WestW

I suggest checking with dining staff (World Cafe) to change your reservation to 4 rather than assuming they will accomodate your request at the last minute. We were on the Jupiter in January and a couple tried to change a 2-top to a 4-top at a speciality restaurant (8 PM) and were turned away. Both Manfredi's and Chef's Table were extremely busy on our cruise (South America/Chilean Fjords).

Agree with CDNPolar about Viking. We just finished our 4th cruise and have 3 more booked in 2024 and 2025. Viking has an older demographic but we are fine with that. We are 70 and 59. We just returned from South America - Santiago to Buenos Aires - and saw the most LGBTQ couples aboard we’ve ever seen on Viking (at least 8 couples).

We stayed at the Park Hyatt Auckland just before Xmas on our way to the New Zealand / Australia cruise. We thought it was perfect - great location right on the harbor, walking distance to the ship (Viking Orion) and lots of restaurants within walking distance. We spent 3 nights there and were able to walk to the nearby Maritime Museum, Sky Tower and Art Museum. Attached are view of the harbor from the hotel and the Viking Orion seen from the Sky Tower.

We just used the 72 hr hold. It is just that - it holds the stateroom and pricing for 72 hours. Once you place a hold, you get an advance invoice with a booking number for which the deposit must be paid within 72 hours. Viking also sends a reminder at 24 hours. If you ignore or don’t pay the deposit, the booking is automatically canceled 72 hours after the hold date & time. If you wish to pay the deposit via myvikingjourney.com, you just add the booking number and go to payments the section. I don’t recall if there is a cancel option instead of just letting the booking expire and having it go away on its own. If you want to cancel and get the same stateroom under any new pricing, you may have to call Viking and have them cancel the held booking #.

Glad it worked out. Never hurts to try - 30 minutes of effort for $3000 in savings! I wonder how the adjustment impacted the TA (if any).

We originally booked this on a cruise we were on and never transferred it to an agent. Plus, because this was an adjustment of an existing cruise booked over a year ago, we couldn't transfer to a travel agent when we applied AVS24. We also didn't use the "free economy airfare" that AVS24 offered since we already had business class tickets that we booked ourselves. But the discounted business class fare they offered was about what we paid since we booked so far in advance. Still, saved $3400 plus got $1000 in onboard credits from the promotion. We did the revision via the Chat function. Not sure if this is why we didn't have to cancel/rebook to take advantage of the promotion.

We used the website last spring and had no problems. However, like you, today I'm receiving 403 errors. It also doesn't seem it's just for USA users. I tried using a VPN and it seems it can only be reached using Norway or Sweden as the VPN location (even FInland & Denmark received 403 errors). We've been happy using ExpressVPN on a month-to-month basis when traveling ($12.95/mo). Worth trying it if you need to book tickets before they sell out.

AVS24 discount code: In January 2023, we booked a PV1 for Into The Midnight Sun leaving London on July 26th, 2024. When I repriced it online using the discount code, I saw we could save $3,000. I contacted Viking via chat and they repriced our fare using the same booking number (no cancellation / rebook needed so we saved the $100 per person cancellation fees). Net-net, we ended up saving $3,400 plus received $1000 in onboard credits. Credit was applied to the credit card we used for final payment. Great deal!

Husband and I are cruising Viking Ocean from Valparaiso, Chile around Cape Horn to Buenos Aires. We will be at sea on Xmas day and going around the tip of South America, at sea, on New Years Eve & Day. We cruised New Zealand to Australia last year at this time and Viking did a very nice job with both celebrations.

We prefer the forward part of the ship and have stayed on deck 6 three times (always in 6010), now about to depart for our 4th cruise. We love being one floor below the explorers lounge and an elevator ride to the theatre, spa and fitness centers. So far, the motion has not disturbed us and we spent 39 days on one cruise from Vancouver to Alaska, Russia, Japan and Hong Kong. We are about to leave from Santiago around Cape Horn to Buenos Aires - perhaps we will hit some rough seas that will test our fortitude lol

We are about to embark on our 4th Viking Ocean cruise and it sounds like CDN's review is almost word for word what I would have written. We have met both gay and gay-friendly people on our previous cruises and have maintained contact with some of them. We don't behave any differently than we would in any venue and feel very comfortable being a gay couple. Although we don't show a lot of affection publicly, we are frequently together, including the fitness center, spa, restaurants and bars and have never felt anyone was giving us a 2nd look. Viking fits our vibe in terms of scandinavian decor, food and overall atmosphere. We've done many Atlantis cruises, etc and now are looking for a less party atmosphere with more diverse cruise destinations (I am 70, husband 59). Viking entertainment is repetitive from cruise to cruise but so is Atlantis - just in a different way. Good luck with giving them a try. We highly recommend.

Here are links to the most recent bar menus from the Saturn (Living Room, Explorer's Lounge and Torshavn):

We’ve done 3 Viking voyages, including a 39 day trip, and learned to avoid sea days for doing laundry. On days we were docked, we found them less busy as people were on excursions. Dinner time or later also seemed to be a good time to find a washer free. Both washers and dryers have countdown clocks so it’s easy to set the timer on your phone to remind you when your wash finishes. There are equal number of washers and dryers but a dryer may not always be available when your wash is done. There is a sofa and TV so you can wait in the room until one becomes available. Usually people are pretty timely about coming down for their clothes. Overall, we found the laundry to be a nice perk - especially on longer cruises.

Although we haven't used them yet, have you checked out BrandG Vacations. They offer exclusive LGBTQ+ land, river and some smaller cruise ship vacations. We've moved from the bigger party ships and have been on Viking Ocean three times and feel it fits us nicely - obviously there are mostly straight cruisers onboard but the vibe is laid back & welcoming with outstanding service and modern decor. Each cruise we've seen / met other LGBTQ cruisers plus also made friendships with welcoming straight couples. Here is the link to BrandG https://www.brandgvacations.com/vacations/

Found your answer in this thread....sparkling wine - perhaps Prosecco? https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2895823-live-from-viking-sky-greek-odyssey-cruise-nov-26-dec-6/page/2/