vslparis

4 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

Really, that's news to us. Wife uses The Hopper & Booking.com and more as means of checking airfares. She's been watching for some time. We fly from Des Moines (Iowa/USA) to Venice in late October 2023, take our 20-night cruise, and then fly from Barcelona back to Des Moines in late November 2023. She recently got the airfare for $1016 PP roundtrip. Total cost. All taxes and fees included. Economy. United Airlines. O's airfare is NOT even close to this. And we'd have to pay more just for us to get from our small airport to one of their American starting points or drive to Chicago (for example) and pay to park.

All depends on your departure city and the time of year .  As the OP mentioned, from Tampa it is crazy high ; same from the DFW area. Airfare is never a one size fits all thing.  All about supply and demand in the market you are flying from. Late October can be very different than the middle of summer when it comes to pricing. 

5 hours ago, cbfb said:

Yes we are in Florida but Tampa so flights are expensive! I priced it for this year since I couldn’t see next Fall yet. $2400 each to fly into Athens and out of Rome with somewhat decent flights! Crazy! But I know if I leave it to O they will be terrible flights. 

I know ! You should look into driving to Miami and doing your own flights from there . I would price out what it would be to fly from there on a schedule you like ( at least 1 day before the cruise leaves please ! ) , then call Oceania and see what it might cost to have them do the flights ( including the $195 pp fee and any extra up charge) . Doesn’t cost anything to ask. 

Looks like 2023 is shaping up to be another Year of Strikes  like it was several years ago. Strikes on and off from Spring until fall by airline workers, transit workers ATC workers , and anyone else that felt like jumping on that platform 😬. As my mother use to say “it’s a great life if you don’t weaken “ ! 

2 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

It might be different for Canadians, but for European cruises, a typical difference between cruise only and oLife is $2,000 CAD, which includes air and oLife around $500 CAD. So the air itself is around $1,500 CAD, which is more expensive than the average flight price to Europe from Toronto, not to mention the potential deviation fee.

The OP did say that the air credit was $1000 ( USD I imagine since they are in Florida) ,so around $1400CAD I think.  It certainly could be more advantageous to book outside the cruise line ; certainly is if you want more control over your flights . Just depends on the time of year  and what city you are flying from ; is certainly worth a look by cruiser . From Miami it could be possible to stay in that $1000 pp range at times but from other cities not so much .

1 hour ago, cbfb said:

We are new to Oceania and are considering an Athens to Rome cruise in 2024. We are debating including airfare. I see it’s a $1000 credit per person. If the airfare is higher are we charged? How does it work?
 

Also, I was told you can cancel your cruise up to 6 months out and be fully refunded. Is this correct?

 

 I had a trip advisor from Oceania contact me. I don’t have a TA so is this the best way to go? Will they be upfront with me? she told me there are quarterly  increases  and I can lock in The price with a refundable deposit? 
 

Thanks so much for help with this. I am not used to not knowing what I’m doing!! 

If you opt to take the $1000 off for not using Oceania’s air, you will need to find airfare on your own.  For something like a trip to Europe, it more than likely is going to be a better value to take Oceania’s flight unless you are using miles for flights. No way will you get economy airfare for $1000 per ticket these days . However, if you are picky about your routing or airline the better option for you might be to pay more and find the flights you want on your own. Oceania charges $195 per person for you to be able to pick specific flights. If those flights are more than their contracted rates, then you will pay the difference also. 
Yes Oceania does periodic price increase and the next one will be on 03 April .

Generally, your deposit is refundable up until 180 days before departure but to know for sure, just put the sailing on hold ( usually about a week without a deposit) and look at the Guest Cancellation Schedule usually found on the second page. Also pay attention to the Cancellation of Ancillary Fees schedule ; the  custom air fee of $195 is non refundable once you pay for it .

On 3/22/2023 at 8:22 AM, sugarside said:

Afternoon tea in Funchal,Madeira during an independent stay one December.

Is that at Reid’s hotel?
 

6 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

If LHR security is striking hopefully the Govt will replace them with the Armed Forces, similar to when the Border Force went on strike. Heathrow passport control ran quicker and smoother than normal.

This is what occurred when we arrived at Heathrow the beginning of last month during a Border Force strike. Just used the electronic passport gates and if you had an issue , the regular gates were manned by Armed Forces personnel. Going thru the electronic gates was definitely quicker than a manual check and the lines were short. Hopefully it will be the same way for the next LHR strike action. Welcome to Europe 😉

2 hours ago, oskidunker said:

Booked air through viking. Return on British Air business. Seats were assigned when travel agent booked 

Just curious , is this  flight flown by BA or sold as a BA flight but flown by AA ?

49 minutes ago, photopro2 said:

Hi Clay,

Having not flown with them, I initially took valparis at their word when they said that Iberia made the charge for BC seat assignments. Your post prompted me to doublecheck.

 

In fact, advance seat selection is included in the fare as evidenced by the screenshot below from the Iberia website.

 

This allows me to maintain that BA is the only major airline to charge for seat assignments in business class. I hope valparis will forgive me for making this correction, I do like to be right 😁

 

Well, so do I 🤣. I have run into this in the past , but am always willing to be updated .

The seats are free only from  24 hours before the flight on this schedule  . A lot has to do with the price point of course and what amenities come with a contracted rate that someone like Viking usually has.  
Crazy to think that you can pay $5582 for a ticket and not have a confirmed seat assignment without a fee until check in.   It certainly is an IAG thing .

I guess my point was that never assume that you will have a seat assignment without a fee in any class ; you do need to keep checking if Viking says no to that because there  is also sometimes a time restriction as to when they are available. Again, due to contracts. 

17 minutes ago, photopro2 said:

I stand to be corrected, but in my experience it's only British Airways who have the audacity to charge their business class customers for advance seat assignment. Just one of a number of reasons that I avoid them where possible.

Iberia also.  Probably others , but it is good never to assume that even business class gets you a seat assignment before check in without paying.  It is something US travelers have a hard time wrapping their head around since it is not the norm with US carriers like it is with some non US carriers. And you are correct, it is audacious . Last year BA wanted another $160 a seat for pre check in sear assignments in Business class from NY. 

13 hours ago, Phantom_Celery said:

Subject captures my question. This seems to vary from country to country and cruise line to cruise line. The reason I’m asking is for car rental purposes (Not that a passport is strictly required for car rentals in Iceland, but two  forms of ID typically are, and I only have so many photo IDs…).

Thanks for the reminder. I was planning on looking into a car rental at the pier for our day in Reykjavik when doing Bergen to New York in August. We were on the first Welcome Back Iceland trip in June 2021 and did not have to give in our passports at that time ; had to jump thru so many hoops to sail,but that wasn’t one of them.  
Not sure when you are sailing but if someone with more recent experience doesn’t answer your question, you might find out from a Cruise Critic Board about a current Iceland sailing. 

We were 8 days into the 2022 World Horizon trip when my husband fell and shattered his humerus while we were docked in Puerto Vallarta.  The Viking Customer Relations manager arranged for transportation to a hospital, and an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon . Once it was determined that we would have to disembark, they arranged for housekeeping to help me pack ( the 4 months worth of things that I had just unpacked several day prior 😬) and for us to clear customers and immigration . The Customer Relations Manager and someone from Vikings medical office called several times to check up on things .  I arranged with the hospital to get back to the ship for the luggage and then they took me to my hotel which I arranged myself ( but Viking did ask if I needed help with that ) . 
I called my trip insurance company ( not with Viking) from the hospital to start a claim and from that point on they were the ones I spoke to regarding any sort of help needed. As @Selion mentioned, my insurance has a service that would have helped with a hotel, transportation ,return flights if needed.  
For that solo Traveller not be contacted by Viking, it could have been that she didn’t have any cell service so they couldn’t call like they did for us ( another reason  to have international cell service while traveling ) . 

Bottom line is that Viking will help arrange things with local medical and be kept informed, but only up to a certain point ; you need to be proactive and know what your trip insurance will be doing to help if the need arises. It is not all on Viking. 

Yes, unfortunately, this has been the norm for many years with many foreign carriers. You can not assign seats until the flight is ticketed and even then you may have to pay for a seat assignment if you want to have it before check in . This is true even in business class ( unless you either have a high status with the airline or if Viking has a contracted arrangement to allow you to get them before that ) . Generally you can get seats together at check in but it is not guaranteed; only way to do that is to pay for early seat assignments with these foreign carriers.

Also, as an FYI , if your flight is sold as United, but operated by Lufthansa, you will need to check in with Lufthansa. 

On 3/9/2023 at 9:08 AM, mbviking2023 said:

After tonight I have to add another. When in Saigon a must see is the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater! So cool. A 1000 year old tradition. We'll have a blog post about it when we catch our breath.

This is defiantly on our list for next year !

20 hours ago, 1985rz1 said:

I'm curious about and interested in your statement.  Other than hearsay, do you have any data to support it?

Another reason to not being able to disembark in a port is if that port does not have or can not get immigration and customs officials available to disembark passengers. Generally this happens in smaller ports that do not generally embark or disembark passengers. And yes, I know this for an absolute fact 😉.   Not matter where or when someone wants to disembark ( and also embark as happened to someone my recent Sea Dream cruise) the cruise line must  be notified and grant permission and it should be writing.

3 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

Well,yea, because that would mean we are in Italy!  We will be there again next month!  
Hope you are doing well, and on the next WC!!!

Have some limoncello for me !  I wonder if that is available on the SS package in the Explorer’s Lounge .

We will be in London next month and I am pretty sure your weather will be warmer than mine !  We plan to be on the for the WC in 2024  for the whole trip this time  ( at least from LA) 😉

5 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

It’s not that hard to make lemonade out of these lemons, in my humble opinion

I prefer to make limoncello out of lemons 🤣

1 hour ago, Moonlion said:

Does anyone know if the bar prices (purchased separately) for wine, beer, liquor have gone up by 25%?  If so, the value of the SSBP is basically the same.

Others have stated on CC that the bar prices have also gone up ( a glass of wine that was $6 is now $8 for example so even more than 25% assuming I did the math correctly 🤣) so the value is pretty much the same . Some people think the SS package is a good value , others don’t . This is why it is good that you are given a choice to take it or not.  
Viking’s increase is better than on Oceania where the upgrade went from $20 per person per day to $30 pp per day .  

4 hours ago, SteelCity Cruiser said:

Does anyone on the most recent sailing, or current sailing, have the Orion's phone number and email address? I'm putting together some information/contacts for our family and friends while we're away and since we're not due to board the Orion until Feb 2 in Sydney, but are leaving in 6 days for a 2-week extension in Australia (very excited!!!) we don't have our final documents with this information from Viking yet.  TIA!

 

It is also a good idea for them to have your booking number and cabin number . 
Enjoy your extension travelling in Australia it is an amazing country to visit.
We did about 10 days after getting off in Sydney 3 years ago; driving down along the Great Ocean Road, thru some great wine areas and finishing in Adelaide. I would do that again in a heartbeat and hope to do something similar in another area .Lots of interesting places to see and visit in Australia. 

Yes , many cruise lines are raised the pricing on drink packages, gratuities , wi-fi etc. 

Viking just raised their Silver Spirts add on for ocean cruises from $20 to $25 per day without any notification at all 😒.  

1 hour ago, SantaFe1 said:

Yep, I now have a notice saying final payment is due, and to contact my TA.  So I guess I got charged the whole thing.  That’s sort of false advertising.  I think Viking is fine raising their rates, but not fine saying you owe 558 then getting paid that abs then adding the the remainder.  
 

we are 43 days out from Mediterranean Antiquities.  We’re are you off to?

We are doing the Bergen to NYC trip on 02 August . After that , our second attempt at the World Horizon 121 days starting January 2024 😀. Not going to let my husband carry anything in the World Cafe this time 😉

6 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

Well, I paid, it showed the $538 amount, and thanked me.  So I think I got it.  It won’t appear on my bank statement for a few days, and I’ll check again.  But our Hawaii cruise in 2024 is now $800 for the two of us!  We are going to have to stop drinking, LOL.

Not stop drinking, just drink more to make up for the extra cost 🤣.  
 

Send yourself an updated email from MVJ and you should see that the SS noted on there is at the new rate.not the old one .  I don’t think that you can see each individual payment made on your booking ( like I can on the TA invoice) but you should be able to see the total payments made and the , what should be, the new total for the trip which more than likely is the difference between the old and new SS pricing minus what you just paid online.  My trip total is now exactly $280 more than it was before which is the exact amount of that difference .

10 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

Valerie, check your cart again.  I previously just checked today’s price in the SSP section, not in my cart.  The price in my cart is still the old price, $558 for the two of us for our cruise.  The price listed if newly ordering today is $700 for the two of us.  I just quickly bought the package from my cart, and with the 3.3% discount it was $538 for the two of us.  

Well, I did that too and paid the old rate, however when I look at the invoice it shows $700 per person ( vs the $558 per person) and when I look at the balance I now owe on my cruise it is $280 more . That $280 is the difference between the old SS price and the new one minus what I just paid  😒

23 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

Ouch!  SSP is in my cart and now has increased substantially.  That will teach me to procrastinate!!

I know ! It probably wouldn’t be so annoying to pay an additional $5  per person if I had a 7-10 day cruise or if I hadn’t noticed it for a few months rather than a day or two after I meant

to purchase it .  Oh well, still a good deal as I imagine the cost of cocktails on board will be increasing too.  

Looks like the SS package is now $25 per person per day .  I had put the package in my shopping cart yesterday (or the day before ) and for my 28 day trip it was $558 per person for the length of the trip; today it showed $700 per person 😬.  Someone on another social media site also mentioned that plus an increase in gratuities but I can’t confirm that since I hadn’t done that one yet.  Did anyone receive a notice about an upcoming price increase in these ?