LinnieRed

2 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

“Shore excursions vary by each itinerary and are subject to change.”

This is on the top of the Viking cruises web page for each itinerary day on ocean cruises.

 

While you might have hoped a previously advertised “included” excursion would be on your specific cruise, this language shows that excursions “are subject to change.” 
 

We’ve been disappointed a couple of times that some excursions listed on the website don’t end up being on our particular itinerary, but we know that shore excursions can change at any time. Even days before the date—as happened to us on our recent Norway/Iceland cruise on the Saturn when going to Svalbard.

 

 

My experience in this case is not that I cannot get a shore excursion that I want. Viking is actively marketing shore excursions as included that in fact are not included. They are marketing for  this particular one-off cruise as included but for those of us who are booking the excursion, there are charges attached to them. This is not a disappointment, this is a bait and switch tactic. 
We have made them aware of this, as have others on our cruise, and they remain is included on the marketing section of their website.

On 9/26/2023 at 5:29 PM, CCWineLover said:

I totally agree with you!  Viking is very above board about everything.  This is NOT a socialist company where everyone is created equal.  They are great however when onboard as everyone, no matter what status can eat and go anywhere.  I never understood all the complaining..🥲

At this specific moment, our cruise in November is being marketed with excursions that show as included that there is a charge for when you book them through my Viking journey. This does not have anything to do with an inability to get the excursions that we want, or in fact, availability and excursions. This is marketing on their website as included and then after you book, they are no longer included. 
The only thing we ask of companies is that they do what they say they’re going to. If you book a cruise with included in excursions, pay tens of thousands of dollars for the cruise and then book your excursions and they are not in fact included, it is classic bait and switch. If this kind of marketing doesn’t bother you, that’s up to you. 
 

this is happening in real time right now. The website shows them as included, if there is a charge for them on my Viking journey.

On 9/5/2023 at 9:14 AM, photopro2 said:

here are indications that “Highlights of Rio” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil might in future be offered as an additional included excursion. The “Highlights of Puerto Madryn & Welsh Tea at Gaiman” in Argentina may also become a top level, limited numbers included excursion with the “Sea Lions at Punta Loma & Ecocenter” added as an included excursion open to all passengers. 

At least on the upcoming southern Atlantic Crossing “Highlights of Rio” is $199 excursion. I know this because I just booked it. It was marketed as one of the included excursions when we booked, but somewhere along the way, they in-excluded it. Very tricky, Viking. 

5 hours ago, susiebobtail said:

Hi, we did this cruise last month and took the included Viking Tours in all 3 places. I’d say that the only worthwhile one was Buenos Aires which covered  most of the main highlights. Rio was a waste of time as we were bussed to a square and walked around whilst there were lots of vagrants and homeless people sleeping on benches. Recife is walkable from the ship and will only take a maximum of an hour to do yourself. Most of the time was spent in a shopping mall for crafts. Word of warning if you are in Buenos Aires on Saturday or Sunday all shops are closed. And I mean all. 

We are also on the upcoming November cruise. I think that your cruise also went to Cape Verde instead of Dakar? The Viking site still shows Dakar as the port so they don’t have any excursions listed. What did they arrange for you in Cape Verde, if you remember? Thanks.

On 3/18/2023 at 7:19 PM, oakridger said:

I just Googled a dummy booking for June 7, 2023.  I came up with $52 one way or $104 round trip. (sorry about the formatting)

 

Train Timetable | Rail.Ninja

 

6 results sorted by

Departure timeTravel timePrice

08:25

48m

09:13

Flam Central Station

Myrdal Central Station

SIGHTSEEING TRAIN

Train #1852 Flamsbana

from$52

1 passenger - $52

Select Seats

09:30

58m

10:28

Flam Central Station

Myrdal Central Station

SIGHTSEEING TRAIN

Train #1854 Flamsbana

from$52

1 passenger - $52

Select Seats

10:45

58m

11:43

Flam Central Station

Myrdal Central Station

SIGHTSEEING TRAIN

Train #1856 Flamsbana

from$52

1 passenger - $52

Select Seats

12:00

1h1m

13:01

Flam Central Station

Myrdal Central Station

EXPRESS TRAIN

Train #1858 Flamsbana

from$52

1 passenger - $52

Select Seats

14:35

56m

15:31

Flam Central Station

Myrdal Central Station

EXPRESS TRAIN

Train #1862 Flamsbana

from$52

1 passenger - $52

Select Seats

16:00

55m

16:55

Flam Central Station

Myrdal Central Station

EXPRESS TRAIN

Train #1864 Flamsbana

from$52

1 passenger - $52

Select Seats

If you book it thru visitflam.com it is $52 total per person. They are the direct booking agent. No markup. I just did this very thing in February. 

Book it yourself on line! The railway is about a 3 minute walk from the cruise port. 
Price to book on line is $50 from Flam to Myrdal roundtrip. The price to book on Viking is $150. It is the same train, the same commentary. The only difference is that someone with a sign walks you the 3 minutes.  If anyone has a legit reason to book with Viking, I can’t imagine what it would be. 
 

It’s a wonderful train ride! I hope you do it. 

Here is the link:

https://www.norwaysbest.com/the-flam-railway/round-trip-with-the-flam-railway/?referrer=3919

On 2/14/2023 at 2:16 PM, wildcat68 said:

I have booked Hawaiian Sojourn for December 12, 2023.  My question concerns driving to the LA Cruise Port, and parking.  It appears Viking uses Pier 93 (?).  I know parking is available for $$.  First question; do I need a reservation for parking?  Second question; are there multiple parking lots for the various pier areas?  I’d rather be confused now and not as I arrive.  Any help appreciated.

Mike 

The pier parking is $20/day. Very convenient. 
There is also a park and stay hotel (Doubletree San Pedro) there that lets you leave your car as long as the trip without any restrictions as far as time. We stayed there the night before our 33 day Los Angeles to French Polynesia and back cruise last year. No problem leaving the car for the length of time.

If anyone gets a chance to take a look, let me know if there is a shuttle to the train station or some taxis queued up in Tilbury. 

3 hours ago, johneb2 said:

This topic has come up previously a few times, so you may want to do a search on it.  We were on the March 2019 cruise, so I would suggest, layers, waterproof clothing, and waterproof footwear.  Due to wind, and extended periods outside, even If you are not going on any excursions for the NL, thermals, gloves, and winter hats are suggested also.  Be careful if you are using wool socks, as they can cause sweat after a while and actually make your feet cold. You will find the weather very changeable over short distances with it getting quite cold (0-10 degrees F).  On our cruise, I honestly didn't see anyone in joggers & tee shirts, probably due to the cold and weather.  On the positive side you will see beautiful scenery, and hopefully you will get to see the NL.  JohnEB

If not wool for socks, what do you recommend? I’m headed to the Northern Lights cruise and bringing merino wool blend. 

While on this subject, does anyone any knowledge regarding taxis or a shuttle when you arrive in Tilbury? Trying to avoid the 20 minute walk to the train station.

On 11/5/2022 at 6:01 PM, Liz Masterson said:

Well here’s more fodder for the PJ bottom debate. 
I always make sure I have this kind of bottom in my carry on with a nice top to go with them. In a pinch they are nice enough for dinner in the dining room, and if you need pajamas they work too! 
 

I may regret posting this if any of ya’ll call me out in the dining room one evening! 

https://shop.pbs.org/HZ9337.html?p=1&OP1=TQ&OP2=L&websource=PBSGOOGLE7&source_code=PBSGOOGLE7&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&coupon_code=PBSGS21&websource=PBSGOOGLE76&source_code=PBSGOOGLE76&gclid=Cj0KCQjwk5ibBhDqARIsACzmgLR9dvy_7Z7xUa0KdM0c708oqu8FtjLDQyAtJS18RcgOVDqouM8Lfr0aAjLjEALw_wcB#gallery-1

Thanks. I immediately ordered 2 pair! Super cute. We can wear them to the World Cafe together. Safety in numbers. 

Sounds like you all had a great trip. 
 

any information re: the disembarkation at Tilbury? Ie. are taxis or Uber available to ferry us to the station at Grays? 
 

thanks,

Lynnie

Newbie question specific to cold weather cruises: We are boarding in February on the Northern Lights cruise and trying to minimize our luggage. We have an abundance of warm clothes, do we need to take sporty/chic dinner wear also or are our daily exploration clothes fine to wear at dinner? 

We are currently on the solstice out of Los Angeles to Mexico. Day 1 I requested and received a kettle.

Anybody know where I can get some sample menus from Luminae? TIA. 

1 hour ago, dlh015 said:

WOW! You be having some fun!!!

 

I hope 'The Fox' is getting great pics of you as you are of her!! You two were made for this cruise!

I was thinking this exact same thing! These two are a couple of very good sports.

1 hour ago, OrcaGirl said:

 

Eventually it was time to find the gangplank and meet our shore excursion. We had selected the Puerto Vallarta Beach Escape with a 9:30am meeting time.

 

It was a ~30 min bus ride to resort, and then another ~20 min sitting in an idling bus at the gate while we waited for… I don’t know what? The resort to agree to let us in? It was weird, and there was waaaaaaay too much coughing from a few other passengers for our anxiety levels. (I think we were the only ones wearing masks.)

Do you know what the name of the resort was?

Is anybody currently on board doing any fun excursions? I had some fun things planned, but I broke my arm the other day, so no ATV in, etc. Trying to figure out what to do in Puerto Vallarta and Ensenada besides staying in the ship.

Thank you for doing this. We are right behind you. May I ask how the weather is?

3 hours ago, SusieAV8R said:

Curious:  Did you have an actual suite number or a "guaranteed suite"?

We have an an actual suite number. 

1 hour ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

What ship and how soon is the sailing?  Just curious.

 

Solstice 29 October. We paid for a sky suite.  

3 minutes ago, Cruise Junky said:

Could have sold Suite guarantees thinking they’ve have cancellations. 

We booked a suite guarantee, and we’re booked in the cabin that we got immediately. We only booked about a month ago for a suite coming up this weekend.

9 minutes ago, CruiseCrew123 said:

Did you book early and get the suite at a good price - hope you said no 

We definitely declined. I don’t think we got a particularly good or bad price, I think it’s just a regular.

We have our first Celebrity cruise coming up in a week and are booked in the retreat. We had a phone call this morning where they wanted to downgrade us into the aqua class. They offered us $200 onboard credit +50% of our cruise fare back, but we declined. They didn’t mention anything about the perks of the retreat so I imagine we would’ve lost those.

I think this is super interesting that they oversold. Does this seem like a common occurrence? The rest of the ship looks almost empty based on the availability of cabins. 

On 10/16/2022 at 2:30 PM, claranda said:

We’ll overnight in Flam, do the fjord cruise in the electric boat to Gudvangen, then bus to Voss and train to Bergen. Having ‘done’ Flam and quite a bit of travelling, we’ll probably just chill and spa when Jupiter gets there on the second day of our cruise!

Where does one purchase the tickets for the electric boat and bus?