Delhi Ocean Cruiser

On 2/2/2023 at 6:29 PM, OneSixtyToOne said:

Please let me know if the free day of your Classic Greece extension has shifted to Monday.

Sorry I didn’t get to this until today, Feb 7. Yes the free day shifted to Monday. And when we arrived Delphi had moved to Saturday because of weather. It’s been cold a snowy in Athens. I’m glad Delphi moved—it was a beautiful day, though cool to cold. I know shifting is bothersome. But I appreciate the company looking to give the best experience for guests. On board the Sky now. Will miss our terrific host, Andreas, and guide Paris. A super team. Looking forward to the cruise portion. 

On 1/12/2023 at 8:08 AM, OneSixtyToOne said:

Day 1 - Departure:

We are doing our final prep before heading to the airport in a few hours but I wanted to start this thread while I still had access to a real keyboard.

 

We have a loooong day/night ahead of us flying from Southern California to Athens for the 4 day pre-cruise Classic Greece extension. It will be our first time in Greece and we are really excited to get the journey under way.

 

The weather is cooperating here today. The rainfall stopped yesterday and is not expected to resume until this weekend. For those unaware, a series of major storms caused by an atmospheric river has hit the West Coast and massive flooding has resulted. We live in the southern portion of the state and have been spared the worst of it. We also lucked out and missed the ground halt that happened to all US air traffic yesterday. Hopefully our trip to Athens will be uneventful.

 

I will update this thread periodically when the opportunities arise.

Hello, OneSixtyToOne. I don’t know if you will read this since it is now Feb 2. Thank you for the extensive posting of narration and photos about the pre extension! We fly today for the extension and then the Greek Odyssey cruise. Loved your postings. Thank you!!

June 26 cruise: We’ve had amazing weather.  Coldest in Reykjavik. 2 days now with 68-72 degree temps. Sunny most days or part of them. Rain gear? Hope not to jinx it, but we’ve had no need. perhaps buying it is like getting rain after you wash your car. May you all have as good a cruise as we have had. 

11 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

I found  it!  And printed it to a pdf which I will download to my phone.

 

Remember, everyone, that everything for our Iceland booking will disappear from MVJ when we board. We will not have access to it during the cruise. If there is anything we want to save from MVJ, we have to do it before we leave home. Besides the calendar, I downloaded some of the pictures.

Do you have the Viking Voyager app? Will only work while traveling but is the go to source from Viking when on the water. If MVJ disappears the V Voyager app is what you want!

5 hours ago, philw1776 said:

My GUESS:
Viking takes us 6AM and later arrivals directly to ship. Departing guests all confined on lower decks 1-3 as usual assembling to leave. Cabins being cleaned per usual.
New arrivals all on Deck 7: Aquavit, World Cafe, Pool, Wintergarden, Explorer waiting for cabin cleaning. Eating at World Cafe, Pool Grill etc.
Maybe by 11AM to noon as disembarkers have all left they open up the normally closed for lunch restaurant for a special lunch, or not.

That is a creative and interesting solution to the question of turning the cabins around for the next cruise. 
For those of us sailing on June 26, it may be an easier process since the ship will

have been in port since 8:00 AM, June 24 according to whatsinport.com. Suites may all be ready when we arrive. Time will tell. 

On 6/8/2021 at 2:30 PM, bardstowntraveller said:

Does Viking do anything special if you are celebrating a special occasion. We will celebrating our anniversary onboard

Go to a live chat or call Viking and inform the rep. It will be added to your Viking invoice, but there will be no charge. You will get an updated invoice to show it has been recorded. I informed Viking on a previous cruise. Didn’t get updated invoice as I did this time, but we found a nice cake and bottle of champagne in our stateroom. Enjoyed sharing with the 2 other couples we were traveling with. 

On 6/7/2021 at 11:12 AM, Bejay219 said:

Could anyone that has been on the Sky before tell us whatthe mattress is like?  On Celebrity, we always needed a foam mattress pad (waffle crate), (due to husband's medical issue).  Are they soft/hard? 

Thank you

You can indicate some preferences on MVJ, Onboard Experience, 

On 6/7/2021 at 11:12 AM, Bejay219 said:

Could anyone that has been on the Sky before tell us whatthe mattress is like?  On Celebrity, we always needed a foam mattress pad (waffle crate), (due to husband's medical issue).  Are they soft/hard? 

Thank you

You can indicate some preferences on MVJ, Onboard Experience, Preferences, Stateroom Preferences; however, mattresses are not listed there. I’d suggest doing a live chat with a rep. That’s how I was able to inform the ship of some special dates—anniversary and birthday—on our cruise. 

21 hours ago, Cruiser1854 said:

I had similar problems.  Called Viking and they said the excursions showed confirmed even though  it didn’t show on my calendar.

My guess (have some tech background) is that there are some communication issues between the different parts of the system.  Example, We are experiencing payment failures but the credit card is charged.

Due to the load of messages each part of the system does not get updated quick enough because of large message queues and software that can’t handle the message load quick enough.

could be they closed off the system to allow the messages to drain and apply before reopening.

Just my guess.

 

 

 

 

 

I see the many messages expressing frustration. Totally understandable. I’ve been lucky. Made dinner reservations with no problem and got in for shoreX reservations without much hassle. MVJ works for me and calendar shows all activities. Still many have huge problems. 
Our last cruise was VR Danube, Nov 2019. Low water caused a ship swap midway. Shortly after we got home we received a $500pp voucher for the inconvenience. Perhaps Viking will do the same for all this confusion. (Hoping!) There will be many vouchers issued if they do! The one hiccup is they are usually good for new bookings only. Would love to use it, if issued, on current cruises booked. Still it’s a gesture of good faith. 

On 6/2/2021 at 10:28 PM, vslparis said:

Well, I hope we won’t have to be tested at the airport in Reykjavik ( really would like to do the Blue Lagoon on the way into town ) but as of now, that is not a certainty. It looks good, but I will wait until it becomes official hopefully on 15 June before I do the Happy Dance 😉

As I read the document, we will be tested upon arrival at the airport by the Iceland government. Like you I hope that will change by June 26. Here’s to dancing on June 15 🕺 🙂‼️

I received a Viking email today with “Important Travel Requirements.”

this is copied from the message:

  Pre-Cruise Timeline Summary:
1. At least 14 days prior to departure, be fully vaccinated with a FDA/WHO approved COVID-19 vaccine. 2. 72 hours prior to departure, fill out a pre-registration form for visiting Iceland.
3. When you travel—be prepared to show proof of your vaccination and valid passport.

I see nothing about bringing proof of a negative Covid test with you. 

If you haven’t found this already, Covid travel information is quite good at

bringbacktravel.com

you can select information by country. 

2 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

I got forwarded email too. Says we'll get questionnaire later; need to fill it out 5-7 days pre-embarkation.  No problem. 

Health questionnaire can be found on MVJ under Guest Information, Health Questionnaire tab. Says it will be available 7 days prior to the cruise. 

We are now one step closer to Viking’s Iceland’s Natural Beauty, 26 June sailing. I’m checking in on MVJ using the Guest Information, Comfort Check-In tab. Be aware you will be asked to upload a photo. It’s becoming more and more real each day!! 29 days to go. 🛫🛳‼️

On 5/20/2021 at 11:46 AM, Donaghadee said:

Just wondering, how much do you have to drink to break even on the Silver Spirits package?

I know we looked at it years ago and came to the conclusion that our livers weren't up to the task.

Anything change?

You can find a bar beverage menu on the Viking page, just takes some poking around. Usually around 3 drinks will make it worth the cost. Remember you must purchase the SS package for both travelers in the suite, so that is 3 drinks apiece. Really not hard to do. Each of you have a double Bailey’s before or after dinner and you are 2/3 there. Have a special wine at dinner, another cocktail before or after and you are ahead of the game. 

On 5/18/2021 at 5:05 PM, AKexplorer said:

Evidently I missed out on the included Silver Spirits package - didn't see anything about that on the 8/3 cruise when we booked 😞

 

The early bookings when the Welcome Back cruises were first announced did not include the SS package. But the cruise fare was lower then. Advice from my college days, “ There are no free lunches.”

Travel materials for 26 June sailing arrived in the mail today!! It’s official now!!