CDNPolar

No, it comes down to NOT prepaying your gratuities, then if you want to "adjust" rather than "argue/justify" the amount you can see Guest Services. There should not be, and we have never experienced any issue with reducing our gratuities or removing them completely at the end of a River or Ocean cruise. You should never have to argue or justify anything. We have just approached and indicated that we wanted to reduce or remove and have never been challenged on that request. And you use the words "mandated tip" - nothing is mandated from a North American (Canada USA) Viking guest. Our gratuities are not included and we are not responsible or required to pay anything. We do pass "cash hand gratuities" to certain crew members that go above and beyond, but never do the envelopes.

Viking has its vibe. It is what it is. I / We personally hope that the IPO will not change the vibe that Viking is...

I don't think that age has anything to do with liking Viking or not. Viking has never positioned themselves in the market as a nightlife ship, and I am personally hoping that they do not. No disrespect to your comments, and no disrespect meant by this statement, but Viking is not the cruise line for you.

I go with everyone else about the subjectiveness of food. We are hitting our 11th Viking cruise - River and Ocean - and although we have had meals that are not stellar, we have never ever been truly disappointed. We do not feel that Viking do "deep fried" well - specifically English style fish and chips, soft shelled crab, etc. Agree the french fries are good. I do however feel you are not doing yourself or anyone else any favour by not sharing your opinion on the food. Viking need to hear it. Not that you would, but it does not have to be mid meal if you don't want to bring a downer on the serving crew, but you could take the restaurant manager aside and let him/her/them know quietly.

You might be looking for this: 1) From the display screen swipe down and go to Settings 2) In Settings go to Home & Clock 3) Go into Night Mode 4) Set Night Mode Behaviour to ON 5) Schedule the time you want Night Mode On 6) Automatically switch to night mode based on available light toggle ON This is I believe all we did and the time display comes on when lights go off and the time is displayed in dim RED numbers which are actually suggested as the colour of light for night and sleeping. During the day and outside of scheduled night mode, the time will be in White and much brighter.

Don't know if you are still around and/or still looking for these... but what are you offering, and will you pay shipping? How many do you want? These are Viking and I have a few different colours and sayings on them. None of them used, as they were how they used to deliver our cruise documents and luggage tags. They are zippered and approximately 12" X 7"

I agree with this concept, although I like the pricing model of Viking. I get specialty dining I get Wifi I get an included excursion in each port I get wine at lunch and dinner I get port fees included I get free access to the thermal spa I use all of these, so this to me is a good deal, but I can understand when someone does not drink, or use the wifi that they feel they are paying more for services that they don't use.

I actually forget how to turn a light on or off with a switch. I just issue commands now! Haha.

Excellent recommendation. We bought masks off Amazon before, and mine fit, but my husband has a very round face and he had a hard time getting a good fit. We will visit a dive shop for sure.

This is what I thought, and this would be done in a season that the ship is either due to reposition, or when they can afford to have a ship out of service. This is very similar to a hotel schedule of 5 years for complete refurbishment, but hotels will just shut down a floor or portion of a floor at a time.

To use the ONE Infinite Privilege card on two phones with Apple Pay, we had to call TD credit card department for me - as the primary cardholder - to give permission. Before doing this the card would not upload to Apple Pay in the TD App, but after the call then it allowed it. This saves us paying the $199 for the spousal card.

I cannot imagine my life now without all these conveniences. We are a very "automated" home with cameras in and out, doorbell cameras, Echo Shows in every room, Apple Watch, Phone, Air Tags, voice controlled lights....

Yes... let me double check because it was not just as simple as adding it.... I believe we had to call TD Visa for the primary cardholder (me) to give permission. I will come back.

For us, we both have the "shared" card uploaded in our phone which requires permission from the primary card holder. (I believe we had to give this permission on the phone to TD Visa? I will check on that and come back.). But, one of us carries the physical card as well. So if we are ever in the position where the purchase is over the Apple tap limit then we have the card. You are right however in the cost. Phone number "two" would cost more than the spousal card for sure. We could never do with one phone, but then my phone is heavily used for work as well.

I personally don't believe that everyone thinks or feels that WiFi should be or must be included. I feel that there are many that travel that want a technology detox and are not interested in being connected all the time. We sail on Viking primarily and WiFi is included so we have never faced having to pay extra for it. If we had to pay daily for Wifi it would depend on the itinerary of the cruise and the daily cost. If River I probably would not pay for it because we tend to buy eSIMs for our phones and we are close enough to shore to almost always connect to a tower. On an Ocean voyage, I might opt to only connect when in port with my eSIM. I cannot tell you what daily cost we would or would not pay, but I would suggest that me and my husband would only pay for one of us and share the phone or access. I have been faced with many hotels that charge for Wifi and because of eSIMs we don't need it.

I would expect that if they are literally jumping the gangway as they are about to lift it that they might get a very polite comment that they "almost missed sailing" with a smile and a chuckle but I would not expect any harsh kind of conversation at all. Customer Service on a ship is not about reprimanding someone unless their actions endanger the ship or other passengers - IMO.

I for one cannot wait until we can dispense with the hard copy passport and move to a fully global digital world of id and credentialing. (Yes, I also understand the inherent risks of this.) I already hate to have to carry actual physical credit cards and use Apple Pay on my Apple watch or iPhone almost exclusively. (Recognizing that this limits the amount that I can tap) I wish for DL, Passport, and a fully digital payment system without a physical card.

I feel that even some 'seasoned' cruisers are not necessarily taking advantage of everything. I have heard many people that have cruised with our favourite cruise line more than once say: "I didn't know this or I didn't know that." Take for instance a Galley tour or a Bridge tour.... on our favourite cruise line, these are not advertised per se but available if you go to Guest Services and ask.

Absolutely leave all the negative energy behind. Don't pack negative energy. I am not saying that everything is always perfect on a cruise vacation, but there are some folks that just seem to invite and find negative wherever they go. We just chuckle under our breath and think - here he/she/they go again - they found a new problem to whine about.

We also after 10 Viking cruises find it hard to be candid on the survey. I remember back to the first and second Viking cruises we were on and we were happy to say that many things if not all exceeded our expectations, but now most seem to meet our expectations because our viewpoint has changed. As discussed in previous threads, I do take offence to be asked to check the highest rating by any crew. I find this quite distasteful. Don't tell me how to rate your service and my experience. I never thought of this but Viking could and should tech-i-fy their surveys and could consider a different version for 1st and 2nd time cruisers and for more frequent cruisers. I personally would also like a place that I can NAME people that clearly went above and beyond in my eyes. I also assume, but have never asked, that this style of survey is scanned for where you check or X and so writing random comments in these areas could well be missed. One of the toughest parts of surveys is dealing with text free entry answers.

I get the contract situation and that crew come and go often mid-cruise for the guests, but this is one of the things that I dislike... We had a bartender in the Living Room that somehow knew both our names from the first day we were on the ship. He always called out to us when we went by, and he created a custom cocktail for our friend that we were travelling with. We loved to stop there for a coffee and a cookie and have a chat. Then, all of a sudden one evening only about half way through our cruise, he let us know that he was going on vacation the next day and leaving the ship. We felt like we lost a good friend! The interesting thing is that we have cruised most regions that Viking sails - most - and we have several times now on both River and Ocean, come across Crew that we met on previous cruises. This aspect we really love.

Ships like hotels go under refurbishment every so many years and it is unfortunate that you found the Orion to be that worn as a newer ship. We have been on Star twice - one of the older ships - and our first time was in early 2017 and it was in great shape. We were on Star again near the end of 2021, just after I read on CC how bad it looked and how worn it was, but we did not experience that at all. Our cabin was in perfect shape, and the lounges and public areas looked to the standard we expected. Perhaps it had undergone some upgrades before we boarded? Because I was in the hotel industry for years, I know how most large chains upgrade their rooms, but I don't know on cruise ships. Is the ship taken out of circulation and upgraded top to bottom, or is it done while sailing bit by bit?

Although we have no issue with the music currently on Viking in the theatre and in the lounges, because we tend to be very "easy listening" at home but still with a very broad appetite for many genres. We tend to listen to acoustic hits, and easy listening, with a lot of solo piano style from different artists. BUT, as @benjaminnicholas said: The contemporary couple was somehow able to suck the life out of every single song they sang. It reminded me of Muzak on horse tranquilizers. I have never heard it said better. I did not want to bring this up, but this couple is karaoke at best on all the cruises I have been on with Viking. I am not saying that they do not have reasonably good voices, but the arrangements and song choices make every song sound the same. This is a reason we don't go to Torshavn. I also agree with @BlairsvilleCruiseGirl that there could be an afternoon or early evening of Rock in the pool bar area, or even the rarely used Wintergarden. We have seen some really "rock'n" shows at the pool in front of the big screen and this could be a great area for this.

I am certain that you will enjoy your Viking cruise. Bet you only wish it was sooner!

Never heard of this...