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New Viking Expedition Ships


1985rz1
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21 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

Couldn't decide to to a Thumbs Up emoji 👍 or a HaHa emoji 😆, so here are  both.  Join us on the October sailing.

Too bad. Am looking at April 2022.  Coild be October but $1200 more??? Hmmmm. 🤗

Edited by CharTrav
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We were excited with the idea of the Great Lakes, airfare included....and the ship sounds lovely, but it won't be on our to do list anytime soon due to price.  I don't see us ever sailing with anyone else but Viking in the future, but there are many destinations that are less expensive.

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11 hours ago, CharTrav said:

Too bad. Am looking at April 2022.  Coild be October but $1200 more??? Hmmmm. 🤗

Yeah, the Fall Colors are extra 🍂🙄.  If you do decide on the Fall trip, let us know.

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Re cost vs. value:  I’ve been looking at Great Lakes itineraries on the other outfits that cruise that area for some time.  Granted Viking is expensive, but for those of us who’ve sailed with Viking, we’d know what to expect.  I recommend you do some comparison shopping and read lots of reviews of the other lines.  Just saying I haven’t been very impressed by the others.  

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1 hour ago, Jim Avery said:

Haha, Leaf Peepers get the shaft on all lines....😎

Having grown up in New England, I was able to do leaf peeping effortlessly. Just look out the back door in the Fall. Which is why, living here in the Mid-Atlantic for the past 40+ yrs, I still miss that ability. Some years the conditions are just right and it's glorious. Most years tho, not so. Sigh. 

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4 hours ago, Ragnar Danneskjold said:

“Fall colors” means to us SoCal’rs that we switch to a darker beer. Oh, and putting on a spring suit to surf.

 

Grew up in the DC area, where fall colors meant cold snowy winter coming - no thanks.

Ah but to those of us who grew up in the cold climes, we like it. 😎 Dealing with the horrible winter driving skills of DC drivers - that's something else. I remember when I first moved here, the giggles I'd have watching them from my office. It had an excellent view of a major DC thoroughfare. 🙀 

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7 hours ago, Geosez said:

Re cost vs. value:  I’ve been looking at Great Lakes itineraries on the other outfits that cruise that area for some time.  Granted Viking is expensive, but for those of us who’ve sailed with Viking, we’d know what to expect.  I recommend you do some comparison shopping and read lots of reviews of the other lines.  Just saying I haven’t been very impressed by the others.  

We totally agree...we saw one cruise come into Mackinac Island and spoke with some of the cruisers and it sounded awful.  My husband has searched for everything available and nothing looks at all like we would enjoy.  

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I was a bit disappointed in the prices for the Great Lakes cruises.  I live right on Lake Erie, so the attraction of doing something unique close to home is there.  However, for what they are charging, we could drive that route, staying at first class hotels, dining 5 star every night, and still spend a lot less than the fare for just one person.  I think we will let them sail a few years and have them recoup some of their investment (which hopefully will allow them to drop their prices).  If it was in the same ballpark as the ocean cruises (on a per night rate), we would consider it.

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I think price drops are inevitable.  The "Expedition" ships are all pricing super premium at the moment.  But when all the  ones under construction along with those planned hit the market it will be a very crowded segment.  Don't forget, there are dozens of "normal" cruise ships being built or on the planning books as well.  As cruisers we will have an abundance of discounted offers if we can just hold out a couple of years....🍸

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We booked B-B on the Great Lakes.  Doing Thunder Bay (Set 17 2022) to Milwaukee then continuing to Toronto.  The pre/post excursion are about 3/4 filled.  We are only doing the cruises. It really seems early to book, but I did not want to end up in different cabins for the cruises.

I have never been to the Great Lakes. During 1966-69 DH spent 2 1/2 years at AF site near Finland, Minnesota.

It reads like most people will be eating dinner in the Cafe.  Reservations must be made for "The Restaurant".  From the pics the "the Restaurant" and Manfredi each   has seating for 40 people.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I live in southern Ontario about 100 miles west of Toronto. I would love to do the Toronto to Milwaukee if for no other reason than cruising the Welland Canal. It's a much more impressive thing than the Panama Canal, it just doesn't have the exotic location lol. I might even try to head down to the Thorold viewing site to see this ship when it comes through in a couple years. I've looked at the various Great Lakes options for the last 20 years or so and the prices are always sky high. At least Viking looks like a ship that will be enjoyable to be on. The other ones that I have seen are all pretty small and basically a means of transportation between the ports, not something to also enjoy the voyage on. It's definitely something out of a budget at the present time with 2 kids heading into university but I hope this is well enough supported to keep them around long enough for us to get a chance.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I was about to start a new thread on booking an Expedition-type cruise and found this existing (but a bit older?) thread so here goes!

 

 I just cancelled a river cruise Bucharest-Budapest along with the air and a pre-cruise tour of Transylvania (looked so fun!) And looking at booking a replacement prior to the end of April to get the good-deal 24hr prior cancel capability. Then we found the Expedition section of the Viking website and it looked really great. Interesting ship design very different from standard cruise ships, so going to give it a go.

 

My wife and I design jewelry and other items, I go with the Japanese Kumihimo braiding and she does major crystal beadings, and Milwaukee has a major craft show 05-11 June 2022 so we are looking at doing the Thunder Bay-Mil Great Lakes cruise 28 May -04 June. Works so nice for us, so going to give it a go. We usually have cruised with Celebrity but have been looking at Viking Ocean for the Midnight Sun cruises and now this. Not Cheap! But looks good.

 

The new Expedition ships look very interesting. Very different design approach. And the SR’s with the large windows that open up (very handy for Arctic and Antarctic cruising!) instead of a full balcony. Kind of like the Celebrity Edge Infinite Veranda that some have complained about - we loved. 

 

So you guys are going to be stuck with me starting to post here more. Looks like a nice group!

 

Den

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10 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

 

So you guys are going to be stuck with me starting to post here more. Looks like a nice group!

 

Den

Welcome to the thread.  It's not the most active thread😁, but since the ships aren't built yet, that's to be expected.  But we look foward to others joining and letting us know their interests and perspectives.

Edited by 1985rz1
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Until Cruise Critic figures out how they want to handle the new Expeditions division (and they are working on it), we have a thread going for the new Galapagos + Machu Picchu itineraries. 

 

Please join us at V. Expeditions: Everything Galapagos+Machu Picchu if you are considering one of these itineraries, are already booked or have already been to either destination.

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12 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

I’m looking at the Great Lakes right now. That’s why I didn’t join the existing thread. But thanks for the invite. 
 

Den

 

Maybe you should start a thread that is Great Lakes specific. It is hard to tell from the title of this thread that there is discussion of Great Lakes here and I don't know about anybody else but I can never find anything using the CC search function. I was surprised that the Galapagos thread amassed 4 pages in just one weekend. Maybe a dedicated Great Lakes thread will have a similar draw.

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On 3/17/2020 at 11:56 PM, Peregrina651 said:

 

Maybe you should start a thread that is Great Lakes specific. It is hard to tell from the title of this thread that there is discussion of Great Lakes here and I don't know about anybody else but I can never find anything using the CC search function. I was surprised that the Galapagos thread amassed 4 pages in just one weekend. Maybe a dedicated Great Lakes thread will have a similar draw.

 

See/follow/join in new Expedition's thread for Great Lakes:

Viking Expedition Great Lakes/Canada

Edited by Peregrina651
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