loum140

Thanks Marsha

I am waiting for your review next year before I book ;)

 

We have the crossing booked on O for 2015

 

Lyn

East or west bound? We're doing Barcelona/Miami.

Marsha

do they include all tours or just one & the others are for a fee??

 

Lyn

Hi Lyn: A tour of some sort (usually highlights) is offered in every port. For those who have been to these ports before, optional excursions are offered at an additional cost. We plan to take most of the included tours but will take optionals in some locations. Some of the included tours are quite interesting and unusual. Details are all spelled out on the website. Marsha

Viking Oceans will include tours in every port -- see descriptions on their website -- as well as wine with lunch and dinner. Also, the cost of Viking's air is lower than we could have booked for ourselves and I believe that means we get airport transfers. Am not sure about free WIFI being included like it is on their river cruises?

If not yet booked, how does one find out the cost of tours? Looked on the itinerary, but no cost. Thanks in advance for any help/. Pat

I called Viking and asked customer service, but as our maiden voyage is still 10 months away, they did not have any costs as yet. We will be able to book optional tours about 3 months in advance. Perhaps your T/A can help?

And FDR is aboard too

We booked the April 11, 2015 sailing of the Star...the only reason I was willing to pay so far in advance (in full by 01/31/2013) is to be the first to sail on a new ship. After that cruise I will see if I am that taken with Viking Oceans that I am willing to pay that far ahead for a cruise. I also got good travel insurance.....

Hi Kathy9: We're on the inaugural as well, Istanbul to Barcelona -- 2 legs. We've done 4 Viking River cruises and were well pleased, so we're anticipating that their ocean voyages will be equally great. See you on board! Marsha

PS: I see we're almost neighbors -- NY/NJ (LOL)

an interest free loan perhaps :D

LOL!!! :p

Missing you and Mike....hope we can sail together again soon.

Yes, it's true! Our final payment date for April 2015 was Dec. 2013. That's Viking's policy. And even so, 5 stateroom categories were already sold out when we booked in May 2013.

We enjoy New Tricks and follow it regularly but that particular episode has not been shown in our area yet - at least we haven't seen it.

Lyn, do they have PBS in Toronto or is it Buffalo/Rochester stations you are watching?

Paul

Paul: It was called "The Rock" and it was a two-parter with a lot of the action taking place in Gibraltar. It was also the start of a "new season" of episodes......but don't want to give away any spoilers!

If you've spent any time on Gibraltar, you'll find lots of familiar sights during these episodes! Lots of great O memories!!!

Marsha

In the greater NY area it's on WLIW -- a Long Island PBS affiliate.

What is New Tricks and where do we find it? Is it one of the cable stations? Never heard to that one.

"New Tricks" is a BBC production shown on some Public TV Stations. It's about a group of retired London police officers who are enlisted for a unit called UCOS that investigates unsolved cases, usually after new evidence surfaces.

Just an FYI - you have until something like 120 days prior to the cruise date to receive a refund with a small (I think $100 ea) cancellation fee. With that in mind, we are waiting until closer to the cruise date to purchase insurance as we have found it to be less expensive that way.

 

I am curious as to what others have or are doing with travel insurance- do you find that this has held true for you?

We agree and are waiting until closer to our cruse date to purchase insurance. No reason to do it while we are still eligible for a refund. Marsha

Just looking at OV & wondering if paying in full 1-2 yrs out is mandatory or is to get a discount as an incentive to book early??

 

I just glanced over the website but thought it was quicker to ask my fellow CCer's

 

Thanks

Lyn

Hi Lyn: The easy answer is it's mandatory. They won't accept your reservation without telling you the "payment in full" requirement date. We reserved for the inaugural in the summer of 2013 and were told the balance was due Dec. 31, 2013. The cruise will be in April 2015. Even booking that far out we were unable to get the stateroom category we originally wanted because they were all sold out.

Of course, you can still cancel and get a refund minus a service charge.

Best to Mike, Marsha

Hi Goksucats. Don't give "age" another thought. We were among the youngest on our first Viking River Cruise but we enjoyed meeting so many lovely, well traveled fellow passengers that we are still in touch with. We have now taken 4 Viking River Cruises and are booked on the Viking Star inaugural.

Yours is a wonderful itinerary and from our prior experience with Viking there will likely be many opportunities for enrichment lectures and materials that are geared to increasing your appreciation for and enjoyment of the many terrific ports of call.

There are several threads on this board regarding referral credits for first time Viking passengers that you might want to check out. And yes, they can be applied even after your reservation has been made.

Best, Marsha

We are just booking Viking Rhine cruise august 2015 and was hoping someone could send me the $100 referral??? Thanks.

Please see post #3 on the thread "Looking for a Viking Referral". It's four topics below this one, started by ellen4257. Let me know if you have any problems. Enjoy your cruise.

Since you offered, I used it this afternoon. I hope that was ok.

Absolutely! Which trip did you book? Marsha

Hi, we're trying to book our first Viking cruise and have questions regarding airfare and travel insurance.

 

Can anyone advise us as to whether we should book the airfare through Viking when we book the cruise? Or, through the airline itself when we get closer to the cruise date? The same question about travel insurance. Now or later, and through whom? We're looking at 2016 so have time to play with.

 

Thanks for any words of wisdom.

Hi: We've taken several Viking River Cruises and are looking forward to our first on Viking Oceans. We have always taken Viking's air as we found we could not get the airfare at the price they were quoting. In fact we locked it in with our initial booking and the air did subsequently go up even through Viking.

However, we usually look for quotes on the insurance through various on-line services.

BTW: As this is your first Viking cruise, we can give you a referral which will save you $100 per person when you finally book. The info from my DH can be found in post #3 on the thread Looking for a Viking Referral. Or you can post your email address here and we will send it to you.

Hi. You're posting on the Viking Oceans Forum. These voyages are on Viking's new ocean-going vessels.

For questions about Viking's River Cruises, you should post on the River Cruise Forum. It's a bit below this on the main forums page.

BTW: We toook the Grand European Voyage a few years ago and loved it.

We book using a travel agent. If I have a specific question regarding my booking, my T/A contacts her representative at Viking on my behalf and I get a reponse within a day or two. If there is a general question -- not involving my personal booking -- I contact Viking via email for clarification and have always received a response.

Your T/A is making a commission on your booking, so requesting confirmation about your stateroom configuration, optional excursions, special food requests, etc. are certainly appropriate questions that your T/A should be more than happy to handle for you.

We received our commemorative coin today.

As usual, Viking once again proves that it is a "class act". From our very first cruise with them in 2002 we have always felt that they appreciated our patronage and that we were valued.

Love the TV advertising on PBS.....it just reinforces why we choose to sail with Viking and why we booked so far in advance on a ship that was yet to be built.

Thanks for all the good advice. We're starting our research today! Marsha

Thank you for all this information. We will investigate.

However we will have luggage (post cruise) to store and not sure how to accomplish this. Ideally, we are hoping to find a tour company that will pick us up at the Rio cruise port, fly us to the Falls, provide hotel and transport to Argentina side, then return us to Rio.

 

If your cruise starts or ends in Buenos Aires, doing your own excursion to the Iguazu Falls beforehand or afterwards is a lot less expensive. We did it on our own last year. Some people fly in from Rio de Janeiro.

What tour company did you use for Iguazu Falls?

Looking for a guide/tour recommendation post cruise to Iguazu Falls, both Brazilian side and Argentinian side, from/to Rio de Janiaero. Thanks.

Hi Tom and Jerie: We really enjoyed meeting you both and spending so much time together on Regatta. Regards to you from mom.

Must agree with Lyn and Mura - we enjoy both R ships and O ships - for different reasons. O ships for the expanded dining venues, Artist Loft, Executive/Concierge Lounges and larger production shows, R ships for old-world decor, fabulous Library, ease of interaction with guests and staff and better layout for trivia. On the R ships we also enjoy not feeling "crowded in" by tables and chairs in the Terrace. Must admit however, that I really missed the second level of deck chairs on the O ships, especially on a sunny day. ;)

Marsha