Tips for New Viking Ocean Cruisers

[Mrs Miggins]

32 minutes ago, Nidec said:

We're in the UK and we prefer eating at 6pm. Continental Europe tends to favour later meals, particularly the southern, warmer countries. Not sure how much, if any, marketing Viking do there. I've only ever heard UK and US/Canadian voices on my Viking trips. ontinental Europe tends to favour later meals, particularly the southern, warmer countries. Not sure how much, if any, marketing Viking do there. I've only ever heard UK and US/Canadian voices on my Viking trips. 

Of course some from the UK will want to eat early and some from the US will want to eat later.  However in my experience, both on cruise ships and in the US , the Americans tend to eat earlier.

I do like a mix of nationalities onboard.  Just returned from a Scenic river trip with a lovely mix from Australia, Canada, the UK and the US.

We were on Viking Ocean when they started and there were very few from the UK but the percentage has definitely increased over the years.

There have been complaints on this board that it is fairly difficult to book if you are from the rest of Europe,

[pontac]

I'm in the UK and have dinner at 7pm. 6pm is too early if one finishes work at 5pm then has to catch a train from London. Luck to get home by 6pm.

 

Work has now finished with me, but still have dinner at 7pm.

 

I was puzzled why Americans ate dinner so early, some restaurants there close before Spanish ones open. But working there I found out the reason. Americans get up very early.

[Mrs Miggins]

I think there are often 'senior' discounts in the US for eating dinner when we in the UK would be having afternoon tea.  However that ensures a good daily stream of revenue for the restaurant and encourages everyone to go out for an affordable meal.

My original post was trying to say that if there is a line at The Restaurant at 6 then by 8 there is not usually a wait..

At home we are usually 7.30 mainly to coincide with injections for my diabetic dog !  

Looking forward to being back onboard in 6 weeks. 

[Berlin Bear]

5 hours ago, Nidec said:

We're in the UK and we prefer eating at 6pm. Continental Europe tends to favour later meals, particularly the southern, warmer countries. Not sure how much, if any, marketing Viking do there. I've only ever heard UK and US/Canadian voices on my Viking trips. 

Aha - you and Mrs Miggins have touched upon my pet peeve! We live in Berlin and have done 2 wonderful trips with Viking Ocean, but had to book them in the UK as there is no marketing on mainland Europe and no way of booking a Viking cruise of any sort over here. That was pre-Brexit. Since 2021, we are no longer allowed to book with the UK office - not resident in the UK, so not covered by ATOL and ABTA. Instead, we will have to book any future cruises in the US.

Therefore you will normally only encounter citizens from the US, Canada, UK and Australia on a Viking cruise. It’s called streamlining 😬, i.e. catering for fairly homogeneous groups on identical ships.

[CurlerRob]

1 hour ago, Berlin Bear said:

Aha - you and Mrs Miggins have touched upon my pet peeve! We live in Berlin and have done 2 wonderful trips with Viking Ocean, but had to book them in the UK as there is no marketing on mainland Europe and no way of booking a Viking cruise of any sort over here. That was pre-Brexit. Since 2021, we are no longer allowed to book with the UK office - not resident in the UK, so not covered by ATOL and ABTA. Instead, we will have to book any future cruises in the US.

Therefore you will normally only encounter citizens from the US, Canada, UK and Australia on a Viking cruise. It’s called streamlining 😬, i.e. catering for fairly homogeneous groups on identical ships.

 

I completely understand your point, but I had to smile at the reference to Canucks, Brits, Aussies and Americans as "fairly homogeneous"! 🤣   Cheers ... 🍺🥌

[Berlin Bear]

9 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

 

I completely understand your point, but I had to smile at the reference to Canucks, Brits, Aussies and Americans as "fairly homogeneous"! 🤣   Cheers ... 🍺🥌

Sorry, no offence (spelling specially for us Brits and Canucks) meant. Let’s call it groups of passengers sharing a common basic language 😉.

[julchamar]

16 hours ago, Berlin Bear said:

Instead, we will have to book any future cruises in the US.

Greetings from Cologne to Berlin!
Any insights about the "how to"? The "Grand Fjords & Iconic Viking Shores" (Amsterdam to New York) cruise in 2024 is tempting, but I never got a response from Viking UK. Now I know why ...

Edited August 14, 2022 by julchamar

[Berlin Bear]

55 minutes ago, julchamar said:

Greetings from Cologne to Berlin!
Any insights about the "how to"? The "Grand Fjords & Iconic Viking Shores" (Amsterdam to New York) cruise in 2024 is tempting, but I never got a response from Viking UK. Now I know why ...

This is the information (below) I received by email after our recent Viking cruise in March/April. I booked this cruise in the UK at the end of 2020, so still under pre-Brexit conditions. During the cruise we talked to the onboard cruise consultant about the issue and he confirmed that we should either „borrow“ a UK address or book directly with the US office.

 

I haven’t booked a new Viking cruise yet, so perhaps you can let us know how you get on.
 

„As the UK has now left the European Union, in the UK office we will no longer be able to accept reservations from those domiciled in the EU.  The reason being we are no longer able to offer any financial protection via the ATOL or ABTA Financial Protection schemes in the event of insolvency or repatriation. Under GDPR it is no longer lawful to permit free movement of personal data from the EU to the UK or any other countries outside of the EU.

 

Therefore, if you do not have a UK address, you will need to make your new booking through our US office. Their website and telephone number is as follows;

 

Website - https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/?bypass=true

 

Telephone Number - +18003049616“

Edited August 14, 2022 by Berlin Bear

[julchamar]

16 minutes ago, Berlin Bear said:

This is the information (below) I received by email after our recent Viking cruise in March/April.

Much appreciated! Herzlichen Dank!

[Travel R]

On 8/13/2022 at 7:23 AM, pontac said:

I was puzzled why Americans ate dinner so early, some restaurants there close before Spanish ones open. But working there I found out the reason. Americans get up very early.

 

When we visited Spain, we had to find restaurants with "American Hours" for dinner; although would go around for tapas and drinking later in the evening.

[donaldsc]

49 minutes ago, Travel R said:

 

When we visited Spain, we had to find restaurants with "American Hours" for dinner; although would go around for tapas and drinking later in the evening.

 

When we were in Spain we ate at Spanish hours.  After all we were in Spain.  I would assume that when someone from Spain visits the US they expect to eat at American hours unless they find a Spanish restaurant.

 

DON

[Travel R]

31 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

When we were in Spain we ate at Spanish hours.  After all we were in Spain.  I would assume that when someone from Spain visits the US they expect to eat at American hours unless they find a Spanish restaurant.

 

DON

 

 

 

Good for you.

 

 

 

[Haqdeluxe]

52 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

When we were in Spain we ate at Spanish hours.  After all we were in Spain.  I would assume that when someone from Spain visits the US they expect to eat at American hours unless they find a Spanish restaurant.

 

DON

I've always found it true that restaurants that have "Americanized" in one way or another are also less than authentic all together. Donaldsc has it right as I believe he is suggesting that a local Spanish restaurant in Spain with American hours will prove to be more "touristy" and less authentic. YMMV 😀

Edited August 17, 2022 by Haqdeluxe

[MamaFej]

2 hours ago, Travel R said:

 

When we visited Spain, we had to find restaurants with "American Hours" for dinner; although would go around for tapas and drinking later in the evening.

I have a friend who is diabetic and must eat at prescribed intervals and finds it necessary to do the same. She gets plenty of authentic experiences. 

[Clay Clayton]

When we lived nomadically in Spain, we would follow our version of a Spanish eating schedule:

Breakfast 

 

Spanish 2nd Breakfast -coffee y toast 11ish

 

Spanish Lunch -main meal 2ish

 

Tapas (which were our supper ) 6 ish

 

we would skip Spanish supper as we were usually headed to bed by 10pm😂

 

 

 

[MamaFej]

Different strokes for different folks! 

[DrKoob]

12 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

When we were in Spain we ate at Spanish hours.  After all we were in Spain.  I would assume that when someone from Spain visits the US they expect to eat at American hours unless they find a Spanish restaurant.

 

DON

Sadly, not everyone can do that. My bride MUST (medical condition) eat at least 4-5 hours before she can go to bed. That means if we ate at Spanish dining time, she can't go to bed until 2:00 am. When we are in Spain, we make our main meal lunch around 1:30 in the afternoon. That's about the end of the lunch hour so there are a lot less crowds.Then we would go do tapas some time around 7:00 pm. 

[DrKoob]

11 hours ago, Haqdeluxe said:

I've always found it true that restaurants that have "Americanized" in one way or another are also less than authentic all together. Donaldsc has it right as I believe he is suggesting that a local Spanish restaurant in Spain with American hours will prove to be more "touristy" and less authentic. YMMV 😀

That's why we make lunch our main meal at the time when the locals are eating theirs.

 

[$hip$hape]

8 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Sadly, not everyone can do that. My bride MUST (medical condition) eat at least 4-5 hours before she can go to bed. That means if we ate at Spanish dining time, she can't go to bed until 2:00 am. When we are in Spain, we make our main meal lunch around 1:30 in the afternoon. That's about the end of the lunch hour so there are a lot less crowds.Then we would go do tapas some time around 7:00 pm. 

Oh my! Modifications.
Then how would she ever adjust to changing time zones ? 

[Canberra601]

On 8/13/2022 at 10:58 PM, Berlin Bear said:

Aha - you and Mrs Miggins have touched upon my pet peeve! We live in Berlin and have done 2 wonderful trips with Viking Ocean, but had to book them in the UK as there is no marketing on mainland Europe and no way of booking a Viking cruise of any sort over here. That was pre-Brexit. Since 2021, we are no longer allowed to book with the UK office - not resident in the UK, so not covered by ATOL and ABTA. Instead, we will have to book any future cruises in the US.

Therefore you will normally only encounter citizens from the US, Canada, UK and Australia on a Viking cruise. It’s called streamlining 😬, i.e. catering for fairly homogeneous groups on identical ships.

Same issue here in the Philippines, we have to book our cruise either through an Australian agent or a  US based agent.   The big issue for us is that we are unable to get travel insurance through Viking or other Australian/US insurance companies as we are not resident in either of those countries, and the travel insurance available here in the Philippines is really inadequate.

[crimmj]

After departing our Viking cruise last April I ended up in a hospital in Barcelona. (Not Covid related)  Even hospital patients are fed on Spanish time! Breakfast around 9:30 - lunch around 2:00, a snack at 5 and dinner at 8 PM!! 😀

[May B]

5 hours ago, crimmj said:

After departing our Viking cruise last April I ended up in a hospital in Barcelona. (Not Covid related)  Even hospital patients are fed on Spanish time! Breakfast around 9:30 - lunch around 2:00, a snack at 5 and dinner at 8 PM!! 😀

I hope they took good care of you! 

[Twitchly]

5 hours ago, crimmj said:

After departing our Viking cruise last April I ended up in a hospital in Barcelona. (Not Covid related)  Even hospital patients are fed on Spanish time! Breakfast around 9:30 - lunch around 2:00, a snack at 5 and dinner at 8 PM!! 😀

I must say, breakfast at 9:30 am sounds very civilized to this night owl. 🦉

[crimmj]

3 hours ago, May B said:

I hope they took good care of you! 

Yes indeed. I found the health care in Spain was excellent - at least the hospital I was at. 

[hqarangrsl]

On 7/30/2022 at 8:02 AM, deec said:

I am a bit peeved with Viking Air Plus right now.  We are flying to Buenos Aires from Detroit to begin Antarctic cruise after Christmas.  We have "free" air and paid $999 for upgraded seats and then purchased air plus but Viking will not let us use air plus for Delta.  We really wanted the Delta miles.  We will be flying American perhaps they will let us change closer to when they will purchase seats. 

Just want to share our recent experience with Viking Air Plus.  Originally we did not opt for Air Plus.  The flights we were getting from Viking were all going on United and Lufthansa - all through Chicago in January.  We watched all of their changes to our flights for a couple of months and never saw anything we really wanted to do...connections weren't really good, departure and arrival times not good, etc.  And, there were never any options available on MVJ self service that would not have cost a significant amount of additional money.   About 3 weeks ago we paid for Air Plus and gave them 4 outbound and four return flights options.  Originally they booked us on our #2 and #1 options.  We were happy and felt the $200 was well spent.  Then one week later they changed our flights back to United through Chicago and Lufthansa - same flights as before Air Plus payment.  Went through our TA to say this was not acceptable and she came back and said Viking said if we wanted to change from what they had us on now it would be an additional $1053 per person.  I went online that night and bought flights we wanted with good connections and arrival and departure times for less than what Viking was charging us for Premium Economy.  We had good options or both Delta and American, so it wasn't that no flights were available.  Bottom line, we cancelled Air through Viking and are getting a refund that more than covers the tickets we purchased and the funds we paid for Air Plus paid for transfers to and from the airport.  We have never had this type of problem in the past with Viking.  Don't know if it is just new people in their Air department who don't know what they are doing......  or if they are not getting decent contracts with airlines in the post-covid era...but it does not bode well for future Viking Air usage.