LeRenardrouge

28 minutes ago, Squawkman said:

 

Regarding umbrellas - we have had the experience on 2 Viking River cruises where the large umbrellas were supplied. We were so fortunate on our ocean cruise that the weather was perfect - so I was not sure if Viking ocean supplied umbrellas. So you're saying they do? I wasn't sure as there are 5 times as many passengers on their ocean ships.

On both our ocean cruises, there was one umbrella in the closet of your stateroom.  Others were available where you scan out  if it was raining or threatening rain.  

28 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

 

 

There is also the constant debate about taking or not taking passports.  Seems better to keep them with you.

I hope we don’t have to get into the debate.  Your Viking Daily will specifically tell you which stops you need to carry your passport with you.  Most of the time they tell you to leave it in your safe.  In Italy the law is you need to carry it on you.  BUT, there are still people who swear it is not necessary.  

Just follow what Viking recommends.

1 hour ago, zitsky said:

 

Do you mean I will be waiting for other people often? 

That was not our experience.  Viking has a good efficient procedure.  Match your ticket numbers to the excursion schedule in each day’s Viking Daily.  I found taking a highlighter helpful as there are multiple groups departing for same excursion.  Some groups might meet in the theater or in other locations.  The schedule will tell you exactly where you meet and when.  Plan to be there before that time.  Most people are prompt so do not be late as they will not wait for you.  They do not waste time!  

It is a good idea to check the envelope (usually on the desk) on arrival in your stateroom to be sure you have tickets for all the excursions you booked.  This is for both included and optional excursions.  I found they are often not in order of days.  I arrange them by day (grouping both passengers together if taking the same excursions).  Then the night before the scheduled excursions, take them out of the envelope and match to the time and place of meeting for departure as listed in the Daily. 

I put the tickets with the Quiet Voxes (be sure they are charged), room key, etc. Some times you will be instructed to carry your passports so be sure they are out also.  Amazing how many people get ready to disembark and have forgotten something.  

It it is always rushed so be organized.

Our experience on Viking River cruises is that their included excursions are very good and make good use of the time.  The optional excursions are usually to give an added cultural experience such as a concert, special winery tour and tasting, or special interest foodie excursion, in addition to the included excursion.  In general, their prices for optionals are reasonable.  The offered excursions tend to be offered on all the cruises versus what can happen on the ocean cruises.  Occasionally because a particular excursion might fall on a Sunday or holiday on a sailing, it could mean it may not be available on a specific sailing.  

I think the included excursions on their Ocean cruises are not as good but it does depend somewhat on the location.  If you are in port for say the whole day, if the included excursion is only a couple of hours, we normally opt for an optional that is most of the day or find an optional which can be done in addition to the included.  

We did Viking’s River of Gold cruise the last week of May into first week of June 2018.  The weather was perfect in low to mid 70s and sunny every day.  We began with arrival day in Lisbon early in the morning and had two nights in a hotel.  Then drive to Porto where we boarded the ship. 

We booked a AA Suite (stateroom 312) which was very comfortable.  

All sailing is during the day.  We found this itinerary to be very relaxed and of our eight river cruises with Viking, it is among our favorites.

Another excellent time to do this cruise is during the last two weeks of September which is when grape harvesting season usually occurs.  The exact time will vary depending on how the weather has been.  

We do know couples who have sailed with Uniworld on their cruise on the Douro and had very favorable reviews.  I just find the decor on Uniworld a bit over-the-top.  

On 8/27/2019 at 10:31 PM, Lorizack said:

Thank you both for some excellent advice!  There is still room on the Bruges On Your Own excursion, so I think I will go ahead and grabbed two spots. We will appreciate knowing that our transportation has been arranged, and we can then look forward to lovely Bruges.  I also thank you for the heads up on Portsmouth. So very much to look forward to.

Whatever you do, DON’T miss Bruges.  It is very easy to navigate on your own.  Market day is Wednesday in the main square.  We had two days there and could have enjoyed even more time.  Flemish stew was wonderful.  Belgium waffles with strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate—yummmm. I understand the pot of steamed mussels was fabulous.  Loved walking along the canals and quaint streets. 

I am not going to try and explain where the errors occurred.  

What I will state is that of the eight river cruises we have done with them, three had land portions.  These were not extensions.

The price listed for the cruise that was on the website when I called to book the cruise was stated as a single figure for the cabin category and date the cruise “package” began.  The actual invoice showed a breakdown with the cruise porton price and then additional charge for the hotel nights listed separately.  The total of the cruise portion plus the land portion added up to the price stated on the website. 

The dates are listed to indicate date cruise “package” begins and ends as well as date of actual embarkation and disembarkation.

I have never experienced an instance of intentional deception on any of our ten cruises and one additional cruise we booked and then had to cancel. I believe some of this is a case of a person who is not aware of some standard cruise and travel idiosyncracies that a traveler needs to be aware of.  I was glad when Viking dropped the “two for one” terminology which is standard for the cruise industry.  

I do suspect there was an error on that price entered mistakenly on the website.  It is simply too far out of line. And indeed the Viking rep may have been seeing the correct prices broken down with the land accommodations listed separately. Had the OP actually booked and then gotten an invoice by email immediately after booking it, he would likely have seen the breakdown.

I happen to have the mailed booklet for the 2021 river cruises that were applicable for the July 1-31, 2019 booking window with stated Explorers’ Sale and for the 2021 May sailings on the Pharaohs and Pyramids Cruise the printed price for a Standard Cabin is $4,899.  It specifically calls it a 12 day tour and lists three nights in Cairo at the beginning and one night at the end in Cairo.  First day of a tour is also fly over day; last day is always departure day.  Thus if the cruise is said to be 12 days, subtract two for actual cruise/tour package.  Some people see this as deceptive.  

I for one will give Viking the benefit of the doubt on this one.

48 minutes ago, lackcreativity said:

Change Chico's to Jjill, replace the cardigan and print jacket with a handful of tunic tops, and the same idea works for me. It is amazing how much I can actually fit in a suitcase as those travel knits pack so easily. 

Oh yes. Love JJill for more casual wardrobe.  Packing is so easy and light.  

12 hours ago, ReillyQ said:

I tried scanning the multitude of pages in this thread, but have not been able to find a discussion on dining room dress explained.  My question is about "Elegant Casual" in dining rooms on Viking Ocean, not the buffet.  We he have been on a couple Oceania Cruises and they have "Country Club Casual".  I found that especially in warmer Mediterranean waters that included not just slacks, but capris and even tailored pedal pushers that hit the mid knee. ( Men obviously had to wear slacks). After all, many skirts some women were wearing were, in many cases, shorter than some Bermuda shorts.  So, our first cruise on Viking starts in Athens,  for those of you who have been on Viking in the Mediterranean,  were Chico's type tailored capris and pedal pushers acceptable?  Just trying to cut down on how much I pack.  Thanks for your help.  
 

Since you mentioned Chicos:  My go to for dinner on Viking is Chicos Travelers Collection.  Black no tummy (I wish) slacks, classic cardigan jacket, black camisole and a white camisole and a white on black design jacket.  Mix and match, change up jewelry and scarves.  Black sandals. Has worked great on two week cruises.  Takes up little space in suitcase and very light weight and no wrinkle worries.  Worked as well on Mediterranean and Norway cruise.

4 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

If pax signing up for a World Cruise believe the entire pax compliment is doing the entire cruise, they are poorly informed. Of all World Cruises I am aware of, the only one without segments was Viking's inaugural 2018 WC. Believe they had about 850 pax departing L/A. All other World Cruises/Grand Voyages I have worked on, or have researched for the past 10 years have had multiple segments.

 

The  2019 cruise had about 50% pax taking the entire cruise on departure Miami, which is higher than many other cruise lines. I note our first WC with a mainstream Line only had about 25% pax taking the entire voyage. Experienced cruisers, when booking a WC, not only expect to have segments, but are most likely to be a minority of the passengers.

 

The big difference I note with Viking is that the 2019/20 World Cruises are marketed as World Cruises, regardless of whether they are the entire 245-day R/T London, or the London - L/A & L/A - London. These 3 cruises are provided with Viking's full WC perks. The longer segments are marketed as Grand Voyages and have limited perks included. They are not marketed as being parts of the WC, but with a little research it was easy to figure out which one were on the Sun and which were Orion. 

 

However, once aboard I do not expect any difference in how pax are treated regardless of whether booked on a WC ticket or segment. For the 2020 L/A to London cruise, we already have an active roll, with some of us taking the entire cruise and others a segment. We already have a confirmed private tour in one of the ports and have both WC'ers and segmenters filling the van. I organised the tour and attendees were based simply on who responded first, not on how many days aboard the ship.

 

Sadly, some of our new friends will depart in Sydney and be unable to join us on subsequent tours, but it provides opportunities to establish new friendships, with those joining.

 

Personally, as a WC'er, we receive valuable perks booking a World Cruise that segmenters may not receive, but once we board the ship, we are all equal, regardless of how many nights we are spending on the ship.

 

Jim - what are your thoughts, as another experienced WC'er. 

This subject is probably best continued on the Aug 31, 2019 Viking Sun WC begining in London. Page 3 comments between you and Jim gave some idea of the views held by previous WC'ers.. 

9 hours ago, CharTrav said:

Good!  And don't forget to sign up for the Meet & Mingle so you can meet face to face with the folks you "meet" on the roll call! Do you need the link for that too?

 

Here - https://www.cruisecritic.com/rollcall/entry_cl.cfm?ship=1192

 

And I take back what I wrote earlier saying this "couldn't" be a segment of a WC. Oops! It's part of the 245 day WC London to London that started August 31st and proceeding westward. 

Yes indeed it is, I had already checked. Viking does not advertise these segments clearly and some WCers are not too excited to have segmenters who detract from their exclusive status.

On April 4, 2019 at 8:20 AM, Cyber Kat said:

 

We are on the Viking Sea September 26, seems you are right behind us. If you can’t find a roll call, you are welcome to hang out with us on ours. 

Sept 28 cruise is a "segment" of the World Cruise.

On November 26, 2018 at 8:10 PM, jim_in_yulee said:

We, wife & self (70+) and niece & husband (40+), are taking this as a Pre to Iconic Western Mediterranean aboard Viking Star, August 22, 2019

I have picked up a lot of information from previous thread, but hopefully some 2018 travelers will join it to help us 2019 travelers.

At the moment my major concern is Day 1, Aug 19th.  We arrive in Florence at 2:30, from Atlanta via CDG.  If deplaning, baggage claim, customs and passport control take an hour we will be met by Viking Guide at 3:30.  This kinda kills day one, especially with jet lag.  

Anyone have simular schedule on their 2018 trip?

If Villa choice remains Villa il Poggiale or Villa Veronica any recommendations?  Any other recent choices?

Anyone have recent day by day itineraries?

Anyone blog about this Pre or the Iconic Western Mediterranean Cruise?

22nd will be 2:45 scenic bus ride to Civitavecchia cruise ship port, where the Viking Star awaits.

Ultimate Italy: Tuscany, Florence & Siena

On November 9, 2018 at 3:50 PM, soundcruiser said:

For those of you who have done this, or been able to see the details once sign-ups open for your cruise, are there multiple times/buses for this excursion?  We are beginning to plan the excursions for our May 2019 sailing, and are considering doing this one, along with taking the train or hiring private transportation.  Then we'd either hire a private guide, or be guided by the transporting company, depending on what we choose. We need to compare costs/timing/type of experience among all the options, and one thing to  know is the likelihood of the Rome on your Own selling out - if there are multiple buses, it's usually less likely.  

 

Thanks in advance - I so appreciate the wisdom of this group!😃

To answer your specific question:

I have a full booking form list from the Oct 16 Mediterranean Odyssey cruise which has excursions by name plus times and prices.

Only one single departure for "Rome On Your Own" at 8:30 AM, 10 hours, $69 per person.  Whether that means there is only one coach or more is not clear (at least to me).  In looking through the entire list of excursions for the cruise, some excursions might list a departure time of 8:30 and 1:00.  The included excursion usually says "multiple."  

Hi all, Can anyone tell me from experience if there is a coffee maker in the veranda cabins on the Sky? On the Viking website it lists a coffee brewer under DV cabin benefits but not under V. However, in other places I read that the difference was basically the location of the cabin on board. Help! .... signed, an early morning caffeine addict...

No coffee maker in Vs. Several other differences between Vs and DVs other than just location.

Agree with other responder about ordering coffee from room service. Much better than what the in-room coffee maker brews up.

What works now? How does it work? Or is it a big secret? Do tell. Thank you.

Add your excursion choices to your Wish List in MyVikingJourney.

When your booking time opens, open MVJ. Open your Wish List and you can quickly go down the list and book them (be sure they are not sold out). I don't remember now if it says book or add to cart but it is straight forward. Once you have them in your shopping cart, then proceed to check out which requires you to enter billing and credit card information. Be sure you finish the process. Many people suggest booking and paying for optionals first, then go back and book included excursions.

I wasn’t able to do that. I printed out the list for reference, then I went to each one in the order of how I wanted them. I didn’t pay for them all at once, because they aren’t booked until you pay for them, so I did 1 or 2 at a time.

 

This was last fall so it’s possible that they have made changes.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Did not work last year but it does now.

They do ask on MVJ for the on ship credit card info so they have it.

I don't believe it then automatically links to the shopping cart. Otherwise, it should show when you click on shopping cart to check out.

I experienced a problem when booking yesterday morning at 3 a.m. ET. I had my Wish List up and ready to go the instant it was 3. Clicked through all excursions which took only a couple of minutes and everything was available. Quickly went to check out, entered the billing info and clicked to confirm. An error message came up saying "Extension is sold out." What? Since we are doing an extension (which was paid for over a year ago) this was odd. It did not say an excursion was sold out.

But, I could not go any further in the booking process and I could not check to see if one of the optionals had sold out between the time I added it to the shopping cart and while I entered the billing info. I was also in MVJ on my iPad so from that I found the excursion which was now sold out and deleted it. That freed up the check out process on my computer and I finished. But, I could just invision other optionals selling out while I wasted all that time.

It would have helped if when the error message came up it said which excursion had sold out so you could simply delete it and finish the check out for all the others.

It would be helpful if Viking set up MyVikingJourney so that we could have our billing info stored in our account (just as many on-line retailers do) so we could easily do our checkout without having to enter it each time we added an excursion(s) to the shopping cart for quick payment.

As I have been looking at the itineraries of the Ocean cruises and all the optional excursions they are adding, I get the impression Viking is adding a lot of more active excursions (always optional) to target a bit younger demographic. I have done only one Viking ocean but there were a lot more younger couples on the "Into the Midnight Sun" cruise than we have found on the river cruises.

A nice mix of excursions but you will almost certainly have to do optionals for things like hiking, biking, kayaking.

Loud music at night from the Viking Sun would have been very unusual on the WC. Possibly there was some special event. Still, excessively loud outdoor music was never heard in 4 months. I might suggest you email Viking direct and state your case. lThey will also have read of it here on Cruise Critic. I had a minor music issue onboard concerning piped in music and Viking got wind of it and the General Manager called me for a meeting and promptly took care of the problem. In my experience Viking are not about raucous music and are also very responsive to requests.

Jim,

This was not MY complaint but one posted by a cruise critic poster who lives in the Greenwich neighborhood.

Viking does monitor these roll calls but the posting was sort of buried in a roll call thread, I thought it was appropriate for this shorter board thread in regard to Greenwich Tier and might be more likely to be seen by Viking.

It is not my complaint but I do feel Viking should be aware when their ships are considered disruptive "neighbors."

The following post was made last night on the roll call for Viking Star--Into the Midnight Sun--London to Bergen July 14, 2018. It may also indicate why their is opposition to a new cruise port. It was made by a resident in the area of Greenwich Tier.

Quoting:

Hi All,

I'm not on your cruise but I am a resident on the Thames in Greenwich where the ship is currently berthed. I'm wondering if you can feedback some information to the crew? It's currently 1am on the morning of the 13th July. There is loud music coming from the ship and it echos around that area of the Thames which means myself and other residents in the area cannot sleep. This is the first time I can ever remember music this loud coming from a cruise ship and I've lived here 15 years so I am pretty used to it.

When you board the ship on Saturday and when you get to your meet and mingle, can you please ask the senior crew members to be a little more thoughtful? They are berthed in a residential area and noise laws prohibit loud noise after 11pm. We already have a large contingency of people in this neighbourhood who want to ban the cruise ships (i'm not one of them) so we prefer not to give them any ammunition. Please ask them to be considerate neighbours... :)

wondering how many previous cruises you have taken and were you booked through a TA or Viking directly? Maybe the upgrade fairy will visit us on our next cruise!

We have done eight river cruises and one ocean cruise with extensions all booked directly with Viking; no travel agents.

Can anyone, based on experience, tell me how close to shore the ships generally cruise?

I have asked on a group I am in and so far no one who has done this cruise has said how far from shore they actually sailed but did say most of the time you will be sailing at night. That pretty much agrees with the info on the itinerary.

We are planning a Med Odyssey cruise for June 2019 from Barcelona to Venice. We are trying to decide if it is better to get a port or starboard stateroom. How much of the shoreline/land do you see from the ship as you cruise? Any input from those who have taken this route would be helpful.

I wondered about this also when booking our Oct 2018 cruise. A lot will depend on how close to shore the ship cruises. If close enough, then it would appear that port side would be best from Barcelona to the Strait of Messina and possibly including crossing the Ionian Sea. From Corfu to Venice, however, looks like Starboard side would be better.

We decided on the port side. As far as when actually docked, you can't actually count on port side being next to the port as has been noted.

You can always go to public areas to view. Great views from World Cafe and Explorer lounge.