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Thanks for the suggestion Andy. Unfortunately, my vaccination was for a business trip and so done through a private clinic rather than the NHS. I think that's why I have not managed to locate it on my NHS health record, which I do have access to online.

That's reassuring, thank you 👍🙂

Thanks for that very quick response and the up-to-date information.That was very much what I was hoping to hear 🙂 I see that @shipboy is, like us, in the UK and it would also be interesting to know from them if Viking UK included the requirement in any of their documentation.

Thanks for that info on Mindelo My understanding is that yellow fever vaccination is required when travelling between Brazil and Cape Verde. Did Viking point this out to you? I had a yellow fever vaccination back in the 1980s, but lost the certificate years ago and don't have the details required to get it replaced. DW has not been vaccinated and is not keen as the risk of side-effects goes up steeply with age. We are looking to get exemption certificates which, apparently, may or may not be accepted by the port authorities. This is why I was wondering if Viking flagged up the issue ahead of the trip?

Firstly, thanks to @JWY5119 for starting the thread, and all who have posted - I've learnt a lot! I can certainly understand you being somewhat upset. However, if that is the case in general on back-to-back cruises, I must admit that it would be the other side of the coin for me and maybe work to my advantage. in my case the whole trip appears as a single voyage on MVJ and only one date is shown regarding the opening of excursion availability. So can I ask if it is normal for booking excursions on the second cruise of a back-to-back to open when the first does?............ @Peregrina651???????? 🙂

My sentiments exactly. Fraudulently bringing a pet on board in the guise of a service animal is undoubtedly despicable. However, in practice, that really wouldn't matter at all to me provided the owner was required to stay with the animal at all times, and to control its behaviour in the same way that a genuine service animal user would naturally do. As you will have gathered from my previous posts, my real gripe with Viking is that they claim to have a policy about animal behaviour on the ships but for some reason are reluctant to publish it. I have requested a copy of the policy from customer services in the UK and will post the result once they have replied. Watch this space 🙂

That is true, and as it should be. However, unlike some other cruise lines, Viking do not seem to have published their policies detailing what behaviour they consider inappropriate or unacceptable for service animals. I did ask where these might be found on post 234 but no answer has been forthcoming so far. It does not seem unreasonable for customers to wish move away from a cruse line where they have no idea to what extent the company mandates how a service animal will be expected to behave, towards one who has clear published guidelines. Unfortunately, the behaviour of the passengers on any alternative cruise line would still remain to be seen 😉

That sounds like a great alternative to Dakar. I know that the last two BA to Barcelona crossings have skipped Senegal and I really hope 2024 is no different. Having made a couple of working visits to West Africa, it is not on my list of vacation hotspots. In fact DW and I have already decided not to leave the ship, though I am pleased to hear that @Kentishincanada had a good visit to that wildlife reserve. In my experience East Africa is fine, West Africa much less so.

Thanks very much indeed @TayanaLorna That was exactly the information I was looking for. From what I've read the area immediately around the port in BA is not particularly safe. Although the distance into the centre of town is relatively short, I understand that walking there from the port terminal is not recommended. It was kind of you to look up the relevant daily. I know there is at least one other reader of this thread doing a back to back. Therefore I hope the OP will forgive me hijacking it slightly to ask if there were other ports on the South America and Chilean Fjords itinerary where buses to the town centre were provided?

Thanks for the quick reply, @TayanaLorna Did you happen to notice if there was a Viking shuttle to the town centre, and if so, where did it stop?

It would be good to have some up to date information. However, I expect those on the current cruise would have been busy packing and preparing to leave the ship at the time you posted. They are most likely travelling at the moment. Maybe better to "bump up" the post again in a few weeks once they are settled back home. However, if anyone from previous years would like to comment in the meantime, that would be helpful. I have read elsewhere on CC that Buena Aires port is not the best and so specific experiences from Viking passengers would be welcome.

Understood. My question to Viking was in relation to the last two sentences on the FAQ. These infer that Viking already had policies relating to the "improper behaviour" of animals on their ships and that these have now been updated in the light of recent reports. I believe it is important that Viking should make their policies in this area public for two reasons: 1/ The information that there are specific behavioural guidelines for animals on board, which owners will have to ensure are followed (ideally with the potential penalty of removal from the ship) may well act as a deterrent to those considering making a bogus claim about the status of their pet. This would not impact on genuine service animal users, who already take the necessary steps to make sure their animals behave appropriately. 2/ The publication of the policies would inform all customers of the required behaviour of animals on board, both genuine and bogus. This would provide reassurance in advance of booking cruises that the experience is unlikely to be spoilt by the owners of badly behaved pets. It would also give guidance, once on the ship, regarding what "improper behaviours" could reasonably be brought to the attention of the staff.

I really appreciate you stepping in to provide some definitive information on what is obviously a sensitive and contentious issue. Might I ask if these policies are publicly available and if so where they might be found?

That makes sense. Thank you for the prompt clarification. Sadly I fear you might be correct and it seems there is little that can be done to sanction those who choose to abuse the system. The only hope we have is that Viking will very strictly enforce restrictions that would be reasonable for a genuine service animal, such as keeping them off furniture and banning them from being fed in restaurants.

I very much respect your knowledgeable contributions and would appreciate it if you could put what you say in this quote within the context of Viking's statement that "Guests who request a service animal must provide appropriate documentation to support the request." Are you saying that it would be illegal for Viking to require "appropriate documentation" as they suggest?

I am really sorry that you are having to deal with this and very much appreciate that @florafun and yourself have brought this issue to everyones attention. If I was in your position my next step would be to email the ship (as I recall, the address is in the dailies, or you can get it from guest services) and title the message "For the attention of the General Manager" You could CC the message to the Tellus address too. You don't want to be wasting too much of your time when you're supposed to be enjoying your vacation, and could maybe speed things up by cutting and pasting some of your posts to this board into the message? However by stating the problem in writing in this way, you have a record to show exactly what you brought to the manager's attention and that, apparently, no significant action was taken as a result. It will also be a matter of record as to whether the GM takes the trouble to respond promptly to your email.....or not! Despite all this, I very much hope that you have an otherwise enjoyable cruise.

Just read on the rollcall for the current TA on the Jupiter (post dated 22 March) that the deck outside of the Explorers Lounge has been “permanently closed.” There is the suggestion that this might be connected with an “incident” of some sort, possibly on another ship. Hopefully this is just miscommunication and limited to the Jupiter because of some special condition, but it would be interesting to know if this limitation has been imposed (temporarily?) on other ships too?

Fortunately not yet on longhaul though, just copied this from Lufthansa.com: “On intercontinental flights as well as on continental feeder flights, advance seat reservation is free of charge for passengers in Business and First Class.”

Air France/ KLM just announced that they will be introducing charges for seat assignment in business class 😠 While it doesn't include flights to from the USA (at the moment!) this may well be the opening of the thin end of the wedge that BA pioneered. I would imagine that Iberia and Aer Lingus will follow shortly. It will be interesting to see if the charge applies to seats bought on the Viking contract?

I think that we have found a solution that works perfectly, at least for us, here in the UK. When looking at cruises we initially talk to the Viking agents to check what deals maybe available, to work out the details and select a particular cabin. All the Viking agents I have spoken to are perfectly happy to then contact our TA to pass on the arrangements we have agreed, including any promotions. Our TA then comes back to us with their "improved" deal. If we decide to go ahead our TA takes payment and confirms the booking. If it is possible to operate in the same way in the USA, particularly if you work with a Viking agent that you've built up a good relationship with (as mentioned in previous posts) this would seem to be the ideal solution. It gives access to both the expertise and experience of the Viking agents and the cost saving (as well as other benefits previously mentioned) of using a good TA - Best of both worlds!

We now always choose that area of the ship, by the forward stairwell. However, we have decided that we prefer DV6 cabins on deck 3. Admittedly they are 2 decks (or about 30 seconds by stairs or lift) further from the Explorer's lounge than those on deck 5. But, by the same token, they are closer to all the restaurants and public areas in the lower part of the ship. More significantly, they are that much closer to the gangway when we return after a long day 😴😴 I would also add marginally less "rock and roll" on the lower decks and the small cost saving over the higher DV categories is no bad thing either!

I did mention that earlier but, having now investigated Iberia and Aer Lingus, find it is just a BA thing. Interesting that it does not seem to apply to some cruise contract tickets. Maybe one of the few advantages to booking BA tickets through Viking? BTW thanks for chipping in FlyerTalk, I am a fan of your excellent posts and way of "telling it like it is" 🙂👍

I think it's fair to say that it is no longer ideal to visit Venice as part of a cruise, if it ever was? The local authorities have imposed restrictions, which apply to all cruise lines, forcing them to berth a considerable distance from the city. The solution Viking have adopted so far is to dock at the small town of Chioggia which, though some distance away, is still within the Venetian lagoon. This allows them the option of running excursions using tour boats rather than buses to transport groups into the city. IMO this is a more pleasant form of transport and we thoroughly enjoyed our journey from the ship into the city, with the benefit of seeing the villages and day-to-day life of the lagoon along the way. That said we only had a few hours in Venice itself and considered it just a taster for a future visit. The small town of Chioggia looked to be pleasant and interesting in its own right although, in our case with only a day and a half in the area, we did not have chance to explore it even though it was just a short walk from the ship.

Hello Tom, On embarkation day there will normally be someone at the maitre d's desk at the entrance to Chef's table (Deck 1, one port side, aft) who will arrange bookings for both of the specialty restaurants. There is also a reception desk for these restaurants as you enter the port side of World Café (Deck 7 aft) This is also normally also staffed during breakfast and lunchtime hours, at least for the first few days of the voyage. Almost forgot........ You might want to start with the The Voyager app. You should install this on your device before leaving home and can activate it once you are connected to the ships Wi-Fi. However, if there are any complications and you want to talk to a real person, you'll find them in the locations given above. 🙂 Have a wonderful trip to the Viking Ocean!

Agreed, I like to be right but I am always happy to learn too. 👨‍🎓 These boards are great sources of information and I'm gradually getting used to the fact that one's relationship with airlines through cruise contracts is very different from when dealing with them direct. As in the example below. That is really helpful to know. I have always sorted seat allocation for myself and would never of thought to ask my travel agent. Something to try in the future 👍