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Welcome To Viking Ocean!


Andy
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  • 3 months later...

Hello, Everyone--We are cruising on the Viking Star from Istanbul to Barcelona departing 11 April 2015 from Istanbul. Leaving on Monday for a few days in Turkey before the cruise begins. Anybody else booked on this cruise??

Sharon and Steve Illinois

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Tons of us; Penny and I are sharing those 2 legs with you, a bunch of crazies are doing the full 50 days. Look around in the threads for the ones that relate,m it's sort of chaotic in here :-)

 

There's gonna be an informal get-together of CC people at 4PM the day we sail at the Aquavit Terrace on the stern of Deck 7. Look for a couple tables with "Cruise Critic" placards on them, someone's gonna try to hold them :-)

 

See ya soon!

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  • 5 months later...

Hello, everyone!

 

My husband, mom, sister and I will be travelling on the Mediterranean Christmas Cruise Dec 22-30 2015, and are very excited to be trying out the Viking line for the first time.

 

From the basic research I've done and from reading reviews and posts on this site, it looks like we will be quite a bit younger than the average cruiser for this line. I even asked when booking if there are any age restrictions :) To be honest, I am a little nervous! I know we won't be a bother since we are definitely not a rowdy group.

 

I would sincerely appreciate any help in making excursion decisions if anyone has any opinions. Is there a forum here that I can check for reviews?

 

Looking forward to "getting to know" all of you!

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Hi. I haven't been on Star yet, so can only offer a few comments which hopefully will allay your fears that you will be bored to tears, stick out like sore thumbs, or any other thing that will be a bummer. However, here goes:

 

You might get more responses if you post a new thread asking your questions. This thread is pretty old and many people may not be following it.

 

You may get some input if you go to the Reviews section of Cruise Critic (look way up top), pull up Viking Star reviews, and look to see if people have reviewed the excursions. I haven't looked at the reviews in at least a month, but when I did, there were some - not a lot, but some! (Where do you go on the Christmas cruise, anyway? If by chance it's Istanbul to Venice I can point you to a great thread.)

 

It might be helpful to go to the Ports of Call section of Cruise Critic (way down below), as people often ask about what to do in each port, give opinions, etc. Trust me, other than the excursions which Viking has lined up as a special deal (and there are some of those - not something you can do on your own, and perhaps a first for a cruise line) the excursions Viking lines up will probably be similar to many that other cruise lines line up. Also, there are a few "cruise" books out there that have descriptions of basic excursions, which may give you ideas.

 

As to Star passengers being an older crowd, yes, from what I've read, it's definitely that. I think even I may find myself younger than most. However, you may find at least some people your age. You'll also (hopefully) find that age doesn't seem to matter that much, and that you can talk to and get along with most people on the ship, even if you're a lot younger. My husband and I are in our 60s but we've met many wonderful people while cruising, young and old, and gotten along with almost all of them. We think it's more important to find people we're compatible with than it is to find people who are our own age. We might not feel comfortable on a Carnival ship, and we might not feel comfortable on a Cunard or Seabourn ship, but not because of the age differences so much as other differences. I think you'll be fine, and have a wonderful cruise. If not, you have your own little group to fall back on, in the unlikely event you don't feel comfortable with whoever's on the ship with you!

 

Will you be bored? Well, I suppose it's possible, as the entertainment on Star is not like the entertainment on some of the other bigger, more mainstream lines. Also, on the walking tours, you may get a little bored, as the local guides (at least on Viking River Cruise tours) seem to want to tell you every little minute detail of what you're viewing, which is sometimes too much for me. As for the evenings, if you do a good amount of sightseeing during the day and have a nice dinner, you may find you don't need a lot of entertainment at night.

 

Will you be too rowdy? I doubt it. I would guess that there's room for at least a few party animals on every cruise ship or cruise line, and cruisers are generally a pretty outgoing, tolerant bunch! I'm assuming Viking Oceans passengers won't be different....

 

Hope that helps at least a little bit! Have a wonderful time and don't worry about a thing!

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Thank you for your thoughtful reply! I didn't even consider checking by ports to see if some of our excursion options are there. Great idea!

 

I know we are going to have an awesome trip. What drew us to this cruise line was the excellent port options, as well as the availability to get away over Christmas :) not necessarily for entertainment. I will be happy as a clam sitting in a hot tub during our spare time, if we have it!

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  • 2 months later...

I went to the Viking Oceans website, final payment for 2017 is now June 30. 2016. My confirmation for a 7/1/2017 cruise showed 12/31/2015. Guess all the complaints about way early payment had a result. Waiting word from my TA as to what my payment date is.

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  • 5 months later...

Andy,

As of today, The Viking Sea sailing for June 5, 2017 does not have a sign up for the Mix and Mingle party. Several people including me have sent emails to contact us and received an automated message that did not include any info for the situation.

Please let me know how to go forward so I can post it on the Viking Sea forum. It still include passengers that are sailing on the June 19 leg of the cruise and that date has a sign up for the party.

thanks,

janines

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Andy,

As of today, The Viking Sea sailing for June 5, 2017 does not have a sign up for the Mix and Mingle party. Several people including me have sent emails to contact us and received an automated message that did not include any info for the situation.

Please let me know how to go forward so I can post it on the Viking Sea forum. It still include passengers that are sailing on the June 19 leg of the cruise and that date has a sign up for the party.

thanks,

janines

 

Oops, wrong date. Should be June 5, 2016--and there are many other dates as well that are missing from the list. Maybe that is why it is taking CC so long to fix it.

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  • 11 months later...

We are booked on a cruise out of London on July 9. I had what I thought was a simple question about boarding. I left it on voice mail at the phone number on the website but did not get a reply. I sent it to an agent I had dealt with in the past but got a message that she was away. I left it on the contact us form on the website and got a promise of a reply in two business days but no answer.

 

I hope the service on the ship is better than this.

 

Can you tell me how to get a question answered?

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We are booked on a cruise out of London on July 9. I had what I thought was a simple question about boarding. I left it on voice mail at the phone number on the website but did not get a reply. I sent it to an agent I had dealt with in the past but got a message that she was away. I left it on the contact us form on the website and got a promise of a reply in two business days but no answer.

 

I hope the service on the ship is better than this.

 

Can you tell me how to get a question answered?

Just out of curiosity, what is the question? Some things aren't set in stone until much closer to sail date, lIke when muser drill will occur. I think when I had a question I found an email address in the My Viking Journey section for my cruise. It was answered pretty promptly. You may want to try asking there. Also, did you look in Viking's Frequently Asked Questions section? I forget if it's in MVJ or main section of website but there is lots of helpful info there. Of course, some questions are best answered by your travel agent - like can I purchase a transfer or how much would a cab cost from Heathrow to Greenwich Pier. Some questions can probably be answered by people in the Viking Ocean boards of Cruise Critic, although of course, answers should be used carefully, as info could change along the way or be incorrect.

Edited by roothy123
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Just out of curiosity, what is the question?

 

Here's the question:

 

We are scheduled on a cruise that leaves London on July 9. We understand that we can board at 11:00 am and get to our room at 2:00. We would like to drop off our bags before that and then go and explore Greenwich.

Would we be able to leave our bags at the ship earlier than 11:00?

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...
Haven't seen a Viking Sun blog yet?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Hooray, there is life out there! Going to book on the Viking Sun, trans-Atlantic on November 06. Where and how do we start a Roll Call. Any help??????

 

Quem Fala

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Hooray, there is life out there! Going to book on the Viking Sun, trans-Atlantic on November 06. Where and how do we start a Roll Call. Any help??????

 

Quem Fala

On front page of Cruise Critic is the Roll call forums. Look for Viking Ocean, click on it then click on Viking Sun and scroll down until you find your particular sailing. You can also see on the right side of the Viking Ocean forum, a box that says Roll Call and list the different ships. this will link you to the roll call page.

Have a great cruise, and welcome to Cruise Critic.

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This thread was started by former-Host Andy when Viking Ocean was just starting, and his request was for email responses. This is no longer applicable since Andy has moved on to a new position with Crystal Cruises. Since stickies are generally more for announcements than questions and answers, I am closing this thread.

 

The best place to post questions about how to use this forum or Cruise Critic in general is: Need Help Using the Forums? Check Here!

 

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  • LauraS changed the title to Welcome To Viking Ocean!
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