natshala

I’m new to Viking. I’m considering booking a 2025 cruise. Viking is giving me a FPD 14 months in advance. Can this be correct?

I’ve been on both. Both are lovely. All things being equal, I’d choose Beyond. Are you saying there’s a premium for Beyond? I don’t think so.

Sorry for the late response. Yes—I was talking about the $500 OBC Viking advertised.

Do TAs tell you up front the amount of OBC they offer? As I said, I’ve always used big box and they’re transparent.

Thanks Bob P. When we booked last week we received the special $1000/stateroom from Viking. That ended, I think. Would we keep that if we transfer the booking to a TA?

I’m a longtime X cruiser and book through a large big box TA. They don’t book Viking so we booked directly through Viking. Thinking about future cruises, is there an advantage to booking through a TA that does book Viking? If so, how does one go about finding a TA? Any advice/comments welcome. I know we cannot mention specific TAs. Thanks, all!

I was on Apex the third week of February this year. It was swamped with many, many kids bc of Presidents Day. I was also told there’s a Canadian holiday about the same time. There were so many kids I wondered if they traveled free. Not pleasant but I think X is encouraging this.

My favorite was Raw On Five. Wonderful sushi and Asian cuisine. Never seemed crowded and service was excellent.

Is “fully vaccinated “ defined anywhere? If one got shots when available in 2020, are they still considered fully vaccinated? Did they need to have boosters? When?

Good luck with Silversea. I put a deposit of $750 down on a cruise more than a year away. A week later my spouse passed. SS refused to return any of my deposit. They have very stringent cancellation rules and no heart. Be sure to check date final payment is due. I’ll never consider SS again.

Good idea. I brought an insulated cup for coffee, etc. it was a great tip I found on this site.

It’s not perfect but really great for keeping in touch with others onboard.

If you have the premium drink package, you can get upscale water in glass bottles at any of the bars.

I booked a Silversea cruise more than a year in advance. The deposit was on the order of $750. I needed to cancel a few weeks later only to find it was completely non refundable! I lost the entire deposit. Never again Silversea. Also, final payment date is 5 months in advance of sailing.

I feel your pain. I feel like I’m in the minority paying full freight. Are children cruising free? One family had six kids.

I was on Apex B2B February 11-25. Both sailings were sold out. The second had a zillion kids. Very, very crowded. I was watching capacity, particularly for the second cruise which had a lot of empty cabins until 3 weeks out. All of a sudden, the ship was full—really full. Makes me think there must have been some incentive offered for families with children. Also lots of gamblers.

I was on Apex last week in 6227. I had the “metal thing,” which holds the lifeboats. It didn’t bother me at all bc I was very glad to get a single cabin and I spend almost no time in the room. Also, at night there’s a light on the thing so you pretty much need to close the blind if the light disturbs your sleep. Sometimes I like to lower the window at night for the fresh air and ocean sound while staying in other rooms. Small sacrifice to make for me to keep it closed at night. if you really enjoy a view, probably not the best scenario.I loved the sixth floor location. Very central to most venues. I’d definitely do it again, especially if the price is right. I hope you enjoy your cruise.

Thank you all for your responses.

Lol.

Too bad for you. You missed which captains prefer cheese or chocolate. Everyone wants to know that. I guess if you’re a captain, you need to put up with lame questions. Script was written by a middle school student.

On my last cruise, I completely missed the boat wrt LeGrand Bistro. I spend a lot of time at Bacio and every time I passed LeGrand Bistro, it looked like nothing was going on there. I just looked at the lunch menu and it looks wonderful. Can you please fill me in on what I’ve been missing? I’m cruising an e-class ship again starting tomorrow and I’m thinking LeGrand may be my first lunch. Thanks.

I was recently B2B on Beyond. Only saw it on 14 but I loved sitting out there. It never seemed crowded.

Same here. And she kept a straight face! I loved the photos of the ports, but the questions asked to the captains were pretty lame.

Pretty full, then? Are there long lines at Al bacio? Bars? Thanks.