How to know Viking excursions that have been sold out prior to booking?

[leishirsute]

Is there anyway to see which excursions have been sold out for a Viking cruise prior to booking the cruise?

If not, that seems like a game of chance.

[LindaS272]

Perhaps by asking the Viking sales rep, or asking through the chat function on the Viking website. You are guaranteed a spot on the included excursions; and you can always book your own with private vendors if an optional excursion is sold out.

[HUNKY]

Viking Ocean is a bit different than other cruise lines in that they do not open shore excursion bookings until 100 to 147 days before embarkation, for cruises after June 1, 2024.

 

For cruises departing before June 2024 bookings open between 60 and 107 days before the sail date.

[leishirsute]

And VIking told me that for river cruises, all excursions open at the same for all cabin levels.

[Pushka]

10 hours ago, leishirsute said:

And VIking told me that for river cruises, all excursions open at the same for all cabin levels.

Yes and much earlier than ocean cruises. 

[Peregrina651]

13 hours ago, leishirsute said:

Is there anyway to see which excursions have been sold out for a Viking cruise prior to booking the cruise?

If not, that seems like a game of chance.

 

Sadly, no. Not even if you book your cruise after booking has opened for all categories. 

 

In 2021-22, there were capacity issues but in most countries/ports these days it is no longer a problem.

 

It is not a game of chance. Most people get what they want. Except on certain excursions with very limited capacity -- Chef's Table, heliocopter rides for example-- adding capacity is not a problem.

 

.

 

[lackcreativity]

7 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

It is not a game of chance. Most people get what they want. Except on certain excursions with very limited capacity -- Chef's Table, heliocopter rides for example-- adding capacity is not a problem.

 

As a regular inhabitant of the last to book Veranda cabins, I will vouch for that. We have rarely been disappointed, even though a time or two we had to keep checking back to get our first choice of an optional excursion.

 

Fortunately for us, we had already been to the Alhambra in Spain, since I think that is another one that has a limited capacity!

[OneSixtyToOne]

3 hours ago, lackcreativity said:

Fortunately for us, we had already been to the Alhambra in Spain, since I think that is another one that has a limited capacity!

The Alhambra restricts cruise lines to a single bus per day. On top of that, their security required your ticket to have your name on it and they randomly check it against your passport. Therefore even if there are cancellations on board, the seats can’t be resold to another passenger. Fortunately, we were able to get the excursion, even though we were a DV. It was the first excursion we booked when the window opened. It sold out within an hour.

 

The other excursions that tend to sell out are the Privileged Access tours. Those are also usually restricted to a single group. 
 

With other sold out excursions, they can sometimes add additional times when demand warrants it.

Edited January 7 by OneSixtyToOne