CDNPolar

Hey... Good question, but this will depend on the cruise line and their cancellation policy. With the information you have offered, we likely cannot help you. Here is my thinking on the matter. Once you get to final payment, the cruise lines all impose penalties for cancellation. You might lose 25% of your paid fare between 90 and 120 days and 50% between 60 and 90 days...? This may or may not include the cost of excursions. The cruise line that we sail the most, allow you to cancel shore excursions up to 48 hours in advance, so cancelling the entire cruise would suggest that you get that cash back, regardless of what the penalties are for the cruise itself. Wifi - that is another story. Some cruise lines include this in a package with alcohol and other amenities.... can you cancel this before sailing? I don't know. You will have to ask these questions of your cruise line and read their cancellation policy language. Share with us the cruise line you are going on, final payment date, cruise date, and then what the penalties are for cancellation of the cruise.

Let it be known that I understand the MAJOR difference between the AmaMagna and all other river ships and when I do my review and my comparison that will be commented on in the review but not in the comparison. My comparison will be based on the number of included excursions, the value and appeal of the excursions, the food, the service, and the overall experience working with Ama over Viking from a reservation, and customer service standpoint.

That is true, but it is also an advantage that Ama has over Viking. I can still compare food, and service, and the fact that Ama offers 3-6 included excursions in each port - regardless of the ship - and Viking only one. There are still things to compare, and still things to review.

All I can say is WooHoo WooHoo WooHoo February 2nd, we must renew our passports for 10 years, then send to Chinese Embassy for a 10 year China entry Visa, then to the Egyptian Embassy in Montreal for the Egypt Visa - all between February 2nd and the end of April so we can proceed with our booked travel. If we can eliminate the Egypt Visa hassle that is in place now, that will significantly reduce the stress of our plans. Let's all send some positive energy to the Egyptian government for this change back...

Sorry to hear that you have had to cancel and hope medically everything goes well for you. If you are so inclined and able to do so, please update us on the process and how it plays out as this will help others to understand. Insurance can be so difficult to navigate for many. Best of health and best of luck with your claim.

Don't discount Princess Cruise Lines as their Alaska itineraries are amazing and Princess does Alaska well - IMO. 3K as a solo traveller is your budget? For a balcony room, and single supplement, put flights into the mix and then add excursions, add wifi, add any drinks, then I think that you are really looking for a budget cruise. If all you want is a cabin and meals, and don't want to drink anything but water and coffee / tea, then you are fine, but I still think your budget is thin. Sorry - just my thoughts and opinion.

I would agree here that many are deferring travel to this region. I have had conversations with friends and when I talk about The Nile being my second favourite destination and cruise ever, they typically say, "Oh, how I would love to go to Egypt and sail The Nile, but I would not do that now." Many are scared off from the conflict which is not really direct conflict for Egypt or The Nile river.

We are going on our first AmaWaterways cruise in December - almost back to back from a Viking River Cruise. I think that we have 15 days in between. We are giving Ama a try because of what @disgirl said below. We are also specifically trying the AmaMagna which is a double width river ship and the only double width ship sailing today. It only sails the Danube because the locks permit this width. This ship is nearly twice the width of traditional European river cruise ships, which allows for larger staterooms, multiple dining venues, and enhanced onboard amenities. I believe that there are four dining venues on the AmaMagna. I will come back after this and do a true comparison between Viking and Ama and a review of both our Viking Grand European tour and the AmaMagna sailing.

I have removed the full gratuity before and not had bad service on the next cruise. This would be similar to issuing Uber Start ratings to the guests and I think that could be a long dangerous slippery slope for Viking if they did something like that. My belief is that Viking crew are trained and expected to give excellent service regardless of who you are. My husband and I disagree on this whole subject which is why to keep the peace we (I) just pay the gratuity. I would rather NOT have the gratuity added and pay hand tips to those I want to. I know that they are the people that are public facing like servers and cabin stewards, but that is the service industry. These are the people that typically get tips. I also know that Viking really does not want cash floating all over the ship going into the hands of some people. This would create conflict I am sure in the ranks. I am not demeaning the position, but if you take a job as a laundry worker, you are a laundry worker and you should be paid market rate for your job. Your job should not be based on anonymous tips from people you never see or interact with. In North America I wish that they would either be included in the fare, or just taken away and allow us to decide at the end of the cruise. I have asked Viking in writing in verbally for an explanation of how the tips are distributed and they are vague at best with their answer. I recently abandoned an online order with a company that I had never used before that at checkout put a tip screen on for the "behind the scenes workers" that help to get my package out. What? This is a warehouse pick and pack and shipping operation. Now you want me to add a tip to this "service". Nope. I bought a similar product elsewhere. I could have said NO, but, I decided that I did not like the suggestion that I should tip in this kind of situation, so they lost my sale.

It is frustrating when you don't know if there is going to be a ship in the port or not. We had this situation a bit over a year ago with Viking's new build for The Nile River. We finally cancelled Viking and moved to a competitor that we knew was a sure thing. This likely is not the case here. I am disappointed if Ama is not getting back to you? This is one reason that we now pretty much only book air that can be cancelled and refunded. It is a bit more expensive for these fares, but in a case like this if the ship is not ready then you don't have a covered reason with insurance to cancel your flights. Have you actually called Ama on the phone?

Please clarify - when you say that you also copied Viking Guest Services - what email is that? What is the main email that you are using. The only one that is of real value to us is tellus@vikingcruises.com

Some cruise lines offer the service too... Viking has a service offering. I only know that it is expensive, and I have Googled reviews of many of these services and there is no greater guarantee that your luggage is going to make it to the destination. I have read some reviews where the luggage was promised delivery on a specific date and it did not show up. For us, if it was reasonable in price and dependable, I would certainly do it. Here is some basic internet information and I looked for a real life scenario for me: Shipping luggage from Toronto to Barcelona through international luggage shipping services typically costs around $150 to $500 per bag, depending on factors like the weight, dimensions, and speed of delivery. For example, Luggage Forward offers a service starting at about $149 for a 75 lb bag, while SendMyBag provides a similar service for approximately $135 per bag from North America to Europe. These services offer convenience by picking up the luggage from your home and delivering it directly to your destination, including cruise ships or hotels, allowing you to avoid the hassle of carrying heavy bags through airports. NOTE that this indicates costs "STARTING AT" and I would assume that the speed that you want these delivered is key to the pricing. I also wonder, if your bag arrives at a cruise terminal 2 days before you do, what happens to that bag? Where is it stored? What is the security of the contents?

Absolutely right with all your statements, but food especially is very subjective and everyone has a different level of subjective opinion on the same dish. I do agree with @basenji56 and what the expectation should be between lines like Royal and Oceania. We sail Viking most often and are very pleased with their food, but some have scorched the tables that it was served on in their reviews.

Let's see how many pages this one can go! Haha. If I were you, I would keep the price tag attached so that you can show them the value of the pants. This may have an influence and keep them from asking you to change! Haha. (JOKING)

That is very odd. You can use that same email for both River and Ocean. There is NOT a different email for River. I generally hear back - and I use this email quite often - sometimes within 24 hours but there have been times that it has been several days.