NanciEA

We are at the Westin Excelsior in a few weeks before we board the Grandeur.

We are booked with Historic and Scenic Tours. 8 people in one van. 7 hrs from Ivergordon. $135 per person.

We are cruising out of Rome later this month and have been assigned the Westin Excelsior.

In reference to what CCWineLover stated, our only complaint on our last Viking Ocean cruise was the shore excursion person who gave the daily talks. Her very thick accent made her talks extremely difficult to understand. Numerous passengers also told us they also stopped attending for this reason. Since most of the passengers on our ship had as their native language English, and shore excursion information would have been very helpful to passengers, I recommended to Viking it would be helpful to have someone whose first language was English give these presentations. 

I would book the transfer now with Viking. You can pay extra and they will include you in the transfers if you are leaving the day of disembarkation. Contact them and they will send you a transfer form to fill out and email or fax to them. We are doing this for next year's British Isle cruise. We are flying into Bergen two day early and will find our way on the bus to our hotel. We are not staying on in London but paying Viking to transfer us to Heathrow.

I have registered us for years. It's on my "to do" list before every international trip. It makes it much harder for the US Government to help you if they don't know you are in a country when something happens there. It's really easy to use once you create an account with the State Department.

Does anyone remember if the train had outlets for charging your phone?

Yes, we were happy with the tour. It is a small group, maybe 12? It leaves from right next to where the tender's dock. It ends at the small aquarium, which is just across the street. They used a small mini bus, but you are not on it for long amounts of time. There are numerous stops and all are near the port. The puffins we saw were on a cliff over looking the town.

We saw numerous puffins on a private tour with Eyjatours while in Heimaey. 

We took a bus from in front of the Opera House to Bratislava. It was about an hour non-stop. The tour included an hour long walking tour and then free time. We wandered around, had lunch, and did some shopping for a Christmas ornament. We left around 8:30 and were back by 3:00. Very easy and relaxed. I believe there were also options for taking the boat back. The boat I believe takes longer and does not return to the Opera House. 

We are looking at In The Wake of the Vikings for next September - Bergen to Montreal. I am hesitant about  this repositioning cruise. I am concerned about the North Atlantic at that time of the year, not only for the possible rough seas, but also the possible missed stops, especially the tender ports. Has anyone done this cruise?

Thank you so much for taking the time to write a detailed review. I noticed you did not mention any lectures. I assume you did not attend (or watch in your cabin) any of them? We have taken two Viking Ocean cruises, one pre and one post Covid and one of the many highlights for us have been the amazing lecturers. 

I agree with you on the included excursions. For our next Viking cruise we plan to book more independent, private shore excursions.

I agree with almost all of the suggestions in this post. I am surprised no one as mentioned the topic of "final payment date". Paying sometimes over a year in advance is my biggest issue with Viking. For a recent booking with Viking they were asking for final payment 13 months out. I ask for something more reasonable (In my opinion.) and they had to put me on hold for awhile while they "asked a manager". I did get 8 months out, but only after I told them (and they looked it up) that I have two other cruise coming up in 2023 which are completely paid for. The agent acted like he was really doing me a really big favor.

We landed at Chicago T5 on June 22 (a Wednesday, which may make a difference.) and there was no wait for Global Entry, which we have. It don't remember the line for non-Global Entry being awful. This was around 2:30pm. We waited maybe 10 minutes for our luggage. The hardest part is the long trek to your domestic flight, which involved the tram/train. Our connecting flight was on the opposite end of the airport. We had three hours. In total 45/50 minutes gate to gate.

How do you purchase the ticket? In advance online, or on the ground when you arrive? We fly to Munich in less than two weeks. We will be there a few days before a Rhine rive cruise which also includes several stops in Germany.

We have four couples traveling in early September. We still had unused airline credits so I booked our own flights directly with the airline. (I have added the transfers from Viking.) Our six friends paid for Air Plus so they could talk with Viking about their flights. They called Viking in early February and booked the flights and seats they wanted. Yesterday, one couple received a notice from Viking their flights had been changed. They thought it was the usual airline time changes which happen now on a regular basis. No. They were changed to a completely different airline and instead of one stop it is now two. The other two couples were unaffected. They called Viking and were told there is now a "60 day policy". Unless your flight is within 60 days, they are too busy to talk with you! There are still plenty of seats available (per the airline) on their original flights. They are afraid the seats will be gone 60 days out. I think if you paid extra to be able to talk with Viking about your flights, you should be able to do that! I told them to cancel the air with Viking and book their own, but we are all using 125% vouchers and they would lose a lot of money. Our original trip was for June 2020. Lesson learned for all the rest of our group - never use Viking Air Plus, or Viking Air in general unless you are willing to take whatever they give you in terms of connections, seats, changes, etc. The Viking agent offered to give them their $50 each back since no one will talk them, but still it is very poor service. This is not our first time with Viking, but it is for the other couples, and so far they are not impressed. 

Oh and we all have the risk free guarantee and will cancel and take a voucher once again (This is our third attempt at going!) if Viking doesn't stop the daily testing of healthy travelers by late summer.

I would vote for Ancient Ephesus. You will see all of the "big" sites of the reconstructed city. (Wonders of the Ancient World doesn't sound like it actually goes to the ancient city?) We did this tour a number of years ago with a private guide. The description "gently descending route" is true. The only "uphill" is if you want to climb up at the theater, which is at the end of the tour, right before the craft stalls.  

I love reading travel blogs and yours is one of the best, if not the best I have read. I look forward to reading your posts everyday. You have brought me a lot of joy with your daily recaps. I will be sad when your travels have ended.

We have a Rhine river cruise booked with Tauck in June. I just received my documents and the only test needed will be the day before we are to fly home. Maybe the US will come to it's senses by then and end that test - at least for US citizens. At least we will be able to enjoy our cruise without daily worry. I am so happy it is not with Viking. And I am a big fan of Viking - 2 rivers and 2 ocean cruises. But, we will not cruise with them again until they stop the insane daily testing. We have a France river cruise booked with them for September and I'll take a voucher if they are still testing daily and contact tracing. We took a Viking Ocean cruise to Iceland last August and it was great except for the worry about testing positive. 

I am no stranger to the heartbreak of Covid-19. My mother and my aunt both died of Covid prior to the vaccines. They contracted it in their respective assisted living facilities. It was tragic - ICU's ventilators, dying alone, etc. I got Covid a month after my booster last December. It was barely a head cold.The miracle of the vaccines.

My son is an infectious disease physician and so all of our Covid information for the last two years has been through him. He told us (of course) get the vaccine, first booster (the recent one is not necessary), and wear a good mask when in crowds, including on airplanes. Everyone's Covid story is different. This is mine and my husbands.

I was wondering if someone who is much more technologically adept than myself could post a poll (new thread) with just one question? "Should Viking stop daily Covid testing and contract tracing?" The only answers possible would be "yes" or "no". It would, of course, be non-scientific, but I think many posters on this forum would be interested in the results. Reading various threads on the subject, I can't always get a sense which is the more predominate opinion. Maybe it's 50/50!

You can absolutely go on your own, although you will want to check on how late the buses run. If you are arriving at the airport (Schipol), it would be great for you if you could send your luggage on to the ship and go directly to the gardens. It is about 20 minutes from the airport. Otherwise visit the Kuekenhof website for the information on the Express Bus from Amsterdam. Our ticket required us to change buses at the airport, which is super easy. You exit one and the one to the gardens is right there. Buy the combined ticket for the bus and the entrance fee. When you arrive the bus drops you off right at the entrance. Because you already have an entrance ticket you go right in. 

Are they still doing contact tracing? That is what got a group of passengers sent home on our Iceland cruise last August. They were on the same tour bus as someone who tested positive.

 I too would like to see Viking drop the daily testing and contact tracing. I don't mind wearing a mask. I'm not sure we will sail with them again until they do. We are booked for September. We were on the Jupiter in Iceland last August and really enjoyed our cruise, however, we did hear of people who were put off the ship because someone on their tour bus tested positive. We are on a river cruise in Europe in June with a different company which only requires a vaccine, a test before boarding (for now), and masks in public settings. That is fine with us.

Covid was horrible before the miracle vaccines. My mother and my aunt both died from contracting it in their assisted living facilities, prior to the vaccines being available. When I contracted it after two doses and a booster, I had a mild head cold, unlike my mother and aunt who were on ventilators in ICU's before dying. In addition, our son is an Infectious Disease physician, who is of the same mind as Jim Avery. 98% of people who are vaccinated will die of something besides covid.

Schaitberger, I am so jealous! We were just in 5091 on the Jupiter in Iceland. On our first Viking Ocean cruise we did not know the difference and had a door. I purposely choice a slider for our August cruise thanks to some kind soul on this board who posted the list. We much preferred the slider and for our next ocean cruise I asked for 5091 and when told it was available I was excited! I know think of it as "our" cabin. Enjoy!!

moatenote, I've had similar issues with Viking Air and business class tickets. I now book my own and pay for the transfers, or do them myself, depending on the location, as it is not worth the hassle and worry. The last time I tried to used them for air, they told me all the business class seats were sold out. I told them I was looking at the flights I wanted online during the conversation and there were plenty of seats available. This was 9- 10 months out and on Delta. The agent finally admitted they only have a few business class seats on "defined" routes. They could only book me with three stops and horrible connection times. On top of that, the flights I was looking at were cheaper than the not great ones they were offering. (I had paid for Air Plus so I could request flights.) In the end the said "most of our clients find booking their own business class air was usually much better." Got to give it to them for honesty.