CCWineLover

Lorna - that is what is so strange here. We were successful in transferring to another cruise. It does make me think that there were so many different versions of vouchers that some had non-transfer rules, some had CFAR, and some had expiration dates, and more. Maybe ours were the kind that allowed transfer. sounds like one rule doesn't fit all. Again - I went back and looked at the details. 1. We booked a Nov 2022 cruise in mid-2021. 2. We cancelled that cruise in Dec 2021 and got vouchers 5K pp. (10K total). 3. In early 2022 we booked the Sept 2022 cruise and applied those vouchers 4. That Sept 2022 cruise went on sale this winter. 5. With TA and Viking help, we Transferred that 2022 cruise to a 2025 placeholder cruise and the vouchers (5K pp) transferred over with it. 6. We then booked that Sept 2022 cruise again on the sale price, saving $3K and even got same room. 7. The 2025 placeholder cruise we can use or transfer it to another cruise and the vouchers will transfer along with it.

Interesting.... I'm thinking that there are all sorts of different vouchers with different terms. We had vouchers from a cancelled cruise and applied it to another cruise for this fall. Similar circumstance. That cruise went on deep sale, so we transferred that cruise to a "placeholder" cruise in 2025. (Meaning we may or may not take that cruise). We can then transfer again from that 2025 cruise to another cruise if we wish. There is a substantial vouchers involved as well ($5000k). The vouchers came over to the 2025 cruise intact. We then booked as a new booking the very much on-sale cruise we originally had for this fall, even got the same room! The order of the process does matter and we had our very good travel agent walk us through the steps, as she had done it before with clients. All I can think of is that your vouchers must have different rules. If not, not sure what's happening. I would escalate this up the command!

Excellent! Another great example of how exchanging information on Cruise Critic helps people out.

Similar results here. Independent Bus Class booking: $3800 to Europe and return. Viking Air Plus with deviation: $4800+$100+$100 = $5000 Plus, get ticketed, get seats. Pay our own transfers with is cheap and not a big deal at all. Seasoned travelers.

Thank you Hobson - I have done the same thing (email and picture to Viking tellus). Hopefully more people do.

You'll have to ask. We had one of those and the World Cafe is usually always open until 9 PM, so no issue there. Sometimes it opens for breakfast at 6:00, 6:30, or 7:00 so best to just wait and find out. There are many other options. For an early excursion like yours, we always get room service. They've always been prompt and quite good.

Ok - cancel this one off the bucket list from this dire report.

We had decaf tea on the Star last Dec/Jan. Our orange juice for room service was not powder - it was freshely squeezed and even had some pulp in it. tasted great. Boy - JonThomas must be on the one Viking ship that doesn't do anything right. Maybe he is just high maintenance. Best to just move on and stop complaining I guess. It will only make for more unhappiness the rest of the trip.

Agree with you Linda. We spoke with Viking Air and found that the flights they can offer depend on their contracts, which depend on: -Airline -Gateway city -Destination city -Specific flights and itineraries -Days of week and month(s) and times of day -Class of service (econ, prem econ, business) -and finally, amount of seats offered on one of these combinations inotherwords - everything. There is not a strong correlation to what you may see on-line on any airline site or google flights or whatever and what may be available at any instant via Viking Air. That is why if you use Viking Air your best bet is to have several options researched out, be flexible, and willing to accept other than your first choice. The final kicker: these contracts can change throughout time (as in between booking and ticketing), leading to the situation where a given desired 1 stop itinerary that was available at booking is now not available, so the whole itinerary has to be changed, often to different airlines and different connecting cities. Another change can come from business or prem econ suddenly not being offered on an itinerary so you can get downgraded later on. Often - itineraries may be available then that you had or still desire, but will cost you extra. This can often happen when there is free or very discounted Viking Air advertised. (promos) It helped us understand the risks of using Viking Air. And if we do we avoid the zero air fares and promos. As such, and because we like control, we don't use them very often, as we are particular about flights, seats, class of service, and itineraries. Once again, your experiences may vary - there will always be people who get success - there is not one set rule. You just have to know your odds and what you are willing to risk.

We were on the Sea a year ago with the Roof Open all the time on our TA. The Sea was the 2nd ship in the Viking fleet. There was no complaining, prompting of the staff. In fact, I asked guest services if the roof would continue to be open and she said yes, the Captain feels if the seas are good and the wind fine, he'll always want it open. So I don't think it has to do at all with the age of the ships.

Perhaps for all of us who are indeed concerned about Viking's apparent lax policy in terms of allowing animals onboard that don't appear to be service dogs .... If we were to all email individually our concerns (and possibly include this cruise post and dog pictures) to tellus@vikingcruises.com then someone actually might be forced to respond and think about this growing issue.

Funny - our Transatlantic a year ago on the SEA (Barcelona to San Juan), we had the pool roof open nearly every sea day. It was fantastic! Wonder if this is a specific ship thing or a corporate Viking thing (and what would be the reason?) People flocked to the pool and Wintergarden.

Thank you so VERY much for your very detailed review. I am following carefully since we will be doing this exact thing next year. Gave me some very good information - although as you say, it could all change over time (hopefully for the better). I had been thinking that at least in good weather it might be a wonderful water taxi ride to Venice with lots of great views to take pictures. May I ask what side of the taxi did you sit on? Was there a queue waiting when you wanted to get back to Venice? Did you use Google off-line maps or something else? Thanks again!

We did see our first dog on a Viking Cruise this past Dec/Jan - coincidentally also on the Star on our FLL Panama Canal cruise. It was I think a German Shephard. It was a true support dog - very well trained. Quiet, obediant, NEVER on the chairs or seats. Always at the foot of its owner. The owner appeared to have extremely poor sight (near blind). Perhaps as more and more older people are traveling on Viking, this will be more prevalent. I personally have no problem with true support dogs, but the whole "emotional" support aspect is a bit too much for us. Holding your dog on the Explorer's lounge chair? That is going too far.

I do remember seeing that Cameo as well! Great job! Season 2, Episode 1, The Baltic on Viking Sky https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7311382/?ref_=ttep_ep1 available to watch on BritBox, or Amazon Prime BritBox

\Having been on multiple Viking ocean cruises, I can confidently state: - Washers/Dryers are on the Port Side - There are 4 of them in each set up - They are on Decks 3, 4, 5, 6 - Deck 3 is usually least crowded, deck 6 the most (since it supports 7 and 8 as well) Note; sometimes one or more of the washers and/or dryers are down for maintenance!

Thirsty is right! and on a Friday evening no less.... That sounds like a good brew. Having spent a lot of time in Seattle, I'm somewhat partial to Georgetown Brewing's Bodhizafa IPA. It's a 90 IBU at 6.9 % but quite enjoyable. Always like to try new beers though.

Andy - Being an IPA lover, what is your choice tonight for your hoppy West Coast IPA?

Good point, Jim! Hadn't thought of that - but no doubt given some of the self-entitled elitist personalities that exist (even on Viking cruises), that certainly would amplify it. I change my mind to being against it. The cons outweigh the pros.

That would be great for you and I, right Dee?

On Thanksgiving Day, 2021, we visited Nice/Eze/Monaco on Viking Sea. We anchored and tendered in to Villefranch-Sur-Mer. It was not that bad a tender. The town looked very nice to walk around. Learned it was made famous (infamous?) by the Rolling Stones . https://www.purefrance.com/en/blog/villefranche-sur-mer-and-the-rolling-stones Some shots.

Lorna - On our B2B in Dec 2021 (which you were on the final leg), some of the entertainment was repeated but the food items were different. Specialty lunches/brunches etc were unique. Chef's Table runs on a monthly schedule and I did get to see that schedule at the beginning. They had about 6 different menus rotated through the whole month, usually changing every 3 days, but a couple of 2 days ones in there. So we were able to try lots more menus than just a single leg would. Here is the Dec 2021 CT Menu Cycle that Viking share with me, as an example, from the Viking Sea.

They must be popular! We haven't seen one since pre-COVID - had enough of them. Good news is that leaves time to do something else - like the Explorer's Lounge, or catching up on the taped shows on the lectures or port talks or more.

Book it! That's a good price and TAP is pretty good. Do it soon as prices seem to be going up and up.

Thanks, Lorna. I see however, that 4030 is right in front of the elevator. The DV3's I asked about are up the road a bit and beyond the wall that ends at the stairwell, so I don't think that would be an issue for those rooms.