CCWineLover

Yup! That's what I discovered. Was looking at promo code cruises for fall 2024 - like the Antiquities one you guys took. Here's hoping that there will be future sales. Perhaps they are doing this to get rid of the PV and DV rooms that are not as desirable.

Guess it's time to pack it in and start drinking! 🙂

Thank you. Unfortunately, Viking does not specific exactly which specific dates qualify for this sale. If you go to the various sale itineraries, it appears that the early dates have the stateroom upgrade and dates after summer 2024 do not, even though they appear in the price and build list from this web site sale page. You have to be careful.

Thank you! We will be doing this exact cruise in a year. Does the Venice on our own include transport to/from Venice? How much time does it leave on your own in Venice? You didn't say included for it but was it really $0 ? Which one, if any, did you pick?

I'm glad that you decided to post this. Well stated. I totally agree with you. Most Viking passengers to be are fairly educated and well into research about ships, ports, adventures, and more. I have noted however, that since COVID there appears to be a newer group of passengers who have a different set of expectations and don't do as much research and are thus disappointed.

Another agreement here on the Living Room Bar. I think the key is getting something that is made to order, so to speak. Coffee, like food, is a very individual type preference, in the way it is fixed - so likely you'd have to try all the choices to see which one you like. (For example, we like strong coffee - as many do on the West Coast - dark and thick (not watery) - and not all coffee on Viking is that way - but some like it the opposite way). Personal choice.

We've been speaking to good friends we met on Viking cruises who are on Oceana right now (South America) - 1200 people. They said the food was better at Oceana for sure, but that there were other things with Viking they liked better. So it probably depends on how important better food is to one. If that's the top priority, then you have your answer. Will be interesting to hear what you think!

However, if you don't leave the cruise and fly home the day of disembarkation, you will owe the deviation fee using Viking Air. The fee is the same even if you only deviate on one end.

The port is in San Pedro, next to Long Beach. There have been a number of Cruise Critic posts that have discussed this topic - with maps, hotel recommendations, parking, and more. Do a search. If I remember, ones that come up are the Doubletree San Pedro, Crowne Plaza, and others.

Good advice to RexMesiter. It's what we do as well, and also have been successful. Also, have several options open (Plan A and Plan B) ahead of time. I layout each port day which included times and / or optional excursions we'd like with priorities in a block/graphical format and have that in front of me when we book, so I can be quick and efficient in the choices.

Absolutely well-written! Totally agree with you. You have to realize that these days, many folks have high expectations and indeed rush to FB or Cruise Critic to rant and complain. For every 10 of them, there are literally thousands of cruisers who have had a wonderful time, enjoyed their trips immensely, had the right expectations, and went with the flow. Your post should be required reading 🙂 for new Viking cruise passengers. (If you've traveled on Viking before, you've already established your opinions).

Everyone has their opinions. I would disagree - in our experience, well over 50 % of the time Viking Air (with deviation and Air Plus) is more that I can get on our own. Transfers mean nothing to us, as we are veteran travelers and it never costs us much to get to and from airports. Giving up control until a couple months before flights and not being able to guarantee actual seats is the dealbreaker for us.

Same here, Bob! There's something for everyone in cruises. We like Viking because of the things it does and doesn't have. If it costs a bit more, then that's our decision.

Too vague - For cruise ships themselves, what is important to you? You need to describe that. i.e. - size of ship (# passengers) - children? - specialty restaurants? - spas? - casinos ? - entertainment ? and more - you get the idea. YOU are the only one who knows what you'll enjoy. For British Isles: - what ports do you already have in mind? you wouldn't pick UK unless you'd though about it. - what ports are essential to you? - how long a trip to you have? - do you plan to go ahead and stay after ? - does it have to be just Britain? As you see, it's hard to answer a very open question of what's best.

We have gotten them on every one of our 11 Viking Ocean cruises pre and post COVID. It isn't very obvious as the steward would put it with the Viking Dailey on the coffee table. One could easily miss seeing it.

Does Seabourn allow children onboard? (<18)

Clay - we will do the same when we board Saturn June 7, re: pistachio rolls!

What do you like? What is your budget? What area are you staying? These would help! We loved BA

Linda - we bring our own nespresso pods from home. The past many Viking cruises we've had have all provided: -Caff pods - number 4 strength -DeCaff pods - number 10 strength Since 4 has never been strong enough for us, and 10 is good for DeCaff, we always bring caffeine pods from 10-13 number strength. We usually go through about 5-6 of those a day, so a 2 weeks cruise for us means we bring about 9 sleeves. (Yes, what can I say, got the coffee bug all those years living in Seattle!).

Absolutely agree with you. We've enjoyed all our Viking cruises and are indeed being quite patient, as we have several cruises lined up in the next 2 years (see my signature). We'll still keep an eye on how the company comes through the pandemic over the next 3-5 years or so, especially since they have many new ships being delivered. Sincerely, staffing and training may be one of their bigger challenges. But no doubt, this is facing pretty much all companies moving forward out of the pandemic.

Thank you very much for your very well written review and points. We think alike (and also like Norse culture) re the good and not so good. I do feel post Covid has definitely been a different experience and like you, we will be monitoring and seeing how Viking does or doesn’t improve moving forward.

You know, I wonder if it is the Caribbean. We've always enjoyed Viking for the wines. Have always had Champagne, even Pinot Noir, and certainly Cabernet and Zin (California even!), and my wife's favorite - Oaky Charonnday. (also not a fan of French non-oaked Chardonnay). Our recent Ft Lauderdale to Panama Canal cruise in Dec/Jan, however, was for us a disappointment in the wine category as they had none of the wines available listed above. Very limited in liquors as well. Only the beer seemed stocked. They claimed to us when I expressed my concern that it was a supplier problem. Right. We are off again in June, so we'll see if the spirits and wine situation is any better.

Don’t see that on my itineraries. what cruise and dates are you on?

Interesting. . . It appeared that the search contents only go back to 2020. So I went to Jim's posts (he has a lot), and the oldest post still showing is in 2020. So I went to General Viking Forum and search on several common terms (i.e. "Homelands", "Barcelona", etc) and all of them list many results and all of them only go back to 2020. Wondering if they've now cut off the earlier posts. maybe?

Maybe you are putting the search term in the wrong forum. If you go to the general Viking forum, and then put in the word "Seabourn" and then click the drop down box to say "This Forum". I found 113 posts.