CCWineLover

We've been to the Cruise Consultants many times onboard in our past cruises (We've done 16 Viking now). we NEVER had a sales presentation from the consultant. I've been surprised but they never pushed anything - other than if you liked this you might try that. It really helps if you have an idea of what you want and then can get into the nitty-gritty. If you go in and say I just want to cruise and have no idea what to do, then things might be different. Yes - we go armed with discount codes as well. Thanks to the wonderful Cruise Critic thread that has been going on for awhile and seems to be updated daily, you can learn every new code that can be used. Since it is so easy to see the codes, that doesn't bother me as much. We've had nothing but good experiences with the Consultants even though some are A+ and some are B+. We have our TA registered in our on-line files and if we buy something onboard, they get notified immediately and the reservation automatically passed over to them. We still get all those onboard credits. (Although they used to be good in COVID times like $600 pp but are now down to $100 pp OBC last month). Supply and Demand! What we do like about booking onboard, however, is that you can put a hold on a specific cabin. You can then immediately go out and look at it, and other alternatives, in person in a few minutes, since all the Star class ships are the same layout. Helped us with one in particular where the plan diagrams showed a cabin facing the elevator and stairs, but when we looked in person, it was down the hall 6 feet and would not be affected. Little things like that. Here's the promo thread, started by Clay Clayon in 2022.

Interesting and maybe intentional choice of words - "Pillaged" sounds like what the old Vikings did back in 900 A.D. See you on the Oceania boards?

Exactly what we began doing when the $25 deposits came out. I viewed it like a stock option. Put $25 pp down on a cruise as far out as you can (we did 2026) and you: -Lock in the 6 month final payment due for any cruise you book now -Lock in the cruise price of the distant cruise (so make sure it is one you do want) as prices keep going up! Our hand-picked 2026 cruise for $50 was the new Viking Vesta in March 2026 that does the new Med itinerary that includes Malta. Given its popularity I'm sure the prices will rise. Worst case we lose $50. You can also think of it as "insurance", but it seemed to me more like a stock option (pay $50 for the chance to "buy" the far out cruise at a given price). If the price is lower 6 months out, then I cancel and rebook at the lower price.

Thank you for continuing to post your experiences. I will be following as we are doing this exact itinerary one year from now. Will be interested to learn how the seas are when you cross the Atlantic. And what activities they have. How are the lecturers and historians? Have you been able to watch their talks and others (port talks) on TV OK? our past cruise, the sound quality was so bad we couldn't manage, so resorted to seeing them live. As for Manfredi's, you no doubt had menu #4 (of 5 being tried). Many many threads on Manfredi's menu (one started by Clay Clayton recently) in which most describe similar thoughts. Check it out.

Living in a small town, we don't have experience with palm passing tips (as perhaps is the norm in the big cities). What amount do you advise to achieve the desired results?

We just had a wonderful Captain's Q&A onboard Saturn 2 weeks ago. Our CD, Kate, arranged and ran it. She told me it was up to the CD to push it forward and still the Captain had to approve. Guess it depends on your CD and Captain and is not a global Viking rule. She also had onstage the Engineer, the head of Housekeeping, and the Asst General Manager. It was quite an excellent discussion! Maybe we just had a great CD and Captain!! It was done in the Star Theatre on the final afternoon of the cruise.

Thanks! Great idea. Never thought of that. At least for ones we don't see on the list at all. My original point was that some of our favorite wines that were by the glass were now by the bottle only. Specifically asked about Mer de Soleil Chardonnay, which had been by the glass for a long time and then got "elevated" to a buy the bottle only. I asked first if it was still in stock on board and after the yes, asked if we could just have a glass like before and the answer was, you can only buy the full bottle. Disappointing.

Interesting comments on reducing costs. When I spoke with the Food & Beverage Manager a couples times, they did admit that the menus had changed with an emphasis on reducing the portions and sizes (and that saved money). I was told twice that so many had given feedback about so much waste with the larger portions that they wished Viking would serve smaller amounts. I do agree that in the past people really did waste a lot of food because of the larger portions. And logically if you are hungry and there isn't enough on the plate, you can order more. (That however, doesn't excuse the poor cooking of the steaks - we've had a 50% hit rate - always send it back and talk with the chef about their inconsistency in cooking - some respond well, others not).

The included wines have deteriorated since COVID no doubt. Sorry for your disappointment, but there have been numerous threads on CruiseCritic discussing the lack of good wines on Viking these days (I know since I've been part of those threads). It is what it is. And as such, we ALWAYS try to bring wine bottles on board with us - either ahead of time or during the cruise itself, buying in local ports. That's even fun! When you get free corkage and can bring your own onboard that's something to take advantage of. Most other cruise ships either limit you or charge you for your own alcohol onboard. In summary - the biggest transformation the past years was: -Shifting many many good wines from wine by the glass to purchase by the bottle only. -Reducing the total number of wines by the glass (i.e. like just a single USA Zinfandel). That being said, we have cruised a lot on Viking since COVID and have found that the itinerary does make a difference. Last cruise in the Med, we had some different Portugal, Spanish, and Italian wines for the included meals. But most of the wines were still those old tired regulars. I guess your choice is, if it makes that much a difference to you, to not ever do Viking again - or bring your own onboard. I talked with many at Viking about this situation and basically it will not change - they claim most are happy with this arrangement (including Viking, which raises more revenue and cuts costs).

NEVER had to "fight" but ALWAYS had to ask , or have our TA ask. Never did Viking reluctantly do it. When asked, it was done with a smile. Not automatic, but never a fight.

I think you have me confused. I don’t recall mentioning any wine and can’t find any reference in your thread. No worries though. Thx for the great food pics though!

The Skalenes excursion was one of our best ever! You will thoroughly enjoy!

Sounds like our driver in the past 🙂 Things really changed in Caribbean after COVID.

Spelling of what that I am supposed to correct? Seriously though, sorry for your experience. This included tour for us in the past was also easily at the bottom of the heap for Viking. Likely one of the worst. Sounds like things have not changed. Better luck on the trip across the Atlantic! Glad you got your cheese fix!!

Maybe things have changed, but I've never been able to book a wait list on a Viking Ocean cruise. (Note this is different than a GTY cabin - which is guaranteed room) Let us know if you were able to do so.

You all are making this way more complicated than it needs to be. We found it easy to do it ourselves (open and brace open the door) for whenever we wanted to take something out to the balcony - and not tied to Viking staff either. Certainly if you use them they will gladly help out however.

I don't really believe what Viking told you. I would contact others at Viking to see. You are right to cancel it. Do you know how long a bus would take from Seydisfjordur to Akureyri? Nearly 4 hours !!! We did this cruise and S. is on the East coast and A. is on the North side of Iceland. This makes no sense. If you are looking at the included port walk in S., then you could easily do it yourself. The included tour we took was not one of the best includeds we had on this trip.

So sorry to hear.. they didn’t get very far but better now than mid Atlantic. Our last TA last December one of the Viking managers said they often have 4-5 passengers taken off on the trips in/out of Florida. Let’s hope it wasn’t serious.

Excellent hotel and itinerary. We were in Hong Kong before Covid and plan to stay several days again after Oct 2025 cruise. Love that city! So vibrant and a fantastic walking place. Easy to put on 15K steps without even realizing it. Star ferry is still the best ride deal ever! We called it “the poor man’s cruise”! And Stanley market was fun - easy to get to by bus.

If you have a moderately recent credit card with USA zip, you likely won’t need pin. We just returned from Italy. Bought several train tickets from machines with no pin needed. (Rome, Naples)

Thx Deb. Will hopefully learn from you as we go Oct 2025

If you are DIY (not room service), keep door open by blocking it with chair or carryon.

Andy - so concisely stated! You have a great way of netting it out. Makes sense

Clay - 1. Yes they showed up sometimes in the onboard account before boarding. Sometimes they were refunded before the cruise to us on our credit card strangely. 2. We never had any "switch" done, but I do understand what you are saying. For us, when we have bought excursions they've always automatically taken it from the non-refundable credits first. Sorry if this didn't happen with you. I do believe Viking Accounting is not very good at accounting or explaining to customers or TA's. We've always had trouble getting things rectified on other financial situations.