kctwinmommy

Ours showed up around 4 months before our cruise. But we're before June 1st, which I know has different booking dates now.

44 minutes ago, jsglow said:

So an allegedly true story from the ill-fated Panorama cruise last November when the azipod failed...... The BRIDE and GROOM were on the ship planning a PV wedding. Everyone else flew down. The plan was to get off the ship while in port, get married in a ceremony attended by all the others, and the re-board for the rest of the cruise. Obviously nothing 'illegal', just risky as heck. We know how that turned out.

Yes! That happened on our cruise 9 years ago. We were supposed to go to St. Thomas, if I remember correctly (so don't hold me to that), but we got diverted due to bad weather. We ended up going to DR, when Amber Cove hadn't even officially opened. The shops were still empty. But they had a few people on the ship, and planned on doing the wedding with everyone else who flew down to St. Thomas! We've said it so many times, don't ever count on a cruise to get you where you want to go.

48 minutes ago, FoggyEthan said:

Data point: Nov '22 booked "Iceland & Norway's Arctic Explorer" PS1 for $12,149pp. It's now $16,399pp. That's more than a third more. It's not a glitch, because this has been true for a while now.

 

But it's nearly sold out now, so it makes sense that the price goes up when they're confident of selling out the ship.

Yes, then that's a legit price hike. Ours was only up $16,000/couple for about 24 hours. And people on another site said multiple cruises were suddenly jacked up too, but then all back to more normal a day or two later.

2 hours ago, Hanoj said:

Viking may be using dynamic pricing, increasing prices as categories approach being sold out.

I think this was some glitch. The price increase, as I mentioned, would have been $16,000 more for the 2 of us. And our cruise has been sold out for months. A few cabins pop up on occasion, but not much. And then the next day, it was back down, close to what we paid. It was then another $2500-3000 for the two of us. That's an increase I could expect to see a year later.

1 hour ago, Over from NZ said:

You don't need to do a ships excursion. We just grabbed a taxi from the ship there and that was cheap enough. 

Yep, that's why I said we'll skip theirs. I just can't buy tickets yet through LSF, it looks like they only open 2 months ahead of time.

On 1/20/2024 at 10:14 AM, FlaMariner said:

We are using them....

 

https://www.italytours.eu/shore-excursions/civitavecchia-rome-shore-excursions/rome-shore-excursion/

I ended up emailing them, but they had no openings for the date we're there. =(

On 1/28/2024 at 7:30 AM, ollienbertsmum said:

You can easily DIY in Barcelona.  I rarely see the point of a guide, although it can be enjoyable to listen on a bus journey.  I frequently refer to Rick Steves audio tours.  I have enjoyed some great walking tours - he has 2 walking tours of BCN.  There are also a couple of podcasts that would be great to listen to while relaxing on the ship.  
 

Hotels will let you leave bags from the morning, ask them before you book.   Just don't leave anything valuable in them.  

Thanks! I have the Rick Steves book, and I downloaded the app, so I will definitely check there.

On 1/28/2024 at 12:45 AM, Over from NZ said:

Get a taxi to La Sagrada. Pre-book your entry tickets for opening time (from memory it was 9am). Be there about quarter to. Be the first people in La Sagrada - and you'll have the run of the place.. you'll take photos without people everywhere etc. It's great before it fills up. Probably be out of there by 11am. 

Thanks! We're supposed to dock Friday morning at 8 a.m., so maybe we'll plan to do that right away from the ship. From what I read, it didn't seem like we needed to do this on an excursion either. I tried to buy tickets, but it wasn't open yet. Looks like only 2 months in advance. So I'll check back later.

@janetcbl that's what I figured, but didn't want to assume. 😃 I hope you get some answers on how it will work.

4 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

The issue that Janet is concerned about is real - We have it as well.

Let's say your cruise is composed of 2 legs.  Your first leg starts May 25th.  2nd leg starts June 8th.  That means ALL of your excursions for both legs fall under the old 67 day rule, meaning you don't get to book leg 2 until 67 days out from May 25th (this occurs if you have ONE booking number for legs 1 and 2 and not 2 completely different "cruises").

SO - the people who are ONLY doing leg 2 that starts June 8th will get to book their excursions for leg 2 WAY ahead of the person who really began the cruise on May 25th.

 

I saw this coming when I heard the announcement and foolishly thought - oh Viking has an answer for that.  Sadly, it appears they never even considered this possibility.

 

It is all due to selling cruises that combine legs along with selling individual legs.

Oh 100%! I'm just not sure if that's the question she's trying to get answered.

4 hours ago, janetcbl said:

I have been trying to get answers to this May/June different excursions booking dates all week….and keep getting the run around, phone calls not returned, tellus-us non answers, etc. About ready to give up and book private excursions which are available at most ports. This is not the Viking I have traveled with for the past 15 years. Very disappointing.

What are you trying to get answered? If your cruise start date is June 1st or later, your window will now open 40 days earlier. If the sailing date is May 30th, it stays the same. Or are you saying your concerned about being on different legs of a trip that overlaps that date?

I get the feeling Viking has grown in popularity over the years. This is our first for us. I wasn't sure that we'd ever do one, but here we are, thinking this will be a great fit for us now. We've someone been burnt out on the other lines.

32 minutes ago, deec said:

 

I must have missed that there are earlier dates for booking excursions?  What are they or where can I find that information?

They emailed people who have a cruise booked June 1st or later, their window now opens 40 days sooner. So if you can book 67 days out, like our current cruise, if it set sail on June 2nd, we'd be able to book 107 days out. It basically means excursions are being posted more than a month sooner than they have been.

1 minute ago, May B said:

Oh! I wasn’t paying close attention, that’s for sure!

And this is why I get lost in posts that go on for 3, 4, 10 pages! LOL!

2 minutes ago, May B said:

For the scenario the OP was so concerned about, I’m glad there was a workable solution. 

Actually the real OP had no concerns about trip insurance. LOL! This thread has gone off the track a little bit. They were upset about the price of their cruise dropping since they booked it awhile ago.

Thanks @alserrod I know there's a lot to see & do, and I've heard it a hundred times that 2 days isn't enough time. Unfortunately, it's all we can do after our long cruise. So it is what it is... I know we want to see La Sagrada Familia, so I'm trying to determine which day would be better to do it. I actually found a tour this afternoon (after I posted this) that would take us around the city, out to Montserrat, and then end at the LSF. It doesn't include tickets there, but if you want that, they will help with that. So I'm considering that for our full day on Saturday. Then we may just stick with the ship offered tour for Friday morning. They also offer an evening walking tour that would be pretty to see too.

Your first link looks helpful too, so that may be our day for Friday. That's our kind of walking and site seeing, so that's helpful. Then save the LSF for Saturday along with something else.

Thanks!

We're doing the Viking cruise in a few months and our last port is Barcelona. Once we dock there, we actually spend 1 more night on the ship. So we'll dock at 8 a.m. on Friday and then we have to disembark on Saturday morning. We have a hotel (Catalonia Square) booked for Saturday night. This being our first Viking cruise, we're not sure how they are with time and such for disembarking, but I assume it's pretty standard (guessing we'll need to be off by around 9-10 a.m.) as compared to other lines. Our hotel is about 15-20 minutes from the port, so we'll take a taxi there.

We want to visit La Sagrada Familia of course. There is an optional tour offered through Viking ($140/person) that includes Gaudi architecture and La Sagrada, although I'm not 100% certain it includes time to explore inside the actual basilica. It's says "step inside..." but I know I've read that some of these excursions don't give you much time. There are a few other tours that we're interested in as well, even the included, basic walking tour that gives an overview of the city.

Would you suggest taking a planned tour (we'll either book one or just buy tickets online) for Saturday when we have all day? Or would Friday on our own be better? And what's the amount of time people typically spend there? Just wondering so if we still want to do a Viking excursion on Friday, we can plan it the best way. We won't have time on Sunday really to do anything as we have a 1 p.m. flight, so if anything we'll walk around a little bit and then grab a taxi to get to the airport. I did read the other thread posted with tips and info on transportation in Barcelona, so that's helpful. It seems that getting a taxi from our hotel to the airport shouldn't be an issue at all.

I'm also curious about how hotels in Barcelona are with dropping luggage early in the day? We had no problem with that in the UK when we last cruised in Europe. I know we'll be there possibly around 9-10 in the morning, which is several hours before a room will most likely be ready, so trying to figure out what to do with our luggage. We do plan on doing carry on only, so we're not going to be dragging a ton of bags with us. I'm also concerned about keeping our personal items secure. So just looking for some advice and tips on the best way to handle all of this.

Thanks so much!

1 hour ago, janetcbl said:

And now with the new earlier excursion booking dates for trips beginning  after June 1, if you are on one whose  first part starts in May (under the old rules-later excursion booking dates) you are really out of luck.

Oh wow! I hadn't thought of that! That would definitely bother me.

1 hour ago, philw1776 said:

I had a PV and lost out on excursions because we were a mid 2 week leg on a 6 week cruise. A serious disadvantage IMO. Gonna check with TA on future bookings.

Yep! That's the part that can be a problem depending on which leg and how long the cruise is. That's something I wish Viking would look at doing differently. Not sure the correct answer for it, but there has to be a different way.

1 hour ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Do you need to download the language  to your phone? Its a longshot but if Croatian doesn't work try Bosnian and Serbian, two other languages spoken in Croatia.

I got it with the translate app, but even then there were a few words it didn't translate. Either way, it doesn't tell me any tours. LOL! It just lists admission prices.

1 hour ago, Zippeedee said:

Can someone explain why it is not optimal to book a “leg” of a longer cruise? Other than being jealous that I have to debark while others board or stay onboard, I’m not seeing a downside. Thanks. 

So, the one thing I'm realizing that will add just a little trickiness to our planning is the way they allow excursions to be booked. We're getting on at leg 2 out of 4 on our cruise, and doing legs 2, 3, & 4. Now, we have a DV cabin so we book our excursions 67 days out. But, the people in the regular Veranda cabin below us book 60 days out. Because their embarkation is 7 days before ours, this means they'll be booking at the same time as us, if that makes sense. So for longer cruises, you're going to end up potentially having issues with getting excursions you want.

That's about the only thing I can see being a problem as of now. This will be our first Viking cruise as well, so I'm only going on what I've learned so far. Oh, the other issue might be that certain ports become chaotic with it being an on/off day, if you're doing like 2 legs of a longer one. So they sometimes limit the excursions or they don't post them yet, like ours, for Rome.

59 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Get the Google translate app for your phone.  Pick the languages then aim your camera  at the words on your computer screen.  Read the translation on your phone.  Use same for menus when you travel. 

OK I'll try that too, but my regular Google translate on my phone & computer didn't work. Thanks! I'll have that for our trip anyway.

Thanks @millybess - I certainly will keep searching. And honestly, if I get us booked on the Viking one, then that's fine too.

This is why researching a cruise is important, IMO. When it comes to the way Viking does their cruises, I feel it's good to know that you might be on the "leg" of a longer cruise. I don't know if any other cruise lines do this, so it was one thing that was definitely unique to this trip. Also, when it comes to pre-cruise extensions, I've read quite a bit about them, and many people will say that you can definitely do this cheaper than what Viking offers it for. Still, many will do the Viking offer. We are doing it for our cruise, but that's because we're going to a completely new area & country, and the price is probably only like $200 more than if we did ourselves, and even that I'm not sure on. But ours is 4 days, plus our transfers, and 2 excursions out of the city and 1 day together in the city (the 1st day we're on our own). There's a level of comfort and convenience with ours, that we're willing to pay a little bit more for.

I'm sorry that you were disappointed with things that happened, but hopefully you'll look a little closer at other cruises they offer and be able to use your vouchers. Just make sure you read their terms for those too. Good luck!

I happened to look about 4 months before our cruise, give or take a few days, and they were there in MVJ. I know others have said they got a PDF of the cruise, if it's available from another sailing, but I didn't get it. I have time, I don't mind, so I actually created a PDF of all the excursions listed in the MVJ once they were published. Then I knew the times offered, the length, and the cost. I need all of this to plan our trip. So I have it, it's printed out, and my husband and I are reading over them to decide. Since we can't book for a few more weeks anyway, we've had plenty of time to look it over.

But, I didn't get any email to tell me they were there. I just would randomly check and they were there just before New Year's.

7 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

I wonder if there is such a thing. Been looking.

Same! I've been googling several times, no luck yet.