Excursions Sold Out

[tocruiseguy]

We are booked on a Australia to Thailand Cruise in March, I just happened to know the excursion window opened up less than 24 hours ago and some of the excursions, the better ones, were already sold out and now less than 24 hours later in some ports almost half are sold out.  I am sure many passengers wouldn't know the excursion booking just opened, so I guess it could be worse.  The couple who we are traveling with called and the supervisor they ended up with just quoted the terms and conditions of the contract, provided no assistance.  I called myself and happened upon a more understanding Viking agent who is contacting the ship.  Does Viking typically add excursion capacity if excursions are sold out?  

 

So far, less than impressed with Viking, this is a very expensive cruise at least by our standards and I would expect better customer service on a "premium" cruise line vs our experience on Celebrity but so far that is not the case.  On Celebrity you could book almost any excursion once you boarded the ship so I find this unusual. 

[JeffElizabeth]

We recently had cruises in both the British Isles and Hawaii with Princess and Holland America respectively and they were unable to add excursions because they couldn't find enough guides and drivers at ports. So this isn't only a Viking problem.  Book early. 

[Azulann]

Yep check your MVJ  often , many times some excursions which were filled  now have an opening. Also check with guest relation when you board for the ones you  would like to boo. Everyone gets one of included excursion. .

I always got my excursion  I wanted ,even being waitlisted when I was on board. Many cruisers  once onboard realize  some of the excursion they sign up for are not easy or  they need a sea day or a million other reasons to cancel. 

Everyone knows when excursions open  depending on stateroom by looking at your MVJ.  Also for booking speciality  sociality restaurants check MVJ.  

Once onboard you  will find Viking is nothing like Celebrity .  Enjoy.

[tocruiseguy]

3 minutes ago, JeffElizabeth said:

We recently had cruises in both the British Isles and Hawaii with Princess and Holland America respectively and they were unable to add excursions because they couldn't find enough guides and drivers at ports. So this isn't only a Viking problem.  Book early. 

The problem is, many were sold out prior to our ability to even book them.  We are in a Deluxe Verandah.  

[Heidi13]

34 minutes ago, tocruiseguy said:

We are booked on a Australia to Thailand Cruise in March, I just happened to know the excursion window opened up less than 24 hours ago and some of the excursions, the better ones, were already sold out and now less than 24 hours later in some ports almost half are sold out.  I am sure many passengers wouldn't know the excursion booking just opened, so I guess it could be worse.  The couple who we are traveling with called and the supervisor they ended up with just quoted the terms and conditions of the contract, provided no assistance.  I called myself and happened upon a more understanding Viking agent who is contacting the ship.  Does Viking typically add excursion capacity if excursions are sold out?  

 

So far, less than impressed with Viking, this is a very expensive cruise at least by our standards and I would expect better customer service on a "premium" cruise line vs our experience on Celebrity but so far that is not the case.  On Celebrity you could book almost any excursion once you boarded the ship so I find this unusual. 

 

Unfortunately, post pandemic this is often an industry wide problem, as many local vendors are short of drivers and guides. Viking has to cancel a port on the World Cruise, as the local vendors could not provide the required  number of drivers & guides. Once onboard, the Shore-ex staff work wonders booking additional tours and making the inevitable changes for many pax once onboard. While they endeavour to ensure everyone gets the tours they want, they are restricted by the available supply.

 

In addition to the Viking shore-ex, most ports have some excellent local vendors where you can purchase private excursion. I used to have a preferred vendor in most ports, but sadly, many went out of business during the pandemic.

 

With respect to the customer service, unfortunately with the LA Office, the lack of quality customer service is way too common. Some of the Viking agents in L/A are exceptional, but sadly some are in the wrong career path. Rest assured, the experience once aboard a Viking ship is vastly superior to Celebrity.

[bookbabe]

4 hours ago, tocruiseguy said:

The problem is, many were sold out prior to our ability to even book them.  We are in a Deluxe Verandah.  

That seems to be a common problem lately, and has been mentioned frequently here on CC.  However, Viking does list the excursion booking window in the amenities for each cabin type.  When you get to book much later than others, some sold out excursions are to be expected, or at least we expected that would be the case and booked a cabin type we felt would give us the amenities we wanted.  Then again, you paid half (or less) what some of the larger cabin types did, so your savings could maybe pay for an optional or private excursion or two?

[tocruiseguy]

26 minutes ago, bookbabe said:

That seems to be a common problem lately, and has been mentioned frequently here on CC.  However, Viking does list the excursion booking window in the amenities for each cabin type.  When you get to book much later than others, some sold out excursions are to be expected, or at least we expected that would be the case and booked a cabin type we felt would give us the amenities we wanted.  Then again, you paid half (or less) what some of the larger cabin types did, so your savings could maybe pay for an optional or private excursion or two?

We are in the 2nd "highest" Deluxe Verandah, so only Penthouse suites and up booked before us and I presume there aren't that many of them.  Plus I would say when someone pays $35,000 for a cruise they would not expect to experience this type of thing to happen.  That may not be a lot of money to some, but I would say 99% of the world would think thats a pretty expensive vacation, and we have a 15 hr flight to get to our departure city.  Again, I was aware of the excursion window opening time but you can't book an excursion one minute after the open window if it is already sold out.  I have booked some non-Viking excursions but some you really need to go with the ship.  

 

PS The rep who assured me she would call me back before days end...didn't call 😐

[bookbabe]

1 hour ago, tocruiseguy said:

We are in the 2nd "highest" Deluxe Verandah, so only Penthouse suites and up booked before us and I presume there aren't that many of them.  Plus I would say when someone pays $35,000 for a cruise they would not expect to experience this type of thing to happen.  That may not be a lot of money to some, but I would say 99% of the world would think thats a pretty expensive vacation, and we have a 15 hr flight to get to our departure city.  

 

😐

If I'm counting correctly, 119 cabins were eligible to book excursions before you, so about 25% of passengers.  Unfortunately, depending on the interests of those passengers and the excursion sizes, that does mean some times/excursions are going to be fully booked, especially in the current post-lockdown world where many tour companies have gone under or are struggling to find staff.

 

And, even that hefty price tag is still significantly less than some of those higher category cabins cost...Price out the ES and OS cabins for your cruise if you want some scary sticker shock.

[SantaFe1]

1 hour ago, tocruiseguy said:

We are in the 2nd "highest" Deluxe Verandah,

All DV cabins have the same booking window, DV 1-6.  So a lot of people!  The only way to get a “better” booking window is to go up to a PV cabin, and again, all those, PV 1-3 have the same booking window.  

[SantaFe1]

If I may say one more thing about this:  we book PV so we have a good chance of getting the shore ex and dining that we want.  We book a PV1 to get the place on the ship we want our cabin.  But the various increments within a cabin category do not get you a better place in line to book shore ex.  DV 1-6 all book at the same time, and there are a lot of them!

[Haqdeluxe]

The DV cabins top out at under $7000.00pp... Even with both a pre and post extension tacked on, how are you getting up to $35K? Even an Explorer Suite on this cruise was under $17,000.00pp... still less than the $35K stated. 🤔

12 hours ago, tocruiseguy said:

We are in the 2nd "highest" Deluxe Verandah, so only Penthouse suites and up booked before us and I presume there aren't that many of them.  Plus I would say when someone pays $35,000 for a cruise they would not expect to experience this type of thing to happen.  That may not be a lot of money to some, but I would say 99% of the world would think thats a pretty expensive vacation, and we have a 15 hr flight to get to our departure city.  Again, I was aware of the excursion window opening time but you can't book an excursion one minute after the open window if it is already sold out.  I have booked some non-Viking excursions but some you really need to go with the ship.  

 

PS The rep who assured me she would call me back before days end...didn't call 😐

 

[Haqdeluxe]

31 minutes ago, Haqdeluxe said:

The DV cabins top out at under $7000.00pp... Even with both a pre and post extension tacked on, how are you getting up to $35K? Even an Explorer Suite on this cruise was under $17,000.00pp... still less than the $35K stated. 🤔

 

Looked up the wrong cruise so... The DV cabins top out at under $13,500.00pp... Explorer Suite on this cruise was around $40,000.00pp. My mistake. Apologies. 

[CurlerRob]

2 hours ago, Haqdeluxe said:

Looked up the wrong cruise so... The DV cabins top out at under $13,500.00pp... Explorer Suite on this cruise was around $40,000.00pp. My mistake. Apologies. 

To add to your woes ... OP is Canadian. DV1 cabin on that cruise is $17,800 pp CAD. 🍺🥌

[tocruiseguy]

9 hours ago, Haqdeluxe said:

Looked up the wrong cruise so... The DV cabins top out at under $13,500.00pp... Explorer Suite on this cruise was around $40,000.00pp. My mistake. Apologies. 

Why would I lie????  

[red4u2]

My Dh and I are looking to book our first Viking cruise. we were looking in 2021, but with world events decided to wait.

 The entry level DV6 is what we are specifically looking at and this indeed would be a top dollar once in a lifetime experience to cruise with Viking as financially its a stretch to get there. We can do it one time.

  The thought of missing out on Vikings included motor coach tours because we aren't in a higher level cabin is disturbing. I have some mobility issues and those offerings are perfect for me.

 I see that this can be a touchy subject here, with people just saying "Pay more for a higher cabin to get what you want".  Its not that simple. Viking advertises certain experiences as part of enticing people to pay so much more for their cruises and their luxury experience. It is not unreasonable to expect to have those available when these are still heavily advertised as perks. Same as dining.

[Squawkman]

15 minutes ago, red4u2 said:

My Dh and I are looking to book our first Viking cruise. we were looking in 2021, but with world events decided to wait.

 The entry level DV6 is what we are specifically looking at and this indeed would be a top dollar once in a lifetime experience to cruise with Viking as financially its a stretch to get there. We can do it one time.

  The thought of missing out on Vikings included motor coach tours because we aren't in a higher level cabin is disturbing. I have some mobility issues and those offerings are perfect for me.

 I see that this can be a touchy subject here, with people just saying "Pay more for a higher cabin to get what you want".  Its not that simple. Viking advertises certain experiences as part of enticing people to pay so much more for their cruises and their luxury experience. It is not unreasonable to expect to have those available when these are still heavily advertised as perks. Same as dining.

You won’t miss out on any included excursions or will you miss out on promised dining. You just might have to book on board. And chances are good you can also get optional optional excursions. We typically book V cabins which have less priority than DV and never had a problem. Excursions open up all the time during the pre-cruise booking period too.

[red4u2]

4 minutes ago, Squawkman said:

You won’t miss out on any included excursions or will you miss out on promised dining. You just might have to book on board. And chances are good you can also get optional optional excursions. We typically book V cabins which have less priority than DV and never had a problem. Excursions open up all the time during the pre-cruise booking period too.

Thank you!!!!