Heidi13

Unfortunately, those making the phone calls will receive a call or visit to their cabin, as except for the cabins most of the ship is covered by CCTV. Cameras don't even have to see a face, as they can track you back to the cabin.

Sadly, every cruise has them. What's the bet that when the inevitable itinerary changes start, the pax you described will be the first ones at the Explorer's Desk, in the Living Room, screaming at the Shore-ex staff.

I have forwarded the issue to Head Office and hoping you should receive a call to resolve.

Welcome to cruise critic. You need to contact the cruise line directly, as European Cabotage laws may apply depending on the proposed embarkation/disembarkation ports.

You aren't alone in being increasingly disappointed with the mainstream mega ships. I spent 40 years, both working for and cruising with P&O/Princess and our final cruise with them was 2015. The once great cruise line was reduced to little more than budget cruises. Viking may have dropped slightly since COVID, but I have no doubt you will find the onboard service vastly superior to Celebrity.

On all my cruises to Egypt, the Visa is arranged by the ship upon arrival. Most recent was this year, as the Egypt Visa was not one of the Visas that the cruise line paid GenVisa to acquire pre-cruise, stating it would be completed upon arrival. I suspect Celebrity would be the same, but best check with them directly

If this is your first cruise the final payment date requested can be 12 - 18 months before departure. However, you may be able to negotiate less, but not so common these days. When you book onboard, or have an existing cruise on the books, you can request a 6 month final payment date. FYI - this is discussed in multiple threads and as a private company that is not a member of CLIA, Viking do not follow the others. You have the option of delaying the booking until such time as you are comfortable making final payment. However, many Viking cruises sell out well in advance and have the potential of prices increasing. Note - the 2023 World Cruise embarking today, increased by $12K pp.

When I checked Marine Traffic earlier this morning to see which berth she was using at WCC San Pedro, I noted a dive boat and tug standing by her. So very likely having the hull inspected and/or cleaned.

When checking which berth Neptune was using at WCC in San Pedro, I noted a dive boat and tug in attendance, so they must be checking her hull.

The Seabourn Odyssey falls into the luxury ocean category, but I do not believe she is considered as an "Expedition" ship, so most likely would not have Zodiacs on board for pax use. Yes, being flagged in Bahamas would not permit the crew to utilise any marine equipment for pax. I should note that this is based on expedition ships operating in the Great Lakes, as they can use the toys for pax in Canadian Waters, but not US Waters. My assumption is this would apply to all US Waters.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. You have listed some excellent preferences, and it may be challenging to fill all of them. I concur that a cruise is an excellent option to see the coastal wilderness areas of Alaska. May I suggest starting with a couple of research projects, as this will help to focus on options and also timing: - What exactly do you want to see in Alaska - glaciers, what wildlife, salmon runs, whales, snow, etc. Are you interested in ship hosted RHIB (Zodiac) tours, or are you good with ship provided shore-ex, or local vendor tours. Note - if you want ship based RHIB tours you will need to sail on a US Flag ship, as foreign-flag expedition ships are not permitted to use their marine toys in US waters. Do you want to spend the entire time in Alaska, or are you comfortable sailing in/out of Vancouver/Seattle. - What do you want from the ship experience - size of cabin (note: unless the ship has suites, cabin sizes are normally < 300 sq feet, usually a lot less), do you want all-inclusive, included alternative restaurants, multiple dining options, included wifi, included laundry (or self-service machines), tours included, flights included (business class ??), onboard lectures, etc. Expedition ships are normally much smaller, with the Viking expedition ships being the biggest at just below 400. However, neither of the Viking expedition ships cruise Alaska. If you want an expedition type experience, I suggest checking out Linblad/Nat Geographic and Hurtigruten. For luxury/premium experience, you can check out Viking, Oceania, Seabourn, Regent, Silversea, Hapag-Lloyd.

Affirmative, the airlines have fare classes that earn reduced, or even no points, especially when using cruise line air, which contract for the cheapest flights in bulk.

Dee - although we had to cancel, I have followed the shore-ex offering and am not aware that Viking have included any overnight shore-ex in any port this World Cruise.

So sorry for your experience. Can you please provide your booking number - NO names, just booking number and I will forward to my contact in Basle.

I'll suggest the report of "Fungus" was the usual lack of fact checking by the media.

Totally agree, it doesn't matter.

Correct, no visa is required for French Polynesia for stays < 90 days. Both NZ & Australia are now eTA's, which can be applied for online. The Australian eTA permits you to stay for up to 3 months. These were the requirements I determined for research on an upcoming cruise. Been to all ports many times, never required a Visa for French Polynesia, never required anything for NZ until they introduced the eTA about 2019 and in Australia we got the eTA for our previous 2 trips.

You must also check what fare class the cruise line booked, as some do not have reward eligibility. Some fare class are also not eligible for upgrade.

Your cabin is assigned at the discretion of the cruise line, depending on their booking and cancellations. I have seen cabin assignments 6-months ahead, but have also experienced getting a cabin number at check-in.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. While I can't provide specific examples, I can assure you that Viking take food restrictions and allergies seriously. You have the ability to make these notations pre-boarding, but once onboard I would meet with the restaurant manager to discuss your needs and the galley will ensure you have options available. They normally provide menus a day ahead.

As was discussed extensively on the Viking Board, the allegation of a RHIB explosion on the Polaris, was from a passenger, who clearly has no knowledge of RHIB construction and operation. Even if the buoyancy tube was punctured, which I note is tough to accomplish, the working pressure in the tubes is low. Even a rapid deflation does not equate to anything considered as potentially explosive. The only other potentials are the pyrotechnics and fuel system, but with no clear evidence of an explosion, these are highly unlikely. Based upon the observations of those onboard and those of us that have actually operated and/or serviced RHIB's, the most likely cause is from an underwater strike by a marine mammal.

Rob, I've also participated in the boat building on a number of our cruises with Princess. When I read about this one my thoughts were that's a new one for Viking, but didn't think too much of it. As you noted it can actually be entertaining, although it does take away the pool for those wanting quiet time. On reading about the snowman building, my thoughts were it is an interesting craft project, not something of interest to me, but will definitely interest others. The "Marriage Game" normally includes 3 passenger couples, with different years of marriage. The gents are initially led away to a room off the stage and the ladies are asked 3 questions about their husband. When the gents return, they are read the same questions and have to state how their wife answered each question. Then the ladies are led away and the same process is repeated. Everything is based on the type of questions asked and on all cruises we have taken the questions were not consistent with a "Classy" show. To put it into perspective, when we departed Bali on the MMT, with about 250 pax, as I noted on my previous post, the Cruise Director was looking for new options for entertainment, as we couldn't get guest entertainers aboard. Of all the activities from the mega ships, Liars Club was the only one he would accept and initially it had to be officers and crew on the stage. It took extensive lobbying to have a repeat show with pax on stage. The boat and snowman building on their own didn't raise any flags, but all 3 on a single trans-canal, in my opinion, is a quantum shift for Viking. Hopefully it is just this particular Cruise Director, who I believe came from HAL, one of the Carnival brands.

Reading a number of the blogs from the current World Cruise, I noted some of the activities are not the norm on Viking, with some of them being regular activities on mega ships. So far, I have read about a boat building competition to carry beer across the pool, building a snowman and then the "Marriage Game" On the 2020 WC, when the MMT commenced, upon departure Bali, we had some talk about introducing new activities. The only one than got the Cruise Director's approval was "Liars Club". When someone mentioned they had participated in the marriage game on another cruise line, the answer was most definitely "NO" - not happening. Hence the reason I was surprised to read about it being scheduled on this cruise. Can't remember where the Cruise Director is from, but recall hearing he might be new to Viking, so I am interested to hear from the regular World Cruisers if the entertainment/activities is consistent with previous world cruises, or is Viking introducing more mega ship type activities? Lack of tacky pool games and marriage shows was always one of the positives for selecting Viking, so looking to hear from those aboard how it is working.

Sorry, hull fouling doesn't happen over a few days, it will have been accumulating since the ship was floated out, or a previous hull cleaning.

Got my annual supply from Santa😁