CruisingCattie

Cruise ship rates on Verizon are a separate category of international rates and are not covered by the $10/day Travel Pass Plan. I just re-verified that on Verizon’s website (which incidentally did not list Viking as among the cruise lines that they cover with their cruise line rates). See https://www.verizonwireless.com/solutions-and-services/international-travel/. If you sign up for the cruise ship plan it is a “pay as you go” plan at $2.99 a minute and 50 cents for each incoming and outgoing text message. As I mentioned in my original post, if you are in port you can often use your Travel Pass coverage while on the ship as long as your phone pings the local tower and not the ship’s cell antenna. At sea, however, when you are out of range of local, land-based carriers, I believe you will be paying very high rates even if you have the cruise ship plan.

Good to know. We are getting an international plan through AT&T ($10.00 per day if you use the phone). We were more concerned about getting separated in port so hopefully using a phone onboard ship will not be an issue unless there is an emergency at home.

I see from the information Viking provides that they mention cell service. Can anyone tell me if Viking charges for cell phone access or are any charges between you and your cell phone provider? Thanks

Only the entry level cruise lines (such as Carnival) that assume that their passengers would not have the travel sophistication to understand and adapt to changes in time stay on "ship's time" when visiting ports.

 

Any cruise line above that level will change time to match the time in port.

It sounds like a very confusing way of doing things to me.......

I am new to cruising and am getting ready to take my first cruise this summer. I understand some cruise lines use “ship time” rather that local time zones at various ports of call. Does Viking use ship time or local time? It would be helpful to know when planning excursions. Thanks

Yes, scent is subjective. Most of our suggestions here are, yes?

 

Here’s another: make these wonderful lectures available after the cruise via a private link. I’ve been to conferences that did this and found it to be a wonderful way to catch up on what you missed.

Great idea. You don’t always have time to get to all the information you want to see so having it available for a limited time after the cruise sounds like a great idea. I have also been to conferences that offered lectures after the event and found it helpful.

I definitely carried a backpack on my Iceland/Norway cruise in 2008. EM

Any issues getting into any museums, cathedrals etc?

We will be taking the Viking Homelands trip this summer and I am wanting to ask those of you that have visited these counties if you had or saw and issues with taking backpacks into some of the locations you visited? We like to carry a lot of camera equipment with us so a daypack is great to have.

I’m very outgoing and my DH not and Viking was great match for us. We’ve met quite a few couples where I and one of the other spouses will chat away and our better halves would smile to each other with understanding smiles :halo:

BTW, we just booked our 3rd cruise with Viking! If I could only survive Air Department :(

I have to agree with the comment on working with the air department. We had a frustrating time getting different answers from different people each time we called with a question. And then got charged an extra fee for coming in early and Not needing to get picked up at the airport! With as big a company as Viking there are always going to be glitches and they can’t make everyone happy all of the time. The air travel portion of the booking process has so far been the only issue we have had. Having traveled with Viking on their river cruises we are looking forward to a great time on ocean.

Friendlyfifer, where I come from and in other parts of the US, jeans are acceptable dinner wear, so yes, the cruise line has to spell it out. It may not be the standard in your neck of the woods, but it is in mine, hence, clarity is needed. I am sure you will agree to that.

 

I'm sorry you feel attacked but you weren't. If you go back and read what I wrote you will see that if anything I offered an explanation of why people might be wearing jeans to dinner; your opinion was never discussed. I don't really care what your opinion is and have not commented on it.

 

I was however, pointing out that there are major inconsistency in the communication of the dress policy and that it should be fixed, one way or the other. If anyone was criticized, it was Viking.

We just received our information packet from Viking for an upcoming cruise. The packet clearly states no jeand in venues afyer 6:00. I guess they got the message about making their position clear.

I appreciate that Viking is trying to create a pleasant ambiance in their dining venues. After all you would not expect to to to a nice restaurant on land in jeans and a tee. You paid a lot to be there so make it an occasion. If you say for example that “nice” jeans are allowed it is a very subjective thing. Is a little fading OK? How about a small hole near the back pocket? It is easier to just say no jeans and monitor from there.

I found the Roskilde Viking Ship Museum

to be a great Viking tour

I went there a number of years ago (not as part of a cruise) and yes, it is a very cool place. The ships are not as intact as the one in Oslo but there are more ships. It is a facinating museum. I believe a visit to the cathedral in Roskilde is included on the tour. It is a lovely cathedral.

I’m also anxious to hear comments of this excursion since we have it booked! Trip Advisor reviews are very good! We also booked A Day In The Life of A Viking from Aalborg.

We are booked on the Aalborg excursion too. My family are from Denmark so I am looking forward to learning more about my viking heritage.

Has anyone done the Viking Village of Gudvangen as an excursion from Eidfjord? It sounds like it could be fun and informative or kind of cheesy ;p. Anyone done this or is it a new option for Viking?

What were your favorite Viking provided Homelands (included or fee based) excursions?

Safety is of course always an issue, particularly if you are having to carry your passport with you. Losing a wallet is one thing, but losing a passport while in a foreign country is a much larger issue.

I would add a question to this thread. For those of you that has traveled in the Baltic countries, are there any issues with taking a back pack into some of the palaces, cathedrals, etc. you visited? My husband likes to carry around about 30lbs of camera equipment and I am wondering is there are any issues with having a backpack while visiting some of these places. Thanks

Can a referral reward be using as a shipboard credit?

Thanks

 

Marianne

We used our referral rewards to pay for some shore excursions. We booked the excursions we wanted and then called the help number to have the reward amount taken off our bill.

Hello

 

I am very interested in taking a Viking Ocean cruise. I love the deck chairs on the fabulous promenade deck on the Queen Mary where one can read, people watch and gaze at the passing sea. While I appreciate that there is an actual promenade deck on the Viking ships it is my impression that there are no deck chairs. Does anyone know why this is the case and if any changes planned? Thank you so very much!

 

Deck Chair

I understand there are lounge chairs facing the ocean in the Wintergarden are as well

Though we were scheduled to tender on the Homelands cruise, when we arrived in port, we were the only ship there and docked

 

 

On my next cruise in April we are scheduled to tender in Monte Carlo. Wanted to do a ship excursion but it sold out before we could sign up so I now have another item to figure out for this cruise.

 

We arrive at 7:30 and leave at 10:00 pm so we have a lot of time in port. Though I have seen on Youtube that a Viking ship was docked in port one time I'm going to assume it will be as promoted and we will tender. I'm not finding what we are looking for out of Monte Carlo but I did find it out of Nice so I'm thinking about going there by train to pick up the excursion by 9:00. Now the logistics.

 

I need advice about the tenders. My understanding is, you are not detained until the ship's excursion passengers have departed. About how long this process might take to get to port. When I get to port, time will dictate if we should take a cab to Nice, MC train station or bus to station. The trip to Nice is around 30 minutes so there is about an hour of 'wiggle" room.

 

We are the only ship on port that day, as of now, so that may be to our advantage, but I am now trying to figure out solutions for the 'problem'. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

Sorry this does not answer your question but how do you know when you are tendering in a port? Thanks

Are past guests of Viking automatically members of the Explorer Society? What are the benefits?

 

 

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If you are a past river cruiser and go on an ocean cruise do you know if you are included or if is is a separate program? Does Viking maintain a database or do you have to actively enroll?

Quick question. We are 2couples, we have made our reservations for each restaurant but could only make them for a party of two. Do we need to advise restaurant that we need a TABLE for 4 prior to our reservation. Thanks

We are also traveling with another couple. I was also concerned about this. I made reservations and then called the Viking help desk. They set us up as a reservation for 4 without any problems. It even show up on our itinerary as a reservation for 4.

For the extension/train trip our reservations were linked. We want to make sure we are seated together as it is a long train ride. For the excursions we did book separately but. were able to get in the same times, etc without any problems. I can see where it would be helpful if Viking would allow block booking for larger groups traveling together. It just makes sense. For the specialty restaurants I made the reservations for two and then called the Viking serice people. They were able to change my reservations to a group of four.

If you are not sure about the Flam Railway you can do a search on Youtube for videos. I found a video that basically shows the whole train ride. At least you can get an idea of what you can expect to see.

We are traveling with friends this summer on the Viking Homelands. We are in the same cabin category so that simplifies things. Viking has been able to link our reservations so we are on the same excursions. We are doing the Oslo extension with the train. I was able to link reservations for specialty restaurants but it took a phone call as there was no way to do it on line.

We will be taking the Viking Homelands Cruise this summer and have opted to do the two day Ultimate St. Petersburg excursion. For those of you that have done this excursion I am wondering if there are any options for gift shopping or if the time is filled with touring historic sites. I am wondering how much cash to get exchanged. I don’t want to use a credit card in Russia. Thanks!