CDNPolar

Our TA does NOT consider nights in a hotel even if it is part of the cruise package and not a pre or post extension. OBC always comes to how many nights ON THE SHIP. We argued this piece but it is very clear in their literature and offering that it is nights on the ship.

These kinds of debates on tipping/gratuities are not new on CC. I think that we all should consider that there are different mindsets to tipping in different parts of the world. I do personally blame the US tipping culture for where the Canadian tipping culture has gone and is going, because we are so very influenced by US culture in so many things. In restaurants in the US especially servers are paid very low hourly wages and depend on tips to survive. This is a culture that has made - in my mind - tipping mandatory. The restaurant customer is effectively paying the servers salary, not the restaurant. (This is a generalization across all states, and not necessarily the norm in every restaurant) In Canada we pay our servers much higher minimum wages, and some restaurants are moving to "living wages" and no tips... but the restaurant bill increased by about 20%. In these restaurants the servers are being paid between $23 and $25 per hour. We are paying the tip included in the food bill and the menu item cost. (This is no different than with Viking including the grats in the UK but Canada pay them extra - this is reflected in the cabin cost) To me, anywhere in the world that I am, I believe that a tip is deserved if you go above and beyond, and not just for doing your job. This to me is where tipping culture is out of hand in the USA and Canada. Do NOT expect me to tip you 20% or higher just to carry a plate to my table and never come back and never refill my water and then avoid me when I want the bill...

We are big fans of eSIMs because in Canada, our plan for international roaming and phone service - for the two of us combined - works out to $30 bucks PER DAY. We have spent more on a vacation than our monthly plan in Canada costs. We use eSIMs for this reason, and although we know that you can get both data and call plans, we opt for data only... Just prior to travelling we send an email to friends and family stating our dates away and that we are reachable by email or WhatsAPP ONLY. No traditional phone calls. If someone out of our network of need to know people that we are travelling try to contact us, too bad so sad... we are on vacation. OH, and I change my voice mail on my cell while away to say: This number is not accepting voice calls currently. If your need is urgent, please contact us by email.

I just want to say there that eSIMs if your phone is capable of having an eSIM is an extremely affordable to be connected throughout your entire trip and not having to rely on WiFi connections. This means that you can walk down any street in any city and actively use data for maps or Google searches, and again, not have to look for a coffee shop to get Wifi. Although not as popular in the USA as everywhere else in the world, WhatsAPP is what you use to stay in touch - data calls, voice notes, and texts. I can do a 14 day trip to multiple countries for a cost of $10-$15 CAD which is even less in USD.

I think as many have stated, come to CC for answers on additional costs. We have many times talked about trying a larger ship or more mass market line over Viking but stop every time because we cannot seem to find what our final cost will be. This is not that we cannot afford a few bucks more here or there, but I am a bit of a budget freak and budget everything in our lives to the penny. Every trip that we go on, which is several a year, is fully paid for before we leave home. Every one. This is down to anticipated spending on credit cards while away. The money is saved to pay the credit card too. I am and we are zero debt folks and as freakish as this may sound to some, it is how I roll.

Which is exactly what the cruise line wants and I don't want. The cost of things that I might want are a mystery until I board.

Absolutely agree with you, but I just want all this on the website when booking so I can see my final price with what I do want to include. This is what will help me to make a decision - based on price - to go with one cruise line over another.

In the Canadian policies that I have purchased, all of them indicate that you must contact your insurance provider before receiving treatment - if possible. If you are incapacitated, unconscious, or dying, no you don't need to call them. But, if you have a travel companion then they should be calling on your behalf. There may be BIG differences between the Canadian and USA policies in regard to this requirement, but I have never purchased or had company sponsored medical that did not state this in the policy. Here is language directly from my current annual medical coverage from Blue Cross that only sells to Canadians. This is the same and what I would expect with all our major sellers of travel medical. Your state of health permitting, when a medical emergency occurs during a trip, you must inform Blue Cross Travel Assistance before going to a hospital or to a clinic, otherwise, your claim may be denied. This gives us an opportunity to: • Confirm your coverage • Pre-approve a treatment If you are unable to call the assistance service yourself because of your state of health, a relative or a member of the medical staff must do so on your behalf within 24 hours following the start of the medical emergency. Therefore, we strongly recommend you keep your contract number and our telephone number easily accessible in the event you need to reach us due to an emergency.

Congratulations on the 3 steps! Celebrate all progress! Well done! "Depending on budget" I know that I should not speak to budget because I don't know your circumstances, but we as a couple sacrifice many things to spend on travel instead. We have wanted to replace our old gas fireplace but when we price the replacement total cost it is the price of a cruise. Then we think we would only use it a few times a year, and we would rather cruise. If there are things you can cut out or cut down on... Dream and dream and make it happen. Research and come back to us with lots of questions. Keep the dream alive.

In a situation like this, I just don't think about time changing, I just work off my clock/watch and still do things by time.... BUT I see what you are saying... I am about to do a Westbound crossing where time will go in the opposite direction. Cruising Eastbound would make dinner move an hour earlier each day.

You have good answers from @CPT Trips and @Host Jazzbeau but on a River cruise we never miss the opportunity to get off the ship even if we just want to tour the city alone. Most often we will take an included tour that is a city walking tour with a guide and then once we have our bearings we break off from the group and go our own way. (Always tell the guide that you are leaving the group) There will be close to zero to do on the ship other than read a book because most all leave the ship when in port. If you want to arrange your own excursions, be sure you 100% know the time the ship is leaving port to ensure that you are back in time, and our rule is to be back one hour before the recommended time to return to the ship. The ship won't wait for you if you are not back on time and with private excursions you must manage this time part. Oh, and as HostJazz said, sometimes the ship moves while you are on excursion and in my experience that is not part of the itinerary - not with Viking anyway - so you don't know when that will happen. If you are on a ship sponsored excursion, then the bus picks you up at point A and delivers you back to point B later and the ship has moved. If you are going on your own or on a private excursion you might have a shock when you return to the ship and it is not there.

I think that you have to go with your gut and MVJ excursions offered. I would think that because you don't have an excursion offered the first day until late in the day that you cannot count on being in port in the morning. You don't know if the ship is sailing at night from Budapest to Vienna, that is one thing, but it also may be sailing in the morning and during daylight hours. I was trying to piece together how your timing would look against ours, but that is not realistic because we are sailing the opposite direction. Clearly for us we have two full days in Vienna going the direction we are going. Email tellus@vikingcruises.com and ask them. This may be better than calling the reservations department.

Note too that there is no obligation for a TA to give you anything in OBC. Each TA can be different in what they offer. Also you mention $500pp? Many Viking ads say "up to" so much savings or OBC per person. You don't always qualify for the maximum.

Was hoping to help but we are going the opposite direction but it should be the same amount of time in each city??? Both of our days in Vienna we have shore excursions - included or optional - that start in the morning and or afternoon. Have you gone to MVJ and looked at the available excursions? We have excursions starting both days at 8:45am.

I get it, but at the same time, I am a happier camper knowing what it will cost me 18 months in advance when I book, rather than when boarding the ship find out that I have to pay Starbucks rates for a coffee each day. I may be unique, but I would want a menu of pricing to finally make a decision to move to a mass market line. Perhaps there are TA's out there that could guide me on actual extra costs. In the mean time we have 4 future cruises booked with Viking and I know what I get and what it costs.

Perhaps the larger lines are like Viking and they fill their ships and don't need to worry, but the way I budget for a cruise, I budget to the penny including the airport car from home to the airport and back home again after the cruise. I have tried to book on larger lines and you cannot see anything past the cabin price, and a few inclusions that it may have. I want to know what the specialty restaurants cost pp. I want to know if I have to pay for a Cappuccino. I want to know if beer and wine is included with meals - probably not - but then what the cost is to have 2 glasses of wine with dinner. I want to know if there are any included excursions. I personally don't like surprises and want to know all this up front but I have not found a cruise line that does this, so I don't book them.

I think from my experience that when you are booking online the cruise line shows you a limited block of available cabins. This is because they have released blocks of cabins - or cabin types - to TAs for group bookings, etc. This is the same as hotels and airlines. Often you see when you go to book - "Only One Left" - but that does not today mean that they are sold out but for that one cabin. With our favourite line we have been told that when the website says limited availability that there are only so many cabins left in that category... We have however found when you call the cruise line direct, there are more cabins available than are showing online. When we wanted a Port side cabin mid-ship and none are showing online, poof, now there is a Port side cabin when we call in. TA's could very well have more inventory and access than the web site direct. Just my thoughts and experience to date.

I think for me, people watching is my most favourite onboard activity. I am an "observer" by nature but also decide who I might approach and start a conversation with and who I might not.

I used to think of and call it "nickel and diming" with the mass market cruise lines adding costs here and there... BUT, I have changed my mind completely with that. The price we pay for a Viking cabin is way above the entry cabin price on a larger ship. We know what is included and other than some optional excursions we don't have to pay for another thing. However, not everyone wants everything that is included in the Viking price. The only challenge I have with the larger lines, is it is very difficult at the point of booking to really understand what is "included" and what I may have to pay extra for once onboard. I fully see the cabin price, but I don't see menu of services, food, drink, coffee, etc., that I have to pay extra for so that I can understand what my full cost might be once onboard. What we like about Viking is the posted price we pay is our total cost. I wish that the larger lines would give you the option of adding services or options at the time of booking and offer a full menu of included vs. pay for options.

I wanted to come in with the same sort of question. If I am correct with this, you booked your flights through NCL, and I will assume that you will see in the fine print of the passenger contract that NCL is not responsible for flight delays, etc. My brother was one of 46 people recently that on a direct flight to Panama City to join a cruise that the flight was delayed in arrival over 12 hours and these 46 people missed the embarkation and the actual partial transit of the Canal. The Cruise line did not reimburse any of these people - AND they booked the air through the Cruise Line.

Some of these things have been discussed before such as alerting crew to drunk passengers, or getting security involved if there is some kind of altercation or even just a verbal exchange. Today, you have to be so careful in any kind of confrontation whether physical or verbal and you definitely want to remain anonymous if you are reporting something - IMO. I would however never hide inside my cabin, I would just move to another area of the ship and leave whatever I was experiencing behind.

Haha... that is me for every cruise. We are booked out now through 2026

Yes, what is included and extra cost is going to vary with each line. So called mass-market lines have more add on expenses than the cruise lines that are in the entry to and luxury class. Regarding @lisiamc comment about all inclusive, yes that is also something that you have to be aware of and scrutinize carefully. Viking - our preferred line - tends to sell themselves as "all inclusive" which to me is not far off the mark. There are only a few things that you must pay for above and beyond which one could argue are not needed by many. Viking include "everything that you need" but needs are different for different people. I personally would argue after 10 Viking cruises, that Viking are "all inclusive". Also I cannot imagine that any cruise line today is advertising en-suite bathrooms? Suggesting that this is not standard????? Ouch!

There are so many reasons back and forth as to what is the right way to book a cruise and it does come down to comfort level. We book ourselves to get the cabin we want deal directly with the cruise line and then pass to our TA for the perks. @DeclanAllen you suggest that you know exactly who to contact if something goes wrong, but if your TA is good they do all that for you. If you are in the middle of your cruise, and you need to interrupt, or you are stuck in an airport somewhere on your way, you would have to deal with this yourself. If you are using a TA they would do that for you. As @broadwaybaby123 suggests below, your TA will have contacts and could very well expedite a solution. @DeclanAllen Just as a note, and we cannot name TA's on CC, but many of us are getting much more than a $50 OBC from our TA's. We average $600+ per cruise plus an annual cheque on top of that for $200. So, on our average of two cruises per year we are saving $1,400.00 a year with our TA. Some give more, some give less. Some have volume and block booking discounts, etc. But, note that we book first to get what we want and then transfer to the TA.

Don't know for sure with AMA buy with Viking River or Ocean you can bring all the wine, beer, spirits you want on board. They will open and pour for you with no corkage. This is Viking however.... AMA people???