CCWineLover

2 of our top favs also!

See my post #2 in this thread regarding the 21 menus. We had the #1 menu. Was sub-par, especially bad Fish & Chips. The dessert was the one good thing however. Not disappointed as we are up for trying anything at least once. As someone said, going to Chef's Table is always a fun experience and adventure, without heavy expectations. That's the great part about it.

Sorry Longterm - that you took my comment seriously. Was meant to be tongue in cheek. Hope you can smile now.

Wow! Congratulations. You may indeed hold the record!! Outstanding achievement. I think you might have tried them all, particularly if you were on a World Cruise. Curious as to what your favorite few were... (Note: we also love CT and also thought the British Menu wasn't that great).

What is that old saying, FlyerTalker, . . . There is no free lunch (or free air is really not "free"). Sadly, this marketing ploy has set way to many unrealistic expectations in a huge number of Viking passengers (mostly newbies who haven't experienced the no free lunch thing). It does irk me a bit about this marketing aspect, since I do believe customers should be educated in some way as to what free air actually means. You and others have certainly done your share of helping us all get educated!

Been asked before - but the answer is No. Viking does not set the Chef's Table menus except once per month, and even then it can change depending upon supplies they get, etc. You will know when you get onboard. In fact, it is one of the first stops we make - to see what the various menus are on which days. Typically they rotate menus about every 3 days (although could be 2) - and the menu choices vary depending upon ship itinerary. There was a great discussion on all the CT menus a bit ago. I think they came up with about 21 unique ones. Found it . . .

What happens if your EWR flight is cancelled last minute (like air traffic strike or other issues). If you miss the Barcelona boarding, what next? Worth $100? I debate this back and forth. No right answer. So many air issues these days.

We get it because the Credit Cards we have reimburse us the $100 fee so it is essentially a no-brainer, even if we take a single trip. It does take some effort to get and go through the appointment process especially if you don't live in a big city.

I was thinking the exact same thing! If this was on FB, we would call it "Click Bait" 🙂

Like you, I have a lot of wishes about this itinerary. However, as you said, the search for perfection will leave you sitting on the couch IMHO. Thankfully there is something for everyone in cruising opportunities since the range of opinions and desires spans the spectrum of passengers 🙂 As for cruise beginning and ending ports - we always now go in on our own usually 2 to 7 days ahead of time, and try to stay afterwards as well. Half the fun is exploring the beginning and ending ports and you don't have to do it with Viking. Plus it is sort of an insurance, given all the airlines issues! We are just thankful that we have the time to do so - a few years ago, while working, we'd have had to keep cutting it close.

Linda - we'll be sure to give you the scoop after/while we go in early December. 🙂 let's both wish for good health in the almost 2 years to go!!!

Oh my I do!!!!

Room service is the best! Fresh orange juice first thing in the morning, in your robe, without having to get dressed and out into the masses at the World Cafe!

Thanks, Lorna! I'm not surprised that Vigur Island is the most popular. It sold out and we didn't make the cut. We did make Skalane Center and the Westmans boats. Hoping we stop there.

Thanks again for your wonderful information! We are doing this trip in Feb/Mar 2024. Paying attention to all these details! I've already learned that Chioggia is a nice place to visit!

You bet! Booked it on Monday when a friend told us about it. Rooms are going fast our agent said. Dec 1 we booked. Nice too to have a roundtrip from Barcelona. Someone's already done the Roll Calls for the Nov 16 and Dec 1 cruises.

millybess - I honestly cannot remember. Probably since the dining reservations booking ahead are not that important to us. We always book when we first get onboard and know the CT menus, etc. We've always gotten what we want and with so many cancellations as the cruises continue, never had an issue. Now excursions are another story - so that one was important to us!

I've had the same experience several times. Thus, I am not worried. Like restaurant reservations, people reserve way more than they can do, and as the cruise goes on they realize that, and cancellations start coming.

spoke with Viking this afternoon. They were helpless. I finally got them to agree that this situation exists and that this is probably not a good thing. They promised to send my feedback back to the IT people and headquarters operations. Yeah, right...

Peregrina - as a somewhat veteran Viking Cruiser, I certainly thought that was the case. However, the OP seemed to indicate (it was not totally clear) that he was not able to do so. But he could have been merely complaining that he couldn't book just those extra days. I was trying to understand exactly what he meant. We've done B2B cruises before and have always been able to book the 2nd and 3rd legs at the time the first leg allowed, which to us was a great advantage given our commitment $ wise to booking multiple cruises. We had also never seen excursions available for the turnaround days until you were on board.

I totally understand your frustration, but sadly this has been the situation for Viking as far as I know. Meaning, that on turnover ports where there is an "extra" day for those who are continuing on, they don't put excursions out on those "extra" days until you are on board. It's what in our experience as always been the case. Viking has been doing these 4-some legs for some time (Barcenlona-Rome-Venice-Athens-Istanbul and back). My question to you, which I cannot tell from your post is: - When your excursions opened up for the first leg from Istanbul, were you able to also book excursions for the other legs as well: Athens to Venice, Venice to Rome, and Rome to Barcelona legs? (just not the 3 "extra" days). If so, then that is a huge benefit over passengers who get on in Athens, Venice, and Rome. - Or do you have to keep going back every week or so to book those other legs excursions?

Astromaid - I have the same situation! I don't remember this happening before but it likely did. Just did our excursions for Iceland last Saturday and want to see if other times are available - especially on included tours. But you can't! You can only see what's available for excursions you don't currently have booked. So for example, if on an optional excursion, I had wanted 2:00 PM but it was sold out and only 4:30 PM was available, I cannot ever look to see if someone cancelled out of 2:00 PM so I can switch. I'd have to cancel 4:30, give up the slot, and perhaps only then find out 2:00 was still sold out and by the time I tried to go back, perhaps someone else took my 4:30 slot. No win situation. I may just call Viking and ask about how to deal with this.

We have been on many Viking cruises since COVID. The original Kitchen Table has not been offered back again - yet. Have heard rumors of it. In its place Viking has done small 12 student cooking classes, I think around $69, held in the demonstration kitchen between Manfredi's and Chef's Table. Open for on-board signup only. Many itineraries, such as our Panama Canal one, had as many as 3 different classes on different sea days. We'd sit down afterwards and eat the creations! The original Kitchen Table was more like in the $200's and had to be booked like an excursion. It involved going into town with the group, doing the shopping in the markets, then coming back and cooking. (and of course eating).

I really don't think people want to "avoid ‘official’ service dogs on any cruise". They do have the right to travel. We've experienced several "real" service dogs and they have been well trained and quite commendable in their duties. You missed the issue here - it is the emotional support animals that are being brought aboard and "passing" as Service Animals (likely with false documents of certification as a service animal, which is quite easy to get, especially in Florida). And then the dog owner's faults for letting their dogs operate as if they are home (see all the posts in this thread) without heed to any rules of conduct. And then the Viking Ship's failures to police these bad behaviors. So really it starts first with Viking - putting a definitive policy out on behaviors not allowed and punishments/penalties that will be enacted. No bluffing. And having passengers attest to it. And then Viking educating the staff to have the courage to enforce those penalties. This is because you won't change passenger behavior. People will get away with whatever they can IMHO. Viking is now saying, perhaps after seeing the huge volume of complaints, that they will change and enforce the policies along with educating staff. We shall see if they actually do, if and when we ever hear of a penalty being enforced.

Excellent explanation!! The OP likely didn't see the small print so to speak . . "Little did I know that the voucher we got last summer could not be transferred to a “new” cruise!" Vouchers are indeed a complicated animal indeed. Our insurance person educated us on all the different ramifications of cruise (and airline) vouchers as far as insuring them goes.