Jaime-usa

Thank you for your post. I WISH Viking WOULD plaster that information on their website. 

Since Viking encourages people to book directly with them, Viking should be more helpful in providing information about their cruises - especially at this time.

I talked to our cruise representative this morning about our options and he was INCREDIBLY unhelpful. It sounded like talking to a person reading a set script. "If you look at page four of correspondence titled..." When he later mentioned the information was on the website, I asked him to direct me where on the Viking website I can find this information and other information, and he couldn't answer that question. 

I guess that leaves us being dependent on the kindness of strangers, so again, thank you for your posts.

Jim

(FYI, have been on a cruise before, at least 10, with 2 on Viking.)

On 11/28/2021 at 10:51 AM, Mrs Miggins said:

We embark in Rome on Dec 29th.  We then sail to Livorno for 2 days.  Very limited shore excursions.  We have already done the included Pisa one, but have booked again just so we can get off the ship.  2 other options - long days in Florence - showing as Sold Out.  We have been to Florence many times.  In the past we have just wandered around in Livorno - in the summer getting a local bus to a lovely beach town.  I guess this time we stay onboard until we move on to France and Spain.

Thank you for your posts. We were curious about a couple of items if anyone had any current information.

1. Availability of shore excursions: Traditionally, the more interesting Viking shore excursions often sell out quickly. Since the number of shore excursions now seems to be limited, has it made this limitation/problem a lot worse?
2. Since Viking shore excursions appear to be limited, while a passenger on a Viking cruise, can you make your own shore excursion arrangements with a 3rd party tour?

Thank you for your time and any information. We are trying to decide if we should postpone our March/April med cruise for later in the year or next year. 

We have had very good luck with Black Lane. I believe it is blacklane.com

It was 134E from the port to the Piazza Navona area last week. New BMW 7 series. Will meet you outside your ship with a sign. Text updates etc.

My brother-in-law found them a couple of years ago on our river cruise. Even more economical for 4 passengers.

Jim

O.K. We have never been on Seabourn before and were wondering if it would be appropriate for us. I have been perusing the topics as a start. Thank you in advance for your opinions.

If I had any hair, this topic would have me pulling it out. We were curious about Encore’s “formal nights.” I have quite a nice tuxedo, however, I am pretty certain I don’t want to haul it to Europe nor would I want to wear it on a warm Caribbean night. It seems most, if not all, of the black-tie events that we attend are corporate related. This is especially true for my wife. Picking the proper eveningwear for a woman executive is not easy. We guys just have to make sure our tux is pressed. My wife, who has been expected to wear the perfect designer suit and the appropriate jewelry every day for the past decade doesn’t really want to have to do that while on vacation. She doesn’t want to feel like she is attending a board meeting while on vacation – wearing the correct wardrobe and a fake smile for days at a time. She said she was going to wear sweats for 2 years straight after she retires. ;-)

Regarding Encore, in order to make others comfortable, if I wanted to skip the tux, should we plan for a night away from the main dining room? 50 percent of guests wearing tuxedos is quite a high number. Would it be a nice night for a romantic dinner in our stateroom?

Also, how many formal nights are there on a 14 day cruise?

I kind of agree with davidle. When I grew up: Formal = tuxedo; Semi-formal = suit; Business/Resort Casual = Sports coat, slacks and no tie; Casual = slacks and dress shirt with no coat or perhaps designer jeans with a sport coat. So, when you say “formal”, what does that mean for Encore? Tie or no tie?

I had some other questions but will leave them for another thread. Thanks again for your time.

I've never seen the small side areas midship used as a smoking area or seen any indication that it's allowed. According to Viking, the only smoking allowed is on the top deck and that's the only place I've ever seen any. Maybe no-one challenged these people about smoking there so the crew let it go.

Hmmm… Interesting. This covered area, next to the outside stairs on the second deck, has free-standing ashtrays and was always well used during our Rhine Getaway river cruise – from the first night to the last morning. It always had about 3 to 6 people on both the starboard and port side. Usually, the cigar smokers took over the starboard side and the cigarette smokers had the port. Some of the crew used it at times. Since those large doors are automatic, and that area is well travelled, the cigar and cigarette smoke would be pulled into the ship. My wife reminded me that we had several people smoking on their verandas also.

What really bugged me is that Viking should have taken it upon themselves to arrange at least one non-smoking tour each day. It appears people are randomly assigned to tours, which evenly distributed the smokers among all tours. My wife says she estimates about 60 of the 180 passengers were heavy smokers on our cruise. Ironically, the only non-smoking tour we had was the pub crawl in Cologne. That tour has small groups of 8 to 10 and the non-smokers quickly segregated themselves. Since indoor smoking is not allowed in Cologne, the pub crawl was the only non-smoking tour of the week! By the way, the pub crawl is much lower key than it sounds. We had a great guide, and learned as much about local culture and traditions as we learned about Kolsch beer.

Since I have been in Europe several times before, the last time 3 years ago, I knew I would have to up my tolerance for public smoking. Ironically, some of the towns we visited (Rudesheim, Heidelberg, Strasbourg, Koblenz) seemed practically smoke free at least until the Viking Idi showed up. Most of the time, the Viking tourists were the only folks I saw smoking in public. Did I feel like an ugly American!

I don’t expect a smoke free ship and I don’t begrudge anyone the pleasure of enjoying a celebratory cigar after dinner. However, smoking occupied every outdoor space without exception. I am very curious about the Viking Ocean Cruises and the only thing that makes me hesitate is my previous experience with my fellow Viking passengers and smoking. I am leaning toward Oceana for that reason.

I understand that smoking is not permitted indoors. Is there, generally, a lot of smoking on deck? Thanks.

I have to very, very strongly disagree with the other poster on this thread. We just completed the Rhine Getaway in April and the amount of smoking was surprising. We had a group aboard, 4 to 8 at any time, who chain-smoked cigars. I am not talking about one or two cigars after a meal. I am literally talking about chain-smoking from after breakfast until after dinner and could see some light a new cigar before they finished the old one. They set up midship and also at the front and the only time they did not have a cigar in their hand was when they had a cigarette in their hand. During the highlight of the trip, viewing the castles while cruising the river, I counted 13 people set up in the center of the deck – the men smoking cigars and the women smoking cigarettes - plus another group forward and another group aft. I did see one gentleman discreetly smoking at the back of the sun deck and I wondered why he was being polite when two or three dozen other smokers had no clue. To tell you what type of passengers we are on Viking, the “walking” track on deck has 10 floor-standing ashtrays around it. I once tried to get some exercise by walking on deck and the most I was ever able to manage was 29 smoke-free steps.

While we were in town, we joked that the Viking Idi was easy to locate as it sent up smoke signals during the day. If you missed the smoke signals, we joked that we could find the ship by the smell, as a mass of cigar smokers can smell a lot like a trash fire. The down side of all the smoking was during the tours. Because of the smoking on the tours, we would go to visit a cathedral and would come back smelling like we went to a bar. I should know, as I worked my way through undergrad working in a bar. We would sometimes have to store our jackets on the balcony after our tours, as they were too smoky to leave in the room.

By way of warning, the second deck of the river ship has a covered smoking area midship. It is always in use by at least 3 people on each side. If you have a balcony cabin, make sure it is well away from midship or you will not be able to use the balcony unless you like cigarette smoke. We were on the third deck, 6 rooms from midship and had a difficult time with the cigarette smoke.

The average age on our Rhine Getaway river cruise was about 75 and I was a little surprised by the smoking. None of the seniors I know smoke. A Viking River cruise is very nice if you are a chain-smoker. It is pretty challenging if you try to avoid second-hand smoke. Be warned.