CDNPolar

hmmmm..... never experienced this, however we are known for walking right up to the bar ordering our drink then we will walk the stairs to deck 3 atrium and sit there. Less crowded.

Some days they put out extra chairs and some days not. This is where Viking packs about another 20 or so passengers into the same space that other lines don't.

This is great to hear. We are planning for a World Cruise in mid 2026 and one of my concerns is that I am NOT going to pay Rogers a Roam Like Home fee for 4 months....!!! How do I cover all these countries. I am only starting to look into this but was not aware that there was a World eSIM. One thing that I am foggy about with Airalo. How can you get phone service as well as data? How does this work? I want to have people call my home cell number to reach me wherever I am in the world and NOT have to use WhatsApp if possible.

We booked a river cruise two weeks before departure this last December. This was with Viking River. We did not receive our tags in the mail - not enough time. The airport rep did not have tags. We handed over our luggage with the rest of the viking people. We had to wait for our key because of the time we arrived, so when we got our key the luggage was there.

We book as early as schedules come out. Often as early as 270-300 days in advance of the cruise.

I know you are asking about this particular tour, but I would be surprised if there was any cost. We have never paid for any ship tour.

Exactly - when everyone is back from excursion and there is standing room only in the lounge, this makes me feel squished. Also I find the lounge and the dining room heat up too fast at the port talk and then when everyone converges on the dining room at the same time.

I think that everyone wishes that Viking would look at their final payment dates and make a revision to this policy, but I think you will also find that there are differences with other countries - AU and UK - as well. We happily paid our first Viking cruise fare 12 months in advance, but then quickly learned that for Canada and USA that if you have a future Viking booking - river or ocean - that your payment due reduces to 5 months. Since that point, we have always had at least one future cruise on the books to keep that 6 month payment in place. Because you can move a deposit by modifying a reservation to any other itinerary before final payment, we just do a 'placeholder' reservation and it is not uncommon for us to move that booking to something else or different dates. It is just to keep the final pay terms. What I do wish that Viking would do as a loyalty offering is that once you have completed X number of cruises, that the final payment is aligned with the first penalty which is at 120 days. I think that for loyalty and repeat voyages, this would be a nice perk.

For us the lectures are a big part of every Viking cruise we have been on. We go to as many as we can. Overall, the lectures are great but you get the occasional dry monotone presenter that "lectures" in a way that induces sleep.

We love Aaron. We have cruised three times with Aaron as Cruise Director.

If you are not using Viking Air Plus, your flights will populate in MyVikingJourney about 120 days+ out from departure. Then you have time in MVJ to "play" with options and if you still don't like what is there then you can add Air Plus and talk to them. Just make sure to make any changes before the flights actually ticket in MVJ - which is from 75-90 days out - or you will have change fees assessed if you make the changes after they have ticketed. When they first populate in MVJ and until 75-90 days out, they are just options. They are not ticketed.

Yes, sorry, Viking Air Plus. When you are talking to the reservations department that are telling you this, they really have nothing to do with booking air. In my posts when I talk Viking Air, using Viking Air, calling Viking Air, I am always referring to Viking Air Plus. This is a paid for service and regardless of whether you have paid your cruise fare in full, you must pay for Air Plus before that department will talk to you. Most airlines release their initial schedules up to 310 - 320 days out. We start to investigate and track what flights we want at 300 days and then call Viking Air Plus.

Hey! Welcome to Cruise Critic! Let us know the cruise line and the ship. Sometimes it depends on the ship, the line, and where you are cruising, but more over whether a Captain will allow some tours. We have done galley, bridge, and what I will call the Engine Control Room. The latter was the best in my opinion seeing all the control panels and all the systems that were being monitored. We have also done the wheelhouse on a river cruise ship. Not as spectacular as the ocean ship, but interesting none the less. We have been on cruises that they advertised you to sign up for these, some cruises that if you asked they would quietly let you know that they were doing them but not advertising them, and then on some sailings that we asked and they were not available.

Love that you would do this, and think that this is the thing to be done, but for me this is too forward and 'confrontational' even if the bagging party is not present.

Clay, we were only in one of these "basement" cabins as I tend to call them on the Douro River which does not sail at night, only during daylight hours, so noise was never an issue for us. I personally would think that Hull noises would be more in low water levels rather than high, but that is a crap shoot at any time on a River cruise. What concerned me more was we did this cruise before covid, and then after stories of folks confined to their cabins for extended periods when covid hit big time, I thought I would go mad in a cabin that I could not open a window. So we have only done french balconies post covid. I have lived in many highrise buildings over my adult years in big cities and there are those buildings that have balconies and those that don't. I need that balcony. On the river ship, I am fine with french balcony, but I need that opening window. Personally I found these cabins slightly claustrophobic.

I cannot get over the fact that the title of this thread - Shelter and Hide - made me think of a safe room from disaster....

Exactly.... it has been said many times before that Viking have these payment terms because they can. OR, because they could... I read above here somewhere where an ocean ship only had some 700 something guests? Not typical of Viking for sure... so perhaps this is a trend starting?

I have seen on returning from excursions bag search after XRay and alcohol taken...

Wow! Exciting for you and family! Getting out and seeing the world is the most amazing thing! Thanks for sharing. Aside from your questions now, we will expect a full review when you return.

Yes, if you are booking cruises and packages that this agency actually represents, then the savings are significant. Agreed. The challenge is that our preferred line is not bookable through this TA.

I was not suggesting that a TA would not get you this because it would decrease their commission, I said that since they ARE getting a commission this is part of their job to get you that price reduction if it is available.

Agree with you here. I cannot tell you how many people I know that never buy medical when they travel. "Oh, I am healthy and don't expect to get sick." Yeah, well, you are also the one that is zip-lining, parasailing, and other extreme sports, which by the way, most medical insurance does NOT cover accidents or injury from these sports. You could also fall anywhere and break a limb. You don't have to have a pre-existing condition to need medical insurance when you travel.

Some cruise lines yes, will take it from you at boarding, but some allow you to bring liquor or wine with you. Some ocean lines do, and many river cruises do.

For the very first time after several River Cruises, we wanted to sit in the Aquavit on a Viking ship because I had been sick, but was feeling better, and just did not want to sit with 6 or 8 others... We had looked in the Aquavit a few nights around the time of the port talk and all the tables were reserved with some small thing on the table. This night in particular, we thought we scored as there was one table of four that was seemingly open so we grabbed it. Shortly after we sat there was a bit of a "situation" as apparently a party of four had typically reserved this every day and they were late back from excursion and did not claim the table before us. We were asked by crew if we would move to a table for two instead - which was by all accounts also reserved with stuff on the table but the crew removed the stuff. We objected that the table we were at was "un-reserved" and the table that they were moving to had someones stuff on it, but the crew insisted that this was fine. We moved, and the party of four took their table. This was totally about the self-selected special people that are on these ships and feel entitled over others. I do wish that these venues would be first come first served similar to when the dining room opens. However on that note, it is not uncommon for one of a party to leave the port talk before it is over to be first in line when the dining room opens so that they can get "their table".

Agree with you on this, but with Viking I have personally witnessed others with major flight issues that Viking did take care of for those that they booked for. Others were on their own. If you are flying with Viking Air, there is a 24 hour emergency line that you are given that if any flight delay or issue then they take over for you... I have not had to use this myself, but as I mentioned, I have seen and talked to many on Viking cruises that Viking has stepped in and taken care of flight issues. This is one benefit of Viking Air.