kctwinmommy

We did July and loved it! We had nice weather, no rain, and got to see everything we wanted. I have a review in my signature as well.

Different ship, and 8 years ago, but like others said, much more low key atmosphere. The pools were open, but hardly used by any adults. There were occasional announcements when the naturalist saw something neat to see and she did give talks too. And yes, layers are your friend. We went right around this time, and I still ended up buying a Carnival jacket on board. We did feel that the entertainment was some of the lowest quality that we'd seen in our years of cruising. I hate to say it, but we felt as though there might be a hierarchy of the entertainment crew, meaning the better crew members get Caribbean cruises, while those who aren't as talented get stuck in Alaska. But, we also know that we're not usually cruising for a Vegas show.

Nice! We also have always enjoyed the event they do in the lounge. It's amazing to hear some of the personal stories. And the last one, we had a WWII Veteran in the group and it was awesome. He spoke for about 5 minutes, sharp as a tack too. And then every single person walked by him to shake his hand when we left, as well as his wife!

2 hours ago, toolworker said:

Exactly what is the current policy? This blog post, dated April 6, 2022, says in part:

• Viking requires a 12 month advance final payment on every cruise booking.
• If a person is a past guest and has a sailing scheduled already within one year, and makes a request for payment delay, they can have a 6 month advance final payment.

It also says deposit time may be longer on some special cruises, and shorter if a guest has a promo code. And Viking can change the policy at any time.

 

 

Interesting! We booked our first Viking this past January. When we booked, we were given this past June 30th as our final payment date. That is about 9 months out from our sailing date, a little more actually. But not 12 months. Again, I didn't care or question it, we knew we wanted this cruise and like I commented earlier, I like having it all paid off.

As far as booking 6 months out, our entire cruise has been sold out for the past 2 months I think. When we booked ours, there were already several cabins that were also sold out. In fact, all 3 cruises that are like ours (same time/destination) are sold out for next year.

Like others said, I booked earlier and was willing to pay it, so that we got the cabin we wanted. This will be our first Viking cruise too. After several times on another line, we wanted to try something different, and decided to make a big one.

13 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Using a private shuttle alleviates this.

It was a private company. That several others had booked as well. I guess you mean a completely private car. But they were missing workers that day and the office was overwhelmed. It was just a perfect storm of problems. And again, as I said, we still made it to the airport, just took much longer than ever before.

Not sure why, but it didn't bother us any. We booked our first one this past January, with a final payment due at the end of June, which is still 9-10 months in advance. Honestly, I like having it all paid off now, not having to worry about anything. And we know there's still an ability to cancel, but we have no intention of doing that. Now, when we do go, our expenses will be mostly limited to any little extra things we do or things we end up buying (which we don't have plans of really dong that much buying).

Yep, you'll be fine. Even if the shuttles are still screwed up like they were last November when we went. They were a mess! Like everyone else, they were short staffed, so people were all trying to cram into the shuttles. Even with all of that, we were still there with plenty of time for our early afternoon flight.

I feel like we booked ours right around the new year holiday, for our July 2017 cruise. We stayed at the Victory Services Club (for military members) and loved it! We actually had to call, at the time there was no way to reserve a family room (3 people) online. So it might just be too early.

https://www.vsc.co.uk/

I was trying to get things booked for our cruise next spring, and there were things I couldn't book. But hotel rooms I was having no problem with. Although we ended up doing a pre-cruise extension for this one (Viking cruise). But excursions, that's a totally different thing for our cruise. Viking doesn't publish anything until like 3 months out.

We did 3 days after our cruise a few years ago in London. It's really easy to get around, and we did a LOT of walking. We went all over the place, and loved it! I can't recommend hotels, because we stayed at the Victory Service Club, which is for military personnel. Although I totally recommend it if you qualify. It's not right in the heart of the city, but it was a great place to stay. Here's what we did in those 3 days. I'm not sure what the London Pass offers now, but it was totally worth it.

As far as if yours is worth it, that's up to you. I asked the same about our Greek extension. Ours was $999 each, but it's for 4 days! So that covers 3 nights of hotels, 4 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 2 excursions out of Athens. So it seemed worth it to us, even though we could save a few bucks just doing it on our own. Plus, being our first Viking cruise, we're looking forward to have a Viking rep available from the moment we get there.

This is my report from 6 years ago...

Here's my pre-cruise report from a few years ago. We opted to stay near the Space Needle as the prices were much better, and the light rail got us into the city when we wanted.

Wow! This is good to know! We booked a GTY through our agent (large group cruise). We've never done that, we've always picked our room. But it was about $2000 more to do that. So we skilled it this time. At least now I know not to even think about what our cabin will be until close to sailing.

Thanks everyone! I figured it couldn't be anything major, with the short time. Was simply more curious than anything. LOL!

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

It is nothing that would change any venues.  Likely just a minor category change

That makes sense! It was just bugging me. LOL!

I did look a bit on the boards, but didn't see anything. We currently have a 2025 cruise booked on Adventure with a large group. We haven't sailed RC since 2017, and that was our only time. We did enjoy it though. Anyway, I noticed when looking at the deck plans, it shows deck plans from now until April 16, 2024, then I can click on plans from April 20, 2024 through April 2025. I haven't been able to notice what the difference is, but I also didn't sit and analyze every little detail. Plus, it's hard to look at the deck plans when you have to scroll down to see them all. I was just curious if there was something they were going to be doing next April, and if anyone knew what it was!

ETA - Wanted to just add a screenshot.

Glad I'm seeing this. We also have the same thing. It's a group cruise and we picked the 2D GTY. We always get a balcony. Our agent did say it wouldn't be obstructed.

I have this one bookmarked based on recommendations from others. We haven't booked yet, not until next year. But people said they were really good.

https://www.limousinrome.com/index.php/tours/

3 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

My trip in January said Hilton also, even though it's been closed for a couple of years and is being partially converted into luxury condos and rebranded Conrad. Not expected to open for at least another year or two.

Yep! That's actually how I came across your posts, was searching for the extension hotel info. It said opening in 2024, so I guess there's always a chance, but doubtful. We'll go where they send us, not a big deal. LOL!

We're booked on the 4 day pre-cruise excursion, and it shows the NJV Athens Plaza online, but our paperwork says the Hilton. Of course, we're not going for about 10 months, so I know things can always change.

9 minutes ago, bowen9475 said:

My youngest son, who is now 20, has cruised several times and been a part of all the different kids clubs. He had a great time on all the cruises, made lots of friends and always enjoyed hanging out in the kids clubs. We never needed to buy a WiFi package for him to interact with the other kids.

Yep! Same here! He's been on several cruises with us as well, never had WiFi. In fact, he didn't even have a phone when he first started cruising. He did have the Carnival Hub app so we could chat with him as needed. But he never needed it for making friendships. They would just often meet up there, then hang out and such.

4 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Their website 

https://barcelonadaytours.com

 

The tickets to visit the interior of the La Sagrada Familia are sold only by the church but they will purchase them for you to coincide the timed entry with their tour. Tickets sell out well in advance so book as early as possible.

 

Barcelona Day Tours are a family run company and really give you personalized service. One of the best I’ve used.

Thanks! That's what I thought it was. I already bookmarked it. 😃 We just have to figure out our plans for the time we're there. We dock at 8:00 a.m. on a Friday, but spend the night there and disembark on Saturday. So we may end up spending just Saturday night and flying back on Sunday then.

4 hours ago, MeRose said:

Hi,

We spent 2 extra days in Barcelona after Viking cruise.  Time well spent.  And I want to thank this board group for all the wonderful advice.  We did schedule a 'Barcelona Day Tours' - it was a half day tour with a group of 10 and and the guide was excellent.  The tour was called Barcelona Highlights. Price was $99 euros per person, as we selected the extra options Sagrada Familia inside tour with full audio guide, and the Park Guell entrance. There was a little over lap (Sagrada Familia exterior tour) with Viking's included tour (which was two days earlier) but we actually appreciated a different perspective from the different guides.  So THANK YOU!

Where did you book this through?

31 minutes ago, wine-wine-wine said:

Sorry had the name wrong. Villa of the mysteries. They depict the initiation into the mysteries of Dionysus. 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_of_the_Mysteries

OK, that makes more sense! LOL! Looks amazing! I have a feeling we're going to go to Pompeii. I know it's where I've always wanted to go.

3 minutes ago, wine-wine-wine said:

Hopefully you can see the magnificently restored House of Dionysus. The frescoes are amazing!

I had to look up where that is, and I see it's on Cyprus. We're not going there.

10 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Spend as much time in Barcelona as possible. So much to see and do there. 

I know, but it will be at the end of 26 days of traveling, so we're going to be a little bit spent by then I'm sure. We have the overnight we're docked there, so we may stay one night at a hotel before flying home. We'll have to see...

Thanks for directing me to this one as well @OneSixtyToOne! Again, great help for our cruise next year as these are also many of the ports we'll be at as well. I bookmarked the Barcelona tour page too, since that's something we'll want to look into for sure. We have the overnight there, but still deciding if we stay one more night and then fly out.

And yeah, I have a  feeling we'll end up doing Pompeii. It's always been a bucket list item for me honestly. I still remember as a kid, when the National Geographic came out with the artifacts on the cover!