Peregrina651

There are also 8-top and 12-top tables in the MDR. I had sworn off ocean cruising and had done just a couple of river cruises when Viking announced its new Oceans venture. I was convinced that Viking could scale-up its river cruise model to an ocean-going one because what made Viking such an enjoyable experience was the way Viking treated people and the all-included, port intensive experience of the cruise. It was nice to be a guest, not a profit center. I was so convinced that in 2014 I booked and paid for a cruise on a cruise line that had not yet sailed its first season on a ship whose keel had yet to be laid. We loved our first cruise so much that 6 months later we were on our second cruise -- the first time we had taken two long vacations in the same year -- and now I need two hands to count my Viking adventures. To me, Viking Oceans is Viking River writ large. Regardless of the size of the ship, you know what to expect.

And the hassle of dealing with the insurance company to recover some of it. And having to accept vouchers instead of cash if the insurance is through Viking.

The pandemic crippled the tourism industry and in particular the third-party providers of guides and buses that the cruise ships depend on for the shorex that they offer. It has been slow to come back back up to speed but it is getting better week by week, port by port. We might be ready to return to travel but the truth is that the travel industry is not yet back up to speed. The demand is there but the supply is not. BTW, booking an independent tour does not mean that you have to hire a private guide. There are companies in most ports that offer bus tours similar to what Viking offers and usually for less. Getting back to the ship in time, in general, is not an issue. Companies that depend on the business from the ships in their port will get you back to the ship in time because this is their livelihood and they want to remain in business. Pre-pandemic that is exactly what Viking did. The problem is that post-pandemic, there are not enough drivers and guides to meet the demand. This is getting better and better as more and more guides and drivers return to the industry (they left for full-time jobs when the tourism industry collapsed in 2020) and as new drivers and guides are trained. It may be a few years before the industry is back to the pre-2020 supply levels.

FYI, there was quite a discussion about the CT menus in this thread. It was a group effort to put together a list of all the menus. 21 Chef’s Table Menus? As for the British menu, there are two of them, so could those of you who were disappointed by it possibly remember which one of the two you found disappointing. Menu 1: Great Britain: Cuisine from an Island Nation Amuse Bouche Quail Scotch Eggs – quick pickle, edible flowers, dressed baby salad leaves First Course Beer-Battered Fish & Chips – vinegar salt, minted pea puree, tartar sauce Granité Gin & Tonic – lemon twist Main Course Mini Yorkshire Pudding & Slow Braised Brisket – rich beef gravy, garden vegetables with chive butter Dessert Whim-Wham – Scittish Regency trifle with raspberries, oranges & whipped cream Menu 2: Great Britain 2: Cuisine from an Island Nation Amuse Bouche Glamorgan Sausages, Apple Chutney, Edible Flowers and Dressed Baby Salad Leaves First Course Beer-Battered Fish & Chips – vinegar salt, minted pea puree, tartar sauce Granité Pimm’s Number 1 Cup, with Cucumber, Strawberries and Mint Main Course Mini Beef & Guinness Pies, Champ Potatoes and Spiced Red Cabbage Dessert Everlasting Lemon Syllabub with Shortbread Fingers, Whipped Wine Infused Cream with Lemon severed with Candied Lemon Twist

Actually, the menus are on a schedule that has nothing to do with the coming and going of passengers; this is true even in the main dining room and the buffet. Each CT menu is served for three nights and there may be 6, 7 or more different menus in the rotation depending on the supply chain and the whim of the executive chef. So there is no way of knowing in advance if they are on day 1, 2 or 3 of a menu when you board. To sample as many menus as possible, especially if you don't get to see what the nightly menus will be, book advanced reservations on days 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, etc. to avoid duplication. Once on board, you will be able to book as many additional evenings as they will let you

If you are going to contact Viking, skip chat and the call center. Instead, e-mail tellus@vikingcruises.com. They do better at these kinds of questions. The 2023 sailings are underway. Wouldn't it be nice if someone on board each of the segments would start a live thread so that those of us who are sailing in 2024 and 2025 could ask these kinds of questions???

We have tried two times (2017 and 2018) with Viking to get to Tunisia but never made it. Both times it was cancelled for security reasons. Algeria was also on the itinerary and we made it there once. Algeria requires an expensive visa if you are going to wonder around on your own -- and there isn't much to see within walking distance of the pier. Without a visa of your own, you are limited to the ship's tours. We did the included bus tour. It was lackluster but we did have our picture taken with a local family who were visiting the same landmark as were were.

TL, my brain is not plugged in correctly this morning. Which is undergoing renovations, the pier or the hotel?

me, too!

Yes, it is privately owned and operated but she talked about the student interns who used to join them in the summer to work the tourist and the conservation operations. I think that what we saw in 2021 when we were there was a toned down version of what the operation was prior to the pandemic because they were just coming back up to speed. That is why I think that their daily capacity is greater than what we saw.

Phil, hopefully things have changed since you and I were on the second sailing of the "Welcome, Back" sailings in 2021. For one thing, booking shorex was a complete mess: they were not ready on time and when they did finally open it was first come, first served for the few seats that were actually available for tours. A lot has changed in the past two years and I suspect that capacity on tours has increased immensely as guides, drivers and boats have returned to work -- and as Covid restrictions have eased and now all but disappeared. I also suspect that there will be more than one boat ferrying pax to the island and that each of these boats will be carrying more than the 40 pax that were on the ferry when I did the trip. This was taken at Skalanes. (It has been cropped and photoshopped; it was hazy along the cliffs). Skalanes also has capacity issues because they have to use special buses to ford the streams.

In the meantime, keep checking. It could be as simple as some website housekeeping.

When booking opens for you, you get to book shorex for the entire duration of your cruise regardless of how many segments you have booked. The only thing that will not be available in advance are excursions that will be offered only to continuing guests on changeover days; those will be offered to continuing guests when you board. These tours will not be available to embarking or disembarking guests.

You never, never know. Looking at our demographic, cancellations happen right up to departure day. On our last cruise, a river cruise with room for 84 people, just a few months ago, one couple booked 11 days prior to sailing because there was a cancellation. Think positive!

The 'at-sea' day version of the shore excursion is not new and has been around since well before the pandemic hiatus as an additional cooking-based activity for guests. Sometimes it is a substitute for the shorex and sometimes it is in addition to the shorex (on itineraries that actually have "at-sea" days). It is a very popular activity when it can be offered. The shore excursion version has always depended on having the right market for shopping and the right personnel to present the class and it has never been available on every itinerary. Viking does have an asterisk on all of its shorex and makes it clear that the shorex listed are possibilities, not promises (including Kitchen Table and other Privileged Access tours).

No. I have always dealt with a TA and I have never been able to pay for anything on MVJ except for shorex and pre-paid gratuities. I have always though that it was because I worked with a TA -- but it could be because of all the blockers that I run on my browser. Whatever the reason, I am quite happy not to have that information stored on MVJ (which is why I also do not register my on-board credit card in advance; it takes a minute a check in).

One booking number books all of its excursions on the date stated on your invoice. If some reason you have two booking numbers, you should check the date on the invoice for when booking opens for each segment.

My TA operates differently. I don't pay the travel agency any money. I provide either my credit card # or my ACH information (routing and account # from bank) and the TA submits them to Viking on my behalf. Viking's name appears on the transaction, not the travel agency.

AND, there is an entire section here on Cruise Critic dedicated to PORTS OF CALL. A lot of information about tour companies is exchanged there. The audience is huge compared to the number of folks actively participating in this Viking forum, so you may find many more suggestions there. Ports of call is divided into 3 sub-forums and for Midnight Sun you may have to visit two of them.

In other words, you have to do the math. It is a complicated decision with many factors to be considered.

Not really. A no foreign transaction fee card benefits us, not Viking. It works like this (and this is a very simplistic explanation of it). Your cruise costs $10,000. If you pay by credit card, Viking charges you $10,000.The bank takes 4% ($400) and gives Viking $9600. Some banks then turn around and charge you a fee for a foreign transaction, which they also keep (talk about double dipping). You have now paid $10,000 less any "rewards" earned. Whether you are charged a foreign transaction fee or not, Viking still walks away with only $9600. However, if you use their E-check to pay, Viking charges you $9670 for the cruise. You pay $9670 -- and save $330 off the original price of the cruise. Viking keeps the $9670 ($70 more than it gets if you pay by credit card). The bank gets nothing BUT you lose whatever credit card rewards you might have gotten from the $10,000 transaction. In this case, you have to decide which is worth more to you, a $330 cash savings or the credit card rewards But to muddy the decision even further, using a credit card offers protections that paying cash doesn't. Example, when our May, 2020 cruise was cancelled, I went against my credit card company for refunds for pre-paid independent tours when the companies weren't fast enough in sending refunds (one had gone bankrupt and the other eventually paid the bank what it would have refunded to me). Had I paid cash, I would not have gotten anything from the company that went bankrupt. Credit card vs. E-check is not a clear cut decision. Using a credit card that does not charge a foreign transaction fee is a smart way to go, but it will not make a difference to Viking's take from the credit card transaction; they will get the same amount from the transaction whether you end up paying a foreign transaction fee or not. That is why Viking would prefer that we all use E-check.

Viking does freeze MVJ transactions about one week prior to embarkation. This is when the data gets sent to the ship. We have to make any additions or cancellations before that point -- and that is what the email mentioned in the first post is about. We can read what is on MVJ at that point but we can't make any changes. Moreover, the booking will be removed from your MVJ account on embarkation day. If there is anything there that you want to save for future reference, save it before you leave home.

Did you all see the e-mail from Cruise Critic with the link to their article "11 Bad Decisions That Could Ruin Your Cruise"? Would it surprise any of you to learn that "Packing All Your Clothes Before Disembarking" made the list but "Bring you pet animal" did not?

No black jeans. We tried one night, not intentionally but someone had put both pairs of dockers into the laundry at once. We weren't even thinking about it when we headed down to dinner. We ate in the buffet that night. The staff pulled DH aside and quietly asked him to return to the cabin to change. DH explained the situation and we left. No big deal. Politely handled. Apologies on all sides.

If they are putting their signature to this document, it should also include the penalties. They should have to attest that they understand the penalties for ignoring the code of conduct.