Queenie1603

In England - It would be great if Viking docked at Newcastle or Hull. The first Viking raid took place on Lindisfarne (Holy Island) and the nearby Farne Islands offer the chance to see puffins and seals in galore in May/June. With Bamburgh Castle nearby. Then of course there is Durham and York (still bearing its Viking name of Yorvik) with their grand Norman cathedrals and medieval towns. There is so much history along the North East coast of England and Viking loves history. Newcastle and Hull are both ferry ports and other cruise lines use Newcastle. So logistically it’s goer. 
 

We did this cruise last year in August.  We did book an excursion to the Doge’s Palace that we enjoyed very much. We didn’t bother with the included tour to Venice the next day as I couldn’t face another trip to Venice from where the ship docked (Chioggia). I was fortunate to enjoy many cruises into Venice when you could walk in from where the ships used to  dock. Those days are gone.  We were a good 100 min boat ride to St Marks Square. We enjoyed walking around Chioggia and the ship was a peaceful dream as so empty for most of the day. The infinity pool all to myself.  
There were overland excursions to offer, I think one was to Verona. In hindsight I think we may have taken that. I think it all depends where the ship docks. Other places may be nearer Venice or train stations. 

On 8/6/2022 at 12:00 AM, MICHE99 said:

Thank you for this intro. We are booked on this cruise in May 2023. Already starting my research. I know Viking offers many excursions and some are free. I’m sure we will do some of those but we have also enjoyed finding private guides a few times. We like to mix it up. 

Fantastic. I’m sure you’ll have a fab time. 

On 8/2/2022 at 1:39 PM, villager13 said:

Did you get to make reservations at the main dining room each night? 

19 hours ago, MICHE99 said:

Thank you for the clarification. We will be fine. Being a bit of a foodie I’m sure we would love to try the specialty restaurants but honestly I’m not sure I want to be worried about making plans for the day based on just that. Sounds like we could probably squeeze in somewhere in 14 days. My experience on other lines is that they are always willing to be accommodating and people change their minds. 

Hi, we are now onboard the Viking Sky and all the speciality restaurants requests I made through guest services have been honoured and showing in my On board reservations. We were only able to make one booking for the Restaurant but will just turn up when we fancy eating and see what happens. I still don’t know why there booking service didn’t work this time. 

I promised I’d post an update. We sail on Saturday.  I contacted Customer Services again yesterday as I hadn’t  heard anything. This morning I woke to find an email saying they were pleased to advise that they were able to accommodate all my dining requests. My Journey hasn’t updated to reflect this but at least I have the email.

l have spent a lot of time trying to sort this out. The system isn’t working for some reason. I did make me wonder whether I should use a TA next time so they can sort it out! 

On 7/30/2022 at 3:41 PM, Queenie1603 said:

This seems to be a general problem this time. I am still waiting to hear back from customer services who promised to sort it out. We are due to Board the Sky next Saturday (6 August).  We are in PV so not just DV who cannot make proper reservations. I had no probs with Excursions. 
 

I emailed customer services when I stared having the same probs described here. I sent them a list of my requests and this morning I received an email to say all my request have been met. Nothing has changed in my Cruise dairy yet but it does seem that something has happened. We board the Sky on Saturday so fingers crossed. 

I am sure it will work out OK in the end. Viking could have been more upfront about the booking issue. May be customer services didn’t know there was an issue. I was  told I was late booking where as, like our excursions I was ready to book on the day they came available. We have booked a PV so should have had 7 days grace before the DV bookings became available and are cruising for 14 days. Apart from two  visits to the daily visits I made to ‘my journey’ they were never available and on the two occasions they were the only sittings were at 9 pm and one of those was on the last night!
My expectations would be that Viking would have communicated the problem and how it will be resolved. 
I’ll find out on Saturday when we board the Sky and post here. 

This seems to be a general problem this time. I am still waiting to hear back from customer services who promised to sort it out. We are due to Board the Sky next Saturday (6 August).  We are in PV so not just DV who cannot make proper reservations. I had no probs with Excursions. 
 

I’m still waiting to hear back from customer services regarding my requests. I will post here when I get a response or what the situation is when we board. I really don’t want to spend my time having to sort this when we board with all the others who are having the same problem when I could be relaxing with a cocktail and enjoying my holiday.  😬
 

Moonlion is quite right if you want to see Puffins. The best time is May/June in Shetland and the Orkneys. Fingers crossed they are there. I live in the North East of England and our seabird population has been decimated by bird flu. It has been so upsetting seeing so many dead birds including in  our puffin colonies. 
I’m sure you’ll have a great time,  you’ll certainly hear a broad range of accents during your cruise including the Welsh language when you visit Anglesey. Cheers 🍺

Spring is a fab time to come to the U.K. It is usually very verdant and nature is busting out everywhere. The weather is never predicable in the U.K. last week we had the hottest day on record at 40  (104F) degrees. On Tuesday it didn’t rise above 15 (59F) degrees. So def bring layers and rain gear. You are primarily in Scotland so visit https://www.visitscotland.com website. Scotland is usually colder than England especially on the East Coast.  There is a lot of Viking history in the places you are visiting as the cruise visits the areas the Vikings had strongholds apart from Dover and London.
August is  the main school holiday season so it can be busy. September is also a good time to come. 

There is lots to do in Liverpool, including heritage stuff and the Beatles.

Belfast is also great, the Titanic Experience  is excellent https://www.titanicbelfast.com/experiences/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw54iXBhCXARIsADWpsG_zSb2Nr57-62qDMFE0T-XaH-IyMqsQeeM86xWIHclrP0zo8byto4YaAkLiEALw_wcB

Dublin is also a fab place. 
I’ve only been to Dover to catch a ferry as it’s our main ferry port to France. It’s famous for its castle. Dover is not too far from Canterbury- with a medieval cathedral. 
I hope you enjoy visiting the U.K. 
I don’t know how long you’ll be docked in Liverpool. If you have a late sailing you might have time to get a train over from Liverpool to York. Well worth a visit. It’s history is Roman, Viking, Medieval walls surround the city and it has a beautiful Cathedral (Minster) 
 

10 minutes ago, Mrs Miggins said:

Just spoke with Viking UK.  We are 59 days out from our Sky cruise and received an email inviting us to go online and book our dining reservations yesterday.   My Viking Journey just says "not available at this time".   I was told that there is no current availability for tables of 2 only for tables for 4 and 6.  They are working on opening these up online so that we could share a table (which we are happy to do).  Only advice was keep trying, and if that is unsuccessful then we are guaranteed a space in both restaurants once we get onboard.

There is definitely a problem with their pre cruise dining bookings. 

in response to Photopro2 we will be on the Viking Sky. Sailing from Rome on the 6th August.  

I initially thought it was a computer glitch. I was able to book all our excursions with no problem and even managed to book the 1st night in the Dining Room  very early on. 

I appreeciate covid will have had an impact on all the dining areas but not sure how this is panning out now as in the UK Resturant  appear back to normal re spacing etc!

Its not just DV staterooms.  We are in a Penthouse Deluxe and were only able to make two reservations for  a two week cruise. I only saw reservations on the My Journey open twice and was only able to make one reservation each time both at 9 pm and one of those was on the last night! I was told that the reservation had been open but I challenged that as I checked daily when the reservations were supposed to open for the Penthouse DV. Not a happy bunny as we have two reservations for each Spec Restaurant each week. I contacted a lady in Customer Services who told me to contact them personally 2 weeks before the ship sails only to find out she was out of office until after the ship will have sailed. We are due to board the ship in 6th August. Still waiting to hear from Viking if my specific requests will be honoured. Let see what happens.

On 5/3/2022 at 9:20 PM, austinetc said:

To be truthful, we’re a little tired of ruins. I’m very likely to Google the places we’ve visited. But the visuals are beginning to run

On 5/3/2022 at 9:20 PM, austinetc said:

Tuesday, 5/3. Heraklion, Crete, Greece. First impression was of bad air. Visibility was poor in an unusual way. Later we were told that dust storms from Africa is not uncommon. 

 

Our Excursion was for the palace of Minos, which is the origin of so many myths. The site is full of reconstructions done by the original archeologist, which is illuminating on one hand, but confusing on the other. We couldn’t tell what was fact or fancy. They did show us what’s likely the first “road” in Europe. That it had no traffic, I had some doubt that it was an actual Grecian road. (Haha.)

 

Our guide’s audio transmitter failed off and on, so many in the group choose to adjust their audio boxes to receive another guide’s lecture. We did that. But our guide was devastated by the failure, in tears. I felt very sorry for her.

 

To be truthful, we’re a little tired of ruins. I’m very likely to Google the places we’ve visited. But the visuals are beginning to run together.

 

The next stop was a village museum. Beautiful flowers and some excellent displays of historic homes and professions. Tried some local liquor. It wasn’t Ouzo, thank goodness. 

 

My feet were really bothering me, so upon returning to the ship I spent a lot of time in the various hot tubs. That helped a lot!

 

Dinner was at “The Chef’s Table.” A set menu and wine pairing. I felt the pairing suffered from having a limited selection of choices for the ship to choose from. “Sweet Potato Chips” was two exceedingly small mouthfuls of a chip loaded with sour cream (tasted like blue cheese). Crab Cakes on a bed of avocado was fantastic. To calm the palate we had frozen Moscow Mules, which was interesting. The seared halibut was marvelous. Desert was some kind of mandarin orange cream sorbet. 

 

The Explorer’s “Thank you” party was interrupted by technical problems, so they relocated to the night club, my normal hangout. I had to relocate.

 

I had to go online to get a $50 visa for Turkey. Yoriko, holding a Japanese passport, didn’t need a visa. We both need to have our temps checked today (and tomorrow) to gain the authority to go ashore tomorrow. The ship’s facial recognition system is disturbingly accurate and fast.

 

For photos, http://dlajourney.net/

On 5/3/2022 at 9:20 PM, austinetc said:

To be truthful, we’re a little tired of ruins. I’m very likely to Google the places we’ve visited. But the visuals are beginning to run together.

 

Thank you for your Blog. We are doing what was your  first leg of your cruise as our second 7 days in August so all feedback really useful. My husband and I love Crete and would highly recommended the Heraklion Museum, it is full of all the amazing Artefacts from the Minoan culture found at Knossos. Truly amazing.   It’s possible to walk up to to the Museum  from the Cruise Terminal or it’s a shot taxi ride. If it’s a tour option it’s well worth doing. Otherwise Book in advance to avoid the queues but very spacious and air conditioned inside.https://heraklionmuseum.gr/language/en/home/

3 hours ago, Staffordshirecruiser said:

Hi Quennie, thankyou, we have gone round in similar circles with Malta, but have transferred to a UK itinerary instead.   I was amazed how much reassurance fellow travellers and I were given by the travel insurance companies, only to find out when pressing for the information in writing that we were not actually covered.  With all the protection around selling insurance products I am amazed that they cannot be held to account.  Anyway, hope you enjoy whatever you elect to do instead.

A very BIG THANK YOU Staffordshirecruiser - it was your experience that made me more persistent in trying to clarify if we were covered or not. I will write and complain and as a member of "Which" seek their take on such a practice. I know these are confusing times but their sales force and customer service needs bringing up to speed.  

Our cruise next year is the outcome of two Viking cancellations,  so we have added an extra leg of the journey so will be cruising from Rome to Athens with 2 full nights included in Venice. We hope you enjoy your cruise and all goes well. 

Thank you to all who posted about the issue of Travel Insurance re International Cruising that is currently against the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Advice.  We booked our Icelandic Cruise for the 7 August on the understanding that Iceland is currently on the UK's green list. It was comments on this Board that alerted us to separate FCO advise against International Cruising.  We checked with our Insurer and found we weren't covered.  

We found another Insurer who offered an FCO extension that, we were told, included international cruise cover against FCO advise (I asked several times to make sure). So wow,  we thought it was sorted. Again, thanks to these boards and members experiences, we began to suspect we weren't covered. So I contacted the insurers again last week and was reassured we were. Doubt still played on my mind. I emailed and asked them to this confirm in writing.

Today I called them again and said,  Please will you check with the underwriters if this policy covers us for International Cruising against FCO advice. The answer (after consultation with someone) came back NO. They miss sold the policy and have given us our money back.

We  have therefore taken the step the cancel our cruise (still outside the 14 day deadline). 

If I wasn't on the Cruise Critic Boards I would have been no wiser that there was separate FCO advise re cruises.  And, that others had also being sold policies that would have left them high and dry if they ever need to  claim.  I am sure there are other insurers out there but in the end it was just easier to cancel and rebook a cruise next year.

So thank you. I hope all of you who make it to Iceland have a fab time.  We are sorry we wont be going. If you are a BRIT -  please check out you are covered dont just take the sales person or customer service persons word for it.  The FCO advice may change on the 31st but that would have been too late for us to wait and see.

Bless you all.

Val

39 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

WhooHoo! Jenna just announced that the ship has been cleared and shuttles are starting at 6 and the last shuttle returns at midnight!  
 

So as soon as we finish dinner at Manfredi’s we are headed into town. 

"Skál" Clay. We hope you enjoy an excellent evening in Reykjavik. 

17 minutes ago, patchicago said:

I am on the 8/3 Jupiter sailing and I am paying attention to what happens with Sky. I have until Monday to cancel and if Sky is forced to go into quarantine for 14 days (I’m not saying that that will happen) i’m not sure that I want to risk the same fate if someone tests positive for Covid on my sailing. 

We are on the 7 Aug Sky sailing and like patchicago we are following what happens. Thank you Clay for keeping us informed. I know you were so looking forward to this trip.  We will have to make a decision next week. I am sure there is a lot of anxiety on the ship re what is going to happen next.  It sounds like it is out of Vikings hands at the moment.

17 hours ago, FirstTimeFreddy said:

I know - I have spoken to Staysure as well - their staff are looking at the 'countries' covered by their FCDO extension, they were unaware of the FCDO international cruise advice. The lady I spoke to had to go and check with the underwriters and then told me that it was invalid. I queried why it was being sold to UK travellers and her response was that it had only just been opened up as an option - I suspect because they thought the FCOD advice was going to change - but it hasn't and they've missed it.

We are on the Iceland trip in August.  I contacted Staysure to check this out as our policy is with them. The person I spoke to was adamant we were covered. So there is a difference depending who you speak to!!  I think I  will email them and ask them to clarify this -  it takes a long time to get through to someone.

Excellent news.  I hope you all stay well and enjoy the rest of your Icelandic journey. Bless

Yes. I think what is important that others like me thought they were covered because we were travelling to Iceland. 

2 hours ago, Dave W 10 said:

Is it the SURE insurance company referred to above?

Thanks for raising FCO advise. . I contacted our insurers and found out that the policy is invalid if the FCO guidance remains the same. only U.K. only cruising is considered OK. I could wait and see what happens but decided to find another insurer. There are insurers out there.   

Agree with Mrs Miggins. We pay a deposit then the full amount 3 months before the cruise. This even applied to the short notice Welcome Back cruises.  I wasn’t aware of an incentive to pay it off earlier. I think maybe our (U.K.)  Consumer Rights Laws are very different. Viking is in line with other Cruise lines I have sailed with regards to their payment schedule.