OneSixtyToOne

Thanks for the great photos. We were in Split last year right before Easter so the Cathedral and tower were closed. Did you rub the Bishop’s toes for good luck?

We were on the Mediterranean Odyssey last year from Venice to Barcelona. Here is my writeup.

There are some cases with Viking River that include nights in a hotel (Paris and the Swiss Alps is one we were on, but we had no OBC). I would think these nights are considered part of cruise but I doubt you’ll find a cruise where those hotel nights will put you in the next category of OBC amount.

Extensions don’t count. It’s the number of nights on the ship.

No. The OBC is given by your TA not Viking. There is a maximum amount the TA can give but they are not required to give you anything. Viking gives you an OBC when you book another cruise when aboard an existing cruise. As far as booking fast, you can book it yourself online and transfer it to your TA afterwards. Your TA still has the ability to give you the OBC.

They existed pre-COVID on the Meet & Mingle page on CC. All you needed to do was sign up for your saling and when 10 people signed up, it happened automatically. Typically they reserved the Wintergarden for a private party and sent invitations to your stateroom. Too bad you missed it. Currently the page says the M&Ms are paused and instead directs you to the roll calls and recommends you DYI. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/meet-mingle/main/

This sounds like a recent change in their process. Has anyone experienced this on other itineraries?

On a B2B you cannot book excursions for the overnight between cruise legs until you are on board. As to why, I believe it mainly has to do with Viking’s computer system. It considers the legs as separate cruises. You don’t receive tickets for 2nd leg excursions until the first leg is completed.

There use to be a meet and mingle section for Viking that allowed you to sign up and if enough people were interested for your sailing, there was a party sponsored and organized by CC and Viking. It has been disabled since COVID. What you are referring to are guests organizing a meet and mingle themselves, contacting Viking, and arranging the event. Not the same thing as having it done for you.

Are you talking about the Astronomical Clock or the bells at the Campanella? I believe the OP was referring to the Astronomical Clock. You can tour both. If you are here at noon it’s quite a show.

We just had a conversation about tattoos with my daughter who lived in Japan for 3 years. Not only is it a fear factor but banning people with tattoos is a way to socially ostracize them and show disapproval. Concerning extroverts: I posted an article above about the psychology of tipping and after reading it it seems to me that extroverts are more inclined to be tippers. Maybe it’s more about “notice me” than I previously thought.

He has stated publicly he personally owns over 50% of the shares. https://www.cnbc.com/video/2024/05/01/short-viking-ceo-on-ipo-very-different-from-other-cruise-companies.html

On our last cruise they had Schweppes Ginger Ale / mixers. Brands are highly dependent on the itinerary and the port the ship is provisioned from.

The last time we were onboard, albeit an Expedition ship, the survey was on the stateroom TV.

The ship is moored offshore (there is no island) and you are tendered to and from the ship/dock at regular intervals.

Soda is also available in your stateroom cooler. Depending on your class of stateroom it is either replenished daily or only once at disembarkation. You can ask your room steward for specific sodas to be stocked. You can also take a can of soda from the World Cafe back to your room. No one will care.

Interesting article about the psychology of tipping: “Research shows that the more extraverted the personality traits of people in a country, the greater number of service providers they tip and the larger amount they tip,” https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20171122-the-psychology-that-motivates-tipping

As have we. I think the disconnect is it appears the poster asked the hostess to make substitutions and was told to tell the waiter. The waiter is the person to convey your order request to, not the host/hostess. “Refused” is a strong word. Sounds more like the hostess conveyed the proper procedure and it was construed as insufficient to meet the OP’s needs / desires. As for menus, they are available on the app and throughout the ship video monitors daily. If you have special food requirements/preferences and have indicated this in MVJ, you will also have copies of the menus delivered to your stateroom daily. There are certain foods that I don’t eat and have had the staff bend over backwards to accommodate me and indicate what I should avoid.

Does this apply to expedition ships?

We will be sailing this itinerary in reverse in August. I too am prone to seasickness but since taking Bonine (Meclizine HCI) I have had no issues. We were in seas with the wind 10-12 on the Beaufort scale on an expedition cruise in Patagonia last October and I was fine.

Well, you can always book another cruise and they will move your payment date out to 6 months prior for your 2026 cruise.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruise/viking-ocean/viking-jupiter# Photo dated 4/27/2019 Barcelona to Copenhagen She arrived from Rome on her maiden. We remember following her maiden because there was an incident with a tugboat that caused a dent and we were concerned it would impact our trip.

We were on the 2nd voyage of the Jupiter in April of 2019. Its maiden voyage was a week earlier.

It seems that it really depends on the chef and kitchen crew. There are many postings on this board about the food being terrible on a particular ship and others saying the same ship had great food. It’s also very subjective.

I believe the entire Viking Ocean fleet has been upgraded to Starlink.