skb8721

I like Viator and have used its guides on other vacations. My only issue is with paying $13,000 for a tour that says certain shore excursions are "included" and then finding out that those shore excursions might not actually be included -- as actually happened to my acquaintance. Now, why he didn't, once he financially committed to the cruise, hire someone like Viator to show him the site he ended up missing, I don't know. Perhaps he didn't know Viator and its like existed. In any event, except for the $50 deposit, which I forfeit, I am not financially committed to the cruise, so it's no inconvenience for me to cancel and, say, visit those same sites by land or air.

I didn't get that far in the process: I only put down $50 to reserve a cabin.

It's not significant -- only $50. Shane

I have now decided against taking the Viking Ancient Mediterranean Treasures cruise. If I am going to pay $13,000, I want to know I have a spot on any given shore excursion, and that I won't end up like my acquaintance, who took this same cruise last year and did not get to see Ephesus because there was no room on the shore excursions, even though he had been waiting for a spot to open up on the excursion for six months prior to sailing. Nor do I wish to hire an independent tour guide, and then have to worry about returning to the ship in time, etc. As a passenger I shouldn't have to deal with such issues. My suggestion to Viking would be to do away with its class-based system of reserving spots on shore excursions, and to adopt a more even-handed "first come, first served" approach . . . or simply rent enough buses and guides for everyone. (I say all this having spoken by phone with two Viking reps, and two or three travel agents, none of whom could promise me a spot on any given shore excursions. What, then, is the point?)

It's this one: https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/western-mediterranean/ancient-mediterranean-treasures/index.html The Ancient Mediterranean Treasures cruise. Really, I would gladly pay the entire cruise amount now if only Viking could somehow guarantee that what happened to my acquaintance (a profession archaeologist at a major U.S. university, so you can imagine their disappointment) would not happen to me . . . but twice now Viking reps have said, "There's no way we can do that. You just have to take your chances." Nor was I told in any way, "Oh, don't worry about it -- there's always plenty of room on the shore excursions."

I just spoke to my second Viking cruise rep by phone, and like the first they could not guarantee my wife and I would actually be able to reserve a spot on any given tour excursion. The rep explained that "included' means "complimentary" (as opposed to other shore excursions that cost extra), but with either the "included" or "cost-extra" tours, there is no guarantee that passengers will get a spot, even more so because availability is tied to the level of your cabin: passengers with cheaper cabins have less chance of securing a spot on a given tour. So I have been told twice now by Viking. I would not have even worried about this issue had not that worst-case-scenario happened to my acquaintance. I just went back and looked at his email to me of a couple weeks ago, and in it he said he tried for six months prior to the cruise to secure a spot on that particular shore excursion (Ephesus), and no vacancies opened up.

I have a question about Viking shore excursion: namely, if the Viking website says a certain excursion is "included," does that mean everyone who wants to go on that excursion does indeed get to go? I ask because late last year an acquaintance of mine took a Viking cruise of the eastern Mediterranean -- the same cruise I plan to take -- and afterwards told me he was unable to visit a certain archaeological site (Ephesus) because "all the spots on the excursion had been taken". This confuses me: I know that while some excursions are optional, cost extra, and can fill up, there is indeed a tour of that very archaeological site marked "Included" on the Viking website. Why then was he unable to visit the site? Or, my real concern is, could this happen to me? (Unfortunately, I don't know my acquaintance well enough to ask him for further details, such as "Are you sure the crew said the excursion was full?" or "Did you not know about the 'included' tour to the same site?") If someone could explain what "included" means, I would certainly appreciate it! (I should say I'm taking the cruise not for the cruise in itself, but rather for the shore excursions.)