AceVancouver

Many thanks!! Most selections are on the cheap side.

On 5/6/2023 at 1:45 PM, LHT28 said:

maybe you have downloads blocked  I can see it fine

My downloads are not blocked. I just get the message that it is "unavailable in my area".

On 3/1/2022 at 3:35 PM, cruisingxpert said:

Here you go.  Enjoy!

Suite Bar Menu.pdf 59.07 kB · 272 downloads

They appear to have blocked access to this. Can you e-mail it to jonshapiro46@gmail.com. Thanks

Thanks for the chuckles. STATEROOM!

On Norway cruises in the direction of Oslo to Bergen and then north, are views better from a portside or starboard storeroom?

Maybe things have changed since I was last on Oceania. With the Premium package I had no trouble ordering Mcallans, Hennessey, or Hendricks' martinis. I'm trying now to decide if I want to get this package again next year so if you have current info that'd be appreciated.

Haven't been on Marina for about 5 years and see it'll go in for refurbishment after my July 23rd cruise so I'm wondering how does it look, e.g. signs of wear and tear, etc.

Mixed info on the web about refurbishing dates. One source says both will be this December. Other sites say Riviera will be December and Marina Nov. 2023. Since Marina is the older ship why isn't it being the first to be refurbished. The refurbishing looks cool and very complete. Not sure what they did in the last refurbishing of the Marina which I think was 2018. Since I'll be on this ship for the second time next July I was hoping the experience would be like a brand new cruise (other than the ports of course).

On 2/7/2020 at 5:19 PM, Squawkman said:

Please note the following which appears on the Viking Ocean website under “My Trip”:

 

Coronavirus Update, February 6

We are monitoring the Wuhan coronavirus situation closely and are aware of the travel advisories issued by the U.S. State Department on January 30, 2020, in addition to updates issued by the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization.

As the safety and security of our guests and crew is always our top priority, we have implemented enhanced health screening procedures for all guests boarding our vessels within the next 90 days. Please note, any guests who have traveled from or through mainland China within 14 days of beginning their trip with Viking, will not be permitted to embark the ship.

We are currently evaluating options for alternative ports of call; should itinerary alterations be made, Viking Customer Relations will communicate directly with those impacted guests and their travel agents within the next 7 days.

* * * * *

A few folks on the river cruise board who will embark in April reported receiving a similar message via email today - only their email added a phrase indicating the review will be done “via a health care questionnaire”. No other info about this questionnaire was given at this time.

 

Did anyone here receive an email about this regarding Ocean cruises that embark in the next 90 days? I didn’t - and I embark in 44 days.

 

The latest re: Viking Homelands April cruise.

In view of this we are for the time being making a temporary exception to our cancellation policy so that you can be free to postpone your cruise at any time up until 24 hours before the planned departure, without incurring any cancellation fees. You will be issued a voucher for future travel valid for 24 months, which can be used on any Viking product (river, ocean or expedition). This temporary exception to our standard cancellation policy is applicable for all guests who currently have a reservation with Viking and for all new reservations made through April 30, 2020.

The temporary exception to our cancellation policy is as follows:

If you have flights arranged by Viking, it must be received at least 24 hours prior to the time of your flight's departure.

If you have arranged your own flights, it must be received at least 24 hours prior to the time of embarkation of the cruise or your hotel check-in, whichever is first.

• Notification of your intent to postpone your current cruise must be received as follows:
• Cancelled reservations will be reimbursed in the form of a Future Cruise Voucher in the amount of 100% of all funds paid to Viking.
• Future Cruise Vouchers may be used toward any future river, ocean or expedition cruise with Viking and will be valid for 24 months from issuance.

For those worried about traveling during this health crisis Viking has changed their policy. See below. I expect we'll still be going unless Norway closes their door!

In view of this we are for the time being making a temporary exception to our cancellation policy so that you can be free to postpone your cruise at any time up until 24 hours before the planned departure, without incurring any cancellation fees. You will be issued a voucher for future travel valid for 24 months, which can be used on any Viking product (river, ocean or expedition). This temporary exception to our standard cancellation policy is applicable for all guests who currently have a reservation with Viking and for all new reservations made through April 30, 2020.

The temporary exception to our cancellation policy is as follows:

If you have flights arranged by Viking, it must be received at least 24 hours prior to the time of your flight's departure.

If you have arranged your own flights, it must be received at least 24 hours prior to the time of embarkation of the cruise or your hotel check-in, whichever is first.

• Notification of your intent to postpone your current cruise must be received as follows:
• Cancelled reservations will be reimbursed in the form of a Future Cruise Voucher in the amount of 100% of all funds paid to Viking.
• Future Cruise Vouchers may be used toward any future river, ocean or expedition cruise with Viking and will be valid for 24 months from issuance.

5 hours ago, Cindy said:

Hi all! My husband and I have been on many cruises, and yesterday we booked our first ever with Viking! We’re both very excited, but unfortunately it’s almost 500 days away so I have a long time to obsess!

 

We are big aft fans, so we chose a DV1 cabin on Deck 4 — 4123 (we’ll be on the Viking Sun).Was that a good choice? For aft cabins, only Deck 3 and Deck 4 were available. My first instinct was to choose a cabin on Deck 5, but those were both reserved already.

 

There’s a slight chance I may upgrade us to a Penthouse Verandah. Questions — Is there a noticeable difference in the experience and service between a DV and a PV? If we move, we will lose our prized aft view. Is there a “better” side of the ship for the Iceland’s Majestic Landscapes Itinerary sailing from Bergen to Reykjavik?

 

One more question — we’re going to fly to Oslo (much simpler from Houston) and take advantage of the pre-cruise hotel and scenic train to Bergen through Viking. We usually make our own arrangements, but thought the train sounded like a great way to get from Oslo to Bergen. Does anyone have experience with the train trip?

 

Thanks! I’m glad to be here and I’m looking forward to planning this trip!

We liked the upgrade from DV to PV. Room was bigger plus we had alcohol in our mini bar every day. That said it was a free upgrade and didn't involve giving up a favorite cabin location. We are off in two months for Viking Homelands. Did our own air and are flying into Oslo. Already booked the train to Bergen with VY, the Norway train company rather than Rail Europe as the latter was more expensive. The train trip is 6.5 hours unless you are going to do the Flam extension. We thought the trip to Flam would be better done from the cruise as the travel would be very tiring. Lots of hotel choices in Oslo.

43 minutes ago, Cleopatra99 said:

 

We've been in Penthouse Junior Suite on 4 cruises and love the included laundry. The process is simple - there is a laundry bag and a form. Put your clothes which require washing in the bag each morning, fill in the form showing how many of each item, and leave the bag and form on the bed. The bag will be collected mid-morning (a new form will be left for you) and the laundry is returned the next afternoon . So the only day you can't do laundry in is the second last day of your cruise (as you will disembark the next morning - so not enough time to get the laundry back).

 

The only limitation is the size of the bag - and we have never had more clothes than will fit in the bag if we do laundry every day.

 

Your laundry will be returned on hangers and will be hanging in the wardrobe, or neatly folded inside a cute square box on the bed.

 

We have never used the shoe shine or dry cleaning service.

 

Thanks so much for this info.

33 minutes ago, just_dont said:

Pretty straightforward: you leave your clothes for your room attendant; they wash (press) and fold your clothes, and return them to your room 1-2 days later. And they don't charge you.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

Thanks but I assume there are limitations.

I will be in a Penthouse Junior Suite on an upcoming cruise. Description of this cabin says there is "Complimentary laundry, dry cleaning, pressing & shoe shine services" but nowhere can I find that they provide specific information. Their Live Chat seems to be pretty busy so I thought I'd try CC. Thanks.

Many thanks JB. I'll have a look at the other Forum.

Does anyone have experience using International Friends for provision of transportation from London to the Port and the reverse to Heathrow? Any other recommendations other than taking the train would be appreciated. Thanks.

Thanks ropomo for the helpful info. Wouldn't mind seeing menus for "The Restaurant" to help decide when to book the others but they don't put these up.

Anyone know how to find out in advance what the menus might be on Viking Sky "Homelands" April 29. On a previous cruise we were glad we didn't book reservations in advance for the Chef's Table since some of the menus were not appealing to us. We know that they change every 3 days but I hate to wait until we board.

Can you recommend tour operators?

Looks like you have perfected the DIY method. You probably saved a few bucks, but I'll stick with the private tours that we took. We didn't have to hassle with driving and the possibility of flat tires or getting lost.

 

Also, you did most of what we did on our Puerto Mott tour, but not everything. For all the other ports, we did a lot more and loved it. We did a cruise on the Beagle Channel that was great. We saw tons of wildlife on our tour from Puerto Madryn. We did the Peninsula Valdiz and could almost touch penguins walking by us.

For Punta Arenas, you only visited the cemetery in the town. We did a tour to see more wildlife and it was great. In Montevideo, we had a city tour and then visited a winery with lunch.

 

I don't mean to be critical, I can see that you had a great trip, but different strokes for different folks. We always like to maximize what we do and see on our cruises. Sometimes DIY is best, sometimes not.

Just starting research for a January cruise including Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, Ushuaia, Puerto Madryn, Punta del Este, Montevideo and Buenos Aries. Any recommendations for excursion companies that have been used would be appreciated. Thanks.

We will be taking our first Oceania cruise on the Marina and there are a wide variety of cabins available. I've looked at the extra benefits of booking concierge class and frankly, I don't see enough benefit to us to justify the difference in price from balcony cabins. Cabins are still available in all categories. Based on some research, I've discovered the extra space balconies offered on deck 7 and both 7009 and 7111 are available. We don't do anything on our balcony that we wouldn't do on an open pool deck, so privacy isn't really an issue, we are not prone to seasickness. We value cabin/balcony space, view and surrounding noise more than being higher on the ship.

 

From the pictures, I would normally select 7108/7111 with the largest balcony and best views, however, from the literature (the web), it appears that 7008/7111 have active crew doors directly across from the cabin and the high risk of noise early in the morning, etc. So I'm thinking that 7008/7009 might be a better choice although slightly smaller balcony and perhaps the higher risk of spray.

 

Am I overthinking this? Any recommendations from those who have sailed in any of those cabins.

I was in 7121 so would only comment that because of the height of the privacy walls the view from the extended decks are restricted unless you sit right by the railing.

Thanks for the tip. I gather there are no problems in the specialty dining rooms.

Going on Riviera in May and am considering the Premium package but just read latest review. The reviewer said it was difficult getting drinks (other than wine) in the various dining rooms. I had expected to have before and/or after dinner drinks while dining. Anyone else have difficulties in getting bar service in the dining venues?

Looking for 2016 info on wines and prices on Riviera. Can't seem to find any recent info on what wines might be included in the Prestige and House packages. If it is worth it to get a package instead of the 7 bottle package or just going by the glass? We tend to have wine with most meals and cocktails occasionally but on a cruise we tend to do more.