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V1& 2 cabins on Viking Star


tipsygirl
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I think I'll go with Alla. They seem to have all the bases covered on their intense 2 day tour. We don't go until September 2016 so that might change but that's how it looks now.

 

We can recommend Alla very highly. They were extremely responsive to our requests as we had been to St. Petersburg before and had our own list of don't-miss sites.

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After canceling our Viking cruise we have now booked a similar itinerary to the Viking Homelands on our favorite line Crystal. Will probably also book an independent tour in St. Petersburg, but are now have more information to plan our trip.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I only read a few pages of this thread, and will read the rest later. However, I wanted to give my two cents' worth. We always book the lowest level of stateroom available on Oceania, and they do what Viking is doing with the restaurant reservations. They allow the higher staterooms to make reservations before anyone else and then work their way down. On both the 700 something pax ships and the 1250 pax ships, I have very seldom had a problem with getting reservations that work for us even though we end up in the last category eligible to book. One thing that helps, however (besides flexibility) is that I go online to book on the first day I'm eligible to book - and I go on early before the west coast of U.S. and Canada wakes up! No, I didn't always get the 7PM slot, dining alone, on the at sea day - but I also never had to eat at 6PM or 9PM. So I guess I'm thinking (and hoping) that the dining reservations will truly work out well for Viking, even for those in the Deluxe category. You do, after all, get what you pay for, so if I have to eat earlier than is ideal, it won't be a dealbreaker for me.

 

I'm still confused as to how the regular veranda staterooms work. I know you don't get to make reservations, but is that just that you can't make them until you board, or you have to ask about availability every night, or can't eat or what? It's not really clear to me after reading the booklet that came today.

 

As to Alla, we took their "comfort tour" in St. P. 2 years ago and loved it. It is pretty jam-packed though - would not recommend anything more than the comfort (easier) tour. Assume you know you don't need to get a visa with them - but do keep in mind that lots and lots of people get off the ship in St. P, and then there are passport formalities that take time, so allow plenty of time to meet your group. We were on a 1250 pax ship and I had never seen such a line of people waiting to get off the ship until that day!

 

Yes, I'd love to know what hours we'll be in port, but since the ship is barely built and may not be able to "book" port stays yet, I know I need to be patient. After all, they can't just have the captain tell them when he thinks he can make it to a port 11 months (in my case) from now and presto/magic, that becomes the port time! If I booked a private excursion, I would certainly let the company know that times are TBD, but most companies can work with that. Viking is a class act, so I'm sure by the time our cruise rolls around, they'll have everything ready for us and it will be great. (Yes, travel is an adventure!) I can, however, tell you that if you're spending a night on your own in Venice, you need to book a hotel NOW! Whew! That city is crazy....

Edited by roothy123
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I have to agree with those who are thinking that Viking will get this figured out. There could be valid reasons port times aren't posted yet for a new cruise line in Oceans and a not yet sailed ship - and tour companies will be able to determine when the Star is set to arrive - they do that all the time with all the cruise lines - so if private tours are important I have a feeling that many - maybe not all - will work with you.

A lot is riding for Viking on getting this right - they know this - if they really drop the ball so to speak, word will get around and they have 3 ships to keep full of passengers.

We are on the maiden voyage, but starting in Barcelona for 29 days. We all have the option to cancel if we are not comfortable with the status of this roll out.

I want to keep informed - but I also want to stay excited.

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Actually, it's interesting, because after the previous poster posted a link to the Marine Facade port in St. Petersburg (where we docked two years ago on Oceania), I tried a little harder to find port web sites to see if docking times were posted. I had no luck for a couple of places (although that's not unusual, as some port web sites don't post much in advance) but I WAS able to find Viking Star listed in the Dubrovnik port we site (http://www.portdubrovnik.com). It says we will be there from 8:00 to midnight, although I imagine those times could change between now and late September. And of course, as people who cruise often know, just because a ship is allowed in the port at 8 doesn't necessarily mean the ship will get docked, cleared by the authorities, and have the gangplank down by the stated time. Also, I suppose Viking may not want to publicly commit to arrival/departure times given that the ship has not actually sailed yet. Even though the top speed is known, it has been my experience that most cruise ships don't actually cruise at maximum speed.

 

In any case, it was nice to see the Star listed on that site, which also shows that we'll be 1 of 4 ships that day with a total of around 5200 total passengers. Dubrovnik will be hopping. I noticed Viking Star is listed in a couple other places (other dates), so if anyone is going to Dubrovnik, you might want to take a peek! If I find any other port web sites with Viking Star listed, I'll post again!

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Here are some more responses from Viking about booking and pricing shore excursions I have received.

 

 

The options you are reading or hearing about will be available through your personal travel agent, you will not be able to book them online only your agent can manage these aspects of your reservation. As of now we do not have prices for the optional excursions, but surely as soon as we have this information it will be available to your agent. Nautical schedules are not offered, nor will your agent be able to offer you this information. Port locations will be listed once finalized, roughly 90 days prior to your cruise tour you will have the opportunity to view some of these details publicly through our website without the use of your agent. We encourage you to discuss the details of your cruise tour with your personal travel agent as all of the latest news will be filtered through their offices.

 

Then When I replied I preferred to not use my TA to book excursions this was the response

 

We are hopeful that in the near future we may offer some other features which may meet these needs, but the fact remains that an agent is used to manage the booking in your stead. The agent is supposed to contact you on the given day to help you decide what your best options are. Note you also have the option to book with us directly and this would allow you access as your agent currently has to your booking details online or otherwise. We appreciate that you have shared your thoughts on this subject, again, please ask your agent to contact us a bit closer to your embarkation date and we can certainly assist them with all matters pending.

 

Regards,

 

Viking Cruises

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Seems like a strange reply regarding excursions.....and dining......I understand paperwork, pricing, cabin requests, etc. going through our agent - that is the norm - however I for one don't honestly want to be forced to plan my itinerary with her - probably no more than she will want to. So one has to wonder if Viking is taking the position of the agent earning the commission vs wanting direct bookings......does make one consider direct booking more - JMHO.

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I finally read some more of this thread, but not 100%, so I apologize if I'm repeating myself, or if someone's question has already been answered and I answer it again. However, here goes:

 

Re the Turkish visa, there are a couple threads in other sections of Cruise Critic. No, you don't need one if you're doing a ship's tour and not coming into or departing from Turkey. I think for everyone else (like me, staying over, departing in Istanbul & flying home) there is an online service for purchasing the $20.70 visa for Americans. I think it's $60 for Canadians.

 

Re the Russian visa, info as above is correct (no visa needed for most people). We loved Alla.

 

Re times we'll be in port. If times haven't been finalized, you can still get an idea by looking at a port web site (if available, and if they're posting more for next year). You can at least get an idea of who's in port on "your" day by going to the port section of cruisett dot com or another site. Sometimes times are posted there, too, although occasionally what I've found on there ends up not being accurate for a given day or ship. (Things DO change in the cruising world!) Last night I found that according to that site we'll be alone in Santorini (that would be fabulous, as getting down from Fira can be a little slow).

 

As to the thought of 900 people taking a free tour: Azamara does one free excursion on each cruise. I've never cruised Azamara, and often wondered how that works, as Az holds 7 or 8 hundred passengers. However, I doubt everyone goes at the same time, and I doubt everyone signs up for the free excursion, so it probably isn't as much of a cattle call as we think. Perhaps it's no worse than how a large cruise ship handles popular paid excursion (just negotiate a lot more buses? stagger departure times?) Maybe I'll go on the Azamara board one of these days and see if I can find or get some info on how the Az excursions turn out.

 

As to booking excursions and dinner reservations through our travel agent, yes, that is a bit strange. However, I am hoping that by the time my cruise rolls around, Viking will have an online system in place so there's no middle person. I would think that would benefit them (let the computer do it!) as well as the TAs and perhaps the customers! However, I have an excellent travel agent (very responsive) so I'm not exactly worried if I have to send an email or two. I'll just let the TA know my choices, including second and third ones, a few days before my window for booking opens up.

 

I am a pretty serious photographer, too (although just as a hobby), so I might be interested in joining a tour if it's not too expensive. We've been to Santorini before (loved it, especially Oia) and it's one place I don't at all mind visiting again. Viking's tour is something quite different than what we did before.

 

I hear Athens now has an express bus from the port of Piraeus to near the Acropolis, so that makes do it yourself touring a little easier than ever.

 

As to "planning my itinerary" with my travel agent to choose tours, that is something I definitely don't plan to do. I love doing my own research, and using Trip Advisor, Tom's Port Guides, other stuff on line and at the library. Before September rolls around, I'm guessing I'll know more than my travel agent, and since I'm not afraid to DIY it on public transportation and my feet, I bet I'll have a wonderful time, too!

Edited by roothy123
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We've just booked the Sept. 11, 2016 Viking Homelands and I wanted to thank everyone for their research and comments. This will be our first European trip so we have lots of concerns and questions.

 

Hopefully this inaugural season will be smooth & without too many headaches and glitches.

 

I look forward to reading CC about all your travels and hope to benefit from your adventures.

 

Jeanne

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I always learn something when I find these threads and posts lol! I am on the May 15 Viking Homelands cruise, with Iceland before as an extention. I hvent heard about the priority cabin scenerio, so that is interesting, something to research a little more I guess. I think we are a DV2 or something. I too am concerned about the excursions as we generally do private tours when we cruise and we usually have them planned a year out. The port times have to be nailed down by now, so I cant figure out why they wont share them. We are Princess cruisers and we often book more than a year out and even then you have port times. The ports are as someone else said very rigid as far as timing goes so there is a schedule out there somewhere. We still dont have flights for a May 2015 cruise, yet I have flights for a Princess Sept 2015 cruise. Not releasing the available excursions is most confusing especially for an ocean cruise and an audience of 800, and then not releasing port times on top of it (which limits planning private tours) is troubling. On the River cruises they do this also, you get to see what they are and how much thery are once you arrive and you have a very short time to decide. But with a bigger audience I dont see this will work out very well, especially for those that have previously ocean cruised. We had a major problem with our last River cruise with flights and missed our first whole day, and they knew it beforhand and would not change it.

 

And as others have said, it will work out, my experience with Viking says yes you are probably right but it would be nice to have some say. My experience with Viking is that the cruise itself is usually excellent, however the booking process ect, all that goes on before your actual cruise is the worst, its inconsistant from one person to the next, very ridgid and almost rude, not the white glove you get on the actual cruise. If you find a problem with the way something has been booked for you, it is impossible to get them to make it right, but if you put it out there on social media after the fact they jump to make it right, however at that point you cant get back the experience you lost via credit. Its almost like dealing with two different companys, the booking and beforehand and the cruise itself, one is really bad and one is really good.

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Having a DV cabin does give some perks in booking excursions and dinner but you are still well below the advantages of the big spenders. The number behind the DV refer to placement on the ship, according to to my Viking agent. They probably vary in price with the brochure saying prices starting at $XXXX.

 

I do know when we are suppose to be in port from the agent again. I have told him that exact ports are being reported on this site and I expect to be furnished that information as well.

 

I was able to find listing for the various eating venues. They include most hours of operation and if reservations are suggested. Some state to check when you board but these are for the smaller venues.

 

As for the shore excursions: I have looked into those as well. From the listing I have noticed 2 things that I thought needed back up plans. Boarding the ship with 3 days before we hit St. Petersburg, I figured I needed to make other arrangements, in case ship excursions are booked. Most of the places are listed in ship excursions but not all and my plans will fill the 2 days there very thoroughly and I won't have to bother with the VISA. In Gdansk, I want to get to the castle on Malbrok and have contacted a company that can make that happen in our time frame. I might be able to book it through the ship, but without a guarantee or price, I wanted to make sure that could happen. When alerting the company about this, they assured me that one week out it would be possible to arrange this private tour. Let's see what the ship is asking for it.

 

As for the dinner reservations: I feel that since we don't have assigned times, it will be on a first come, first served basis. Just like any restaurant we attend at home that is popular. I mean for dinner, we're on a ship, where could we be going if it does take time to be seated? In the larger venues with lots of seating I don't think that will be a problem. The smaller venues should be able to accommodate several seatings a night and the space will be limited but it should be available sometime during a 2 week cruise.

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I always learn something when I find these threads and posts lol! I am on the May 15 Viking Homelands cruise, with Iceland before as an extention. I hvent heard about the priority cabin scenerio, so that is interesting, something to research a little more I guess. I think we are a DV2 or something. I too am concerned about the excursions as we generally do private tours when we cruise and we usually have them planned a year out. The port times have to be nailed down by now, so I cant figure out why they wont share them. We are Princess cruisers and we often book more than a year out and even then you have port times. The ports are as someone else said very rigid as far as timing goes so there is a schedule out there somewhere. We still dont have flights for a May 2015 cruise, yet I have flights for a Princess Sept 2015 cruise. Not releasing the available excursions is most confusing especially for an ocean cruise and an audience of 800, and then not releasing port times on top of it (which limits planning private tours) is troubling. On the River cruises they do this also, you get to see what they are and how much thery are once you arrive and you have a very short time to decide. But with a bigger audience I dont see this will work out very well, especially for those that have previously ocean cruised. We had a major problem with our last River cruise with flights and missed our first whole day, and they knew it beforhand and would not change it.

 

And as others have said, it will work out, my experience with Viking says yes you are probably right but it would be nice to have some say. My experience with Viking is that the cruise itself is usually excellent, however the booking process ect, all that goes on before your actual cruise is the worst, its inconsistant from one person to the next, very ridgid and almost rude, not the white glove you get on the actual cruise. If you find a problem with the way something has been booked for you, it is impossible to get them to make it right, but if you put it out there on social media after the fact they jump to make it right, however at that point you cant get back the experience you lost via credit. Its almost like dealing with two different companys, the booking and beforehand and the cruise itself, one is really bad and one is really good.

Julie (and others sailing from Bergen 5/16/15)

Please see my response to your post in the roll call thread for this Viking Star sailing.

As I too do not trust Viking, I have begun work on some small group tours and am looking for interested ship mates. See my direct email in that roll call (other) thread.

Edited by bsrkent
more info
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I always learn something when I find these threads and posts lol! I am on the May 15 Viking Homelands cruise, with Iceland before as an extention. I hvent heard about the priority cabin scenerio, so that is interesting, something to research a little more I guess. I think we are a DV2 or something. I too am concerned about the excursions as we generally do private tours when we cruise and we usually have them planned a year out. The port times have to be nailed down by now, so I cant figure out why they wont share them. We are Princess cruisers and we often book more than a year out and even then you have port times. The ports are as someone else said very rigid as far as timing goes so there is a schedule out there somewhere. We still dont have flights for a May 2015 cruise, yet I have flights for a Princess Sept 2015 cruise. Not releasing the available excursions is most confusing especially for an ocean cruise and an audience of 800, and then not releasing port times on top of it (which limits planning private tours) is troubling. On the River cruises they do this also, you get to see what they are and how much thery are once you arrive and you have a very short time to decide. But with a bigger audience I dont see this will work out very well, especially for those that have previously ocean cruised. We had a major problem with our last River cruise with flights and missed our first whole day, and they knew it beforhand and would not change it.

 

And as others have said, it will work out, my experience with Viking says yes you are probably right but it would be nice to have some say. My experience with Viking is that the cruise itself is usually excellent, however the booking process ect, all that goes on before your actual cruise is the worst, its inconsistant from one person to the next, very ridgid and almost rude, not the white glove you get on the actual cruise. If you find a problem with the way something has been booked for you, it is impossible to get them to make it right, but if you put it out there on social media after the fact they jump to make it right, however at that point you cant get back the experience you lost via credit. Its almost like dealing with two different companys, the booking and beforehand and the cruise itself, one is really bad and one is really good.

 

 

Well said. In light of the current lack of response tom Viking Ocean's passenger questions and concerns our decision was not to put up with Viking Ocean's attitude toward passengers when other ocean lines will provide a better preplanning experience in addition to a guaranteed positive cruise experience. In Response to the lack of information being provided, and with no knowledge yet of how the cruise experience on Viking Ocean will , we changed to a different line. Our vacation time is too valuable to gamble with.

 

 

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Hey tipsygirl, no disrespect, but why don't ya move along? You had your say, cancelled your trip, made other plans - good for you! Why do you keep coming back just to repeat yourself? Starting to sound like a vendetta, not just a change of plans.

 

It doesn't work for you, that's OK, we get it. But I'd guess most of us are still looking forward to our trip (despite the "horrors" you describe) and could do without Debbie Downer chiming in quite so much.

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What's funny is that I just read a whole bunch of posts on the "Flyer Talk" site about Lufthansa's introduction of Premium Economy seating on major long hauls. Some people were blasting Lufthansa for not having everything known and in place a year before seats went on sale. Some people wanted to know every single detail of the roll-out so they could decide whether to book on LH or another airline that offers Economy Plus. I like to know a lot of info, but after reading this thread and the Flyer Talk thread, I can see that in the grand scheme of things, there are people who are even more info thirsty than me.

 

I am sure I'm going to love this cruise, and this ship, but since my cruise isn't until late September, I'm counting on you guys to let me know what you saw and did with Viking in each port! Also, if anyone is in room 3024, keep it pristine clean for me, OK? I'm looking forward to a snazzy, new, clean ship, even though I'll be boarding almost 6 months after the first wave.

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Everyone has their own travel style. Some people like to nail down every detail of their trip, and are upset if something does not fall into place as expected. I have had the most fun on trips where I don't overplan. Sometimes I find that the place where I wanted to stay is booked and I need to find a second choice, but I still have fun. Uncertainty in travel today is far less than it was a few decades ago, and that can be seen in the pages of a ship's log, where at the top it does not say "from" and "to" but rather "from" and "towards", not stating with certainty where the ship is going. I like that.

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I am looking forward to our trip in May and think it will be great. I don't

really care right now what time the ship docks where. If I want to do

a local tour I will have plenty of time. I'm just glad to be booked and

whatever flight I get will work. I too am normally a planner but it should

be a great trip.

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Thanks CMAASFAMILY....there is nothing worse than having someone try to spoil my trip once they have decided to change theirs. Your response to tipsy girl perfectly expressed my sentiments. Hope you have a wonderful trip and I fully expect to have one, too> Bon Voyage!!!

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  • 4 weeks later...

this is the information I got today about excursions:

 

Viking does offer priority for pre-booking excursions based on a tier level. It is as follows:

Explorer Suite guests 90 days prior

Penthouse Jr. Suite guests 80 days prior

Penthouse guests 70 days prior

Deluxe Veranda guests (which is your suite) 60 days prior

Basic Veranda guests cannot book in advance



 

With that in mind I am going ahead and making a reservation with Alla in St Petersburg for the two day comfort tour just incase we cant do all that we want to in Russia with Viking. I can still cancel out at the 60 day mark. Just covering my bases.

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Obviously, I have not cruised Viking Oceans before. I also don't know what excursions Viking has listed for St. Petersburg, as that city is not on our itinerary. However, based on what our cruise line of choice offered in St. Petersburg versus what Alla offered, I don't think you can go wrong with Alla. For us, it was cheaper, and the group (16 I think, in a large van) was manageable. There was one lunch that was very so-so, but hey, no big deal. Perhaps I just don't care for Russian food, especially when the restaurant is trying to serve two groups of 16 people at the same time! Pricewise, when we added a trip to the Alla tour cost, I think it was around half the price of doing two days of excursions through the cruise line. Of course, there was no way of directly comparing the cost, as the Alla and ship excursions covered slightly different things.

 

Just curious: There are excursions listed and described in the "Cruises" section of Viking Cruises' website for my cruise in late September, just no prices or times for them. Is that the case for your cruise?

Edited by roothy123
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yes....same case, they list a topic for each excursion but no other info on the excursions, times or prices, and they will be offered via a tier system 90 - 60 days out. I almost always do private excursions in ports and know from those experiences that you can see more, get closer, and do things a giant bus cannot and for amuch less price with fewer people. Its the way to go normally. My only concern is that in our past trips with Viking there were some ins and out Viking had (private tours in some places, accessing certain areas that you normally cant go, and going in before or after hours). However a River cruise is totally different than a Ocean cruise so dont know how much difference that will make. I am pretty much ok with the other ports, but Russia I wont get back to and I want to make sure we see as much as we can. Thanks for the info on Alla :)

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