CDNPolar

Agree with this piece... We just came off an Antarctica cruise - not with Viking - and the biggest part of this was that plans could change at anytime and they did. No research or planning would allow you to know that you were not going to get to this landing point today because weather threw those plans out the window so we are now landing here... We are planners in many ways, but we love the anticipation of the Chef's Table and we leave the knowledge of the menu until we sit down. We don't wan't to know in advance, and we have even said don't give us a menu and surprise us. This will likely get people riled up, but I think that many want to know too much that is really not that important. To me anyway.

I have said this on other discussion threads. We book the lowest ocean category of cabin because for one, we don't ever intend to spend time in the cabin that we are not either showering or sleeping. What comes along with the lowest category of cabin is an absence of being able to book anything in advance in regard to restaurant reservations. We have NEVER had a problem booking the specialty restaurants after boarding and even on the next day. Pre-Covid or during Covid. The last cruise we were on had over 700 (I know not full) but we got Chef's Table 5 nights for each new menu at the time we wanted with no concerns. We got 3 Manfredi's nights as well at the time we wanted. There seems to be endless hype (sorry for the word) and worry about restaurant reservations in advance - same for excursions - that I wish that Viking would either build a better mousetrap or take away advance bookings so that everyone was on level ground on boarding the ship. This advance booking system seems to bring a lot of anxiety.

We have air tags, but these won't stop a bag from disappearing but may help in retrieving it. We have traveled internationally through Pearson several times over the past 2 months. We see all the media scandal of what a mess Pearson is/was, but we have not experienced this at all. We have sailed smoothly through checkin, security, and boarding and had no issues. I am not saying that chaos has not happened, but I do believe the media grabs a picture of chaos and then it goes viral, but this is a moment in time. 3 times through Pearson in the last two months - round trips - and we saw none of this chaos. Pack necessary one or two days of clothes / shoes in your carry on. Be prepared for the worst.

Just goes to show that you must read and understand the policy in full. Never assume.

Just goes to show that you must read and understand the policy in full. Never assume.

We have personally never done this, but my understanding is that when you decline Viking Air, there is then in the Air section of My Viking Journey a link to book transfers. You must be arriving and departing however the same schedule as if Viking Air were bringing you in which would mean that you arrive the day the cruise departs port (or starts) and you depart the last day when the ship docks. If I am correct with this, if you have a pre or post extension that you booked on your own, and not through Viking, you don't qualify for transfers.

Yes, you are correct, you should get one landing per day and boat cruise where they run them - all weather permitting. The lottery excursions are: Camping, Snowshoeing, Kayaking, and Science Boat.

We had to wait for one smaller ship to leave the area at one landing point before we could land. There is a max number of people allowed on the continent at one time at any landing point, so if a ship is there you cannot start your landing. This is not per ship max, it is a max at that landing point. We passed and saw other ships, but there was never another ship landing at the same time, or kayaking in the same bay. My impression is that the ships book these landing points in advance and have to stick to their times otherwise it would always be chaos. We looked frequently on the cruise tracker and there were often 15+ ships on the vicinity map.

Very true, and I would never push this with crew... I would ask politely and offer them the option of not answering.

There seem to be a lot of opinions of how gratuities are distributed, and from an email inquiry that I just received a call back for this was Viking's response: All monies received in the gratuity program are distributed directly to all onboard staff as a bonus. No monies are put into enrichment programs or equipment for the staff - all is as a bonus. I asked if this was per cruise, or per contract and the response was: We don't have that information available to us. Any additional question that I asked such as % to different departments, the response was: We don't have that information available to us. We will ask crew that we get friendly with directly in future cruises.

Right on! We knew that we were faced with a lottery on the size of ship we were travelling and we would not have liked it if we got nothing, but we were prepared for getting nothing.

...should have mentioned Pergrina651 did, and that is that for purchasing transfers you must arrive when Viking would bring you in if you bought your air through Viking. Arriving early or late will not work. Oh, and the Viking Air that we are using in August is because the promotion was FREE AIR, and the cruise cost was not higher, so we would be foolish to book our own air. What we did was book Premium Economy and that ended up as a $1,299 CDN cost per person, but if we did that without the free air, it would have been a cost of about $3500 per person with PE.

We have booked with Air Plus, with the TA and on our own. There are pros and cons to each. We don't find that the cost of Viking flights booked through Air Plus are more expensive. Before we make any decision on who to book air with we do a full analysis of airline, route, aircraft type, seating configuration, connection time, etc. We look at all that plus cost. We have done our pricing and then we will compare to Air Plus and we are talking "give or take" number of dollars difference. We would rather book our Air through Viking than through our TA because if that flight booking goes south for any reason, Viking Air Plus are on it - in our experience. If we book through the TA, then we have one more layer to deal with. We actually book more air direct ourselves now for more overall control. You will see many situations on CC where people are upset with Air Plus because of airline changes or schedule changes that were done without their knowledge. In reality - to us - this is not Viking but the airlines that are still impacting travel itineraries around the world without recourse. When you book on your own, you get the notification that something is changing and you get to deal with it over someone else just slamming you on another flight that you may or may not have wanted. We have a cruise in March that we booked our own air, and we have a Viking cruise in August that we are using Air Plus. So clearly we saw an advantage using Air Plus for the August one. Oh, and yes, the transfers are included, but you can purchase those through Viking if you book your air yourself. Even if the air with Viking were a few dollars extra, the convenience of landing and finding the Viking rep and handing over your luggage is much simpler than finding your own transport.

"Cancelation" fees don't kick in until 120 days before the cruise date and you would have also paid in full at that time. (This for Canadian and USA bookings) If you are cancelling before that they can only take the deposit, but you always have the option with Viking to "revise" the booking to a different date or itinerary and not lose anything.

STOP STOP - no, do not book a flight that early back to Canada. I believe that the Hurtigruten information states to not have a connecting flight in BA before 9:30pm the same day. The first flight - of three - that we were on did not leave Ushuaia until 12:30pm and these small charter airlines are often late. This is a 3 to 3.5 hour flight so the first flight would not get you back in time for that. The second flight was 1:30pm or something but the last flight did not leave Ushuaia until 8pm. These flights are only announced as to the departure time - like the lottery - on the wall of deck 5, about 2 maybe 3 days before the end of the cruise. I would personally recommend that you stay the night in BA and fly home the next day. Safest option. We stayed 4 days in BA on our own after. There were several people that were on our first flight out of Ushuaia that had 9pm'ish or 10pm'ish flights out and they were good. If you are intent on going same day, then book as late as possible but cover this with Hurtigruten before you pay for the flight or you may be having some expensive change fees.

We did not ask, but the Expedition Crew claimed that the lottery is a real lottery. You sign up and then randomly you are chosen - or not - to do 4 or maybe 5 different activities. The activities in the lottery are: Snowshoeing, Kayaking, Camping, Science Boat, and one other that must have been insignificant to us because I cannot remember. All of a sudden there is an announcement and the results of the lottery are posted on the wall of Deck 5 atrium. The crowds rush and you battle the crowd to get close enough to see if you were chosen. We got one of four that we signed up for, but it was clear immediately as I looked across the lists that one cabin number with 3 people in it was chosen for 3 different things. Why it is clear to see is we were two in the cabin and then our cabin number appears twice in the list indicating that both of us go. This cabin appeared three times in a row on the lists and just stood out. We talked to 2 couples that signed for 4 things and got nothing, where one cabin of 3 people got three things. Is it fair? To the cabin that got three things yes, but to the cabin that got nothing, no. It is a lottery. The truth of the matter is this: Only 100 people can go ashore at one time and the expedition crew are busy with transiting people back and forth. Only 16 people can kayak at one time and it takes almost 2 hours to get that 16 suited up, briefed/coached/trained and then out and back in. Camping has a limit too. The science boats have a limit as there are limited science expedition team. All of the above is also dependent on weather. If the weather changes - which it does in a minute - then excursions are cancelled or moved to another destination. We lost all excursions in our first day of five days at the continent because of weather and you cannot make that time up. Lottery "winners" are also chosen as Group A, B, C etc. If A is to go this morning and weather does not permit, then B gets bumped and A goes in their time slot. If this continues, some of the lottery winners get bumped all together and are out of luck. We were coached by our TA many times and by the posted information from Hurtigruten, that you must be flexible and ready to accept changes in schedule and activities. It is conceivable that you could have several days of poor weather that severely impacts excursions. For instance, we never go the polar plunge because the two places that were set for people to participate the weather or conditions were not ideal, so it did not happen at all. If you want to guarantee that you are going to get the expedition excursions you want, then you want to travel on a smaller ship. We had friends go on a much smaller ship and they got every activity and also got to land on the continent twice a day. We were only promised once a day at best. Smaller ships have more flexibility to ensure that you get what you want, but weather still can impact what they can and will deliver. You cannot go into this with the expectation of Kayaking and then be devastated if you don't get it. If you go on a cruise like this with that expectation you will most likely be disappointed and there is no recourse with the cruise line. Oh, and no, having a more expensive cabin does not give you privilege in the lottery, or it would not be a fair lottery. If you don't win the lottery do you have other fabulous options? If the weather is good, you have one landing per day and potentially a boat cruise that are promised to everyone. Other fabulous options are gaze at the enchanting scenery from your balcony, or the Explorer Lounge with a drink? There is nothing much else to do on this ship if you are not on excursion other than gaze at the landscape, the icebergs, and whale watch.

We have both a Uniworld and a Viking River cruise in the coming months. I have never asked the Stateroom Attendant what happens and if they have to turn in their cash tips. I will ask on both lines. I have also emailed Viking to directly ask what the tipping policies are. Let's see if and how they respond. Like one poster above, I have also seen the faces light up with a $20 USD bill. This is huge for them. When you look at the value of the currency of a country like the Philippines, and then take $20 USD and convert it, this is big for them.

We are fortunate to have work related medical insurance, so we only purchase cancelation and interruption insurance. BUT, a year ago I was faced with potentially losing my work medical and I have a pre-existing heart condition and over 60. The best rates and the best experience in pricing insurance for stable pre-existing conditions was CAA.

Everything that is "Pre-existing" with insurance has a stability period attached to it. I am playing insurance underwriter now... Your leg will have to heal and be free of treatments and potentially from physical therapy for a period of time before it would be considered "stable" as a pre-existing condition. With any pre-existing condition, if they don't consider it stable, you can travel and your insurance will generally cover you for anything that happens OTHER than to the pre-existing condition. So, if you fell and it was deemed because of the previous leg injury, then you would not be covered. Other new issues would still be covered as long as they are not directly a result of the leg or pre-existing condition. This is how I understand it. Call the insurance company and talk it out with them. You have to get the information from the source.

This is MY opinion. The airline staffer don't have to prove anything, but the passenger may. You may get asked to prove by US customs and immigration. The airlines don't want to be the vaccine police, not in the past or now, but they were plagued with that for many months... The US government wants every non US citizen to attest that they are vaccinated but they don't want to clog the airline, or customs and immigration with the whole verification process now. So, instead, they are asking you to attest - legally - that you are vaccinated. If they happen to check you and you cannot prove that you are vaccinated, then you would be subject to whatever legal prosecution and/or fines they want to throw at you. Again - my opinion. Always carry proof and if you are not vaccinated and you are transiting through or going to the USA, and you are playing the system, then you risk whatever you get.

We pay our expected daily gratuity amount on our invoice with the hope and trust that they are going to be distributed fairly to all crew that deserve a piece of that pie. We also do the following in Viking: When we arrive in our Cabin and the attendant(s) come to welcome us we generally have a couple of needs that we outline at that point and we also give each of the two cabin attendants $10-$15 USD. We will match this again half way through the cruise or a few days before the end of the cruise. So, the cabin attendants will get from us between $20 and $30 USD each. We enjoy having the same servers in The Restaurant nightly, so if we like the team we have the first night we ask for them again and again. We generally tip the host at The Restaurant on this request - $10 USD. We will then tip each of our dining team $20 USD half way through or towards the end of the cruise. We decide who else on the ship that we may tip as the cruise goes on. Last year I tipped a lobby housekeeping person who struck up a conversation with me near the Living Room Bar on day 2 or 3 and from that point forward greeted me by name when she saw me. We ENJOY this additional tipping and do it because we WANT to on top of the standard billed gratuity. We would not replace the billed gratuity with this because there are many people behind the scenes that will benefit that we never see, but are as responsible for our great experience as those we do see. I work with the Philippines and other countries in my daily work life. I know that these people are working these jobs away from their family and homelands because it is a better life financially than if they worked at home. We are privileged to be able to travel the way that we do, and this is my way of thanking these people who are only trying to create a better life for themselves and their families. I would love to know where the tips go, but I have faith that they are going where Viking say they are going. Perhaps I am stupid and naive but this is what I think.

I am aware of these tools, I am looking for individual experience as of late these weather sites and stats do NOT give current weather patterns. We have used these of late and found them very inaccurate.

We embark on Passage to Eastern Europe the 15th of August for the next 10 days. What will we expect in temps (C Please) for these countries/cities? Bucharest Bulgaria Serbia Croatia Hungary We are fearful that it may be overwhelmingly hot for these dates and want to pack accordingly. Thank you.

Does not matter if you procrastinate, Viking just increased my SS with a new invoice when I asked for a change. Even though my existing invoice was lower, they increased it. Nothing like honouring the price originally quoted.

Absolutely. Assuming that you are staying at the Emperador Hotel, when you arrive the day before you will go through covid testing in the lower level ballroom. At this time you will be given the time of your flight and the pick up time of the bus. You will also be given luggage tags and the time that your luggage must be in the hallway that night for pick up. The luggage will go separately to the airport from the busses on a luggage truck. Our PICK UP TIME was 2:30am - meaning our bus LEFT the hotel at 2:30am. I think that when we left there were four buses all staged in a row to depart. Yes, the coffee was ready in the lower level ballroom at 1:30am. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6am. We were at the airport at 3:30am'ish and thought that this is ridiculously early, but the airport was buzzing with people and flights leaving at 4:30am and 5:00am. The airport departure lounge was standing room only and hundreds were sitting on the floor. As a seasoned world traveller, I reasoned that for a charter of this size, if the time is cut too short, there would be all kinds of potential issues with lines, people not down in time, etc., and I then supposed that even though this was probably one hour too early, it was just one hour. There will be at least 3 charter flights all with staged departure times - I think by 30 minutes - and whatever bus number you were on to go to the airport you will look for in Ushuaia when you land. The worst part is that our flight was an hour delay. We were all on board for 6am but then we sat on the tarmac for 60 minutes with no explanation why. When you land in Ushuaia you will identify your checked luggage and leave it with Hurtigruten representatives and it will go to the ship and you will go to your bus and be taken to a parking lot a stones throw from the ship and then you have several hours of free time in Ushuaia. They will not allow you to walk to the ship when you want, you have a bus departure time from that parking lot to go to the ship. You will be issued your cruise cards and lanyards on the bus when you arrive in Ushuaia, so the check in on the ship is basically scanning your cruise card to indicate that you are on the ship. In the first couple of days there are many things that you will have to do in preparation - you will be given an "animal" group name and you will go with your animal group to do all of these things. Everyone will do the Muster drill on day one before departure. The other activities are and some of these are day one, and some are day two / three while in the Drake Passage. Picking up your Hurtigruten red jacket Picking up your rubber boots and your animal patch that you velcro to your jacket Vacuuming your outerwear Attending mandatory seminars on the rules/laws of Antarctica All of these activities will be by animal group and some with tight timelines. The first couple days I listed all the activities and seminars on a piece of paper to keep it all straight. Lots of groups and activities are listed and posted on the wall of Deck 5 around the elevator. This is where you go to see if you have made the lottery for some excursions like snowshoeing or kayaking. This is also where your return flight schedule will be posted near the end of the cruise. NOTE that the Expedition Team announce the animal groups for landing, and you may be in your cabin when this is happening waiting to get ready because what you have to wear is too hot to dress too soon. The announcements are not heard in the cabin unless you enable the phone speaker to do so. This phone speaker also defaults to off if you make a call to the reception desk or anywhere else on the ship - you have to turn it back on after a call.