CoralReef

Following. 
 

I have called and emailed them, to no avail. I don’t mind marketing emails, but the brochures are a waste of money. I have never booked based on a printed brochure, and I will not be booking any cruise until COVID is under control. 
 

Many days, a Viking catalog is the only thing in my mailbox. I have a sensor on the mailbox, so I would be able to skip many unnecessary trips to the mailbox if Viking would stop with their wasteful mailings. 

Our April 5 Viking Orion Bali to Bangkok cruise was canceled by Viking on February 19. In addition to a refund, we were given a $500 future cruise voucher each, good for a year. Additionally, there was another $500 pp voucher good until March 9, if we rebooked by then and transferred our payment, rather than taking the refund. 
 

Your mileage may vary, but I’m guessing they will offer some kind of goodwill gesture.

Really? That’s bizarre! Anyone know why they do that?

Some cruise lines are offering free repo cruises to firefighters, first responders, disabled veterans etc. I think they get some tax breaks.
 

Viking has a last-minute sale list here:

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/limited-availability.html

I’ve never seen any super deals there, but under the circumstances you just might get lucky!

Good to know, thanks!

We are also disembarking at Laem Chabang. This will be the day after an overnight stay in port,  so I was thinking that the ship would already be cleared for immigration. If there is a long wait for customs or immigration, I may have to rethink our transfer time. Was the long wait after an overnight in port, or just after arrival?

Thank you, lextrvlr. I will contact them and see if they are willing to customize a tour. Have you worked with them? Were they flexible?

Hmmm, good points. I appreciate the excellent feedback and experiences.

If anyone can recommend a private tour or driver that lets you completely customize the itinerary, that might be my best bet. All the ones I’ve found go to all the same places.
 

Otherwise, it’s sounding like the included tour might be safest.

Thank you, Heidi. We have 10 hours in port, but would certainly be cognizant of traffic. I hear it’s very bad in Malaysia and Indonesia. Glad to hear again that it’s OK to leave the included tour.

I agree — Viking’s options, even the paid ones, are lackluster for KL port. It’s a dilemma — do we pay more, only have time to do a couple of things, and worry about time; or do we take a boring tour, our first and probably only time, in a port that has fun things to do. Ugh 🙁

Thank you, Peregrina. Visa is not an issue for Americans visiting Malaysia, so this might work. Glad to hear it wouldn’t cause difficulties.

Our Viking Ocean cruise docks quite far from Kuala Lumpur, in Port Klang (1:15 travel time, one way taxi fare approx. USD $80). The included tour is short and doesn’t look too interesting, but I can’t find a private tour visiting the sites that interest me. My sites of interest (Islamic Arts Museum, Orchid Garden, lake, Bird Garden, Masjid Jamek, maybe Menara KL) are all easy to visit on foot or with short taxi rides, once you are in the city of KL.

I was thinking about taking the included tour for a while, then letting the guide know we would find our own way back. Then touring DIY, then looking for a driver back to Port Klang. However, I don’t want to cause any problems for the tour guide. Has anyone ever ditched the included tour, basically using it as a shuttle? Would this be very bad form?

Thanks for any suggestions and advice 🙂

So far, our favorites are Decanter Hotel in OSJ and Marriott Stellaris for a great beach hotel. You don’t mention a price range — neither is a budget pick — but both are super nice and good value for the price.

I went to the gym and was shocked to discover outdated equipment. An old rower, a basic exercise bike and 2 treadmills. The ceiling is maybe 6’5 the treadmill is a step up making it impossible to be used without hitting my head. I am 6’.

Glad to see this mentioned. A treadmill is very important to DH, and he was dismayed not to be able to use it on Star Pride without hitting his head. I read a ton of reviews before our trip, and none pointed out that the treadmill is unusable except by short people. Thank you for mentioning this.

Sorry you had such a bad experience. We mostly enjoyed our Windstar cruise, but we also had some customer service issues. If their customer service was as good as Viking’s or Celebrity’s, we would probably try them again, but it just wasn’t.

DH and I never had a problem on ~1,200 passenger ships even in rough seas, but were both quite ill on Star Pride. Windstar Guest Services will give you free meds, but if you are not sure how you will do, I would have your own med supply and take them proactively. They take much longer to help once you are already sick, in my experience.

DH and I have Verizon TravelPass on both our phones, and neither of us has ever been able to get a usable signal in the Caribbean. Only in Puerto Rico and St. Thomas have we been able to get spotty data, not good enough to rely on. Voice was OK in PR and the USVI, not elsewhere in my experience.

Good to know, thanks!

Full face mask is easy to use but you have to get the perfect fit.

I don’t agree. I have a small, narrow face and need to use a child-sized half mask for a good fit. I cannot use my hubby’s half mask, and vice versa. Yet we can easily swap a full face mask back and forth.

Full face mask is *much* easier to use, no lessons required. Buy one and test it in a bathtub.

If you want fins, the shortie swim fins are almost as efficient as long fins for surface snorkeling, and are much easier to pack and carry.

I’m sure it’s great, all the Viking excursions are!

If you are thinking of skipping the included Marksburg castle tour because Viking describes it as “ strenuous”, you might want to view their video or Google some reviews. It does have some uphill walking and some stairs, and is slightly more aerobic than the other included tours on this cruise. However, Viking’s description greatly overplays the difficulty, in my opinion (and the opinion of several posters on this forum). On our cruise, a nonagenerian in the Slow Walkers group was able to do it.

By all means, do the Koblenz tour if you are more interested in it. But don’t be afraid of Marksburg if you would find it interesting. Unless you are in a wheelchair or use a walker, it should be doable.

The concern my diving DH has have to do the a complete inability to clear it if it floods. I thought might be a good option for our kids, but he nixed that idea pretty quickly.

Since you won’t be diving in a full-face mask, all you have to do is raise your head, lift the bottom of the mask, and drain it. It pops back in place much more easily than a traditional mask, so this is no big deal. You actually can blow air out just as you would in a half-mask, but it’s easier just to surface.

Also, in my experience, unlike a half-mask, a full-face mask rarely floods, because they don’t leak as much. I think they are far easier for kids to use, or adults for that matter! With a half-mask, it used to take me several minutes to get all my hair out of the seal, adjust the strap to be snug but not tight, defog, etc. With the full-face, you just pop it on and go.

I understand that people are comfortable with what they are used to, but I wish the nay-sayers would just try the full-face. Unless you are a diver, they are just easier and less hassle.

Except the people on bikes – they are psychopaths ;p

Our walking tour guide said to look out for “psychopaths on the cycle paths”.

Hi dis2cruise,

Sorry, I can’t recommend a company since I have always had excellent luck with the taxis at SJU. I have never waited more than a minute. Just bumping this, hope you get an answer.

That is a pretty short time. Would your son maybe enjoy running around and flying a kite on the lawn by El Morro fort? Would cost practically nothing, and great views.

If the Beach Break is RCCL’s SJH4 excursion, reviews say they use the Vivo Beach Club.

I have stayed at the Marriott Stellaris resort, and it is very nice. If you book through resortforaday, the day pass includes a small food credit.

Maybe look at pictures of both beaches and see if one looks better to you. I would guess the Marriott would end up costing more, but may have more of a family atmosphere.

I would say river cruises attract an older crowd due to cost more than any other reason. River cruises tend to be more expensive and sometimes older demographics may be able to afford them as compared to younger people. There is also the cultural / historical attraction. You definitely will not be doing a lot of zip lining or ATV excursions on a river cruise - those tend to be younger person things, so maybe that affects the demographics as well.

Two very good points!