CCWineLover

We were there last November. Bought on-line tickets easily a week ahead of time. No problem. What day are you looking for in October? Perhaps they come available on October 1. Or perhaps 1 week ahead of time. Don't think you'll have a problem.

MaxFan - I hate to be the bearer of bad news for you, but if you are not into caves and dark spaces, this will not be the excursion for you. For us we really enjoyed it, it wasn't scary, we used headlamps and it was dark no sunlight. That is what caves are. It felt very safe. Here's a shot I took while on the tube.

We did this cruise last December. If you are adventurous, I can highly recommend the cave tubing excursion in Belize. Exceeded expectations by far! A totally unique experience. Not for any mobility challenged, however.

Agree with you! The Canal traversing was great, as were a couple ports, but the long haul of sea days from Costa Rica to LA put a bit of a damper on the 17 day cruise FLL-LA. As you said, each to his own! We have a Rome to Athens cruise in February coming up with all port days plus 3 days pre- and 4 days post. Will have to get in better shape for that one!! Having done that itinerary, you know what I mean!

Thanks so much for taking the time! Glad you are still having time to enjoy the actual cruise! Helps me relive our NYC-Reykjavik cruise on Saturn last June, which was one of the best we've taken!

Good point! This also nearly happened with us. You are definitely "identified" if you have the red luggage tag on. I also remember going on a Viking cruise and talking with a woman who picked up her suitcase with a Viking tag, saying what a fun cruise this will be. She said she wasn't going on any cruise but had been years ago. Ha!

Maybe it is the Panama Canal itinerary! We had the same situation on our Canal cruise a year ago. The main pool loungers were packed and it was actually difficult at times to be in the pool with so many people in it. Go figure!

Some excellent points. I also wonder if Viking would consider ever "unbundle" the excursions and lower the cruise price. I also wonder if they'd consider "unbundle" the Air as well and lower the cruise price. Viking is just a broker between airlines and customers, and yet it seems to cause more complaints, headaches, and disenchantment than almost anything else. Perhaps they should let everyone do their own air. Less hassle. (I know why they won't though - they want to hit the market who wants an all-inclusive package - and other cruise lines often include air as well). Couple points regarding excursions though. COVID certainly hit all cruise lines hard and the ramp up aftwards has been slow, resulting in limited excursions and lower quality operators due to limited supply. This seems to be changing, as recently Viking has been adding more included excursions per port (versus just 1 before). In addition. people (in the USA at least) don't have to "compete at early hours of the morning when excursions open" anymore. The standard now is 12 noon Pacific Time, 3 PM Eastern - a great improvement over the past. As far as better rooms getting earlier booking times . . . that has been the subject of much discussion on these boards. IMHO there is no right answer. Viking at least, unlike most cruise lines, allows people free access onboard to everything, regardless of room class. As for us, we often add or change our excursions around while onboard, much like restaurant reservations, and also often do independent tours.

They proudly tout wine and beer included at lunch and dinner ON THE SHIP. These are external excursions and indeed are dictated by 1. Rules of the countries involved and 2. Costs of alcohol that must be borne by someone. If this bothers you, time to use another cruise line.

I came to the same conclusion about these "preferential" included tours. On our Montreal-FLL cruise, in Charlottetown, PIE, there were 3 included tours offered. The best one, Green Gables 4 hour extensive tour, was sold out instantly by PV's so it must have had limited numbers. The 2nd tour was sold out within minutes into DV's. The 3rd tour, the likely least preferred and more traditional included tour is what was left. It appears this seems to be the new approach. Perhaps Viking is testing this approach rather than implementing it everywhere, just to see how it is received.

We did this cruise in Nov/Dec 2021. I don't recall any "pool parties". But perhaps I'm thinking of the kind quite prevalent on other cruise lines. Often Viking does a nice pool area brunch with all kinds of goodies offered - but I wouldn't call it a "party". Excellent though! Many have posted the amazing food selection pictures on other threads.

Ask Viking. This forum can’t help you.

Following. Planning a similar visit in February.

Your analysis and conclusion is exactly what I was thinking and concluded. We likely will see further ports where there are multiple included excursions, where a passenger is not guaranteed a specific one, but is guaranteed some included excursion (likely the "normal/typical" included walking/panorama city tour). On our upcoming Montreal-FLL Viking Mars cruise, for example, we just faced the situation with 3 included tours in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The desirable one (Green Gables) sold out immediately (obviously limited spaces), the 2nd one sold out in the PV's range, and only the 3rd one was available to DV's, and only the last 2 times in the afternoon before sailing. This may indeed be the future.

We had a situation where there was more than one included tour offered. One of those was completely sold out immediately (which we wanted). Another one (not as nice) was available. I spoke with Viking about guaranteeing included tours. I received what sounded like a reasonable answer. If there is more than one included tour, a passenger is NOT guaranteed a spot on the included tour they may wish, but will be able to do the included tour (usually with lots of spaces available) that they may not wish. This situation certainly sounds like that. They do NOT guarantee a specific included tour to everyone if there are more than 1 included tour listed. Makes sense to me, especially if a specific included tour cannot be expanded (such as this SNUBA easily. If SNUBA had been the only included tour, the OP would have a point, but since there is another one they "could" do, even if they don't want it, that is what they'll be guaranteed. It is what it is and has always been VIking policy. Makes no sense to say other cruise lines don't do it this way. If that is important, then vote with you money.

Thank you so much! This looks very interesting! Right up our alley. We love trying different wines. We are staying at Intercontinental where we hope to run into the Viking precruise people as well. We are doing our own thing. will let you know how it goes and say hi.

The OP does not wish to give out their departing airport - that is pretty clear (as in blanking out the airport on the booking). With that in mind, I think we've all given plenty of advice. Let her decide now. I concur that investigating booking your own is the best solution, as Lew said. More control, less aggravation, possibly and likely less cost. Will be interested to hear what you do.

On another post I read that Viking has to render which makes bad weather worse

Wow! That sounds fascinating. We are in Madrid for 3 full days in early December ahead of a Viking Lisbon cruise. And will be back in 2024 as well. Have never been to Madrid. What, may I ask, is the name of your full day wine tour? We'd be quite interested. We also plan a day trip to Toledo. What do all you Madrid experts think of Toledo? Best to do a full day tour out of Madrid? Or take the train/bus on your town? Thanks for the tips!

We've been on this cruise. I would stress that you should relax, enjoy the ship and the cruising! Don't fret over the ports or excursions. Not Viking's fault, but after COVID, the amount and quality of viable tour operators in the Caribbean has been quite noticeable. Thus - approach any excursions with the right expectations. Some we had were quite good and some not so good. It also depends on how mobile you are and how much you want to be active and do some of the more interesting, fun optional excursions. If you are at all interested in photography, I'd highly recommend the Photography Optional tour in Barbados. As well as the snorkeling tour in St. Martin.

PERFECT cabin!! I'm so happy for you and Mike! Of course, now the pressure is on. Based on your wonderful trip reports, all of our expectations are now quite high! 🙂 Seriously - really hope you enjoy it thoroughly. I'm so happy for you both that you pulled this together. Kent

So the reason isn't that Viking just doesn't want to go there or no one likes them there (as seemed to be implied). I would think VIking would do everything possible to get there since it is just an important Viking site.

Spa pool with stairs may be his only option. The others have ladders and frankly are difficult to use if you don’t have arm or leg strength

Thank you for all your comments. We have a cruise in the future out of Lisbon and had chosen to spend 4 days in Madrid ahead of time, since we've never been and have been to Barcelona 3 times. Glad to hear it is less touristy and more local oriented than Barcelona, which is indeed packed with tourists (many American!).

One more vote for Flybus. Easy, efficient, reasonable. They operate on the hub and spoke system (like many USA Airlines do), where they have the big bus go from KEF to the Central Bus Terminal and you connect to a small feeder van to whatever local hotel or location you are ending up at. Actually made it much more efficient!