CCWineLover

Yes, I know all that - that's what I was trying to say. I had thought the person was saying agents would give back some of their commission (beyond max OBC) and thus could compete with each other to see which one would offer the lowest net price - as does happen with some other cruise lines.

I also believe that Viking limits the amount that agents can give their customers on Viking cruises (perhaps unlike other cruise lines). So an agent "giving" their commission to the customer would be in violation of Viking policies - if they ever got caught.

Sorry - I guess I inferred that given that their problem was all you wrote about, not any other reasons.

So based on the 2 threads, you would now not go on Viking in the future?

Same logic and reasoning for us as well! Still doesn't stop Pam from turning the wrong way over 50 % of the time 🙂

We have had the same issues sometimes on Viking with supply. The danger is when you want a very specific brand - there is that risk - weather liquor or wine or whatever. We know folks who bring their own brand liquor onboard to guarantee availability!!

What is an "NL" cruise? Haven't heard that abbreviation. Funny - we've been doing the exact same thing for all of our Viking cruises! Jam the slippers into the closet doors 🙂 Most people we talk to seem to know the trick! As for the floor heaters - yes - just ask the steward for help if needed on that and anything else! If you don't speak up, they won't know if something is bother you.

Same logic we use!

At least the roof is open and no rain!! What a beautiful day it appears to be. 🙂

Sometimes spreadsheets and analysis don't do the trick - you have to try them out. There are so many non-dollar subjective aspects to Viking (mentioned in many posts) so for us it is NOT a dollar thing but an emotional experience thing. Heck - if we were just comparing $$$ to fly from US to Europe or wherever, we'd always fly economy and never fly business class. And we'd never eat at an upscale restaurant - food is food. It is the subjective experieces. What was the famous ad . . . the cost for xyz . . "Priceless"

That is absolutely too funny! Glad you are all having a great time - wish we were there! Say hi to our friend Dobie onboard when you see her again. Kent

@2cruisecats I assume you mean "Iceland's Natural TREASURES EXCURSION". We did this EXACT excursion out of Akureyri last June! We had an absolutely wonderful time, thanks to good weather. It was definitely a long day, however, but we had a really good and large lunch halfway through near Lake Myvatin at a very upscale conference hotel restaurant with a view! I would have listed it as 1/2 demanding and 1/2 moderate (I've been on many Viking excursions both truly demanding and truly moderate. There are several stops where you get out of the bus and have to walk a moderately decent distance to the "attraction". Perhaps that is where the "demanding" comes from. The one area that has some hills is the paved trail through the wonderful towering lava castles and grottoes of the Dimmuborgir lava labyrinth. The walking to the Godafoss waterfalls and the sulphur springs areas is moderately long (maybe 1 mile total?) As for the Diamond Circle - I would have given it the same rating. We took an independent tour out of Reykjavik that went to the attractions on this tour description. It goes to the same lava park (Dimmuborgir) so would have the same walk and hills there. It however, goes to Dettifoss waterfall. I thought the walk to/from the parking lot to this falls was much more difficult than the Natural Treasures excursion's walk to the Godafoss falls. I am a bit surprised that Viking rated these 2 excursions differently. I would have rated them either both Demanding or both Moderate. I would choose whichever one you wish! Hoping that helps relieve any indecision. Feel free to email me and I can say more and send you some pics from both excursions - kjstong at gmail dot com Kent

Yes that should give you plenty of time.

so sorry this has completely spoiled your World Cruise. Life certainly takes different turns. Here is hoping that after you get back, you find a cruise line that fits your needs and treats you well. Let us know.

@millybess Again agree with you. All this fuss about advance reservations - not necessary. We always just book when we get onboard as then we know what the CT menus are and have a better idea of how we wish to eat. Even then, we found on a 2 week cruise at least: -People cancel like crazy the 2nd week as they make other plans or find they don't like the specialty restaurants. This opens up a lot of space! -People don't cancel but simply are NO SHOWS. Viking told us they get about 10-20% no shows each night and it increases if the weather gets rough. We've often just gone down to CT or Manfredi's and get seated with no reservation due to the no shows.

Wonderful! I'm so glad that Frank is back again after COVID! The Asado experience we had with him at his home just before COVID was memorable (including walking around town doing the shopping with him for the food and wine). Easily one of the best times we had. We will plan to "redo" it again in a year when we are on this cruise. Will also use your advise and book the other tours as well! Thank you!

We were just on Saturn - in a DV2 room. There were 2 hooks on the bathroom door. The door was hinged and not sliding. So possibly the sliding bathroom door you reference is part of one of the higher room categories.

Looks a lot better than the same meal we had a few weeks ago!

We did just that on a previous cruise!! Both of us with Viking jackets. Better than losing it

Same for us. Never had good luck with the lobster. Luck of the draw

Yes indeed! Always enjoy the chance to talk about wine and sip a little 🙂 Interesting note - on our recent Saturn Mediterranean cruise, we had a Cruise Consultant who gave a completely new approach to the traditional Cruise Presentations they often do in the Star Theatre. His name is Hamed Esfihanian. He titled and presented several of them oriented to cruises suited to wine tasting !! Really enjoyed them. We also had several one/one discussions later on during the cruise on wine and travel experiences. Very engaging man if you ever run into him on Viking.

millybess - Glad to hear you are doing the Hong Kong Japan trip. We are doing Viking Japan-Hong Kong in October 2025, so will be very interested to hear what you do - especially the private tours! So interesting that you got to meet Ronnie Carrington in Barbados. We did his photo tour way back in 2019 and told Lorna and Ray about him. Ray is such a good photographer and hope he learned something from him! We were just on the Italy/Adriatic/Greece tour with Lorna and Ray. Also hoping to see a post where we can view all his photographs and relive the experience! Traveling is fun - and meeting people who share common interests! We are off back to travel again in May (Barcelona to Bergen to Rekjavik). Will try to share insights along the way. Have a wonderful time in Asia!

Agree with you! They've had these on every cruise we've been on. If we are available, we'll attend. (Some are better than others). The most recent one was really good as the Consultant took a different twist. He is a wine lover and so focused his presentations on which cruises provided excellent wine/food opportunities (i.e. South America, many of the European ones, etc). Caught our interest! Was very well done. (Viking Saturn a few weeks ago - his name is Hamed Esfahanian). We had a number of great discussions on wine throughout the cruise one on one. A unique experience!

Well stated - we totally agree! That is what has been fun with Viking - trying and tasting new wines. When we are traveling in various cities we also enjoy doing that! We try to make a Viking cruise part of a larger trip, so that we can experience more! For instance we just spent 10 days in Italy before our recent cruise. Wonderful different wines to taste there (and the food, oh my!). We spent time in Chile, touring and tasting, ahead of our Viking S.America cruise, and also after finishing in Buenos Aires, flew to Mendoza to spend 3 days learning about their fabulous Malbec! I'll also state that we enjoy the pairing of wines with food and have been trying to educate ourselves with that. We've enjoyed some of the wonderful wine/food pairing tastings on the Viking ships (which they schedule on sea days in the past at least). Hopefully some day our paths will cross! Kent

Agree. This past cruise in the Med, we found some interesting and different wines they had picked up in Spain, Portugal, and Italy - that were different from before. We are not that wedded to having to have a California red (although I must admit I'm a bit biased towards them). Sometimes it's fun to try different wines and expand the horizons!