joanne2

Thanks for the lovely photos. I'll be on the CB in April but doubt I will ever be up early enough to see it like this. But now I'm tempted to try. Is there coffee available that early?

Thanks for the input. I am feeling better about using Viking Air.

Sorry for your seat issues Rothbury But I suspect that may have been more of an airline issue than a Viking issue. Not sure what airlines you flew but some of them are notorious for completely disregarding seat assignments (think some of the US legacy carriers and Star Alliance lines). My main concerns were a ridiculous number of connections or super long layovers and it sounds like those have not happened often.

 

If I am understanding you all correctly I could wait until they send me flight info and if I am not happy with their choices I can pay the Custom Air fee and work with them to find something that works better?

We booked last Jan. for a late Aug. cruise. We got our flight info in April. At that point, if we did not like the flights, we could choose to use the Custom air with extra fee. I believe we had a week to decide. We liked the flights and when I went to the airline web sites to pick seats, almost all of the seats were still available.

You don't mention British Isles. We're doing the CB TA in April that goes to some of those ports, Dublin, Glasgow, Cork. You might also consider river cruising. Celebrity is now combining an ocean cruise with a river cruise. I love TA's, for all the sea days.

We did the Viking Grand European in Aug. and used Viking Air. We flew Chicago to Zurich, Zurich to Budapest. Coming home was Amsterdam to Chicago. I don't think there are any direct flights from Chicago to Budapest.

Regarding your OBC, they do have a tiny gift shop on board. You can buy maps, shirts, caps, jackets, etc. I think they also had several books and I think there was a DVD taken during the trip.

We were on the Viking Grand European in Sept. They served a variety of local beers with meals at no extra charge. They had draft and bottles.

I've only cruised with Viking but can say they are "laid back". i wore slacks and a nice blouse most nights, DH wore khakis and polos. I get the impression from reading this board that some lines are a little dressier, e.g. those that have butlers.

Joanne: I'm reaching the end of the road for river cruising due to physical limitations but I am increasing my big ship cruises. We LOVE Celebrity and I'm wondering which cruise you were on because they have several I'm interested in. We've already been to Normandy and seen the tapestry. When we went (not on a river cruise) I had never heard of it, but it takes your breath away doesn't it...

We were on a fall trans-Atlantic on the Eclipse which had stops at Paris (LeHavre) and at another port for Normandy. They seem to change the TA ports almost every year, unlike their regular itineraries.

A few years ago I was on a Celebrity cruise and did a private tour with some CC Roll Call people of the D-Day beaches and the Bayeaux tapestry. I really had no interest in the tapestry but joined up because I wanted to see the beaches and American Cemetery. I loved the tapestry! It was so worth the trip. I don't know anything about the Cinema but can't imagine that it would beat the tapestry.

There was a long thread about this recently. You should be able to find it with the search feature above. Sorry I don't know how to do links.

If you use the search feature (upper right side above), you will find several threads on the aquarium rooms. I think most people are very happy with them.

I'm so happy you had a great cruise. I love the Mississippi. We did 2 cruises on the old Mississippi Queen years ago and have been hoping to cruise this great river again. Glad to hear they have Riverlorians; I loved them on the Queen.

I agree with you completely. We always loved ocean cruising. We tried a Viking river cruise and loved it. Next year we're back on a trans-Atlantic Ocean but would do another Viking river anytime. Two very different experiences but both wonderful trips.

Pardon my ignorance but I am wondering if this offer is targeted to selected 2015 Coral Princess cruises only? We are booked on a partial transit Panama Canal cruise departing April 1, 2015 and this is the first I've heard of these offers. I'm especially interested in the specialty restaurant dinners.

I think these offers just depend on when you book. We booked during a different 50th anniversary promo and are getting OBC, $100 OBC designated for tours, and gratuities included, but no specialty dining.

How much do they charge for BINGO? I like to play but on Celebrity it's really expensive. Hoping Princess is more reasonable.

Good question, I hope someone responds. I'm new to Princess and booked our April flights through Princess Air. I was nervous about getting to the ship in time (1 1/2 hrs. between arrival in Ft. Lauderdale and ship leaving. Then our TA was notified that the flight was changed to an earlier one. When I went back to look at the flights, I saw that there were now lower prices. I called TA, she called Princess, and we saved about $110 pp. So you are not locked in to the price if it goes lower and I'm hoping you are guaranteed if it goes higher.

It's on the upper right hand corner under the banner. I've used it recently.

Just to add to what's already been said. I don't think there is any problem with bringing a drink to the lounge. We almost always had our wine topped off at the end of dinner and brought it up with us. The Viking staff are very accomodating and do not push you to buy drinks.

Enjoyed your comments. We're Celebrity cruisers but saw some Princess ads about the 50th anniversary so thought we'd give it a try. We're doing a TA and the ports (Ireland and Scotland) are different and appealing.

It sounds like OP booked directly with Viking and not through a TA. If you book through a TA, Viking (like other cruise lines) will not then deal with the customer. Situations like this are why some prefer to have a TA on their side. We recently took a Viking cruise (which we LOVED) but had a problem regarding some OBC we were supposed to receive but did not. We had TA handle it and did not have to call customer service, be on hold for long periods, etc. She did all the follow ups and we received a refund.

A wonderful, comprehensive review. Thanks

We were on the Grand European trip in Sept. We did the Rothenburg tour from the port of Wurzburg. It was 64 euros per person. That's the only tour of your list that was on our trip but all of the tours were in that price range. Hope that helps a little.

Notamermaid, I've been thinking about you lately, missing your wonderful posts. Glad to see you have your reporter's hat on again. Joanne

How usable is the shareholder benefit, i.e., is it combinable with other discounts? We usually cruise with Celebrity and we bought the RCI stock for the benefit only to find that it really couldn't be combined with anything, discount, OBC, etc. Luckily we still made a good profit when we sold it.

How much do they charge for BINGO? We usually cruise on Celebrity and it's really expensive.