3rdCoastFan

Can't say I'm thrilled about the rebooking options. From the TA we used to originally book a Feb 2024 Caribbean cruise that we turned into a March 2025 AZ/NZ cruise: 

Happy to share my experience. As others said, you can usually find out which artists will be on your sailing in advance. The ship has a sheet of flash that is always available - all black designs, no more than a half-dollar in size. I was hoping the artists on my voyage would have their own flash but no such luck. I didn't have a design in mind but saw some art on the wall that looked fun. The attached picture is the final result. This was my 8th tattoo. 

It seems that artists can't pick their own inks - they use what's provided by the ship. Mine is about a year old at it's still vibrant. I was quoted $300 and that was an absolute bargain compared to what this would have cost where I live in Chicago. If/when I sail with Virgin again and I have an idea for something palm-sized, I would get another one. 

Between the two artists on your specific sailing I wouldn't count on a specific one - when appointments opened up and they processed the line two artists took quick consultations as they became available but your mileage may vary. Slots at the end of the cruise book up the fastest (for obvious reasons). Though they use a heavy 'second skin' type bandage, I still wouldn't want to expose the tattoo to sunlight or submerge it in water (habits die hard). 

7 hours ago, neverendingcruising said:

You can pick cabin direct with the caveat that you have to call in to do so. 

That's good to know! My experience with the voucher has been that Virgin holds firm to the rule about auto-assigning a cabin unless you work through a TA. I had no issues calling in with my first Virgin cruise to select a specific cabin but was kindly rebuffed when I tried to use the voucher for a subsequent cruise. It's great that that's been changed since an unfavorable cabin could potentially ruin an entire trip. 

Re no 2 - my group of 4 ate at Gunbae and were seated with another couple. It was fine. Odds are good that if you are seated with another couple, that couple may not have wanted to share a table, either, so everyone already has something in common!

Kidding aside, the drinking game is about the only time you have to interact with other people. Don't get me wrong, I don't like communal dining and prefer to avoid it whenever I can -- however, if you are really excited about Gunbae, then I wouldn't necessarily let the communal dining aspect keep you away. 

The only downside I'm aware of is that if you book directly using a voucher, then you cannot select your specific cabin. Easiest way around that is to work with a TA who will  be able to select a specific cabin for you. 

25 minutes ago, TheDarkestBlue said:

Thanks for all the help 🙂 some more, please? 

 

Beds - I hear the beds can be really firm, read that someone had to have the room steward put two comforters on top of their mattress instead of an egg crate. Did an egg crate or mattress topper actually exist, and they were just out of them, or is that just a fish tale? 🎣  how's the pillows? 

 

Is there someplace to eat 24 hours? When is last call?

 

What time do the events wrap up?  Does the ship get quiet in the wee hours?

 

Been reading reviews, it really runs the gamut of people who were bored and felt everything closed up way early, to people who thought there was too much partying going on. I know it's a personal take on things. Someone was complaining about people just coming too close - I guess it's a product of how many sailors are aboard, or is that just the vibe?

 

We had an actual egg-crate style mattress topper on our Feb 2023 Caribbean cruise on the Scarlet Lady. It helped, though I suspect an extra comforter would have been better. We found the mattress firm for our tastes but not rock hard and  we ended up sleeping just fine. 
 

Diner & Dash in the Galley is open 24hrs, though the menu is limited to American diner breakfast staples. Ship Eats (room service) is also an option.
 

Most shows and events, including live music in On The Rocks, wrap up around 11 but there’s usually a party in the Manor that can go until 2-3. 

9 minutes ago, jon81uk said:

At $4 for a latte or cappuccino

all the coffee is under the $7 delivery fee. 
 

They do have pour-over drip coffee at the Grounds Club if you want to pay for drip, but yes if you want it for free you need to go to the Galley (or order it with brunch at Razzle or the Wake).

Right. It's been a few months since I was on my cruise but I think it was more that a macchiato was the cheapest drink available. Either way, easy way around the delivery fee. 

On 10/7/2023 at 7:13 PM, raphael360 said:

Virgin uses Intelligentsia Black Cat coffee beans for its drip/brewed coffee in the Galley.  I found it so good that I now use the same beans to make my daily coffee at home.  It's expensive at $17.50 per 10 oz bag, but worth it...

 

I'm always awake between 4 and 5 AM on the cruise so I head directly up to the Galley for my first 3 cups of coffee.  Here's a tip: there are 2 coffee stations in the galley so look for the one with the most recent brew (except at 4 AM when there is only one station open).

 

Bring your water bottle too.  There is no bottled water offered on board but there are many state-of-the-art water refill stations on the ship.

 

Quick tip - you can order direct with free shipping in 5lb bags, dropping the price to $1.14/oz. 

I was disappointed that the coffee bars didn't have drip coffee, as well, making it a slightly longer trip from my cabin on 9 up to 14 to get a mocha for my wife and drip coffee for me. Minor problem, though, all things considered. Ordering a macchiato via Ship Eats was our big discovery - one of the few paid items that was less than the delivery charge! 

My own experience was incredibly quick - our 6-night Western Caribbean Charm itinerary in Feb 2024 was cancelled and we decided to leverage that into an 11-night New Zealand/Australia itinerary in March 2025. Submitted the form late Sunday night and had a confirmed rebooking late Monday morning. The confirmation message indicated my bonus $600 would be a bar tab but when I logged into my account I saw it was properly described as sailor loot. A few minutes on hold after that, I was able to change my assigned cabin on deck 14 to one on deck 11. Only 531 days to go now... 

Our Loteria game awarded prizes of $10 or less - branded merch or games that you could find onboard. Everyone walked away with something, though - I got branded sunglasses and my wife a branded aluminum straw. Definitely an event more for fun than amazing prizes. We also got 5 drinks by the end of it, so I guess there’s that, too (a cocktail before each or the three rounds, plus a shot of tequila and mezcal each while playing). 

I had an easy time making dinner reservations at the 45-day mark - even a little earlier as reservations opened up around 5pm (US central) for me the day before. There’s also some value to leaving an evening open. A few days into our cruise, more events were added - including a set by the Hostess at On The Rocks - and while it’s not hard to rearrange or even cancel a dinner reservation I almost felt too locked in with my full slate of dinner reservations. 

On 3/3/2023 at 7:01 PM, nosaturn said:

is $150 a decent price for those tattos?

Agree with @periodic itinerant - I wouldn’t expect to pay any less for a tattoo. But I would also talk to the artist to maybe add some color or other details even if it means adding another $100 to the price. 
 

My tattoo showed up on their IG account. Both pictured in this post are great, but I’m partial to the mermaid skeleton (for obvious reasons). 
https://www.instagram.com/p/Co9xxJUNCaA/?igshid=MDM4ZDc5MmU=

As noted above, best way to see who is working on your voyage is follow the various Squid Ink accounts: 
https://www.instagram.com/squidink.vv/ 
https://www.instagram.com/squid.ink.official/ 

There is a small sheet of flash available for $150/piece. None are larger than 2x2", and I found them pretty uninspiring. I was expecting the artists to have their own flash but neither did on my voyage. You also didn't get to "pick" your artist - they started taking reservations at 7pm (people were in line by 6:30), and you just walked up to one artist as he finished with one client. If you connect ahead of time like AtSeaWithChris did I suppose it would be a little different. I'd pick a time as late in the voyage as possible to minimize the hassle of aftercare while sailing, but those spots are likely the first to go. I came up with a design on the spot and was quoted $300 ($150 deposit, the balance to be paid after the session) and I'm really happy with it. I sat for about 90 minutes. It's palm-sized, mostly black and grey with some color highlights. I didn't get a chance to take a picture before he wrapped it and it's still healing. No matter what the artist prefers or focuses on at home, this is more of a street shop and both artists I saw were good with all styles. But definitely come with an idea and as many reference materials as you can. As with other services on board, gratuity is included but I have always tipped tattoo artists in cash afterwards and did so here (good thing I won some cash off a slot machine the night before!). 

And I found a picture of the available flash: 

I found this a helpful resource in advance of my recent Sunsets & Soirees cruise (Feb 8-12, 2023): 
https://spark-aws.virginvoyages.com/api/v1/ext/ddp/5a3193a0af8e4c3fb714386b/2023-02-13#events 

We saw people dancing during most performances at On The Rocks. The Manor is a nightclub, and music will vary depending on the event (ie. Heartbeat will run more EDM, but the Disco Night... well, disco) but that venue was designed for dancing until late at night. I didn't see any acts at The Dock on my voyage, but I don't know that there's much room for dancing there anyway. 

Speaking of sharing a bar tab, I'd like to hop in and ask this - how does sharing a bar tab work, exactly? That is, if I get the bar tab on my account and I'm not physically with my wife, can she still put any drinks on "my tab"? Before the end of the cruise, can we ask someone in guest relations to simply move her drinks to my account? If anyone can share specifics of how it works to share a tab that would be much appreciated! 

I imagine I could give her my bracelet but then I couldn't order any drinks - solve one problem and create another!

I've been eyeing a cruise for next winter and was ready to put down a deposit for a suite during the "Sail Kid Free" offer but was too late. The next offer, "Never Too Late To Sale" expressly excluded suites, along with the current "Last Chance to Sale Away". Fingers crossed that a promotion including suites could come back. 

Virgin keeps a running tally of every promotion they've offered so far at the link below. It looks like suites were typically included in previous promotion, right up until mid-June. 

https://www.virginvoyages.com/promotions-terms-and-conditions 

My wife and I sailed on the Rhine Getaway in April 2019 so who knows what could have changed since then. We enjoyed most of the included excursions and found the guides to be engaging and informative. The standard Black Forest excursion was a bit of a let down. It's a long bus ride, and the countryside is pretty but... it's still a bus ride. Then you have about an hour, maybe 90 minutes, in a tourist center before taking another long bus ride back. This was also our last day on the ship so hindsight being hindsight, I would have preferred to just hang out on the sundeck and otherwise enjoy the ship. On the other hand, I did get to drive through the Black Forest and I don't know when I would have that opportunity again. 

The MEDIEVAL VILLAGE OF COLMAR visit was lovely. We had a great guide and plenty of time afterwards to keep wandering around for shopping and a quick bite to eat. 

We were not big fans of the DINE IN RÜDESHEIM AM RHEIN event. The food was pretty lacking, especially compared to what was being served on the ship. The "traditional music" wasn't exactly traditional, either - lots of old top 40 hits by way of an "Oompah" band. But the atmosphere was very lively and plenty of others there were enjoying themselves but we just weren't feeling it. 

On 11/8/2021 at 6:16 PM, MountainEER74 said:

After posting my question, I read the following:

 

"Viking Air Plus must be requested no later than 65 days prior to departure, and is not available for select air promotions."

 

I assume their free air is not one of these select air promotions. I have 557 days before our cruise so I have plenty of time. How do you go about getting Air+? When flights become available from the airlines, do you simply research the flights you like and then call Viking Air and let them charge you the extra $50 for Air+ or do you sign up for it ahead of time? 

 

Sorry for all the questions.

 

Thanks

 

Ah, the 65 day deadline makes sense since that's when Viking would otherwise finalize your flights and have your tickets issued to you. 

With the continued caveat that I have used Viking Air Plus only once (just due to lack of opportunity - again, I had a positive experience), I added Viking Air Plus when I paid the deposit. In order to request early ticketing, you must have paid for the full cruise fare. Airline tickets can usually be purchased 9-10 months in advance if I remember correctly - so once you reach that point, I suggest looking at airlines, layover times, connecting airports, etc. to see what you're comfortable with. Take that list of flight nos. and dates to Viking and they will tell you if the 'free air' promotion applies. You may want to ask about Premium Economy or Business seats, too - those won't be "free", of course, but the upcharge may be low enough to make it worthwhile. 

My own experience with Viking Air Plus is pretty similar to what everyone has said above. I paid the extra $50/person to pick flights, as well as a separate deviation fee so I could arrive into Amsterdam early for a DIY pre-cruise extension. Because I did my pre-cruise stay on my own, there was no transfer but Viking provided a transfer to the airport in Basel on disembarkation day. Fair warning, though, they will make sure you get to the airport at least two hours early! Some of the westbound flights to the US leave early so be prepared for a very early start. Viking also had a representative available inside the airport to make sure check-in went smoothly (which turned out to be very helpful for me). 

I had one itinerary in mind that I wanted (ORD > AMS on United and BSL > MUC > ORD on Lufthansa) but had backups just in case. As @sharkster77 said, be prepared with dates/flight numbers when you call! 

Even if Viking has preferred airline partners, they will let you book with whatever carrier you like if you pay for Air Plus. Some flights may not be covered by their free/reduced air promotion and you would pay the difference. It may also be possible to upgrade your seats with point/miles (obviously depends on your carrier). Things may have changed recently but an airline like United will permit you to upgrade nearly any ticket unless it's a basic economy seat. Depending on how many miles you have, you could get a free economy seat via Viking and then upgrade pretty cheaply to premium econ or even business. 

If you intend to upgrade on your own, you will likely need to request early ticketing. Even if you tell Viking which flights/seats you want 10 months advance, you will not be issued an eticket number. Airlines can't process upgrades until the flight is ticketed, however. Depending on how confident you are that the cruise will happen, you may not mind the tickets being issued early as changes to ticketed flights could come with fees totaling several hundred dollars each. On the other hand, one benefit to booking through Viking is that if they cancel the cruise, they will deal with the airlines. 

ETA: @MountainEER74 I believe you can add it up until Viking would otherwise issue you tickets. I would add it sooner rather than later to improve the chances that there will be seats on the flights you prefer. 

My experience with Viking Air was pretty easy a few years back. We booked a river cruise and the airfare offer was $250 for economy (ORD>AMS and BSL>MUC>ORD). As soon as I made our final payment, I was able to request early ticketing. Viking tried to dissuade me but, as mentioned already, you are otherwise left only with a 'reservation'. I planned on using miles to upgrade our seats to business and United wouldn't do anything until the flights were actually ticketed. Everything worked out nicely, mostly. When we got to Basel, the gate agent was unable to issue a boarding pass for MUC>ORD. Viking's representative stayed with us and helped translate so we knew what was happening. 

To your concerns, @OnTheJourney, if you want to upgrade your seats on your own (and outside of Viking), you'll need to request early ticketing. However, once the tickets are issued, and if things go pear-shaped, you may have to work directly with the airlines to handle refunds/cancelations/etc. 

3 hours ago, sally4909 said:

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions. I have an uber account in the US. Can that be used in Amsterdami? I will lokk into airportstaxitransfers.com. as well.

It sure can - the fare will be charged in local currency so it may trigger an additional foreign transaction fee depending on the credit card linked to your account. Otherwise, the app works just like it does in the US. 

One difference, though, are the cars themselves. Most cars are small and have limited trunk space. While there may be the same 'XL' option, there may not be many 'XL' cars when you need one. Just something to consider if you will be traveling with lots of luggage. 

Prior to my cruise last spring, I had terrible experiences with Viking's customer service agents. Simple questions would result in wildly inconsistent answers depending on what agent happened to pick up the phone or respond to my email. I was worried how that would carry over once I was on the boat but everything was great -- once I was on board. If nothing else, rest assured that once you get to Paris and start your cruise, Viking's staff should be much more accommodating and helpful than what you're experiencing now. 

Specifically with Air Plus, I had very specific flights in mind and called in to request them as soon as I could. Within a couple of days, the itinerary completed changed (for no reason that I could discern). Air Plus was able to get my original itinerary back and I requested that Viking ticket the flights immediately. That also allowed me to secure upgrades directly with the airline rather than continue to work through Viking. 

Did Viking request that the airlines ticket your flights? That is, do you have the 13-digit ticket numbers? I think that paying for Air Plus is a no-brainer but Viking seems to only make a reservation when you arrange flights. The tickets are not issued until much closer to your departure date. You can request early ticketing though Viking will try and talk you out of it - there is a fee to change flights later on but if you're set on travel dates, I think it's worth the trade-off. Plus, once you have the tickets, airlines are able to (if not obligated to) help out. 

I've been to Dublin only once but loved it - it may not be necessary to spend more than a couple of days there but I think it would be a missed opportunity to treat it only as a pick-up/drop-off site for a rental car. As suggested above, consider fitting in a couple of days to stay in Dublin and otherwise limit the amount of driving on your trip. 

For me, and I'm also in Chicago, I spend enough time in cars in a normal work week - if I can avoid cars while on vacation, I'm happier for it! 😁

We did the Rhine Getaway in April 2019 and really enjoyed the flexibility of the drinks package. I didn't care for the included beer (Bitburger) and the red and white selections each night were a little dull. I made my way through the high-end single malt collection over the 7 nights - always ordered a double (those pours are smaller by default) and never got charged. Certain bottles in the wine list were not included but everything else was covered by the package. 

If it's any value to the OP, I posted dailies for my Rhine Getaway last April. While itineraries are always subject to change, this may give you a good idea of what to expect while on board a Viking ship.