Tips for New Viking Ocean Cruisers

[philw1776]

In the last 2 decades I have never printed a boarding pass.  I either check in at the desk & they print it or I use the kiosks at the airport (this decade) to print boarding passes and luggage tags.

 

[doxielover47]

Hi cruisers! We are on the Viking Sun right now and for another week so if you have specific questions,  let me know 

[roothy123]

Trivial for sure doxielover but I'm curious:  

Exactly how many computers and printers are there under the staircase near the Explorers Desk?  And does Viking still place those cool square, no roll pens out there with a small pad of paper and some wipes?  

[travelingman]

The Star has 4 computers each wth a notepad and a "square" pen and 1 printer.

 

Stan

 

[broker1217]

On 5/14/2019 at 6:38 PM, Clay Clayton said:

FWIW, my credit card (Chase Sapphire) provides trip delay and cancellation  insurance which meant in order to get health insurance we were paying a good bit of money for double coverage when we bought a typical travel insurance policy. So, we purchased an annual plan that provides us health coverage, evacuation to our home hospital and repatriation of remains. The cost of this policy for the two of us was under $400. The only caveat on the insurance is that the trip can’t be longer than 75 days.  We risked it last year when we were gone for 82 days, thankfully we didn’t need it but good to know it was there.  

 

Depending on your situation, it might be worth considering. 

 

Have a great trip!

 

This is great advice if you are utilizing credit card trip insurance coverage. We do the same thing and pay around $400 per year for 2 people using GeoBlue for annual travel health insurance. Our Citicard Advantage World Elite card covers our trip insurance (up to $5k per trip), and if the trip is more than that we use our Costco Citicard to cover the balance over $5K. 

If/when we do a really costly trip (planning African safari) we may have to suck it up and purchase private trip insurance. But so far we have been able to cover using our credit cards and the annual GeoBlue.

GeoBlue works for us because we travel outside of US 4-5 times per year so it is very cost effective. If your trip is a one time thing then an annual policy may not make sense.

[BarbarianPaul]

20 minutes ago, broker1217 said:

 

This is great advice if you are utilizing credit card trip insurance coverage. We do the same thing and pay around $400 per year for 2 people using GeoBlue for annual travel health insurance. Our Citicard Advantage World Elite card covers our trip insurance (up to $5k per trip), and if the trip is more than that we use our Costco Citicard to cover the balance over $5K. 

If/when we do a really costly trip (planning African safari) we may have to suck it up and purchase private trip insurance. But so far we have been able to cover using our credit cards and the annual GeoBlue.

GeoBlue works for us because we travel outside of US 4-5 times per year so it is very cost effective. If your trip is a one time thing then an annual policy may not make sense.

I’m assuming this insurance does not include cancel for any reason, right?

Thats one reason I sail with Holland America. Their insurance does. 

[Clay Clayton]

“This” insurance isn’t trip insurance, it provides for healthcare and emergency evacuation.  Trip cancelation is provided by using my Chase card to purchase the trip just as broker 1217 describes above.  The credit doesn’t cover “cancel for any reason” rather it covers for illness of anyone traveling, job loss (I think-not an issue as I’m retired), death of immediate family members, etc.

 

[Heidi13]

17 hours ago, BarbarianPaul said:

I’m assuming this insurance does not include cancel for any reason, right?

Thats one reason I sail with Holland America. Their insurance does. 

If you purchase the Viking policy, it also has a cancel for any reason clause on the trip interruption/cancellation portion. 

[$hip$hape]

24 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

If you purchase the Viking policy, it also has a cancel for any reason clause on the trip interruption/cancellation portion. 

If we have Viking Insurance, and re-book the same cruise at a cheaper rate, do we keep the same insurance, or

do we lose it and have to pay for a new policy?

[Heidi13]

7 minutes ago, $hip$hape said:

If we have Viking Insurance, and re-book the same cruise at a cheaper rate, do we keep the same insurance, or

do we lose it and have to pay for a new policy?

Unfortunately that wasn't one of our considerations when I read the fine print, which was also over a year ago. Suggest searching for Trip Mate policy # A425V. This should provide the entire document for Viking Cruises.

[$hip$hape]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

Unfortunately that wasn't one of our considerations when I read the fine print, which was also over a year ago. Suggest searching for Trip Mate policy # A425V. This should provide the entire document for Viking Cruises.

I looked in to it.

With Viking Insurance, seems if you cancel, and get a new booking number,

you lose the amount you paid for the insurance, plus a $100 USD per person Viking Cruise cancelation fee.

Then you have to buy a new insurance policy (cost of insurance is not reimbursed).

The amount paid for (Viking) insurance may be applied to future cruises, but not the same "re-booked" cruise.

However, it's not the same with other Insurance Companies.

With other (third party) insurances,

your insurance, which is separate from a booking fee, is just transferred to the new booking...

seems weird that Viking would do this (?) other than Viking would want to keep pax from rebooking

after seeing a price drop.

Edited May 19, 2019 by $hip$hape

[doxielover47]

On 5/17/2019 at 8:40 PM, roothy123 said:

Trivial for sure doxielover but I'm curious:  

Exactly how many computers and printers are there under the staircase near the Explorers Desk?  And does Viking still place those cool square, no roll pens out there with a small pad of paper and some wipes?  

I recall seeing 4 computers under the stairs. Will check.

[Sunflower & The Scientist]

The irritating thing about the computers is that couples come to look at stuff and both use one computer, but sit in front of two computers so you can't use the one not in use.

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, Sunflower & The Scientist said:

The irritating thing about the computers is that couples come to look at stuff and both use one computer, but sit in front of two computers so you can't use the one not in use.

 

"Uh-hum, excuse me, is that computer available?" Damn, I hate having to be put in the position where I have to ask some inconsiderate bozo to move.

 

Good call, Sunflower!! Maybe if Viking got rid of the huge--but comfortable-- executive chairs and used smaller typists chairs, they would have room to place an extra chair in the area so that two people could share a computer without completely blocking another.

 

And no, I am not being facetious.

Edited May 21, 2019 by Peregrina651

[doxielover47]

On 5/9/2019 at 2:02 PM, Orangegurl said:

I have a question about bath linens - are wash cloths / face cloths provided along with the bath towels and hand towels? 

Yes they are. At least in the PV category of stateroom

[moatenote]

Yes, in all cabins!

[$hip$hape]

Booked? Find your Roll Call, and get advice and tips before you go!

Why is the Viking Jupiter NOT on Cruise Critics Roll Call ?

[Dauntless]

11 minutes ago, $hip$hape said:

Booked? Find your Roll Call, and get advice and tips before you go!

Why is the Viking Jupiter NOT on Cruise Critics Roll Call ?

 

The good news is that it is on the Viking Oceans Roll Call Thread

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, $hip$hape said:

Booked? Find your Roll Call, and get advice and tips before you go!

Why is the Viking Jupiter NOT on Cruise Critics Roll Call ?

 

I wrote CC  and was told that it is on the To-Do list.

 

Sadly, the tool has too many limitations to be accurate and I prefer finding roll calls the old-school way -- by navigating to the correct forum and then by eyeballing the list to find the roll call I am looking for and then looking for duplicates (which the roll tool call does not find and may even cause). Yes, I am not a fan of the roll call tool.

 

But, this is hijacking the thread and if we wish to continue the topic, we should start a new thread dedicated to the Roll Call tool.

[gbldcl]

Question from VO newbie to experts:

Does the "My Calendar" section of the My Viking Journey website auto fill with shore excursions and dining reservations once they are made and confirmed? I usually compose a spreadsheet for trips but if the calendar has that sort of information it would be great to just print it and not reinvent the wheel.

 

[moatenote]

14 minutes ago, gbldcl said:

Question from VO newbie to experts:

Does the "My Calendar" section of the My Viking Journey website auto fill with shore excursions and dining reservations once they are made and confirmed? I usually compose a spreadsheet for trips but if the calendar has that sort of information it would be great to just print it and not reinvent the wheel.

 

Yes, it does.  And it lists arrival and departure times for that port.  It lists these for both of you.

[gbldcl]

2 minutes ago, moatenote said:

Yes, it does.  And it lists arrival and departure times for that port.  It lists these for both of you.

Perfect! Thank you for your help. Appreciate it.

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, moatenote said:

Yes, it does.  And it lists arrival and departure times for that port.  It lists these for both of you.

 

 

BUT!!!!! What you cannot do with MVJ is to add your own entries. If you are arranging your own tours in any port or any other activity, you cannot put that on the calendar. Also, once you board the ship, all of the information on MVJ for this particular sailing is purged from the system. Whether, this calendar moves automatically to the Viking Voyager app which you can access only while on board the ship, I do not know.

[moatenote]

2 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

 

BUT!!!!! What you cannot do with MVJ is to add your own entries. If you are arranging your own tours in any port or any other activity, you cannot put that on the calendar. Also, once you board the ship, all of the information on MVJ for this particular sailing is purged from the system. Whether, this calendar moves automatically to the Viking Voyager app which you can access only while on board the ship, I do not know.

Wow, didn't know it disappears from the system.  I always make my own lists/schedules, so I've never paid attention to it!  Wow, sorry, gbldcl, glad that peregrina651 knows all this stuff!!

 

[travelingman]

What I have done is copy the MJV itinerary schedule to Excel along with the Viking calendar filled out with the Viking excursions and then I merge the two together.  I can then enter the private excursions we have booked also.

This gives me all of the info in one place that I print out and put on the cabin wall with a magnetic hook.

 

Stan