CCWineLover

33 minutes ago, Pam said:

I have never cruised Viking although a good friend did.  I got caught up in both 'live from' threads from the world cruisers; i was amazed that Viking had enough passengers to fill two WC ships, then saw that one wasn't totally all WC'ers.  Now they are having the same problem all cruise lines are having with the Red Sea area unrest.

 

But I am reading on both those threads that Viking HQ is changing tours that were paid for with nonrefundable OBC, over to saying they were paid for with refundable OBC and the people are getting very little if any cooperation in their protests.  That is a red flag for anybody  reading along on several cruiselines' WC threads.  Or, that is my opinion.

 

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

On 3/25/2024 at 5:55 AM, TayanaLorna said:

Thats why i like the forward elevators.  I always know where port and starboard are because i face the bow when i exit.

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

10 hours ago, PRH said:

Well, Jupiter ran out of Woodford Reserve before we even left Brazil and no more until at least Spain.  This happened before and why i was reluctant to purchase SS.  The Beverage Manager keeps getting away when we try to talk with him.

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!!

5 hours ago, wcGma said:

Started this topic as couldn’t easily find if there is a better place to post this. On our NL cruise we found that the closet doors would rattle abit at night and disturbed our sleep. My solution which solved the problem was to wedge the slippers in the track. They fit without pushing too much on the doors. Also needed to have the heated floor checked as wasn’t really getting warm. Don’t hesitate to ask your cabin steward if you think there are any issues. Wonderful immediate service. 

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.

3 hours ago, Reuben's 3rd said:

Thank you for raising this question, Millybess.  I have been pondering this as well.  In September, we will be on the Neptune, starting in Bergen and ending in Montreal.  If the Neptune was going to have a number of immediately subsequent stops in Canada, I too was pondering using Canadian $, which of course I always have and can easily top up in Quebec City, the second last stop.  If the ship was going within the next two ports to the U.S., then I was going to have to acquire sufficient  American $.  I was going to base my decision on the currency where the ship would be for the next while.  A crew member using American $ at the Shoppers beside the Halifax port would be unlikely to get the best rate of exchange!

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"

2 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

Attending daily Trivia in Theatre, 12:15.

 

Today some T/F

 

Could not focus on screen, but my handle was a question.

 

Feta cheese originated in which country?  Obvious answer is correct!

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

52 minutes ago, 2cruisecats said:

Iceland’s Natural Beauty Cruise - In Akureyri, The Diamond Circle excursion is listed as a full day and a demanding excursion. From the description, it seems more moderate? If you have done this excursion, did you find it demanding? And, if demanding, what made it demanding — length of walking or difficult terrain or ..? Trying to decide between Diamond Circle (preferred) and Northern Iceland’s Natural Treasures, another full day excursion but listed as moderate.

@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

5 minutes ago, kbconthemove said:

I'm looking at a couple last minute cruises and wondering from experienced travelers (unlike myself) whether or not it is realistic to arrive in Amsterdam at 6am and fly to Barcelona for a 5pm departure?

Yes that should give you plenty of time.

2 hours ago, cruising denise said:

Cruise Critic is also social media for a lot of cruisers.  Personally I don't have a FaceBook account but I give permission here for anyone who does, to copy any of my posts and alert people on FaceBook.  If I were you, I would be troubled.  What itinerary are they selling you?  Are they assuming that the MidEast troubles will be resolved?  One would hope so, but it does not appear that this go-round of war will be resolved any time soon.  If I were you, I'd be asking now what your recourse is if the planned itinerary cannot occur.  And be VERY wary of how any pre-boarding nonrefundable credits get applied.  Keep hard copies of everything.  

 

We have cruised with Viking since 2018 and have completed four cruises so far (not including this).  In addition, we had three booked which got cancelled:   1. due to pandemic  2. due to pandemic-related supply chain issues (Mississippi River Cruise - ship was not completed in time) and 3. Russia's war against Ukraine (Moscow to St Petersburg River Cruise).  In every case, they treated us very fairly and probably stepped up before any of the other cruise lines to refund every last penny, or give us the choice of 125% of FCC.  They also treated their crew very well from what I have heard.  They did the right thing all around.

 

This is why we are now so shocked to be treated this way.  There has been a sea change in the management of this company, from very honorable and doing the right thing, to well, how do I put it....kind of sleazy????  I NEVER expected this from Viking in my wildest dreams.

 

And as I said before, I love the ships, the crew are great, but this may be the tipping point for us.

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.

2 hours ago, millybess said:

I agree with you.  We often change our reserved time for one reason or another.  

 

I disagree about booking a higher level cabin in order to gain more restaurant reservations.  I can't imagine paying thousands more $ so that I could eat in one of their specialty restaurants.  I think that if one books a higher level cabin, it's probably because of square footage and location.

 

I'm glad they posted this information on their website.  It's not often Viking updates their website with relevant information, unfortunately.  

@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.

6 hours ago, PRH said:

In Buenos Aires, we used AsadoAdventures for an Asado in Frank’s home in Palermo which included going to various shops for purchasing food items, a wine tasting and helping to prepare some of the food.  This is an excellent introduction to the Argentinian Asado (bbq) and our second time doing it.  We also used AsadoAdventures to schedule a trip out of the city to visit Areca—beautiful little town with silvercrafters and leather workers using traditional methods handed down.  Then out to an Estancia (ranch) for horseback riding, Asado and gaucho dancing and horsemanship demonstration.  

 

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!

22 minutes ago, hutch1994 said:

Currently and there are two hooks on the wall in the bathroom, not the bathroom door as it is sliding.

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.

4 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

On Star now.

Manfredi's:

Frito Gamberoni e Calamari - lightly breaded and fried shrimp and squid - garlic aioli

 

Viking Bisteca

 

Spaghetti Carbonara - from 1st night - 2nd time sauce was thin and not as rich and tasty

 

Restaurant - Cheese Plate

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

3 hours ago, millybess said:

The OBC would pay, or at least contribute, to the gratuities at the end.  Or you could splurge on a Viking jacket!

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

1 hour ago, hutch1994 said:

Had the lobster thermidor and chateau brian tonight and the lobster dish was anything but the thermidor version and the beef was cut into very thin slices.  Not impressed.

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

15 hours ago, Messybill said:

OK CC, perhaps we will cross paths at some point.  If so we look forward to an opportunity to taste some wine and discuss!

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.

On 3/20/2024 at 1:25 PM, millybess said:

We met up with Ronnie Carrington in Barbados.  He is quite a character with a wealth of knowledge and local stories.  We’re glad he was recommended here on CC.  He is doing another exhibition in Toronto this summer.  Afterwards, we met up with friends who winter in Barbados.  It was a very fun day.

 

We are leaving on the 5th for Hong Kong, which is a trip we’ve been looking forward to for a long time.  We’re doing many private tours in Japan and they are requiring a lot of preparation.

 

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!

5 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

We have a couple of times on Ocean attended a sales presentation by the Consultant in the Star Theatre.

I think that they may happen on each cruise, or perhaps they stick one in if sales are not happening fast enough...  We have often however been off the ship when the presentation happened.

 

We find these rather like the port talks... they highlight a few new or popular cruises, but will also take questions.

 

 

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!

5 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

I have mentioned this before, but my Husband is a WSET level 3 and moving on to Level 4.

 

Before meeting him, I was stuck on certain wines and regions.  It took some time for my "taste" in wine to open up, but now we tend to not drink the same wine again... or if we like it we will buy a few bottles but then move on after that.  Also in Ontario Canada the way wine is available to us, often our retail seller brings in so many cases and when it is gone, it is gone.  We tend to not be fans of the high quantity always available wines, and look for the smaller region wines that are available seasonally.  

 

Wine to me is about understanding the different profiles of the wines based on where they are from and the terroir that contributes to the palate that each wine presents.

 

We don't necessarily like every wine we drink, and there have been some on Viking that I would never drink again... but that is also why we just keep moving through the list.

 

Wine and the enjoyment of wine is very subjective based on what your tongue tells you when you first drink it.  Bitter, sweet, tart, tannins, crisp, and on and on.

 

We have always felt that Viking do a good job in the curation of their wine lists, but that is just us.

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

42 minutes ago, Messybill said:

Actually there are some pretty good wines available, if your horizons are not limited to some particular region.  As with anything, personal preferences might cause your experience to vary.  We find the SSBP to be good value, and we will continue to purchase it.

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!

38 minutes ago, FetaCheese said:

In my opinion, I think V wants you to make appointment with onboard rep, so a sales presentation can be made.

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.

1 hour ago, Tom N said:

Yes, my 87yr old mother was just pillaged by Viking.    

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?

5 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Everyone has such a great option available to them now with the $25 deposit in North American bookings.  You can book a second cruise in the future and get the 180 day payment terms on your existing booking.

 

We always keep at least one future Viking booking out there as much as two years out to ensure that we get the 180 days payment terms.

 

Having that booking is not a firm commitment, you can move the 50 bucks to any other cruise before final payment, or lose 50 bucks max.

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.