CCWineLover

Standard for every international flight we've done. (Mostly out of LAX or SFO).

Thank you for your very well thorough writeup. Question for you - what "off-ship" entertainment did you have with Viking? I've never seen anything "off-ship", unless you count as entertainment watching the crew welcome back passengers from an excursion with music and dancing. 🙂 (I do agree Viking's entertainment for us is getting a bit old and stale after doing several cruises). Will be interested to hear your thoughts as the cruise progressed. Also, what room categories (by name) did you compare on each ship? And cost? We like Viking's no children policy. Did you experience many young'uns on Regent?

Yikes - dinner jackets. Haven't done that since cruising in the early 90's. Sadly, that will rule Silversea out for use if this is true.

Jim - we always called it "Penny Wise Pound Foolish" and yes it amazes me in various conversations with cruise passengers on board how they indeed are obsessed with getting a free transfer 🙂

How wonderful. Sure wish we'd had this tour on our Iceland circumnavigation on the Saturn this past June. Love photography. Did the Barbados one which was spectacular and well worth it.

We asked for and got 4 rums and then 4 vodkas. Not sure why they would limit you. We also had the Norweigan IPA beer stocked. Had 2 a day, as it is my favorite. Never tried to drink 3 beers in a day so can't vouch for if they "limit" the number of beers. We've also exchanged the liquor before for wine, but they only give you the wine of the day red or white. We asked for Cab and they said that might happen or might not.

We did not like the rib eye either - very different these days. I think you were unlucky. We had (in October) the fish of the day multiple times and it was absolutely cooked perfectly - so moist and tender! We will order that every time. If the fish for you was overcooked, I hope you told them immediately and had them do another or ordered something else. Otherwise you just perpetuate a potential problem.

First I thought you were mad because you were going to miss your flight. now I see you are just mad because you have to wait longer, having gotten to the airport way early. This is the way it is these days with the airlines, particularly international. It is not just EVA Air. Sorry you had to learn the hard way - but sounds like you'll make your flight and be just fine. Have a good cruise and please don't let this faux pas tarnish your vacation. Such a small thing. Everything can go wrong traveling these days. If this is the only thing, consider yourselves lucky!!

That’s why so many of us Viking veterans and savvy travelers DO NOT USE Viking Air. Doing it ourselves solves so many problems if you care enough to be involved and have some degree of savvy on airline travel. Less cost, less stress,

Same applies to Viking Ocean as well. No cost for transfers if you arrive/depart at beginning or end of a pre- and/or post- excursion that you've bought.

Agree with Michelle though - we've been on 14 Viking cruises and always check the Viking Air (Plus) and it has ALWAYS been economy for the USA portion (we live in CA) and Business from the leaping off point to Europe. Even Montreal, Bermuda, and San Juan qualified for only economy. And they always seemed to want to route us to NY or Atlanta or DFW. So obviously your situation is more unique. (You didn't identify the itinerary or airports). I do seem to remember before COVID they did have some very infrequent specials with Biz class all the way but haven't seen that myself ever.

not to my knowledge . . . However, there are several independent options from tour operators that are available. A lot will depend on how much time you have and/or if you are arriving (early) to Reykjavik or leaving (late) in Reykjavik.

good information to know!

Be aware that Barcelona is now limiting cruise ships - so you may not wind up in Barcelona harbor. Possibly Tarragona (?). Also, the ports for Rome and Athens are quite a distance away. Venice is also trying to eliminate cruise ships so you might be far away there as well.

Totally agree! We do WC a lot now as it is so much quieter, less chaotic, and easier to relax and converse. The other restaurants have become like the noisy bistros we used to enjoy - before hearing issues arrived!

2nd round on me, Jim. Will be interesting! 🙂

Thank you for this well written and organized comparison!

Interesting but not unexpected. In 14 cruises have only gone immediately home once (Los Angeles), preferring to stay a day or more or visit additional cities. We figure you go all the way why not see more interesting things? I did hear once that about 75% of Viking passengers fly in day of cruise and out day of disembarking.

Linda - our experience is it varies. This last cruise they first gave us almonds/cranberries/raisins. Since we like peanuts, we asked the steward to just give us peanuts every day and from then on, we just got peanuts! Here's a picture I took of the refrigerator as it was when we first came into our PV last month.

Totally agree! We like sea days and are never bored. So much to do, including just relaxing!! But there were always people on our TA who complained they were bored, couldn't wait to get off, and more. Everyone is different and likes different things. Just like you'll find completely different opinions about the restaurants, food, entertainment, etc on Viking Ships. But that's what is nice about the Ocean ships - you have so much to choose from - there is likely something for everyone (well, except those who don't want to be at sea 🙂

I second the opinion on Tarragona. We throughly enjoyed our unexpected stop there. Lovely city with lots of ancient Roman ruins - lots to see and easy to walk around for miles! Was quite refreshing after the hustle bustle of Barcelona on a previous trip!

We've been to Amsterdam so many times and know it well. When I read this I was surprised to hear it was 45 minute walk from Movenpick to Anne Frank house. Was hard to believe, so I googled it, and it did indeed say 41 minutes to walk. I guess we walk so much around Amsterdam, and it's such fun to see the sights, people, and dodge the bikes, that we never notice how long it takes to walk somewhere 🙂

To me it is not always a cost issue - but a timing issue. It can be worth it if you care to have drinks not at lunch or dinner time. Like Bloody Mary's in the AM, or Mai Tai's by the pool, or cocktails at the Explorers Lounge or Attrium before dinner, or after dinner drinks. Or really anytime you want a non-beer or wine drink.

$17 pp per day on Viking Ocean. So that's $476 for a 2 week typical ocean cruise. Note: it is always all spelled out on MyVikingJourney documents for all cruises what the policy is.

You can buy onboard day 1 so have a day to decide and look at the drinks menu(s). Any bartender can sell it to you. Will go on your account. No prorata days. You might be able to "fudge" it until the morning of the day after boarding. We did that once but it took some sweet talking and we did have to pay for the 1st day even though didn't have it then.