Fall 2021 Transatlantic Availability?

[-Lew-]

We've booked our first VO cruise...a fall 2020 TA Rome to Miami.  When can we expect Viking to make 2021 Med to USA TAs available for booking?

 

Thank you for any insight experienced VO veterans are able to provide...

[Peregrina651]

Lew, you have asked one of those crystal ball questions.

 

 

Her answer will be as accurate as any anyone else gives.

[-Lew-]

9 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

Lew, you have asked one of those crystal ball questions.

 

I'm thinking you're correct...

 

I notice the roll call for the Rome to Lisbon segment of our TA in 2020 was started in February of this year, so it looks like it will be early in the next year at the earliest.  I'll just have to keep checking...

[Peregrina651]

2 hours ago, -Lew- said:

I notice the roll call for the Rome to Lisbon segment of our TA in 2020 was started in February of this year

 

 

IMHO, not necessarily a good gauge of Viking's timing. Consider how few guests actually participate in Cruise Critic and the roll calls.  I booked for April, 2021 this past April.

 

Don't know why I didn't think of this last night.  A fellow member, @CharTrav, has put together a complete cruise schedule. It will show history which may help give you an idea when the various repositionings tend to take place.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8pm1betyh91wlhf/AABBcPIWuqWJQtR5JrNSFOqMa?dl=0

[CCWineLover]

16 hours ago, -Lew- said:

 

I'm thinking you're correct...

 

I notice the roll call for the Rome to Lisbon segment of our TA in 2020 was started in February of this year, so it looks like it will be early in the next year at the earliest.  I'll just have to keep checking...

 

Hi Lew - since we started the Oct 2020 Rome to Miami Roll Call on the Sky, I can give you at least some more data points.  We are also looking at future transatlantic cruises, but are thinking about trying the other direction next time.

 

We first noticed the Lisbon to Miami Oct 2020 cruise (and then saw that you could also do Rome to Lisbon ahead of it) around the Christmas time frame, as I remember (nearly 2 years ahead).  It could have been available before that.   We decided to wait until we went on a Caribbean cruise on the SEA in February to actually book the trip, getting the on-board discounts.  There were already several rooms taken so others had also been looking at this.  As Peregrina said, we who do Cruise Critic must be a small minority, since when I looked for the Roll Call, there was none, for which I was somewhat surprised.

 

My thought is to keep looking at least every week to see if anything new in fall 2021 pops up!

 

See you on the Sky in a year!  By this time next year we will have left Rome and be well on our way to Barcelona. . . Speaking of which, hoping things will have settled down some by then 🙂

 

[Peregrina651]

31 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Speaking of which, hoping things will have settled down some by then

 

Oh, great! Saw the headlines. https://www.npr.org/2019/10/15/770236217/barcelona-braces-for-more-protests-after-catalan-separatists-sentenced-to-prison

 Hope they settle down soon. We are headed there in January.

[-Lew-]

21 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

IMHO, not necessarily a good gauge of Viking's timing. Consider how few guests actually participate in Cruise Critic and the roll calls.  I booked for April, 2021 this past April.

 

It's true, most cruisers are not even aware of Cruise Critic let alone participate in its roll cals.  However, we're flying to Rome in about 10 days in advance of the Sky Princess 28-day inaugural TA...as of this morning there are 7400+ posts on its roll call.

 

21 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

Don't know why I didn't think of this last night.  A fellow member, @CharTrav, has put together a complete cruise schedule. It will show history which may help give you an idea when the various repositionings tend to take place.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8pm1betyh91wlhf/AABBcPIWuqWJQtR5JrNSFOqMa?dl=0

 

Thank you...  There's some useful information there.

[-Lew-]

8 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Hi Lew - since we started the Oct 2020 Rome to Miami Roll Call on the Sky, I can give you at least some more data points.  We are also looking at future transatlantic cruises, but are thinking about trying the other direction next time.

 

We first noticed the Lisbon to Miami Oct 2020 cruise (and then saw that you could also do Rome to Lisbon ahead of it) around the Christmas time frame, as I remember (nearly 2 years ahead).  It could have been available before that.  

 

Hi Kent and Pam...

 

Thank you for providing the timeframe for when you noticed the October 2020 TA on the Sky availability...very helpful.  I also plan to check weekly.

 

As for west to east TAs...  Although we love TAs, we've limited ours to east to west for two very important reasons:

 

• The 27-day Rome to Miami TA is very port intensive on the front end...as are most TAs.  The multiple sea days after Libson and then the Azores are soooo very relaxing and rejuvenating.  Not so on a west to east TA where the sea days come first and ports of call come at the end.
   
• Gaining six hours over the length of the TA portion is most welcome...again, not so on a west to east TA where six hours are lost.

Whichever direction you sail, being on the sea is the best!!  You'll enjoy either...

 

 

Edited October 16, 2019 by -Lew-

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, -Lew- said:

• Gaining six hours over the length of the TA portion is most welcome...again, not so on a west to east TA where six hours are lost.

Whichever direction you sail, being on the sea is the best!!  You'll enjoy either...

 

 

Although with Eastbound cruises you definitely get 5 or 6 hours less aboard the ship, it is not always 5 or 6 nights with an hour less sleep.

 

Not sure if any of the Viking Captains change clox at Noon when Eastbound, but I know some Princess Captains who do. Works well for pax. We also tend to avoid Eastbound, but both our previous TA's the clox changed at Noon, so no loss of sleep.🙂

[CCWineLover]

4 hours ago, -Lew- said:

 

It's true, most cruisers are not even aware of Cruise Critic let alone participate in its roll cals.  However, we're flying to Rome in about 10 days in advance of the Sky Princess 28-day inaugural TA...as of this morning there are 7400+ posts on its roll call.

 

Have a great trip Lew!   How many passengers on the Sky Princess?  Perhaps that is why they have so many posts.  Plus, Princess has a large, long, and loyal following.

[-Lew-]

56 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Have a great trip Lew!   How many passengers on the Sky Princess?  Perhaps that is why they have so many posts.  Plus, Princess has a large, long, and loyal following.

 

Thank you Kent and Pam...

 

The Sky is a Royal Class ship, so will have about 3600 onboard.  The capacity is much larger than VO ships.

 

We have sailed on the Royal and Regal Princess extensively and really enjoy everything they have to offer.  Yes, they can feel a bit crowded at times, but they're well designed so we don't notice it too much.

[Peregrina651]

6 hours ago, -Lew- said:

It's true, most cruisers are not even aware of Cruise Critic let alone participate in its roll cals.  However, we're flying to Rome in about 10 days in advance of the Sky Princess 28-day inaugural TA...as of this morning there are 7400+ posts on its roll call.

 

The participation rate for Viking guests is much lower than for other main-stream  cruise lines. At the same time, 7400 posts on any roll call is also an outlier, but in the other direction. Most roll calls cannot boast such numbers. The only Viking thread that I know of that ever came close to that number was the Viking China thread--and it took 10 years to get there.

 

In any case, it sounds like it going to be lively cruise. Wishing you fair winds, a following sea and the most delightful of adventures.

 

[geffric]

I am looking at transatlantics too.. a few years ago I booked 2 one East and 1 west so I had roundtrip airfare..  Barcelona to Chicago and Chicago to Barcelona..

 

I am looking at 2021 to see if I can do this..