Marmaduke

I have just phoned Viking to ask about cruises beyond the 28th August but they don't appear to have  knowledge of any.  I was hoping that if the itinerary was better I am still within the 2wk time frame to transfer my booking.

Very disappointing for all concerned, a visit to the Isle of Man was the main reason we booked.  I would have thought that Viking would have checked the feasibility for visiting the ports concerned before releasing the itineraries, which were only available for sale less than 6 weeks ago. 

20 hours ago, downsmead said:

Have seen that the Scilly Isles has been dropped for the sailing on the 7th and Holyhead has been substituted for Douglas on a later sailing.

Where did you find out this information ?  There is no notification on my "My Viking Journey" nor on Viking's  own website.

We drove straight to the car park and there was somebody there collecting the cases for transfer direct to the ship. I believe it is  possible to drop off the suitcases first at the terminal  then proceed to the car park, although you  may have to exit the port, go back on to the main road to access the car park.  I am sure somebody on here  who know the area better will be able to give you exact directions.   

On the return we were able to take a luggage trolley from the terminal to the car park.

Have been locked out of  "My Viking Journey"  for most of last week.  I phoned them yesterday and they confirmed that it was undergoing updates and suggested I try again Monday .

I was very pleased with the  quality of the included wines.  I prefer Oceania, whereby, under the terms of their included package I can choose any wine that is sold by the glass, but the Viking wines were far superior to some of the daily offerings  provided by Azamara.  My disappointment  was that these daily wines were the same ones that were paired with the dishes at the Chef's Table restaurant.  I was hoping for some different wines, (without paying extra).

We used Apcoa parking in June and have just booked them again for August (£60 Viking Deal)  I think the service provided was the same as CPS (who we have previously used for Southampton) but on this occasion CPS were unable to provide the valet parking element.  We drove into the car park at Portsmouth Docks and an Apcoa rep directed us to a parking space, having checked our number plate details on his list.  The luggage was taken by them and transfered to the ship.  We then walked to the terminal which took a few minutes.   We kept our keys with us and on the return we were able to get a trolley in the cruise terminal which we could take all the way to the car park.  Why not give Apcoa a call (phone number can be found on their web site) and check what arrangements are in place for those with mobility issues.

Prior to a cruise I always go round my local charity shops and purchase  a few paperback of my choice, then once I have read them I leave them on the exchange table.   This leaves more room in my suitcase to take home any items I may have purchased/accululated  during my travels.

Very impressed  with our first Viking Cruise round England  on the Venus in June.  I would prefer the Med at this time of year and to be able to explore ashore independently but with the current Covid situation that was never going to be possible.  So a UK cruise was the best option and Viking handled everything very smoothly and professionally.  It was  so nice to be back on board a cruise ship that we have just booked the other itinerary on Star for 21 August, and the  £100 past passenger discount was a nice bonus!

On 7/6/2021 at 4:55 PM, ORV said:

Are you sure you meant Oceania? I don't remember a Chef's Table and their books are in the library. 

Apologies, yes  I meant Viking's specialty restaurants were disappointing.  Oceania's are far superior both in terms of quality, choice and service. 

I have also just returned from a week onboard the Viking Venus around the UK and agree with the comments made by Glenndale.   The main reason I have not considered Viking in the past is that ships tours are included in the price and since I prefer to explore ashore independently  I would be paying for something I do not want. However due to Covid restrictions, the only way to get ashore was on a ships tour so we chose this cruise.  The tours were good and well organised giving an overview of the area, but there was only one included tour in each port, any other tours were at extra cost. Whereas if you take the O Life Tours package you can choose which tours and in which ports you wish to take them.

Viking include wine, beer and soft drinks with lunch and dinner.  The included wines consisted of a different red and white every day plus a rose and a sparkling wine.  The quality was certainly better than Azamara's daily wine offerings but I prefer the O Life drinks package where by I can choose anything that is served by the glass. 

Oceania's specialty restaurants were very disappointing.  The Chefs Table wines that were paired with the dishes were the same wines that had appeared throughout the cruise on the daily rotation and the service was very rushed, a 5 course meal taking only 1 hour.

I was pleased I took my own books to read, as their books were scattered thoughout the ship and looked as though they were there for decoration, not to be read. I never did find any fiction.

I would cruise with Viking again if the itinerary was right for me but on the whole Oceania has the edge.

What concerns me is that different countries will have different policies on who can go ashore and how.  Even with country intensive cruises each port many be able to enforce its own  local regulations, therefore to keep things simple the cruise line may well decided to  allow only those on the ships excursions to go ashore.  This would not only give them more control over possible Covid outbreaks but by forcing you to take their over priced excursions they could re-coup some of their loses from the past 18 months.  

As a person who likes to go ashore independently I sincerely hope that this will not be the case but with a growing  pent-up demand for cruises I fear it many be a possibilty for the next year or so.  

Does the glitch that appears to affect the pre booking of restaurants also apply to pre booked tours, be they the included ones or optional extras.  Do you need to check on board that your tour reservations still stand,  if not have people been able to get their first choice of timings ?

Thank you David and Janet for taking the time to post a very comprehensive review of your cruise, which is very helpful for those of us who don't do Facebook.  You mentioned dining in the specialty restaurants more than once. To obtain these extra reservations did you just turn up at the restaurant when you wanted to eat and enquire if they had any vacancies or did you pre- book, if so when and where  on board do you do this.

At least two people have now reported that, despite booking restaurants times in advance on MVJ they have found that once on board theses reservations do not exist.  They have then had to go to guest services and re-book often not getting their original preferences which seems to defeat one of the the objectives of paying extra for a deluxe balcony.   Has any one else had this problem or have your MVJ bookings been honoured ?

I believe that you currently need to take a covid test and get negative result within 72 hours of travel to re -enter the UK.  If you are on a land based holiday your tour operator will help or the hotel will probably be able to point you in the direction of the nearest test centre but how do you achieve this if you are traveling around on a cruise.

Many thanks to everyone who has taken time to post whilst on their cruise.  Please keep your comments coming.  What is life like onboard, is there much interaction between guests or are people tending to be more reserved, keeping themselves to themselves due to the social distancing.  Do masks have to be worn when out side on the open deck or when walking around the prom deck? What is there do to on sea days, lectures, trivia quizzes ?  Is the library adequate or should I bring some books with me?

Sorry to hear that the Scilly Isles  has been cancelled. Do hope that the weather improves for you.

Azura was due a refit last year after her Caribbean season, obviously that didn't happen.  When I was on her in 2018 the cabins furnishings were looking worn and by  February 2020 they were even worse and the whole ship had a tired run down feel. Does anyone know if that posponed refit is due before she re-enters service . My travel agent didn't seem to think so.  I am begining to regret booking for 2022.

Maybe this "Comfort Check In" is the reason why CPS cannot provide valet parking at Portsmouth.  If you have to adhere to a time slot for checking in at the port and you turn up early then you could wait in your parked car, only a thought.

6 hours ago, pcolmer said:

I've been giving some further thought to this and I don't think it is related to the size of the Portsmouth terminal as the CPS website seems to suggest that they support a number of cruise lines operating out of Portsmouth.

 

Since the change came at the request of Viking, I think it is more likely that this is to try and reduce the risk of spreading COVID. By eliminating the valet aspect, you don't have to interact with anyone from CPS and they don't interact with your car or car keys.

 

In which case bonus points for Viking for continuing to think about how to keep the risks down.

I doubt this can be the reason.  What about all those arriving by public transport, they will have interacted with many other people on their journey to the ship.

After reading the various posts about  the possible ending of reciprocal  status between Aazmara and  Celebrity I decided to check my past history with Azamara. 

Not having been cruising for 18 months it had been a while since I last checked.  I found that my number of points and my loyalty tier were correct but three of the cruises I took with Azamara in 2019 and one with Celebrity also in 2019   were not listed, but the cruise in 2020 which Azamara cancelled due to covid was showing as a past voyage, thus  my total number of cruises was incorrect .  Has any one else noticed any discrepancies in their history? I have details of the missing cruises so is it worth contacting anyone, and if so who, or shall  I just wait until  the independance of Azamara is finalised.  Prior to 2019 all cruises listed are correct including those with Celebrity.

The bathrooms on the R Class ships are small but there is no way that they can be enlarged, however when it comes to refurnishing the new ship perhaps they could consider replacing the shower curtain with glass doors.  Oceania have done this successfully when they upgraded their R Class ships.

2 hours ago, Bloodaxe said:

 

I  believe P and O have a Ventura, it's difficult to find a new one but Pursuit was quite a surprise to me.

P  & O do have a ship called Ventura which  has an unfortunate, derogatory nickname.

What will be interesting to see is whether  Celebrity's competitors e.g. Princess and Holland America move to a more "inclusive" product.  I only hope that Celebrity will be employing more bar staff.  I last cruised with them 2 years ago and along with  the majority of the other 2,000 passengers had a drinks package included as a booking perk.  Getting a drink on board at one of the bars was a complete bun fight.  Never had a problem obtaining a drink on Azamara, so I am in no rush to try the "new" Celebrity.

On 4/8/2020 at 3:51 PM, jo-b said:

Under current UK package travel laws a cruise is a package holiday and if it is cancelled or changed radically you are entitled to a full refund. Yours is a true package under ATOL protection. As far as I know the same entitlement applies. 
 

ABTA are asking the government to amend the package holiday directive  legislation o that you can get a future refund certificate valid for two years that if not used at then end of two years, or if the company goes bust ABTA will Refund in cash at that time. 
 

There is a lot of info online about this at the moment. 

After reading the above reply  I did some research  and as I understand it would appear that ABTA is lobbying  for legislation whereby voucher will be issued which will be valid for 2 years and if not used within that time frame a full refund will be made by ABTA, backed by the UK government.  This is not yet in force but maybe by the time Oceania officially cancels the cruise.

I have decided to not to cancel the cruise but to just wait and hope for a full refund to the credit card.  Worse case it seems that I will get a full refund in 2 years time.   I certainly intend to travel with Oceania again but in these uncertain times who know when or where.

I did have a cruise in April with Azamara, booked with different TA who also packaged it for me with flights and hotels for which I  received an ATOL certificate.  Azamara cancelled that cruise last month and that TA has assured me that I will get a full refund for all monies paid although it may take several weeks.