CDNPolar

That is a good idea, because when most are travelling in 2's trying to join a table that is set for 6 or 8 can be difficult.

I should not make it sound that bad.... It may work for you... who knows. We just found that there was a core group that "reserved" the tables every night when we looked. We were looking for a quiet dinner for two a couple of nights instead of sitting with 4 or 6 others. River Cruising does not have room service, however, it is my understanding that you can request a tray and pick it up yourself and carry to your cabin. We also noted that sometimes people who wanted to sit in the Aquavit Terrace and it was full, would sit on the side sofas in that area or just inside the lounge. They may or may not allow in the lounge, but the side sofas are technically in that terrace. The Captain sat here a couple of nights that we noticed.

There is the Aquavit Terrace. One level up from the dining room and in the front of the ship. There are only perhaps 6 or 7 tables inside, which are four 4 person tables, and three 2 person tables. There are more tables outside but they depend on the weather. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner all available. Our only first hand experience is dinner and here is what we found: Same menu - not lighter - just order what you want. A couple of appetizers instead of a main course? Dinner here started 15 minutes later than the dining room. People "reserved" these tables for dinner as early as 6pm (dinner at 7:15ish) by putting coats, glasses, and other stuff on the tables. Often we could not get a table out there. You can NOT actually reserve these tables legitimately. There seemed to be a group of people that ate there every night or even every meal. One night we got there and there was a four table that was not "reserved" and we sat down, expecting that two other people might join us. I guess we caused quite a stir because the foursome that ate there every night came and their table was gone... We were approached by a crew member and asked if we would move to a table of two (which had personal belongings on it) and the crew moved these belongings off and we moved there. It seems to be to be more hassle than it is worth and in the future we likely won't ever eat there again. I suggest that you just go to the dining room. Have your light meal from the menu options and enjoy the company of the people you are sitting with.

Not arguing with you, but for others that are faced with providing evacuation insurance here are my questions: 1) Where cruise ships on expedition normally take you to in Antarctica, there are no runways for fixed wing aircraft to land anywhere close to where the ships sail. How will they get you off the continent? 2) The continent of Antarctica is too far from any land for helicopters to fly for evacuation. Again, how are they going to get you off the continent? Our Hurtigruten ship turned around 16 hours into the Drake Passage on the way TO Antarctica to return a passenger that fell during the Drake Passage segment and broke her hip. No evacuation because winds and seas were too high, we had to go back to Ushuaia for her to disembark the ship. There was going to be an attempt to get within helicopter range of Argentina but the winds were too high. There was next going to be an attempt to get close enough to Argentina to meet a Coast Guard ship for a ship to ship transfer, but the winds and seas were too high. The only option was to go back to port. We essentially lost one day because of this. (We were and are not blaming the woman that fell and she did have a full recovery... but these things happen on this kind of cruise.) A Viking ship with an injured passenger (accident happened while at the Continent) turned around one or two days early to take the passenger back to Ushuaia because no evacuation was available. This was the ship that unfortunately encountered the rogue wave that ultimately killed one passenger. This ship turned around because no evacuation was available. I don't know why these companies are forcing us to pay for this insurance when it is not a viable option if something does happen. For a ship to turn around on the way or early from the Continent costs the cruise line LOTS of money and a lot of very disgruntled passengers. If they demand evacuation coverage, why don't they use it? Because it is not available. Hopefully if someone knows differently they will come in and correct me....?

Many parts to unpack here. Purchasing the Air Plus only gives you the ability to have more control over the air you are booking. Normally Viking fly you in to arrive on the day the cruise ship embarks. If you want to fly in early, then you will have a deviation fee per person to come in a day or two or whatever early. Buying the Air Plus does not eliminate the deviation fee. If you are flying in early, you are on your own from the arrival airport to your accommodation and from your accommodation the next day to the ship. Viking does not provide you transportation. IF HOWEVER you purchase a Viking Pre Cruise package, then the deviation fee is not charged, and transfers are included. Hope this makes sense.

We have met solo travellers on Viking River. Do as @bottomfeeder suggests... go into the dining room and sit at an empty table and wait. Folks will join you and all will be good. On our last cruise what I noted was that for breakfast, many coming in would sit at an empty table rather than join someone. The breakfast crowd filters in slowly. We are always at the door when breakfast starts. Lunch is similar - people filter in a more staggered fashion. At dinner since there is only one seating and it is generally right after the port talk, everyone converges on the dining room at the same time. Take your seat and each night you may have different guests. We sat with the solo traveller many times but not always.

If it is advertised as so on the menu, that is ok. If not on the menu then not ok. Surf and Turf and Scallops wrapped in bacon are typical globally. But if I order a fish dish and it comes with animal meat on it and it is not on the menu then that is something different.

Good on you that you got what you wanted! In the end that is what matters! (Happy Dance)

This is disappointing to hear because we have 98% of the time been very happy with Viking food and it is one of the reasons we pay their prices. If food is declining in quality (don't care if the steak is a bit thinner if they cook it well) then that is a concern. Is this Viking's version of "shrinkflation"? Cut back on the food quality to save money but charge the same?

Likewise! Let's hope we cross! October West Indies and November Grand European. Jump on one of those!

You don't have to answer this question, but have you put that 50K away somewhere that it is available if you need it? That to me would be the definition of self-insured. You have an account where you have paid the premiums to yourself for future use. Even if you have, 50K is s drop in the bucket for what something could cost many places in the world. Some countries will not even see you unless you can pay in advance. Sorry - I don't mean to sound or be confrontational about this, but we have two very different outlooks on insurance. I once said to my financial advisor that I did not need disability insurance because I did not "plan" to be disabled. Really stupid statement on my part because his answer was: "No one does"

I understand everything that you are saying including the self-insured part. We are risk adverse, so we purchase cancellation and interruption insurance, and we have through work medical. If we did not have medical through work, we would purchase that too. I don't believe that medical insurance is something that you purchase because you are aging. You may be very well and no meds and all that is good, but what if: 1) You fall and break a limb 2) You are in an accident during the vacation - car, bus, pedestrian 3) Something unforeseen happens that has nothing to do with your physical health when you leave home Just as a note... if you are going to Antarctica by ship, there is no medical evacuation from the Antarctic Continent, right? Ships turn around with sick passengers and sail back to Argentina. I did not understand why our cruise to Antarctica required evac insurance, because the ship has to be within helicopter range with Argentina before you would be evac'd.

At this time in society, I don't care what others think. I know where the germs come from and if gloves keeps me well when 200+ others are in their cabins sick then so be it.

This does not even seem to me like a "Europe thing" that they would do this... Interesting.

We will always pay for what we perceive to be the convenience of the Nexus card for flying out of Toronto Pearson Airport. The added TSA approved status is a great help now too. What is not necessarily a benefit is arriving back into Toronto Pearson. As all the others stand in line to get to the luggage claim, we have now been standing at the luggage carousel for 20+ minutes because we came through so quickly. Toronto Pearson is the longest wait for luggage of any airport I have flown through and collected luggage. Arriving back to YYZ is great if you only have carryon.

Here is an old discussion that you may want to reference: https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/2739255-ports-missed-insurance-question/

This is odd that they would put meat on a plate with fish. Often people are picking the fish for dietary or religious reasons and would not want other land animal meat on the plate. Odd.

As Deb92 said, you can wait until your flights show up in MVJ which is about 90 days before sailing, BUT, if you are going this route, you want to inform Viking Reservations now that you want to come in one day early so your flights are properly selected in advance. You don't want tickets selected departing on the 15th and then have to change them. If you inform reservations now that you want to fly in one day early, then your flights will be selected accordingly. You will however pay a diversion fee of $100.00 per person for this. You will pay this if you inform them now or later because you are flying outside of contract rate dates that Viking have. (The majority of Viking passengers land the day of departure) You can opt to add Viking Air Plus NOW, to your booking and pay a fee (either $100 or $150 pp) and select your flights in advance. These will immediately show on MVJ and you have them locked in. (Airlines can still make changes, but you have your basic schedule locked in) You will by doing this forfeit Viking transfers from airport to your hotel and then from your hotel to the ship. These will be your responsibility.

I am sorry.... I just looked. The port times are listed on our future Viking Ocean cruises, but not on the River cruises. I thought that they were on all cruises.

We saw this for the first time recently - December/January - on Treasures of the Rhine. If it had been offered in the past we were not aware. On this cruise I think that there was a significant group that took this tour daily. We thought it was a great idea as we have seen many struggle to keep up with some guides. We have had some guides that are in general too slow and some that are not self-aware as to how fast they are moving. It is all over the place. I think that you might want to also ask on boarding if this is going to be offered. Kind of "remind" them that it is needed.

Was going to say.... there has been another whole discussion about sparkling, Prosecco, Cava, and Champagne. We don't love the included sparkling but we drink it at lunch as a starter. It seems to open our palate a bit before lunch. Kind of cleanses the morning excursion dust out of our mouth.

Photos to follow!

Exactly. You might see me using a napkin to hold the tongs when I serve myself and you may also see us go wash hands again, especially with the washing station at the entrance. You are right - we are never going to change the behaviour of others. All we can do is protect ourselves. Although we cannot protect ourselves if Norovirus was transferred to the food from staff, we can protect ourselves from Norovirus transferred from other guests not washing their hands by washing and rewashing our hands.

Our experience is that Viking keep their ships up well. The ship is not your deciding factor, the itinerary is, IMO.

Not suggesting that you are not aware of this, but your card is only a max rebate of $100.00 But I agree, even if I have to pay out of pocket in the future above what TD will cover, I will still renew my Nexus.