Viking Ocean - Combined Cruise Schedule

[CharTrav]

Guess I'll be posting an update but will wait until it's "official" on the viking website. Basically our cruise on Polaris in August has been cancelled because the ship is not ready. (Just got notice today) Am reading on the Viking Expeditions thread that sailings after ours have also been cancelled. Until I know for sure the extent of these cancellations, will hold off making any update to my spreadsheet. But going by the uniform "SOLD OUT" status on all Polaris cruises this Summer and Fall.....doesn't look good. 

[CharTrav]

Decided to check the web site yesterday to see if the cancellations for Polaris were showing as more than SOLD OUT and the answer is "no".  Looks like the plans are to  shoot for a start in December in Antarctica.  Decided to check out everything (Octantis and all of VO) and there have been changes. 

 

Starting to extend Octantis' schedule in 2023: sailings of Great Lakes Collection in Aug and Niagara & the Great Lakes in Sept. Decision by Viking and posted to "Updates on Current Sailings" on  24Mar22 "to cancel all departures of our Ukraine and Russia river itineraries through 2023. We will also replace scheduled stops in Russia for all 2022, 2023 and currently open 2024 ocean itineraries."  Thus, Russia & the Baltic Sea (4 sailings) in June 2023 has been replaced by Scenic Scandinavia, affecting Jupiter & Neptune.  The  changes already made in 2022 to itineraries with a stop in St Petersburg or ports deemed too close to Russia will persist into 2023 (personal speculation).

 

As before, if you already have a copy of the spreadsheet, just use the link provided on the ReadMe tab to download a fresh copy from DropBox.  If you don't, use the link provided in my signature box (under General Stuff) or this direct link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/smx4xeq1yhq8ymi/Viking Ocean Cruises (2022 to 2024).xlsm?dl=0.  No DropBox account required.

 

[Azulann]

1 hour ago, CharTrav said:

Decided to check the web site yesterday to see if the cancellations for Polaris were showing as more than SOLD OUT and the answer is "no".  Looks like the plans are to  shoot for a start in December in Antarctica.  Decided to check out everything (Octantis and all of VO) and there have been changes. 

 

Starting to extend Octantis' schedule in 2023: sailings of Great Lakes Collection in Aug and Niagara & the Great Lakes in Sept. Decision by Viking and posted to "Updates on Current Sailings" on  24Mar22 "to cancel all departures of our Ukraine and Russia river itineraries through 2023. We will also replace scheduled stops in Russia for all 2022, 2023 and currently open 2024 ocean itineraries."  Thus, Russia & the Baltic Sea (4 sailings) in June 2023 has been replaced by Scenic Scandinavia, affecting Jupiter & Neptune.  The  changes already made in 2022 to itineraries with a stop in St Petersburg or ports deemed too close to Russia will persist into 2023 (personal speculation).

 

As before, if you already have a copy of the spreadsheet, just use the link provided on the ReadMe tab to download a fresh copy from DropBox.  If you don't, use the link provided in my signature box (under General Stuff) or this direct link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/smx4xeq1yhq8ymi/Viking Ocean Cruises (2022 to 2024).xlsm?dl=0.  No DropBox account required.

 

I  have booked the June12,2023 Viking Jupiter for Scenic Scandinavia. So happy to have three Danish ports of call with over night in Copenhagen. Going to get to visit the land of my ancestors at all last. 

With a year to research  pre- post and actual ports of call, It feels like pre COVID . 🤩

Edited April 28, 2022 by Azulann

[gootie]

CharTrav

I am new to VO cruises. I have one issue with VO website in that it has been reported to me by a VO rep. that if I want to know approximate arrive and leave times for individual ports as well as whether a ship will tender or dock I must be actually booked. My other cruises on RC and Azamara each posted this info on their websites. Is there a work around for this issue? 

[CharTrav]

5 hours ago, gootie said:

CharTrav

I am new to VO cruises. I have one issue with VO website in that it has been reported to me by a VO rep. that if I want to know approximate arrive and leave times for individual ports as well as whether a ship will tender or dock I must be actually booked. My other cruises on RC and Azamara each posted this info on their websites. Is there a work around for this issue? 

not that i know of. the arrival and departure times are dependent on the direction of travel (sure of that) and may also (here am not so sure) be dependent on the exact date, i.e. the port arrival and departure times are set by the port in question. one “workaround” is to check on roll calls for a cruise you’re interested in and ask folks to share their itinerary. at the minimum this will serve as a good estimate of the actual port arrival & departure times for your cruise after you book it. 

[CharTrav]

8 hours ago, CharTrav said:

not that i know of. the arrival and departure times are dependent on the direction of travel (sure of that) and may also (here am not so sure) be dependent on the exact date, i.e. the port arrival and departure times are set by the port in question. one “workaround” is to check on roll calls for a cruise you’re interested in and ask folks to share their itinerary. at the minimum this will serve as a good estimate of the actual port arrival & departure times for your cruise after you book it. 

been thinking more about this and that is if you really have a number of cruises in mind for particular dates - is to ask for quotes for them from Viking. You can get these for free - no obligation to pay a deposit.The quote will include a complete cruise itinerary - port arrival and departure times etc. The quote will be good for I think 2 days. if you don’t s get  back to them with a deposit - poof! it goes away. Not sure what my Viking TA would do if i did this but yes - i have once or twice asked her to give me a quote for a potential trip that i then decided not to pursue beyond a quote. These have been basically singular quotes - not a whole bunch all at once. so…there you go. Have fun! 😁

Edited May 24, 2022 by CharTrav

[TayanaLorna]

30 minutes ago, CharTrav said:

been thinking more about this and that is if you really have a number of cruises in mind for particular dates - is to ask for quotes for them from Viking. You can get these for free - no obligation to pay a deposit.The quote will include a complete cruise itinerary - port arrival and departure times etc. The quote will be good for I think 2 days. if you don’t s get  back to them with a deposit - poof! it goes away. Not sure what my Viking TA would do if i did this but yes - i have once or twice asked her to give me a quote for a potential trip that i then decided not to pursue beyond a quote. These have been basically singular quotes - not a whole bunch all at once. so…there you go. Have fun! 😁

I have done the same thing but not numerous quotes at once.  

[Clay Clayton]

15 hours ago, gootie said:

CharTrav

I am new to VO cruises. I have one issue with VO website in that it has been reported to me by a VO rep. that if I want to know approximate arrive and leave times for individual ports as well as whether a ship will tender or dock I must be actually booked. My other cruises on RC and Azamara each posted this info on their websites. Is there a work around for this issue? 

Using Char’a idea to request quotes, you can do the same online and therefore not waste your TA’s time. Use the red “Price and Build” button and when you get to the payment portion, just click on the courtesy hold and you will get an emailed quote that will include the port times.  

[TayanaLorna]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

Using Char’a idea to request quotes, you can do the same online and therefore not waste your TA’s time. Use the red “Price and Build” button and when you get to the payment portion, just click on the courtesy hold and you will get an emailed quote that will include the port times.  

Well, I'll be... didn't know that.

[CharTrav]

Just got home from Mediterranean & Adriatic Sojourn 2 days ago. Had a great time and today thought I'd take a peek at what's changed in the 2023 and 2024 schedules for VO and VE.  Quite a lot!  I have something else I need to deal with this week but will work on updating the spreadsheet next week.  Just thought I'd give you a heads-up that an update is coming. Big question for me now is how long my "golfer's tan" acquired over 4 weeks will last!😀

[CharTrav]

On 5/24/2022 at 12:37 PM, TayanaLorna said:

Well, I'll be... didn't know that.

@Clay Clayton I agree .. what a cute trick! 

[Clay Clayton]

6 minutes ago, CharTrav said:

Just got home from Mediterranean & Adriatic Sojourn 2 days ago. Had a great time and today thought I'd take a peek at what's changed in the 2023 and 2024 schedules for VO and VE.  Quite a lot!  I have something else I need to deal with this week but will work on updating the spreadsheet next week.  Just thought I'd give you a heads-up that an update is coming. Big question for me now is how long my "golfer's tan" acquired over 4 weeks will last!😀

FYI-just got an email that they have published Expedition Cruises for 23 and 24 including a new itinerary that includes South Georgia Island.  Unfortunately the prices aren’t any cheaper😢

[CharTrav]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

FYI-just got an email that they have published Expedition Cruises for 23 and 24 including a new itinerary that includes South Georgia Island.  Unfortunately the prices aren’t any cheaper😢

What magic do I need to peform to receive notifications like that? I've just been operating on the check the schedule periodically basis - and noticing if the number of itineraries for a given year or month have changed. I have a hidden tab where I track the number of itineraries by year and month and the number of sailings of each itinerary by year and month. Also by ship. 😊

[Clay Clayton]

3 hours ago, CharTrav said:

What magic do I need to peform to receive notifications like that? I've just been operating on the check the schedule periodically basis - and noticing if the number of itineraries for a given year or month have changed. I have a hidden tab where I track the number of itineraries by year and month and the number of sailings of each itinerary by year and month. Also by ship. 😊

That I don’t know…Mike and both are on Viking’s email lists and his Mom’s emails from them come to me (don’t ask🤪) and it is very rare that we all receive the same email at the same time. If you want me to forward the email to you just drop me an email to BigNCBear@aol.com. 

[Clay Clayton]

15 hours ago, CharTrav said:

What magic do I need to peform to receive notifications like that? I've just been operating on the check the schedule periodically basis - and noticing if the number of itineraries for a given year or month have changed. I have a hidden tab where I track the number of itineraries by year and month and the number of sailings of each itinerary by year and month. Also by ship. 😊

Forwarded you the email but got an unidentified bounce back that mail hadn’t been delivered. Can’t tell if it was the one to you.  Did you recieve?

[CharTrav]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

Forwarded you the email but got an unidentified bounce back that mail hadn’t been delivered. Can’t tell if it was the one to you.  Did you recieve?

Yes. I did. Replied with a thanks too. Again today. 

[CharTrav]

Have just updated and posted latest consolidated schedule for VE and VO.

 

With respect to VO ships -  no changes for Jupiter, Orion, Sky, and Neptune, which are scheduled thru Aug or Sept 2024.  Sea and Mars and Saturn now scheduled thru Aug 2024; Star thru Sept 2024. Added three new itineraries for 2024: Grand Fjords & Iconic Viking Shores, West Indies & Iberian Peninsula; West Indies & Mediterranean. 

 

With respect to VE ships, it looks like Viking still hopes that Polaris will be ready to sail by this October.  Everything up until then has been removed; however, Polaris' sailing of South America & Antarctic Discovery in Oct 2022 is nominally shown as SOLD OUT.  Both Polaris and Octantis are now scheduled through Feb 2024; however no Arctic Adventure 😭-- hopefully that will appear in the Summer of 2024.  Three new itineraries for 2023: Antarctica & South Georgia Island; Longitudinal World Cruise I; and Longitudinal World Cruise II.

 

As before, if you already have a copy of the spreadsheet, just use the link provided on the ReadMe tab to download a fresh copy from DropBox.  If you don't, use the link provided in my signature box (under General Stuff) or this direct link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/smx4xeq1yhq8ymi/Viking Ocean Cruises (2022 to 2024).xlsm?dl=0.  No DropBox account required.

[CharTrav]

looks like the schedule / ship assignments in summer 2023 experiencing major reshuffling. working on it now and will publish updated sheet soon.  

[CharTrav]

On 7/17/2022 at 7:37 PM, CharTrav said:

looks like the schedule / ship assignments in summer 2023 experiencing major reshuffling. working on it now and will publish updated sheet soon.  

this is taking longer than I thought it would -- should have it posted tomorrow. Spending time making sure I've captured all the changes AND that I can summarize for you -- correctly -- the nature of the changes made. I think the VO site is stable.  Last Monday the schedule was in transition: mixture of sailings being cancelled shown as SOLD OUT and their replacements.  Now just have the replacements.

[Clay Clayton]

12 minutes ago, CharTrav said:

this is taking longer than I thought it would -- should have it posted tomorrow. Spending time making sure I've captured all the changes AND that I can summarize for you -- correctly -- the nature of the changes made. I think the VO site is stable.  Last Monday the schedule was in transition: mixture of sailings being cancelled shown as SOLD OUT and their replacements.  Now just have the replacements.

Thanks for doing all the work!  Can you see a rhyme or reason for the changes?

[CharTrav]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

Thanks for doing all the work!  Can you see a rhyme or reason for the changes?

In the case of Neptune, which experienced the most change, the revision allows for doing multiple sailings of Eastern Seaboard Explorer. I wonder also if Viking Homelands is not as popular? Venus and Mars had some small tweaks. 

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, CharTrav said:

In the case of Neptune, which experienced the most change, the revision allows for doing multiple sailings of Eastern Seaboard Explorer. I wonder also if Viking Homelands is not as popular? Venus and Mars had some small tweaks. 

I bet with St Petersburg being off the itinerary, lots of people canceled Homelands. 😢

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, CharTrav said:

In the case of Neptune, which experienced the most change, the revision allows for doing multiple sailings of Eastern Seaboard Explorer. I wonder also if Viking Homelands is not as popular? Venus and Mars had some small tweaks. 

 

2 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

I bet with St Petersburg being off the itinerary, lots of people canceled Homelands. 😢

 

I'll add to the list --

 

Too much capacity added. With two ships they meet break even points for both ships but with three ships, none of them does?

 

Third-party providers aren't ready for the demand (especially in the newer smaller ports)? And aren't ready to promise it for next summer either?

[CharTrav]

4 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

I bet with St Petersburg being off the itinerary, lots of people canceled Homelands. 😢

I didn't want to be so bold as to make that speculation but yeah I think you're right. Plus what @Peregrina651 said in her reply. Also - this way they get to respond to previously unfilled demand for Eastern Seaboard even if it's not during the height of leaf peeping season!

[CharTrav]

OK .. got it done. Have checked it to a ne'er thee well to make sure I entered the changes correctly and that I captured what changed since my last update (13Jun22).  Looking at it now, I'm leaning towards the conclusion that it was driven by an effort to reduce the number of Viking Homelands cruises by half in 2023 (from 16 to 8).  Since Neptune hasn't been launched yet and was scheduled for a series of Viking Homelands cruises (5 of them, from May to Aug 2023), I think Viking decided to use Neptune's schedule as the major contributor to that reduction. And then picked away at the schedule for Mars and Venus to finish the job.  Doing so allowed them to increase the number of sailings of Eastern Seaboard Explorer from 3 to 7, which even tho it's not during the peak "leaf peeping" season (Star is doing that ..) Jun and July's not bad.

 

Anyway -- here are the changes:

Neptune

Canceled: Scandinavia & the British Isles and Viking Homelands (May); Scenic Scandinavia (2x June); Viking Homelands (Jun, 2x Jul, Aug); Scandinavia & the British Isles and British Isles Explorer (Aug)

Replaced by: Iceland & Norway's Arctic Explorer and Greenland, Iceland, Norway & Beyond (May); Iconic Iceland, Greenland & Canada (June); Eastern Seaboard Explorer (Jun and 3x in July); Iconic Iceland, Greenland & Canada, Iceland & Norway's Arctic Explorer, and Greenland, Iceland, Norway & Beyond (Aug)

Mars
Canceled: Viking Homelands and Baltic Jewels & the Midnight Sun (Aug)
Replaced by: British Isles Explorer (2x in Aug)
Venus
Canceled:  Viking Homelands (2x in Sept)
Replaced by:  British Isles Explorer (2x in Sept)
Added: Scandinavia & the British Isles (Aug) [overlaps 2nd sailing Viking Homelands in Aug &  1st sailing British Isles Explorer in Sept]

 

Please note that I tried to make it easy to see these changes in the spreadsheet by embedding comments in both the "losing" and "gaining" cruises to indicate what cruise(s) replace a "losing" cruise ("replaced by") and what cruise a "gaining" cruise "replaces".  The best way to do this is to filter on a ship -- say Neptune -- after using the button to display 2023 only.

 

Be assured, I checked out the schedules for all of 2023 and 2024 for both VO and VE and, except for the changes detailed above, nothing else has changed. I did a spot check on 2022 too and didn't see any changes. Barring some major event (e.g., Russia trying to invade another country) -- do we really expect any changes in 2022?  

 

If you already have a copy of this spreadsheet, just use the link provided in the ReadMe tab to download a fresh copy. If not, use this link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/smx4xeq1yhq8ymi/Viking Ocean Cruises (2022 to 2024).xlsm?dl=0 to download the latest copy.