OnTheJourney

FC....thanks. I looked that over and came across the following: Apparently this is not the case right now though? I expected something like having to pay the $100-150 so as to at least then include the capability of adding an air component, but didn't expect to have to make a choice of economy, premium, or business right away. I will contact them - just haven't had the time past few days. Early flight itinerary selection, as early as 310 days prior to your cruise end date

I'm going to call them once I look at and decide on an itinerary that looks good. The worst that can happen is they can say they can't do anything that far out at the present time.

That's what I expected but not what I was told. It was like - choose which of the three price classes you want and pay for it immediately in order to add air to the booking. I was rather dumbfounded. Didn't make any sense. I remain totally confused on how the thing is supposed to work.

I'll have to try again, calling Viking air directly - if they tell me they can't help me right now due to serving those with upcoming trips within 60 days, that's fine. But I want to have specific itineraries chosen before I call them. Thanks for all the info!

Wow....can't say I ever went through that much trouble to make a call! Nope....not familiar with that LOL....to quote Indiana Jones, "it's not the years, it's the mileage" For sure! I'm still astounded at every time I transfer pics and videos to my small external hard drive - considering that a thing that size can hold a few terabytes of info - the equivalent of probably a really large room full of hard copies. Other things too - cars with navigational systems that talk to you (I've yet to buy one of those - so far have never bought a car manufactured in the 21st century - talk about dating myself), being able to (for an exhorbitant cost) actually take a short trip in space, AI, drones, DNA testing, 3D printers, etc. And the rate of technological change just continues to exponentiate. My wife worked in a local hardware store during the 70s, and when the Atari video game "pong" came out and hit the shelves, she assumed that such a thing would never sell or catch on! 😁 Virtual reality, too. I've no doubt that someday the "holodeck" idea ala Star Trek TNG will be a commonplace thing - probably even in peoples' homes, thus rendering archaic the current home theatre setup. I often think about how much easier it is for musicians nowadays to sell their stuff on digital streaming platforms compared to back in the day where you had to drive to the store and buy a record! Can you imagine telling kids today the old phrase, "you sound like a broken record"....say what? Gotta admit, when I transfer LPs to digital I still like hearing those pops and crackles that are part of well-used vinyl recordings. What can I say, old school....still have my '76 turntable, receiver, and speakers - and cabinets full of VHS and CDs.

LOL....when I was still teaching the one duty was monitoring the kids as they either arrived in the morning or at afternoon dismissal. I was a bit shocked to see a good number of 3rd and 4th graders pop open a cell phone nearly as soon as they left the building, and that was about 15 years ago - can only suppose that just about every kid has one by now. I can remember when I was in college in the 70s waiting in line to use the pay phone at the end of the hall in the dorm to make a call...wow....talk about retro! Kids today can't even imagine how it was. As you said, no instantaneous communication, no internet, etc. My grandfather, during his lifetime, saw some amazing changes - from horse and buggy on the farm to the space age.

Indeed we greatly enjoyed Barcelona! Once again, having never been anywhere in Spain, it was most exciting to see a new place. We had booked a private tour through Viator and so got to see Park Guell along with the Sagrada - both pretty amazing. Since the tour didn't take us back to the hotel, we used the HOHO bus to do some additional sightseeing. One of the stops was at the train station - right next to the hotel. Actually, another look at the pics shows that it was pretty much just of our table. Yours is visible in the pic as well but hard to make out who everyone is.

Most encouraging. I don't mind paying the money upfront if it's worth it for flexibility in scheduling, etc.

I think I will, especially after earlier today an agent (on the MVJ chat feature) told me that I can't add anything to the booking unless done by my TA. I wanted to add a pre-cruise extension and she said she couldn't do it. That didn't sound right to me, so later I talked to another one who said I can add whatever I want but can't take anything away without going through my TA. I've seen these sorts of inconsistencies with other cruise lines also. Thanks for the info!

I just get the feeling you have an excellent memory for names and faces. One of our group took several nice pictures at the vineyard dinner. If you'd like, I'd gladly share them but a bit hesitant to post them right on the open forum since some folks may not take to that too well. I'd be curious, for one thing, for you to point out who you are if in the picture. I'm trying to remember in more detail that moment where I almost fell off the bus! Did you do the Barcelona extension?

I chatted with an agent today to add an extension, and then got talking about possibly adding air. I asked if I'd be able to call the air dept. to discuss pricing, etc., but I was told that in order to work with the air dept. I'd first need to add the "air plus" service to the booking. So then she looked into it and asked if I wanted to add the air component to the trip right now - indicating that she couldn't add air plus if there isn't air on the booking at all (?) This is all just a tad confusing since I've never done it before. Next, after asking which local airports I'd use for international, she said that I'm too far out to make any schedules yet (for a January cruise) and that right now the air dept. is working with people that are within 60 days of departure and running into all sorts of issues with the air carriers cancelling flights (?). So she seemed to allude to a bit of chaos with the air bookings. Next she quoted the prices for economy, premium economy, and business class and said the prices she is quoting are 'locked in' as soon as paid for. She suggested just waiting being that they wouldn't be able to do much for me now anyway. Just so I have this right...is there no way I can work with the air dept. unless I agree to pay upfront for one of the 3 classes she quoted (or, of course, I could choose economy and likely upgrade later)? Somehow I expected that she'd have to add something to the booking - a set fee, for example, which would qualify as "adding air on the booking", but would then at least allow me to talk to the air desk and get some pricing and itineraries. Apparently too soon to do either. Unless I'm missing something, it seems like an all-or-none deal relative to booking - either pay it all upfront right now and then work out the seating later, or do nothing (at least through Viking). I remain a bit confused about it but am just hesitant to fork out a good chunk of money (especially for B-class) without being to get any sort of detailed info as to what I'm purchasing. I booked my own air when we did the Sky Northern Lights cruise back in '19, but with some of the uncertainties that exist today I'd prefer to keep everything under Viking so as to have all the monies covered under 'risk-free' if something were to go sideways or if we'd decide to cancel. She suggested that I at least book by 120 days out but I'd be inclined to not wait quite that long. What bothers me about all this is that I'd be paying the money up front but not actually getting a seat till much closer to the trip. I'm not used to that, having always booked my own for land tours, etc. so as to know right away where my seats are. Booking my own, of course, means the money is not under risk free however. Any thoughts or suggestions? Talked to my TA afterwards and gave her the quoted prices, which she thought were actually quite good IF they were for both DW and myself for roundtrip. The agent indicated it was. I'll have to start looking up some prices to compare.

Oh my....now that you mention it I did put that video on CC. It must have made quite an impression! We were interviewed by the local newspaper shortly after the Sky event and so that's how that came about. I thank you so much for your kindness and the offer of assistance with that bus incident!! That was pretty crazy...I sort of just slid all the way down the bus steps, thankfully uninjured. Had forgotten about that. The sneakers I had on have pretty smooth, slippery bottoms. At the hotel we stayed at in Perugia, we had a very scary incident with one of our group members. The carpeted steps had these metal bars at each step - all the way on the inside of each, held by a clip on both sides. They basically held the carpet in place. They're old and apparently get loose from the retaining clips...since one was laying out of its clips just waiting for someone to trip over it. I told the staff about it the one day and they fixed it, but then we came back from an excursion and noticed that night that one of the bars was dislodged again. A bit too tired to say something that evening, I fixed it best I could. The next morning, however, one of our group slipped on another loose bar on the way to breakfast and tumbled down a few steps near the bottom - landed on her face. It was REALLY scary cause had no idea how badly she might have been hurt. Turns out she had a cut on her head and other bruising but thankfully nothing serious. She used ice that day while riding on the bus - and the next day as well. Just watching her fall, though, was quite agitating and upsetting. I have no doubt the hotel fixed and / or replaced those bars already. It was a nice decorative design but surely in need of attention. Hope the cough goes away soon!!

LOL...messages nearly crossing simultaneously in cyberspace!!! No problem!

Feta....You quoted me before I edited (post #80). I changed it to "some" of these countries appear to require covid testing. Spain does not. Of course, relative to covid nothing can be engraved in stone. Policies can change at any time. My next Viking cruise isn't till January, so I'm hoping but not going to count on the policy staying as relaxed as it is following the recent revision.

Only certain countries, not all...actually not most the way it seems.

Here are the most up-to-date requirements for Viking. https://docs.vikingcruises.com/pdf/14-PreCruiseRequirement-All-US_CAN_UK_AU_NZ.pdf Viking's policies do not apply in all cases. A few of these appear to require covid testing: Argentina, Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, Chile, Egypt, France, Netherlands, Panama, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Spain, Turkey and United States

Agreed. We'll probably still mask as well the majority of the time, although have to say we're really tired of it at this point. NOT easy to be traipsing around on excursions in the hotter weather while wearing a mask - especially during a lengthy walking tour. Found it interesting how, on some of the busses we used during the Chairman's Cruise, masks were handed out and all were told to wear those regardless of what people had with them.

Well said...almost hard to fully remember what it was like around the boards pre-covid.

Deb, my apologies! (I think I have the right name?!) Wish we had gotten to meet somewhere along the way! Apparently you know who my wife and I are, but you have me at a disadvantage of not having recognized you, though we surely must have crossed paths. Definitely would have likely seen each other at the winery dinner and perhaps that last (extension) lunch in Orvieta. I felt pretty crappy during most of that unfortunately. I was most sorry to hear that you (both?) had gotten covid following the trip and hope all is well by now. You are correct in that we were indeed quite hesitant and dithered at length as to going on the Chairman's cruise or not. The invitation allowed for little time to make some scheduling adjustments - for many of us no doubt - and I regret having prattled on at length about some of that as well as rehashing the Sky episode so many times in the months leading up to the cruise. I think some comments back then may indeed have been directed at me! I do get a bit 'carried away' at times. We are so thankful we decided to go. It was truly an amazing trip, especially for us having never been anywhere in the Mediterranean. Being a tad prone to motion sickness at times, I found the sailing, except for that one night, to be amazingly smooth. I typically wear sea (wrist) bands while on any cruise but didn't need them at all except for that one kind of rocky evening. I was wondering about this also being that I just chatted with a Viking agent last night and she said that there is no need for a test before, during, or after the cruises - at least at the present time. Change is the only constant, so see where it all goes!

So will Viking still require (for a cruise leaving out of EU ports) a covid test 24 hours before the international flight? Or just a test at embarkation?

Don't feel bad. I didn't have the most recent pre-cruise documentation until like a week before we left last month.

Denial of ether the presence of or the infectiousness of covid could possibly be linked to a percentage of those who diidn't like the testing on Viking, but surely that group of people would be just that - a certain % - likely a small one at that. DW and I found the testing to be an inconvenience, a bit frustrating in how long it took, and quite simply a bit of a worry, but yet we do not fit into the category of C denial. Quite the contrary, we wore masks on the ship during the invitational cruise basically all the time, as well as ashore most of the time. In doing so, we were in the vast minority on both counts. Sorry if I'm in some way misinterpreting your post. Agreed on hopefully less adversarial conversation here on CC however.

No....also don't miss those who, early in the pandemic, suggested that all us older folks just stay home if we're worried about the virus. Oh Lordy....let's not even go there. Yep! To each his own on this thing - right along with a myriad of other present-day concerns

Awwww....don't you miss that tube in the morning? 😉

I had the same reaction. Figured this PCR protocol was just Viking being Viking. I mean, yeah, you want to make sure people aren't infected before returning to the US (of course now, with no testing, no guarantee of that), but also assumed the greater issue was the health and safety of everyone on the ship during the voyages. Quite an abrupt turnaround in policy for sure.