CCWineLover

1 minute ago, makaha said:

The Viking Star currently doesn’t have Beefeater Gin in the PV’s according to friends, currently on board…..and Kent and Pam know I am at a Beefeater girl🍸The good news IS, we board in LA on February 14th, and I will take my own😎😎

You betcha!  Never seen Beefeater on Viking.

What's great is that you can bring whatever liquor, wine, beer, spirits, or whatever on board for free!!

12 minutes ago, duquephart said:

The more pressing issue is, of course, why not bourbon?

steward's choice?  luck of the draw?

On 1/18/2024 at 5:17 AM, janetcbl said:

Just noted on our upcoming trip Vigur is not included as a possibility. That was the excursion I was most excited about (I had been there many years ago and remember it vividly. 😢

Janet -

I seem to recall you are on the May 25th sailing on Mars out of Venus.  We are also.  We loved Iceland last June so much we are headed back.  I also noted that there was no Vigur trip listed yet.  We took that excursion last June and it was quite good. As someone pointed out, it appears they are severely limiting people on the island, understandably - especially early June.  We had to pick between Vigur and the waterfalls so this time we'll try to do the waterfalls.   FYI - we also had quite a good included tour in Isafjordur!

FYI - since June 8 is a turnaround, with some getting off and some getting on, there may be some excursions added closer to sailing for those that continue on the B2B.  If not, you likely will get a shuttle bus to Reyjkavik, or can book tours yourself.

As for the other ports, I totally concur with several regarding:

Heimaey boat tour in decent weather!

Seydisfjordur - the Skalanes Nature Center

Akureyri - any of the natural wonders tours

Dijupivogur - we had an amazing long informative walking tour!

23 hours ago, Bissetbevo said:

What brands of gin and vodka does Viking stock in the cabin refrigerators for those who qualify for daily stocking in the cabin?

Yes, this has been answered a lot of times.

I did take a picture of our refrig in PV this last trip in December on Neptune.

From the chart, on 6049 your feet face aft (towards the stern), if that makes any difference.

2 hours ago, wcGma said:

Viking Mars cabin 5052 Port side feet facing forward. Had bump out which I never even noticed or was bothered by. Had to look at my cabin photo to recall. 

Wow - I had forgotten this topic - over three years ago!

Someone somewhere had posted this file where they described Fore and Aft facing.  They didn't do the far forward rooms, but since they tend to be alternating, you can extrapolate.  The rooms we've stayed in so far match what's on this list.   Maybe someone can create a more complete list.

Bed directions fore and aft-Viking Ships.pdf

1 minute ago, FlyerTalker said:

Let's cut to the chase.

 

You will get whatever Viking currently has in inventory from its current airline contracts.

 

It doesn't matter if someone else gets a different routing, different carriers or whatever.  Past results have NO bearing on what will be available to you.

 

Also, Viking doesn't handle "diversions" - that's a responsibility of the operating carrier.  Putting in a cruiseline just adds an extra layer of bureaucracy into the process.  Finally, in many cases, transfers are vastly overrated.

 

YMMV

 

 

Well stated and very clear.  Agree completely.

It is unfortunately that many find out the hard way.

When you book the cruise and pay the deposit, you agree that you have read all the terms and conditions and understand what has been printed out for you - which INCLUDES the date of final payment.  It is hard to miss.  This is normal for any travel business or any contractual business for that matter.  Even not withstanding doing some research on forums and threads to discover so much has been written about it.   Lesson learned for you unfortunately the hard way.

If you don't like it, please just cancel now and pay the $100 pp penalty.  You'll be better off than resenting the whole trip and bringing everyone down.

12 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Haha, tried that.  Watery soup is watery soup no matter whaat planet you come from.....🍸

Jim, interesting you should mention about the watery soups.

We've always enjoyed the full bodied soups on our many Viking trips.  However, we were on Neptune on the pre-journey Lisbon to FLL in December - and this watery soup condition is exactly what we encountered.  Several of us mentioned it and wondered what happened?  It was especially notable in my usually favorite split pea soup, which was so liquid it was better eaten with a straw and lacked any flavor.   So maybe it is just the Neptune with the issue.  So sorry!!

9 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Mine, too: Book cruise. Find/start roll call. Mark calendar. Open folders in my e-mail, my computer, Fences and Evernote That is why this one on Vesta feels so weird -- no place to even start a roll call and my 2026 calendar calendar is not in print yet. I booked while on the road and the preliminaries had to wait until we got home 5 days later.

Same here @Peregrina651

I have a step by step process.  I guess too many years working in IT has ingrained data organizational habits 🙂

You should consider looking at VRBO or an Airbnb.  They offer quite a number of opportunities in and around Barcelona that would fit your bill.  We've done it and it's not that difficult.

7 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

I gave them a nudge and the Viking Vesta has been added to the Viking Oceans Roll Call forum.

 

Viking Vesta Roll Calls 

 

 

Thank so much, Andrea!

I went ahead and put our March Malta cruise on, and also following yours.

Kent

14 hours ago, Aapreciate said:

people are asking a lot of questions about financial matters not being treated fairly. Do people here recommend actually taking Viking? I’m beginning to have some serious concerns. 

It's often difficult for newbies to understand Viking's policies on finances.  People above have tried to explain.  It actually is not "random" and sadly, the world, especially travel business is not "fair".

They do indeed outline their policies quite well.  Note that sometimes they do run promos which can entail a movement forward of the final pay date.

If you have these concerns, it sounds like Viking is not for you, as you will likely be upset about it throughout your cruise.  Most of us who've traveled with Viking a lot (self included), don't like, but accept the financial policies because for us the product is so good and fits our needs perfectly.  

However, only you can determine if you are willing to accept how they operate versus what you get in return.  If not, then best to move elsewhere.

Just now, Jim Avery said:

I can't believe this minor structural feature is into two pages of thread.....

Jim, a few more photos and we can get to THREE pages!

16 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Just for those who aren’t sure what is being discussed here is a picture:

Thanks, Clay.  Never had it before, but looks like we will get to stub toes this coming trip on Saturn in a few weeks as we have 5039.  (from your earlier post it has one)

10 hours ago, wine-wine-wine said:

Yes there are unfortunately. When we sailed Silversea and Crystal they were serving refried frozen onion rings. I watched the cooks chopping onions and dredging in batter at the Viking Pool Grill. 

Gosh - with so many people bashing Viking food, you mean Viking actually does SOMETHING right?  and better than Crystal or Silversea?   Oh my!

12 minutes ago, goldfish65 said:

Thanks to all. I didn't know where to start. In the meantime, I have looked at videos of the different categories, and Penthouse Veranda looks like the sweet spot for us. A little extra square footage for all the days at sea. All we care about is disconnecting from everything, reading, looking at the ocean, and whatever we find on the ship to do. Food and beverage. Late 2026. 

 

In the Penthouse Veranda category, are there any "secret" cabins that are better, or any to avoid?

Couple thoughts:   very far forward may leave you bouncing up and down a bit more.  PV's on 6th floor in the back may be subject to noise from the decks outside World Cafe, as the staff often moves the chairs and tables around in early morning hours (4 AM-5 AM) to get ready for breakfast.  Some it bothers and some claim they hear nothing.  Personally we enjoy the 5th deck - cabins 5082/83 and a few back from there.  Rooms above and below you.

36 minutes ago, WestW said:

AVS24 discount code:    In January 2023, we booked a PV1 for Into The Midnight Sun leaving London on July 26th, 2024. When I repriced it online using the discount code, I saw we could save $3,000.  

 

I contacted Viking via chat and they repriced our fare using the same booking number (no cancellation / rebook needed so we saved the $100 per person cancellation fees).  Net-net, we ended up saving $3,400 plus received $1000 in onboard credits.  Credit was applied to the credit card we used for final payment.   Great deal!

Fantastic!  I've never seen that able to be done.

We've tried before and Viking has said you have to cancel the current booking and rebook with a new booking number.  And that was just this fall!

I'm amazed!  Maybe it is something new in 2024.

14 minutes ago, Hobson1754 said:

And if you do Kent & manage to snaffle some, please remember your fellow cruisers - I really want to try these.

I'll share onboard!  Maybe if enough of us request it, they will start making them in earnest again!  They were incredibly good, and worth that morning hike down to the Attrium bar.

4 hours ago, CannotSwim said:

The maximum number of advance reservations per stateroom is fixed (except for very long cruises), so the number of pre-reserved dining slots per day is lower on longer cruises. I checked Alaska (one week) and Australia New Zealand (two weeks) -- both had 4 advance for OS, 3 for ES, and so on. So you will have better luck reserving when you board on Australia/New Zealand than Alaska.

 

For the Mediterranean there are overlapping 1, 2, 3, and 4 week cruises. If you have a reservation on a 1 week cruise some people at a lower cabin level on a 4 week cruise might have reserved before you. But not many -- ES1 on a 4 week cruise (at least the cruises I checked) gets 3 reservations for four weeks, the same number as an ES1 for a 1 week segment.

 

While

People discount the fact that there are reasons why you can always get into the specialty restaurants when onboard (not withstanding all those pre-booked reservations).

1.  Viking only sets aside about 40% of available seats for pre-booking (from one of the Restaurant Managers)

2.  So many people cancel reservations, especially as the cruise goes on, freeing up spots.  Lots of those who could book multiple ones decide they have other plans, or don't care for CT once they try it.  The nice people actually call and cancel

3.  Lots of folks just Don' Show up (No Shows) - roughly 10-20 % (from the Restaurant Manager).  They don't have the courtesy to call and cancel

4.  If there are sea sickness days, lots of people also cancel or don't show up.

So that is why we never book ahead and never have any issues, particularly as the cruise goes on.  And we are not particular about having to go the first couple nights.

11 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Late July when we had them aboard Saturn after a request to the Restaurant Manager. 

Hmmm.....  we'll be on Saturn in a few weeks.

May have to visit the Restaurant Manager 🙂

Xiang menu and California menu (minus the potato chip) in the Chef's Table.

In all our cruises, never seen the Sweet & Salty - hoping to find it sometime!

Since there are different cruise piers in Seattle, you first need to know where you will be.

Once you know that, you can do a Google Search of that address and find any nearby car rental locations.  Easy peasy.

Hopefully you are at Pier 66.  It is closer to downtown car rental locations.  You can do a search on what is close and you'll likely have to take a Uber or Lyft to get there as it will a ways away.

Took me 15 seconds to do this search:

Pier 66:

Pier 91

43 minutes ago, Retirement2016 said:

 

Sorry, forgot to say the 15 US$ is for the SIM card with 2 GB.  Is wifi readily available in Buenos Aires?

Wifi was available in our hotel, as well as various restaurants and cafes.

We also do the $10 Verizon Intl plan that only charges the $10 for the days you use it.

17 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Special delivery to our room this morning IYKYK😀

Oh my oh my !!!

Clay - you truly are the Viking Premier Guest !!!