Frisky070802

3 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

You should not lose visibility of payment deadlines because you are working with a TA.

 

Your TA should be sending you any revision to the Viking invoice as changes or additions are made, and on the top of page one of the invoice is the final payment date.  This is always visible regardless of whether you are working with Viking directly or through a TA.

Actually, you are quite right!  I looked back at my email and the first thing I got from my TA after transferring was a copy of the invoice but with a later due date that I simply didn't notice.   

Thanks.

We booked something on board last August, then changed the cruise in October.  I thought we lost the 6-month payment deadline, as the invoice they sent us showed payment due maybe 10 months in advance.  But we also transferred it to a TA, and so we lost all visibility into such deadlines.  Much to my surprise, the TA told us it was due later -- corresponding I think to 6 months. So ... who knows!   You definitely can change the cruise.  As for the rest, YMMV.  

36 minutes ago, longterm said:

No, that's not what I was trying to say, but perhaps I wasn't clear.

The pipe's size is essentially fixed, so if each passenger on a cruise were to circumvent the rules and use multiple devices, using up more bandwidth than Viking intended, it would adversely affect all the other passengers. 
 

On the other hand, if it's just a question of convenience, and someone wants to have all their devices connected to wifi, even though they only use one at a time, then that wouldn't cause any problems... but Viking has its rules.

The real question is, do they rely on the 2 devices per person as a way of capping traffic, or do they serve each device some max bandwidth? And of course they say never to stream over wifi. 
 

so yes, the pipe to the satellite is fixed, but that is separate from the question of sharing an access point…. It doesn’t mean necessarily that multiple devices on a router will get more data. Maybe? 

2 hours ago, longterm said:

It's doable, but not with the hotspot feature--I haven't tried it, but I've read articles about how to go about it. Not something I would want to fool with though. It has to do with spoofing a MAC address, and more involved than I'll go into here.

Considering the ease of turning wifi on and off on a laptop, tablet, or smartphone, it's simple enough to move a connection around as needed, and that's how I've done it on cruises for years.

Also, a ship has a finite pipe through which all passengers' Internet travels; for someone to cheat the system and use more devices than are allowed is simply bad form. 

As to travel routers--they're convenient, I suppose, but I already carry enough electronics as it is, and wifi management these days is a simple one-click process.

I assume that the fixed pipe per connection applies to what talks to the ship. Just because you have 3 clients going through a router doesn’t mean the router gets served a higher bandwidth than you would see on your laptop or tablet.

2 hours ago, longterm said:

It's a simple matter to enable VNC if one is concerned about security in places like hotels, airports, and elsewhere; I have Nord VNC on my iPhone & laptop, and enable it when I feel the need.

 

Perhaps I'm being overly trusting, but I don't consider Viking passengers the types who might be looking to hack into one of my devices. 🙂

 

I think you mean VPN? 

4 minutes ago, bookbabe said:

This one doesn’t come with an app, although DH says some do.  It creates its own network, and the first time you connect to it, it bridges between your device and the ship and then you log in to the ship network that first use.  Afterwards, any device that connects to the router just logs into the router network, which is already connected to the ship.  
 

I hope I’m explaining that even semi-clearly, I’m going by my memory of what DH told me as he was setting it up.

That makes sense.  A number of devices these days (such as Ring doorbells and such) work the same way, having you connect to them and share.  The reason I thought it would be hard here is because usually you're just connecting long enough to provide the credentials for the router (a WEP key or whatever) and after that the network you connect to doesn't care whether you're the phone or an extra wireless router.  Whereas on the ship, while I connected when I first arrived and provided my name and cabin, I was occasionally prompted for that info again.  I wouldn't expect the router to be able to do that unless it essentially says "I'm connecting to the ship, and it's asking me X and Y.  I'm giving you the form with that request, and whatever you respond, I'll respond to the ship with the same info".  Doable --- but I didn't expect it to be a feature.  

1 hour ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Typically there is an app to interface with the router to log in and configure.

 

Also, most new phones have a hot spot feature which allows you to connect another device so you may not need a router.

OK, good to know, regarding the router connecting.  Not worth the space in my luggage (we did OK with a phone and tablet apiece) but if I ever also bring a laptop I may want to do that.

As far as the hotspot goes, I thought phones let you provide a hotspot if you are connecting to the external network, but turn it off if the phone itself is on Wifi.  That is certainly what I've experienced; maybe the newest phones recognize situations like this and support wifi bridging.  

4 hours ago, bookbabe said:

Yup.  Connected to one as I type this.

Interesting. I was going to say almost certainly not since the router still needs to access the ship's network and authenticate to it with a room number. How do you do that? 

I was thinking the same to some extent, that even if the eclipse didn't work out, it should be a great cruise.  But then I thought, if we can do something with a much better chance of seeing the full eclipse, we should.  That might just mean staying on land 🙂.  

Just now, OnTheJourney said:

Hate to be a party-pooper, but I don't think I'd hedge too many bets on good visibility in Iceland. All the other cruises I came across - that are especially eclipse oriented - are banking on Spain.

I wasn't really finding much in the way of cruises that-a-way.  What were you finding?   But yes, Iceland was a brief thought, nothing more.  

4 hours ago, babs711 said:

Viking’s ocean cruise starting in New York on August 3, 2026 going to Canada, Greenland, 

and Iceland is in Isafjordur on August 12. In the path of totality…

We actually put a hold on this on Monday as we were thinking what we'd missed this time around.  However, a friend pointed out that the cloud cover in Iceland that time of year is especially high, so it seems like it could detract.  Plus, there's the chance they aren't actually in the right place at the right time.  So we're thinking Spain (even if it's not a cruise).  

(I see that as I was composing this, @OnTheJourney pointed at the info about the cloud issue, even better.)  

12 hours ago, Tom N said:

Yes, my 87yr old mother was just pillaged by Viking.  Now, I understand she is 87 and made a bad decision to accept a voucher because she had to cancel due to health reasons, and yes, trip insurance did nothing for her.  However, Viking's Voucher terms and conditions make it so she will never be able to use the Voucher.  No flexibility with a woman who now needs to have an assistant to accompany her.  When she asked to use some of the monies towards this caretaker, there was no desire or flexibility on Viking's part to work with the needs of the elderly.  A woman who ran out of Viking cruise destinations and was making this one her last.  

 

My wife and I, plus my two adult children have traveled Viking.  NEVER AGAIN!  Oceania has been the go to now.  Nice job Viking, you win the battle with my Mom, but lost the war for the business of 6 others (my wife and I, adult children/spouses) with high incomes.   

That’s very sad. Good luck to her. 

11 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

Absolutely.

 

We have been with friends on a cruise and both did the same excursion but on a different bus and guide and our reviews of the excursion have been very different.

 

Again - all subjective which makes the whole exercise difficult to have real value.

 

Once discussion threads get too long - 25 plus responses - I tend to stop reading them unless the subject is really compelling to me.  I feel like these would be pages and pages of responses very quickly and then who is going to read from page one to page 25?

All true. But I still think if you think about Tripadvisor, Google, Yelp, etc, even if there are hundreds or even more comments on a restaurant, hotel, or what have you, you do get a high-level view from the overall ratings.  Yes, someone might give it 1 star because they were unlucky enough to have a hung-over guide.  But if 99% of the ratings are 4 and 5 stars, you have to figure the odds of having such a guide are low, and most people liked it.  So maybe you go for it.  

It’s true that long comments might be a lot to wade through, but a yelp-like rating system could help. If something gets 95% too ratings, it’s probably better than the one with many low ratings. 

11 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

No but Frisky, sounds like a great idea, let us know when you have the spreadsheet ready for us to fill in! 😂

I wish. 
 

but I guess the closest you can get is to read the reviews of the full cruise and see if people commented on specific excursions. 

Also.., responding to the port talks the day before would be too late to cancel for a refund. Which is probably intentional….

5 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

I have added a suggestion to my usual list of recommendations (I include this in the final survey) that port talks be taped and made available in MVJ for exactly the reasons CDNPolar mentioned.  We happened to go to the Living Room after the port talk on Ho Chi Minh City and there was a line for Guest Services almost to the Chef’s Table podium.  When I asked what was up, found out it was everyone who had heard about the difficulty in getting in and out of the tiny boats on the Mekong Delta as well as finding out how claustrophobic the tunnels were all trying to change their excursions.   It sure would be easier for those who aren’t like us and go down a YouTube rabbit hole most nights (we watched 2 minutes of some 20 yo influencer’s video about the tunnel and KNEW it wasn’t for us😂), to be able to hear the port talk in advance. 

Putting talks on MVJ would be fabulous! Also, does CC have a place to aggregate comments and maybe ratings of tours? Or TripAdvisor? 

Regarding historian talks, I know I mentioned this somewhere, but probably not CC.  Last summer we were on BIE and one of the historians was really super enthusiastic, a joy to listen to.  We were in the World Cafe with friends and our friend made a comment to that effect.  From the next table we heard "why thank you!"  

We were so glad we were complimenting rather than criticizing a speaker ... I guess the walls do have ears!  

I too am much more of a beer drinker than a wine drinker, but I found myself having wine much more on board.  The beers were OK but unexceptional (as, I suppose, were the complimentary wines).  I figure as long as it's not Bud, Miller, etc, it's fine.  

I liked the port talks and would go when I was able to.  One time I tried to play in my cabin and the audio quality was too poor so I  gave up.  

I really liked the historian talks, though, and consider that a huge plus.  

On BIE last August we did the "parade" in the lounge early on.

I've heard some say it can be useful to keep your passport with you in the (hopefully very unlikely) event something causes you to miss the ship and you have to travel.

Even for shows in the theater, I don't recall any particular dress.  I wouldn't worry about that. 

16 minutes ago, duquephart said:

 

Not everyone goes looking for information not provided. I'm only suggesting that there are people who feel they are done paying for a cruise once they have paid for the cruise. Something billed later is what is known as a hidden cost. I'm guessing many first time customers just assume they have paid for everything upon booking.

I think the large number of cruise ads that say "gratuities included" would cause people to wonder if they're added in when it doesn't say that.  Maybe some people are caught off guard, but I have to think the number is low.  And as someone pointed out, it's in the Viking documentation.  

3 hours ago, Sunflower & The Scientist said:

We'd be right behind you! I'm so thankful for this review. This sounds like our worst nightmare. 

Same here!  It wasn't sounding so bad until the non-stop music thing was mentioned.  Nooooo!

On 2/21/2024 at 9:36 AM, duquephart said:

Once you know about them you know about them. But they are basically sprung upon first timers - in which case the price is not the price.

I knew in advance they weren't included.  It's easy to find out.