SantaFe1

Yes, I was surprised to read this too. All we ever had was the captain coming on and telling us not to go out on the balcony!

Oh, dear, now you have me worried. We are doing this excursion in March. I had read that it was easier than doing Pompeii. In my experience, excursions marked demanding have never really taxed our limits. Well, I guess time will tell, but if anyone else wants to chime in with their experiences, that would be helpful.

Oh my, we are you! We also assess what we can do. But even the demanding excursions have never been that demanding. My anecdote to you is that on our first Viking cruise in 2017, there was an excursion that I thought we “must” have and it was sold out. Eventually, it opened up, as most of them do, and we booked it, and it was the worst excursion we ever took. So, it will be well. Almost any adventure on Viking is a good one. And sometimes the second choice is even better. I know you will have fun!

No, our account is in both our names. I just have it registered in mine on MVJ because I am the one who does this. It’s fine. You are being meticulous, as I am. But it really is easy and no cause for concern. Nothing in life is guaranteed. But this is close. Just pick your excursions, pick your payment method, and check out. I bet all will be well. ps. I don’t think that the few seconds it will take you to enter the CC info should deter you from using that form of payment, if that is what you prefer.

Yes. You have to enter the credit card info even if entered as you on board CC. You do not have to enter the bank info if it is already entered in MVJ. I have no idea why. But this is the case.

The bank account info is automatically applied. If you want to use the credit card, added on MVJ or not, you will have to register-enter the account info. It doesn’t cost you much time, especially if you have it as an auto add feature.

Couldn’t agree more! We thought Panama City was lovely. Colon is one of the armpits of the world!

You know, I saw that. I lived in L.A. nearly all my life, but have never seen it. Something to think about. But at this point, I do t even know where the ship will dock.

Thanks. Looks like Crowne Plaza will fill the bill. I know it’s months away, but it’s too cold to do anything today except stay in and dream.

We went to both Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound on our 2019 Viking WC. Enjoyed them both!

We are almost 14 months out, but I am wondering where to stay in Long Beach the night before our Hawaii trip in Feb. 2024. I know some of the world cruisers who left from LA have stayed the night before and might have a suggestion. We are from LA, but I must say, I’ve never stayed in Long Beach. Do I remember the Crowne Plaza mentioned?

Yes, Linda’s contacts are the same ones I have. I also have another number for the Woodland Hills office, although no name is attached to it. 1-877-523-0579. Try everything! the Viking Air emergency number I have, and have used, is 877-523-0576. I don’t know the itinerary, but couldn’t your parents join the cruise down the line? I know some cruisers missed the WC in FLL a few days ago and were able to fly to and board the ship a couple of days later. good luck!

We also had Robin on our 2019 WC. We loved him and his wife Chris.

I have shipped magnetic hooks successfully with LF.

Yes, I can only see half too. Could you perhaps post again? Thanks so much.

Yes, yes, yes! There are so many wonderful things to embrace. And sometimes the disappointments brought new joys. I wish I was with you again, on the Neptune!

Well, it’s funny. Yesterday, for Manfredis it said that I had no reservations remaining. But for Chef’s Table it said reservations could be made on board. Today it had the “contact us” language. I this all this is changing rapidly.

I made our dining reservations ten days ago and was able to get pretty much what we wanted (PV1). But today, just for the heck of it, I went in to the dining reservations page on MVJ. Instead of saying I had no more reservations remaining, or saying I couldn’t make any reservations at this time it said: Reservations for two are sold out, please contact us for other available options. This is new and may be in response to so many disgruntled people on this topic. I hope so, and hope all the DV and V folks get what they want!

Well, if these are the only choices, we will enjoy a “sea day” in Rome, or book something ourselves. As to restaurants, we are a PV1, and I was able to make all our reservations in the specialty restaurants when our window opened, with reasonable times, for us, anyway (6:30-7:30). In fact we have a reservation at Chef’s Table the night we are in/leaving Rome.

We are doing Med Antiquities, Athens to Barcelona, in Feb., with the turn around day in Rome. When I asked the chat person, she said that the first day of the cruise Viking would make available tours for those on the 15 day cruise to choose from for Rome. She sent me a page with the usual, listed tours for Rome, so I could get a feel for what was there. Having been to Rome many times, we are not interested in an 8-10 hour tour, being bussed into the city. We hope to visit Ostia. She said that was on the usual menu of shore ex and we should be able to get it. Hope this helps.

Well, I used to get up and book at 1 am when they opened at midnight Pacific time. And now that they open at noon, it’s easy to book at 1pm, but then I’m retired! Our next cruise, Med. Antiquities, is sold out. I still had no problem getting everything. And I just looked at the listed excursions and although all the DV cabins got to select today, there are still only about five things marked sold out—and they all involve food! So maybe the cruise also influences things. I think Viking is able to get a lot more excursions in the Mediterranean then, perhaps, in other places where tourism is still struggling.

I think the way you go about this depends a bit on cabin category. The DV and V cabins seem to have been having problems with shore ex selling out before they could check out. We always book a PV cabin, and I have never done anything other than choose all my excursions, included and optional, put them in my cart, and then just check out and pay once. I have always gotten everything. However, if you are going to use a credit card, registering the card on MVJ will not pull that card up for payment of your cart items. You will have to enter all the information. However, if you want to pay by bank draft, and save 3.3%, register the bank routing number ahead of time, and when selecting that form of payment upon check out it WILL put in that number for you. At least this is how it worked for me two weeks ago.

Yes. That was fun too. Saw other sea life and many birds, as you can imagine.

Yes, on a happier note, it was just wonderful. An unforgettable day!

Actually we also had an issue with extremely high winds in the Falklands, where the tender boats were having a terrible time. On our excursion to Port Stanley, I seem to remember that the tender boat driver had 30 takes to make it to the side of the ship. And from there, the weather deteriorated even more. We were supposed to spend the night at anchor, outside Port Stanley, but at about 8 pm the Captain decided we needed to get out of Dodge, and quickly. He sent a few officers ashore to round up all the people at the 2-3 pubs, hasten back to the ship, with the ship’s horn blowing. Believe me, it was not a popular decision, because the next day was the excursion to see the penguins. But again, nothing but a good call on the captain’s part to keep us all safe. We got an extra day in Ushuaia, which was nice, and we got to see penguins at Magdalena Island a few days later.