TayanaLorna

Millybess. It's 1.5 gb which is huge if we don't stream or live broadcast. I agree, I don't like it when folks walk around video-ing and chatting with someone back home. It's loud, annoying and a breach of my privacy.

Many folks on CC & FB have been wanting to stream sporting events and movies as well as Facetime with friends/family or work on line. On all our cruises Viking has asked guests to download their Kindle books, new apps and entertainment before leaving home and to limit their on board Wifi usage to non-data heavy modes like text, WhatsApp and internet searches. Many folks ignore the request and do as they please. Viking has responded to those needs and I personally don't think it is nickle and dime-ing. Let those who want it pay for it. What cruise lines give high quality WiFi service to even the most basic stateroom cabin level for free? What cruise line has offered free Wifi to all for years? I am grateful to have had free WiFi on board over the years and that my future on board usage will continue to be included. On all our cruises we have not needed to incur extra cell phone charges ever. We always used WhatsApp on board to communicate with any private guides we booked and fortunately never had an on shore emergency where we had to use our cell phone. At home we watch movies via a WiFi service in the evenings but would socialize with friends in a heartbeat if we could on any particular evening. On the occasion where we tried to watch a movie onboard on Viking TV, we would fall asleep after a half hour. I just checked my total cellular data and WiFi usage on both my phone and tablet and it was 22.35 gb for the entire month of November. I watch lots of U-Tube videos on my devices, email, text, WhatsApp, use CC and FB, read news and search the Internet. There always seems to be an unsolicited pop up video playing somewhere too. Looks like 1.5 gb per day on board will do me fine. There are still some areas of the globe where the Starlink satellite coverage is thin so service won't always be as good as desired. Saturn is sailing in the Med region for the next few months where i believe the coverage is good. Will be interesting to hear more reports from those on board.

You ask a customer service rep on the phone, email tellus@vikingcruises.com or, if all else fails, go to each restaurant on the day you board and make the addition. We have done it on board but had to change our dinner time.

For peace of mind it helps to be sure the tags the airline puts on your luggage indicate your final destination city. And you do know that when returning to the US, you clear Customs & Immigration at the first arrival airport. If you have a connection to another US city, you must claim your bags and transfer them yourself to the baggage drop off location for your connecting airline and go through Security before finding your connecting gate.

Well folks we know are doing this on our next cruise. They are using our flight information as their arrival and meeting us outside the baggage claim at our arrival terminal. They are doing their own week long pre before joining us on the Viking pre. They are also saavy travelers who can figure out how get to the exit door for a particular flight baggage claim. If Viking is picking us up there, should be no reason they would not pick up others traveling with Viking on a pre extension. On Viking transfers they have met us inside after Customs & Immigration clearance (Santiago), inside at baggage claim (Bergen), inside at baggage claim (Barcelona) and outside baggage claim on the curb (Iceland). Iceland (2021) really threw us off because we could not find any Viking reps inside at all and got worried. Then we saw the red jackets outside through the glass windows. In Bergen we did not even arrange a Viking transfer. We planned to take the Flybusse. Viking reps saw our red tags, grabbed our bags and directed us to the transfer bus. We thought - oh boy, a free transfer - but they figured it out and charged our stateroom account.

Well this is interesting. Our TA handled the flight communication details with Viking but i think i will check on it as this is the first time we are using a TA. Will request a new Guest Statement to confirm. Thanks.

Yes you get the transfers if you take a Viking pre or post extension even if you do your own airfare. Yes you must give Viking your complete travel itinerary. We are doing a pre in February and did just that. We asked Viking if there was a time frame within which we must arrive. We arrive at 11:10 am and asked if we would have to wait for later flights to arrive before being transferred. We were told they would have transfers running from morning until 5 pm. Our pre location is quite a distance from the airport and that evening is a group dinner at a winery so as not to miss an included event there is an arrival time limit.

Ushuaia, Argentina. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Cruise through Chilean Patagonia.

The suggested gratuity amount went to $17/pp/per day around Spring of this year. The SSBP also went up to $25/pp/per day and the drinks menu without SSBP increased. I think if you did not pre pay the gratuities or the beverage package, then you are subject to new pricing. Welcome to post Covid inflation. I guess it remains to be seen if folks can bring their own alcohol on board and where they can drink it. Anyone with recent experience?

Another slider issue is if it is rolly, the motion may cause the slider to open and close over and over. Having had both, we prefer the door. Just have to be sure we catch it as it closes so as not to slam. Well, I guess the same courtesy applies to the stateroom door.

Last May I booked a cruise under a really good promo code, got the stateroom I wanted, and the $25 deposit. My TA had to ask for the 6 month final payment date. It was not given automatically. Theoretically March 2024 would be the 6 month payment date for a September cruise since you have an upcoming cruise on the books.

If you can get the same stateroom category from a TA for $3,000 less do it now. Promo codes have the best pricing nowadays. You already have a cruise booked so you should get the 6 month prior final payment date - be sure your TA asks for it. Plus if you have a good TA you should get anywhere from $150 to $500 per person OBC depending on the number of nights of your cruise. What's there not to like? Just be sure all the details on your Guest Statement confirm what you think you booked including Final Payment Date before you pay the deposit. TA given OBC does not usually appear on the Viking statement so be sure you have it in writing from your TA. We usually get the Viking Guest Statement and a statement from our TA.

Wino? I resemble that remark. For the included during lunch and dinner - one red variety or white - probably not. However folks can ask for the wine list just like in any restaurant and have many choices to purchase by the glass for about $8. Or there are more choices on that list to purchase a bottle anywhere from $45 to $100+. She can bring what she does not finish at one sitting back to the room to drink another day. You probably want to bring your favorite wine stopper cork in your luggage. You can also purchase wine on shore and bring on the ship. No corkage fee and she can drink it in any restaurant or lounge on board. Staff will happily provide glasses.

The cruise ship dock was damaged by high flooding in 2021 and as of March 2023 was not rebuilt nor could we see any work being done. The only cruise ship to dock at Port of Manaus was the local 150 guest river boat Iberostar Grand Amazon which we took for a 4 day cruise further up the river. We arrived in Manaus on the Viking Sea which anchored. A floating platform was attached to our ship and the local tour boats docked there to pick up guests for water based excursions. Instead of using ships tenders to reach town, local boats also docked at the platform to ferry folks for land excursions and also to disembark to the airport or town at the end of the cruise.

You could probably find one to use from one if the kitchens.

Thank you. You have given me some very useful ideas. I usually completely unpack and store things once on ship but think i will order some cubes for our hotel day stays. I can separate the clothing into cubes that we will use for the first 4 days before the cruise and, when packing for disembarkation, separate clothing for the final 4 nights. Amazon here I come.

Sleep7, on Ocean cruises, guests must line up at the entrance door to The Restaurant to be seated by Viking staff. Folks are not allowed to enter the Restaurant before opening time to claim their table. Is it the same on River? I ask because i read recently on CC and FB complaints about people on River who go in early and claiming the same window table each day or else sitting at a large table and refusing to let others sit there because they are holding it for friends. On Ocean, Viking seats a large party only when all guests arrive.

I get depressed when i see travelers trotting off with carry on only or when i read their packing list contains 2 pairs of pants, 4 shirts and 1 sweater.

You are right. River cruises go from point A to B with occasionally a hotel stay at the beginning or end. I don't think any Viking Ocean cruises have a hotel stay at either end unless you book and pay for a pre or post. However with both River and Ocean, one needs to look at the day by day itinerary to learn if there is an overnight in port, a sea day, a scenic cruising day or a hotel stay at either end of the cruise. Now gnome12, you really have me thinking about those packing cubes. I've read that some folks pack them as outfits for the day. I like to choose what I wear according to my mood and the weather. But all the same stuff separated into individual cubes is intriguing. How do the cubes fit into a suitcase? Are there still corners and edges where you can stuff rolled up underwear or socks?

Well I definitely resemble Sleep7 in bringing way too much. I really need to rethink packing for our next trip as I created an insane itinerary for us. Will be doing 1 night in Madrid, 3 nights on a Viking pre in Umbria, 14 nights on ship, 2 nights post in Athens and 2 nights in Madrid. For flights I like to cross pack our bags in case one gets lost or delayed.

Hotel stays are easy to miss unless we read the day by day itinerary. What is harder to learn is if a one week itinerary is part of 2, 3 or 4 segments. We booked Italy, the Adriatic & Greece as a 2 week itinerary only to learn afterwards that it is segments 2 & 3 of a 4 week itinerary. It doesn't matter to us other then folks will be disembarking in Venice and new people will board. Viking sold 4 one week itineraries each with a different name. Then they sold a 4 week itinerary with a different name and another 3 week itinerary with a different name. The weeks go from Barcelona to Rome, Rome to Venice, Venice to Athens and Athens to Istanbul.

I see you did find my West Indies & Amazon plus Iberostar cruise write up. Thank you for reading and liking it. I get so wordy and you gave me some ideas for style change with yours. I like being able to ID some of the photos but when i post so many at once i can't get captions inbetween. We like off the beaten path itineraries and off season for less crowds as well.

Thank you for this magnificent report. This itinerary might be our first river cruise. I don't like crowds of people and your trip seemed quite uncrowded - at least the photos. Our next Ocean cruise is the Med in February.

I can understand your frustration in learning how much you could have saved in OBC by using a TA. I began hearing about the amounts a TA is allowed to offer by Viking here on CC. After 5 cruises, we asked for a recomnendation from someone I met on CC and then in person on our cruise. Its a TA who is very familiar with Viking and gives the highest allowable OBC. I booked our next cruise directly with Viking and transferred it to our new TA within the required 30 days. I booked another cruise a few months later but had the TA do it for me. It was for 2025 with no cabins near sold out and i told her exactly what cabin i wanted and she got it. We are a bit specific in our cabin locations and if there was limited availability i would have made the reservation directly with Viking so i could review room availability and decide on the spot. The only differences i found is that i can no longer request a Guest Statement through MVJ and have to ask our TA to send it to us. The Viking invoice does not show the OBC from the TA. It only shows the OBC that Viking sometimes gives in a promotion. I also receive an invoice from the TA in their name and the TA OBC is listed there. I can have the TA do as much or as little as I want. The TA reminds us when final payment is due, we tell her how to pay it - either CC or bank transfer for the 3.3% discount. It is not paid early but on the due date or the date I say it should be paid. If I refer someone else, we will receive a referral check from the TA after the cruise is completed. Friends were joining us on our next cruise so i referred them. I don't mind at all that our CC friend will receive a referral fee from us as i asked them for the name of their TA. What I did mind was a guy on a cruise once "working the room" with a stack of his TA cards asking people if they use a TA and then trying to "sell" them. Totally inappropriate.

Enjoying this very much. Thank you. I like how you are including the Dailies, menus and photos from the same day/location. It gives a continuity to the photo journal. I also like your technique of showing a photo or two along with your comments and posting it as an individual item.