitor the site and spotted a vacancy and within hours we had a call from Viking about this just as we were considering ringing them.  It was for a V guarantee cabin ie we have a cabin but it will be allocated on board.  We are going in September and look forward to finding out our cabin.  It may be anywhere but we are happy with getting the cruise we wanted and the efficiency of Viking.  

If you want a specific cabin type this may not work for you.  Cabins do become available on a regular basis if you monitor the site.  

It just goes to show that US  and UK and probably Australia and Canada have totally different marketing.  No sign of any Anniversary Sale in the UK.  Perhaps it may be that Viking started in US before other countries and our turn will come?  

I will watch with interest.  

I am in the UK and had an invitation to join a forum  “Talking Viking” which I have done.  Not sure how it works yet, it seems to give offers and prizes for earned “community points”.  I think it needs to be more explicit with the perks.  

Is it just in the UK (only started this week) or is it in other countries as well?  Has anyone else any experience of this?  

Thanks