CDNPolar

Download the Viking Voyager App before you leave home. Once you board the ship, connect to the ship's wifi and then you can book the restaurants.

We are fully aware of restrictions... but thank you for clarifying for someone who is not. I should have been more clear in my post. This happens in countries where there are no restrictions.

We respect the crew on the ship and you get that and more back. It also amazes us how some people treat them...

We are doing Across the Bay of Bengal early next year. The cruise ends in Mumbai. We are going to stay on for 2 additional nights, but not doing Vikings post-extension only because we can do it much cheaper. Much. Has anyone used or can recommend a private tour company in Mumbai that we can contract for a full day? We are looking for an air conditioned car - or van - and a driver and/or guide that conducts a great tour. Right now it is just the two of us, but we want the ability to add two more that are travelling with us but have not committed to staying the additional nights as yet. There are so many online options, we would rather go with a recommendation.

If I am understanding you correctly, you are calling in directly to ask questions, and then being transferred? I email tellus@vikingcruises.com with my enquiry and they actually call you from this enquiry. They have the answer when they call you back. I have wasted too much time calling and being transferred trying to find someone that knows the answer. This is why this email address is so great! I should restate this. Sometimes they will back up what they say in writing and sometimes they will not. It depends on the issue at hand. I expect the call sometime today so will post the answer as to the currency as soon as I get it.

I fully understand your concerns with this, but for an excursion like this we have breakfast late and then lunch when we return. We work around the times. I understand the concern of food going ashore but for us, in a case like this we will grab a banana or piece of fruit at breakfast and take it with us. We have been known to grab a couple of croissants or muffins. We always travel with many extra ziplock bags - our travel saving grace - and the food goes in those and in our backpack. We did get quite sternly reprimanded in one country - don't remember which one - by the bus driver for eating on the bus.

I think that I have said this in the past, but in Corporate North America, there has always been challenges for folks to understand what is acceptable and what is not on a Casual Friday. I used to see it as dropping the tie and moving from a suit to a sports coat.... then we went to jeans Fridays and all heck broke loose. It is interpretation of the code and for me and us, it is about NOT looking like I am gardening on a Saturday morning in old jeans or shorts, but actually showered and taking some care in how I look, but without moving to formal.

With this, I am certain that they will work with you under the cricumstances. Just get to know the Guest Service Team... we visit them often while onboard and find them extremely helpful. Also get to know the Shore Excursion (Shorex) manager by meeting with them after port talks... this person will likely be the most help to you. We love getting to know the crew. Many don't want to engage but we really enjoy it.

Viking Crew, especially the Guest Service and Hotel Manager teams are amazing to work with. No protocols... just walk up to Guest Services, sit down, and state your case/needs. Viking will work with you, BUT remember that for paid for excursions, you must cancel at least 48 hours in advance of the excursion for a refund. There was a communication more recently that stated that they would not make changes until 48 hours after sailing? So combined with 48 hours before the excursion that could put some of your excursions in danger. I would also email tellus@vikingcruises.com and tell them your situation. Someone please confirm the communication about when changes can be made????

Glad I am not alone in this. I rented one in my youth in Hawaii, but I was too stupid and something like Covid was not even on the radar at that time.... Heck, I wash my hands after using the tongs at the buffet before eating....

We are not afraid to say that we can be slightly germ-a-phobic and are concerned with the sterilizing of equipment when tour operators are passing this equipment past many people every day.... Has anyone bought and brought their own mask and snorkel and can you suggest a reasonable brand to buy that won't set us back a whole lot? We want to snorkel because my husband has never done it before and this will likely be the one and only time that we will do it.

My only beef with emailing tellus@ is that for some questions, I would like their response in writing and they often are not willing to do that... Suspect that what you are being told may be true now but not a policy that they stick to.

It is not out of character to receive a call from an email on the weekend. I would assume from my previous experiences that I will get a call today. Monday.

We mostly book the Chef's Table as we love tasting menus and we have loved every menu that we have encountered, with the exception of the UK menu. (That has been discussed in another thread) We do find that the Chef's Table is often very open for reservations and because we have no food restrictions we are good to go. If we eat at Manfredi's once on a cruise that is enough for us. We are just not big fans of Italian food.

What time did the excursion leave and return to the ship may I ask? I guess that we look at the description and know if there is a snack or a meal, and we plan accordingly. Most excursions we go on typically leave in the early morning and are back for lunch or leave after lunch. In the morning excursions if we want to stay in the town/city we have lunch there on our own. We typically don't gravitate to the excursions with a meal included.

Perhaps the reason we have never found the main dining room that noisy is because we typically are there at 6pm when it opens, and there are often many tables empty around us. Perhaps the noise level increases as the evening grows later? We are typically gone by 7:30pm.

Never looked at it this way... about eating more bread... yes, it is on the table and not on the table in the WC. We often see the WC as having all the good stuff that the Restaurant has and you can get your perfect selection and sample more...

We have not had this experience, at least in my memory. I do admit that as I age I do find it harder to hear in loud dining environments... we will choose a restaurant based on how loud they play the music and the overall noise level. We will check this out on our next ocean cruise but that is not until October.

We have not "upgraded" yet to bluetooth capabilities, but are looking at this for future. We still carry our Bose wired noise cancelling headphones onto every flight, even if we are flying in a seat that the airline provides, because we know the noise cancelling capabilities of these and they can block out a screaming baby / child well. I have not had the same experience with my Air Pods connected to my device, even with the noise cancelling feature enabled. These Bose earphones have saved us so many times.

Not knowing how this cruise line interacts with the airlines, I cannot comment, but with our favourite cruise line we book air 50% through them and 50% on our own. It depends on the deal. If we can do it cheaper then we do it ourselves. In the case of "free air" we of course do it through the cruise line, as this line does not give any credit if we book ourselves. With our cruise line we can immediately see our flights on the actual airline website, but we don't get the alerts until the flights have actually been ticketed. You also have to consider how much help or assistance your cruise line is going to give you if there are delays, cancellations, or any other obstacle thrown at you by the airline. Do you have to call the cruise line if you run into problems or can you deal with it on your own? Overall, we prefer to book ourselves because sometimes cruise line contract rates do not give you full miles/points, or allow upgrades, etc.

I have just emailed Viking to ask the question about currency and conversion.

I will be curious to see their response to the value of these credits if you do not use them prior to boarding. These kinds of credits can absolutely be used before you board or on board for the same purpose as listed. At the very least, you can apply them to the gratuities if you did not pay them in advance. Your credits are good... I am just curious how they tell you they will deal with the currency.

We book the lowest cabin category that there is. We get NO advance restaurant reservations. We have always gotten the days and times we want - with no hassle - through the Viking Voyager App as soon as we board and connect to WiFi. I constantly read on here people who are having issues with when reservations open and never once have we experienced that frustration because we have always gotten what we want once we board.

Why then do some cruise lines ask you to prove that you have medical evacuation insurance?

Exactly!