Mich3554

We have been to Chef’s Table 4x, Manfredi’s twice on this Bangkok to Vancouver trip we are currently on.  We did not have a single reservation when we stepped on board for dining.  Most of the reservations were made 2-3 days in advance.  
 

We have never booked restaurant reservations before any cruises and have always eaten at them several times.

Viking will book a one way ticket.  We are on a cruise right now where we only needed one way airfare to Bangkok.  The ship is docking less than 100 miles from our home.  
 
We did not use Viking Air as their business class was considerably higher than what I was able to book our flight at ultimately, so I canceled the air on our itinerary.  However, when I booked this cruise, I mentioned we only needed one way fare and they complied.   

We stopped at a winery for lunch after going to visit a huge colony of seals.  That excursion was in Napier, and we did another one the following day in Wellington.  Between the 2 wineries, we had about a case of wine we brought back to the ship.  
 

I know the first winery, it was fairly close to the port but a long haul to visit the seals.  We stopped on the way back.  Both wineries were pretty good, but don’t remember the names….sorry.

It is very easy to get a glass of wine in World Cafe.  We asked for a particular one, and the waiter that night continually topped off our glass.  Did I mention we did not have the Silver Spirits package?  Despite having provably 5 glasses between us, we were charged for 2.  The waiter brought it from Aquavit to his station, and kept it nearby to top us off.

On 4/15/2024 at 5:05 AM, Steerpike58 said:

 

 

In truth, I'm starting to question the value proposition of the whole Viking cruise concept.  It seems to work out around $1,000 per day, for two.  I absolutely adore the dining options on the ship, but if you assume $300/night for the cabin, $300/day for the convenience of being transported between ports, that still leaves about $400 for food - and the food isn't 'that' good!  We planned our own 'land trip' through England and Scotland last year, staying at good hotels, eating really well, and renting a nice car, and I think it came out to about $500 / night. 

 

Since I have mobility issues, ship travel makes it easier for me.  We have a land trip planned in Sept (which does include the Bordeaux River cruise) and am starting to dread the land portion as it is much harder on me.  At least renting a car ameliorates it some, but hauling luggage multiple places (even as light as we pack) is just harder.  

Love the beds here too…..maybe too much!

We are still on the Orion, got on in Bangkok, will get off in Vancouver.  
 

We did not fly directly to Bangkok, but flew to Bali so DH could dive for a couple weeks.  Then we took a flight to Bangkok.  We were there 4 days, on our own.  We stayed at the Okura hotel.  4 days was about $800 total, including a very good breakfast buffet.  Taxi to the hotel was inexpensive, as were local dinners.  We did catch a flight out to Chiang Mai to meet up with friends.  We had a car booked to take us to Laem Chang to meet the ship and I think it cost about $50 total.  Our 4 days in Bangkok, transport (not including the side trip) and food included probably cost us around $1000.  
 

Extensions provided by Viking are really not worth it.  We did it once, last year before the world cruise and it just was not a good value for our $$.  We could have stayed at the same hotel (or better) for less.  The only difference is that there is some research involved.  

23 hours ago, Hockeyump said:

We went to Stanley Market and some stalls take every major currency plus plastic.

Temple Street Market did not.  It was cash only.

Just pulled into Hong Kong this morning.  Everyone had to get off the ship and do a face to face with immigration before they’d let us back on.  I went on the hunt for an ATM while waiting to reboard (my excursion doesn’t leave until this afternoon).  
The port is attached to a very upscale mall.  Name a designer, the store is there.  After quite a bit of walking (and acquiring others on the hunt for the elusive ATMs) we finally found the single bank that had a bunch of ATMs.  Anyone looking, it’s on the third level back in a corner.  
Then I had to find myself out of the maze of the mall.  I had a couple of wrong turns to get my way out.  
We were told in the port talk that the markets mostly accept cash, not plastic.  I’m guessing the mall was the exception!

1 hour ago, SailorPaulH said:

When you got the offer (for $$) to upgrade, did they tell you the cabin number that was on offer?

For us, no.  

We were offered an upgrade from a DV to a PV for peanuts.  Maybe $100 pp?

Viking knew what they were doing when they made their offer because we now book a PV.  
 

I did just meet a woman on this cruise who got upgraded from a PV to a PS.  She told me that this cruise was for their 40th anniversary.  Maybe it happens more frequently on a milestone occasion?

On 4/4/2024 at 7:16 AM, RobinB13 said:

We do have a deposit down on Alaska for next year but haven’t had the final payment yet.  It is on Orion PV and has the door vs slider.  I am trying to decide if I should switch the cruise date, and ship to Sea, to get a slider.  It just sounds more appealing to me.

We are currently in a PV with a slider.  We did the world cruise with a door, and TBH I really don’t find it that much of a difference.  I find slider is harder to open and harder to secure.

On 3/28/2024 at 9:03 AM, Peregrina651 said:

 

No, Viking is making it such that at the end of the cruise more people will have non-refundable left in their account, that Viking will not have to return to guests at the end of the cruise.  

We had a LOT of $$ left in our account at the end of the 22-23 WC.  Other than some shopping, we shipped back a bag out of London and then since we were continuing on to NYC, Viking carried our OBC over until it ran out.  The balance left paid our alcohol tab and our gratuities for 2/3 of the separate cruises it took to get us to NYC.  

On 3/28/2024 at 8:21 AM, Pam said:

No, the opposite.  They were paid using nonrefundable, and Viking has changed them to using refundable.

This is a better deal, not worse.  If the credit is not used by the end of the cruise, it’s refunded to them.  

5 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Easy, don’t book till 6 months out.🍸

This is what we did for our first cruise.  We booked a trans Atlantic (only cruise with rooms available) in Sept for Dec.  Payment was due almost immediately, but while we were on that cruise, we booked the next for a 6 month payment date.  Since that cruise, we have always had at least one cruise on the books.  

I am embarrassed to say we currently have 4 in the pipeline right now, and DH is talking about booking another while on this cruise!

8 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Sometimes spreadsheets and analysis don't do the trick - you have to try them out.  There are so many non-dollar subjective aspects to Viking (mentioned in many posts) so for us it is NOT a dollar thing but an emotional experience thing.   

Heck - if we were just comparing $$$ to fly from US to Europe or wherever, we'd always fly economy and never fly business class.  And we'd never eat at an upscale restaurant - food is food.  It is the subjective experieces.  What was the famous ad . . .   the cost for xyz . .  "Priceless"

So much this!  Very well said.  
We are on a 50 day itinerary right now, Bangkok to Vancouver.  When we booked it back in 2021 and are at $620/pp/day in a PV.  

We are on the Orion right now, and will be docking in Vancouver in May.  We try to tip out (only Viking staff, not guides) in USD in all but European cruises, where we tip in Eiros.  We will be doing it on this cruise.  

There is a certain something that keeps us at Viking.  The no children, no casinos, no hard sell is a big chunk of it, but the other part is when we got onto the ship yesterday, the second Viking employee on the ship said ‘I know you!’.  Dinner last night, at least 3 waitstaff welcomed us aboard, they had been staff on previous cruises we have been on.  
 

We could cruise cheaper, inevitably.  But we are happy for what we receive and are comfortable with the familiarity.  If stuff happens where we feel we aren’t receiving what we want, we may look elsewhere.  Right now, not really interested.

On 3/21/2024 at 9:41 AM, sharkster77 said:

Also when you pay by credit card, you have a choice of paying in local currency or your own.  Always choose local---let your bank/credit card company do the conversion, they will give you a better rate than the vendor's bank.

 

We started travelling internationally 7 years ago---we find that we need much less cash on hand than when we started---COVID accelerated the move to mostly cashless societies--Europe is more cashless than here in the US.

Anyone going to Thailand, be aware that Thailand is NOT moving towards cashless.  We switched SIM cards at the airport….cash only.  Same with taxis.  Even the car and driver we had that took us from Bangkok to Laem Chabang wanted cash only.  

We pretty much exclusively use ATMs to get local currency.  Since we have been traveling, I have kept track of what we receive vs what the bank charges us and it is very close to what the actual exchange rate is (provided you don’t do the idiot move I did the first time and accept the ATM’s conversion rate……lesson learned!).  
 

Towards the end of the trip, we try to use up remaining cash.  We probably have about 2,000,000 rupiahs left (little over $100).  We will probably use a good chunk to help pay the hotel charges we made when we check out tomorrow.

As to what we take out, in Europe we usually take out 200€ for a couple weeks.  We split it between us, as we don’t always go in the same direction.

Yes, DH and I made liberal use of the Asian station…..both on the Neptune and the Venus.  Morning, there is usually some sort of dim sum.  Evenings, usually a stir fry and noodle soup.  

3 of my favorite excursions were on this cruise.  We did Stonehenge and the Magna Carta (it poured this day), Giverny and Monet’s home.  We had a fabulous day, even in October and I’d do this ne again….if only to see it in the spring.  Finalky, Monserrat in Barcelona.  The trip up to the monestary is spectacular, and well worth it.  
 

My only disappointment is Alhambra.  The last time we finally managed to get tickets, the excursion got canceled as the ship was only provisioning and leaving ports due to storms coming in.  We will try again.

On 2/29/2024 at 8:34 AM, lackcreativity said:

I contacted my Turkish friend, heard from her yesterday and she’s looking into it for me.  
 

Thank you so much for doing this!

 

I am still impressed by the considerable number of really helpful people here on the Viking thread. I have been  considering trying another line, predominantly related to more varied Mediterranean itineraries, but my ties here remain strong!

I heard back from my friend.  Galataport does have a wheelchair available to use, but no runner.  
When we were there last year, her daughter used to work next door, so this would be an easy find.  Her daughter got another job, so asked a friend to check it out for her.  Hope this helps.

21 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

I’m Great time in Koh Samui yesterday.  We did the Elephant Encounter and really enjoyed it.  I saw over on the site that cannot be named that one of our lecturers did a private tour at the same sanctuary and rather than being only on the skywalk, actually was in the ground with them, hugging, being wrapped in their trunk etc.  That would’ve been really great but the time we spent feeding and interacting with them was longer than what a poster over there said was 10 min. We stayed on the raised walkway until they made us leave. FYI-lunch was delicious-if they run out of Pad Thai, it’s definitely worth waiting while they make another batch. I asked our guide if it tasted like what his mother made. He said no, it was sweeter and not as spicy to suit American’s taste. They had packets of pepper flakes which we added to ours.  
 

DVs and Vs recieved tour descriptions for Capetown to London at turndown last night.  Forms were to be turned in between 7 and 9am this morning at Star Theatre. Mike got off the elevator at 6:52.  The line reached to the Nordic Gift Shop and the first person in line was already leaving having turned in their form -he told me later he had arrived at 5:45😳 

 

We did this last year.  The elephants were hysterical.  Feeding them, they wanted the good stuff at the bottom of your basket, and threw away the grasses.  They were like little kids eating dessert before dinner.

I also got a matching picture of an elephant scratching his butt on a tree.  I have a matching one of a rhino doing the same thing taken in South Africa.  Guess when you’ve gotta itch, it’s any port in a storm!
Agree about the pad Thai…..it was quite good.  

9 hours ago, Ready to Sail! said:

We did think about the Falls but just looked at the Viking post cruise options which sounded awfully costly. We will at least consider doing on our own again.  I know our daughter regrets not going when she was in Peru  but chose  Machu Picchu as her highlight and no regrets there. Thanks for the airline info also.  We have actually been routed through Seattle on many international flights and to Alaska.  We will avoid Atlanta if at all possible.  Thank you for all the helpful information.  Seems like Viking doesn't have great options so will probably just do on our own even if just to the airport.  

We did Iguazu Falls on our own and it was far cheaper than Viking.  Unfortunately, I don’t remember what tour company we went with, but I seem to remember that it was about $600pp for flights, hotel, tour guide, ground transport…..both Brazil and Argentina sides.  Hotels were ok, nothing special.  That was ok, it was only 2 nights.
I just found the old email.  The tour site was Ecouruguay.com.  As I remember, they were fairly responsive to my emails with info.  However, this was in 2019 so can’t be sure they are not a Covid casualty.  
We went to Iguazu the evening we got off the ship.  Next morning Argentina side.  Next day Brazil side.  We had an evening flight into BA, caught a taxi to our hotel and spent the next few days seeing BA (highly suggest seeing the Opera Hall, it’s spectacular, and was incredibly disappointed that there were no shows while we were there).