Mich3554

7 hours ago, powderhorn said:

I think 6 sea days in a row may be an opportune time for Viking (and other cruise lines) to reset the ship and attempt to rid it of Covid....be interesting if they impose testing or restrictions on our TA in December..... 

You’d think, but last year we had 9 sea days in a row where we were tested daily (no positives).  We got into Uruguay and were  tested twice again before 9 am.  Argentina STILL would not allow us to dock for 14 days.  Countries still make the rules, and Viking still has to comply.

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

Yeah, state of Maine tourist board has found that cruise passengers spend less than half of what a land tourist spends in the state.

Many, myself included, cruise and think ‘yep, gotta come back here again’, and go for a land trip.  I had a taste, I would like to see more.  A little something is better than nothing.
In addition, when we left out of Bergen, we spent 3 days there before we boarded….hotels, shopping and restaurants.  We try to do this from of most cities we embark or disembark a ship in.

Dissing the cruise is incredibly short sighted.   

We just got back from Fiji a few weeks ago.  We had to show our vaccine card several times, once to get onto the flight, to go through immigrations in Fiji and the dive resort we were in requested a copy.  In addition, we had to show proof of medical coverage, especially if infected with Covid. 

I used Rail Ninja when I booked our Budapest to Prague trip.  I also paid extra for comfort class.

The web site was pretty self explanatory, the only thing I really didn’t like was that after I ordered the tickets, it was a few weeks before we were actually ticketed.  I printed them out, there were no issues.  

I live in Bellingham, and it is about 90 minutes to Vancouver, a bit shorter to YVR, a lot depends on time of day and tunnel traffic.  We have Nexus, so get expedited border crossings.  
We plan on it taking 2 hours to get to SEA for a red eye, 3 hours if we are going through during any rush hour traffic.  
The border crossings can be a crap shoot, it has taken us as little as 5 minutes, as much as 2 hours (pre Nexus).

16 hours ago, Piaa said:

 

Thank you - when do you think that might be announced?

Last year, it was released around Dec some time.  I had a WC for 2024 on my radar and asked my Viking agent to let me know when he gets something.  I got an email while I was on the Jupiter, and a call from my agent after I got home asking me if I was still interested.  
 

On 10/8/2022 at 1:25 PM, deec said:

We did this cruise last year starting late February.  Pandemic problems aside it was a GREAT cruise.  Unfortunately the Falklands were cancelled because no ships were allowed. 

Our pre-cruise extension was BAD but it was totally Covid related.  We did get to do a a private wine tour that was fantastic.  Great wine country!  We did a private wine tour too.  We wound up buying a case of wine to drink on the cruise as we hit so many good wineries between Santiago and Valparaiso.

 

Puerto Montt    Osorno Volcano, Petrohué Falls & Puerto Varas 

this was a good tour!  I think our tour included Emerald Lake too.  This was spectacular.  We had a gorgeous, sunny (but chilly) day for this.

 

Puenta Arenas  we did Magdalena Island & Penguin Reserve by Catamaran..this was our best Penguin Experience ( we could not go to the Falklands) OK boat ride and very knowledgeable guides.  We did this by speedboat, not catamaran.  The penguins were hatching, so we got to see lots of babies too.  Great tour

 

Ushuaia Great 4x4 and hiking adventure and fun lunch that we ate outside...the guide made this tour.  We didn’t have this option.  First cruise, we took the train to the end of the earth (or something like that).  This gave a lot of history as to how the area was developed, which was interesting.  

 

Puerto Madryn  we were here for 2 days because the Falklands were closed.  We did Punta Tombo Penguin Colony and something to see Elephant Seals much to the seemingly surprised guide both were without much wildlife...the lunch stops were horrific (but remember this was time of Covid)  those who did the included tour of the the Welsh community enjoyed it!  We lost Puerto Madryn due to Argentina being a PITA about letting us in.  We did go to the Punta Tombo penguin colony the first time.  I got some of my best pics here.  We had a good lunch stop, I remember steak was on the menu as they were huge!

 

Montivideo  we did the wine tour and it was good!  We also did the included because we were there twice ( we followed SA cruise with the Transatlantic)  This is a walkable fun city to wander about! We also did the wine tour, and I concur.  We also went to Colonia, which wound up being a surprisingly excellent excursion.  We spent 4 days off the coast bouncing between Montevideo and Punta del Este waiting for Argentina to let us in.  Punta del Este was gorgeous, we were halfway thinking about renting a place here to vacation during the winter.  

 

Truly though this trip is all about the scenery!!!  We had excellent naturalists onboard and spent most free time up in the Explorer's lounge watching for birds, dolphins and whales!!  Saw them all!!!  The bar tenders were also the BEST!!!

Agreed!  We spent a lot of time in the Explorer’s lounge (and on the front deck as weather permitted) admiring the scenery.  It is truly astounding.  This cruise is one of my all time favorites, and despite having gone twice, I’d do it again.

 

I also want to add that you need to see Iguazu falls if you can possibly manage it.  It is off the beaten track, and I wound up organizing a private tour (about 1/2 Viking’s price) after our first cruise from BA.  I’m very glad I did, and we did have a fairly good tour guide.  We got to see both the Argentinian and Brazilian sides of the falls, both were spectacular.  

1 hour ago, deec said:

snookie is your transfer included through Viking?  If not, consider hiring a private transfer that would do a tour on the way to Santiago.  I know the wine tour company that I suggested offers trnasfers FROM Santiago but maybe the other way too!

We did this cruise in both directions.  The first time, we were able to arrange a private wine tour from Santiago to Valparaiso, which also included a tour of Valparaiso and dropped us off at the ship at the end.  
The second time, DH was researching how to get from Valparaiso to Santiago (Delta had canceled our flight and we had to fly out the following evening) and came up with squat going in this direction.  I don’t know if this was a Covid issue or not, because we had not researched private tours out of Valparaiso, just Santiago the previous trip.  For us, we wound up taking private transport that Viking organized for us.  It was not inexpensive, but it got us to the hotel I had booked and it killed the balance of non refundable OBC we had, that we had to either use or lose.  

This is what it was like going around the Horn the last trip.  The first trip, the Captain turned back as it was too ugly out.  

10 hours ago, johneb2 said:

When you did not stop at the Falklands, was another port substituted or was it just a sea day?

Sea day.  There really isn’t anything close to divert to.  The time we made it, the cruise before and after us did not.  We really lucked out, but we were well aware that the odds of getting into that port are about 50%.  

We have done this twice, in Dec and Jan.  The weather is very warm in both Santiago/Valparaiso and Buenos Aires.  As we went south, I was comfortable in a LS shirt, sweater and a rain jacket on top.  I wore jeans and waterproof hiking shoes.  
We saw the penguins….all the penguins!  We also did a few winery tours, did the train to the end of the world, and planned our own excursion to Iguazu falls at the end.  
This cruise is one of my favorites.

ETA:  just be aware that the ship has about a 50% success rate of stopping in the Falklands as it is a tender port.  We hit it once, once we did not.

1 hour ago, duquephart said:

A day or two before the end of our Homelands there was a deal to get VAT back set up in the business area. All you needed was receipts and you got cash back on the spot.

This was how it worked for me too.  They had people on board before we left Norway, and I had a wad of cash before we left Bergen.  

I also did damage with Dale of Borway.

I would imagine that if you caught Covid that could not be controlled with cold meds, you’ll likely wind up off loaded to a local hospital.  

Go to REI or a similar specialty store and have them fit you.  My current hiking shoes are Keen Terradoras, which are waterproof.  My preferred Merrill’s have decided that 10.5 size isn’t necessary in many styles, 10 (too tight) or 11 (too loose) should be good enough.  
Most people have brands of shoes that they find fit them best.  I know there are only about 4-5 brands of shoes in my closet.  

8 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Care to elaborate?

Last winter, Chile’s entry paperwork was an absolute nightmare (as I posted earlier).  The website sucked, it regularly went down and even with a team of Viking staff helping passengers get ashore, some passengers still had to remain on the ship due to incomplete paperwork.  There were a lot of frustrated passengers and Viking staff.  
 

Even so, the scenery on that sailing was utterly spectacular.  

8 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Has anyone been to Chile recently? We are thinking about booking the fjord expedition cruise next year. Any insight would be appreciated.

It looks like Chile’s nightmare paperwork is no longer, BUT things change on a dime.  So what happens next year is always going to be a big question mark.  I would not not go due to Chile’s entry requirements (even the old ones).  Chile’s fjords are spectacular.

37 minutes ago, deec said:

We spent 42 days on the Jupiter after Mich3554 got off... started in Valpariso and ended in Amsterdam!  The biggest complaint we had was about the TERRIBLE  pre-cruise that Viking totally botched and Chile's covid restrictions played role in that too! Our Transatlantic crossing segment was changed significantly but again not really Viking's fault ... they tried their best to substitute.  We found the crew was wonderful..we certainly enjoyed the 1/2 full ship too!  The Excursion Staff was outstanding as they scrambled to find great things  for substitute excursions!  We had a wonderful experience!

Chile’s requirements were a nightmare.  I truly felt for the Viking staff in trying to jump through those hoops, because it was a total mess.  In the middle of it, Chile’s web site went down too.  It was a clusterf#$&, and despite Viking’s customer service, some were not able to get off on the first stop.  Just watching that staff deal with the madness made me appreciate them more.  

We spend 54 days on the Jupiter last fall/winter just when Omicron started taking hold.  We lost a lot of countries and ports due to countries closing borders at the last minute.  Viking did whatever they could to make things good for us.  
As we sailed with them pre Covid, we did not see an appreciable change in the service.  There were changes, but we just rolled with the changes as there was nothing Viking could do.  It’s not fair to blame Viking for things that are totally out of their control.
If you are going to look for problems, you’ll find them.  But why don’t you go onto your cruise with an open mind and not look for problems in the first place?

36 minutes ago, annapolitan369 said:

Does Viking have Bridge duplicates on the ocean crossings.  We have been on Oceania and Regent crossings and they both have daily bridge lessons and duplicates. 

We played duplicates on the second leg of our back to back to back.  That was the Barcelona to Buenos Aires leg.  On the trip from BA to Santiago, there weren’t enough people to play duplicates, just lessons and practice games.  

7 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

PV cabins never had drawers in closet.  The early ships Star, Sea, Sun and Sky did not have drawers in the DV or V closets.  The drawers were added to later ships starting with Orion.  The Sky was refitted with closet drawers in the DV's sometime after July, 2021.  

Actually, the Sun did have drawers in the closet.  This ship was our first cruise.  

17 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

I am not a light packer and have never used all the PV storage.  We were fine in the DV cabins on ships that have the 3 drawers in the closet.  On the Sky for Iceland the storage was tight as we had clothes for 3 seasons and the DV's were not upgraded to the 3 additional drawers yet.

We were in a PV for our 54 day back to back last fall/winter.  We did not use all of the drawers, and in fact, used the big drawer in the credenza as our laundry hamper!  
I think I posted dimensions of all the drawers while I was on that cruise when someone asked.

Love sea days, we had 9 consecutive ones on our last cruise and could have done more.  
 

It seems to me that many either love ‘em or hate ‘em.  I try to book cruises that have a decent number of sea days, only because I like having a down day to process what I have seen.  I find that when you go from port to port, things tend to run together.  That’s why I really like the SA cruise, as there are a lot of sea days interspersed with ports.  The sailings, especially the Chilean fjords are spectacular.

On 9/17/2022 at 6:58 AM, Selion said:

All these amazing onboard experience stories with Viking are wonderful.  Let me throw couple wrenches in this thread: amazing shore-side customer service.

 

Earlier this week we decided to cancel our Rhine River cruise under RFG and book a Viking Ocean cruise departing the same week in this November, because the promo is pretty good and we don't need to ever worry about ocean levels dropping.  Anyhow.  RFG vouchers may take up to 2 weeks to be issued and our concern was that we may miss the promo window.  So I started a chat session on Viking's website.  Emilia, the Viking chat rep, took my chat session.

 

I explained to her what we wanted to do and expressed our concerns that we may not receive the vouchers before the promo expiring.  She patiently waited for me to type everything out, and offered to manually confirm the booking (full payment would be due within 24 hours since it was 68 days out) with a typical Viking deposit (so that we get the promo), keep an eye on our RFG vouchers, apply them to the booking when they are issued, and refund my deposit for the new booking in full.  That was this Monday.

 

Earlier today I received an email from Emilia, stating she had applied our RFG vouchers and our new booking is in "final" status, and she had processed the refund of the deposits made on Monday.  She took care of everything!  I didn't have to follow up with her, or anyone at Viking, since our last and only contact.  For me that's a breath of fresh air.  So many other companies and cruise lines require constant follow ups just to receive what they promised they'd provide.

 

And one more interaction with a shore-side staff:  When I still had the river cruise booking, there was a Christmas market excursion at Strasbourg.  By the time we decided to book that excursion, it was sold out.  I called Viking, and the rep said she'd keep an eye out on that excursion if there were any cancellations and would contact me when spots opened up.  A while past and I got an email from her saying there were 2 spots opened up on that excursion.  I immediately went into MVJ and booked that excursion, and thanked her for the update.  Don't know how they keep track of excursion spots, but I'm both amazed and grateful that they can.

 

Viking isn't perfect, but for us they are pretty amazing.  😊

This!

Pre Covid, Viking was running a special.  I have a Viking agent that I try to use for all my bookings.  He’s getting harder to get hold of, but ALWAYS gets back to me.  There were a few cruises we were interested in booking, one was the SA one.  After I booked the others, I started on the SA cruise (bulk booking, I think I booked 3 cruises this phone call!).  The time we thought we wanted to go fell outside the promotion, and I was doing a bit of grousing about it over the phone to my Viking agent.  He said, I can do you one better.  If you leave 2 weeks before you want to leave, we have an unannounced special and I can knock 3x what the special is off the cruise.  We were not wedded to the dates I chose, so jumped all over that.  $3000 discount was much better than $1000!  
 

We have yet to board the ship with a Viking transfer.  What happens is the taxi pulls up to wherever the ship is docked.  We normally put our room tags on our luggage while leaving our hotel.  Viking takes care of the luggage immediately and it gets delivered to our room.  We check in.  The luggage, if it’s not in our cabin when we get there, it shows up soon after.

We usually book a PV, but are happy in a DV too.  We like the PV because DH has RLS and when it acts up, having a sofa to stretch out on is appreciated.  We usually book around 5089.  
 

As to whether or not you use Viking Air, it depends on how much control you need.  I have no problem booking our flights and doing our own extensions.  Some people are uncomfortable doing this.  When I book with Viking air, there is usually a big financial advantage and we pay for air + along with deviations.