CCWineLover

3 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

On a Med/Adriatic cruise this past winter we booked Legs 2 & 3 (Rome to Athens) of a 4 Leg cruise from Barcelona to Istanbul.  It was sold as a 2 week cruise called Italy, the Adriatic & Greece.  When i realized it was part of a 4 leg cruise, i looked up the cost of each leg sold separately and the cost of our 2 legs was less then if each leg added together.  Another surprise was that when excursion booking came available we were able to reserve for our entire 2 weeks which was before the folks who came on board for leg 3.  We also got a reservation at each specialty restaurant for each week which was a jump on other guests.  

Hi Lorna - yes I remember, since we were on this with you!

Good point - that is likely the one advantage of having one booking # for B2B cruises.

But again, that cruise, along with many that Viking sells, are B2B's that are actually "sold" as a B2B or even >2 consecutive legs.

My point was that 2 completely different itineraries on 2 different ships and different departure cities (and definitely not sold as a multi-segment cruise) when the "gap" between cruises is less than 30 days are now going to be forced into a single booking number.  Unless, however, you prove that you are returning home and then flying back to the 2nd cruise in between.  The example they gave me was:

You take a 2 week cruise in Europe, let's say British Isles on Viking Venus.  You book a cruise then out of Barcelona in the Med on Viking Saturn 25 days after disembarking in Bergen.  Unless you show you are returning home during those 25 days, it will now be considered a single booking.

1 hour ago, Moby_Spout said:

Huh. This maybe a newbie question, but don't all DV and V beds face forward (direction the ship travels)?

50% face forward and 50% face backwards.  Many people have posted which rooms do which.

1 hour ago, Baron Barracuda said:

Back in July we booked a b2b (15 nights BIE London - Bergen + 29 nights GINB Bergen to NYC) on the Sky.  We booked direct through Viking and I made sure we received the prevailing promo ($25 deposit, $1k discount + double past guest) for each leg.  Viking assigned us 1 booking # and lists the sailing as London - NYC.  We later transferred the booking to our TA who will be giving us a sizeable post-cruise credit.  At this point we are quite satisfied.

We did a very similar thing last May/June:  BCN-Bergen + Bergen-Reykjavik.

We had not problem getting it as two separate cruises with all the promos, etc.

My point is:  what's happened in the past is not relevant anymore.

The new policy Viking told us (and our Agent) started September 1 and is being strictly enforced.  There might be some hope.  Our Travel Agency is a huger booker of Viking Cruises and is at this time talking with Viking about the absurdity of this policy.  Whether Viking backs off or not is unknown.

22 minutes ago, MikeyB said:

This has been discussed before.  

It is not a new policy.

It has been employed by Viking since at least the "Welcome Back" cruises after Covid.

Viking calls it a "Butterfly" cruise.  Sounds erotic, doesn't it?

And they tried lumping two of my cruises together.  I didn't need an agent to argue a three day gap between cruises is two separate cruises.

Hi Mikey -

Viking did say it was before a "loose" policy.  In fact, I have had 3 B2B cruises since Welcome Back that were on separate booking numbers.  Now they've decided to make it a "tight" 100 % no exceptions policy.  That is the difference.  Thankfully I have a great Travel Agency, as you know, and they went to bat for me, and since Viking is now enforcing this policy, they will this time make up the difference lost.   But it is a warning for the future for people.

1 hour ago, LindaS272 said:

We just booked it for Oct.—$229 pp. Pretty sure lunch would be included unless stated otherwise (it isn’t). But it might not always include a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Linda - I just went back and looked.  Ours was $229 in May.

As I said it was a long day.  At the port talk review of excursions the night before the excursion director indicated that you might want to have a good breakfast as the very good lunch would be at the end after leaving the Alhambra.  (The restaurant was about a couple miles down the road).  I went back and looked at the time stamp on my pictures - and found our lunch meal was served beginning at 3:00 PM and we left at 4:00 PM.   Best keep some snacks with you if you need to eat something during the day!  At least we were warned (nice!)   The buses got back to the pier in Malaga at 6:00 PM and the ship left at 6:30 PM  (again from picture time stamps).  Hope that helps folks.

6 hours ago, island lady said:

We are separate cruises...on two different ships (Venus and Orion) and actually one day apart.  Disembarking Venus, and boarding Orion the next day. 

 

We are having to book and pay for our own hotel on that off night between.  So to me...it is not even close to a B2B...but Viking insisted on making it a "Grand Voyage" with one reservation number.  

 

That meant I had to pay the full deposit, not the promo 25.00 per.    And we received no incentive or discount at all.  

This is apparently a brand new Viking policy.

We've done B2B's before on Viking with two back to backs, even with space in between, with 2 different booking numbers.

Now the new policy is - as told me by my Travel Agent, who unsuccessfully fought Viking on our behalf to get 2 cruises separated . . .

If you have a Viking cruise booked and then try to add another one, whether it is the continuation of the previous ship's itinerary, or if it is a new ship, and even with several days in between on your own - if you do not go home in between the cruises, they will consider it one voyage and you'll get just one booking number.   Our agent said Viking told them this new policy is for simplification for them and the customer.  Yeah right.

You may say, so what?  But it's often advantageous if you have 2 cruises near each other to have separate booking numbers.

1.  If you want to or have to cancel or change the 2nd cruise, you cannot do so without cancelling the entire 2 cruises.  They are not separated.

2.  Often the OBC's you'll get from your TA will be less with one cruise, since it tops out at $500 pp.  If you have 2 two week cruises with days in between, you would get $300 plus $300 or $600 pp if they were 2 different booking numbers.  You could also have the case where your OBC would be say $500+$300 or $800 and yet would be only $500 if just one booking number.

3.  Often with 3rd party insurance, costs rise substantially for vacations over 30 days, so if you have say two 14 day cruises with many days in between, you'll likely pay more for travel insurance as well.

So - the customer is hurt by this new policy.

I asked how much separation - and they said 30 days or more before they'll consider 2 cruises as different booking numbers.

I asked what if you book cruise one first and then wait a few months and book cruise 2.  They said their systems now tell alert them that you have cruise 1 and so they will add the 2nd cruise onto the original booking number and call it an "update".

I've always heard back within 1 or 2 days from that tellus email, whether it is river or ocean.

Perhaps check to see if your email was delivered?

Or just send it again.  I always "bcc" to myself as well - at least shows that an email was sent.  Doublecheck your Viking email spelling as well.  I've done that one before.

3 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

I was thinking the same thing. Cabins???

You must not have read my post #93.

2 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

At least you called it what it is. Am I the only one to realize that "prepaid gratuities" is a contradiction in terms?

Reminds me of the new trend these days with the purchase of just about anything by credit card in the USA - and the merchants all "blame" the processing apps.   Where you buy something, usually food or services, at a counter and you have to pay for it ahead of time.  Many of the new apps immediately force you to make a pre-paid tip decision (in front of the cashier) before any service of any kind has been made.   And if you find that hidden link that says "no tip", then they know it and can give you bad service.  Ahh  what this world is coming to!

It would be interesting to try an experiment on Viking.  Cancel the automatic tip and pay what you want, and then see if the next cruise you take you get poor service (assuming they now recorded that on your profile for the staff to see ahead of time).

28 minutes ago, millybess said:

Stockholm is a place we have always wanted to spend more time.  We have booked the BIE out of Bergen, but we plan on flying independently to Stockholm and spending time in Stockholm and other parts of Sweden before we fly to Bergen to begin our cruise. 

 

 

When flying to Stockholm (ARN), you can easily take the train into town where you hotel might be.  (Very similar to Oslo).  It's called the Arlanda Express.  It was simple to buy the ticket at the airport, figure the stop, and connect to a metro train to where we stayed (the Hilton).

https://www.arlandaexpress.com/

When we've flown into Bergen (or returning to BGO Airport from downtown Bergen) we always take the Flybussen - quite easy and relatively inexpensive.

https://www.flybussen.no/en/airports/bergen-airport-flybussen-bergen/

Oddly, on this thread about favorite ports, no one I believe has even mentioned Viking's home port.   I could list several of the others that are already posted (like Tallin, St. Pete, Sydney, and more), but for me Bergen, Norway deserves a spot on the roster!

We came into Bergen on a sunny clear late May early morning - the first time we'd been there.  The islands, the bridge, and the amazing small harbor where the Viking ships dock  . . . .  was all just so spectacular on that gorgeous day!

We've been back 4 times, and it's always been breathtaking, but nothing compares to that first experience.

And while we are in Scandinavia, Stockholm was another incredible harbor, especially with the archipelago as an entrance leading up to it.    Both Bergen and Stockholm were also so walkable, explorable, and fascinating!

9 minutes ago, millybess said:

Wow guys, I'm also guilty of thread drift........but maybe a new thread?

You are absolutely correct!  I started a new focused thread as this topic deserves!

New thread, borrowing from a thread drift on another thread . . .

There is a lot of interest in the tours from Malaga to the Alhambra in Grenada, Spain.  Especially ones that Viking offers.

It appears, from previous comments and experiences, that in the past there had been tight restrictions on buses going to Alhambra that a cruise ship could have - such as just one, thus making it a very difficult ticket to get.  However, it now appears that things have loosened up a bit.

We did the Alhambra Viking Excursion last May when on the Trade Routes Cruise.  There were SIX Viking buses that went up to the Alhambra.  At roughly 40 apiece I figure there were 240 slots.  So no one should ever give up if they want to go!  We met several people who only got their reservations while on board.   So you are right, the restrictions must have been lifted somewhat.

It was indeed a bucket list experience.  And, the late lunch we had at a Michelin restaurant was beyond good - much better than we expected!!  We were still full when we got back to the ship, not long ahead of sailing.  Needless to say we had a late (8;30?) dinner that night.  It was a pretty amazing day.

Hopefully others can relate their experiences with the Viking Alhambra excursions!

26 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

We just booked the Alhambra for our upcoming TA in October, though our initial booking time was June 23. For various reasons, we had opted not to include it this cruise (one of which was that we will also do this port stop on the Malta cruise next March). But we decided we might want to go this time after all, so a few days ago we checked and saw there were openings. We booked over the phone with a Viking rep and were told there were still 10 slots open. She told us there were 200 available for our cruise, not just one busload per cruise ship per day. I believe I had read a while ago that the restrictions were eased from the smaller number allowed.
 

As for once in a lifetime, this is twice for us as we went on our first European trip together in 1984 and got to stay in the paradore within the grounds.

Linda - we did the Alhambra Viking Excursion last May when on the Trade Routes Cruise.  There were SIX Viking buses that went up to the Alhambra.  At roughly 40 apiece I figure there were 240 slots.  So no one should ever give up if they want to go!  We met several people who only got their reservations while on board.   So you are right, the restrictions must have been lifted somewhat.

It was indeed a bucket list experience.  And, the late lunch we had at a Michelin restaurant was beyond good - much better than we expected!!  We were still full when we got back to the ship, not long ahead of sailing.  Needless to say we had a late (8;30?) dinner that night.  It was a pretty amazing day - and I hope you'll enjoy it.

55 minutes ago, edinburgher said:

Lisbon airport is well served by several transort options.

 

This is a copy/paste of a post I put on very recently in response to an identical question and there may be options you have not yet considered.

 

You chould look at the Lisbon Airport website which has a section on "how to get to/from the airport" (I think almost every international airport in the world has this)listing all the options  including  taxis, metro, public bus, airport shuttle bus etc. and looking at the options should help you decide.

Excellent points!  Better to teach people how to look things up and be self-sufficient.

Too many just rely on using social media without any personal research.

3 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Because many people tend to see connections as a bad thing.  Some even get obsessive about having a non-stop, failing to recognize that connections often create great opportunities.

 

 

Well put!   As well, many don't recognize that getting back to the USA from eastern Mediterranean cities can be difficult and/or expensive to do without connections.

12 hours ago, floridababa said:

Since we are at a new port - what is there to do in the port?

You cannot be serious, are you?

There are SO many resources out there on Barcelona.

12 minutes ago, sleepybobo said:

@CCWineLover Do you mind sharing why you did Trade Routes twice? Did you enjoy it so much the first time that you wanted to take the same cruise again. I’ll do this one in 2026, so I’m curious,

Yes we liked it a lot!  One of our favorite itineraries.  The first trip was the same set of ports to the north from Barcelona except that we finished in Copenhagen instead of Bergen.  It was in 2019 and on the Jupiter just after it came into service.  We enjoyed all the ports and there was so much to do that we thought going again would be a treat - we did all different tours and explorations on our own - so it was like 2 different cruises!

24 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

TAP most assuredly flies into IAD.  From Lisbon.  And they do not serve ATH.

 

So, you could take a positioning flight to a city that TAP does service, such as Rome, and then fly TAP to IAD from there.

 

 

When we flew from Athens to the USA (SFO) last March, we flew TAP's partner, Aegian Air, from Athens to Lisbon, had the layover, and then flew TAP from Lisbon to SFO.  All booked under TAP on one ticket with the free layover in Lisbon.  Aegian was actually a great flight! 

2 hours ago, SJD117 said:

Kent,

 

Some on roll call and the site that can’t be named are speculating that the itinerary change is due to Ramadan occurring in March 2025. I suppose that’s possible, though I would think Viking would have identified the overlap back when it set up the itinerary. And why Algiers but not Tunis and the Moroccan ports? They observe Ramadan, too.

 

David

Sounds like a plausible explanation.

26 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

TAP has a free stopover program, so you can spend a couple days in either Lisbon or Porto and not "break" the through fare from Europe to the USA. 

 

Great value.

 

 

Yes!  That's what we've done several times!  It is really a great deal.  And Lisbon is a wonderful city to explore - culture, food, drink, history, etc.!!

29 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

We aren’t until Nov. 2025, but we haven’t heard anything.

We are on March 2026.  But haven't heard anything.

I did a quick check of holidays in Algeria in March.  Don't see anything.

I always did have a bad feeling about this itinerary - but it looked so intriguing!

On 9/22/2024 at 8:46 AM, niehauscr said:

We felt very safe using Uber in BA.  Once the Uber was a BA taxi.

We also did an Uber to get from the cruise terminal to the small airport (to catch a flight to Mendoza).  It was quite easy to do.  And yes, you cannot walk to the entrance, you must take the Viking Shuttle bus from the ship to the entrance.  And I wouldn't want to walk it even if they allowed it.  Too many things going on around the pier area - accidents could happen!

Note - there was a decent crowd outside the gate, but with an Uber reserved, we had no issue - and I do think people (passengers) were just a bit confused and overwhelmed trying to get a taxi and where to line up, etc.

3 hours ago, katlew said:

I've seen bib overalls with nothing but a bra top underneath in the MDR!

Oh my !!

I bet heads were turning up at the buffet line!!

27 minutes ago, 2blueyam said:

The Business class tickets back from Athens are currently very expensive.

 

Thanks for the input from anyone that has experience with this.

Agree with OneSixtytoOne.  Worth a try.

However, if you take a look on your own, Biz class may appear high, but definitely investigate TAP Portugal airlines.  We've flown them business class both to and from Europe.  Great service, nice planes, and best of all, they are quite a bit cheaper than the standard KLM, Lufthansa, British Air, American, United fares for Business.  - like about 50 % or so.  (at least they were last spring when we flew back from Athens).  The only catch is you have to connect in Lisbon, which isn't a bad city or airport at all.  At least take a look.