Such Fun....But...

[travel09]

Rather disappointed that today, Shore Excursions Day for those boarding in Sydney,[ well us mere mortals], and not one Game Park to be had, I had hoped that as time passed some may become available,but simply nothing at all...Africa ,think of the Game Parks, but no, not for us sadly... so I guess we just go ahead and book private excursions ,where possible, I will try the Roll call ,and hope there may be others who could or would share a special journey, like to the Elephant Park. Feeling this is not quite what we hoped for, right now.!

[Peregrina651]

Write the folks at TellUs@VikingCruises.com. Tell them how disappointed you are that there are no spaces available on the X, Y and Z shore excursions and ask them if they will be making more places available for those who booked segments. In the meantime, check MVJ each day to see if any places open up.

Edited January 8, 2019 by Peregrina651

[Jammy Bun]

Not much chance for those of us booked for just the final segment, from Durban, is there? 😉. 

J

[Vineyard View]

Having been on land safaris in Africa, I would highly encourage you to follow Perregrina’s advice. I have to believe that is a huge reason for making this trip in the first place!  I would be happy to provide you with the contact information for for a very good agency in the States who specializes in African safaris who may be able to assist you. Just let me know how to contact you if interested. Plus, you may have a better small group experience. 

We will be traveling to Africa again in 2021 to experience the amazing wonder of it again via land. It just is not to be missed. I have to believe that Viking will find a way, and if not you most certainly can find an Independent Avenue. I wish you the best of luck 

[Heidi13]

Agree with Perregrina's advice.

 

However, if you can't book safaris through the ship, we highly recommend a local company we used - Pembury Tours. For safari, we visited Arathusa Lodge, which is one of the private lodges adjacent to Kruger NP..

[travel09]

Very pleased to say I have a Game Park, not what we wanted ,but it will be fine, I shall persevere with careful checking, and there well may be more, I believe. [From Viking Australia] we should add to our wish list, as it is checked by Viking, and they make more space available accordingly, sounds good , very hopeful this is correct, and all will be well for everyone.. . Very different system from any previous cruises, a little hard to come to grips with, like a free for all, on a given day...but in the end we will all think positively, hope for the best outcome ..!

[caviargal]

14 hours ago, travel09 said:

Rather disappointed that today, Shore Excursions Day for those boarding in Sydney,[ well us mere mortals], and not one Game Park to be had, I had hoped that as time passed some may become available,but simply nothing at all...Africa ,think of the Game Parks, but no, not for us sadly... so I guess we just go ahead and book private excursions ,where possible, I will try the Roll call ,and hope there may be others who could or would share a special journey, like to the Elephant Park. Feeling this is not quite what we hoped for, right now.!

 

We have the same issue with our Cultural Cuba cruise in a few weeks. The excursions were gone hours after they opened. I emailed Tellus and was advised they would not be adding any more.    I am not going to check every day to see if the one we want opens up - there was only one that appealed to us and we could not get that one, nor any of the included tours, on the days we were in that port.  It is a PITA.

We booked all private and I am glad I had researched on my own. 

[MarkTapley]

Adding my encouragement to book excursions  privately.

 

We were on Orion from Venice to Hong Kong and VO did not offer excursions to the Taj Mahal or Siem Reap.  Our solution?  Book private excursions.  We ended up with about 15 private excursions on that trip.  Worked out great:  small groups, going to places we wanted to go to and usually at a lower cost to VO.

 

We’re going to Africa for the whole month of July and there are lots of companies that specialize in private game tours.

[Hockeyump]

4 hours ago, caviargal said:

 

We have the same issue with our Cultural Cuba cruise in a few weeks. The excursions were gone hours after they opened. I emailed Tellus and was advised they would not be adding any more.    I am not going to check every day to see if the one we want opens up - there was only one that appealed to us and we could not get that one, nor any of the included tours, on the days we were in that port.  It is a PITA.

We booked all private and I am glad I had researched on my own. 

Why were the included ones not available?  Every passenger has a right to an included tour.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

This is all very disappointing to me too.  Haven't cruised Viking, but am thinking about it.  This is not an endorsement.  I thought in Cuba you were obliged to do ship's tours only (at least if you're a US citizen.)  Is that not true?

[travel09]

3 hours ago, Hockeyump said:

Why were the included ones not available?  Every passenger has a right to an included tour.

The included Tours are always available,they do not offer Game Parks ,which are more expensive . There is always an included excursion,in each Port, which is a very good part of a Viking Cruise.

I am disappointed to hear that they do have a limit on numbers for the more extensive and better excursions, as it showed them Sold Out, many months ago, that would mean they are quite happy for their passengers to make their own arrangements and take private tours, which is not the choice of everyone, especially in Africa, .  We will see what unfolds.

[irishwitchy]

If they included great tours,  you might as well go Regent, since  you are paying for some great tours.  Sounds like Viking keeps the costs down by offering ok tours, but nothing that is going to costs lots of money.  This probably appears to many folks that like to plan their own adventures for at least part of the cruise.   

 

[vslparis]

10 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

This is all very disappointing to me too.  Haven't cruised Viking, but am thinking about it.  This is not an endorsement.  I thought in Cuba you were obliged to do ship's tours only (at least if you're a US citizen.)  Is that not true?

No that is not true. We were on the Cuba trip in November and there was no restriction for touring as long as you had your Cuba Visa.   The tender ran until 1am and there were no ship tours that went that late 🙂 

[caviargal]

On 1/9/2019 at 12:55 PM, Wendy The Wanderer said:

This is all very disappointing to me too.  Haven't cruised Viking, but am thinking about it.  This is not an endorsement.  I thought in Cuba you were obliged to do ship's tours only (at least if you're a US citizen.)  Is that not true?

 

It is actually NOT true, though the cruise lines (VO included) try to intimidate passengers into thinking it is.

 

Thanks to lots of good info on the Cuba port of call board as well as on other travel sites, we found two highly regarded private providers and booked with them.

 

Trip reports also comment that there was zero issue with getting off in port and exploring on your own.

 

 

[caviargal]

On 1/9/2019 at 10:58 AM, Hockeyump said:

Why were the included ones not available?  Every passenger has a right to an included tour.

 

That was MY question to VO and their answer was pure BS.  I was told to check daily to see if space opened up and that I could also check on board.  Um, no, I am not going to show up in Cuba and have nothing planned. 

[Viking Cruises]

Dear @caviargal,

 

Your interest in partaking in our included shore excursions during the Cultural Cuba program is appreciated.

 

We wanted to take this opportunity to echo @Hockeyump as well as clarify our included programming: every guest is guaranteed space on included tours, of which there is at least one in every port with several time groups to account for demand.

 

Some time slots or days in port may be more popular than others and reach capacity; however should you or any other cruiser encounter all days in port listed as “sold out,” please alert us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com so that we may open up space for you.

 

Thank you for sailing with us, and we look forward to welcoming you aboard soon.

 

Kind regards,
Viking Cruise
 

21 hours ago, caviargal said:

 

That was MY question to VO and their answer was pure BS.  I was told to check daily to see if space opened up and that I could also check on board.  Um, no, I am not going to show up in Cuba and have nothing planned. 

[caviargal]

19 hours ago, Viking Cruises said:

Dear @caviargal,

 

Your interest in partaking in our included shore excursions during the Cultural Cuba program is appreciated.

 

We wanted to take this opportunity to echo @Hockeyump as well as clarify our included programming: every guest is guaranteed space on included tours, of which there is at least one in every port with several time groups to account for demand.

 

Some time slots or days in port may be more popular than others and reach capacity; however should you or any other cruiser encounter all days in port listed as “sold out,” please alert us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com so that we may open up space for you.

 

Thank you for sailing with us, and we look forward to welcoming you aboard soon.

 

Kind regards,
Viking Cruise
 

I did contact Tellus and was told that no space could be opened up on either of the two tours that are "included" on our itinerary and to keep checking online and then onboard as something "may" open up.  The gentleman I spoke with (he followed up on my email and we spoke twice) could not have been nicer but was unable to offer any resolution.  Tours were full and no space would be opened unless there was a cancellation.

Since this is Cuba, I chose to book private excursions, since virtually nothing was available that did not come with a cost.   We prefer to pay for a private experience rather than pay to be part of a large group - and we are seeing more and paying less.  We are a group of couples traveling together and only one was able to snag the included tours - I guess they got up early enough to get lucky.

Edited January 12, 2019 by caviargal