Don't understand about free port excursions

We have had a very different experience, before the shore excursions opened up on our cruise we went through the various tour options for each port, Viking included, Viking paid and doing our own thing.

We were able to book the exact tours we wanted, a mixture of both included and paid and a week later get the speciality restaurant times and dates we wanted.

We are sailing next week in a DV2 cabin and the cruise is fully booked.

Thank you Viking for your response and I do hope that you are able to prevent this from happening in the future. I, for one, will not accept the option of waiting to get on board to ensure my spot because at that point, if there is a problem, they will probably not be able to add spaces. I would like Viking to recommend a time frame that we can contact them at TellUs@vikingcruises.com prior to the cruise to help us solve the problem. It seems like 1 month prior would work. I cannot see any reason why someone should arrive for the cruise without a space on the included tours.

There does appear to be a problem with selling out included excursions. I will be on the Viking Sky departing Miami on Dec 24, which is over 5 weeks from now. I just went online to look at excursions. I have all of mine, but I'm in a PV. At two stops, Puerto Limon, Costa Rica and Cartagena, Colombia, the included excursions are currently listed as sold out. If I had been away, or ill, or for any reason had not been able to book excursions until today, I would have had a problem. If I booked directly with Viking and did not have a travel agent to call and did not use Cruise Critic, I might not know what to do. If I did have a travel agent and they called Viking, it appears that I might be told that it would be taken care of at the Excursion Desk after boarding. However, we are hearing that the Excursion Desk does not deal with it as expected.

This is poor management on Vikings' part, and they need to do something about it. The staff at the Excursion Desk needs to be able to accommodate all passengers, and the excursion listing on the website should be modified so that "Sold Out" is not a possibility for the included excursions.

We are sailing on Viking Sea in the Caribbean in January. Our window for tours opened this past weekend. I was surprised to discover that only the earliest time slot for every included tour was still available. Alhough each one had a box indicating morning or afternoon, it did no good to click on the boxes. Only one time was shown to be available at each port.

I went back to edit but apparently the edit didn't work. So, please take note..... I went back to Viking My Trip and checked the excursions again. The problem was mine in that I did not click on the arrow in the box showing excursion times. There are multiple times listed and I WAS able to choose.

" The staff at the Excursion Desk needs to be able to accommodate all passengers, and the excursion listing on the website should be modified so that "Sold Out" is not a possibility for the included excursions."

Very good point.

Viking needs to change their reservation language about included excursion . Also it would be very helpful to have a clear statement that one will be able reserve an included excursion once on board, if all are marked full pre cruise by the time you get to pick. This statment needs to be on our My viking Journey , excursion link.

And training of the staff in this regard is paramount, to prevent the mixup that happened on another recent cruise.

I went back to edit but apparently the edit didn't work. So, please take note..... I went back to Viking My Trip and checked the excursions again. The problem was mine in that I did not click on the arrow in the box showing excursion times. There are multiple times listed and I WAS able to choose.

The edit period is 20 minutes. Your screen may show an edit button after that time period has elapsed but that is because your screen has not refreshed.

Dear aquidneck1,

We appreciate your comment, understand your desire to avoid potential shore excursion conflicts, and are happy to provide some guidance.

Should you encounter any issues with booking an included shore excursion, we agree with your suggestion of contacting us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com around 30 days prior to departure if the problem persists.

While this should hopefully be a rare occurrence, in the event a shore excursion booking issue does transpire, this gives us ample time to look into the matter and make corrections as needed.

We hope this helps with your planning, aquidneck1, while also easing your concerns as you prepare for our upcoming journey together.

Kind regards,

Viking Cruises

Thank you Viking for your response and I do hope that you are able to prevent this from happening in the future. I, for one, will not accept the option of waiting to get on board to ensure my spot because at that point, if there is a problem, they will probably not be able to add spaces. I would like Viking to recommend a time frame that we can contact them at TellUs@vikingcruises.com prior to the cruise to help us solve the problem. It seems like 1 month prior would work. I cannot see any reason why someone should arrive for the cruise without a space on the included tours.

Thank you Viking Cruises. I think that you have offered a reasonable solution.

Louhut, I think that it is reasonable to have to keep checking if you want to change the time or get a place on a non-included tour but I do not think that it is reasonable to have to do that for an included tour. 30 days will give everyone time to plan for example, if you do not like the time, you could make alternate arrangements.

If you book a Penthouse you get all the free tours you want; if you book V6 then good luck!

If you book a Penthouse you get all the free tours you want; if you book V6 then good luck!

Stop complaining just because you did not get the time slot you wanted for each and every included tour. Not everyone can be on the first bus out and the system isn't going to change just because you are unhappy with it.

If you book a Penthouse you get all the free tours you want; if you book V6 then good luck!

Remember to book a penthouse next time then !

Nothing to stop you organising a tour yourself, we have done it often, or join some other folks on your Rollcall.

We are in a V1 and will take what is available and be happy for what we paid.

If you book a Penthouse you get all the free tours you want; if you book V6 then good luck!

We did book a V2 cabin (there is no such cabin as a V6), and did indeed get all the free tours we wanted. There was no "luck" needed.

We did book a V2 cabin (there is no such cabin as a V6), and did indeed get all the free tours we wanted. There was no "luck" needed.

I think a V6 comes in a car :D