CDNPolar

I have a work colleague that is envious of our Viking Ocean and River cruises. She says that she always wanted to try Viking but they are SO MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE than the larger ships that she sails on. I finally said... ok. Please do this for me. You see Viking advertised at $6000.00pp and your cruise is $4,500.00pp. Go on your cruise, but when you come back, please have a list of everything else that you paid for while on the cruise. WiFi, drinks, shore excursions, port fees, - anything else. When she got back we looked at everything that she spent, and essentially we came out even. She just assumed that Viking was going to charge her for everything that she was used to paying for on the larger lines, because she never investigated far enough to understand that Viking was including everything that she was paying extra for. There is a belief (and I disclaimer that this may not be accurate) that many of the larger lines only cover their base cost of running the ship with cabin sales, and the profit comes from the add on sales once you are on the ship. We have been looking at larger ships and different lines from Viking but in the evaluation process, it is very hard to understand what you have to pay for once you get on the ship. They don't really share that on their web sites.

Haha. Yeah - the QR codes. I want a real menu. I hate those things for ordering and deciding. Not the same experience for me anyway.

Did not think of this, but this is a good idea to have a three way call. The shop card is / was such a great perk and we ended up with slightly over $1,500.00 and then the annual rebate. Good deal. Only downside for us is they don't book every cruise line and they don't book our favourite cruise line.

We found with the box store, that we would talk to whoever answered, but they all seemed equally qualified to answer our questions.

Wow... Sorry to hear that you headed back early. We were 16-17 hours into our departure from Ushuaia and had to return for a broken hip fall in the Drake Passage. It is not uncommon for the ship to return whether it is caused by the ship or not. If the medical situation is too much for the ship to deal with or life threatening, they turn back. This is just something that you must accept when you book an excursion like this. There is no help closer than 2-3 days of travel. Every cruise line is going to have a different offer for something like this. I bet if you read in detail your cruise contract, that it states that you may cut short for medical reasons, but in general they don't 100% promise or guarantee any landings or kayaking, etc., it is based on weather. We lost one day to weather and only had four good days, you got three. Legally, I don't think that Hurtigruten owe you anything, but if you take the 10% is that on the total cost of your just finished trip? In cash? Do you plan to sail with Hurtigruten again to take advantage of the 30%?

I spent 10 days in Monaco overlooking the harbour and the cruise ship port. I saw Viking in the harbour several times. Sometimes they were anchored and sometimes they were at the dock. I believe that there is only room for one ship to dock in Monaco, so it is luck of the draw.

I think that coffee is everywhere now....? Right? The biggest challenge I have is when we travel, I do enjoy my coffee a particular way, and not every country has the same options. I get that I am in a different country, and must now adjust to enjoy in their style, and I do.... but....

Good to hear... not that it is uncommon, but this discussion changed direction and I just looked at it again and thought... what ever happened to the coffee junkies????

First, just caution that we should not talk names or TA companies on CC. In short: 1) I feel that there are more US based TA's that give higher levels of OBC or perks than there are Canadian based TA's doing the same. 2) Apparently we can use US based TA's to book, and some on here do. I have never looked into that at all because I just assumed that it was not doable... 3) In Canada, you have to shop around and ask the TA what they offer because some do and some do not and yet others charge you for the privilege of working with them. 4) We work with two very large organizations and one gives OBC at different levels based on the length of the cruise, a per person rebate cheque at the end of the year, and discounts on travel insurance. The other can offer quite substantial cash incentives for booking if the cruise is a pricy one, and an annual rebate against the cost of the trip. This has been discussed in many places on Cruise Critic and a hot topic for some because it would appear that we are looking for a TA to give over their commission and their hard earned income. The fact is like I said above, some offer, and some don't. I am not coercing any TA to give me money to work with them, I simply ask what they offer to have my business, and what I get is what is available to anyone without asking. I just want to know up front before I book. We used a TA for an expedition cruise last year, and everything for her has changed since. We did not pay any fees to her for the expedition, but now just to engage her it is $150pp research fee, and then there are other fees that come over time and none of them are deducted from the cost of the trip even when fully paid. We have decided not to work with this agent again. When others are offering rebates and OBC, why would I pay fees to someone to do the same thing.

Only having cruised on Uniworld once, and we arranged the air on our own, a couple of questions: 1) Do Uniworld arrange air also? If so, would this CFAR include cancelling the air? 2) Is the cost reasonable?

Did you get the coffees that you were hoping for?

We have several couple friends that have never been on a cruise and always say they never will because: 1) You have to line up for everything... Perhaps it is our preferred cruise line - Viking - but I have never lined up for anything on Viking. Yes, you might walk into the restaurant and wait 2 minutes to be seated but that is every restaurant on land too! 2) Only old people go on cruises. Yes, there is a demographic that probably enjoys cruising more than others because they are retired and have the money to travel, but that does not mean you are on a floating seniors home. We see all age groups on our cruises. 3) Cruise ships are too structured and you have to follow a schedule. Well, yes, you are only in port for so many hours, or potentially overnight, but you don't have to do anything that the ship offers. You can do your own thing and often we do. Or, you can stay on board and enjoy the almost empty ship because everyone else is off in port. And I totally agree with the above from Flatbush Flyer and shipgeeks

We are back to wearing masks when out in busy malls and stores again. Our hand hygiene has not dropped off from the height of Covid, and it is no hand to mouth, nose, or eyes, until home and hands are washed. When we go to a restaurant, we order and when the menus are no longer needed we go wash our hands and walk back to our table like surgeons that just walked into the operating room... (Joking).... but we do believe that right now it is not just Covid that is a threat, but Flu and RSV too. And not that anyone here is going to say anything, but I don't care if people look at us like "what the heck".

My husband and I discussed this very topic last night and it is his opinion that a cruise line - any cruise line - will likely not cancel until there is an immediate threat. This is probably quite true of all cruise lines not just Uniworld. I do feel for the OP and what they lost in money. Their loss was significant for sure and the loss of that kind of money would make me very angry for sure. We are in a bit of a situation right now - that is not the same as this - but I hope it will make a point about insurance and CFAR insurance. We may have to cancel an upcoming land-based trip in January for at the time of booking and until only a few days ago unforeseen medical reasons. We are six weeks from departure. Friends are joining us on this trip. We have not told many people at all about our situation and the possible need to cancel but we did call our friends immediately so that they know there is a high probability that we may cancel. We have an annual medical and cancellation plan that covers this trip purchased directly with a Canadian insurance provider, AND we bought cancelation insurance and CFAR from the land tour provider. Our friends have no insurance. They have often talked about it but never bought it. The sad part is that this land tour providers insurance is cheap and the CFAR is only $39 pp at the point of booking. This was a no brainer for us. Now we will cancel under the Canadian insurance provider for the medical reason and get a full refund, but our friends could have canceled under the CFAR if they bought it. They don't want to go on this trip without us because it was a joint decision to go from the start. Long story short - if you are forking out significant funds for a trip like this - buy the insurance. If you have the option to get CFAR insurance then buy it because after penalties kick in, you must have a valid medical reason to cancel otherwise. CFAR generally only gives you a voucher for future travel, but that is better than losing so much. I think today we don't know where conflict will break out and we have to be prepared.

If you have an eSIM installed on your phone and you are in port and can take advantage of the data from the eSIM, you go into your phone settings and turn on the HotSpot feature. Then on your iPad or laptop, you search as you would for WiFi connection and find your HotSpot and connect through that. Essentially you are "tethering" your iPad or Laptop to your Smart Phone that is now acting as the data source. Hope that makes sense.

Viking also do soft shell crab which is battered and deep fried. And I am certain that they deep fry on the ship and that it is not oven baked.... but we just found the batter soft and not as crisp as we would have wanted... but again.. just our opinion.

I do not intend to be disrespectful to the OP, but this stuff is likely going to happen more often in the world we live in. We went on our Nile Cruise with Uniworld in August this year - much before all this started. I have been following this somewhat to see what is happening, and the fact is that the war is not in Egypt, and if we were travelling now instead of August, and if my cruise was scheduled to go, we would have traveled and boarded the cruise. I get when anyone feels unsafe in parts of the world. My husband and I have invited my bother and his wife on many of our trips and my sister-in-law's response is "We don't feel comfortable in that area of the world." My brother on the side will say that he would join us if he could. It is my sister-in-law's concern, not his. The only insurance that would have helped you with this is CFAR as typical cancellation insurance requires a medical situation or death to occur, and war is rarely covered. Uniworld and Viking and others are still running their cruises. I think that this is unfair to say what you said about Uniworld. You would have had the same response from all cruise lines. Again, not trying to be disrespectful, this is my opinion.

Nice review and comparison. We want to try a large ship - larger than Viking - but we are nervous to the number of people, the anticipated crowding, kids, noise, and just in general feel like we are in a popular shopping mall the day before Christmas! I have been on a larger ship, my husband has not. I would look forward to the buffet on a larger ship, because of the increased variety, but not the crowds or line ups. I have become so familiar with Viking's World Cafe that I am good sticking with it. I may be wrong, but I also think that the larger ships have more of what I would call "fast food" or 'junk food" as options on the buffet, which I would rather for my diet stay with Viking well prepared selections at the buffet.

Personally, I would say no, but I am not the expert. I am travelling to these countries in a few months and I am from Canada. The Canadian Government site that provides guidance for entry to countries for Canadians does not indicate that any vaccination is required, but does outline risks of certain health concerns that could be associated with travel to these countries. I am certain that the US Government has a site that speaks to entry requirements for Americans to different countries.

I am the guy with the Clorox wipes that throughly wipes down everything. The one most disgusting thing is how BLACK the wipe is after wiping the headrest. Shocking actually.

My googling results suggest that a voice call through WiFi is about 1MB per minute and a video call is about 6-8MB per minute. 1.5GB is 1500MB so you would be using 30MB for a voice call and 180MB for a video call. LOTS left over each day.

You have wine and beer and specialty coffee/tea and soft drinks included with lunch and dinner. You can opt to buy an upgraded drinks package at $25 pp per day and almost all drinks and wines are included - or you can choose to go with included and pay per drink for other items. One included shore excursion in every port and never any port fees. If you are in a particular port more than one day, there is only one included excursion in that port. Gratuities are added daily to your account pp but you have the option to adjust up, down, or off your bill if you want. We look closely at Viking air prices and often they are the same, but if they are more then we book ourselves. We personally have not had travel woes with our air booked through Viking, but I have seen the Viking Air department go out of their way to help those that did have issues. These of course are airline generated challenges not Viking issues, but Viking works with you to remedy the situation. You have to be careful with Viking Air that if you are taking their air without upgrading to Air Plus, then you are issued flights, where as with Air Plus you can drive the choices in the airline, route, schedule, etc. You will pay additional for this but you are still subject to flights that are within Viking contract rates. Viking contract rates may eliminate your availability to non-stop flights, and may have restrictions or no upgrades available. Often Viking have offered free air and we of course always take that option.

For me, I think that it is more important to enjoy the time on the ship and disconnect from all the online crap that is not the reason that I am on the ship. I get the books - audio and reader - I get being in contact if you have to be, but in reality, Facebook and Instagram can wait until you are home. In my opinion. If Viking ever went to having to pay for basic WiFi with no free WiFi, no way I would pay for that.

That is exactly why I don’t use them!

I would email tellus@vikingcruises.com One thing to do too, is to ensure that your bookings are connected, so if you are on the same excursion when there are multiple busses, you will end up on the same bus.