millybess

And apparently you don't have to be the squeaky wheel. Maybe on our TransAtlantic in March someone else was the squeaky wheel and we got a surprise in our inbox.

So I just went and looked at our sailing prices. Our cruise usually hovers between "sold out" and 1-3 cabins left. There are currently 2 cabins left. The DV2 is slightly less than we paid for a PS and the PV1 substantially more.

Haha. I love your "green bananas" analogy. No, your guess about the raised prices before FIP is inaccurate in our case. Although, on some itineraries, it might be more accurate. Our booking went up in price by about 30% 8 months after booking; 52% 16 months after booking, etc., etc. I'm one of those people who just has to look, whether it's good or bad news. 😉 We purchase adequate insurance, so your analogy doesn't fit here.

We usually book our Viking cruises soon after they become available. We know the itineraries we like. We always get the location we want. We have saved a lot of $$$ by doing it this way. Just one example from our current bookings: we have a cruise booked for April 2024, which we booked in November 2021. We were able to reserve the location we wanted and today it is 65% more expensive and they are offering a $1900 air incentive. I think our price for this cruise is much better. We also have just booked a cruise for 2026. We asked our agent at Viking to alert us when the 2026 VO cruises would be posted and told her the stateroom we were interested in. She called me last week and had already reserved the stateroom. We booked it and she transferred the booking to our TA. It will be a while before we see the price increase on that particular booking.

We're looking forward to following along. Enjoy!

Thanks for this. It's very helpful.

In the early days of dealing with VFS, and the whole process seemed impossible, we thought about using a visa service, but they still use the same website that we have to use. It's not like they have an "in" with the Brazilian government. From what I understand, it would take the same amount of time -- possibly less frustration.

I said above that it would take until the next morning to get the visa, but that is wrong -- probably because so many people are applying. DH was approved yesterday and he applied before me. From what I can gather, most people that were approved during the first week received their visas in an email the next morning after "Approved". That doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

Same to you @Cruise New York I'm very happy you got things sorted. With all the misinformation floating about, I was afraid you would be left waving goodbye on the dock.

You will probably get the document attached in an email tomorrow morning. You need to print 2 copies. I printed mine in colour. "but that it wouldn't hurt to get one" Yes, it did 😉 I'm glad you breezed through it.

You might try emailing tellus@vikingcruises.com It's quite a mess at the moment. Over on the HAL World Voyage board, people are starting to receive emails from VFS informing them that the visas they were issued last week are "invalid". Starting at post 3636: "Dear Customer, We hope this message finds you well. Thank you for choosing the Brazil Visa Application Service through VFS Global. We would like to confirm whether you have received the updated PDF copy of your electronic visa. It is imperative to bring to your attention that only the new visas are considered valid. The previously issued visas have been canceled in the government authorities' system. To ensure the smooth processing of your travel arrangements, kindly confirm that you have received the new electronic visa and are aware of the exclusivity of its validity. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us to evisabra@vfsglobal.com. “ I received my visa last week and I haven't received this email (yet).

Already booked Yay!

Normally that's true, and in my profile my birthday is correct. However, on our last cruise they must have transposed the numbers because I got to celebrate my birthday early. The housekeeping staff really enjoyed the chocolate cake with strawberries 😊

DH really likes dining at Chef's Table because he's very much a "foodie". I'm not and they offer to serve a dish off the Manfred's menu. The rib-eye is a favourite!

I think this is the thread you're looking for:

We’ll spend more time on the visa than we do in Brazil.

You're right. It is a mess. I was hoping that the bugs would be worked out by now. DH did a chat with them a couple of days ago, which seemed to help a little.

I hope it helps someone else too! So many people are struggling with this.

And just to add, one of our very few pet peeves is the guitar player in the Explorer's Lounge using an iPad as his musical accompaniments. On our last 2 cruises with Viking we usually retire to the Living Room to listen to the lovely music. 😊

Totally disagree! We love the relaxing music in the LR — piano, cello, violin. And they’re very talented. If only people would stop face timing during the live musicI I agree about musicals — in the theatre though.

Regarding demographics, it depends on the destination. For example, we have found that the Mediterranean cruises attract a younger crowd — 20s, 30s. A transatlantic cruise or a Norway cruise attracts an older age group. It really won’t matter. For the most part it’s mixed.

Absolutely correct! loafin referenced CST, which is why I said PST 😊

12 noon PST

I've been "Approved" just now. So it took 6 days.

If this doesn't work, I would suggest you go to the thread I mentioned above and go back a couple of pages. Everyone over there is having a lot of trouble navigating through the website and they leave on January 3. The-Inside-Cabin has been extremely helpful. But we're happy to help out where we can.