CDNPolar

Technically, they are checked and the gate affixes the same type of luggage tag that would be given at initial bag drop and checkin... so technically they have the same chance of making it or not making it as any other bag. But, I get your concern and agree with your reasoning.

OMG, I am going to have to Google this so that I don't give the wrong signal the next time I innocently wrap a towel around my waist. First I have heard of this.... but then I have been off the market for a few decades.

I have seen the solo travellers meetings listed, but as far as other activities, I have not seen anything specific for solo travellers. We have met our share of solo travellers and most of the time that meeting took place during an excursion where we just started a conversation. What kinds of activities are you looking for? Something more than a meeting?

So this topic has swayed a bit off topic. Can anyone confirm one way or the other if Viking Air Plus is being discontinued?

I have had them state that if you are in Zones 3, 4, or 5, you will most likely have to check your bag, so you might as well bring it to us now, so you don't delay the boarding process.

This should take you to where I go to investigate excursions in advance... This Grand European Tour runs all year, but now as we get closer to the Christmas Market season, I was expecting to see Christmas Market information - but no. We are travelling as a group of 8 and for most, the draw of this cruise for the dates we are going are the Christmas Markets. If you scroll day by day on the screen, you will see the excursions offered. https://www.vikingrivercruisescanada.com/cruise-destinations/europe/grand-european-tour/2023-amsterdam-budapest/index.html#itineraryday/1

Check out YouTube for passengers RUNNING for their cruise ships that have left port minutes before they got back. Many of these are filmed by those of us on the ship hanging off our balconies for the sail away. I personally have never seen this myself, but have watched many of the videos. We did have a friend travelling with her best friend and they took a private car tour for the day and they were literally RUNNING and reached the gangway at the moment that they were going to lift it. We do however book private excursions, but we look at the sail away time and always ensure that we have at least a 90 minute window and are back 90 minutes before sail away. Just not worth the risk. Also be careful how early the private excursion starts because docking times are never guaranteed, however we have never been late in docking in the morning, and in fact most times we dock earlier than expected.

You may also see or hear the manager or team that manages the excursions as the Shorex Manager or Shorex Department. What sparks1093 says above is true, but caution if you are booking your own excursions and if you book independently and you are not back in time for the ship to sail - for whatever reason - the ship does not wait for you. On the flip side, if the ship arranged the excursion and that excursion is late, then they wait.

Curious question for Viking River cruise itineraries and Christmas Markets. We are booked on the Grand European Tour but not until November 24th of 2024. I am looking at the same cruise for Viking in November and December of this year - 2023 - but there is no Christmas Market information??? Do I assume that we just wander into the Christmas Markets on our own? Are they all walking distance from the where the ship docks? Shuttles? I was expecting to see excursions that focused on Christmas Markets, but perhaps that is not how this works?

I find that I get into this mind swirl of where are we, where have we been, and where are we going from time to time on a ship, but I do know the name of the ship and the cruise line we are on at all times. Why I get into this mind swirl, and it happened recently on Passage to Eastern Europe, we were each day on one or two excursions where we have stopped at 2, 3, or 4 points of interest, and then the next day in a new country and do it over again... I find that sometimes on day four or five, to sort out what I saw and when and where in my head, I have to sit down with the photographs and wander through and recreate the days and connect them to the country or city. In Eastern Europe, many of the cities and countries had a very similar look and feel so this also contributed to "where am I today" kind of swirl.

What ship are you on? What cruise line? As klfrodo indicated, the cruise ship will bill your onboard account the daily gratuity amount per person and you pay it at the end of your cruise when you settle your final bill - usually the day before disembarkation. As well, if they are adding gratuities to your account and the gratuities are not included in your cruise fare, then you have the option (with most cruise lines) to pay the amount charged, pay more, pay less, or have the charge completely removed from your account.

My comment was "When in the Premium Economy cabin you use the Economy Lavatories". When in Business, I do use the Business lavatories.

We each have two sets of luggage and one is a smaller carryon and one is slightly larger. Both luggage manufacturers claim that they are carryon compliant, but that is not a guarantee and you must read in detail the dimensions on each of your airlines websites. As Fourmco above shows you they can be all different. Then there are some airlines that talk total linear measurements, which would come into play for non-standard bags... but try to push back on that when your bag does not fit the metal guide at the boarding gate. No one is going to measure your bag for a total linear measurement and clear it. And be prepared that there can be weight differences as well from airline to airline. We fly BA a lot and a carryon on a BA flight can be up to 23KG - same as the checked bag, BUT we are flying EVA in January and that same sized carryon bag in dimensions can only contain 7KG weight, and my understanding is that EVA will weigh this at bag drop and clear it or force you to check it. 7KG is 15LBS and my carryon weights 6LBS on its own. I am personally ok with airlines doing this because people now are pushing the limit of carryon and my opinion is that all should be subject to the same rules. We got forced to check one carryon bag at boarding and we were in Group 2 and then we saw people boarding in Groups 4,5 and beyond with way over the acceptable limit of carryon that were not forced to check. This is a form of discrimination. Either everyone if forced to the same rules or no one.

I predominantly fly either business or premium economy. When in the premium cabin you use the lavatories in economy. When I walk back through the economy cabin, and sometimes to the back of the plane, I typically see economy full but there may be open seats still in the premium cabin. Domestic vs. international flights may be different in the fullness of the aircraft too. What I have had happen to me lately is a lot of my connecting flights once I get to Europe cancel and move to the next scheduled departure, which says to me that there may be some cancellation of flights to fill the next scheduled flight, because these flights are always full (in my recent experience) where people cannot find room for their carryon.

I forget what cruise it was, but it may have been Panama, there was a scooter that was always parked in the hallway a few cabins down from us. It was parked there and plugged in to charge. I assume that this was right outside of the person's cabin that was the owner of the scooter. I have no problem with them onboard, but I did find that it blocked the majority - more than half - of the hallway and I felt that in an emergency it would be a hazard to be in the hallway and could end up blocking passage. Please don't hate on me for these statements, as I am an advocate for accessibility for all, but not at the expense of safety.

We have had some of the most mind stimulating and / or entertaining lectures and we have had some that would put me to sleep in 3 minutes or less. I would say that we appreciate Viking for the Resident Historians that they do contract to come on board. They are clearly experts in their field of knowledge and you cannot fault the content of what is delivered. What you can fault - if you care to - is the delivery of the information. We have all had that teacher or lecturer that exuded personality and made learning fun and we have all had that teacher or lecturer that we dreaded the next scheduled class. In general, I would say that the lectures are excellent on Viking Ocean, and that 90+ percent of the lectures I have attended (and we attend all that we are onboard for) I would recommend and sit through again.

We find that in port views are not necessarily all that you might think, especially in large ports. We go to the top deck for views at anytime and don't rely on our balcony or cabin views, mainly because we are typically only in our cabin to change or sleep. Regarding starting in London or Bergen consider this: If you go from London, you board and sail the same day, therefore if you want to see more of London you must go earlier and pay for a Viking pre-extension, or do it yourself. If you go from Bergen you are in port overnight so you have extra time in Bergen for sightseeing. We always take the above into consideration and also are the flights easier on the start of the trip into London or Bergen. We would rather do the easier flights at the beginning of the trip and save the connections and that mess to the return home. For us, (Canada) we can have direct flights to London, but we would have to connect coming home from Bergen, or going to Bergen. The direct flight going means less chance of lost luggage at the beginning of the trip. This is what I mean by "easier" flights. There are too many things that we might consider in making this decision, so for us it is not just cut and dry. (We typically fly in one day early, and foot the bill for a hotel night so that we are assured that we make the embarkation and sail away.) As far as booking a starboard or port side cabin, if you look at the itinerary, the ship loops around. I would say that if starting in London, we would want a starboard side cabin as you would be viewing the coastline all the way to Alta, and then the ship turns and your cabin would be looking out to sea all the way back to Bergen. You are seeing the complete coastline all the way up to Alta. This would be our choice. Perhaps even a starboard side cabin even starting in Bergen, but you are going to miss the coastline approaching Amsterdam and possibly England. Half the fun of Viking cruises for us is the planning. Have fun planning this as you are going to get lots of advice from the Viking cruisers here on Cruise Critic.

You say "new stock" - have they fixed the front/back cover issue?

In the past year I have flown to Australia, South Africa, Egypt, Nice, London, Bucharest and Budapest. Every flight was full and in some cases they were asking for volunteers to give up seats. The best way to ensure that you are in a 2 4 2 configuration so that you can sit in the window / isle is to pay for Premium Economy. Most every international PE cabin I have been in is 2 4 2 configuration, and if you are booking early enough and the airline allows, you can choose the seats in advance. Note however that sometimes these seat assignments are changed because the airline changes the aircraft. We spend a lot of time first on Google Flights and then we look at the airlines, and the flights available on seat map websites. We used to use SeatGuru, but they don't update any longer so the results from this site may not be accurate. We now use aeroLOPA. Take the flight information and then research the aircraft seating map. Sometimes on some aircraft, they narrow at the tail and you can have 3-4 rows of 2 seats on the window/aisle. These seats however are right at the back and the lavatories are right there, so you are going to have lines of people and a lot of activity around you. If we are not flying Premium Economy, and we are in an economy cabin that is 3 4 3 or whatever, we will often then choose 2 aisle seats either across from each other, or one in front of the other. I know you said that your husband does not want to sit beside someone he does not know.... More often than not, we choose isle seats one in front of the other. We also are both right handed, so we choose isle seats on the left side of the aircraft, because when meals come, our right arm is on the aisle and we are not as restricted eating. (This may sound strange to think of this, but believe me, if you have a larger person beside you in the middle seat or just a middle seat dweller that does not respect your space and they are also right handed, then you are going to be uncomfortable) This choice of isle seat is also beneficial because although we may have to get up to let the others out at times, we don't have to ask others to move for us getting up. (I tend to get very antsy on long flights and like to be able to get up and down and typically I do not ever sleep on an aircraft.)

I cannot imagine what you are feeling about all of this right now. We do so much long term planning and have every detail mapped out well in advance, then to have this kind of chaos dumped on you at the last minute.... I don't have any answers for you other than to say that MSC probably does not have answers and that is why you are not getting anything from them. This is such a last minute conflict in relation to your itinerary dates and the conflict is in rapid motion and no one knows what is happening. I am not defending MSC, but a cruise line cannot just make a decision to change ports or the complete itinerary without a lot of work and planning. If they are going to change the entire itinerary, then they must book the ports, arrange shore excursions, supplies, food, all of that... Sounds like you booked your flights yourself and not through MSC? Very unfortunate for you, and not what you want to hear, but this will just be a waiting game for you. Please make sure you are checking your junk mail to ensure that MSC notifications are not going to your junk folder...

I agree with bundtkate that a Viking ship is basically accessible for a wheelchair user, but some things go consider: 1) The Viking Longships in Europe - have not been on one is North America - would offer basic accessibility to everywhere on the ship but not the sundeck because the elevator does not go to the top deck. This could be a problem in some ports as I have been on ships where the disembarkation was done from the top deck from one ship to the other and then down stairs. 2) Often the gangway is not a ramp but everything from small to full size stairs. If you are going to disembark in some ports, you may have to have special arrangements to get off the ship. 3) Make sure you are booking a fully accessible cabin as all the ships I have been on, and especially River ships, the cabins are very small and there would not be the room necessary to pull a wheelchair beside the bed, and often the bathrooms have a step to get into. If I were you, I would create a list of questions for all cruise lines, find the itinerary that you are interested in, and then call the cruise line directly and pose the full list of questions. I am an advocate for accessibility, but there are just some restrictions that cannot be avoided, and you need to be fully aware of this before you pay your good money and book.

I believe that both are true!

There is no major number in these groups, but our observation from our first cruise 8 years ago where we felt we were the youngest on the ship, we are seeing many more younger cruisers now.

We have found also that the selection is not the same on every cruise. Depends on where in the world the ship is and if Ocean or River. River have in the past included some items in the Silver Spirit package that Ocean has not. (I know that this is not a question about Silver Spirits, rather just the drink menu. Also note that whether on Silver Spirits or not, you have access to everything on the menu if you choose to pay for it.)

Agree with the above answer from Paul73. However we have only been sailing on Viking since 2015 but we are seeing more younger folks on Viking all the time. We have been on 7 Viking cruises now, and a cross of River and Ocean. We only however sail the 14 days or less because we both still work and cannot take more than that time at once. In general, we are seeing more 30's, 40's and 50's on board.