Selion

Because a lot of people are attracted to low & splashy initial costs, click baits if you will. Can't sell them cruises if they won't even look at your listing! It's like eBay of 20 years ago: $1 PlayStations with $899 in shipping & handling.

Thanks, @Squawkman. Paywall was strong with this one. This made me to look over my Travel Guard policy coverages. It doesn't cover anything resulted from common carrier employee's incompetence, or at least I didn't see it listed or could be interpreted that way. If we were denied boarding due to an employee's mistake, we are basically SOL. That's harsh.

Are there any specific topics you would like to have feedback on? Your original post is too broad for any replies other than "Google it." On the itinerary itself, yes it appears to be part of the repositioning cruise. The first half is basically the Iconic Western Mediterranean, with a shortened call at Livorno (1 day vs overnight). The 2nd half is part of Iberian Explorer, but instead of going to London it ends at Lisbon and adds Seville (Cadiz).

Somewhat off-topic, but in the spirit of the discussion on hand... @mhb1757 I had a Delta flight booked by NCL in Dec 2021 that was delayed to the point that I wasn't able to make the connecting flight. I was able to rebook the flight via Delta app at no charge. Have you tried changing the itinerary directly with Delta, either online or via phone?

The Adriatic.

Viking Sea had the NFL Thanksgiving games on, but not a single match of the World Cup. 🙄

That's a decent selection of single malts. We had a rather limited single malt selection on Viking Sea last November. The ones that were "readily" available at all bars were Glenfiddich Select and Reserve. If they had Glenmorgangie available back then, I probably wouldn't have stepped off the ship. Got to put that SSBP to use!

You can see your excursions in MVJ's calendar, just need to go through each day. There's a summary somewhere where it lists all days and what excursions you have booked. Don't have a current booking, so can't tell you exactly where it is

In addition to those, often the group size is much smaller as well. We had our first taste of what typical Viking excursion group size would be in November 2022. It shouldn't come as a surprise, but it did; because Viking spoiled us with pandemic-era excursion groups in March 2022.

💀 Waiting for ocean promos... 💀

We love aft cabins. Had 4122 last March on the Sky from Venice to Athens. Enjoyed the sailaways very much!

@OneSixtyToOne just did a write up of their Athen pre-extension. It's the same itinerary as the post- one. IMO, Viking's 4-day extension is a good option if you wanted to see parts of Greece outside of Athens. We did Athens entirely on our own in 2 days, but didn't venture outside of the immediate downtown areas of Athens.

I've seen $999 to $1399 upgrade to prem econ and $2499 to $3599 upgrade to business class with free air promos. They are not available on all sailing dates though. I'm guessing the upgrades are capacity based. Once they are sold out, you are slumming it!

Yes, it is. MSP is a Delta hub. One would think Viking would include it in US gateway airports.

Ocean Asia Flash Sale Free Category Upgrade Free International Air Promo Code AFS23 Expires Jan 23, 2023 https://www.viking.com/promotions/us/ocean/AFS23/20230111 Offer AFS23: Offer valid on bookings made from Jan 11 to Jan 23, 2023. Free category upgrade up to Deluxe Veranda (DV1) plus free international airfare valid on Mar 2 & 21, 2023 departures of Komodo & the Australian Coast; Mar 18, 2023 departure of Secrets of Southeast Asia; Apr 18, 2023 departure of Across the Bay of Bengal; Apr 29, 2023 departure of North Pacific Passage; Apr 6, 2023 departure of Bangkok, Bali & Beyond. Call for details. Prices are in US dollars and for US residents only. Air does not have to be purchased to get cruise/tour offer. All fares reflect cruise taxes, port taxes and fees. Additional restrictions may apply. Airfares vary on other itineraries, gateways and departures. Air offers not valid on Alaska, Hawaii, San Juan and Mexico City; call for details. Book by Jan 23, 2023; pay in full at time of booking. Offer expires Jan 23, 2023.

Thanks @Clay Clayton! Been waiting for a Med ocean sale for a while! Edit: It's a sale, but as Clay said it's not a deal.

Fruits, vegetables, and dairy products come to mind. Snark aside, you may be better off posting this question in the current "Live from World Cruise" thread.

"Guaranteed" cabin in the cruise industry means you are guaranteed a cabin at the category you booked, or in any of the higher categories (free upgrade!). You will not be assigned a cabin in a cabin category lower than what you paid for (in your case, any DV or V cabins). Cabin assignment usually take place anywhere between 30 days to a few days out. It depends on the cruise line's revenue management system and if there are enough people taking upgrade offers to free up overbooked categories.

You're right, @Squawkman. I should've said "most" instead of "all." Was just checking out cruises on the Rhone, no free air with either codes.

And all 2023 river cruises have free air now in addition to $25 deposits. Promo Code RJE23 or RML23

Expedition promo ANT22 extended to Jan 31, 2023. Fares now starting at $7,995. Free international air It sounds like a last-minute sale to me. https://www.viking.com/promotions/us/expedition/ANT22/20220730/antarctic-explorer.html Offer ANT22: Offer valid on bookings made from Dec 28, 2022 to Jan 31, 2023. Cruise from $7,995 per person valid on select Feb-Mar 2023 departures of Antarctic Explorer in category N2; subject to availability, other categories/departures may be higher. Call for details. Free international airfare valid on all featured itineraries/departures. Prices are in US dollars and for US residents only. Air does not have to be purchased to get cruise/tour offer. All fares reflect cruise taxes, port taxes and fees. Book by Jan 31, 2023. Pay in full at time of booking.. Offer expires Jan 31, 2023.

Telling facts are considered rude now. Ok. How would you sugar coat it? Again, the issue isn't with Viking. They missed the boat, literally. The vacation plan was ruined and gone. The issue is how do they seek compensation from the insurance they purchased. All the "woulda, coulda, shoulda, but didn't" talk is about how to preserve and salvage said vacation plan. At this stage for this vacation, it's just noise.

@longterm did a write up on his post extension in Athens this past March. Check out post #115 in his thread. DW and I were on the same cruise, but we arranged our own post stay in Athens.

I'd like to know when the insurance was purchased/in force, and which insurance company. Edit: You need to focus on working with the insurance, not Viking. To Viking your parents are no-shows. Under the T&Cs, Viking doesn't owe your parents anything. Even though your parents bought insurance through Viking, Viking is not the insurer. I find it interesting the "insurance" (in quotation because you didn't say which one) stated it doesn't cover cancellations & delays due to bad weather. I attached the TripMate document Viking sends with every booking. Learn the coverage and work it out with TripMate. That said, I've always bought travel insurance separately instead through the cruise lines. Makes a lot easier to figure out who to deal with and avoid this kind of confusion. Tripmate_Travel_Protection.pdf

Question to the OP - How many threads do you need to create on a similar topic?