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/

I don't believe this entirely accurate. From our experience, if you cancel before departure, your original form of payment is credited. The credit may temporarily show on your account but then is refunded - usually the next day. On board cancellations may get posted to your shipboard account but we've never experienced Viking being slow in returning any leftover balances.

On a Viking cruise? We spent an unexpected 8 days at sea with Viking (New Zealand to Australia) and, if anything, they tried harder when it came to food.

We took this cruise in August 2019 on the Orion from Vancouver to Hong Kong and thoroughly enjoyed it. We couldn't turn down the opportunity to see Alaska and Japan in one cruise. It was actually a back-2-back Vancouver to Tokyo / Tokyo to Hong Kong cruise. You would be leaving almost a month later so I can't comment on September weather. We had delightful early fall-like weather in Alaska with just a couple of light rain days and mostly calm seas for the whole cruise. Japan was warm in the north and hot in the south. At that time it included two stops in Russia (particularly enjoyed Petropavlovsk) which are now obviously eliminated. We loved Japan and highly recommend spending more time there if you can't continue on from Tokyo to Hong Kong (southern Japan was a highlight). Given it is a longer cruise, you may find the passenger demographics to lean toward retirees that can take the time off compared to the typical Alaska-only cruisers. Guest lecturers were great and included a marine biologist, astronomer and expert historians.

I think the issue with the 6000 stateroom is that you will be one stateroom from the bridge which has a wing that juts out. Light at night from your stateroom may be an issue for the crew if you leave your shades open. Here’s a link to an old thread on the topic. Regarding potential noise that the thread discussed, we’ve stayed in 6010 3 times and have never experienced any noise issues from above. It is a favorite location for by us as it is close to the explorers lounge and the elevators to go to the spa and theater. Although we have never had an issue, if you are concerned about motion, this would not be a good location as it is a high deck and forward.

We are backgammon players and can confirm they are one of the options on all the electronic gaming tables found above the living room. We haven't seen any backgammon sets beyond that but haven't asked either.

Biofoul issue seems to becoming more problematic with several ships being denied entry - particularly to New Zealand's South Island (see link). We were on the Orion on the reverse itinerary - Auckland to Sydney - from Dec 21- Jan 4th - which had a biofoul issue along with Princess Coral Princess. Discovered while we were in Tauranga, we were still allowed to dock in Wellington before we headed all the way to Adelaide to get the hull cleaned. Originally we were going to miss 3 ports (Christ Church, Dunedin and Hobart, Tazmania). At that point Viking told us we would received 50% of our cruise fare paid back in vouchers. Turns out we were banned from docking at Adelaide and had to get the hull cleaned offshore. This took 2 days causing us to miss Melbourne for a total of 8 1/2 days at sea after leaving Wellington. Viking then upped their compensation to 100% of cruise fare paid. I suspect they are working on something to compensate you for the missed ports. https://maritime-executive.com/article/fourth-cruise-hit-with-biofouling-as-new-zealand-and-industry-meet

The distinction in dimensions between the DV, PV and PS staterooms appears to be mostly width for which you get additional furnishings and space for storage. We have stayed in the PV stateroom 3 times, including on a 38 day cruise from Vancouver to Hong Kong and found it fits us perfectly. The PS junior suite appears to be about 3 feet wider. It adds an additional sink, larger bathroom.plus a curtain to close off the sitting area from the sleeping area. Beyond an additional arm chair, the furnishings and storage closets appears to be the same as a PV. The DV is about 3 feet narrower than the PV and it loses the credenza/wardrobe across from the bed that the PV and PS provide. It also has two armchairs instead of a sofa and armchair that the PV provides. I suppose it all depends on personal preference and pricing/value. Plenty of people on this board have taken the WC in a DV stateroom but for us, we'd prefer the extra room and storage space of the PV.

We are presently on the Orion traveling the Tasman Sea (Auckland to Sydney cruise) . Richard Greene is the cruise director - I believe he said he's from Birmingham UK.

Hi oceandream. We are about to embark on our 3rd Viking Ocean cruise (New Zealand to Australia). We have found Viking to be very LGBTQ friendly and have thoroughly enjoyed our 1st two cruises with them. We have met a handful of gay couples along the way and found the other passengers to be very friendly to us - including making some friends. We have also done Alaska to Japan/Hong Kong and a Bermuda cruse. Viking service is top notch. Good luck with your future adventures. -Bill

@eddieg07410. I am also immunocompromised. I suggest asking your doctors about EVUSHELD which is a pre-exposure monoclonal antibody treatment that boosts your antibodies above what your vaccines provide. Unlike post-exposure monoclonal treatments which are given through IV, Evusheld is administered through 2 shots every 6 months. Although it may not prevent you from contracting COVID, it will provide added protection against serious illness should you contract COVID while on your cruise. https://www.evusheld.com/en/patient