Segmented cruising with Viking

[millybess]

We will be cruising with Viking for the last 5 weeks of a 90+ day cruise.

 

A question for anyone who has had experience with a Viking segmented cruise, does Viking hold back reservations for excursions, etc. for the later segments?

[CurlerRob]

51 minutes ago, millybess said:

We will be cruising with Viking for the last 5 weeks of a 90+ day cruise.

 

A question for anyone who has had experience with a Viking segmented cruise, does Viking hold back reservations for excursions, etc. for the later segments?

 

My understanding is that pax who book the full trip have access to all excursions on all segments when their window opens for the first segment. Naturally, this can impact availability for later segments.

 

When we sailed in 2019, we were on segment 2 of the WC. There were some excursions fully booked, but not as many as I'd expected. We were booked for NYC to Bergen this past summer (had to cancel) and we had access to all excursions up front, even though the trip was two segments.

 

'Tis what it 'tis for both of us in April! 🍺🥌

[DrKoob]

We did three segments of a four-segment cruise last in September 2022. The people on the first segment who were doing all four weeks got reservations for everything before we did. We got reservations before those that were only doing the two or one week cruises after ours. We also were able to get a reservation in the specialty restaurants for each week of the three weeks we were on the ship. Hope this helps.

[millybess]

13 hours ago, CurlerRob said:

 

My understanding is that pax who book the full trip have access to all excursions on all segments when their window opens for the first segment. Naturally, this can impact availability for later segments.

 

When we sailed in 2019, we were on segment 2 of the WC. There were some excursions fully booked, but not as many as I'd expected. We were booked for NYC to Bergen this past summer (had to cancel) and we had access to all excursions up front, even though the trip was two segments.

 

'Tis what it 'tis for both of us in April! 🍺🥌

Thanks @CurlerRob for the info.

 

We usually do a mixture of private and Viking excursions, so I think, in this case, we will be looking at more private tours.  We like many of the tours Viking is offering for this cruise, but I should start looking for alternatives.

 

We're very much looking forward to April! 

Edited November 15, 2023 by millybess

[millybess]

10 hours ago, DrKoob said:

We did three segments of a four-segment cruise last in September 2022. The people on the first segment who were doing all four weeks got reservations for everything before we did. We got reservations before those that were only doing the two or one week cruises after ours. We also were able to get a reservation in the specialty restaurants for each week of the three weeks we were on the ship. Hope this helps.

Thanks @DrKoob.    Yes, this is helpful.

[Mich3554]

We are on the Pacific Explorer next year that leaves out of Auckland to Vancouver.  We are not getting on until Bangkok.  Excursions for do not open up until Jan 9 for us, so imagine that there will be some sold out excursions when we get to schedule them.  We will be getting on the ship a little less than halfway through. 

[philw1776]

Beware of purchasing a segment cruise in the mid/later weeks. Unknowingly, I picked a 2 weeks cruise in the middle of a 6 weeks segmented cruise and despite being in a PV could never get Manfredi's reservations, even while aboard. (8:30PM does not count as a viable seating to me). Several optional excursions were SOLD OUT when it came time to select.

Gonna have my TA research this for me from now on.

[millybess]

25 minutes ago, Mich3554 said:

We are on the Pacific Explorer next year that leaves out of Auckland to Vancouver.  We are not getting on until Bangkok.  Excursions for do not open up until Jan 9 for us, so imagine that there will be some sold out excursions when we get to schedule them.  We will be getting on the ship a little less than halfway through. 

I think you are on the same cruise as CurlerRob and his DW and me and my DH. The 4 of us join the cruise in Hong Kong. 

[millybess]

24 minutes ago, philw1776 said:

Beware of purchasing a segment cruise in the mid/later weeks. Unknowingly, I picked a 2 weeks cruise in the middle of a 6 weeks segmented cruise and despite being in a PV could never get Manfredi's reservations, even while aboard. (8:30PM does not count as a viable seating to me). Several optional excursions were SOLD OUT when it came time to select.

Gonna have my TA research this for me from now on.

Yes, it’s a difficult call. We signed up for the Grand Explorer and then decided it was too long a cruise for us (homesickness on my part - lol). So for this particular cruise we would have to do it in segments. 
 

2024 is Hong Kong to Vancouver. 
2025 is Auckland to Bali (possibly Bangkok - both are booked)

 

I like dining at Manfredis, but I agree, not at 8:30. Dining reservations are not important to us. Experiencing as much as possible in the country we’re in is very important to us. Being on the back end of this cruise just means we have to be more prepared. As I said above, we like most of the excursions Viking is offering, especially in Japan. So we will have to find private tours. I enjoy doing research, so I think we will be able to find comparable tours — possibly more comprehensive and maybe less expensive!

 

I may be mistaken, but I think you were looking for a cabin on this particular cruise some time ago?

[Mich3554]

22 hours ago, millybess said:

I think you are on the same cruise as CurlerRob and his DW and me and my DH. The 4 of us join the cruise in Hong Kong. 

We are leaving early and stopping in Bali first before proceeding onto Bangkok.  DH found the diving in Bali incredible while on the WC, and wanted to go back.  It was easier (and cheaper) to tack on 10 diving days for him on the way to Bangkok than make a separate trip there.  So we fly out on 3/7, but don’t join the ship until 3/26.  

[millybess]

33 minutes ago, Mich3554 said:

We are leaving early and stopping in Bali first before proceeding onto Bangkok.  DH found the diving in Bali incredible while on the WC, and wanted to go back.  It was easier (and cheaper) to tack on 10 diving days for him on the way to Bangkok than make a separate trip there.  So we fly out on 3/7, but don’t join the ship until 3/26.  

That sounds like a very nice trip.  Several of our roll call members will be spending a few days in Hong Kong and you will be enjoying the Viking Orion for 2 weeks before we board.

[Hockeyump]

15 hours ago, Mich3554 said:

We are leaving early and stopping in Bali first before proceeding onto Bangkok.  DH found the diving in Bali incredible while on the WC, and wanted to go back.  It was easier (and cheaper) to tack on 10 diving days for him on the way to Bangkok than make a separate trip there.  So we fly out on 3/7, but don’t join the ship until 3/26.  

We're also joining in Bangkok.

[CCWineLover]

On 11/15/2023 at 11:06 AM, millybess said:

Yes, it’s a difficult call. We signed up for the Grand Explorer and then decided it was too long a cruise for us (homesickness on my part - lol). So for this particular cruise we would have to do it in segments. 
 

2024 is Hong Kong to Vancouver. 
2025 is Auckland to Bali (possibly Bangkok - both are booked)

 

I like dining at Manfredis, but I agree, not at 8:30. Dining reservations are not important to us. Experiencing as much as possible in the country we’re in is very important to us. Being on the back end of this cruise just means we have to be more prepared. As I said above, we like most of the excursions Viking is offering, especially in Japan. So we will have to find private tours. I enjoy doing research, so I think we will be able to find comparable tours — possibly more comprehensive and maybe less expensive!

 

I may be mistaken, but I think you were looking for a cabin on this particular cruise some time ago?

Couple things:

-At the Specialty restaurants, they may show SOLD out ahead of time, but once on board and during your "segment" you will easily find openings - people cancel, they are no shows, etc.  We've gong on multiple cruises without reservations ahead of time and since Viking only allows pre-booking of 40-50% of the dining tables, you usually can find something other that 8:30.

 

Second - we have good friends who just got back last month from the Japan-Hong Kong segment, traveling in a DV2.  Just saw their pictures and heard all about the excursions they took - all Viking.  They were able to book everything they wanted.  So you never know!

[kctwinmommy]

This is something I wish I realized when we booked ours. It's our first cruise with Viking, and we're doing legs 2, 3, & 4 of the cruise. So that means there will be many of people who can book before us, we're in the DV category. And yes, I knew booking excursions were based on your stateroom categories, I get that, I just wasn't thinking about the fact that there could be people getting on at leg 1 and getting off at leg 3, and they'll be picking before us.

Edited November 17, 2023 by kctwinmommy

[Bo1331]

We’re on a segment in Feb, Sydney to Singapore (28) days.  Our excursion window opens in mid Dec but  we see that several of the excursions we like are sold out.  Will Viking be adding more availability (buses, tour guides, etc) for these.  I hope so.