Reaniel

My guess is that they're still trying to see if they can do something comprehensive for the included tour, or just a generic light "panoramic tour". For our day in Rome on the Saturn (Cities of Antiquities & The Holy Land), it was one that involved running shuttle service between 3 points (Colosseum, Vatican, Spanish Steps) for about 5 hours and we get to decide how and where to spend that time for ourselves. While it's best to book the tickets to Galleria Borghese ahead of time, there are usually tickets at the ticketing booth, and given Jan 10th is still the "off" season, it shouldn't be a problem if you're willing to line up for the ticket on that day. I would recommend holding off until maybe a week before the Rome Port day to book the tickets, and hopefully there will be more info on how the included tour is organized for you. Don't worry THAT much about not being able to get tickets. Also, do you know the "back on board" time for you in Rome?

Quick question for those keeping track of the Expedition itineraries: Did Viking retire the Patagonia to Canada Grand Explorer itineraries altogether? We were this close to booking it last year, but decided against it in the end. I was looking forward to future offerings, but I see that there are no sailings for this itinerary planned at all 😕 https://www.vikingcruises.com/expeditions/cruise-destinations/grand-journeys/patagonia-to-canada-grand-explorer/index.html

Another batch of offers for WHS23 Offer WHS23: Offer valid on bookings made from Dec 20 to Dec 31, 2023. Free international airfare & special fares valid on Mar 2 & 10, 2024 departures of Chilean Fjords & Patagonia Explorer; Mar 16 & 24, 2024 departures of Panama & Scenic South America. Free roundtrip airfare & special fares valid on Apr 2 & 10, 2024 departures of Canada & the Atlantic Coastline; subject to availability, call for details. Prices are in US dollars and for US residents only. Air does not have to be purchased to get cruise/tour offer. All fares reflect cruise taxes, port taxes and fees. Book by Dec 31, 2023. Pay in full due at time of booking. Offer expires Dec 31, 2023. YEAR END SALE FREE Airfare | Special Fares A new experience every day Explore the ancient Patagonian Ice Sheet in Chile. Marvel at the stunning array of wildlife that call the Panamanian rainforest home. Or kayak through hidden inlets in Nova Scotia. From the southern tip of South America to the rugged shores of Canada and beyond, our state-of-the-art expedition ships bring you closer to awe-inspiring destinations, providing you with more opportunities for in-depth discoveries. Whichever voyage you choose, enjoy FREE international airfare and reduced fares on select departures during our Year End Sale. LEARN MORE FEATURED VOYAGES Chilean Fjords & Patagonia Explorer Buenos Aires to Santiago FREE International Airfare Plus, Special Fares On Mar 2 & 10, 2024 departures ASK FOR OFFER: WHS23 15 DAYS 2 COUNTRIES LEARN MORE PRICE & BUILD Panama & Scenic South America Santiago to Ft. Lauderdale FREE International Airfare Plus, Special Fares On Mar 16 & 24, 2024 Departures ASK FOR OFFER: WHS23 18 DAYS 4 COUNTRIES LEARN MORE PRICE & BUILD Canada & the Atlantic Coastline Ft. Lauderdale to Toronto FREE Roundtrip Airfare Plus, Special Fares On Apr 2 & 10, 2024 Departures ASK FOR OFFER: WHS23 16 DAYS 2 COUNTRIES LEARN MORE PRICE & BUILD

Yeah, they have records of the vouchers you bought. I couldn't find the ones I bought in 2022 on Lofn when I booked earlier this year (for the sailing that we just completed on Saturn), but the Viking agent had no trouble looking it up and applying them for us.

I really like the way Viking is using new ports like this. Replacing lost days with ports that's coming in new itineraries. For our Cities of Antiquities & The Holy Land sailing that we completed a couple of weeks ago, they replaced the 3 days in Israel with 2 days in Malta and 1 extra day in Cyprus. The day in Cyprus was meh, but Malta was awesome. Saturn also made local news, which we didn't know until after we left (lol)

There don't seem to be many discounts being offered for the Eastern European river itineraries... 😕

No vouchers altogether?! Not even to use on yourself? What will they offer the River Cruises people then?

We did a deviation after disembarking in Civ, and stayed at a hotel in Lido di Ostia for 3 nights. While you can argue that it's not as convenient to visit Rome than staying in central Rome (the train is ~30 minutes from Lido Centro to San Paolo), Ostia Antica is only 2 train stations away, and we went there twice during our stay. Highly recommended, and it's not as crowded as the Colosseum/Roman Forum. I would assume joining a tour would be pretty enjoyable as well because of the lack of crowd.

Our sailing was Oct/Nov 2022. Maybe something changed during the months in between (or just specifically for Lofn). But we were only allowed to buy 1 per person for our own use 😕 Maybe someone on more recent River cruise sailing could shed some light on whether it was a one-off thing for my sailing, or a permanent change...

On Viking Lofn in 2022 for the Grand European Tour, and they only allowed us to buy 1 per person (and used 1 per person). There wasn't an offer to buy giftable vouchers for us.

You "might" see new slots being provided before your sailing, but it really depends on various factors. Some excursions just have no way of providing more slots even if the demand is there. However, don't stop checking even after your sailing has begun! There are always people canceling and changing their excursions, and you might just get lucky and find something becoming available. In addition, depending on the circumstances, guest service "might" allow you to be added on a waiting list (even for paid excursions), but you have to ask them to know if that's a possibility.

Zoom would probably be fine in the new system. Youtube was running just fine, and we also did FaceTime and Facebook Messenger video calls. Bandwidth wasn't an issue for us.

1. The 1.5 GB quota is actually per person. This means each stateroom actually gets 3 GB. You can switch over to the other person's "account" if you've exhausted your quota. 2. The system is still glitchy, in that, there had been 3 instances for our 15-day sailing where our quota was exhausted even though we were out in port for the most of the day. Guest Service told us it's a known issue, but there's nothing they can do except to take note and report it. The only solution they had was for the person who exhausted their quota to switch over to the other person's access. (Or, well, pay for extra data) 3. I was specifically told that the new system allows for 4 devices per "account". So there's no long any issue with your phone being forced off the internet when you connect your tablet/laptop, and vice versa. The data was more than enough for us. Even though my mom enjoyed watching YouTube for an hour or so before bed each night, we never exhausted our quota except for the glitched instances.

09/01/2024 is Jan 09, not Sep 01. Brazil (and many countries) go with dd/mm/yyyy instead of mm/dd/yyyy.

Not the best business practice, to be sure. Same goes with the whole "you'd get more if your booking goes to a TA instead of being handled by V directly".

@OneSixtyToOne You are a godsend! They've sent multiple ones AFTER the final document email, and I thought the one with the latest dates would be the final one. Thanks again!

@OneSixtyToOne Thanks for that! That section isn't available on my e-doc for some reason. I've call customer service, and they sent me the info manually. Thanks again for the help!

I'm 4 days from sailing, but already flew to Europe. So the information isn't included in the electronic docs? But only in the paper docs (along with the tags)?

According to the FAQ: information on your ship’s docking location will be in your Cruise Documents However, I've went over it several times and still didn't find it. Can anyone shine a light on it for me?

The thing I'm hoping for the most is if their new e-visa system will be along the lines of Turkey's in terms of documentation requirements. I mean I understand how they're trying to root out stuff like money laundering when they're asking for financial statements. Still doesn't make it less of a hassle and unnecessary burden.

Like I said before, that the official government announcement said the system is supposed to be ready at least 30 days before the new rules take effect. Hence the early Dec date to come back and check to see if the e-visa system is up and running (mentioned by Consulate). It's possible they'll push back the date again if they still can't get the system online in time for the 30-day deadline they promised, but who knows. Otherwise, you'll need to do the traditional visa via mail (because the various consulates don't take appoints over visitor visa anymore), which costs more, requires more documentation, etc.

There are a lot of things where "booking direct" would give you the best deals. Cruises are not one of them, unfortunately. I mean there are instances where Viking's email codes would give you the best deals (and the TA would tell you they couldn't replicate the price/offer), but, nonetheless, try to always at least get a quote from a TA first. Both of our Viking sailings were booked directly with Viking, but they were both after talking to a TA and they couldn't get the same offer on their end.

Yeah. A lot of recent codes all give discount/free air promo but no fare discount despite them saying the code would provide "special fare". *shrug*

I always thought this is more of an industry-wide practice as opposed to something specific to Viking. Same goes for the whole "# Days" instead of "# Nights" in advertisement. And don't get me started on the "99" dollar amount in pricing, which is almost universal in the entire economy. I mean is it annoying? Yes. Should Viking "do better" and adopt changes? Absolutely! Are they going to do it? Not unless the changes would significantly impact them in a positive way.

Well, it was ruled by Greeks back in the 11th Century BC... 😉