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Do TAs for AMA offer OBC or such?

We got a discount from our TA for booking with AMA.

We ve done Avalon and Uniworld cruises. We are considering joining friends on an AMA ship.

So will we be happy with the ship experience? I know it's subjective, but would like something similar to what we are familiar with.

(Itinerary isn't at issue. )

We have traveled with all three lines and AMA would be our favorite among the three. They have a variety of excursions while in port instead of everyone taking the same excursion but in different groups. Their slow walkers' group is geared toward allowing those travelers to have the same experience as the other groups. In one instance they had a small choo choo train ride people through the vineyards into town while the other groups walked. Go for it; I don't think you will be disappointed.

I absolutely do NOT remember where the soap and water is going into the MDR...the sanitizer is on the wall to the right as you are escorted to your table.

 

 

 

 

the pools , SPA and gym were closed as well during RED times! Gym re-opened before pools.

I don’t think there are any sinks to wash one's hands going into The Restaurant, only hand sanitizer dispensers. The hostess would not seat us until we squirted sanitizer on our hands 😊.

We had two performances by Philipa Healy, an opera singer. She was wonderful. She had a range of songs that she sang, not all opera type. There was also a magician who performed twice, too, but we didn’t attend.

I know there has been a lot of discussion regarding laundry...but I'm wondering if we do laundry very early in the morning...say 5:30 or 6:00 AM, would we have a good chance of getting right in and out with that, or are people doing it that early. I assume the laundry rooms are open 24 hours?

 

Thanks...

I went to the laundry room a couple times at 6:30 and got right in, but some of the washers were already in use. Worth a try.

Sounds like it will be easy to make dinner reservations at 8pm, our preferred time.

Yes, 6:30 to 7:30 is the busiest time in the dining rooms. AND they have LOTS of tables for two, which I know from your river cruise posts that you prefer.

A related question (sort of)... do they provide bar soap or just the body wash?

 

 

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Bar soap is provided. If you need extra just ask your cabin attendant.

Roothy is talking about the Living Room Bar on Deck 1 (in the Atrium). Best coffee on the ship.

Sure is and they have to-go cups.

Has the Viking Ra actually finally entered service? Any feedback from travelers? Viking is keeping this delay a mystery. What's up?:confused:

YES !!! It is in service. There is another thread started about the Ra. Just look for that title.

Thank you. Stopping thru Frankfurt on the way to Venice. Do think its better there then the Airport ion Venice? Yes we are traving thru Viking air.

Not sure if you have to pay a tax in Venice. I don't shop duty free very often, but since Venice is your last stop you might. They ask for your boarding pass when purchasing any item when in transit. Most of the duty free shops have the same prices.

We are doing the Mediterranean Odyssey Venice to Barcelona in 2019. When we fly into Venice we would like to buy some liquor

before we get onto:cool: the ship. I was thinking of the Duty Free shop in the airport. Is that the best place to get it and carry it on?

 

My other question is that I use a C-PAP machine, will Viking give me Distilled Water to use while on board? If not where can I get it?

If you have a connection before flying to Venice and have the time, shop at the duty free shop at that airport. We did that on our last cruise and it saved us time walking around tying to find a liquor store. The bottle was handed to us before we boarded the plane on our last stop.

Has anyone been able to use the cruise certificate towards final payment and not as part of the initial deposit? The small print says- "Applicable to new bookings only". That could mean it must be used for a future cruise and not on the current cruise where the certificate was purchased.

Thank you.

Mike

I used mine toward final payment, not the deposit. No problem at all.

Hi all, Can anyone tell me from experience if there is a coffee maker in the veranda cabins on the Sky? On the Viking website it lists a coffee brewer under DV cabin benefits but not under V. However, in other places I read that the difference was basically the location of the cabin on board. Help! .... signed, an early morning caffeine addict...

Just order a pot of coffee from room service.

So I guess the passenger moral to the story is: pack something suitable for dinner in your carry-on if you're embarking in Greenwich. And the lesson for Viking is, relax the dress code when embarkation is in a port where luggage is tendered.

We ate at The Restaurant on our first day in Greenwich and several people did not have their luggage in time to change for dinner. The management at the desk never said a word to them when some walked in wearing shorts. The dress code was not enforced for this meal.

Usual start time is 9:15pm for the shows in the Theatre,

And the doors open at 8:30 and not before :D. People were lined up in the hall to get in. Several people were saving 6 or more seats, too, so anyone who came in towards 9 pm had a hard time getting a seat.

Just used OBC to book optional tours for our trip using the

MY VIKING JOURNEY web site. In fact when I log in it says we have $20 left to spend any way we want. The web page automatically deducts from your OBC and will then ask for credit card info at checkout. Do checkout for all "must have" tours ASAP. They aren't booked, credit card, OBC, or included tour until you checkout

Not all accounts are set up that way. Ours wasn’t. I had to pay for my optional s with a credit card.

I was told no. Once you get on board you cannot change anything that has been charged on your credit card. The gratuities do add up quickly ($15 pp/per day).

DW and I are long time mass line cruisers. (Carnival, Norwiegen, etc)

So most of the basics that are similar across all cruise lines are familiar to us.

 

Many of the differences that people seem to miss on Viking Ocean actually are extremely appealing to us.

No casino, no bingo, no irritating port photographers, no crap sales tables clogging the atrium walkways, etc.

 

We were looking at a port intensive cruise from Amsterdam around the coast of Norway in September 2019. (so much chillier than our usual winter Caribbean cruises.;))

 

Looking through many threads on this board before posting, it seems the only difference between the various DV class and V class cabins, literally, is location. (and lack of coffee maker and binoculars, between DV and V)

 

Neither of us is a wine drinker.

We both enjoy an occasional alcoholic drink or a beer. (probably 1-2 a day, tops)

We mostly drink soda or bottled water. A lot of water and soda. (for example, I usually drink seven 12 oz. bottles of water and a 12 oz. soda per day at work.)

 

If I am understanding correctly, both DV and V cabins have a mini fridge with drinks and snacks inside.

The DV cabins get refilled for free, once a day.

The V cabins do not and you have to pay to have them refilled daily, unless you buy the drink package.

 

We are trying to evaluate whether upgrading to a DV cabin or a V cabin with the drink package would be more conducive for our personal drinking habits.

 

So here are the questions I have so far to help our evaluation.

 

1) Are the sodas in the cabin fridge cans or bottles? (I'm assuming cans, for disposing purposes)

 

 

Yes, they are cans. I swapped my Coke for cans if iced tea.

 

2) Is there bottled water in the cabin and is it replenished? (with or without the drink package?)

 

There is a carafe of fresh water and two bottles.

3) How many sodas and bottles of water do you get daily in your fridge in a DV or in V with drink package? (since it seems they only refill once a day)

 

There are either 6 or 8 cans of sodas. The water is on the counter, not in the fridge.

4a) Are we allowed to buy sodas or water in port and bring back aboard the ship?

 

Yes, you can buy anything you want to bring back to your room.

 

4b) And if we are allowed, can we bring 16 oz, plastic bottles instead of cans of soda? ( DW never finishes a soda and usually recaps and puts in the fridge for later.) I know most of the mass lines no longer allow bottles onboard anymore.

 

Yes.

 

5) As far as the included beer or soda during lunch and dinner: Is the free beer or soda, only offered in the actual dining venue, or also at bars during the meal hours?

 

Can't answer that one. We dined every day at lunch on the Aquavit Terrace and had their included draft beer (Carlsberg). Sodas and iced tea (sweet or unsweet) were offered.

 

Thank you in advance for any help you can give with these questions, so we can make the best choices to fully enjoy our Viking Ocean cruise.

See above in red.

So when you are booking your excursions, do they give you the option to apply the OBC each time until it is used up? I was told to choose and pay for excursions one at a time.

My account did not mention that I had OBC so I had to pay with a credit card. I was told by the reservation people on the ship that the account has to be set up a certain way for one to use OBC when booking excursions. Not sure how that happens but I will check with my TA the next time I book a cruise.

Tried to post a photo but didn’t come through.

We just got off the Star and we were able to use our OBC for tips.

Check out this link:

https://mumbaidutyfree.net/

We are on the Star right now and see no difference then when we were on the Sky. We were in a PV on the Sky and are in a DV this time, so the room size is different. My husband said the gym is smaller on the Star and there is different equipment but that is the only difference we can see. The Star has been very well maintained.

We have repeated a few cruises. It's nice to see a familiar town and see things we didn’t see before or even visit the same city in the spring and the fall, seeing the differences in the flora.