BluebonnetTexan

Keep an eye on this thread below. @CharTravupdates it pretty frequently 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2651194-viking-ocean-combined-cruise-schedule

1 minute ago, KBs mum said:

A thought occurs, as you like Tia Maria, you might also like Baileys, it's an Irish cream liqueur that has several 'flavours'. It's not as sweet, and works well added to coffee to jazz it up a bit on cold days

 

I love Bailey's! It was really the only liqueur I'd tried much before the Tia Maria. We didn't have alcoholic beverages in the house growing up, and it has only been in the last few years that I've indulged. My current favorite drink is what I call a "Salty Maria" - Bailey's Salted Caramel with Tia Maria. And Bailey's Vanilla Cinnamon is another I use in my "Nancy B&B". 🍸  There's some other new Bailey's flavors I need to try, too! Another reason I liked having the SSBP - I'd try a different cocktail every afternoon and not worry about if I was going to like it or not. Found some things I liked and some that I thought I'd like, but didn't! Again, for me it was about the experience and ability to try some new (to me) things. And, yes, I could've tried all of those on a pay as you go without the SSBP, but it's just a different mindset when it is all already prepaid for. LOL!     

22 hours ago, KBs mum said:

Tia Maria is not an upgrade in the UK, its a drink popular with teenagers and elderly female relatives. 

I knew I should have added quotes around that usage of "upgrade" too! LOL! Guess, I'm feeling older than my age or maybe younger! Again, individual perspectives and tastes will vary. I was just going with the Viking terminology. All I know is that it went really, really well with the chocolate desserts it was paired with for my taste. Yes, port and chocolate pairs well, too. But as I already mentioned I'm not a big fan of ports, so for me this was the type of experience I was looking for at Chef's Table. And, yes, we have found wines on the included list that we liked better than some on the SSBP list - but that's how it goes with wine and individual tastes. The SSBP just gives us more options to choose from in my opinion thereby broadening chances of finding something you really like. But, as others have mentioned, Viking seems willing to work with you, if you really dislike an included wine, to find a suitable replacement. What we observed is that they cycle through various included wines - so it isn't like they serve the exact same red, white, and rose' every meal. 

So back to the OP's question - Are the "premium" wines at Chef's Table worth the extra $25/person? I think if you view it as getting the optimal pairing for the menu, then it is. If that isn't important to you, then probably not. Either way, it should be a fun experience! I hope you enjoy whichever menu(s) you select as well as whichever wine pairing!   

It really depends on how you value and perceive the Chef’s Table experience, in my opinion. For us, it was about trying things we might not have tried otherwise. And although we did have the SSP, so the “upgraded” wines were available to us, I think we would have paid for them at the Chef’s Table based on the assumption (yes, I know better) that these would be the Chef’s preferred selections for each course. There are four courses, so four wines. If we hadn’t had the upgrade, I’d probably never have tried Tia Maria, which is now a staple in my liqueur lineup. Instead, it would have been a port, which my husband loves, but I’ve yet to try one that I’ve really enjoyed. Everyone’s tastes are different, so really it just depends. 
I’d recommend going and getting the menus when you board to see what the pairing options are for included vs. upgraded wines for each course and decide then. 

Even if limited to Mile 43, you will have some spectacular views (pending general visibility) and potential for wildlife sightings that are incomparable. We were lucky when we went in 2018 that we were able to see the majority of the Denali mountain on several days. Most people may only catch a brief glimpse even if you were able to go further into the park.

Many thanks to all the WC folks who have shared their adventures with us on CC and via some wonderful daily blogs! I’m going to miss following you all each day when everyone’s cruise is over. 

Eylarson, Sounds like time to find a new TA!

31 minutes ago, MarkBearSF said:

I saw a menu picture from California theme Chef's Table. It appeared that there were no choices for the main course (or others). Is this the case? In our case, we'd have to cancel because my husband is allergic to fish. (I'm also a bit picky, which could be a potential issue)

Not to mention we probably wouldn't pick the "California Cuisine" theme, well because....

 

Mark, this is true that it is a fixed course dinner. However, if someone has an allergy then the chef will usually supply an alternate course for that person. One of our foursome on our 2019 cruise had a seafood allergy and each meal would be discussed with him in advance - whether in The Restaurant, Manfredi's, or the Chef's Table. Viking is very accommodating in this regard. 

Vineyard View, we took the voucher in the same timeline as your friends. If you took the voucher and didn’t use it within two years, only then can you get the refund of the original monies paid. So, it makes sense to me at least as to what they were told. The T&C have changed slightly over time since the pandemic began, too. So everyone needs to carefully read theirs as to the specifics each time. 

1 hour ago, Cienfuegos said:

In my experience, Viking's Chef's Table specialty restaurant greeter will ask if the guest prefers to join a larger table, or sit at a table for two.  If you elect the larger table, the greeter walks you to their choice, and seats you.  I don't recall if they introduce the guests, I don't think they do.

 

I think that's a fine way to handle it.

That’s how it works on Viking Ocean, but not on Viking River. There are no 2-tops or even 4-tops on River that I’ve been on in the Main Dining (versus Aquavit Terrace). So you are usually looking to join other guests for dinner and on River it is all one seating time. 

Here's another vote for Alla. We used them in June 2019. While we had 14 in our group, that was far better than 35-40 in the similar Viking tour group and half the price. I also compared them with TJ Travel and SPG - all very similar with some very minor differences in their 2-day tours. We also added on the evening Faberge Museum tour with Alla. They took great care of us and our guide was probably the best I've ever had. I guess the big caveat these days is that my experience was pre-Covid, so I'm not sure what the policies are now. However, it should explicitly state on the 3rd party sites whether they provide the visa or not. 

I'll echo what the others have said - very easy to get a cab from the dock to the train station in Bergen; very easy to book the train ticket yourself and I agree that you should book Comfort Class; very easy to find hotels near and even within the train station in Oslo. We stayed at the Comfort Inn Grand Central - didn't even have to leave the station to get to it! Then it was also very easy to catch the express train to the airport for our departure.

And yes, the scenery was stunning! 

We did the Grand European as our very first cruise in 2017 (retirement splurge) and fell in love with Viking and cruising. We went from Budapest to Amsterdam. If you've never been to Budapest - definitely plan extra days there pre or post depending which direction you go. We had planned to do the Passage to Eastern Europe cruise from Budapest to Bucharest last summer, but well, you know... In hindsight we wished we'd done the the whole European Sojourn in 2017, but were afraid to commit to that long of a trip having never done one before. 

MDR = The Restaurant

Buffet = The World Cafe 

Manfredi's is Italian

The Chef's Table is a rotating fixed menu featuring regional cuisine

We learned several things on our Viking Homelands trip. 1) Whatever time you plan to spend in Stockholm is not enough! 2) Be sure to check if for local special events and holidays which might impact what is open and when. 

We arrived two days before embarkation - we bought the 3-day Stockholm Pass and managed to do the HOHO loop the afternoon we arrived to get oriented. We realized the week before we left that Sweden's National Day was the day we were to embark the ship, so that impacted what was going to be open and we adjusted our plans to take advantage. The next day we took the first morning boat to Drottningholm Palace (using our Pass) and then did the Under The Bridges Tour in the afternoon to see more of Stockholm from the water. Viking does a similar Drottningholm Palace tour, but we paid less for the whole 3-day pass than Viking charges for that one tour. It was easy DIY. On the embarkation day, we checked out of our hotel early, checked our luggage, and caught an early ferry (or maybe the HOHO boat) I don't recall which now to arrive at the Vasa when it opened. We were able to get on an early English tour and then spent at least another hour there - we were probably there about 3 hours. You don't want to miss it. We went back to our hotel at that point and took a taxi with our bags to the ship, got checked in then headed to the Royal Palace which was open for free due to it being Swedish National Day. We did miss the changing of the guard, so can't comment on that, but there is so much to see around Stockholm. We wandered around Gamla Stan the rest of the day, including the Nobel Museum, which I also highly recommend. You can definitely spend hours there, too, if you like that kind of thing. We had two in our group ready to go after about 30 minutes, and the other two could have stayed all day!  On the morning of departure we took the ferry across to Skansen Open Air Museum. As it was the day after the holiday, the ferry schedule was not running as often as other days, so again be aware of these types of issues when getting between sites. Our foursome was so-so on the Skansen, but I think it was because a lot of the buildings were not open yet after the prior evening's festivities. At any rate, there were still several things we had tentatively on our to-do list, so we want to go back to Stockholm! We ultimately opted for doing several things well, instead of shortchanging one place to get to the next. And, we got our money's worth out of the Stockholm Pass, of course YMMV.  

@notamermaidYes, it would have been an amazing trip. We had it meticulously planned! Planes, trains, automobiles, and riverboats! 😉 

I'll continue following this thread closely to see how the river runs this year in hopes of planning it again in the future for optimal water levels (which of course you never truly know, but I'll take my chances with averages). 

Thanks for all the great info you provide on all the rivers in Germany! 

We were going to connect the Elbe cruise to the Passage to Eastern Europe cruise (DIY) and go to Oberammergau (DIY). We took the FCC (125%) for the combined cruises and decided to apply it towards a 3-week Adriatic & Mediterranean Viking Ocean cruise in May 2022. Hopefully that will be far enough out that the world will be somewhat back to normal by then. We are looking at a DIY Oberammergau trip also in 2022 and focus on southern Germany, so totally rethinking our original plans from 2020. In hindsight, I wish I'd taken the refund and invested it - who'd have thought the US stock market would rebound like it has? But a 25% return looked good at the time! And we have a cruise booked to look forward to if Viking can remain in business that long! So doesn't do any good to second guess myself now. Life is full of risks. 

I can confirm that Viking’s “Cities on the Elbe” is now a non-cruise using the ships as boatels. We had booked Elegant Elbe in 2019 for July 2020. Later we were notified of the change (and given an additional discount). We kept it booked as part of a bigger vacation plan we had, but of course none of it came to fruition. If we decide in the future to book that trip again, we will go on dates when they are planning to actually cruise. 

We did the Viking Homelands Stockholm to Bergen in June 2019. We planned Bergen to Oslo on our own and it was easy. You can easily book the same train as Viking does. We took a taxi from the berth to the Bergen Train Station - we did have to manage our own baggage, of course - I think if you book with Viking they manage all your bags straight to your hotel. We enjoyed the beautiful train ride to Oslo where we had pre-booked the Comfort Grand Central Hotel at the train station - so minimal distance to lug our baggage. It was a great place from which to explore Oslo and then easy to catch the express train to the airport from there. So, should be similarly easy to do the reverse going Oslo to Bergen, I'd think.

We did the Viking Homelands cruise in June 2019. Had Elena as our guide on our 2-day Alla Tour of St. Petersburg - she is possibly the best guide we've ever had anywhere. We added on the Faberge Museum evening tour - fascinating. I think you can add on a ballet performance also, if that interests you. I don't think we could have crammed anything more into 2 days. We were extremely happy with our choice when we saw the lines at The Hermitage Museum (which included folks on the Viking tour) and we bypassed them through another entrance! If there is something specific that you want to see there, definitely ask about it. They try to hit the highlights. It's impossible to see everything as previously mentioned but I would think if you have something specific they'd probably try to route the group by it, if possible. We were on the Stockholm to Bergen route and had so much fun with the other Viking people in our Alla Tour that the 14 of us all got together for dinner twice during the rest of the cruise. Plan to spend extra time in Stockholm if possible, there is so much to see there. We arrived a couple of days early and saw a lot, but I'd love to go back for things we didn't have time for. I'd do this cruise again in a heartbeat if there weren't so many other places to go in the world that I haven't been yet! 

I realized recently that we hadn’t received one in a few months, but our friends did. I went in to MVJ and just updated my data and within a week or two started receiving the brochures in the mail again. Coincidence?

Peregrina, I recall reading about a luggage service also. However, once we decided to do the Viking Flam railway tour, we decided taking the direct train from Bergen-Oslo didn’t warrant using that service. But it is definitely an option if you can reduce to basically an overnight bag and send your big bags ahead and spend a couple of days doing NiaN less encumbered. 

Dee, well, I keep my luggage to around 35 lbs, plus a large backpack, so not sure about getting 50 lbs lifted. However, it was only one or two steps up then directly into the storage slot by the door and only had to do it once on and once off. My husband was 70 when we went and just stepped in then pulled our luggage up if I remember correctly. Our friends near the same age did likewise and I know their luggage was closer to 50 lbs than mine. We thought it was fairly easy. We also stayed at the Grand Central Comfort hotel, so didn’t even have to leave the train station with our luggage. We took a cab from the ship to the train station. To be honest, managing luggage was one of the turnoffs for me to do NiaN. Too many changes of trains and busses with the luggage we all had. The landscape on the Bergen-Oslo train route is spectacular though so don’t miss it!

Dee, we did Viking Homelands last summer (June 2019) and did Bergen-Oslo on our own. We did the Flam railway excursion with Viking during the cruise, then for post-cruise we booked the train direct from Bergen to Oslo in lieu of “Norway in a Nutshell” which we felt would repeat a lot of ground. We took the early train in Comfort Class and then had three nights in Oslo to see the sights there before heading home. And of course we did it much cheaper than what Viking charged for their post cruise excursion. But, it really all depends on how you value what Viking provides versus DIY. When we did our first Viking trip, it was right after we retired and I didn’t have time to research and plan beforehand, so we did the Viking pre and post excursions and felt we got our money’s worth. Now that I’m retired, I’ll probably only do Viking pre/post if it includes something I can’t get otherwise, including security, depending on the part of the world. 

Does anyone know if the "stateroom upgrade" for the Independence Day offer is within a category i.e. DV4 to DV3 or is it to the next category i.e. DV to PV? Or if book PV1 will they upgrade to PS? Seems like I read something about suites excluded when I got the initial email, but can't find it now.