CDNPolar

Depends on the plan. For me, the CANADIAN plan that I have will pay to a Max of $5,000.00 per person for as many trips as I take in a year. I can plan 10 trips, pay for them and then cancel 5 and get up to $5000.00 per person back on those five trips. (For a covered reason of course) There are other Canadian plans that have a dollar limit in the year that they will pay out. Mine pays for any cancellations that are a covered reason. It pays to shop around and find different deals.

I don't know with this specific company, but when placing the insurance on the first $1,000.00 then ask how you increase it. The main thing is getting the purchase done within the timeframe to cover your pre-existing conditions. If you were planning to do the first purchase online, I would suggest calling instead and talk to a live agent so you have the real story.

I am not trying to be argumentative either, but as @fshepinc mentioned, these changes are slow. I was really only trying to say that when I hear "Ladies and Gentlemen" today I cringe, because it is not inclusive in any way. I was not trying to include or exclude anyone and I am comfortable with whatever pronoun you want me to use, but when addressing a group, I feel we need to be inclusive and Ladies and Gentlemen is not, IMO. I am not trying to figure out what to do with "us" or "you", that I know what to do one on one, I am only suggesting a group greeting that is inclusive.

On our last Viking River cruise, we arrived at the ship at 10am. There were light refreshments available in the morning - cookies, muffins, etc., coffee and tea - and then a light buffet lunch started at Noon. Viking gave us a white card with our cabin number on it and advised us if we were on the ship to lay it on the table face up and as cabins were available a Viking Crew member would walk through the lounge looking for the guests belonging to that cabin and would take you to your cabin. Many left the ship and wandered the town. Many stayed on board and the socializing began.

I just see this as a necessary "loss" if you want to always be up to date. Because we travel so frequently and may need to with little notice to China, we cannot risk not having that 6 months on the passport, so we actually book travel around the need to renew the passport and generally start the process as soon after the one year mark as possible. This is just part of travel, but we also only get 10 year passports, so we are not doing this every four years, but every nine years.

How would you like to be addressed? How specifically would you like me to address YOU in the crowd when I am addressing hundreds of people with one catch all phrase? What would that phrase be? We are talking about addressing the masses... hundreds of people in a room. We are not looking for how to address someone that is gender neutral or non-binary or trans on an individual basis. I think you are mis-understanding the context. When a Cruise Director steps on the stage of the theatre and addresses everyone as "Ladies and Gentlemen" they are missing their opportunity to step into the current times and address everyone in the room in an inclusive way. I was simply suggesting that Ladies and Gentlemen is a non-inclusive term to use today.

Every country has their standard, and for both Spain and Portugal Canadians only need 3 months on the passport so you would be fine. If the final port is USA you are also ok. https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/advisories If this is a cruise line policy, then this all comes down to whether the cruise line will deny you boarding because of that one day. Technically you do not need more than 3 months for Spain, Portugal, or the USA. However, if one day did not matter, then nor would two days or three days. A six month rule is a six month rule. If they allow 1 day grace, then I should be allowed grace for 2 or 3 days.

It does sound a bit small town'ish, but... I work in learning and development and I work with 8 countries and many different cultures in these countries. Many countries are far advanced to Canada and the USA in acceptance and tolerance, and some are behind. I just know for me, that I have completely abandoned "ladies and gentlemen" and replaced that with "Everybody" or Everyone" and perhaps occasionally "Folks". Perhaps I am too close to diversity and inclusion initiatives, but I just find I cringe every time someone says "ladies and gentlemen" thinking, what if someone in the room does not identify this way. All so complicated...

Just to be clear, for me I have both River and Ocean cruises booked now and both have "Booking Summary" in MVJ. This is where we saw our cabin assignment a day or two before Viking notified us. Oh, and for the record, we experienced zero savings booking the GTY cabin. The price on the site for the cabin we wanted did not reduce when we found out that we only had a GTY cabin offered.

We had a GTY cabin on our last River cruise that we booked only two weeks before sailing. We found our cabin assignment on MVJ before Viking informed us that we had a cabin assigned. I suggest looking in MVJ. Where? Go to the "Booking Summary" tab.

We have for the past few years bought an annual plan and saved LOTS of money, but that savings comes with some financial risk. I know that my experience is with Canadian insurance and it can differ from US insurance, but what I have learned with annual plans is this: (Remember these are Canadian conditions that may or may not exist with your annual plan, so ask the questions of your insurance provider.) 1) The annual plan we are with now, has a limit of $5,000.00 per person cancellation, but we can have as many 17 day trips in the year as we like and each one is covered, but only to that $5K per person. So, I could end up cancelling 2 trips and get back $10,000.00 per person, or 3 trips and get back $15,000.00 per person if the cancellation was for a covered reason. 2) We can choose when buying the annual plan between 17 day trips or 30 day trips and if a trip extends past what we have purchased we can purchase an add on package for the extra days. Some of our trips are more than $5,000.00 per person and so we are hedging the penalties and banking on the fact that unless our need to cancel is extremely last minute, we will come out even, or only a slight cost to us. For instance, if we were to go on three cruises and insure them separately we would pay about $4,500.00 for the three policies combined. With this annual plan we are paying $1,300.00 total. So there is financial risk, but we are willing to take that. SOME POLICIES that I have investigated let you designate a total amount of coverage that you want over the year for multiple trips. These policies see that coverage level as a "bucket" and once you have claimed against that then there is no insurance left. So, if you had a serious incident come up and you made a claim, you may not have coverage for other trips in that year. I find theae policies to be as expensive as purchasing for individual trips. PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS: With my annual policy, pre-existing conditions are dealt with by each individual trip in the year. If I need to cancel a trip for a covered reason that is medical, and that medical reason relates to a pre-existing condition, then the pre-existing condition must have been stable for 3 months prior to the trip departure date. If I am to claim for medical assistance while on a trip and that medical assistance is in relation to a pre-existing condition then that pre-existing condition must have been stable for 6 months prior to the trip departure date. All other covered reasons are clear cut, it is just the pre-existing conditions that are a concern to us on the annual plan. Some or all of these things may or may not relate to a policy that you are looking at but they are all things to consider with your provider.

For me, most codes do not work online, nor can my TA get them to work online. Calling is necessary.

Had not thought of this but very possible consideration as this only happens before payment. I have not had it happen this way after payment.

When did you do all this? Viking are having problems with their systems and the air portion. I cannot see air for one of my cruises, but it is done. Make sure that you are talking to Air Plus and not regular reservations. Ask to be transferred. Did you pay on your credit card the $300 or is it just showing on your invoice.

One thing that I have noticed on CC which is not a good or a bad thing, is that when a particular Cruiser is loyal to one or two brands, you cannot say anything negative about the brand without a "fight" of sorts. I use the term fight loosely. I have watched some folks venture into the Viking Ocean forum and say something negative after their first experience and be "beaten down" for that comment... using beaten down loosely too! Everything is subjective to our expectations, past experiences, and our overall mindset. I have had friends go places and they have an opinion good or bad, but then I question about something very specific and they did not experience that element...so I cannot take their review positively or negatively with any value to me. I love the information I have gained and learned on CC, but some other sites that might be considered similar in nature I have long since abandoned because of the overall vibe. I guess that you could say that I have a respect and trust for the information here over other sites.

Did you pay for Air Plus, or are you just using Viking Air. Big difference between the two. If you paid for Air Plus - $150.00 pp - and have booked flights with the Air Plus department then you should be able to see them in MVJ. If you are just using Viking Air (and not Air Plus) then you get to see flight schedules about 90 days in advance and after you pick the flights then they will populate into a flight itinerary. Did you actually pay for Air Plus? If so, did you call Viking Air Plus department to book? The other option is to wait until the 90 days and then call Air Plus, but unless you have engaged Air Plus, you won't see an itinerary before you have made selections. Hope this makes sense.

Never been on a cruise line where people do this. Don't understand it, and although I probably don't care if you do it or not, I can tell you that I would never myself do it.

Agreed on securing your phone today... And there are many reports of bikes riding past or people running and grabbing your phone. It is not the be all and end all, but we have found cases that have a very strong wrist strap and when we have our phones in our hands the wrist strap is on. This might prevent a theft while using the phone. The other caution that we exercise is that generally only one of us takes pictures so when one phone is out the other is away. The one without the phone is "watching" for grabbers.

I agree with both of you here. I have a few friends and acquaintances that are skeptical about going on a cruise and then I start to ask them questions about what they like and don't like and what they think a cruise really is, and they generally suggest that they like my approach because I start to share with them the differences of the cruise lines and the demographics that they serve. This does not mean that my advice is perfect, but I don't generalize my cruise advice. I have seen where I have had brilliant response and caring to a dietary need but then another person on the same cruise line that had a horrible experience. There is not always one general answer.

I believe that you can do this... however in the beginning... (haha, 2018'ish for me) you could put Air Plus on and talk to them and then everything happened at final payment. Now when you add Air Plus and you call Air Plus they ask for your Credit Card and you pay on the spot for the Air Plus fees and any deviation fees. I have not tried to ask questions about fares and schedules before paying so I cannot give you a direct answer to this. I have however found the Air Plus folks to be very accommodating, so this is possible. There has been rumour that Viking is going to get rid of Air Plus, but I don't believe that. Viking are just making Air Plus a profit centre or to at least cover costs. I am sure that there were a lot that used the services of Air Plus in the past and then walked away and did their own thing.

If you have actually "booked" these flights with Air Plus then you can go into MVJ - MyVikingJourney - at anytime and see your flights. As well, if changes occur to the flights you have blocked in MVJ, you will get an email with an update air itinerary. I look at my flights in MVJ probably about once a week. One thing that can happen with MVJ flights that you DON'T get an email about is the seats that you chose can drop... no warning, they just disappear. I have a theory, that the flight number did not change, the time of the flight did not change, but the airline changed the equipment and therefore the seat configuration changed. I could be totally wrong with that. You can pick your seats again on MVJ and Bob's your Uncle. You can cancel your flights and get a refund of the flight costs - if full payment made - as long as the flights have not ticketed. The ticketing happens without warning. You say you are willing to gamble $300 bucks, so I assume that you are aware that you lose the cost of Air Plus even if you cancel those flights.

I believe that FOD will phase out as cruise lines become more aware also of gender fluidity and how people identify. I have written a couple of times to my favourite cruise line suggesting that during a port talk I heard the term "Ladies and Gentlemen" at least 50 times. Some of the crew start every new statement with "Ladies and Gentlemen" and it becomes so redundantly obvious to me that it becomes hard to hear again and again. I am in L&D and non-inclusive greetings and phrases like "Ladies and Gentlemen" I retired several years ago. We are however also dealing with Crew from cultures where this kind of greeting is ingrained and diversity is not top of mind.

Thanks for this. I was thinking that the cruises that you take are "convenient" based on where you live too. More power to you and I love knowing what motivates different people when it comes to cruising. I have heard of these music themed cruises from a Florida resident that I met last Christmas on a European River cruise. He was so excited about music cruises, especially Jazz cruises. Thank you for sharing.

In my mind, and from being in sales for my full career, I salute this method of Viking's to keep their cabin price intact. This is a strategy that has a lot of psychological aspects built in. If I am used to paying $6K per person for a cabin, or $12K total, and all of a sudden cabins are going for $4.5Kpp or $9K total, I will forever remember the $9K and then feel that every cabin after that is expensive or has had a huge price increase. Viking's philosophy of giving reduced air, free air, SSBP, reduced deposits is a direct move to - as FlyerTalker says - maintain price integrity. We get our savings in other ways, but not through the main product offering. Psychology of pricing wins here because we never see the cabin price drop.

With my situation, had I gone for Viking Air Plus and booked the original flight that I wanted, I believe that I would have had it at no additional cost. Because on this particular cruise we opted for the first time to try Viking Air, without the Plus, then we experienced being shuffled around based on the reasoning that @FlyerTalker provided.