zelker

Friends currently on the Westerdam Japan cruise asked the FCC about it last week. He told them he gets asked about it almost daily but to date, no word from Seattle.

It might not be refundable but it certainly is returnable to the gift card. As far as getting cash, I asked HAL about it today and was told it's allowed, and another option is to buy OBC online and then can withdraw cash against it as well. Either way, it's refundable OBC and one should be able to get money against it at any time while onboard.

Our first (and to date, only) Viking cruise ... and even though we both posted quite a bit on that roll call, somehow, we NEVER managed to meet up! 😉 We're booked on the January 31, 2025 Hawaii/French Polynesia on Neptune and looking forward to trying Viking again. We've been to all the ports a few times (as recently as this past February/March) so mainly it's a trial run to see if we think we could do a World. Also doesn't hurt that it gets us out of winter in Colorado for a month.

Don't know when you're looking to do it but Neptune is doing it on October 10, 2024 and again on April 5, 2025. Sky is doing it on December 19, 2025. All three are 17 days (16 nights).

Only second Viking cruise for us. Do NOT consider booking a cruise 5+ months out "last minute". Was just conjecturing so chill out.

Just looked at our invoice again. We booked it August 9th and final payment isn't due until September 30th, penalties start October 4th.

We're on the same cruise and final payment isn't due until the end of September so perhaps that's why (since I believe you could have cancelled and rebooked at the new fare)?

Can we apply AARP gift cards to our onboard account, then withdraw cash against them throughout the cruise as needed to cover things like gratuities for tour guides, add'l tips to crew, etc. ... and if so, is there a limit on how much you can withdraw (e.g., could we deposit $1,500 in gift cards and then withdraw whatever amount we want, up to the full amount we deposited, throughout the cruise by going to Guest Services and asking for cash as needed)? My thinking if that if this is allowed, we can carry way less cash while traveling to the ship.

Hey, Rich! Speaking of AARP gift cards, if I buy some before the cruise and have them applied to our onboard account, is there a limit to how much cash we can pull out to use for whatever (e.g., extra cash tips to crew, tour guides, etc.)? If there's no limit, then thinking this is a way for us to avoid carrying a lot of cash while we're traveling to the ship. Thx! Barb

Just put a deposit on a 32 night cruise for the end of January, 2025 and can confirm that the gratuities are $17pp/day. Do they differ if one pays pre-cruise vs onboard?

Following up to my post about not being able to log into MVJ ... still dead in the water today so called Viking yet again and was told they'd "escalate" it with IT and should hear back in a few days. Explained deposit is due tomorrow. So as a last resort, as someone had mentioned here, I asked about creating a second account using a different email address and voila! It worked. Don't know if I'll ever hear anything back from them about our long-ago created account that quit working but as long as this new one keeps going, I'm good with it. Thanks for all the suggestions on this thread. 🙏

Evidently this problem is NOT fixed. We put a booking on a courtesy hold yesterday, with deposit due Monday. I can't get into MVJ at all (tried all suggestions here, to no avail). Tried online chat and they were no help so just spent a half hour on the phone and he wasn't able to get me any further although I did ask him to log in on his end and he said it worked fine for him. He submitted a ticket for IT and said he'd follow up with me later today but not hopeful based on comments here. The only thing we haven't tried yet is to switch the email account to a different one and see if that works. If this hadn't been going on for several weeks now, it might not be so concerning but at the moment, we're not willing to put money on a cruise when we can't get into MVJ to control the booking, book excursions (which open in about a month), etc. I am "Frustrated in Colorado" 🤨

Thank you for posting this! We were able to save $8K on the January 2025 Grand Hawaii/Polynesia cruise PLUS a $500 past guest discount PLUS free air! And while we just did a similar cruise this past February/March on Holland America, for this deal we couldn't say no! 😁

We're about to pull the trigger on WC 2026. Does the cruise fare include the cost of any required visas?

I've never seen this compiled like this, including the two photos side by side. THANKS!

Pls post back here … or email me at barb dot h at comcast dot net if you want to discuss offline.

Kind of in line with this discussion, apparently Viking is also cracking down on some TA's who were discreetly giving a LOT more than Viking's allowed amount as a post-cruise check. 😞

We're considering the July 2025 cruise NYC-AMS but would like to know if they do any scenic cruising around Svalbard, to increase chance of seeing wildlife (other than birds). Have you read anything about that?

Dee, which year are you looking at? We’re seriously considering 2026. Barb

While the OBC disappeared for the 2025 WC, the price has dropped considerably, at least for the PVs which is what we've been looking at and comparing to the 2026 cruise (which remains the same price and continues to offer OBC). Ex: a PV2 in 2025 is now $13,000 pp lower. That MORE than makes up for any lost OBC, and one also saves more money on trip insurance. Wish we could do 2025 but we won't get home from a 72 day cruise until the day the WC leaves LA. I know ... First World problems. 😉

The Gallery Bar makes them too.

We just spent 72 days on Koningsdam between December and March. Half was in a Signature Suite (we purchased Club O specifically so we could avoid the MDR), and half was in a Neptune (Club O restaurant automatically included). Club Orange does not accept reservations for breakfast or dinner. The ship seemed crowded everywhere we went and felt oversold. This included the Club O restaurant where we experienced waits, sometimes up to 30 minutes, and especially at peak dining times, so be prepared. PS - and since someone mentioned it, we were in 7087 and loved it for the location AND that insanely large veranda

It took it on the 2026 WC (LA to London) but didn't change anything that we aren't already getting ... so what's the point?

I don't think that it's about a Grand vs not-Grand voyage so much as it's about the two different classes of ships. The two smaller R-class ships (Volendam and Zaandam) have far fewer staterooms than the Pinnacle class, therefore not surprised it would be more on the Volendam.

They recently reduced the AARP discount from 10% to 8%, thus the new higher price.