fair weather golfer

Up and until now I have always received a e.mail notification when there is a reply.  Joined a new group and sent reply also joined meet and mingle. Checked blogg today and there are several new entries I have not seen. Why I am  not getting an e.mail

Hi everyone

I do not expect that there will be many people from the UK on this section of the cruise. The UK government put a ban on travel to this area after the beach attack in Tunisia. This ban was only lifted around June time this year. We booked the b2b 18months ago but cancelled because of the UK embargo. I am sad not to be cruising with you and would like I wish you all a very Happy Christmas in the sunshine.

Many thanks pugwash 123. Have a lovely cruise

Please can anyone tell me what time does Viking use for booking tours and restaurants, is it EST?

Many thanks Z

Thank you for the replies. When we board in Stockholm I will put a bottle in my hand baggage and keep my fingers crossed. I have big birthday during the cruise and it would be nice to have my favourite drink on tap.

You can sort of tailor it how you want - let's say you only drink diet Coke - let your cabin steward know that and they'll keep refillin it with just that. If you're allergic to peanuts that won't give you those. Tgey'll let you know what they can and cannot get for you as freebies based on your cabin category.

 

Related to this, Viking does not mind AT ALL if you bring your own wine, beer, spirits or any other (legal) beverage on board. And not the fridge is not really set up to hold large bottles of wine, BUT all the components can be removed and/or rearranged to accommodate almost any sized bottle(s). ;)

Hello id4elizabeth. When we booked our Viking Homelands cruise I asked our UK Viking office about bringing spirits onboard. I do not drink wine or beer. I was told that you can only bring alcohol up to 15% proof. This would rule out gin etc. Do you think this is correct? I would just like to have something in my cabin to go with the tonic.

Can anyone tell me how to see the Shore Excursion Prices. We are booked on Viking in September 2016 but when I log on to the planner it says I cannot see the excursions for another 227 days.

We are also booked on an Azamara cruise and I can see full details of the shore excursions including prices online.

To be fair it is probable that we will be mostly DIY but we have had some great days out on previous cruises with private tours arranged through cruise critic roll calls - but I do need to see the comparison before making any decisions.

Hi Mrs Miggins Are you on the Viking Homelands Cruise leaving 4th September.

Thankyou so much for posting this. DH and I are just about to book Arcadia for August next year and realise that we need to book tours in order to even get off the ship because of the visa situation.

How does this tour compare with what P and O offer?? and is there a comparable difference in price?

Thankyou for any further information, I like to be prepared! :)

Hi jasperdo I have spoken to a number of friends re cost of P&O tours in St Petersburg they all said it is cheaper to book your own. Alla and all the other tour operators in SPB know that their clients need to be on board by a certain time so they have everything organised to make it possible to see the best highlights of SPB. If you would like to do a more comprehensive tour Alla do a Grand Tour for $285pp (approx). Tips for Driver 5% and for guide 10%

Mr Piano, Evening Options Ballet or Folk night $100pp Faberge Museum $45pp

How far in advance of your cruise did you book? We will be there next May/June.

Sorry Emmandjay please see note to LondonTowner. New to CC and Nexus pad too small to see. I think it is time I went for some glasses

We booked the 2 day Comfort Tour with Alla in September 2013. There were only 2 other passengers from our ship on the tour with us. It was great, as it was like a private tour. Can thoroughly recommend Alla.

Hello LondonTowner. We are on a Viking Star cuise September 16. Just send an e.mail and they will help you.

I would get them to include a ride on the subway. It's an experience unique to St. Petersburg and/or Moscow.

Wripro the subway trip is optional

I have just booked the New Comfort tour with Alla Tours (http://www.alla-tour.com ) Detail below.

I just clicked the contact button said what I was looking for and within 24hrs Anna had contacted me and set up my account.

2016 St. Petersburg New 2 day Comfort group tour

Day 1

8.30 Meet at the ship

Peterhof summer estate

Grand Peterhof palace.

Tour of the Lower Fountain Park and Upper gardens.

Lunch in a local restaurant

½ drive tour of the City highlights

Visit to Kazan Cathedral

Walking/shopping on Nevsky prospect

17.00 Onboard

19:00 Optional evening program

Day 2

8:30 Meet at the ship

½ drive tour of the City highlights through the historical downtown etc

Hermitage museum (early entry)

Lunch in a Stolle pie shop

Church on the Blood

Boat ride: City tour from the water angle

Payment for the tour

17:00 Onboard

Cost of the Tour is USD 240 per person. (includes all entry fees, cost of lunch, photo permission in museums, electronic headsets and a bottle stilled water each day. Also in included are all taxes and Visa waivers – Waiver is in the ticket that is emailed to you – just print off before you leave home.

Max. group size is 16 pax

I have just booked the New Comfort tour with Alla Tours (http://www.alla-tour.com ) Detail below.

I just clicked the contact button said what I was looking for and within 24hrs Anna had contacted me and set up my account.

2016 St. Petersburg New 2 day Comfort group tour

Day 1

8.30 Meet at the ship

Peterhof summer estate

Grand Peterhof palace.

Tour of the Lower Fountain Park and Upper gardens.

Lunch in a local restaurant

½ drive tour of the City highlights

Visit to Kazan Cathedral

Walking/shopping on Nevsky prospect

17.00 Onboard

19:00 Optional evening program

Day 2

8:30 Meet at the ship

½ drive tour of the City highlights through the historical downtown etc

Hermitage museum (early entry)

Lunch in a Stolle pie shop

Church on the Blood

Boat ride: City tour from the water angle

Payment for the tour

17:00 Onboard

Cost of the Tour is USD 240 per person. (includes all entry fees, cost of lunch, photo permission in museums, electronic headsets and a bottle stilled water each day. Also in included are all taxes and Visa waivers – Waiver is in the ticket that is emailed to you – just print off before you leave home.

Max. group size is 16 pax

I have just booked the New Comfort tour with Alla Tours (http://www.alla-tour.com ) Detail below.

I just clicked the contact button said what I was looking for and within 24hrs Anna had contacted me and set up my account.

2016 St. Petersburg New 2 day Comfort group tour

Day 1

8.30 Meet at the ship

Peterhof summer estate

Grand Peterhof palace.

Tour of the Lower Fountain Park and Upper gardens.

Lunch in a local restaurant

½ drive tour of the City highlights

Visit to Kazan Cathedral

Walking/shopping on Nevsky prospect

17.00 Onboard

19:00 Optional evening program

Day 2

8:30 Meet at the ship

½ drive tour of the City highlights through the historical downtown etc

Hermitage museum (early entry)

Lunch in a Stolle pie shop

Church on the Blood

Boat ride: City tour from the water angle

Payment for the tour

17:00 Onboard

Cost of the Tour is USD 240 per person. (includes all entry fees, cost of lunch, photo permission in museums, electronic headsets and a bottle stilled water each day. Also in included are all taxes and Visa waivers – Waiver is in the ticket that is emailed to you – just print off before you leave home.

Max. group size is 16 pax

I have just booked the New Comfort tour with Alla Tours (http://www.alla-tour.com )

I just clicked the contact button said what I was looking for and within 24hrs Anna had contacted me and set up my account.

2016 St. Petersburg New 2 day Comfort group tour

Day 1

8.30 Meet at the ship

Peterhof summer estate

Grand Peterhof palace.

Tour of the Lower Fountain Park and Upper gardens.

Lunch in a local restaurant

½ drive tour of the City highlights

Visit to Kazan Cathedral

Walking/shopping on Nevsky prospect

17.00 Onboard

19:00 Optional evening program

Day 2

8:30 Meet at the ship

½ drive tour of the City highlights through the historical downtown etc

Hermitage museum (early entry)

Lunch in a Stolle pie shop

Church on the Blood

Boat ride: City tour from the water angle

Payment for the tour

17:00 Onboard

Cost of the Tour is USD 240 per person. (includes all entry fees, cost of lunch, photo permission in museums, electronic headsets and a bottle stilled water each day. Also in included are all taxes and Visa waivers – Waiver is in the ticket that is emailed to you – just print off before you leave home.

Max. group size is 16 pax

We will do automatic tipping but we will be deciding on the amount, not Viking

Read this in Viking Ocean cruises terms and conditions.

Gratuities – whilst no service charge is made on board it is customary for customers to give gratuities during or at the end of your cruise depending on standards of service.

If this the case why does the UK price" include gratuities ".

If there is a daily auto rate added to your account - what is it?

I am not a good traveller anywhere. For sea voyages I get Scopoderm patches 1.5mg. Change every three days. I find they have worked well for me with no side affects. They can only be got on prescription but I had no trouble in getting them. Have a lovely trip, we will be going on the the Caneries for Christmas on the Orina so difinitely keeping my fingers crossed for calmish seas.

Many thanks for all your replies. I think with Ingra Tor's excellent guide even I should be able to book my excursions. Looking forward to seeing the ship there have been some great pictures. Hope you all enjoy your experience with the Viking Oceans Star.

This morning I contacted Viking UK to book our excursions for Viking Homelands trip later this year.

I was informed that only the optional tours are bookable. I have made my own arrangements for some days and I was planning to book the included tours for other days at a time suitable for me.

I was told that the included tours would be automatically booked for me and I would get the times with my final paperwork. How do I change the times before I leave if they are unacceptable?

Can anyone from the UK confirm this is how it is done

Yeap. Great to finally hear from someone else who will be on the same cruise. I even started a threat here in CC at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2193634 with no responses but with 12 admirers so far. Really looking forward to this cruise especially since we were originally scheduled for the Navigator's San Francisco to Vancouver cruise on 1 May until Regent offering us this cruise as an alternate. We live in south Florida in the Miami suburbs. The Boss is a nurse and I'm retired military currently working for the government as a consultant.

 

Z and TB

Sorry Squeeze change of plan. Due to minor problem we have moved our departure date to 16th September Istanbul to Jerusalem and back to Istanbul. Now we are both back to square one. If there Is anyone sailing Mariner 6th Sept or 16th Sept please let us know. . Regards Z

CK: Since The Boss and I will also be in 1112 on 6 Sep, I would love to see some pics of it if at all possible. Also, don't have too many wild parties in there! :D

 

Z and TB

Hi there squeeze,

Is your trip on Sept 6 Istanbul to Istanbul. I hope it is as we will be in 830. I have only found one other on cc on this trip.

OTOH, we were just notified of a price reduction for our cruise in sept 2015. Since it is before final payment, our TA was able to get the reduction for us. Had it was a true reduction, not an increase on onboard spending credit or something like that.

Perhaps the cruise is not selling well because it was overpriced to begin with, and now they are having to lower the price to fill the ship. Would be better to be well priced from the get go.

We are on the Mariner 16th Sept. (We are having this cruise because our last cruise was reduced by £2,000pp.) We booked last January while onboard Voyager and were told that this was a good deal and would not be improved. Here we go again - the price has dropped by £1,369pp. As we have not paid our final account I contacted Regent only to be told that they would not reduce our bill. We could either have a credit for a future cruise (no thanks already got the teeshirt) or an upgrade and some onboard credit. If I wanted better cabin with all the trimmings I would have booked it in the first place. When booking I choose my cabin for its position only.

Maybe we can meet up for a drink and you can show me how to spend on onboard spend.

In September we will be taking our third Regent cruise. Each time I have booked (trying different agents and direct with Regent) I have asked for OB credit without success. We did get OB credit when there was a price reduction. Regent are reluctant to reduce the final bill, they either upgrade or give credit. Nice to see a UK thread glad it is only wet and windy in Wiltshire.