Peregrina651

3 hours ago, Hockeyump said:

Viking does not permit two included tours in the same port. That's probably the reason for the error message.

My bad! Hockeyump is absolutely right.  Thanks for catching my error.  My eyes skipped right over the word included.  It is one included per port, no matter how many days there are in that port. 

I was able to book two tours in port because one of those tours was an optional tour.  

You will get an error message if there is not enough time the two tours. I can't remember how much time is needed (half hour? 45 min? an hour?).

I had no trouble signing up for two tours in Holyhead but there is 2 hours between the two tours we want to take.

Book the morning tour and then try to book the afternoon tour when you board, even going to the point of trying to get a seat as they are loading the buses (especially if the timing is tight and you don't want to pay for a tour that you might not be able to take because the first tour ran late). Just talk with shorex personnel on the dock; with the joy of mobile phones they can handle the transaction right there.

You could book the afternoon and  then try to get on the morning tour as just described, but you have to make sure that you get the timing absolutely correct on the morning tour,so that you are back in time. In other words, doing it this way is a bit trickier and a bit more prone to failure.

InsureMyTrip.com

They are a broker but you can compare prices.

Personally, we have been using TravelGuard for years. 

Oh my goodness! Does that look delicious!!  Thank you!

23 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Would be fun to get a group of wine lovers together who also enjoy traveling like we all do.

Our second river cruise with Viking was filled with a group of bridge-players put together by a guy whose business was organizing and escorting such tours. In multiple ports along the way, they had arranged bridge games with local bridge clubs. Language was no barrier to finding clubs.

So it seems to me that there must be something similar out there for oenophiles.

You are looking for a message like this. It might not appear if Viking Air is itemized on the invoice. I had to look at three different versions of this invoice to find this.

This is just a sample. Do not rely on this for making your plans.

23 hours ago, Redtravel said:

If you have a cold or cough, avoid sharing tables.

Unfortunately, most of the tables for 2 are side by side with just barely enough room to get between them.

2 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

Is this a difference between US and Canada invoicing?  Perhaps?

Or perhaps that different TAs have different timing as to when they inform Viking.

What does it say on your Viking invoice?  If you don't have Viking Air, it should tell what the earliest flight time you can make is.  You may have to look on other than your final payment invoice to find the information. 

14 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

there is no penalty to cancel until 120 days and less from the cruise

Just to clarify. The cancellation policy for voyages more than 35 days is different. It is 180 days and $1000.

6 minutes ago, Squawkman said:

 

It would be interesting to know if Viking make more money from selling SSBP or from charging for individual drinks.

 

At the Meet & Mingle on a Med cruise 4 years ago, my wife chatted with the Chief Financial Officer who indicated the SSBP is a money maker. He told her our cruise had 38% SSBP which was low.

I wonder what the numbers are these days now that the package prices have gone up. 

Because enough people complained. 

16 minutes ago, TominNC said:

How can you tell in advance (like now, as we've just booked a river cruise) which wines on the lists are "Treasure" wines and not included in the SSP?

The wine list on any vessel is ever-shifting sands. You don't really know what is actually in stock until you arrive on board.

Your best bet for questions about river boats is River Cruising. There you can catch the attention of those currently on board or recently returned to answer your question.

Again, thank you! This is marvelous information for folks with mobility issues.

One question. Did you tip the wheelchair guy? Or phrased another way, is Turkey one of cultures where tipping is the norm and not just a tourist thing?

29 minutes ago, philw1776 said:

I draw a firm line at Canada Geese

Not a line. A bead. 

15 hours ago, Frenchberet said:

Never heard of the duck thing, had to look it up.  No sightings in our recent cruise on Saturn but there was a woman who kept taking photos with her stuffed Pikachu doll…

Okay, you can all laugh at this, but I would do something similar. Not because I'm obsessed with some toy but for a learning experience for my grandson, who already has a number of custom-made photo albums from our trips (sans toy).

Viking marches to a different drummer and it takes some getting used to. Guests have to decide for themselves if the onboard experience is worth the difference in policies. 

18 minutes ago, May B said:

This is on Ocean, correct?

Yes. Oceans.  Although the mattress pad to raise the head of the bed works fleet-wide. 

59 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

If the OP would spend a few minutes on search function for this topic they would find this ole dead horse has already been kicked all around the block.

Jim, agreed, but only to a certain extent.  Maybe it is my browser, but I find the search function here to be completely useless.  Since the move to the new platform a number of years ago, I have yet to search for anything successfully. I can't be the only one who has issues with it. 

I can barely reach that shelf, let alone take down anything placed on it. 🙃 That  space us solely for DH's use.  

Hope you had wonderful adventure.

Thank you so very, very much for the detailed report of your experience. The honesty and the level of detail will be helpful to others.  Can't wait to hear about Galaport. 

Do not punch your keycard yourself.  Take it to Guest Services and let them do it; they know where the electronics are.

6 hours ago, Famsw said:

You can ask for 2 water carafes each day.  We drink a lot of water plus refill our own water bottles and the cabin attendant was happy to provide.  I also ask for extra hangers the first day plus foam pillows.  

You can ask for sparkling water instead of or in addition to still water.  

In a DV/V, I rearrange the furniture to give us a bit more floor space.  I move the chair by the bed closer to the night stand, move the other chair out of the way so I can tuck the coffeetable back into the corner along the party wall and finish by putting the chair in front of the slider as close to the coffeetable as possible.  

If you need to raise the head of the bed for whatever reason, ask the steward to use a mattress pad folded twice the long way and placed under the mattress at the head if the bed.  

I have always taken the stance that each trip is different and each trip calls for a different decision. I have both booked flights thru Viking Air and booked my own, depending on prices and where we are headed. When I do use Viking Air, I pay for "custom air" so that I can have a say in which flights are booked and so that I can have the job done closer to when the airlines opens the travel dates for sale.

Since you don't currently have the information you need to make the decision (because it is not available), it will cost you nothing to include Viking Air on your initial booking as it can be removed (and refund if you have already made final payment) once flight information becomes available and you can make an informed decision. You can cancel the air portion anytime up to 70 days prior (??, so ask Viking the exact cut off); funds already paid will be refunded.

Sometimes Viking Air is a significant savings and sometimes it isn't, and you don't know until you can compare actual prices.