CDNPolar

WOW, thank you. There are so many variables to comparing cost, and I was always only looking at the in-your-face costs. So many of these that you are talking about I would not have factored. I personally really resonate on Viking's retention rate of crew and the crew being happy making for happier guests. This is one of our main reasons for sailing with Viking. The Crew are amazing.

I agree. All you have to be is considerate of others. Again, we learned nothing during Covid. We are definitely going to need a lot of help when the next Pandemic hits and I believe that it will happen in the near future. One of the most ridiculous things I saw as Covid was winding down the worst part was a woman on a bus that was wearing a mask, but would pull the mask down to cough into her hand and then put the mask back.

I have heard what I would call a "snorting" boar which to me was a very suspect sound in the public facilities.

Thanks. Have read through this now. Had not seen these terms before. Again, our bank issuing the card says there is no challenge in having multiple cards linked to the same Aeroplan account. I have called into the credit card as well and they claim to be good with what we are doing. Yes - you can post a blog post here as far as I am aware.

According to our bank no, that is not the case. All they care about is that we spend the required amount of the card to get the points. I will look into this however because our bank has been wrong before. If you can direct us to where this policy is, it would be appreciated.

This is an answer that speaks to Canadian insurance, because we have had annual policies and we have had trip specific policies. It becomes a cost thing for us and hedging our risk of a need to cancel. We started cruising in 2017 and have done 11 cruises now since that start. When we look at the cost for us to cover one trip, the total insurance for both of us comes to about $1,000.00. BUT, this covers to the full paid price of the trip. If we are taking 2 trips in the year, then that is a cost of $2,000.00. Simple math. Again, coverage for the full paid price of the trip. When we buy an annual package that covers us for any number of trips in the 12 months from purchase (up to 17 or 31 days which is selected when purchasing) then we pay about $1,200.00 and have coverage for both or all trips we take that year. BUT, and it can be a BIG but... This annual coverage only gives us a return of up to $5,000.00 per person per trip. In some cases, with air, the cost per person can be $7K to $9K. Note as well that this is not CFAR insurance, but must have a valid cancellation reason as per the policy. I do a cost spreadsheet to look at this. With Viking which is our preferred cruise line, we pay in full 6 months before sailing. The first penalty with Viking is at 120 days from sailing. So, we can cancel with Viking up to 120 days or 2 months after we have paid in full and receive everything back but the deposit. During that 120 days there is a sliding scale of what Viking will refund and what we have to depend on the insurance for. We start to lose money usually between 60 and 90 days out. If we are cancelling in the final 30 days there is no refund from Viking so we can be losing 4-5K per person. You have to hedge your bets on this one. What will you feel more comfortable with.

Same thing.

The one guy that we chatted with throughout the cruise, and once the coughing was all around us said that he sat in front of two people on one of the busses and he felt like he had "lung" all over the back of his head and neck when he got off the bus. Pretty gross.

Assuming you mean with the "included" wines.... YES, this is our experience too.

We also have to remember that Viking ships are SMALLER than many of the other cruise lines. Many of the larger cruise lines have bigger stores areas and can bring more on board. You will notice that when you are in many of the ports, there are skids of all kinds of supplies including wine and spirits being loaded. Viking does not load a the beginning of the cruise with a full supply to last the entire cruise... they restock along the way. This is just part of sailing Viking. I do get that some folks like a particular brand, but sometimes it may run out.

Viking was actively selling cabins on one of their new Nile River ships with full intent to cancel because the ship had not even been launched at 6 months before the sail date. We we full payment at the 6 month point. We called Viking and got nothing from them so we cancelled before payment date and moved to another cruise line for the same dates. This has happened before with Viking. They are hedging their bets to get a sold out ship and then give you a voucher.

Our last cruise was Treasures of the Rhine and that was in December / January. Boarded the full River ship with 1 or 2 that were coughing. By mid way through the 12 day itinerary, 1/3 of the ship was coughing. On the 8th day I had fever and stayed home from the excursions. My fever broke that night. Coughing, but wearing a mask, I participated the next day. More than 1/3 of the ship was coughing. Maybe 10 people, my husband and I included, were wearing masks. Many were coughing openly without covering their mouths with elbow or hand. We apparently learned nothing from Covid. A few couples that we kept in touch with were sick after disembarking. I did not have Covid, at least from Covid test kits that I had. Maybe they did not detect the strain, or I had something else. In any case, this ran through the ship very quickly. Interestingly my husband did not catch it whatever it was. We still travel with masks. Remember that masks are more of a preventative when YOU are sick, meaning you are less likely to transmit whatever you have if you are wearing a mask. Wearing a mask is about respect for your fellow humans.

Look on your Viking Invoice. You should see the OBC there if the TA has applied it to the booking. Typically any TA OBC can be used in advance and will be applied against any excursions booked in advance of the cruise. These are generally not restricted to ship board use only.

Understand not for CDN Passports, but does this allow you to go through the eGates in any European city or just FRA?

One additional thing to consider is that you know very well the sail away time at the end of the day and that any private tour that you are going to book can guarantee you back well before sail away time. Ships don't wait for stragglers. If you are not there at back on board time and the ship sails, it sails.

If you cannot find the cancelation policy and you cannot find reviews of the tour companies that you are considering, I would not send any amount of deposit in advance. Cash on the day? Yes, and we have done that, but there was no deposit, and there was obviously a trust factor that we were going to show up. But, the ones we have done like this we have found through reviews and one of our best ever was talked about here on Cruise Critic. We typically use Viator which is an aggregator, and not a tour company, but we use them because they have good cancelation policies. You can find independents on Viator as well, and they are not all mass tour companies. You can however with Viator have the tour canceled last minute if there are not enough people signed up - especially with the independents. This has happened to us a couple of times and then we were left without a tour that day.

I personally would pick Tokyo over Sydney any day. Have been to both, and there is far more in Tokyo and surrounding metro area that I want to see. I would be adding time in Japan and visiting other cities as well. If you do go to Sydney, don't miss doing the Sydney Bridge Climb. Spectacular and not to be missed. If I only had one day in Sydney in the future again, I would spend it doing the Bridge Climb.

I would suggest that this would be an insurance no-no for a ship. Not that many people that would understand or have experience using an endless pool.

If you don't like one of the included wines - say the red one - ask if there is another option. Tell them you don't like it. We have done this many times and they seem to have a different option available. Also we have found that the included wines can be different day-by-day. They are not advertised, so they can change. I also believe that short stock in past listed wines are used up as included wines. This is where the options come from.

Hard to put into words, but we just like Viking for all the positive statements above. Most of all NO kids. Not a cruise line that is adult focused, but a cruise line with NO kids. I have tried to do analysis of different cruise lines in price and it is difficult. No two are close enough to really make that decision. Personally, we look at the itinerary, then the cost, and ask if the cost fits our budget. If it fits the AVAILABLE budget for travel this year, we do it. There are Viking cruises that we have not done yet because the itinerary is too expensive now. Does not mean that we won't do it later. We are however biased as we have completed 10 Viking cruises and keep booking them.

This is all about the settings. You can successfully have your home physical SIM and an eSIM installed and not get connection and roaming charges when away. Each type of phone can be different in settings, but with Airola we install the eSIM at home before travel and turn off the eSIM. On the iPhone, there is "SIMs" section in the Cellular heading of the Settings. After installing the eSIM you to there and name the eSIM and turn it off. On the plane before landing wherever you are going, you turn off your home SIM and turn on the eSIM. This allows you to connect the the European service as soon as you land and if the home SIM is off you will not connect and incur charges. This way also allows you to quickly turn on the home SIM if you are ever in an emergency situation and you need to access your home number. But, as long as it is off before landing you are good. The challenge is that if you do forget to turn your home SIM off, you will connect and have charges.

I think that every cruise line handles this differently. We sail primarily with Viking and we recently booked a very last minute (two weeks before sailing) cruise in Europe. Our booking was a guarantee cabin. We were concerned because we had heard the same - that people arrive at the ship and are bumped or they are told a few days before that they are not going to make it on the ship. Viking gave us their policies around this and we were satisfied and continued forward with the booking and all went well. BUT, I would be concerned with the "unlikely" comment. Personally I would investigate further asking these questions: 1) If I am not going to be assigned a cabin and ultimately bumped from the ship, how much notice will I be given? 2) What compensation will I receive for being bumped? (some cruise lines offer additional compensation for people to willingly relinquish their cabin if they are overbooked) 3) What about my airfare that I have booked and paid for? How will you compensate me for cancelling the air portion of my cruise? Not sure if or how cancellation insurance might handle this. I appreciate your potential anxiety over this. I am sure you want a more definite answer.

Welcome to Cruise Critic! I truly hope that your first cruise becomes a "That was amazing" experience. We fell in love with cruising in early 2017 and have cruised 10 times since that first cruise and have four future cruises booked. Our first cruise was on the Viking Star and it was Empires of the Mediterranean as the Itinerary. We loved this itinerary and every cruise port up the coast from Athens to Venice. We love Viking ships and although some Viking Ocean ships are getting older now we find that they keep the interiors in great shape. A lot will depend on what cruise lines you are looking at and there are pros and cons to large ships vs. smaller ships and what kinds of amenities you are looking for. Do you want a Casino? Do you want 900 guests on board or 3500 guests? Do you want a budget type cruise or more luxury? You would really help us here to know the following because your ask is a bit general and you will get advice and answers all over the place... 1) What cruise lines are you considering? 2) What ships by name? 3) What itineraries are you considering?

Are you are saying that you paid for Viking Air - $100 pp - but did not use it? You just took the flights that were given? Then call Viking reservations and ask for Viking Air Plus to be removed and they should refund you the $100pp that you paid. In my knowledge this is only a fee you pay if you actually use the Viking Air Plus service.

You really have to load before you go. Some settings must be done before leaving Canada, or you cannot make them once away from home. I don't think that it matters what company you use - most are good. There is a lot of discussion about Airalo however and we have had great luck with them.