millybess

Very true! I respect your position, but I disagree that 99% of people would expect a refund. If I were on your cruise, I would still want to take it and I would be very disappointed if it was cancelled. (Having lived in the region during the tumultuous 70's/80's, the chances of something happening to you are minuscule IMO.) Anyway, best wishes for finding something else and I totally understand the disappointment. Hopefully, you will be able to get to the region some time in the future.

If they refunded everyone who perceived x, y & z about their upcoming cruise, they wouldn't be in business. For example, we are going on an Amazon cruise. The Amazon is experiencing a major drought right now that might well have an effect on our cruise. If we had known that would happen, we probably wouldn't have booked it. Do we expect a refund if they can't get to the Amazon -- NO! Do we expect them to cancel the Amazon cruise if they can't get to the Amazon -- NO! Re-read the Terms & Conditions . In our case, we're happy to embark and see what alternate plans they have made for us, if that is necessary. All of this is just part of the experience of travelling, and your perception of the "danger" or of not being able to knock an item off your "bucket list", is very different from someone else's. So you are calling for them to cancel a cruise that others want to take.

For cruises 2 weeks or shorter, we usually drive to the airport and park in the Viscount garage. We made our parking reservations a month ago. We have since changed our flights and added a few hours at each end -- departure day and arrival day and it ended up being cheaper than our original booking. No discounts applied.

@phabric I’m curious if you were able to choose between Moderna and Pfizer. If not, did you know which one was being administered when you got there?

We have seen in the Viking Daily solo travellers meetings listed. On our last cruise we saw a group of about 20 solo travellers introducing themselves to each other in the Explorers Lounge and then a few days later there was another get together in the Wintergarden.

Comfort check-in has been available to us for our last few cruises. We partake in it if we have absolutely nothing else to do 🙄. The only useful purpose is that it’s exciting to do something related to the cruise 😎😎. Only once has it expedited our check-in and that was probably by 2 minutes. My guess is that most people don’t use comfort check-in.

If you failed to live up to the agreed upon terms, i suppose you would have to give up travelling with Viking. Certainly Viking is unlikely to pursue anybody in this position, but quite rightly if you ever wish to travel on Viking again you might find Viking less than receptive.

Agreed. One has to be very mindful of the differences.

That must be a fairly new policy We have a couple of long cruises booked. The one for next year was booked some time ago, but the one for 2025 was booked recently and the penalty is $100.

We made an e-cheque final payment a few days ago and it went through right away. Yesterday we made an e-cheque deposit on another cruise, and that has not gone through. Sometimes it does take 2 or 3 days.

Good points. Thanks for your insight.

We stayed here: https://alpontemocenigo.com/location/ https://alpontemocenigo.com/gallery/ Great location. Easy to get to. It has a beautiful private courtyard and the rooms are very traditionally Venetian with high ceilings, beautiful chandeliers, etc.

I'm curious as to when people think the $25 deposit will disappear. My thinking is that it is just for Viking's 25 anniversary and it will really expire on December 31.

Viking laundry staff do a really good job. And then after you get home you sometimes come across those little laundry stickers which bring back fun memories of your cruise. 🙂

I've never seen a "Laundry Special" and I've never heard of it on Viking. I have only seen the above itemized pricing.

Here is a laundry price list from June 2023. Passengers in PS, ES, OS can opt to have their laundry done for free.

And I completely understand your concern. Viking also states that their excursions have limited capacity. There are many here who have similar complaints about Viking -- various complaints, in fact. It really is 6 of 1, half dozen of another IMO. If you don't like the way Viking does their thing, jump ship. But I will put up with the LA office and Viking idiosyncrasies before I'll put up with weird things like "medallions" that let you into certain dining venues on certain lines and other so-called loyalty programs that I find more discriminatory and divisive toward passengers.

Great post! I use meclizine and it has worked very well for me. I have always been prone to motion sickness. I have known a few people who have used the scopolamine patch and all have said that the sickness was debilitating for a several days after they arrived back on land and were off the patch. Did that happen to you?

Do you have any links for this information?

We were on a back to back in May. It was booked as 2 cruises and then merged under 1 booking number. To our surprise, Viking treated it as 2 cruises. On our excursion booking day for cruise 1, we were able to book excursions for both cruises. On our dining booking day for cruise 1 we were able to book our dining reservations for both cruises. And, yes, we could have booked dining as if it was 2 cruises.

Hope this helps. From MVJ: Your cruise features one included shore excursion in each port of call. We also offer a range of optional excursions – payment is required to secure your reservation. Shore excursions are subject to change and capacity controlled.

That is correct, there are no "loyalty" levels or exclusive dining access, etc. that you would find on other lines. If you have cruised with Viking before, you are automatically part of the "Explorer's Society" which entitles you to a small discount on future cruises.

No problem. Thanks. 🙂

I know that. I'm talking to the OP. Thanks though. 🙂

Our shore excursions were just posted for our Amazon & Caribbean Adventure cruise in January and SNUBA is offered as included in St. Lucia at Pigeon Island.