khurley20

On 1/15/2022 at 8:47 PM, Peregrina651 said:

 

 

We weren't just told "you are now going to Mexico." We were given a choice to keep the booking or cancel for a full refund and as far as I know without losing any vouchers.  We stuck with the trip so I can't speak personally about the cancellation process but none of the people on our roll call reported any issues. Those who stayed on were given an OBC commensurate with the cabin category in recompense; it was more than enough to cover the three tours we wanted to do and the gratuities. 

 

You have been a voice of reason for many years on this site. Thank you for always clearing the confusion.

On 11/12/2021 at 3:58 PM, Peregrina651 said:

 

  Can't compare the two. Different rules for arriving by cruise ship vs airplane. 

Peregrina651 - we were in Maui the third week in by August. Maui was open but the restrictions were brutal, negative tests within three days of arrival, rental cars wanted to see clearance, hotels wanted to see clearance so not surprised Hawaii said they can’t handle cruises. BTW - restaurants were running at 50% capacity and were booked solid out for three months in many locations. There is a real shortage of workers at least in Maui.

Were the jeans made of denim? We are going to be onboard in cooler months, and were planning to take needlecord or corduroy trousers. They are cut like denim jeans, but obviously are in fifferent fabric and different colours. They do look very smart casual when worn with coordinating tops.

Yes, denim. No issues with Dockers. That is what I changed into,

Yes, things have changed. There was even a notice to the entry of the restaurant stating the policy. They were Levi jeans - yes they were casual and not fancy. Jeans were allowed at breakfast but not at dinner. BTW - I am ok with the policy.

I can confirm that jeans cannot be worn by men in the The Restaurant onboard the Viking Ocean ships in the evening. I was refused entry until I went back to the cabin and changed. However, there was at least one woman wearing jeans that was allowed in; nice jeans but jeans.

Congratulations! Sept 2019 will be here before you know it.

I booked my Viking cruise 18 months in advance, and I finally will be on board next Tuesday.

We did this same cruise two years ago and loved the experience. In fact, we are thinking about doing it again but going from Venice to Barcelona. IMHO.... Pompeii was disappointing. There were fences up all over, I assumed, to avoid looting. Not what Rick Steve's had in his visit. Sorrento was amazing but can get crazy crowded. Everyone wanted you to taste their limoncello and orangecello. Glad we had a extended drive back so I could nap.We were there in March so I canot tell you about the weather later in the year. March was cool but we saw only one day of rain (sea day). Enjoy the trip!

I'm not totally sure just when your ship gets into Venice, but if you're up when it's approaching the city/island, you might want to look outside. Venice is one of those ports where you often cruise past San Marco cathedral and some of the city when the ship is coming or leaving. It's not a close drive by, but enough to make it a pretty nice sail-in or out. However, for disembarkation ports, I've often found that cruise ships can come into port at least an hour or two before their stated arrival time, as there's lots for the crew to do to get everyone off the ship that day. I've often woken up on disembarkation day to find the ship is already docked, which can be a little disappointing in certain ports.

I disembarked in Venice. I will not ruin your day by telling you when you leave the ship but you will not have any quiet time nor time to go ashore. You will likely be at the airport before the sun rises.

Which ship and what was his name? That is if you were sober enough to remember! You got to drive the ship?![/quote

 

It was the Viking Sea and his name was Tommy. But that is all I remember. Seriously, the service was amazing and there was never an issue with sending a drink back if you didn’t like it. What was really nice was an Irish coffee to end the evening.

Hi

We are on a Viking Cruise in April that ends in Rome and then we are renting an apartment for 4 days in Rome. We plan on touring Rome for two days with a day trip by train to Florence for the third day.

Can anyone recommend a private tour company for 4 adults including transportation to spend perhaps one day at the Vatican, bypassing lines, and the next day doing the other Rome sites?

 

Who would you recommend and why?

Thanks all....Can't wait for our cruise!

Ken

Contact The Roman Guy. Found him through Rick Steves. Go to the website. Lots of tours avaibale. We did 4 of them and recommended them to friends who used them for 3- 4 tours as well. Great people...amazing access to some locations in that some of them are Roman locals...including Mama Bear ( she takes care of her cubs). Can hook you up in Florence. Ask for Brandon...one of the owners. An American that is living Italy.

Thanks very much for this info!!

We did the Mediterranean Odyssey two years ago. There was a stop in Dubrovnik. We LOVED it. If you are a fan of GOT, then you will recognize several locations in Dubrovnik (walk of shame, etc). Need to walk the wall - it is about a mile around but gives an interesting view of the town. Note the color of the roofs - all are red but some are a different shade. The brighter roofs are those that were damaged and replaced during the war. It is also a location of the last Star Wars movie (we were there when the set was up). Walk thru the town and enjoy. It was pouring rain when we were there so we walked the wall, went back to the ship to change and then went back into town on the shuttle. Enjoy your trip.

We will be purchasing the drink package for the same reasons.

I love a good lemon drop, cosmo, or classic gin martini before going to dinner. :)

We found an amazing bartender and followed him all over the ship. He was very knowledgeable and was an expert about nuiances with some drinks like Manhattans. Had a great time trying new drinks and chatting over the geographical / cultural nuiances. Don't drink much but fun as long as I wasn't driving the ship.

 

That's not too bad, unless everybody is trying to get a cab. We are overnighting in Livorno and so we won't have to worry about missing the ship if we take a later train. However, if we were just there for the day, we would definitely depend on Viking's OYO for transportation.

 

I agree with Peregrina. Use the Viking OYO transportation. Florence has so many things to see and experience and one of them is the church in Santa Croce. You will not believe the tombs that are there. The history is deep and the art is amazing. I may want to suggest that you consider a tour guide because there are so many hidden gems in Florence, you won't want to miss any of them.

 

We did the Viking OYO transportation in Rome to get there and took the train coming back. Worked perfect until we found that the train depot was some distance from the port and had to become creative to get back to the ship.

We will be signing up for our tours in the next couple days for our Caribbean trip on the Viking Sea in February. We are also doing a couple of private tours. I was wondering if we sign up for a couple of the walking tours, if my husband gets tired, or we aren't interested in the next stop, can we opt to leave the tour and get transportation back to the pier on our own? Do we have to return to the ship with the group, or can we choose to stay on in town?

We have used Viking transportation to get to town and them went out on our own. It is only polite to let the guide know what is going on since they will be concerned if someone is missing. Also note, you should have planned a way to get back to the ship (pick up spot, cab, train, etc). In Rome, we left the group and went back to the port by train. Worked great except we found we had little opportunity for transportation from the train depot to the port. We worked it out. It was an adventure but there were moments where we questioned the decision. Would do it again.

You sure can! Please have your Travel Agent call or email us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com so that we can arrange this for you.

Looking forward to cruising with you.

Best regards,

Viking Cruises

Well things do change so I would suggest that you take this offer up as soon as possible. We booked a trip about 16 months in advance and paid for it in full well before the deadline and were told we could not book flights...period. We will be coming out of Bergen and were told Viking Air was not available. Then something happened. The policy changed and we were not notified ...now you can book thru Viking Air. Too late for us. We have just been assigned our flights and they are less than desireable. In fact, we booked a trip with Viking about 20 months ago and got great flights into Barcelona. This next trip begin in Barcelona again but we cannot get the same flights in.

How do I find these? I checked the Viking site and tried searches but no luck. Thanks. Mary Jane

You can use the link above....good luck.

There isn’t a bad spot on the ship. I, for one, just kept moving from bar to bar. They are all over but the Explorer Lounge was quiet and the view is amazing; both levels... and there was a bar there as well.

Just found a new offer from Viking. Begin with a river cruise that starts in Switzerland for 8 days then hop on an Ocean cruise for 10 days to either Bergen or Barcelona.

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/oceans/cruise-destinations/ocean-river-voyages/index.html

Now that sounds cool. Putting that on the list.

Thanks for the responses. We'll either bring the gin and tonic or my husband will be okay with some wine and beer. Thanks again. Pat

Depending on your embarkation point, you may be able to purchase duty free as you board. In Barcelona, you need to walk by the duty free as you go up the escalator to the ship. Note there were some hours they were not open but you are there’s day and a half before shoving off.

Our idea here in Florida where many of us seniors live would be early dining as soon as the restaurants open and late dining around 2000 hours or later. We enjoyed the latter when we were young but since we go to bed much earlier now, the earlier the better. I would have to pass on the specialty restaurants if all that is available is late dining. :)

Don’t give up too soon. Every trip is different and so are the passengers. I recommend you checking in and ask for availability. There was always an opening somewhere, sometime. We never had an issue getting a table early in the evening. Also check when the evening entertainment starts....always seemed to be a good time to get in.

We are on a GTY wait list with Viking. We booked a cruise and then it was cancelled. Another cruise, same itinerary, was scheduled for two weeks earlier and we were asked and moved onto the earlier date but our room was already booked - thus GTY. Now just awaiting room assignment

I am curious as to how you get on a waitlist. Did you purchase one class of cabin and then call and ask specifically about the possibility of upgrades? I've never seen a guarantee cabin offered by Viking Ocean, not on travel agent sites or theirs.

Thank you so much for the feedback. Did you take the Viking excursion to Normandy or contract with a private guide / transportation?

So how was this itinerary? Pros and cons. We are scheduled inApril next year. Thank you.

Ok, we are not hard drinkers. However, we met the most amazing bartender on our trip and purchased the Silver Package. He took the time to teach us how to make drinks at home, exposed us to new variations of the drinks we would normally have in our home and generally was just a great conversation guy. The fun part is if you really didn't like the drink you were served, he would replace it.

If you are concerned about the cost, don't do it. There are lot's of beers and wine to choose from.

Note: the beer and wine were only served during dining hours. However, it seemed like there were very few hours in a day where they weren't serving someplace.

Lastly, I recommend an Irish coffee after the morning tours. We had rain one day, came back, grabbed one from the bar and waited for the rain to clear before we went out again. Priceless.

:D Looks like Viking posted a number of new cruise dates on June 1 for those looking for more opportunities in 2018.