geordie_jim

Whilst sytle of music and entertainment are very subjective, for those looking for something a little (it is Viking !) bit more upbeat, generally the guitarists/singer in the explorer lounge (pretty much most nights) have ranged from good to brilliant for us , the last cruise we were on in Nov 23 had John as the Guitarist and I would say he fell into the category of brilliant, he did a session in Torshvan once at around 9:30PM and opened with Stairway to heaven and the already quite full Torshvan crowd appreciated his performance with a standing ovation. Torshvan can be pretty lively , we have had many a late evening dancing the night away, but as is often the case it depends on the crowd on the ship, if you want this style of fun , it is there.

Can I ask , is that Alan the Guitarist from the UK? JIm

Thank you for your update, Dancing under the stars evening sounds good, but I think I was hoping if the weather allows the Guitarist / entertainment team might put on a day time event , we shall see. Certainly on previous warm weather cruises this has happened a few times , but these were longer durations. Jim

I would be interested to know what the current shows are and also who is playing in the Explorer lounge at the moment. Also are they doing any pool parties , we are onboard in early November for the West Indies to Spain - Barcleona to San Juan. Jim

Again. so sorry regarding your Granddaughter's siuation. Another possibility , which depends on timing and therefore may not work for you, but you may be able to change to another cruise , potentially well into the future. If Viking have not ticketed the flights at this stage they should charge a £100 pp change fee (but they have the descretion to waive this) and if the timing was that the flights were ticketed then I would check with Viking UK but again I think there is some flexibility to change to another cruise but with additional costs that Viking UK would incur being passed onto you. Both these options would at least protect from a 20K+ loss. I would ring Viking UK to check the information I am quoting, but I can certainly say that I just last week spoke about changing a river cruise later this year to another cruise in 2025 and this was an option that Viking would have allowed, I didn't do it in the end but it was an option offered. Jim (UK)

Thank you so much to suspaul and yourself for the updates. Yep looks like the July/August will be exceptionally hot and wet and humid. It was interesting that you specifically mentioned Ho Chi Minh in March/April as we are booked on a different Viking Ocean cruise arriving Ho Chi Minh 30th March 2024 have 2 overnights , then heading towards Ha Long Bay, looks like we will be packing very light and quick drying clothes ! Thanks again Jim

We are debating doing a Viking River cruise in 2025 , and the prices are significantly cheaper in July/August. Can anyone update us of the weather conditions (rain/heat etc) and other implications. I suspect we know it is "cheap" for a reason, but a "little" rain never hurt anyone, surely ........ Jim

We are booked on the March 2024 sailing and whilst we have a list of the optional excursions, we don't really have any idea of the prices. I was wondering if anyone who has been on this cruise has a copy of the prices Viking were charging? While I appreciate these will not be current prices, it will give us a ballpark number to make a more informed decision. Jim and Hilary (UK)

Apologies if this info is within the thread, we are on this ship in 3 weeks time, just wondered if anyone can indicate if there is a guitarist/singer onboard , how regularly they perform and who the performer is currently on Octantis. Jim and Hilary (UK)

Offer code is EXPP , you can use this to build a price. I will pre-warn your Scottish friends in advance that the flights are poor, London only and indirect .... but the price is great and it also includes the SSP as well. It is for UK residents only of course

Just for additional info, this is a EXPEDITION ship , so quite a good price. We are booked on the 12th March leg.

On our last cruise with Viking Ocean, (August 2021) the maximum number of guests allowed within the spa area was six and there was a high demand to book for entry times, the time allowed within the spa was from memory restricted to 50 minutes e.g. 10 minutes cleaning time allocated for each hour. What are the current rules / procedures to access the spa? Jim

Out of interest, where is this information published? Is it on an official Greek website / government website. I really struggle to find out what the current "rules" are for cruises leaving a Greek port other than on Cruice Critic forums! J

We are doing the Voyage of Marco Polo in late October , I think we require a covid test to be allowed to board the ship, is this true? Also it appears that the Greek authorities indicate this is a EU requirement, but I am pretty sure if I got on the ship in Spain I would not require a test. Jim