rbslos18

On 7/10/2023 at 7:54 AM, MoBro713 said:

We will be on the British Isle Explorer cruise next month.  I'd like to leave most of what is in my wallet at home.  Other than my Mastercard and debit card, do I need to bring my drivers license or Blue Cross/Medicare cards?  American Express?  Any other items I should be carrying?  When you visit a port, do you have to bring your passport with you?

 

Thanks

We only bring Visa and Mastercard and keep all vital copies of credit cards and important information in 1Password. We bring our passport and Global  Entry cards.

On 7/10/2023 at 8:25 AM, MoBro713 said:

What about my Covid vaccination card?

 

Thanks

I would bring it just in case. We can also access from our doctor's My Chart app.

On 7/12/2023 at 7:09 PM, 1sttimerrt said:

I've read comments about needing to go to the dining room early because there is a line at  5:45.  I didn't experience line when I cruised on SS.  So I  am concerned about booking a Viking cruise.   Is it true that we would have to  "line-up" for dinner?  If so,  why is that done?

As a rule there usually is not a wait. It’s not a regular occurrence. We had to wait twice on the Neptune last week. The first time was due to six couples all wanting to have a table for two by a window. There were plenty of other tables available.  The wait was 7 minutes. 
The second time was a long line following a popular lecture. The line went fast. So 90%+ we walked in with no wait. 

The norm is to show up and be seated right away. The system used works well. 
 

My dw never met a veggie burger she could not stomach until our Viking cruise in 2021!

Viking has redeemed itself!

Thanks!

Any suggestions for hotels near the V&A Museum?

We are tentatively scheduled to do a Viking Precruise Extension in London in February. The cost is $999 per person for two nights, hotel (Conrad St. James), two breakfasts and transfers. Is London a complicated city to do the transfers including travel to the port (Tillbury)? 

We are on the Neptune and much to our surprise the veggie burger served at the Pool Grill is an Impossible Burger. This is a huge upgrade over the former (inedible) veggie burger.

I have had no significant problem using a VPN on the Neptune.

I am currently testing a VPN (Mullvad) on a Viking cruise. The only downsides I have found is initially the Viking Voyager app did not work until I turned off the VPN. Once the app worked and the VPN was turned on, the Voyager app would not display Daily events. 

Do tech savvy Viking cruisers use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) when traveling on Viking or any cruise ship?

How secure do you find Viking's public Wi-Fi network? Any suggestions of a VPN compatible on Viking?

Thanks for your advice.

Crispy/Pushka your posts are sobering. Crispy, I wish you a quick recovery. It is surprising people are still neglecting to wash their hands. How soon some forget the past few years. Pushka, the story about the elderly lady’s husband was sobering. This is the ultimate cruise nightmare. Our last cruise in December 2021, some people refused to follow Viking’s mask rules. I felt bad for staff tasked with asking adults to follow the rules passengers knew and had agreed to pre-cruise. 

My advice is for each individual to discuss their unique health situation and experiences with COVID with their physician. Ones personal history and the current variants need to be considered. If you have access to an epidemiologist, you will get great advice. The advice I have received is to get a second bivalent shot pre-cruise; to wear a mask on the plane; to take a few spare masks and to above all have a good time. 

9 hours ago, SJD117 said:

We’re cruising next month, too. And like you, we’ll get bivalent shots this month. But we intend to bring Covid antigen tests with us on the cruise. Having suffered an especially nasty “rebound” case (which caused us to cancel a DIY trip to Europe in April), I’d like to know if I get another rebound, bivalent shot or no bivalent shot, so I can self-quarantine on the ship and not infect others.

I agree we should not expose others when we are sick. If I had a virus or infection I would self-quarantine. I’m struggling with where to draw the line as far as testing. If I am feeling sick enough to test, I should isolate regardless of what type of virus or the test says. 

1 hour ago, LindaAndBillTravel said:

Viking is already not requiring vaccination. We just returned from sailing on Saturn, departing May 23, and no proof of vaccination was ever asking for. And many people had COVID by the end of our cruise from what I gathered.

At this point, over two years since the original vaccinations were offered, Viking’s policy requiring just the original two vaccinations is of little effectiveness. Only 18% of eligible people received the bivalent booster. People seem unaware of the latest booster or overconfident on their level of immunity. 

We just got our second bivalent shot (available for those over 65) in preparation for our July cruise. We aren’t taking COVID tests with us or anti-viral medication. 

Andy, your advice and explanations have helped us navigate to Viking from Princess. We have done one cruise and have four cruises booked. But I am very concerned by how you and others have been treated.  Yes, the onboard experience is outstanding, but unless the Customer Service on land improves, we too will migrate elsewhere. Given the premium price we pay, we expect, excellent customer support. It seems Viking has lost touch with its roots. 

What cruise line are you considering?

I have a few questions on transfer options.

1) Is it hard to get a taxi on noon on a Sunday? What is the cost

2) Does anyone have a transfer car service to recommend?

Thx

Which menus would be suitable for pescatarians --vegetarians who eat fish?

Thanks

Viking Newbies:

In summation: You can wear a thong (meaning determined by country of origin) to the World Cafe but not The Restaurant. Please leave the pooch at home UNLESS a trained, certified-service dog. And sorry if we can’t quote a price for sending thongs (of any kind) to the ship laundry. But it should come back within two days. OR use the free laundry machines with free thong-safe detergent.

14 hours ago, cruisinchrissy said:

Yet another example of American “English”. Calling seizures fits is not a derogatory term in UK. I’m sure no offence was intended.

This exchange illustrates the complexity of the issue. Different countries use different terminology some of which may be unintentionally offensive to others. 
 

Even within a country there may be different definitions. The term “service animal” means different things to different people. Try and convince a person their emotional support pet is not a service animal. It will be interesting to see how Viking navigates this issue.

Dear Viking,

Fear not! A simple online search of “service animals on cruise ships” finds plenty of well-thought out, robust policies other cruise lines have developed over the years. There are advantages to being one of the newer ocean cruise lines. My advice—Copy, paste and reword. It will take less time to develop this policy than it took to read these 287 posts. Viking—You’ve got this!
Thanks,

RB

Service animals have a year or more of training. They enable their owners to be safe and function. By law they must be allowed in public places in the US. I have observed their training, am awestruck, and donate funds to enable their training. What these animals do is amazing. One dog, I regularly see, knows 83 commands. We are not allowed to go near her without the owner’s permission.

Emotional service animals do not require any training. In the US they are not required admission in public places. One can send away for an ESA certificate but then again anyone can become an ordained clergy person in the US for $100.00, maybe less. Animals on a bed will be a disaster for asthmatics allergic to animal dander.
 

3 hours ago, Haqdeluxe said:

Why does this feel like the ultimate goal here is to define what cruise lines are "Luxury" solely to use "I’ve sailed or sail on such and such" for bragging rights.

So often it feels like what is left unspoken is "Sailing on such-and-such such cruise line reminds me so much of our 'by invitation only' country club."

Just my observation...

Agreed. I find the need to label Viking and other cruise lines peculiar. Labels for us are meaningless. We initially tried Viking out of curiosity and an interesting itinerary. Whether it was or is not a “luxury” experience never crossed our minds. Our first Viking cruise, we wanted a responsible COVID policy (2021), Promenade Deck, modern ship, interesting itinerary and good food. We just label the experience Viking. Arguing over labels can be exhausting!

7 hours ago, purpleally said:

Luxury cruise lines include gratuities, one of a few reasons Viking is not a luxury cruise line

We have experienced the premium and luxury lines. Yes, in the luxury lines the gratuities were included. We’ve even had butlers. Yet, we find Viking, the non-luxury, luxury experience, preferable to the luxury, gratuities-included lines. It’s very subjective. We found the Viking ships to be more modern and spacious, and the service and food to be better.
Luxury is in the eyes of the beholder. 
 

On 3/19/2023 at 12:06 PM, d9704011 said:

Trip insurance doesn't appear to be an effective preventive measure against viral infection.

True. But travel insurance sure comes in handy when contracting COVID, especially in a foreign country or on a ship. Our bills for a mild case were a couple of thousand dollars in Prague last summer. Everything was covered including a private transfer to Berlin.
 

The debate over which line is better is typically unproductive. The real question is which line is best for me and my unique needs and likes.  It is kind of like marriage. My wife says I’m a good guy. We have been married for 46 years. But I am confident I would likely be a disaster married to other people, most of whom are wonderful.

Our process began by listing our must haves and then reading various Boards and reviews. We tried a luxury line and it wasn’t for us. That doesn’t mean the line isn’t great; only that it wasn’t great for us.
 

For us, Viking checked a lot of boxes—great food for a pescatarian, interesting itineraries, beautiful-modern cabins, comfortable bed, a wrap-around Promenade Deck, comfortable dress code, interesting lectures and a ship whose layout and size enable us to escape the limelight of work.