Tips for New Viking Ocean Cruisers

[Pushka]

12 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

We've stopped getting the felt pouches since the COVID shutdown and so have all our friends!

Maybe they just do that for you Aussies!

Left over supplies I guess. 

[THR]

You were all correct! How exciting. After years waiting for our first cruise (due to delays) it’s not far now. 

[deec]

I miss the felt pouches!

[Lilyskittymom]

9 minutes ago, deec said:

I miss the felt pouches!

We actually got one a couple months ago.  They're out there.

 

Maria

[CCWineLover]

3 minutes ago, Lilyskittymom said:

We actually got one a couple months ago.  They're out there.

 

Maria

I miss them too!

I asked Viking and they said (at least in the USA) they no longer do this, and they've run out of inventory.  Obviously not since you got some!

[duquephart]

2 hours ago, deec said:

I miss the felt pouches!

 

Plenty on the Bay.

[CCWineLover]

10 minutes ago, duquephart said:

 

Plenty on the Bay.

Curious - what does that mean?

[duquephart]

7 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Curious - what does that mean?

 

eBay.

[Sunflower & The Scientist]

On 5/23/2023 at 2:16 PM, CCWineLover said:

We've stopped getting the felt pouches since the COVID shutdown and so have all our friends!

Maybe they just do that for you Aussies!

We haven't gotten those since COVID either. 

[THR]

I wonder if we got them because we are first timers and they know that (as we got a discount for it); but perhaps Australia still has lots of stock 

[PaulS]

We are going on our first Viking Ocean cruise on July 2. How long before the sailing date does Viking normally send out the red luggage tags?
 

Thanks

[MamaFej]

Another data point: we are US Americans who took our first Viking (Ocean) cruise in August 2022. We did not receive pouches or tags. We do get lots of brochures. 

[$hip$hape]

3 minutes ago, MamaFej said:

Another data point: we are US Americans who took our first Viking (Ocean) cruise in August 2022. We did not receive pouches or tags. We do get lots of brochures. 

Ha! If Viking gave a free cruise to the person(s) who received the most brochures, I think WE would be in the running. 😀

[MamaFej]

13 minutes ago, $hip$hape said:

Ha! If Viking gave a free cruise to the person(s) who received the most brochures, I think WE would be in the running. 😀

Viking (and Oceania) could drop their cruise prices by 25% and reforest a significant portion of the Amazon if they stopped printing and mailing so many brochures. 

 

And we are definitely in the running for most brochures. 

[Azulann]

32 minutes ago, PaulS said:

We are going on our first Viking Ocean cruise on July 2. How long before the sailing date does Viking normally send out the red luggage tags?
 

Thanks

I am on Viking Ocean cruise on Jun12. I got my red luggage tags and the paper ones with my stateroom # a couple of weeks ago. 

You should be getting them any time now.

[duquephart]

46 minutes ago, PaulS said:

We are going on our first Viking Ocean cruise on July 2. How long before the sailing date does Viking normally send out the red luggage tags?
 

Thanks

 

Still waiting on mine from a year ago. So --------------------

[PaulS]

53 minutes ago, Azulann said:

I am on Viking Ocean cruise on Jun12. I got my red luggage tags and the paper ones with my stateroom # a couple of weeks ago. 

You should be getting them any time now.

Thanks for the reply.

[CCWineLover]

2 hours ago, MamaFej said:

Another data point: we are US Americans who took our first Viking (Ocean) cruise in August 2022. We did not receive pouches or tags. We do get lots of brochures. 

We didn't get tags once and learned if you use a Travel Agent, Viking sends those things to the Agent, who is supposed to forward them on to you.  But if the Agent is out on vacation or sick, that might not happen.   Fortunately our new agent is sharp and on the ball.

Viking also sends email updates and notices like the invoices and final edocs to the travel agent and not us.  Not sure why they can't just email us as a cc as well as the agent.  

[Twitchly]

32 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

We didn't get tags once and learned if you use a Travel Agent, Viking sends those things to the Agent, who is supposed to forward them on to you.  But if the Agent is out on vacation or sick, that might not happen.   Fortunately our new agent is sharp and on the ball.

Viking also sends email updates and notices like the invoices and final edocs to the travel agent and not us.  Not sure why they can't just email us as a cc as well as the agent.  

Yeah, our TA really dropped the ball — or rather her office did. She was away when her office received our tags and documents; we never got them. Turns out her office didn’t put adequate postage on them and they were returned. We have not yet figured out what benefit TAs provide.

[CharTrav]

3 hours ago, Twitchly said:

Yeah, our TA really dropped the ball — or rather her office did. She was away when her office received our tags and documents; we never got them. Turns out her office didn’t put adequate postage on them and they were returned. We have not yet figured out what benefit TAs provide.

Definite advantage to using a Viking TA ... not an external TA. Of course, if you're doing stuff before and after the cruise not involving Viking (e.g., extensions) and need help with hotel arrangements .. that's another story.  Unfortunately, I don't see a way .. except if your external TA forces the issue - is to have all travel materials sent directly to you including both stuff sent via email (e.g., edocs) and snail mail (luggage tags, etc).

[CharTrav]

6 hours ago, MamaFej said:

Another data point: we are US Americans who took our first Viking (Ocean) cruise in August 2022. We did not receive pouches or tags. We do get lots of brochures. 

Did you book directly with Viking or through an external TA?  Based on posts above, if it was through an external TA, your tags etc were sent to them and not to you . Your TA should have then sent them to you.

[CCWineLover]

19 minutes ago, CharTrav said:

Did you book directly with Viking or through an external TA?  Based on posts above, if it was through an external TA, your tags etc were sent to them and not to you . Your TA should have then sent them to you.

CharTrav - that is what I was trying to indicate to the OP.

Stuff gets sent by mail and email to your Travel Agent by Viking and not you.  That has the potential for being a problem unless you have a good Travel Agency.

[CharTrav]

20 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

CharTrav - that is what I was trying to indicate to the OP.

Stuff gets sent by mail and email to your Travel Agent by Viking and not you.  That has the potential for being a problem unless you have a good Travel Agency.

Agree.  And of course - what motivation do external TAs have to do it otherwise? It'd be nice if Viking could/would backstop the external TAs for final travel docs and materials but I can see how these externals TAs would scream bloody murder of they did. 😔

Edited May 27, 2023 by CharTrav

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, CCWineLover said:

CharTrav - that is what I was trying to indicate to the OP.

Stuff gets sent by mail and email to your Travel Agent by Viking and not you.  That has the potential for being a problem unless you have a good Travel Agency.

 

I work with an outside TA.  At our request, she has told Viking that our documents should be shipped directly to us and that is exactly what happens. It says on our guest invoice that is where they are to go. 

 

When it comes to e-docs, she and I  both get a copy -- and then we each forward them to the other, just in case Viking failed to send to both of us.  We have been known to hit 'forward' simultaneously. 

[Stickman1990]

23 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

I work with an outside TA.  At our request, she has told Viking that our documents should be shipped directly to us and that is exactly what happens. It says on our guest invoice that is where they are to go. 

 

Our TA requested the same and they failed to do so and now won’t provide the luggage labels (I’m not interested in the paper ones but as it’s our first Viking cruise I would have liked the leatherette ones)

Can you share specifically where it reflects your TAs request for the docs to go to you on the Guest Invoice?