PRH

The bar (there is only one) is open on River cruises usually morning until late at night. On our two very recent River cruises, there were extremely limited premium wine options—like $21 a glass or purchase a bottle with a discount. I would not have been happy to purchase a bottle after paying for SS! They served the same two red/white wines every night which was also a surprise. our River cruises were very intensive so not a lot of time to relax and enjoy the bar! Glad we didn’t purchase SS as our evening cocktails ran us $76 after the ship cocktail parties, included wine tastings, etc. were plenty. Guess it depends on your itinerary.

Yes, you are. It’s usually something like $6 but it will show in the menu.

What Viking told us is that we would not be allowed to board without the Brazil visa—even if we do not intend to get off the ship at the Brazil stops. We’ll give it a month to see how it plays out.

We did the falconry-park tour. Loved it!

Here is what the form says. I will be very interested to find out if cruise itinerary is sufficient.

This is horrible! I’ve spent almost an hour just trying to get myself registered. And then to discover that logging out gives you no way to re-enter? When I click on the link they sent, it says “access denied.” Same is true for “help.” Why a bank statement and why no way to enter and exit via a cruise? No way I can complete it.

Inverwe Gardens are particularly nice. Fair ride to get there but amazingly beautiful place to stroll and savor! You will see different parts and terrain of Scotland than you would otherwise on the ride so all is not lost—including where James Bond movie Skyfall scenes were filmed. the included Shetland tour was good. We loved Liverpool! The included tour was good and we took the optional walking tour. In Edinburgh, we walked from the ship to tour the Britannia (purchase tickets in advance) and then caught the HOHO bus right in front into old Edinburgh. we loved this cruise. Probably one of the best we’ve taken. Also did the Britain at War out of Dover. (We’ve been to Canterbury several times).

In Belfast, Frank (Francis H.) on Tours by Locals does an excellent tour. He picks you up at the ship in his Mercedes van. He lived through the troubles and is a history professor so you get about a pretty balanced account and exact locations as possible. You get right up close and personal to murals, important sites and into neighborhoods. Did you know that there are still over 50 miles of wall in Belfast? Our 26 year old nephew was amazed and sincerely affected by this tour. We also took the included tour and it was almost nothing compared to this one. If you want an outstanding tour of Belfast, consider this one.

My husband really enjoyed that art show and we still have some of his paintings displayed in the Wintergarten. We’re on again in March so hoping they will offer art classes again.

This was our experience two years ago with the 4x4. Viking really needs to sync their descriptions with the reality. We’ve grown frustrated with the misleading and sometimes down right misrepresentation of optional tours. We’ve complained via the questionnaires to please, please accurately represent what you are buying. They’ve called twice and offered $50 vouchers but we reiterated that accurate descriptions would go much further in customer satisfaction.

You can pay for SS, excursions, etc. on MVJ whether or not you use a TA. Our TA always gives us a 10 day “heads up” for final payment so there is no panic.

Our TA can replicate any Viking booking direct offer PLUS offer other incentives. I think what the OP has finally realized is that they have left possible $$$ on the table because they only went Viking direct. If that is your preference, so be it but our TA has had no trouble getting exact what Viking was offering so if that is your concern, you may want to look for a TA with Viking experience.

We were just notified that a visa for Brazil will be required for our March transatlantic from Buenos Aires. Has anyone done the research on this yet? Viking suggests a company that tends to charge way more than others for processing a visa. Thanks!

Viking calls these “butterflies” when there is any gap. We have a butterfly with three days and airfare in between on a single booking code (vouchers required the single code). Viking told us we are responsible for airfare and hotel for the gap. They wouldn’t even talk to us about flights.

Best coffee is on deck one, Living Room bar. Second best is from the machines in World Cafe. The stuff in the carafes is terrible- hot water added to a concentrate. The DVs and above have Nepresso machines (traditional capsule) in the rooms. If you have a preference regarding espresso, bring capsules as there are only two choices—Roma or decaf.

Unless it is the only option, I avoid BA. Seems like they put their oldest, grubbiest planes on the Boston-Heathrow route. I dislike the velour seats in economy- -especially if you aren’t on the aisle. Between the pitch (which is close to claustrophobic when the person in front of you reclines) and the velour, it is impossible to get out of your seat without gymnastics. The crews seem fine but the flight conditions are less than desirable. Lately, if we have to fly BA, we go business class but even that on these older planes is subpar.

We are on what Viking calls “butterfly cruise” which means our Douro River cruise is on the same booking number as our Budapest to Bucharest cruise with a few days in between to get from one to the other. Viking will not do airfare between the two but does transfers at the beginning cruise and the end of the second. I have no interest in purchasing silver spirits for the first cruise as there will be lots of port and Portuguese wines around to drink, in addition to having very full days. On the second cruise, I would like to have SS but not sure I can purchase it separately. In MVJ, it is sold as covering both. We leave for Portugal in two weeks. Anyone have experience with this on a “butterfly”? I will call my TA later today but wondering about personal experience. Thanks!

Our experience is that you get a short safety briefing upon boarding at your assembly station by a crew member and then are directed to watch the safety video before the ship departs. There is a general announcement from the bridge with horns.

We often use Tours by Locals and have had outstanding ones. None have been less than very good. Our TBL in Belfast was incredible (Frank is a history professor, writer and personally lived through the Troubles—his picture is in Belfast). My nephew (in his 20’s) went with us and was astonished by the stories, the miles and miles of walls still topped with razor wire, the various political murals by diffe rent perspectives, and the viciousness set free when good causes get taken over by power hungry men. Our TBL in Lisbon, Vigo, Florence, San Sebastián, Dubrovnik, Tallin and so on have been wonderful too because we get a very local perspective on living in these places and cultural experiences we would not otherwise have had. They have very good cancellation policies.

We did Britain at War from Dover. Great tour and outstanding guide. RAF museum and memorial. Lunch in a pub.

We used Alternative Athens while we were in Athens as our tour company. We did three different tours. They were great to deal with and our guides were terrific.

We took the optional Viking tour as getting there and back was too complicated. Was an excellent tour and our guide was very good and funny.

Anyone experiencing extremely long load times, if it loads at all? Trying to check excursion for upcoming (October) cruise.

We were bussed to the old cruise terminal in Venice from Fusina, along with our luggage.

I was probably MOST frustrated on our GL Expedition cruise as the descriptions were often so light on information and in one case, absolutely misleading. Not even the excursion manager had been on our excursions so she would not deviate from the description when we reported the huge discrepancies afterward. I would hope that Viking would take guest comments seriously but I’ve learned that the descriptions are often fanciful and sometimes downright misleading. On one, when we signed up it was an e-bike trip but once on board, when we checked with excursions because our tickets said bike, they told us that e-bikes were against the law in PEI! We canceled and then saw an ebike rental shop within a few blocks of the ship! He said Viking had contacted him but had not followed up. And yes, e-bikes are most certainly allowed on PEI. Friends who had been excited to try e-bikes decided to go anyway and the bikes were in poor condition, the trail was 6 miles shorter than described and the “delicious snack” turned out to be a stale granola bar. They complained to guest services/excursions along with the pre-cruise receipt saying “ebike” and were told sorry, you should have noticed that e no longer appeared in the onboard excursion description! This was one among 4 such description discrepancies for some expensive optional excursions. It almost put us off Viking altogether. I’ve learned to ask lots of questions upon boarding and to keep asking—has any crew member actually been on this optional excursion? Who provided the description and what have guest comments been like? How many times has this excursion been offered? By the same vendor? I dislike being a pest but these excursions are not inexpensive and the Excursions Manager should be prepared to give accurate information. Sure, there can be variations due to lots of circumstances but being taken to a hike and dropped off with no maps and told you would be picked up in two hours is not the same as “enjoy a guided hike in…..”.