Mich3554

I look at booking a cruise not unlike booking an airfare.  Prices go up, prices go down.  When I find a price I’m ok with, I book it and rarely look back.  But I just did for the next few cruises we have booked.  
We leave in a week for Northern Lights.  There is about a $200 difference between booking and now.  After that, we leave from Bangkok to Vancouver.  That cruise is now $8000 pp more than what we booked.  Next year, the Australia circumnavigation is also $8000 pp than what we booked it.  

You’d never know that there is a laundry room there if you didn’t see the sign for it.  I’d stay in one of these rooms.

12 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

All the times I've been in Barcelona with Viking, all pre-pandemic, the pick up point was on the esplanade in front of the World Trade Center.  So, my question is whether Viking has switched pickup point permanently or are they alternating between the two locations? Maybe folks who have been there in 2023 can tell us their experiences. 

 

@Mich3554 is the statue you are referring to the Colon statue?

 

When we went in 2021 and in 2023, it was the same spot.  
 

I don’t remember the statue, sorry.  The bus we were on just pointed out the shuttle drop off point.  Since one trip we were on our way to Monserrat, another a seaside town, I didn’t pay too much attention to it.  We had been to Barcelona pre covid in 2019, but there was a 

Catalan demonstration going on so no day in Barcelona.  Viking docked there long enough to drop off passengers to take to the airport.  

Barcelona, the shuttle drop off/pick up is at the statue at the top of Ramblas.

35 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Rather than using social media to track crew members, I suggest chatting with crew members and getting to know about them and their family, then trading contact details. I still am in contact with crew members from the 2020 WC, which includes crew that never returned to the ships.

 

At least prior to COVID, the Viking crews knew their work schedules 2 - 3 contracts ahead - name of ship, joining/leaving dates and joining/leaving ports. Therefore, if you take the time in getting to know the crew, they may share information on whether they will return to the ships, specifically Viking, and advise which ship they will be on, and the dates. 

 

To use this method, a last name and nationality will also help.

 

 

They still know where they are going after their current contract ends….at least the next 2 contracts.  

People can only book beforehand how many reservations they are allowed.  So someone in a PS cannot book Manfredi’s every night of a 14 night cruise, even if it was available.  
 

I do not get advanced reservations at any of the restaurants.  We always eat where we want to eat, when we want to eat.  Hell, I have a hard time planning dinner this week, I have no idea what I’ll want to eat 3 months from now!  Usually, I’ll look at the menus in the morning and decide where i want to eat that day.  

My only suggestion is to avoid the ATV excursion in Svelbard.  It was a disappointment in that we took the road out of town a couple miles, turned around and came back.  The ATV excursion we took in Isafjordur was much, much better.  That one, he took us to the top of a mountain, and despite the fact it rained, sleeted and snowed all the way up, and the view was totally socked in by fog, it was much better.

On 1/5/2024 at 10:25 AM, FoggyEthan said:

What is it like on board when transiting? Are there restrictions on where you're allowed to be? Are all the services shut down, like food and drink, spa, pools?

If you are staying on board when others are getting off, you can pretty much do what you want.  We usually use this time to do laundry, and go to breakfast later than usual to allow those that need to get off the time without us in the muck of things.  We just try to stay out of the way.  After others have departed, we then go out and do.  In Bergen, we went out for a late lunch, to do some shopping and to find an ATM for local cash (most of the cruise was in Norway).  
 

12 minutes ago, WanderingBrit said:

Thanks - I must have misunderstood the need for advance information to be complete before making final payment.

It needs to be complete, but that doesn’t mean that your number can’t change.  I had to renew my passport before the WC.  All the info was entered into my record.  When I renewed my passport, I went in and changed the number.  

We missed all the ports in Greenland due to ice in June.  However, the weather in Iceland and Canada was spectacular.  
 

It was weird that we were there.while there was almost 24 hours of daylight, but despite losing several ports, it was a fantastic trip.

I think it has far more to do when you come for dinner.  I have noticed a few times when we are dining with friends and dinner seems to go on much longer that the dining room clears out more on one side than the other.  I think towards the end of the night, they direct diners to the starboard side, and start clearing out the port side to set up for breakfast the next morning.  We have walked out of a 7 pm dinner close to 9:30, being the last people on the port side, but dining is still finishing up on Starboard.  
That being said, we tend to eat around 7:30 and have gotten seated everywhere.  

The only line to board we have ever waited in was for the world cruise last year.  This was because there was a delay of US immigration releasing the ship, and all the people who would have trickled in from 11 am on all were allowed to start boarding at 3 pm.  Even then, it went fairly quickly and it only took about 30 min.  
 

Every other cruise we have taken, there is never a line.  Depending on where we are and what we have been doing, we might show up at 11 (when we checked out of our hotel) or we might show up  much later (like when we hired a tour guide to drive us from Santiago to Valparaiso, wine tasting along the way plus a private tour of Valparaiso).  I think it was nearly 6 when we boarded.

On the tickets you receive for excursions, there will be a cancellation date and time.  If you cancel before the date, the excursion costs get credited to your account.  If you reserve another excursion, the price will get debited from your onboard account.  
If the cruise ends and you’ve not spent the credit for the excursion, if you paid for it via ACH check or credit card, it will get refunded to you as a refundable credit.  If it was purchased by OBC given to you, then it is a non refundable credit.

On 12/15/2023 at 10:03 AM, Heidi13 said:

 

The 2023 WC we booked was published on 9th December 2021 and the 2020 WC was published in April 2018, so for a WC departing in Dec 2025/Jan 26, expect it to be published from within a few days to couple of months.

 

You can try a shorter Viking cruise, but from all of our research, they really step up the quality on a WC, so the shorter cruises may not give you a clear indication of what to expect.

 

If they revert to a single ship WC, expect it to sell out in a few months, but if they have 2 ships sailing WC's, it may take 6 -9 months to sell out both ships. Note - Viking have a history of increasing WC prices once the ships are almost sold out.

 

The T&C usually require a $1,000 pp cancellation fee, if cancelled more than 6-months before departure. That can often be covered by travel insurance, if you cancel for a covered reason.

As of this past Friday, Viking has not yet announced the 25-26 WC.  My Viking contact has said any day now.  If the itinerary changes any from the current one, we are going to jump again.  I don’t think we will do the Ft Lauderdale to NYC again though.  
 

I do concur that the expectations are a bit different from shorter cruises.  

On 12/29/2023 at 9:15 AM, Jim Avery said:

Haha, pretty rough around California these days.  Hope it settles or us World Cruisers will be feeling the shakey shake sooner rather than later.  🍸

Some of the roughest seas we dealt with in last years world cruise when we exited CA, and blew off Santa Barbara trying to get ahead of a storm that was going to hit California,  we went waaaay directly south before we started angling to Hawaii.

We have done South America and Chilean Fjords….twice.  I’d do it again too.  It is just so enthralling to see areas of the world that few get to.  It was weird seeing land on both sides of the ship, but absolutely no lights at all.  
 

Room service is a possibility.  We used this on a few evenings we got back late from excursions.  Viking will not let you go to bed hungry.

Yesterday a year ago, we were getting onto the Neptune in FL.  I hope we can do this again, it’s definitely not a ‘one and done’ for us.

Quite excellent.  i have sent lots of delicate stuff with ‘cold wash only air dry’ and it comes back perfect.  This includes cashmere sweaters, dressy linen knits, lace tops and lined wool dress slacks (which were dry cleaned…..or Viking’s equivalent of it).

They are also fabulous at getting out stains, especially grease.  I have gotten such that I automatically send stuff to laundry if I wind up wearing part of a meal.  

I spoke to the ship manager about this on the Neptune earlier this year and asked him about it.  The USB ports on the back are not accessible, and in his tenure on the ship, the ONLY time they got someone in to make it accessible was for a Bluetooth device to amplify the sound for a hearing aid passenger.  

We always wind up with a collection of wine glasses in the cabin that we have hauled back to drink in the cabin.  

2 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

Unfortunately, their experience is not "unique". I also have a medication that I need to inject every 2 weeks, and needs to be kept in a temperature range. We were lucky enough to be traveling for 2 weeks where I could take my injection on the morning before we left for the airport, and then next one 2 weeks later when we arrived at home after disembarking in Fort Lauderdale and drove home where my injection was waiting for me in the refrigerator at an optimum temperature.

We booked this cruise before I needed this medication, so it was only a coincidence that the shots lined up perfectly. Otherwise, I would have been in the same situation as 17pandd's husband. There are many other people who need this service. If Viking can't provide it, they need to make it public so we can try to book our cruises around it. Skipping our medication can have severe results for us.  Thanks for your consideration of all future Viking quests.

This is not the norm though.  I know people who did deliver their meds to the medical center and they were stored for them during the cruise.  I can’t explain why the OP had the problems he did, because what he was informed was what *should* have happened.  I hope Viking sorts this out for them.

2 hours ago, Reaniel said:

 

On Viking Lofn in 2022 for the Grand European Tour, and they only allowed us to buy 1 per person (and used 1 per person).  There wasn't an offer to buy giftable vouchers for us.

That’s strange.  We did the GE on the Bragi in April/May of 2022 and I bought 16.  We could only use one per person per new booking.  

3 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

I have two questions about this.  First, can you book a River cruise on an ocean cruise?  Second, does a River cruise have the capacity to book another cruise while onboard at all?  Thanks!

Yes, you can book a river cruise on board an ocean cruise.  No, you cannot book a cruise while on a river, but you can buy $200 vouchers for $100 while on a river cruise that are good for ocean, river and expedition.

7 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

We have had changes made to our Ocean itineraries that were not ideal, but if you read the ticket contract, Viking have the right to do this, and even though they will try not to, sometimes they have to. 

 

What Peregrina651 says could well be the case.

 

First off, I would write tellus@vikingcruises.com and ask them?  Tell your reason for your concern, and see what they say - you will likely get a phone call back.

 

Unfortunately now, you will have to make the decision to extend your stay which if you are doing your air through Viking you will have to pay a diversion fee and then also a hotel and any tour fees that you want to book privately.

 

Unfortunately this stuff happens, but I would prefer it to happen when I have the time to decide to cancel or make alternate arrangements and not be a last minute thing.

 

 

Exactly!  Viking did this on our Trade Routes cruise, where we’re were supposed to have a day in Barcelona before tossing us off.  Unfortunately, we get to the first stop in Spain and are told we are only stopping in Barcelona to disembark….no tours.  Turned out, there were protests going on and while that they hadn’t gotten violent, Viking was not willing to take a chance.  

We had already booked a hotel for an extra 3 days in Barcelona, so it wasn’t a big deal for us, but there were a lot of unhappy people at the end of the cruise needing to get off the ship and go directly to the airport.  
As for the protests, there was a huge police presence and we did see quite a few demonstrations, but just exited stage right to avoid getting caught up in them.