World Cruise

[agnesd]

I just found out that we are booked on a segment of a world cruise  One poster said they felt left out. There were special events etc that were specifically for world cruisers.  They ,also, said that they had access to excursions and dining arrangements and made it It difficult finding any prime times.  I hope this is not true since this is my first Viking Ocean Cruise.

 

[Jim Avery]

43 minutes ago, agnesd said:

I just found out that we are booked on a segment of a world cruise  One poster said they felt left out. There were special events etc that were specifically for world cruisers.  They ,also, said that they had access to excursions and dining arrangements and made it It difficult finding any prime times.  I hope this is not true since this is my first Viking Ocean Cruise.

 

Unfortunately, you have to expect that those staying aboard for 4+ months will be treated a bit differently than those booking a two week or so segment.  Had you paid all that money would you not expect the same?  The Inaugural World Cruise was a complete sellout as a WC.  Very rare, in fact I have never seen another line do that.  All other line's World Cruises sell segments too.  I believe you will find all their full world cruisers get extra benefits as well.  The only way to avoid this is never book a segment of a world cruise.  Sorry, but there it is.

[agnesd]

56 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

Unfortunately, you have to expect that those staying aboard for 4+ months will be treated a bit differently than those booking a two week or so segment.  Had you paid all that money would you not expect the same?  The Inaugural World Cruise was a complete sellout as a WC.  Very rare, in fact I have never seen another line do that.  All other line's World Cruises sell segments too.  I believe you will find all their full world cruisers get extra benefits as well.  The only way to avoid this is never book a segment of a world cruise.  Sorry, but there it is.

Thanks. At least I’m prepared. 

[Jim Avery]

2 minutes ago, agnesd said:

Thanks. At least I’m prepared. 

I don't think you will find it a bad thing as long as you don't get hurt feelings over a few special cocktail parties.  In all honesty, we would have loved for some of the grouchy fellow passengers on the Inaugural to be replaced by some enthusiastic "segmenters".🍸

[agnesd]

22 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

I don't think you will find it a bad thing as long as you don't get hurt feelings over a few special cocktail parties.  In all honesty, we would have loved for some of the grouchy fellow passengers on the Inaugural to be replaced by some enthusiastic "segmenters".🍸

We’ll be fine!  Probably just overthinking!  Since this is our first Viking.  

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I suspect it might depend on which segment you're on.  The first segment I would imagine there would be nothing perceptible.  And by the last segment, I would imagine that you would become 'the new kid on the block' and be very popular with folks who are bored with the same old same old. 

[Heidi13]

We are booked on the 2nd half of the 245-day WC. While only L/A to London, it is still considered a WC, probably as it is 119 days. The only noticeable difference between us and anyone taking a segment is we won't be paying for the drinks.

 

Departing L/A we already have a number of couples signed up on Roll Call who booked the L/A to Sydney segment and we already have private tours booked with World Cruisers & Segmenters.

 

Private parties on cruise ships are a common occurrence - repeat passengers, singles,  etc so special events for WC'ers are nothing special. Since inception, World Cruises have been considered to be special cruises, which normally incur a premium cost per diem over regular cruises and segments. As Jim previously mentioned, with the exception of Viking's inaugural WC, most, if not all World Cruises contain segments. It is common practice throughout the industry for the passengers completing the full WC to receive more benefits than those taking segments.

[vnb2003]

6 hours ago, agnesd said:

We’ll be fine!  Probably just overthinking!  Since this is our first Viking.  

Welcome agnesd! We were on the first segment of 2019 WC Miami to London. We absolutely didn’t feel any different. We had great time and met many very interesting people. We booked a segment again but now on the last leg of London to LA. My DH is still working so no WC for us yet.

Enjoy your trip! You will love it 🥂 

P.S. About excursions. Don’t worry if you don’t find preferable time or excursion. Check every day. People change mind or have to cancel so excursions or time do open up. Eventually we managed to get all excursions we wanted at the time we preferred 🙂

Edited May 18, 2019 by vnb2003

[Jammy Bun]

On 5/17/2019 at 7:16 PM, agnesd said:

I just found out that we are booked on a segment of a world cruise  One poster said they felt left out. There were special events etc that were specifically for world cruisers.  They ,also, said that they had access to excursions and dining arrangements and made it It difficult finding any prime times.  I hope this is not true since this is my first Viking Ocean Cruise.

 

We're just back from the final segment (4 weeks, Durban - Greenwich) of the World Cruise.  I wouldn't say that we felt "left out" but we were very aware that there was a difference in the way that the crew interacted with us - and most of the time we were more or less ignored by those passengers who had made the ship their home for the previous 3+months.  For example, I have never previously noticed so much hugging and chatting between crew and guests.  And, for the first time on a Viking cruise, the waiters didn't seem to learn our names and cabin numbers like previously - we put it down to their already having learnt so many!  Close friendship groups had also formed amongst the passengers ('lifers' as some segmenters called them) but you have to accept that this is only natural when you are living together for so long. Not a problem. The cruise director (Heather Clancy - what a star) knew world cruise passengers by name -  not so for the segmenters, but she was always friendly and cheerful to us, as were ALL the staff.

 

Yes, some of the excursions for our segment had sold out before we got the opportunity to book, but we expected that and it didn't bother us.  Those doing the full worldie had paid a lot of money for the privilege, and I do think they have every right to be at the front of the queue for trips and dining arrangements.  Talking of dining arrangements, do NOT stress about booking in advance for Chef's Table and Manfredis.  Once onboard, we were able to dine in each of them as often as we wished  - ate at least 8 times in Manfredis and 4 in the Chef's Table.

 

We made lots of new friends who also joined in Durban, and will stay in touch with some of them.  Some were contacts we had made through the CC Roll Call, and met at Meet & Mingle, others were as a result of my attending the onboard knitting group on sea days. (Fantastic!)  I would recommend either doing the daily Trivia Quiz, or joining Bridge/Knitting/cards/choir/fitness classes as a way to meet those on your segment with similar interests.

Do not worry about it being a segment.  We had the most wonderful time, one of our best cruises so far (and we've done quite a few!)

Janet

[CCWineLover]

14 hours ago, Jammy Bun said:

We're just back from the final segment (4 weeks, Durban - Greenwich) of the World Cruise.  I wouldn't say that we felt "left out" but we were very aware that there was a difference in the way that the crew interacted with us - and most of the time we were more or less ignored by those passengers who had made the ship their home for the previous 3+months.  For example, I have never previously noticed so much hugging and chatting between crew and guests.  And, for the first time on a Viking cruise, the waiters didn't seem to learn our names and cabin numbers like previously - we put it down to their already having learnt so many!  Close friendship groups had also formed amongst the passengers ('lifers' as some segmenters called them) but you have to accept that this is only natural when you are living together for so long. Not a problem. The cruise director (Heather Clancy - what a star) knew world cruise passengers by name -  not so for the segmenters, but she was always friendly and cheerful to us, as were ALL the staff.

 

Yes, some of the excursions for our segment had sold out before we got the opportunity to book, but we expected that and it didn't bother us.  Those doing the full worldie had paid a lot of money for the privilege, and I do think they have every right to be at the front of the queue for trips and dining arrangements.  Talking of dining arrangements, do NOT stress about booking in advance for Chef's Table and Manfredis.  Once onboard, we were able to dine in each of them as often as we wished  - ate at least 8 times in Manfredis and 4 in the Chef's Table.

 

We made lots of new friends who also joined in Durban, and will stay in touch with some of them.  Some were contacts we had made through the CC Roll Call, and met at Meet & Mingle, others were as a result of my attending the onboard knitting group on sea days. (Fantastic!)  I would recommend either doing the daily Trivia Quiz, or joining Bridge/Knitting/cards/choir/fitness classes as a way to meet those on your segment with similar interests.

Do not worry about it being a segment.  We had the most wonderful time, one of our best cruises so far (and we've done quite a few!)

Janet

 

Thank you so much for your very candid and honest observations.  I ready this with great interest as we are going to be a "Segmenter" on a cruise in the future and wondered about this.  Again - it is only human nature.   Nice to hear of ways one might blend in and meet some people, who have not already formed their own groups.   Did you have a Meet & Mingle just for the newcomers on your segment?  That might help as well.

[loge23]

We were segmenters on a recent WC and can assure you that there's very little difference, if any, in treatment.

Yes, one day we did happen upon a closed event and saw one of our trivia partners there. We asked him later about what it was and it was indeed a WC get-together. Judging by the glasses of the house sparkling wine we noticed, we didn't miss anything.

As for the passengers, there was absolutely no discrimination at all that we noticed. In fact, there were two couples that we became friendly with whom were going on for the WC - they were wonderful, warm, and completely at ease with WC's and segmenters alike.

Instead, enjoy your time on a WC, even one that you are not completing. 

Frankly, there's no way we would want to do 4 months on one of those ships, as good as it was for the time we were there.

 

 

[pask]

We just got off the Sun completing the last leg  of the 2019 World cruise and we had a great time.   While some of the world cruisers lived in their black world cruise jackets, even to breakfast, the ones we met were very friendly!   

We will be on part of next years world cruise and hopefully it will be as enjoyable as this years.

 

I refuse to call us segmenters and took offense at the person who gave us that label.

 

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, pask said:

We just got off the Sun completing the last leg  of the 2019 World cruise and we had a great time.   While some of the world cruisers lived in their black world cruise jackets, even to breakfast, the ones we met were very friendly!   

We will be on part of next years world cruise and hopefully it will be as enjoyable as this years.

 

I refuse to call us segmenters and took offense at the person who gave us that label.

 

 

All such very great comments here!  We have been reading with interest, as we are not able to take a longer World Cruise, but have booked the First Leg 1 (Miami to Los Angeles through the Panama Canal) on the Viking Sun beginning Dec 14, 2020.   We are actually thrilled with the chance to be part of the "start" of this World Cruise - everyone will be quite excited I'm sure.  It will only be sad when we have to get off in LA while everyone is continuing their great times!

[MadMarine]

We’ll be joining in LA.  Replacement troops, I suppose.  😎.  We’ve done the majority of the Miami - LA on different cruises and didn’t want to repeat.  We found the Panama transit interesting but not for a repeat.  100% humidity, 100F in Jan.  Whew!

Mad

Edited May 24, 2019 by MadMarine

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, pask said:

We just got off the Sun completing the last leg  of the 2019 World cruise and we had a great time.   While some of the world cruisers lived in their black world cruise jackets, even to breakfast, the ones we met were very friendly!   

We will be on part of next years world cruise and hopefully it will be as enjoyable as this years.

 

I refuse to call us segmenters and took offense at the person who gave us that label.

 

Hope to see you on one of the Roll Call for the 245-day WC. If the 1st half, most are using the one dated 31st August. If you are on the 2nd half we have a Roll Call dated Jan 4th. For the 2nd half we have an Album started, with everyone welcome.