flare3192

I personally like the trip insurance store. You always get the same people when you call and they know their stuff. I am most concerned about medical issues when I am away. So, for me, having primary medical coverage with high limits is important. Once I have paid for my trip, the money is gone. Sure if I can't go it would be nice to get my money back but what matters more to me is not to have a huge unexpected expense. So I always insure the minimum -- which is $500 a person--as soon as I make a payment. It gives me peace of mind. Then I can increase it as I want to -- If I pay $10,000 for the trip I decide to insure all of it or perhaps half of it or somewhere in between. I know that my medical is covered no matter what. And since my husband is 10 years younger his cost is less so I may cover his 100% and mine 50% and be willing to leave something on the table if I can't go. Sometimes I increase it over time -- Add $3,000 one month and then $3,000 another month to help even out the cash flow. There are a lot of companies that require you to have covered everything in order to waive the preexisting conditions coverage but they have some that do not require you cover everything. It is a personal decision -- how much are you willing to lose if you can't go for what would be a covered reason.

I am surprised you will be in Fusina and not Chioggia. We did the cruise and spent the 3 days in Chioggia. There were no excursions you could book on the second day before leaving for the cruise. However there were about 6 or 8 excursions available on the second day that we were not informed of until that week. You have a few days to decide on them. All of them were listed on the web excursion page. There is transportation to Venice the second day to do your own thing if you want to.

i have only done Viking and the experience on the ship is great. However, from what I understand there are times that they are inflexible or their policies are not use friendly. Read this board to find out those things and go with your eyes open -- things like having to pay for the cruise way in advance, the Viking insurance is not one you want to use, vouchers are tricky -- one time use and if something happens you lose everything-- if they have a deal on air realize that the routing may not be preferred. I do think a GOOD travel agent familiar with Viking will help around the things to watch out for-- there are a lot of not very good agents out there so find a good one. But we like the smaller ship -- there is no issue getting on or off -- the restaurants are all available without extra charge -- there are no children -- the staff are amazing. Included excursions are a hit or miss -- we did some and paid for some and used outside guides for some. I do not know how the price of additional excursions on Viking compares to additional excursions on Princess -- maybe someone else can help you here.

I do think that Viking's policies could use some improvement. They are very inflexible. I have not cruised much but I have spent a lot of time reading things here and learned a lot. I did not know anything about vouchers and that even though you paid for the initial cruise, the insurance assigns a zero value when you use them. That hurts if you have not been made aware of things. It is easy to say use a travel agent but trying to find a good one takes trial and error. You really do not know if you have a good one until problems arise and then it may be too late. I signed up for a cruise to Egypt while on a cruise with an agent who is Israeli. He suggested the dates in October 2024. He also knew that going on the pre to Israel was important to me. After I returned home I thought about the holidays in Israel -- Israel is on a lunar calendar so they change from year to year. It turns out we would be in Israel for Rosh Hashana -- basically like being here for Christmas. We were able to get the date changed to 3 days earlier and did it within a month of the original booking but Viking had raised their prices in that month and would not honor the price we had . So the price went up $1,000 for the two of us and there was no grace on their end even though the Israeli sales agent on the cruise should have thought about it. All they told me is that it would be discussed in training and meetings. That didn't help me. I don't have anything to compare them to. On board the two cruises we have taken the service was wonderful. There is a lot to like. And I do know that people would take advantage of them if they were more lenient. BUT I personally think they should have an ombudsman to review situations like this one. There could be a solution that would not leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

When we were in Ireland several years ago, my father in law passed away and we cut our trip short and came home. Since that time we have thought about it and we ensure that we have spent time before we leave with the person. If they were to pass away we do not want to know until we return as there is really nothing we can do for them. The important thing to us is how we treated them when they were alive and ensuring we have time with them before we leave. In my limited interactions with Viking, I do not think they will do any thing to accommodate you.

We are going on the egypt cruise in 2024 with the pre in Israel and the post to Jordan. We will upgrade to business class but am wondering if we should let Viking handle it or if even in business class you are the bottom of the barrel. I will consider doing it myself but am a little concerned about combining Israel and Jordan on my own. The little I have looked because it is not ticketable yet, I am wondering about Turkish Air. We are Atlanta and would usually prefer Delta but not sure about the return from Amman Does any one have any insight into this? Thanks

does anyone know who viking uses for Tel Aviv and Amman? We are going to do the Egypt cruise with the pre to Tel Aviv and the post from Amman. Thank you

We booked Egypt with extensions to Israel and Petra while on the ship. A month after coming home it dawned on me to check when the Jewish high holidays are in 2024 -- something I think the cruise salesman should have looked at before suggesting the dates as he is Israeli and was raised there. We were supposed to arrive Oct 1 2024 and leave October 5 -- As it turns out Rosh Hashona is Oct 2 - 4 2024. That is like Christmas over here -- most things would be closed. We asked to change the date and we are going 3 days earlier as that was available. However in the month since we originally booked, Viking had a price increase of $500 per person and would not do anything for us to honor the original price even though I feel that the onboard person steered us incorrectly -- he suggested the dates to us -- we did not come with dates picked out. As I told Viking, their employee was raised in Israel and should know to look for the holidays as they are on a lunar calendar that is different from our calendat. In 2023 the holiday is Sept 15 - 17 so we would not have had an issue. Unfortunately we are out an additional $1,000. With Viking you have to be careful because there is no grace. Doesn't matter who makes the error

thank you

In the past I have seen an email address to contact Viking about issues. I have been looking through here and can't find it so wondered if someone could please provide it. This email is usually answered by a department that resolves issues and I would like to contact them. Thank you

we were surprised last night to get the offer but there was no availability to replace the cruise until next year or 2025. We really needed more time to figure out how we could do it so they found others. it is only a week before the cruise and we are leaving in 4 days. We had scheduled things a walking tour of the amalfi coast after so we would have had to still go but change the air -- where we fly into and the date. Then we had other private guides in some of the ports -- they could be cancelled without penalty but these people have kept their schedule for us and I was not sure about cancelling. If we had only scheduled the cruise it would have been great but it would have been a huge headache to try to reschedule everything. But I wish I had considered this post more carefully earlier. We could have been ready to change.

thanks we have chosen ecoventura

we will be on the sky and I wondered if they have really good masseuses. If you have had a massage that was great would you please share the name of the masseuse? Thank you

I don't see a place to ask this question so if there is a place to direct me to, please let me know We would like to go to the Galapagos. I would like some feedback on the following ships Aqua Mare Origin, Theory, Evolve Infinity Evolution Elite of information on another cruise ship we should consider. We want excellent guides with a good command of English. We also would like a nice ship with comfortable cabins. A balcony might be nice. Thank you

This is basically our first cruise. We know about the included tips and leaving something extra for a person you feel deserves it. My question is for the tours -- if you take an included tour do you tip and, if so, how much. If you take a tour that you pay additional for do you tip and how much? If anyone is taking separate tours such as through tours by locals or viator do you tip and how much. We are doing a combination of all of these tours and I am trying to figure a budget for them. Also do you only tip in euros or is US dollars acceptable. We will be in Turkey, Greece, Croatia, Montenegro and Italy. Thank you for your input.

Do men wear hawaiian shirts to dinner with regular pants?

We are leaving the ship a day early and we had to get permission to do that. You may need to let Viking know you are planning to get off overnight.

cdnpolar we were on a river cruise where someone fell and was taken to the hospital. His wife was very upset as they did not have trip insurance and Medicare does not cover you out of the US (yes there are a few limited plans that have some coverage) Most policies have a preexisting condition waiver if the policy is purchased within a short time of putting any money down -- usually 2 to 3 weeks. Most of the policies require you to cover the complete cost of your trip for this but there are a few that do not per Steve at the trip insurance store. There are also some policies like geoblue which only covers medical. I do not have experience with it but have considered it. L do purchase trip insurance but I do not always cover the total cost of the trip. In that case I am aware that I could lose some of the cost of the trip and accept that. What I most want is to not incur additional unexpected costs due to illness, accident or transportation (airline) issues

it appears that Viking sells back to back cruises as one cruise. On the turnover day they do not have tours as they are too busy getting ready for new people and getting people who terminate in the city off. This happens in Athens, Venice and Rome. In Rome you can get off and do an excursion on your own. I am stuck with Venice which docks in Chioggia and has no excursions for the full day we are there and no easy way to do any excursions on our own as those all start from Venice. I have read that some people get off the ship and spend the two nights in Venice to be able to do things but that is both expensive and an inconvenience to pack for two days. I keep hoping Viking will do something for us.

We are on a Viking cruise from Istanbul to Rome in May. Since shore excursion descriptions have recently been made available I have looked at them. We arrive in Chioggia at noon on May 24 and leave at 5:00 pm on May 26. There are shore excursions for the day we arrive and the day we depart but nothing for the middle day-- not even transportation to Venice if we wanted. I am new to this and have tried finding things to do there with tours by locals and trip advisor and have found nothing. Would like swome ideas/input here if someone has any experience with this. Thank you

We have a cruise with the free included air. We paid for the air plus. Once ticketed we were able to upgrade the ticket to business and I could use miles -- which I did not have enough of -- or cash. The air was ticketed immediately and was on the itinerary I wanted. After that it was under my control and I could pick seats, pay for comfort or business upgrades. But that was done directly with the airline. Originally business was not available but as I watched it it did become available in the airline app and we took advantage of it. That said I usually prefer to book my own directly.

i would like the original op to give an update

thank you for this we are also new to viking and did not realize when we booked it that it is three different segments and people will come on or leave in Athens and Venice. We have arranged a driver for Athens for the two days so not a big issue but the amount of time in Venice is something I do not look forward to. It is a ot of time and it does not appear you can book alternate excursions as the docking information is up in the air. Chiggia has no companies dong excursions. Someone has told me to plan a down day so that will probably be here. Lets hope Viking does something for people on for the long haus

We will be on a cruise departing from Istanbul. We fly in two nights early and stay in old town. We thought we would take a taxi to the cruise ship with our luggage but after reading this I am wondering about that -- however with the crowding on the trams and with luggage I am still leaning to a taxi service and would like feedback on that. The day we board the ship we did not plan to do anything else Have to leave the hotel by noon.

what about leggings for women with a tunic top -- is this allowed?