CCWineLover

And only Orion and Jupiter will ever have the Planetarium, we were told by Viking on our past Jupiter cruise. Jupiter also has the Omelette Station by the Aquavit Bar. Essentially Orion and Jupiter were similar if not the same. Would be nice to get confirmation if the newer (1 year) Venus and new Mars have the Omelette Station.

Thank you so much for your detailed review! Especially Venice. Would you say going your direction would be preferred over Venice to Istanbul? Sounds like finishing in Venice with a post extension was the way to go!

Dave - sadly we've encountered just this same thing on most of our Viking tours that involved walking, even demanding tours. Sadly, perhaps it is hard for people to realize they are not as spry as they used to be - the mind thinks they still have it, but the body can no longer keep up. This causes frustration on those who can't keep up and on those who do wish to have a demanding tour as described. As Jim so accurately states: "Accurate Self Evaluation is one of the best skills for a traveler". We all need to revisit that, as painful as the answers may be. 🙂

Again, we have been on 5 Viking cruises since June 2021. Just 3 of them asked us to produce the negative PCR test results at embarkation. The others we asked them if we could proudly show them our test results and they were not interested. There certainly is no consistency in Viking. The ones interested were Bermuda, Rome, and Ft Lauderdale. The ones that didn't care were Bergen and Amsterdam.

Same here Jay. It was on embarking in Bergen Norway for Shores & Fjords. I even asked, don't you want to see the test results and they said no. You'll be tested now just ahead of boarding and that's all that matters. Kind of bizarre.

Well stated. It is all these days just a lottery. Most win, some lose, but losing you pay a really hefty economic and emotional penalty - and therin lies the issue these days. The punishment does not fit the "crime" (?)

Linda - agree. For us, excursions opened up a week ago Monday around 6:00 or 6:30 AM Pacific time on the date they were supposed to be available. Some prime excursions were already sold out. We have DV so not unexpected. Next time I'll look at 12 midnight Eastern Time (9 PM Pacific the previous day). Of course - most of the cruises don't have excursions set up per the official schedule, so they could be just anytime, any day. . Have to keep checking.

Thanks! Worth a try.

Wow - thank you so much for your post and information. I will keep that in mind for certain. I was fearful of that possibility. Note - the Viking post-extension was sold out way more than a year in advance, so no possibility for us doing that (this is for Midnight Sun London-Bergen July 15-29)

We are trying to do our own Bergen-Oslo booking in July (30 or 31). The site keeps saying reservations not available yet for those dates. https://www.vy.no/en/buy-tickets/train-and-bus-tickets How did you make your reservation? I started to try Railninja site but I couldn't find a place to get the senior rates like on the vy.no site. Also you couldn't select seats on Railninja so who knows if or when they assign them.

Hi Dee - We are looking at this cruise (Istanbul to Venice) in the future too (2023 or 2024) and come in early to Istanbul and see it independently. It's why I'm following Dave's post and others here. Let us know your plans. We'd love to cruise with you and Pat again! Kent

You might also ask Viking about shuttle buses. Although even if there were some, likely wouldn't be late at night after an Opera House performance. I agree - just take or share a taxi. (ask tellus). When we were just in Oslo on Shores & Fjords, we docked quite close to the Opera House - easy walk to there and the Main Square and City Hall. Guess it was luck of the draw. There were 3 other non-Viking cruise ships in that day (late April).

Let us know how it works out! This seems to be a common issue these days. As someone said, no yelling - just be firm and calculated.

Yes you likely are. This has been Viking's policy for quite some time. There have so many discussions about it on various forums like CruiseCritic and others since the initial Viking WelcomeBack cruises began last June 2021.

Enjoyed your to the point review, Dave! Glad your flight was OK - that would be the thing we'd worry about (California to Istanbul). Regarding "Karens" . . . sadly we get that on every single Viking cruise we've been on (all 10). I think there is sadly a contingent of folks who mean well, but don't listen to the port talk person or read the fine print, and/or in their head still think they are perfectly mobile. Glad Viking dealt with it the way they did. We've had guides who basically penalized the whole mobile group - no doubt they are in a tough no win position.

You have a duplicate post here. There is already a Roll Call for this cruise (Mars Midnight Sun June 11-25). It was begun Feb 5, 2021. There are already 78 posts to it. For future, best to research and see if someone has already created a Roll Call before you create a duplicate one. Also best to put your Roll Calls in the Ship it applies to, rather than the Generic Viking Forum.

I'm sure you will enjoy Ocean Cruises! As you likely know, they are so very different (not better, not worse) than the River Cruises. Completely different experiences!

They don't remove "SOLD OUT" because often times people cancel out later after the initial rush to book (much like the dinner reservations) - so keep checking. Also, sometimes they are able to add additional slots particularly on walking tours that don't require an extra bus. Was very disappointed in Edinburgh as well - they lumped the Royal Britannia Yacht into a full Edinburgh city tour with a lunch and very expensive. So just researched and we'll do our tour of Royal Britannia Yacht at much less cost.