highland cruiser

Our first Viking Ocean was this past Feb./March on the Orion from Sydney AU to Bangkok.

We booked the pre-excursion called the Best of Australia.  It was expensive but in retrospect, not something we could have done on our own without a lot of plane/hotel and tour arrangements.    We had 2 days in Melbourne, flew to Alice Springs with 2 days there, then flew to Uluru for 2 days and last flew to Sydney to board the Orion.  Awesome time.  Great tours, enough free time to do a few things on our own,  2 very good outback dinners which were included in the cost,  nice hotels with decent breakfasts and most of all 2 amazing tour guides that guided us daily and entertained with stories and legends. Very much worth the price and peace of mind that we were being taken care of.  (One lady even left her passport on one of the plane flights and the guides found where it was and the passport was waiting for her when she boarded the ship in Sydney!)   

We are avid cruisers and usually do all our own planning for tours and arrive early at the embarkation port to spend a few days exploring on our own.  We were a bit concerned with the price of this Australian pre-extension.  But afterward, decided it was money well spent for what we did.  That said, going into any European or Asian cities, we would look closely at what Viking offered as a pre or post excursion and see if we could do it easily and for a better price.  We enjoy all the planning that goes into a trip but we also want to still be talking to each other when we embark!  LOL!!

This is a great thread on CC and I have enjoyed reading all the comments. I am still learning a lot about Viking.  Also have booked an expedition and river cruise . Mary

Mary 

Thank you for all your posts.  Really enjoying reading all about the cruise.

Someday we may try a world cruise...or at least part of one!

Well said Marty and Gail.  We couldn't agree more. 

5 hours ago, pmjnh said:

 

Thanks, Mary. Yes, we have this in place as well..my question is regarding booking directly online or with a PCC. My regular TA is not available at this time. 

Got it.  When I reread your question I realized I hadn't answered correctly.  I hope  you got the answer you wanted.

Our TA is on our file when we do onboard bookings.  We are always asked if we want the booking to go to our TA.  It is done per our request automatically.  We only had to fill that form out the first time we used our TA.

Our OBC was used first also.  We used the ACH process to pay for tours and received the 3.3% discount right away.  This was recommended to us on our roll call and it worked very well.  We were able to book the tours we wanted immediately.  

2 hours ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

Happy 

Relieved for you all.

We also go a day early even if we fly from Portland to San Diego.  

When we go internationally, we try to go at least 3 days early.  Gives us time to reschedule flights if we miss a connection and get over jet lag. Plus do a bit of exploring in the port city.  Worth the extra cost of a hotel.  Better than missing the cruise altogether. We have had enough close calls and airport issues to make going early a priority now.

7 minutes ago, jljcruise said:

Thanks for your comments. I'll be following to see how things are going. We'll be on the Oosterdam in October (Piraeus to FLL).

If you get a chance, could you ask if she's going into drydock or if she's doing a charter in early  October? There seems to be uncertainty on this. I'm hoping for a bit of a freshening up drydock -- I realize it's not long enough for the full drydock experience. 

Have a great cruise!

We are on the same cruise.  The roll call is very active and there is a meet and greet planned. It looks like this will be a wonderful cruise.  I think we are the first cruise after Oosterdam comes out of drydock in October.

Thank you .  We were on the Oosterdam from Santiago back to Fort Lauderdale in March also.

Really enjoyed the ship also.  We will be back on in October after the drydock from Athens to FFL.  It will be our first trans-Atlantic and are looking forward to that.  Thank you for your post.

8 minutes ago, wdw1972 said:

To me, if you're buying them to prepay your onboard expenses it can make sense.  However, you can also just buy onboard credit in advance and cut out the gift card "middle man".  Likewise if you're buying them over time so when final payment is due you've got the funds ready.  However, you can simply be disciplined and set the money aside (ideally letting it continue to earn a little interest), not spend it on other things & have it handy to make the final payment.  As you can see, the "advantage" of using a gift card in both these cases is minimal at best.

 

To me the only advantage of significance is the 10% savings if you're buying them through AARP Rewards.  That comes with an element of risk in the event you cancel your cruise after final payment, as people are saying travel insurance likely won't reimburse you.  However, if the cruise happens as planned you've saved a sizable chunk of cash buying the gift cards.  It really comes down to an individual decision - not a "one size fits all".

 

Sue/WDW1972

Thank you so much.  I knew that AARP had a 10% savings.  Wondered if HAL did the same thing. 

Appreciate you taking the time to answer.

Mary

As a novice as to possibly purchasing gift cards, what is the advantage of using them?  Either the AARP or HAL cards.

Thanks so much for answering a question I probably should already understand.

2 hours ago, dfish said:

Greetings from Isafjordur!  It is a beautiful day here in Iceland.  We went to the Dynjandi waterfall.  It was a small private excursion and Val most of those on the bus were from our roll call.  After the waterfall we went to a farm for coffee and cake.  Mmmmm.  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good morning or afternoon to all wherever you live!

Love the pictures .  We enjoyed that same view when we were there.  All Iceland's waterfalls and landscape are awesome.  Enjoy your visit.

We are packing the trailer for our road trip to Yellowstone Park.  We leave Thursday.  I have been multiple times but still enjoy visiting.  Although the traffic and huge amounts of people can be a nuisance, we will enjoy every minute.  We have a RV campsite reserved at Fishing Bridge.  Will be our base for traveling around the park.  Taking our almost 13 year old grandson with us.  He is very excited.  Have books ready to listen to as we make the drive.  

Thanks for all the information.  It is a lot of work and I appreciate it.  Read it almost daily.  Enjoy catching up with everything when I can.

Prayer to all.  A lot going on in everyone's lives.  Cheers to those celebrating.  I am celebrating my pink eye infection is almost cleared up.  Not sure where I got that.  Escaped pink eye during all the years I taught school.  

Stay well and safe.

Mary

1 hour ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

I love sitting at Billboard.

And we enjoyed sitting with you both!

Happy 4th to everyone celebrating.  The fireworks over our bay last night were great.  Plus several people at bonfires on the beach had good shows.  Our sleepy town will be back to normal today as folks head north or south to nearby towns.  But good for our economy yesterday.

Went to one BBQ yesterday and another this afternoon.  Not bad celebrating the 4th on two days. LOL

Condolences and prayers to all on the prayer list.  Appreciate all the news and pictures from everyone. 

It is a lot of work keeping all the lists and news.  I am still checking in sporadically!  Grandkids and family are camping this week so I feel like I am on vacation here. However, one of my projects today is to get our trailer ready for when we take the grands camping in a couple of weeks.  

Our weather is beautiful still this morning.  But the Willamette valley cities may have record heat today.  Hight 90"s so I know we will get the marine layer coming in today sometime.  That heat is too much for us so we are happy to be here on the coast.

Enjoy all your celebrations.  Stay well and safe.

Good morning.  Happy day before the 4th.  Our little town here on the Oregon coasts has their fireworks tonight.  Can share the fun as the two towns north and south of us have their shows on the 4th.  Traffic is already busy up and down the highway.  But the fog has lifted and  we can see the bay.  Extreme low tides this evening will give plenty of beach goers room to set up and enjoy the show.  We can see the fireworks from our deck just fine!  It will should be a good show with the huge moon showing tonight.

Thanks for all the news and pictures.  Appreciate the hard work everyone puts into this.  Prayers to all on the list.  Cheers to everyone celebrating over the holiday.  

Stay safe out there.

Mary

We purchased CO on our Koningsdam Hawaii cruise in January.  There were 4 of us and and we got the state room upgrade. For us it was an aft verandah.  Loved it.  We had to ask our TA to add it to our booking thus the room upgrade in the verandah category was added. A good savings with the veranda upgrade. The CO dedicated dining room on the Kdam is wonderful.  We had great service.  We dine early about 5:30 and we had the same table for the four of us at breakfast and dinner.  The line to get into the main dining room was often past where we entered the CO.  My sister has some standing and walking issues so CO was a blessing for us all.  Service was outstanding. 

As far as boarding at San Diego, since we are 5 star, our family went with us without any problem and we boarded after the Pinnacle and Neptune people.  

When we boarded in San Antonio  in March for our Inca and Panama canal cruise, we were in a Neptune but I noticed the check in sign said Pinnacle, Neptune, 4/5 star and CO.  We all went to check in at the same time.  In fact we were behind a CO couple.  Didn't matter to us.  We were on board quickly.  I think like someone posted earlier that it depends upon the port how they group people.

But we certainly can recommend CO enjoy and will book it again in the future.  

1 hour ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Cost for HAL platinum is roughly 10% of the cruise fare. If you booked flights or a pre or post cruise tour through HAL, they are also covered, but are not considered when calculating the cost of the plan.

 

With platinum CPP, you can cancel for any reason at all (e.g. illness, work, dog not well, favorite team lost championship- they don’t care) and you get 90% back. 

The best I can find for CAR coverage through other insurance only returns 75% if ANY reason (e.g. decide not to go). If it’s a covered reason, (e.g. illness) 100% (-cost of plan.) 

Thank you.  That gives a ball park figure to work with.  Our credit card covers quite a bit of our cruise but need to check if it is a cancel for any reason.  

Where do you find the cost of HAL's travel protection plan for your cruise?  Does a TA have to ask for the cost or can I personally ask.  In the past I could  to see the cost on my booking, however I can't find that link now.  I have not made final payment.

Thanks

Good morning here from the wet Oregon coast.  Our nesting eagles were up early. They have a very distinctive sound when communicating with each other.

I read the daily report often and enjoy catching up on al the news. Thank you to all who post.

Cheers to those celebrating.

Prayers to all on the list.  Including the 5 people on the missing submarine.  

A good day to remember the refugees.  

Stay well and safe everyone.

On the Oosterdam in March, I went to the front desk and asked for a comment card.  I was directed to the table with the comment box and there were a stack of papers there.  I wrote my comments to the hotel manager..praising several crew members.  I got a note from the hotel manager that he would pass the comments on to the appropriate people.  That happened as I was thanked by a few.  
I am old fashioned and like to write thank you notes!  But I can see where the navigator app would probably be much easier to "let them know".   Thanks for all the posts on this thread.  I learned a few things.

Mary

We were on the Koningsdam in January.  Dined in both the Pinnacle and Rudi's.  Excellent meals and service at both.  The dover sole was outstanding.  

I agree with others that you should look at the menu of both and make your decision from there.  

Lunch at the Pinnacle is a favorite for us.  Almost skip dinner when we have lunch there!  Almost!!

You will love Norway.  One of our favorite places.  Have a great time and enjoy the NS.  We have a cruise booked for next June to the British Isles on that ship. Can't wait.

On 5/13/2023 at 5:28 AM, FlaMariner said:

 

We were on the Oosterdam in March/April 2023 (South America 19 days) and loved the ship.  Awesome service, great food, friendly staff, lots of activities.....had no real issues other than the disappointment of having to dis-embark.  Oh, they did have a horseradish shortage on prime rib night...LOL.  Whatever.

 

We enjoyed the "elegant old lady" as the Captain referred to her so much that we booked her for the Mediterranean and a TA next year.

 

Many times when I am on cruise critic I think I cruise in an alternate universe...which may be true......We continue to enjoy HAL (got our 4 stars) and think cruising is better now than ever.

 

Enjoy the journey.......and the Oosterdam....or whatever 'dam ship.

We were also on the Oosterdam this March from Santiago to FFL.  Cruise was exceptional.  Crew was wonderful, great service everywhere.  Loved the Billboard on board. It was packed every night as was Rolling stones.  Commentary going thru the canal was very informative.   Yes, no horseradish one night and a few of our wines/scotch had run out but we were offered a higher quality of each which was more than adequate.  Only had one plumbing issue.  It was the entire hall.  Quickly resolved and the letter from the captain reinforced to  only put toilet paper down the toilets.  LOL!  At the meet and greet for our cruise critic group the captain, assistant hotel manager and a few other officers attended.  We were pleasantly amazed at that.  We are looking forward to the Oosterdam again in October from Athens back to FLL.   We are so blessed to just be still able to cruise and go into a cruise just being happy to not have to make our bed, cook our meals, experience different ports and have time to read, relax, and do as much or as little as possible.  But I appreciate everyone's concerns and can certainly understand how the issues stated can be a problem.  But that's what I like about cc.  We can discuss, share opinions, learn from each other and agree to disagree.  

3 hours ago, Taters said:

Yes, it is!  We enjoyed lunch at Pinnacle Grill a couple of times on our recent Oosterdam cruise.

We did also.  Let's have lunch there on one of our many sea days on the Oosterdam this Oct/Nov!