Peregrina651

Okay. Working all the magic on your behalf. Fingers crossed and all that.

Florence is an inland city and a bit of a drive from the port city of Livorno. There is a shuttle from the ship to the center of the Livorno. The cab drivers hang out there and will offer you a flat fee to take you to Florence for the day. Usually they are vans, so team up with another couple or two to share the price. Sometimes Viking offers a tour called Florence On Your Own, which is essentially an expensive shuttle bus. There is also train service between Livorno and Florence. Make sure that you choose a direct train, not one where you have to change trains mid-trip. Monaco. We were there January 1st, pre-Covid. The only part of the town we saw was as we walked from where the ship was docked to the bus stop for the 100 bus that runs along the coast from Monton (east of Monaco) to Nice. The drive from Monaco to Nice was beautiful. Everything, except the bars and restaurants, were closed. We walked along the water from the bus stop to the Old City, where we found a lovely cafe and stopped to watch the world go by. The bakery was open and we stopped in for some fresh bread to go with charcuterie we had purchased in Barcelona.

Andy, I'm pretty sure that booking extra tours won't work. Viking is very good about keeping track of refundable and non-refundable funds. However, I do agree with Andy that you should ask Viking and I go further to suggest that you should skip the call center and deal directly with the folks at tellus@vikingcruises.com. "TellUs" is a bit higher up the customer service ladder. ALSO, revisit the airfare. Is upgrade not available because you are returning to a US port or is not available because there were no seats available at the time you tried to book? If the latter, maybe seats have opened up. Keep trying.

Unless you or someone in your family has an existing condition which would not be covered should you have to cancel without the existing conditions waiver in place. I have elderly parents. I always get insurance when I book so that if anything happens to them, it will be covered should I have to cancel my cruise or even worse, interrupt my cruise to return home.

Ooooh, I like the layout! You don't have to wake anyone to go to the toilet. That's a double plus -- one for you and one for the person you would otherwise be disturbing. Otherwise, I don't think it matters how you sit. Regardless of where you are, you are in a pod with a wall between you and surrounding seats. That kind of bars communication, even with the one you want to communicate with. Our first experience with lay-flat seats we were side by side, aisle seat and window seat. It wasn't awful but he did have to get out of his seat to let me out at least once per flight. Our next flight, we have an aisle between us. We'll see how that works. I have only ever traveled DV. My TA has always been the one talking with VA (I like it that way because it slows down the decision making process; TA has to consult me before things are finally agreed to. TA and I can talk over the pros and cons and then she can get back on the phone with VA to finalize or change as needed). I never felt that we were treated any differently than any other passenger or that there was a problem with the back and forth between TA and client before agreeing to a flight plan. In fact, I have always felt that it is encouraged.

It has always been the Viking policy to ticket closer to departure, somewhere in the 90 to 75 day range. Those who are upgrading with points can ask to be ticketed sooner (there used to be a fee involved for early ticketing; I don't know if there still is). Those who want to choose seats and need to be ticketed to do so can also ask. Watch out for trying to choose seats on codeshares where you have not booked with the operating airline; some airlines make codeshares wait until they get to the airport to choose seats. IF you are going to be upgrading with points, remember that not all ticket classes can be upgraded -- and not all all classes of tickets are necessarily available through Viking. Let Viking know you plan to upgrade so that they can steer you in the right direction.

I booked my flights in May. I talked to my TA, explained what our preference were and what was not acceptable (short connecting times , very long connecting times). She got on the phone with Viking and took care of the arrangements. By the time she was done, I had an acceptable flight plan and seats. No money was requested at that time; any additional fees went on my bill and were paid for at the beginning of July when we made our final payment.

Absolutely! At this point, they should be checking MVJ everyday looking for cancellations; they do happen especially in the Viking demographic. Viking does not keep waiting lists and it is first-come-first-served when spaces open up. Even if they can find only one seat, they should snatch it up -- unless the tour is on Day2 of the cruise because it will be too late to cancel if they don't get a second seat. If you do get just one seat, contact Viking at tellus@vikingcruises.com and explain the situation. They may be able to get you another seat. However, keep in mind, that Viking has much less control over capacity when a train is involved than when dealing with bus or walking tours. They can't just add another railway car they way they would add another bus or another guide.

Yup, seats and all. But not ticketed.

To a certain extent, it depends on who they have hired for the journey, so what has been presented in the past isn't necessarily a good gauge of what will be presented on future cruises. Any of the subjects mentioned are possible topics and you won't know for sure until you board. Viking tries to give a variety of topics, a little of everything in order to appeal to as board an audience as possible.

Here's what you need to know about the code: EBD has been around forever. It is the 'deal of the month' code. Everyone can and should use it every time they book; sometimes it will apply to the cruise you are booking and sometimes it won't but always ask. The terms change every month on the first of the month.

I've had my January flights booked with Viking Air since the middle of May. I'm aware that things might change before we leave and I'm keeping an eye on it so that we can fix things as quickly as possible.

Unless you pay the Viking Air Plus fee, Viking chooses your flights without you input. If you have already paid the fee, tell your TA to get on the phone with Viking to say that flying SAS is unacceptable as they have just declared bankruptcy. Ask them for alternatives. If you haven't paid the fee, pay it. +

However, you can arrange to have them sent directly to you. I work with a TA but we have it set up so that the "cruise docs" aka "the luggage tag" come directly to us. Especially now that our TA lives in Florida (and with snail mail that is now living up to its name), it makes even more sense to do it that way. Back in the days when the TAs had to check that everything on the vouchers that you needed to present at check in where correct, that made sense. But these days when there is nothing to check, why not send them directly to clients. It doesn't prevent TAs from sending a separate package with anything the agency wants to send.

I've only ever sailed in a DV cabin and honestly I don't understand what kinds of problems people have with the closet. There is plenty of room by the bed to access the closet; as broad in the beam as we are, neither of us has to side-step into the space. I'm on a ship; I expect everything to be compact.

Try a different browser or even a different device.

This may be one of those times when it is best to get on the phone and talk with the various insurance companies and ask your questions. The insurance and voucher thing is so confusing that trying to find and understand it in the fine print is impossible. Let the insurance company explain to you what their policy covers.

We did this pre-Covid and in January; things may be different now. We were let off the bus twice. The first stop is at the Circus Maximus for 10-15 to take pictures and stretch your legs. The second and last stop is at the Vatican, where you have a long hour or more. The entire tour is 6 hours and that includes travel time, which is about 70 minutes each way. You will have to be back at the meeting point in Vatican City about an hour and half before the end of the tour. If the bus leaves the dock at 8:30 am, it will arrive at Circus Maximus somewhere between 9:40 and 10am (later if there is a pit stop before you get into Rome) and will you will have to be at the meeting point in Vatican City by 1pm (that includes time to round up stragglers, walk to the bus, load the bus and drive back to the ship by the scheduled ending time of 2:30 pm). That would give you approximately 3 hours touring time in Rome -- maybe a bit more or maybe a bit less. The times I have just given are approximations only. What time you leave depends on which tour times are available when shorex booking opens. The pace of the day depends on the traffic. Another option, if it is offered on your sailing, is the "Rome on Your Own" excursion which is basically a shuttle bus to the Vatican and back. It is listed as a 10 hour tour but in truth it depends on what time you are due to depart Civitavecchia if a 10 hour tour can be fit in.

Worth repeating!!

Aha! That's a good point to know for folks who need an elevator (no matter how much luggage they have to deal with).

Actually, you can't just wander around the port; if you are walking, you have to take a shuttle at the front gate, which will take you to your ship. I've never done it before but I assume that from the Civitavecchia train station, one would take a cab.

I would ask Viking directly; they know best what they can dig up from the unseen depth of their stores. When you have something out of the ordinary to contend with don't even bother with the phone center or chat. Start with an e-mail to tellus@vikingcruises.com. Include your booking number and your phone number. BTW, one fellow member, in a thread now deleted for some unknown reason, suggested a sling for travel, not because you might need it but because it signals to all that see you that there is an issue with your shoulder/arm and they will be less likely to do something they shouldn't.

Having the drinks package does not change this for DV & V guests; the minibar is not covered under the drinks package. But alcoholic beverages can be purchased a la carte for the minibar; the purchase form is in the cabin (or ask your steward if it is missing).

These Covid protocols seem to change faster than the webmasters can keep up with. Give it a week or so and then try again to make contact with Viking.

They aren't really travel documents in that you don't need them in order to board the ship. Receiving them isn't as critical as it was back in the days when we had to present vouchers at check in. That said, cruise docs are now e-mail to us or our travel agent about two weeks before we travel. They contain basically what we see on MVJ and include important information such as where the ship is expected to dock for embarkation, the ship's phone number and e-mail. We also get a snail-mailing with Viking luggage tags, the personalized tags with name and cabin number for deliver to our cabin and a transfer sticker -- none of which is actually required for travel. The airport greeters have blanks should your package not arrive. Still, it is so disappointing when these tradition milestone fail to appear. The snail mail arrives early than the e-mailed doc, maybe 3-6 weeks prior to sailing.