Onboard TV and app are WORSE than useless

[kate7047]

Possibly this has been discussed, but we were taken in by this today. We missed our excursion today on Jupiter. There is no time printed on ticket and the times given on TV in cabin and on app were both wrong, so we arrived 45 minutes late and missed the trip. Only the time in daily paper is correct but I didn't look at it, since TV and app gave same time. I maintain that having the wrong time on the TV and app is misleading and worse than giving no time at all. Pretty po'd about this. If they can't get them in alignment they should remove times on those altogether.

Edited August 15, 2021 by kate7047
Add clarity

[downsmead]

What a shame 😞. The times were printed on our tickets for the excursions we took on our recent U.K. sailing on the Star.

[WanderingBrit]

All of our tickets had the “meet ashore” times printed on them on Orion.

[TayanaLorna]

Its a shame you missed your excursion but others have done the same and its not the TV or time on ticket. 

 

As soon as we get into our staterooms on Day 1, it is important to check all our excursion tickets just to be sure we have the ones we reserved and they have the correct name on them.  We have had tickets missing and tickets for other people in our envelope. 

 

Your time may be on your ticket or you may know the time you reserved.  However the excursion time is when the bus or group DEPARTS on the tour NOT the time you are to meet your group or the location.  We need to look at our ticket closely for the exact tour number and then find that number on the Viking Daily excursion list when it is delivered to our stateroom in the evening.

 

The meeting time is ALWAYS earlier then the excursion time - sometimes by 15 to 45 minutes.  Many excusions have more then one time slot.  Our Golden Circle had 8:30 and 9:00 same with Northern Treasures.  Each of those excursion times has several different tour numbers because there are many buses for each time slot.  There were 400 cruisers taking the Golden Circle.  When we find our tour number in the Viking Daily it tells us where and at what time our tour meets.

 

We thought Viking was incredibly efficient in moving and organizing so many people, assigning bus numbers and spacing the buses to visit the different sites at different times and in a different order.  We never had more then 2 buses at a site or lunch spot on all our Iceland excursions.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

1 hour ago, TayanaLorna said:

Its a shame you missed your excursion but others have done the same and its not the TV or time on ticket. 

 

As soon as we get into our staterooms on Day 1, it is important to check all our excursion tickets just to be sure we have the ones we reserved and they have the correct name on them.  We have had tickets missing and tickets for other people in our envelope. 

 

Your time may be on your ticket or you may know the time you reserved.  However the excursion time is when the bus or group DEPARTS on the tour NOT the time you are to meet your group or the location.  We need to look at our ticket closely for the exact tour number and then find that number on the Viking Daily excursion list when it is delivered to our stateroom in the evening.

 

The meeting time is ALWAYS earlier then the excursion time - sometimes by 15 to 45 minutes.  Many excusions have more then one time slot.  Our Golden Circle had 8:30 and 9:00 same with Northern Treasures.  Each of those excursion times has several different tour numbers because there are many buses for each time slot.  There were 400 cruisers taking the Golden Circle.  When we find our tour number in the Viking Daily it tells us where and at what time our tour meets.

 

We thought Viking was incredibly efficient in moving and organizing so many people, assigning bus numbers and spacing the buses to visit the different sites at different times and in a different order.  We never had more then 2 buses at a site or lunch spot on all our Iceland excursions.

I'm sorry the person missed an excursion.  But just in case it helps others to avoid this situation, here's a little more information to add to your helpful information.  And I agree, Viking was incredibly efficient.  I could not do their jobs, day after day after day, especially with all they had to deal with, trying to accommodate 715 passengers on a very port-intensive cruise with no private excursions allowed.   It's quite important to read the excursion portion of the Viking Daily every day, and also allow plenty of time to find meeting location & meet the group, whether it's on the pier ashore or in the theater or alternate location.  

 

We got our shore excursion tickets right when we boarded Jupiter, along with our key cards.  You have some time before the rooms are ready, so it's good to look at them during that time.  The tickets state that times are listed in the Daily.  We found they were often 10-15 minutes prior to the start of the excursion, but with tendering could be a lot more. I'm attaching a copy of one of my tickets. Each evening, I would check the "meet at" time & location in the Viking Daily and write it on my ticket(s) for the next day.  I found the extra info (cancel deadline & notes) helpful.  We didn't have any "wrong tickets" or time changes from the original ones given when I booked excursions.  But occasionally a time must be changed, and very, very occasionally (in my experience, on Viking anyway) an excursion can be canceled completely. 

 

I'm also attaching a copy of one of the day's excursion lists.  This is not a one excursion, one coach affair.  It's complicated.  If you're used to river cruising you may be amazed - or perhaps disgusted; not sure which. 

Edited August 15, 2021 by IWantToLiveOverTheSea

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

And just in case it's helpful, here's something else:  The place where you depart the ship each day can sometimes change, depending on port setup, water level, etc. If you use one of the elevators, there is an electronic board inside which tells what the current departure location is.  "Port" means the left side of the ship when facing the front.  "Starboard" is right. There's also a blinking elevator button to push for that day's embarkation deck, and often some boards near the elevator to point you in the right direction. Even though I've been on Viking Ocean ships before, I'm still navigationally challenged, so I appreciate these little things.

Edited August 15, 2021 by IWantToLiveOverTheSea

[TayanaLorna]

1 hour ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

I'm sorry the person missed an excursion.  But just in case it helps others to avoid this situation, here's a little more information to add to your helpful information.  And I agree, Viking was incredibly efficient.  I could not do their jobs, day after day after day, especially with all they had to deal with, trying to accommodate 715 passengers on a very port-intensive cruise with no private excursions allowed.   It's quite important to read the excursion portion of the Viking Daily every day, and also allow plenty of time to find meeting location & meet the group, whether it's on the pier ashore or in the theater or alternate location.  

 

We got our shore excursion tickets right when we boarded Jupiter, along with our key cards.  You have some time before the rooms are ready, so it's good to look at them during that time.  The tickets state that times are listed in the Daily.  We found they were often 10-15 minutes prior to the start of the excursion, but with tendering could be a lot more. I'm attaching a copy of one of my tickets. Each evening, I would check the "meet at" time & location in the Viking Daily and write it on my ticket(s) for the next day.  I found the extra info (cancel deadline & notes) helpful.  We didn't have any "wrong tickets" or time changes from the original ones given when I booked excursions.  But occasionally a time must be changed, and very, very occasionally (in my experience, on Viking anyway) an excursion can be canceled completely. 

 

I'm also attaching a copy of one of the day's excursion lists.  This is not a one excursion, one coach affair.  It's complicated.  If you're used to river cruising you may be amazed - or perhaps disgusted; not sure which. 

That is a good idea writing the info on the ticket.  Too often we ask ourselves in the morning - now what time are we supposed to be there?  We do look at our VD as soon as we return to our room, decide what time we have to get up and whether or not we want to order room service breakfast.  We were surprised that one time our meet up was 45 minutes beforehand and it was not a tender port.  Don't assume anything.

 

Also, if you are traveling with friends, don't get in line for your bus assignment until ALL of your group is gathered.  You will either hold up the entire check in process or be on separate buses.

[TayanaLorna]

1 hour ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

And just in case it's helpful, here's something else:  The place where you depart the ship each day can sometimes change, depending on port setup, water level, etc. If you use one of the elevators, there is an electronic board inside which tells what the current departure location is.  "Port" means the left side of the ship when facing the front.  "Starboard" is right. There's also a blinking elevator button to push for that day's embarkation deck, and often some boards near the elevator to point you in the right direction. Even though I've been on Viking Ocean ships before, I'm still navigationally challenged, so I appreciate these little things.

Essential to know if you have Meet On Shore excursions or wish to go out independently when it is allowed.

[Heartgrove]

I am surprised that Viking didn't send you in a cab to meet with the tour! That is what has been reportedly done by the Shore Excursion personnel earlier on this thread when the the two different times conflicted.

[KarNog]

On 8/15/2021 at 7:08 AM, TayanaLorna said:

Its a shame you missed your excursion but others have done the same and its not the TV or time on ticket. 

 

As soon as we get into our staterooms on Day 1, it is important to check all our excursion tickets just to be sure we have the ones we reserved and they have the correct name on them.  We have had tickets missing and tickets for other people in our envelope. 

 

Your time may be on your ticket or you may know the time you reserved.  However the excursion time is when the bus or group DEPARTS on the tour NOT the time you are to meet your group or the location.  We need to look at our ticket closely for the exact tour number and then find that number on the Viking Daily excursion list when it is delivered to our stateroom in the evening.

 

The meeting time is ALWAYS earlier then the excursion time - sometimes by 15 to 45 minutes.  Many excusions have more then one time slot.  Our Golden Circle had 8:30 and 9:00 same with Northern Treasures.  Each of those excursion times has several different tour numbers because there are many buses for each time slot.  There were 400 cruisers taking the Golden Circle.  When we find our tour number in the Viking Daily it tells us where and at what time our tour meets.

 

We thought Viking was incredibly efficient in moving and organizing so many people, assigning bus numbers and spacing the buses to visit the different sites at different times and in a different order.  We never had more then 2 buses at a site or lunch spot on all our Iceland excursions.

You are a fount of information! Thank you sooooo much. I'm a Viking rookie (actually a cruise rookie) and I'm sure you are partially responsible for making my upcoming trip easier.

 

I'm so grateful to have stumbled into this board.

[TayanaLorna]

4 minutes ago, KarNog said:

You are a fount of information! Thank you sooooo much. I'm a Viking rookie (actually a cruise rookie) and I'm sure you are partially responsible for making my upcoming trip easier.

 

I'm so grateful to have stumbled into this board.

I was a cruising and a Viking rookie in 2018.  Sometimes I think I write and explain too much.  Enjoy your cruising travels.

[MITZZI2]

I was on the Viking Sea for the Malta cruise and found the information on the app and TV to be accurate. As a matter of fact the app has a lot of good information that I did not discover until the last day. For example you can see the menus for the Restaurant for the whole cruise. Not sure about the World Cafe.

[Azulann]

1 hour ago, MITZZI2 said:

I was on the Viking Sea for the Malta cruise and found the information on the app and TV to be accurate. As a matter of fact the app has a lot of good information that I did not discover until the last day. For example you can see the menus for the Restaurant for the whole cruise. Not sure about the World Cafe.

Do yo have a iPhone or  an android? I could nt get my Viking  app to open. Nothing... I wanted to do the  art guide that is included.  I was on the Orion in July.

 So I deleted it. Maybe I should try loading it again on my iPhone.  I will be on the Venus in October.

Edited August 27, 2021 by Azulann

[Janet&David]

17 hours ago, Azulann said:

I wanted to do the  art guide that is included

For future reference for your cruise in October, I'm fairly sure that when we were on Viking Venus in June the audio guide for the art only worked if you had earphones plugged into your phone. I didn't have any with me so couldn't listen. It could just have been a glitch with the app which otherwise seemed to function OK on an iPhone.

[Azulann]

23 minutes ago, Janet&David said:

For future reference for your cruise in October, I'm fairly sure that when we were on Viking Venus in June the audio guide for the art only worked if you had earphones plugged into your phone. I didn't have any with me so couldn't listen. It could just have been a glitch with the app which otherwise seemed to function OK on an iPhone.

Thank you ,I will reload the app again. It must have just been a glitch. 

I do have earphones with me. 

So looking froward to  being on the Venus in October. My Bermuda cruise on the Orion was not enough for me in July.