CDNPolar

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!

Please can you clarify under what circumstances medical evacuation from the ship at no cost to the patient? Medical evacuation from a ship can be extremely expensive and I have never understood that it is free to the patient. Even if done in port there can be ambulance charges that are not free. Our employer based insurance up to 5 million in coverage includes evacuation in any circumstance where treatment is not available and you must be moved either home - if medically stable - or to the nearest facility that can adequately deal with your medical situation. This is a covered cost. I have never been under the impression that evacuation is free.

I think that the change in the middle of the day is the best choice because then a couple of announcements ship wide get everyone changing their phones, watches, tablets, and laptops while they are awake and in the minute. Changing at 2am risks many people forgetting and then the ship is running on two times.

I will tell you what passes for me and no one has ever looked twice at me.... I have several pairs of "jeans" from RW&Co. called their "Straight Leg Super Stretch 5-Pocket Pant". I have them in Olive Green, Navy Blue, Tan, and Black. With a proper shirt on top, IMO no one is going to stop you or question your dress. No one has ever stopped me. My husband has several pairs of pants from Massimo Dutti that are essentially jeans but not the traditional Levis type jeans. I think that no jeans is a way of Viking keeping out the ripped, faded, style jeans that can be both expensive and popular, but not dressy enough to meet an elegant casual dress code. I have also worn Dockers brand chinos many times and again, never been questioned.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong here, but I do believe that Viking ship board or onboard credit transfers at par on the ship. @mariners are you certain that this SBC can only be used ON THE SHIP? We have had two types of credit from Viking and then there is what we get from our TA. The TA credits we get are consumed immediately if we apply the SSBP or we purchase excursions in advance. In this case you are getting CDN pricing on anything that you buy in advance. (Note however that the SSBP is typically $25 USD per night but for us Canadians it is $34 CDN per night.) We have also had SBC from Viking that was specifically only available on the ship - this was a credit from a complaint we had. This however could be applied to anything purchased once onboard. We also currently have a SBC from Viking that was part of the booking promotion. Perhaps the same as what you have? We have been explicitly told by Viking that this credit will automatically apply to anything purchased before sailing including pre-paid gratuities, SSBP, or excursions. I would call Viking and ask them to clarify as they have different rules. BUT here is where someone might correct me... I feel like any credit that we have had in CDN $$ when we boarded the ship appeared on the guest statement online at par. I don't recall seeing a $200 CDN credit all of a sudden become less in either USD or Euros?

We book independently and we scour that policy language with more than a fine tooth comb to understand every word.

Done Emailed them asking for bus travel times to be included in all excursion descriptions moving forward.

Is this a daily thing until you are approaching North America again? One hour per day? That would mean one hour more sleep per day which my husband will love.

I am sorry if you found my comments negative. There was no intent to offend you. I was adding some facts that I have learned from Viking and others that have travelled on Viking ships. I will say that if you found my comments negative, then you are quite sensitive. I was adding these in case you were not aware... You don't know my medical or disability status and you don't know my "perspective". My comments were meant to be helpful, so if you saw them otherwise then that is on you. I am sorry if I offended you.

IMO - always insure the full trip, especially for medical. You are just as likely to have a medical emergency of any kind on land as you are on the sea. We don't buy insurance that is "just for a cruise" we buy medical, cancellation, and interruption insurance for the amount of the non-refundable costs of the entire trip - land, sea, hotel. Be aware that you only insure non-refundable costs with insurance. For instance - we just bought air for a March 2025 cruise. We often book our air way in advance like this. We - on purpose - paid slightly more for 100% cancelable and refundable flights up to the day of departure. My point to this is we DO NOT include the cost of flights in the total trip cost that we are insuring because we don't need to insure this portion of the cost. You pay for your insurance against the cost of the trip. The insurance company will gladly charge you for that portion of cost, but if you do cancel, you won't get compensation because they are refundable. You say that you are starting in Vancouver Canada. Are you Canadian or American? Insurance is different in both countries.

Exactly what @GeezerCouple said. The cash is ALWAYS better than a FCC voucher. Always. Vouchers have restrictions and conditions and on and on.... For anyone reading this that is anticipating canceling for any reason, if you have the opportunity for cash, take it. Oh, and as @GeezerCouple indicated, never double dip... that is likely to get you in trouble somewhere. I would be surprised if the Cruise Line would not ask if you have been reimbursed in some other way. My brother and family were delayed getting to a cruise with the air organized by the cruise line. The cruise line offered no direct compensation for the delay because they had interruption insurance. The cruise line did pay for their 2 nights in hotel, meals, and transportation to get to the ship 2 days late. The cruise line was very thorough in their investigation if they had insurance to cover the interruption. I would expect that your cruise line would do the same. I do hope @Tn gal that your husband is recovering well.

Did not think of this... but how true. We will be eastbound so we will arrive home adjusted to the time. I guess that our biggest challenge will be manually setting our iPhones and iWatches to the time change as at sea they will not pick up the change from any tower. Not like we will miss the all aboard time, but we may be late for dinner!

Very good point @gnome12 , I was not thinking this. I don't remember how many times we have left a River ship in one city/town but returned after excursion to a different city or town. This can happen frequently and I know for certain that it happened more than once on the Douro River in Portugal. There can be a scheduled period to go through a lock or many other operational issues that causes the ship to move while you are out on excursion.

This is what most do... some book local private tour guides, but I have never myself come across anyone renting a car to venture further afoot.

I have not done the research to where you are going, but you can do whatever your heart desires after the ship docks as long as you are back on board before she sails again. You can rent a car, hire a driver, hire a private tour guide, whatever you want. The question is whether there are cars for hire close to where the ship dock. There are always tours that you can buy... You will just have to look at how long you are in port for and if that is enough time. Hopefully you will have an overnight in a port that would afford you more time.

So, how about the OP's original question? Simple answer is no. Included air, but will a deviation fee guarantee us non-stop?

Note too that Viking's policy is that the scooter must be kept in the cabin and not in the hallway. Not sure what the "administrative fee" is unless it is to do with the scooter request? I don't pay any "administrative fee" when booking, just a deposit. Agree that if the deposit is $25.00 then you are not risking much. Additionally, if the scooter is necessary for all movement, then you have the gangways to deal with as they are often stairs. Not easy to get a scooter down stairs.

To expand on that, our first expedition on Hurtigruten was this hike... Viking's landings and hikes were all level ground - from what I have heard of those on Viking. Also our snowshoeing was very demanding. The climb up this first "hill" took over 45 minutes switch back or zig zagging. My understanding is that Viking does not do this kind of expedition as it is too demanding. The snowshoeing below was also very demanding and kept us - quite in shape - out of breath for most of it.

We are Viking loyal BUT I am going to speak against Viking on this one... We actually went to Antarctica on Hurtigruten. We looked at Viking but we also found that Viking's excursions were less demanding than those of Hurtigruten. We would have been disappointed with Viking's excursions. Remember that Viking is organizing for an older crowd than the average Expedition seeker.

I do bet that cruisers wanting to use the toilets are a frustration for many restaurants and shop keepers.

We often have found more options in the World Cafe or different options than what is on the menu in The Restaurant. We have never missed a show because of eating in the Restaurant, but then we eat at 6pm sharp each night. Eating for us is clock based.

Looking forward to your review of Virgin. Have fun and travel safe!

Love what @spunks has shared as we are about to do our first TA cruise. BUT, this time without excursions and wandering time in cities and towns also opens you up to spending more time eating and drinking.... we will definitely work to control this....