CDNPolar

Hate you. Haha... Not quite there yet! (Retirement that is.)

Like okpaddy very interested to your review and experience. Please do share!

All this just speaks to the fact that people (including myself) will pay for what they perceive to be better, or more exclusive, or provide services that they want or expect. Cruise lines - like hotels with Concierge Floors/Lounges, and airlines with exclusive lounges and cabins - are creating experiences and options to charge more for. Because we have almost exclusively sailed Viking River and Ocean to date, we get everything we want and need included in the lowest category cabin, so we don't upgrade. We are only in our cabin to sleep, shower, and change, so this lowest category cabin is all we need. We also have never seen the need for advance restaurant or excursion bookings which the higher priced (same size) cabins pay for. We have always gotten every reservation we have wanted. Now, if we were to sail on a larger more mass market line, we might investigate Suite Class or Aqua Class for a more exclusive experience - we might. We would weigh options. On our more recent Viking River Cruise, we booked 2 weeks before sailing and only had deck 3 available, so we took it, but this gave us nothing more than deck 2 or deck 1 guests. I would never pay for this if deck 2 were available.

I personally only have experience with Viking River Cruises. Here is what I can tell you about Viking. We were on Treasures of the Rhine with Viking in December 2023 - so only one month ago. There were three wheelchairs on board. One guest used a wheelchair for ease of movement but also walked with elbow crutches, and often was assisted by family or crew off the ship on foot. Two guests were not stable on their feet at all and had to go everywhere in the chair, and even on and off the ship in their chair. This was often done with several family members or crew on and off the ship. Note, that on and off the bus during excursion must be done with assistance of family or friends only as Viking Crew do not attend to the busses during excursions. Here are the challenges to consider with River and this may require you to call each cruise line directly: 1) River cruise ships often dock 2, 3, or more ships wide at a port. This can be called "stacking" or "rafting" or "adjacent" docking. This can mean that you must now cross 2 or 3 or more ships to get off the ship. Each ship - although purpose built to do this - will have a ramp up and down or one or two stairs to disembark across. This could be tedious and difficult to cross 2 or more ships. 2) The gangway is not always a ramp, and can be stairs. We saw this several times on this last cruise and there would be 3 or 4 crew helping to guide the chair down the gangway. 3) You don't always disembark a river ship on the main level, it can be done on deck 2, or 3 or even on the sundeck. The higher up you are going the higher the pitch of the gangway to get off. 4) Twice on this cruise - for unforeseen circumstances - we had to disembark from the sundeck or deck 4. We were also the third ship from the dock. The sundecks are not made for crossing easily. Also, the elevator that you will use internally on the ship does not go to the sundeck, so you would have to have crew help to carry you and the chair to the top deck. 5) The busses - that I have seen - do not have wheelchair lifts, so the chair goes under the bus and the person in the chair has to be lifted or helped up the bus stairs and into a seat. This is where during the excursion, you would have to have enough family or friends to assist you on and off the bus. Viking crew are not going to be there to assist. Now, with all this being said, on this Viking Cruise, I don't believe that there was any excursion or desire of one of these guests in a chair to participate in an excursion or just a disembarkation to wander into the close by town/city, that did not get to do so. We saw all three participating in the excursions daily. So, it can be done and from my recent experience with Viking on this particular cruise and Crew, the three guests in chairs were well looked after and I was so happy and proud to know that they had the same opportunity I did to participate. The only other thing that I would state is depending on where you may be travelling, many countries in Europe and Asia are not as up to standard for accessibility as we might hope and expect. Cobblestones being one thing that would be an impediment, and lack of ramps and basic accessibility in and out of restaurants, and shops. Hope this helps.

Personally I don't know why it would not be optimal to book a leg of a longer cruise. We did the very first sailing of "Far East Horizons" and our segment was only 12 or 15 days, but we met people on board that were in the middle of 30 and 45 day segments. We boarded in Hong Kong, and ended in Tokyo where others that were completing the cruise - if I remember correctly - were ending in Vancouver Canada. We got every excursion that we wanted - both included and optional - without any concern or challenge. I do remember that we booked in advance when the excursions opened on MVJ. I think that what was very different about this was that when we boarded in Hong Kong, it was like any day that you get back on the ship. The ship was humming with activity and people that were already settled in, because they were. We did a Panama cruise last year that was the start of a World Cruise, so this one was different - we were only on for the first 12 days and then disembarked, but we started the itinerary...

You just have to check MVJ regularly and sometimes, not always, they are there silently with no notification. This has happened to us several times. And, yes, there can be new excursions added closer to sailing date. Again, you must check MVJ as these things are just there sometimes with no notice. I have a March 2025 booking that I check once a week on MVJ... Nothing yet.

The only thing that I would say about European cruises, and Homelands countries as well, is that most of the walking tours - or when and where there is walking - you are looking at cobblestone streets and walking paths. We were on Homelands last year and several people over several of our included excursions asked the question - "why don't they pave these stones over, it would make it easier to walk". I agree with others that Viking sometimes raise the level of an excursion to moderate or difficult, to easily, but I have also been on many excursions across 10 Viking cruises now where I see many people challenged by either the amount of walking or the difficulty meaning stairs or uneven surfaces. I do personally believe that the included excursions are curated so that the vast majority if not every Viking guest can partake, but this is what I would do.... When the excursions come open for booking - book all the included for yourself and travel companion(s). When you arrive on board - the first day - ask for a meeting with the Shore Excursion Manager and discuss each excursion one-by-one so that you are completely satisfied with the demands of each excursion. This way you can be certain that you are booking the right ones and dropping ones that may be too demanding. Even though I say that I have experienced guests on some included excursions having difficulty, this is completely a personal situation and we don't know their personal situation or limitations. This is where meeting wtih the ShoreEx Manager will be good for you.

Yes, that would reduce the cost for sure.

Singapore airlines is worth the price, but you are right Zach1213, they are not low price. However, for the CAD price of about $1,500.00 round trip NY to Singapore in a Premium Economy seat, is cheaper for me in Canada than most flights to Europe in Economy. I do however have to get to NY from Toronto first which is not calculated in the price.

You have to check MVJ to see if they are open in advance of the published date. You won’t receive any notification

One TA that we use, clearly states what she takes if we cancel, and if there is not a refund for the fare, she invoices you for the cancelation.

I would not fly that distance in less than Premium Economy. I have done China, Japan, South Africa, Australia, Argentina - all long flights. If you can afford it, do yourself a favour and do at least Premium. You did ask what I would do.... If you already have to do one internal flight in the US, then why not consider Singapore Airlines out of Newark? This is non-stop from New York to Singapore at 19 hours. All seats, if I am understanding correctly are Premium Economy at the base level. If you are only doing one way to Singapore, then you can get a seat on this flight for about $750.00 CDN which is less in USD by about 30%.

If you go to the main Viking site where you booked the cruise, find your cruise and then click on "Itinerary" just under the cruise name and on the left. Then scroll down and click on each day of the itinerary, on the "Read More" and then you will see the shore excursions that COULD be offered. NOW - NOTE that these are not guaranteed. But this will give you some good advance reading before they come available for you to book on MyVikingJourney. They have the disclaimer at the top "Shore excursions vary by each itinerary, and are subject to change." You have to know that this is a sampling and you may see some of these in reality and not others, and you may also see some that are not listed here when they open for booking. Additionally on this screen they do indicate what is an included excursion and that would be the free one when they open for booking. But, again, this is not 100%

As gnome12 said above, be very aware of any internal flights and the luggage size and restrictions. You will / may find that the accepted carryon is restricted in both size and weight from the typical international airline that you fly in on. We have friends on a trip now, and this was one of their challenges, as what they expected to be able to pack was acceptable for flying from USA to Cambodia, but the internal flights that they had they would have had to check everything - including carryon - and then pay additional fees. They worked it out with smaller and lighter bags before leaving home.

One of the reasons we like Viking Ocean and River, is that although you can purchase higher decks at a higher price (for what reason I don't understand) or larger cabins, and there is no separation in the sense that if you pay for this you get to go to this exclusive restaurant. On Viking River, everyone is the same when it comes to the lounge or the dining room. On Viking Ocean everyone has the same opportunity (especially once on board) to book the specialty restaurants. Everyone has the same access to High Tea, to the lounges, etc. And before anyone corrects me on the same access to specialty dining, we have never booked a cabin above the bottom two categories, and we have never booked a restaurant reservation prior to boarding, and we have never had an issue getting reservations when and where we want them. This is why I say that everyone has the same opportunity.

Sorry to hear of your experience, especially for a first time. You seem to have had some "bumps in the road" with a change of pre-hotel and then ports dropped. This happens from time to time where hotels are switched. We were also switched hotels on our Viking Panama and no where near the water in Ft. Lauderdale where we expected to be. Hopefully you will use the vouchers that Viking gave you and give Viking another go....

For a Guarantee Cabin booking? I did not think that Viking offered that until just weeks before sailing? I have never seen the option of a Guarantee Cabin in advance bookings.... am I missing something?

I cannot find if Arch insurance offered by Royal Caribbean covers Canadians? Anyone know?

The best part is you are guaranteed DV4 or higher category. We booked our last cruise 2 weeks out and were a guarantee cabin. We found out cabin assignment on MyVikingJourney before the email came from Viking. Go to you MVJ account and into the booking in question, and go to "Booking Summary" and this is where we found our cabin assignment. It was about 7 days after booking, and about 7 days before sailing, but we were also instructed when we booked that we may not get the assignment until we arrive at port.

I too would like to see these deep discounts. We booked our last cruise (December 2023) two weeks before sailing. We paid full price, no discount, and there were cabins empty when we boarded.

Absolutely good advice. We are Viking enthusiasts and we can sometimes have OBC (Onboard Credit) and sometimes SBC (Shipboard Credit) and they can have completely different rules. The OBC came from our TA and if we added a beverage package or booked excursions in advance of embarkation, the OBC would be automatically applied to those charges. The SBC in our last situation was a "gift" from Viking because of a challenge we had on a previous cruise, but that could only be spent onboard the ship and if we did not use it, it had no cash value. We could however use it for gratuities at the end of the cruise. With Viking, there can be different rules for different credits.

Depends on the relationship between the three and the agreement but I would set that out in advance. If I were travelling with my husband and a third wanted to join us and we were willing to share the cabin, then I would - in advance - tell the third person that they are paying the total price divided by 3. If they said that their fare is half the full fare, I would then say for us to share with you, then you should share equally in the price, of get your own cabin. (Would say that in a more polite way...) I would personally see this like a restaurant bill if you were three for dinner and all three had very similar priced items, then the bill is paid in thirds. But, this depends on your relationship.... and that you need to establish up front before the booking. I would also assume that they would participate equally on any additional charges - such as gratuities - that are charged to the cabin. They would be responsible for their own alcohol, spa, and any other charges that are truly individual.

Please don't take offence to the statement that I am about to make, as I have seen others say the same thing, that they don't travel enough to bother... As an extremely seasoned traveller who travels many times a year for both personal and professional reasons, even if I was only travelling once per year, I would pay for TSA Precheck, Global Entry, Nexus (Canada) as they so make your airport journey easier and faster and less hassle. I am still amazed in Canada using Nexus (Similar to Global Entry) how few people are using this. I walk past lines that are at least 30+ minute waits and I am through security in 2 minutes. Coming home the same thing with immigration and customs. I just don't get it. But, we don't want everyone getting it or the waits would be for everyone.

I think that you will be just as happy in a B Veranda. There is absolutely no difference to view - when there is one - and no difference to the size or layout of the cabin. You also don't have to do any stairs when you are going for breakfast or meals in general. Please do report back as to your experience!