islandwoman

I will look into cruise insurance But the last time I checked it, our age made it more expensive than any cancellation penalty.

With other cruise lines, I would book soon after the cruise is posted to get the best cabin, but a lot can happen in two years and I hate to lose a thousand dollars.

We've sailed a lot of cruises, but only one on Viking and that was a river cruise. We're currently considering Viking Ocean, but are put off by their cancellation policy, especially for their long cruises which are our preference. When is the best time to book a Viking cruise - late enough to reduce the possibility of having to cancel, but still with a good choice of cabins? OK, in case someone would ask, we prefer verandas or better, low decks and aft or midships. (never on high decks or far forward)

I have just been reading Viking's deposit and refund policy 😒 I think I will follow your late mother's advice.

When can I expect to see Viking's World Cruise 2025-2026 posted? Do Viking's World Cruises typically sell out soon after posting? I have sailed a Viking River Cruise, but never Viking Ocean. Which of Viking's Ocean cruises (length and/or area) would give me a good idea of what to expect on its World Cruise?

I've narrowed my choice down to 3 cruise lines including Viking. But never having been on a Viking ocean voyage, I'd like to take a one before making a decision. I'm trying to decide how soon I need to go. Can anyone tell me: Do Viking world cruises typically sell out soon after they open for booking? How far in advance of sailing are Viking world cruises usually posted? Are Viking ocean cruise deposits refundable?

Don't forget, as most people seem to, that you've already paid for a meal in the MDR as part of your cruise fare. Add that value to the charge for the Pinnacle Grill and its supplemental fees when deciding whether it's worth it to pay to dine in an alternative restaurant onboard.

Thanks. Cabin location is important to me.

Would that require making a reservation before boarding? How can that be done?

Do any of the ports on your cruise require a passport for entry and how long do they require it to be valid for? I see that Bonaire requires US citizens to have a passport valid for the length of stay https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/BonaireSintEustatiusandSaba.html Rather than relying on our ideas, research all of your ports, as well as re-entry into the US on the US state department website https://travel.state.gov/content/travel.html

We live in Florida within less than a day's drive of 3 Celebrity embarkation ports. So booking a knots-run aka mileage run cruise is reasonably easy for us. I can't tell from your logo where you live.

Sometimes we do chase loyalty levels. Before Celebrity split with Azamara, we had a long cruise booked on Azamara. We took a short cruise out of Florida on Celebrity to earn enough points for the next level on Azamara for some benefits we wanted on our upcoming long cruise. It was well worth it, and we enjoyed the Celebrity cruise.

I received one of these "free interior stateroom" offers today. It is not a "casino" offer. The "select sailings" are not at a time when I could go, but I'm thinking about taking advantage of such an offer if I were to receive another one. Just for research purposes, I searched one of the "select cruises" and found cabins available that I would be happy to sail in. If there are better than inside cabins available on a "select cruise", does that mean that upgrades would be available? Can I book such an offer through my TA?

Sometimes you can get better airfare through the cruise lines. We did very well with Princess EZAir from South America to Colorado pre-pandemic. This year Holland America's Flight Ease from Florida to San Diego and return from Vancouver was not a good deal, so we booked our own flights using frequent flier miles that we earned mostly by credit card spending.

Can I use Holland America gift cards to pay for shore excursions online? If so, how do I do that?

Thank you for once again taking the time and thought to post a detailed explanation of your comparison of Viking vs. Princess World Cruises. I would like to ask you for your opinion of Viking's included wine and shore excursions. I have not sailed on Viking's Ocean ships, but I did take a cruise on one of their river boats. We didn't like the wine, but perhaps that was because Viking was serving local (Eastern European) wines. As for the included shore excursions, we signed up for all of them, since we had already paid for them (included in the cruise price). I got really tired of riding for hours on busses and I don't think that traveling in such confined spaces is particularly healthful. So from your experience, what do you think of Viking's included wines? What do you think of Viking's included shore excursions?

I have not been happy with post pandemic changes in a number of companies. It seems that many representatives have suddenly and inexplicably become incompetent.

So if I read this correctly, Viking's OBC and the cost of flights accounted for the small differential in the two (Princess and Viking) World Cruise daily costs?

We are seriously considering a World Cruise on Holland America after we stop skiing. (At this time HAL's World Cruises only sail from North America in our winter.) Can you give me more examples of why you like it so much that you sailed several times?

How do you figure that the daily cost of Viking was the same as the daily cost of Princess?

What is it that makes you want to sail Holland America's World Cruise over and over?

Heidi13, Thank you for your detailed explanation about why you preferred the Viking World Cruise to that of Princess. It was especially interesting to me because I too am a former Princess cruiser - 393 days on 30 Princess cruises. DH and I quit Princess shortly after they sold their last small ship. Also, many of the downsides that you mentioned have annoyed us as well. But still, we were considering Princess for a World Cruise because it is the only one I can find that has a World Cruise during the North American summer (We don't want to miss ski season) and because it is one of the few lines that actually goes all the way around the world. To me it isn't a World Cruise unless it starts and stops at the same longitude. After reading your post, we will be less likely to choose Princess.

Is there somewhere in this thread where you've posted your reasons? If yes, please remind me where to look.

Can you tell me what it is about Oceania that made it so much better for you to do once in a lifetime, than to take two world cruises on a less expensive line?

I also have a 22 day cruise coming up. It's the eclipse cruise round-trip San Diego with two ports in Mexico and then circle Hawaii. Lots of sea days to get to Hawaii and back. I suppose that since this is a very unusual cruise, no one has experience with what to expect on its sea days, but your best guesses would be welcome.