CDNPolar

Glad you got your answer and when in doubt, always use tellus@vikingcruises.com

You are more likely to get an answer you can count on at this email address over reservations on the phone.

2 hours ago, ellasabe said:

 

 

 

Going through the locks make sleeping impossible:  So noisy! Constant grinding of machinery all night! Worst travel idea ever!  How can this be, as so many folks enjoy repeat river cruises?

 

Water levels are too low/high/windy and you'll be bused to a new hotel every night:  If this is the case, are you, the passenger, hauling your suitcase and toiletries bag to the coach (bus) waiting nearby, 2x a day, per port? Isn't it a hassle, and no better than a land tour?

 

My husband has an issue walking, specifically on stairs. He doubts his footing (he has Parkinson's) and has to hold onto the rail with one hand and hold onto my arm/my hand with the other. We did do Amsterdam, Istanbul, and Vienna on foot recently, and for me it was tiresome to have to constantly monitor where his feet go: "there's a 6 inch curb coming up, watch out for that cracked sidewalk, go around that sharp edge, this is a loose cobblestone, hold my arm." Nevertheless, if he wants to see the markets - and I want to go, which I really do! - this seems to be the easiest? way to travel. He also has difficult problems climbing the steep steps of a coach (bus) but not a smaller shuttle van. 

 

I'd appreciate any and all honest input, encouragement, and blunt truths. Thanks.  

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

The locks... we have been through many at night and I personally have never known that we were entering or leaving a lock and I am not a heavy sleeper.

In Europe there are cobblestones everywhere and uneven surfaces everywhere.  Where mobility is a concern you will have to be constantly vigilant.

Christmas markets are notoriously crowded and they can be on cobblestones too, so you will have the added challenge of crowds and uneven walking surfaces.

2 hours ago, screwsmcernst said:

Next question...  

 

What is the nationality breakdown of European River cruises?  Will it be mostly Europeans?  or a healthy mix?  (Just curious.  No real reason.)  

Viking is heavily American with a spattering of folks from The UK, some Australians, and some Canadians.  Typically over 70% American on Viking.

56 minutes ago, RobInMN said:

@gnome12,

AmaMagna's elevator goes to the top deck. It pops up 🙂

 

 

Nice design.

This design would suggest that when navigating under low bridges where the wheelhouse needs to lower, they would just stop the elevator from going to the sundeck.

Nice....  

This was an issue on a recent cruise where we had several wheelchairs and some one in particular that had to be carried if the wheelchair was not an option.

50 minutes ago, rnrcruzin said:

We're giving Viking Air another chance as our last time was into Sydney and things didn't go as expected. We're flying into LHR arriving on June 14th. We are arriving a little after 7 AM. I know we are supposed to be greeted by a Viking Rep. (this is where things fell apart in Sydney) and transferred to Greenwich. For those that have gone through this goat rope before, will we be sitting on the bus waiting for it to fill with folks on later flights, or will we be sent directly to the ship? In Sydney some folks went and sat in a conference room of a hotel and then transferred to the ship. Just wondering what to expect.

This is our personal experience but it may depend on the airport and distance from the ship.

We have never waited long to be transferred, and in that I mean that we have never waited more than about 20 minutes after getting our luggage until we were taken to the bus and transported.

I suppose that there can always be delays but in 10 cruises we have never had that happen.

1 hour ago, Brookspw70 said:

New to Viking but trying to book asap for British Isles in 8/2025. 
 

I need help on abbreviations, ES1 vs ES2, etc.

 

What is the difference between DV1-6?  Same for PVs. 
 

Is a PV worth it for the extra room alone on a 15 day cruise? Or, what are the other benefits?

 

My non-educated opinion is that the higher the deck the better (for the view) but I’m not seeing that this is necessarily the case from reading the cabin review thread. 
 

What is the major difference between the experience aft, mid, or what we the front is called?

 

I sincerely appreciate your help. 

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

When you are on the Viking Website, and you go into the pricing pages and select the dates you want, you can click on the cabin type and a pop up window will show you the layout and the amenities of the cabin.  You can compare one to the other this way.  See screen shots below.  You can also do a 360 degree tour of each cabin type.

Is the extra space worth it?  That is up to you and what you see value in. We have done 10 Viking Cruises and only book V1 or V2 because we are only in the cabin to shower, change, and sleep.

It is our opinion that a higher deck does not give you a better view.  We have never suffered on deck 3 for our view, but we tend to be on the top decks more than on our balcony anyway.

Aft, Mid-ship, or Forward depends again on your personal preference.  It is generally accepted that if you get easily seasick that the mid-ship location is better.  Often also, the higher you are the more pronounced the movement is.  I feel this is a preference.  We typically book mid to aft and stay away from the forward cabins.

All you need to concern yourself with is what is NOT refundable.

If as @klfrodo indicates you are booking the hotel but not paying until you get there, there is no need to insure this cost because you will cancel before there is a charge.

We typically book airfare that has a cancellation option and there may only be a small fee per person like $200 to cancel.  This is all you would insure.  Many airfares allow you to retain the value of the ticket to be used in the future, and an insurance company will not cover this because you have not lost the cost of the airfare. (You may have to pay change fees and a change in fare when you rebook, but that is not an insurable cost.)

Don't just roll every cost into the insurance because you are paying a premium based on how much you are insuring to be repaid if you cancel.  If it is a refundable cost, then insurance will not cover it and you have paid a portion of premium for nothing.

38 minutes ago, SilvertoGold said:

This is the only agency that I have seen do this (I have only 4 or 5  agencies I view) but it is an easy way for them to make a bit extra if people do not do their homework.  Having customers who book with cruise line and transfer to a TA is the easiest way for them to make a profit: commision for much less work. I am sure they love it! 

What do you get for transferring your booking to a TA? OBC?, etc?

 

Do you use the cruiseline regualr booking line or do you go through a personal cruise consultant at the cruise line (example: HAL PCC)?

We sail mostly (98%) on Viking and we just call Viking reservation line.  We have tried to keep in touch with one person but when we call back they are gone.  Turnover.  We have just never found a long term person with Viking.

We do all our research and find the cruise we want and then call to book.  We have even booked online on the Viking site and not used the call centre at all.

Then we transfer.

Yes, our agent is making a commission without having to do this initial part of the booking but we prefer to do this ourselves and then there is no back and forth.

We then must use the TA for other additions or deletions as we move to sailing date.

There may be better deals out there but this one we are good with.

We get:

1) $200.00 pp OBC and this is applied at the point of booking.  We can use this in advance for shore excursions or onboard if we don't purchase before sailing.  It is NOT refundable.  (This is actually applied to our invoice before we have made final payment with this TA.)

2) $100.00 pp by cheque once a year, and several other coupons for other services.

Essentially we get $400 per cruise, and the the $200 once annually.

If we can/could find a better deal, we would move to that.

There is one large agency in Canada that books Uniworld that you can get a lot of benefit from but they don't book Viking so we are out of luck.

17 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

Be aware of the cruise line pricing. Buyer beware.   Be sure you know what the cruise line charges on their website, both fare and taxes. 

 

One travel agency here just adds extra on to the cruise line tax amount, So it the cruise line website notes, for example, $100 taxes and fees, this agency on their own website quotes a fare price and adds on an extra amount to the tax. What I have seen quoted is anywhere from $30 to 80 pp above the cruise line tax amount.

 

 

Interesting... The TA we use certainly does not do this as we book direct and then pass to the TA.  We have the invoice from the cruise line first and the TA invoice is always to the penny the same as the cruise line invoice.  

Good to know that this is happening as it sounds like a sort of hidden fee.

I think regardless, there are likely many of these "prohibited" items that make it onboard and are in use because people just don't think that they would be, or know that they could be a potential fire hazard.

I had no idea before reading this on CC and I had been on several cruises before I was a diehard CC member reading stuff all over the board.  Before this I would have taken a surge protected power bar with me.

I think that perhaps it is Cabin Attendants that catch these items in use if the initial screening does not?

9 hours ago, broadwaybaby123 said:

We do a year/year and half out. That way, we lock in the price.

Planning is an interesting concept.  We are booked into 2026.  Some of our friends are amazed that we can book that far in advance... but I don't understand their hesitance?

Primarily we book this far out because on Viking we only book the lowest cabin category and those are gone early if we don't book.  If we are booking less than a year we are paying more than we have to for a higher deck, or being able to book a few restaurant reservations that we see no value for.

Our friends ask, "how do you know what you will be doing in 2026?" to which our response is "Cruising".  When you have that cruise in your calendar that far ahead - 12-18-24 months - you don't have to ask yourself what you are doing, you just plan around that time.

We absolutely love the planning phase of having 2, 3, or 4 cruises booked in advance.  The research, the planning and booking of flights, pre-extensions and post-extensions, hotels, and all the other details.

Somehow duplicated my post....

13 hours ago, KBs mum said:

Pedantic moment, afternoon tea anfmd high tea are not the same thing

Many people get this wrong, as do establishments that advertise their Afternoon 4:00pm Tea as "High Tea".

There is a hotel in downtown Toronto renowned for their Afternoon Tea but they used to advertise it as High Tea.  They don't now, and I am not sure when it was established that they were calling it the wrong thing.

13 hours ago, KBs mum said:

Pedantic moment, afternoon tea anfmd high tea are not the same thing

Many people get this wrong, as do establishments that advertise their Afternoon 4:00pm Tea as "High Tea".

There is a hotel in downtown Toronto renowned for their Afternoon Tea but they used to advertise it as High Tea.  They don't now, and I am not sure when it was established that they were calling it the wrong thing.

8 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

No, you are able to do this yourself on My Viking Journey - MVJ - portal, once you add your cruise to profile, and air has been assigned.  Find options under the "Manage My Air" tab.

Don't you want to make sure that your reservation dates include the deviation first when you are booking the cruise?

I am not aware that you can change dates of flights on MVJ, but I might be wrong... MVJ only gives you flight options for the dates of your reservation - right?

Oh, and just be aware that Free Air may not apply to your deviation dates.  There may be charges for the deviation flights.

3 minutes ago, Ready to Sail! said:

No problem and thanks for your opinion.  I am guessing it would be OK but will wait until I hear from anyone else who has done this at this port.  Of course will confirm with Viking before I change my already booked flights.  Seems like there are plenty of options for transfers to Santiago airport.  

I cannot see why they would decline you...  

Personally, I would email tellus@vikingcruises.com and give them the following:

1) Your booking number

2) The date and time you want to leave the ship early noting that you are already in the final port

Just ask them to confirm that there is not problem and to confirm to you in writing.

Don't call the reservations line as you likely won't get the answer you want.

9 minutes ago, Ready to Sail! said:

No, as I said we are in final port with overnight before disembarkation.  We just want to leave the ship the afternoon prior.  

Oh, sorry, misunderstood....

I would inform them.... so they know you are off the ship, but I don't think since you are in the final port that they care.  They would just want to know.

That is my opinion.

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

1 hour ago, Mike07 said:

Am I the only one with security concerns about Global Entry since non-American governments participate and future governments like the Kingdom are in the process of being rolled into the program?

I think that we have to assume that our data is globally accessible by most governments - just my thoughts and opinion.

7 minutes ago, Ready to Sail! said:

We have an overnight in Valparaiso before disembarkation.  We are booking our own air and most all flights leave late evening which means having a very very long day at Santiago airport.  Have thought of several alternative plans.  Simpliest would be to disembark late afternoon prior day and arrange private transfer to the airport.  Do we need OK from Viking or can we just inform them of our plans?  There must be previous cruisers who have faced this situation.  

Second choice might be to find a private excursion on disembarkation day which would end at the airport later in the day.  I have seen this at other ports but can't seem to find anything on Viator.  Third would be to arrange our own transfer and book a day room at a hotel near the airport.  There is no way we will sit around an airport for 12 or more hours.  Thanks for any input or suggestions.   

 

Yes, if you are disembarking before the final port you will need advance approval from Viking.

This is an immigration thing.

On a TA cruise in October.  Six days at sea.  Will have to limit the 4:00pm Tea attendance because this is just extra calories each day.  Not that on this many sea days we will need the extra snack.

4 minutes ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

Ditto

its not a true “vacation “ unless you need a “vacation from your vacation “ when t

you return home.   
this policy has gotten stricter over the years…. In 2016 we were allowed to do two in several ports (one being an “on your own” trip by bus to a different town that was relatively empty).   Since then, we have been limited to one included excursion per port.

So just a limitation on the included tours, not how many other tours you can do?

The plug adapters with several USB are handy because often there is only one USB beside the bed, and between the watch and the phone, and then whatever else, that is just not enough.

As @Canal archive says, this will be a very subjective response and so I will start with my favourite cruise line - Viking River.

We have done 4 Viking River cruises now but we just love Viking for so many reasons, both River and Ocean.

HOWEVER, this forum is opening my eyes to the fact that there are many more options that we could try in the future and we are looking seriously because of what is shared here.

We have also sailed Uniworld on The Nile and although we loved the trip overall and Egypt, this was not a good Uniworld experience for us from the perspective of the ship.  We also have concluded that this poor ship experience with Uniworld is more likely contained to the Egypt experience and not other Uniworld ships.

19 hours ago, sharkster77 said:

Amen @CDNPolar, I want direct instructions!   Everytime I fly, it seems things change---shoes on/off, belt on/off, electronics out of bag/stay in bag, etc., etc.  Requirements also vary country to country.

 

Just tell me directly what you want me to do and I will gladly do it, to get through the security check as quickly and smoothly as possible!!!

Exactly... we can at some airports out of Canada with TSA Pre leave the small liquids in the bag, but when you transit through the EU, and specifically LHR which is a main one for us, they have to be in the Heathrow plastic bag and you can only have one....blah, blah, blah...

I find Heathrow there is a lot of "advance" yelling so that we are prepared once we arrive at the actual screening area.  You are back and forth through stanchions seemingly forever before you reach the actual screening and a few people along the way yelling the requirements.

We saw a group of young American boys (early 20's) all detained for physical search in Heathrow when the yelling was clear that you had to remove your liquids.  There defence was that in the USA they did not have to because of TSA Pre and they did not want to here either.  Does not cut it, and it pays to listen and do as you are told.  I heard as a final comment that the physical screening would detain the lot of them for at least 20 minutes because it was backed up with others not removing their liquids.

Yes, there are many different rules in different airports and countries!

5 hours ago, VICKIB114 said:

Do you have to book into the Wintergarden for Afternoon tea (High Tea) or can you just turn up and be served. I would love to do this one time on our Greece Odessey Cruise in February 2026

We have found that especially on a Sea Day, you probably want to arrive at 3:30pm to get a seat inside the room itself.  We have seen them serve both sides outside the Wintergarden room also.