JeriGail

19 hours ago, Eggtuary said:

Thanks for the warning!  They are not a temptation for me, but my wife lives a good eggs benedict!

My favorite breakfast (a variation on @Clay Clayton recommendations) - lamb chops, pistachio bun from Living Room, and Eggs Benedict.  I did not get the warning soon enough.

23 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

So if I read the health info correctly, you test prior to outgoing flight and then....what...nothing further until embarkation?  Somehow that wouldn't seem right since a good number of days could take place in between the two, especially if adding DIY pre-cruise days. The cruise we have booked next month (not with Viking) requires a test no more than 2 days before embarkation, so this is what has me wondering how Viking does it. 

You need to check the specific requirements in MVJ (sorry, I don't have a current booking so I can't check where it's located) for your cruise.  For our cruise, we had two sets of testing requirements - one was the 72 hours before your first outbound flight, and the other was a 72 hours before embarkation or your first Viking activity if you have independent travel before your cruise departs.

At Manfredi's you can get 1/2 portions of many items - pastas and the incredible steak!  I always asked for appetizer portions of the pastas and had 2 half steaks in our two visits there.

The World Cafe also offers opportunities for smaller portions.

1 hour ago, Eggtuary said:

Being an actuary, I always enjoy mentions of my career field. 😀  My profile name is a combination of being an actuary and a Big Green Egg owner. 

I always wondered about your screen name.  I guessed that a Big Green Egg was a camper - wrong!  It's a cool looking grill.

18 minutes ago, Frenchberet said:

We haven’t cruised since 2020 so trying to understand the new procedures.  We’re doing an expedition cruise so no Chef’s Table.  Can I book Manfredi’s first then do the Restaurant reservations?

Sure.  I don't know the capacity on the expedition ships or how popular reservations will be onboard, but there's no reason you couldn't reserve Manfredi's first.

57 minutes ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Were the specialties easy to get once onboard?    Appreciate your insight..    Was there an option to be seated with others?  We always like to meet new people.    

Yes, they were.  Viking allows 2 hours for each reservation, so the number of available reservations is artificially low.  Once people board, they change their reservations, so times open up.  The first night we ate at the restaurant and one of the crew came by to say that there were reservations at the Chef's Table and asked if anyone wanted to go!  A bunch of people followed him there.  The earliest and later times were a bit more available, but we never had issues when we wanted to eat at an alternative.  

Just now, Eggtuary said:

Wait, are you saying I will need to rebook all my reservations for The Restaurant when I board?  Bummer. Not the biggest problem, certainly, but odd. 

Sorry if I wasn't clear.  Reservations were not needed at the Restaurant.  I dutifully tried to guess which days I'd want to go to the Restaurant and which days I'd go to Manfredi's or The Chef's Table, but when I boarded, I changed almost every reservation and did not need any reservations at the Restaurant.  It was never full.  If you came at opening time, you might need to wait a few minutes, but other than that, you could be seated right away.  It might be different with a full ship, but we only had 640 pax.  Our friends made a reservation for 4 at the Restaurant a couple of times, but that was just so we could be seated right away.

1 hour ago, Twitchly said:

Thanks; that’s heartening.

 

Did you ever ask if Viking has waitlists for sold-out extensions?

Email Tellus and let them know about the excursion you're trying to get into.  If Viking doesn't know that others want the excursion too, they can't add more spots.

7 hours ago, SteelCity Cruiser said:

I had made reservations for each evening in the Restaurant right away and had to cancel those reservations first to see what was available at the specialty restaurants when they opened for us (on a different cruise, but same system). 

 

On our December cruise and all other recent cruises I've read about, The Restaurant reservations are wiped out once you board, so they seem to be unnecessary.  The only reason I can think of for Viking to suggest making reservations in The Restaurant is to help with social distancing.  Like many others have reported, it was easy to get reservations for most time slots once you board.

2 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Jerri -

We also saw this.  We had already booked our July 2022 Into the Midnight Sun cruise (3rd try at it) over a year ago.  We were able to book the PE upgrade both ways last week for just that 1099 - so it doesn't apparently have to be a new cruise booked.  It was a good deal we thought, for "Insurance" versus doing the PE on our own (which would have been a bit less expensive).

Kent - our cruise was my 1st flight to Europe, so I had no idea how much PE usually costs.  Glad to hear that Viking's price is in the ballpark.  Our United flight to Barcelona didn't have PE, so I got economy plus.

I just received a new Viking Oceans brochure (risk free guarantee on 2022 cruises, Viking past guest special offers, reduced airfare) that lists premium economy and Business class airfare prices for some cruises in addition to the economy price.

As an example, on the British Isles Explorer cruise (London to Bergen), the airfare special is $999.  Upgrade to premium economy for an additional $1,099 and to business class for an additional $3,499.

25 minutes ago, rockjock75 said:

I am flying back on my own booked flight returning from a Caribbean Islands Adventure trip from San Juan on March 21. Currently I have a 9:20 am flight, but can switch to a 2:55 pm at no charge. What time will I need to leave the ship to leave enough time to make a 9:20 am flight? I think my  decision will end up choosing how early do I want to get up to make a 9:20 flight vs sitting for a long time in the airport for the 2:55 pm flight. I assume taxis are available early in the morning, true? Does Viking have several bus transfers I can pay for even though I did not use Viking Air and how early does Viking start their busses in San Juan?

 

Thanks in advance for your comments.

We returned mid-December from a Barcelona to San Juan cruise with an 8:15 AM departure and had no issues making our flight.  Some passengers had even earlier flights and also had no issues making their flight. Viking has or collects all of the departing flight information and assigns passengers to the appropriate bus departures.  You can purchase transfers even if you don't use Viking Air.  In that case, you put out any luggage you don't wish to hand carry and it's taken to the appropriate area of the port building.  After going through immigration, we collected our luggage, went through customs, and then went to our bus.  After we arrived at the airport, Viking staff took our luggage through the agricultural scanning process.  We then collected our luggage again and went to our flights.  We had to be off the ship by 8:00 AM, so you will have a very long time to wait at the airport if you use the 2:55 flight.  There were not many services available.

3 hours ago, shadowlover said:

I would love to hear more about this cruise- we are on the same leaving this December!  Did you write a review or take any notes?

We loved the cruise - I'm a huge fan of sea days and relaxation.  I'd be happy to answer any questions, if you have something specific you'd like to know.

Email is:  jeri dot stodola at hotmail dot com

2 hours ago, shadowlover said:

I would love to hear more about this cruise- we are on the same leaving this December!  Did you write a review or take any notes?

We had a VERY active roll call thread (143 pages!) plus a live thread.  I think our group posted more on the roll call thread, but I'll give links to both.

Roll call (I started on the page when I arrived in Barcelona):

Live thread:

1 hour ago, crimmj said:

San Juan to Barcelona cruise mid March. What weather/temperatures have past cruisers experienced while crossing the Atlantic?  How warm do I need to pack to enjoy walking the deck?

We just did the opposite - Barcelona to San Juan in December.  I was surprised how warm it was outside - 70's and 80's.  Check the average temps for March for San Juan and Madeira.  You'll start at the San Juan temperature and gradually change to Madeira.  I expected the Atlantic in December to be cool, but it wasn't.   Barcelona was the coolest location - 50's.

10 minutes ago, FetaCheese said:

In my opinion, pre-purchasing gratuities, Bev pkg, shorex, or anything does not make sense, since they can be purchased once onboard.  Why risk money, especially during pandemic?  

If you have voucher money that needs to be used before boarding, it makes sense to use it on Silver Spirits or excursions.  We had already upgraded our cabin but still had considerable money to use.  We would lose this money if we didn't use it.

2 hours ago, VikingNewbie said:

Interesting. Thanks! Super good lesson to cancel excursions early if you think you may be cancelling. At least I know it wasn't just us. Do you happen to know  - If you book shore excursions with the voucher and cancel those later on board (within the 2 day limit) for example, due to weather or whatever, - does that money get converted to OBC? 

Yes, it does.  That happened to us for two excursions.  Viking canceled one of our ports that we had an optional excursion for, and I later cancelled an optional excursion and chose to do the included instead.  Both were purchased with voucher money and both became OBC.

23 minutes ago, FolsomMike said:

Out of idle curiosity, I just checked my July Viking Venus cruise on the Viking website and saw that it’s listed as sold out. Does anyone know… does that mean that every cabin is booked or is it possible that they are still limiting capacity and many cabins are being kept empty? If the latter is true, might they open it up to booking again if Covid restrictions ease?

A percentage of the cabins are being held back for quarantine.  Our December 2021 cruise showed as sold out for quite a while until some cruisers got nervous and canceled.  We sailed with 640 passengers.

If COVID doesn't improve, you may see cabins open up as your cruise gets closer.

1 hour ago, OKCowboy said:

I appreciate all of your suggestions. Looks like we'll book optional excursions outside the 30 day window. We'll probably do some but may cancel others.

Just make sure the optional excursions that you may cancel are not in the first day or two of the cruise.  You need to cancel at least 24 hours before the excursion.  The exact date and time is in the Daily.

11 hours ago, KarenTK said:

@JeriGail was your credit from a future cruise credit?  That could make a difference I guess. 
 

 

 

 

Yes, it was.  I was originally sailing on a December 2020 cruise that Viking canceled.  I took the 125% FCV and booked the November 2021 cruise.  The 2020 cruise was more expensive, so I had a lot of money to use.  I upgraded my cabin and got Silver Spirits.  I was able to use my last FCV money on the optional excursions, one of which Viking canceled and one that I canceled.  The canceled excursions plus some OBC covered my gratuities plus a Viking jacket purchase!

6 hours ago, KarenTK said:

I don’t know if this is accurate or not, but I chatted with a Viking agent and asked what happens if we pay for an excursion with a voucher and then the excursion is cancelled while on board, either by us or by Viking.  I was told the refund for the cancelled excursion then becomes on board credit, which can be spent for spa treatments, shopping, etc. If this is true, it might be a way around losing unspent vouchers 

That is exactly what I did.  On our Viking Sea cruise from Barcelona to San Juan, I had booked an optional excursion in Casablanca, but Viking cancelled that port.  I also booked another optional excursion before the cruise but changed my mind and canceled it once onboard.  Both excursions converted to OBC.  You do need to be careful to cancel excursions in the proper time limit.

5 hours ago, photopro2 said:

The Star did not have the drawers as of August last year however I understand they were retrofitted in advance of the world cruise. Has anyone been on The Sea or The Sky in recent weeks? If they have also been retrofitted then all the ships will now have these drawers.

The Sea did not have the drawers as of 12/13/2021.  It has been continuously cruising since that date, so I don't think Viking would have had time to install them.

5 minutes ago, takemewithyou said:

@JeriGailthanks so much!  
That’s helpful to see the LR menu.

I read somewhere that you can order drinks delivered to your cabin if you have the drink package?

Are there wine tastings usually on every cruise?  

I think wine tastings tend to be held on sea days.  Our cruise was Barcelona to San Juan, so we had a lot of sea days and 4 or 5 wine tastings.  I did the premium red wine.  They also had Old World wine.  If you're interested in wine tastings, go to the Explorer's Desk on embarkation day and signup.  The spots are limited and they go fast.

5 minutes ago, takemewithyou said:

Appreciate you posting the wines available from your cruise.

first timer here…..so just to clarify, if you have the Silver Spirits Bev package, these wines are available at no extra charge…..correct?

Any drinks (wine or cocktails) up to $15 are included.  Plus, you get a 15% discount on bottle purchases.  I also did a wine tasting and received a discount on that.  I attached the drink menu from the Living Room that shows the beers and cocktails that are served.  Any cocktails $15 or less are included.

LivingRoomMenu.pdf

Thanks - fascinating!