findacruise

I'm confused????

The ship had internal WiFi that always worked beautiifully. You could use an app on your phone to see what the daily progran was, all the menus in each resturant, the excursions etc. We could also text each other over WiFi. For instance, I usually got up later than my husband and he might be out of the cabin so I"d text him and he's soon be back with fresh coffee for me while i got ready to go to breakfast. (like it better than the coffee posd in the cabin)

The external internet was what was usually lousy from our perspective. It connected through a server in Spain so your home page came up in Spanish - once you were able to connect. (my husband did a work around for this) We did meet a couple who was happy with it, as they lived in a rural area and had dial up at home! Perhaps part of it was our location in Norway. Hoping that's the case as our next cruise with them is quite long. But it's not detering us from sailing with them again.

We are booked on the first leg on the 2019 WC so I don't think it will be canceled. We are being joined by a friend and this will be her first O cruise. We will be on the "re-imagined" Insignia. We are hoping for a good experience as our last one with them in December in South Afirca left a great deal to be desired. Our TA reached out to them and did get some satisfaction for his group.

We took our first Viking Ocean cruise in July and we very pleased, with the exception of the lousy internet. The onboard WiFi was great. We have booked 3 more Viking cruises, as we like the itineraries. We had the best cabin stewardess we can remember ever having and the entire crew, through all officers were extremely friendly and helpful. Food was a toss up, except we think O has more variety, although I must say we never went hungry. We will see how our upcoming O crfuise goes before we book anymore.

We are excited to be sailing on the frst leg of the WC on Insignia in January. I dol ike the new colors. As far as Martinis is concerned, I will do the wait and see on the furiture. It should make it easer to get around in the area and may allow for more seating - it's hard to tell from the phto. It did look like some of the chairs might swivel and have curved arms. Of interest too will be the changes in the Observation lounge - supposed to be a better view etc. On our last cruise (December) on a "R" ship the cabin furniture was looking very tired and the TV, although we seldom watch it, was a poor excuse for one. Excited for the interactive one.

Thanks for posting Steve Q. I am even more excited (if that's possible) for our first Viking Ocean cruise after readng your experience. We board Saturday in Greenwich for the Into The Midnight Sun cruise. Flying tomorrow night to visit with a friend outside London for a few days. We met on a previous cruise and have become great friends and travel together, too.

We have already booked 3 other Viking cruises based on their itineraires and our TA's experience with them. Just booked the Amazon in 2020 and thinking maybe I should have waited until we got on board ths upcoming cruise!

The secret is out and Viking Orion does indeed have the most advanced 3D Planetarium in the World on board! I am very pleased to have been appointed as Resident Astronomer on this wonderful ship and look forward to delivering iconic lectures, planetarium shows and stargazing nights for all the guests. See you on board!

I remember how amazed I was when we sailed on the Queen Mary 2 her inagural year and she had a planetarium. It was quite an experience. I hope you are still on board when we take the Hong Kong to Vancouver cruise.

Thank you so much for sharing. We are on the July 14 from Greenwich to Bergen and it will be our first Viking Ocean cruise. Now I can get a preview through your eyes. We booked so long ago I thought it would never get here!

There is a helpful site I have used a number of times: ihatetaxis.com It provides good transportation information and I have used it even to book transfers.

Will be in Aqaba the later part of August on Viking Orion. Did anyone do The Viking excursion to Petra? Was it worth the expense?

We have been to Petra with another cruise line. I don't know how much Viking is charging, but it would have to be excessive for me not to go. It is an amazing place. My only complaint was that I would have liked to have had more time there. If you haven't read about it, do, as this might help make your decison.

We are cruising from Tokyo to Vancouver May 2019. Very excited about trying a new cruise line.

See you on board! We are doing our first Viking Ocean "into the Midnight Sun" from London to Bergen July 14 and are looking forward to it. Love your country - have visited twice. If it weren't so far, we'd probably go again.

Slightly off topic, but we had trouble with not being able to take a private tour when the company decided to stop their service. We had paid for the deposit on our Visa and were able to get a refund through them. I don't know how it work with a canceled port, but it might be worth checking for those who have Visa.

Unfortunately, the fare on our April Nautica cruise went down significantly. Very upsetting and they won't refund. Not so sure I'm a fan of booking early. Unless you positively absolutely must have a specific cabin, I'd keep waiting for a better deal. It seems like a counter intuitive business practice. Also wonder why this cruise was wait listed in all categories but now has many openings in almost every category. This combined with full payment 121 days out is really making me reconsider Oceania.

Some cruises are waitlisted and then open up when a group booking pulls out. That happened to us on a recent cruise. Ocenaia allows the group to hold cabins for a period of time even if there is no name associated with them. At a certain point if the cruise it not selling well enough for the group they may pull out all together or return cabins back to inventory.

Here is a report from Maputo...Sounds like the passport scam is still being attempted

 

Also an update on the fallout from the Nautica visit

 

 

 

Maputo port immigration officials to be disciplined

Crystal Symphony is in Maputo today - no significant issues - Here is a link to a live report.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/report.php?p=54767234

Thanks for sharing. We were on this cruise and it was one of several very frustrating days. Glad to hear some action is being taken.

We, too, cover our cruises with our credit cards, including the deposit - Chase Preferred. I then purchase for a small amount (cost under $200 total for both) an insurance policy for the medical benefits. What I am most afraid of would be if one of us had to be medically evacuated, especially back home. We have both had claims on board ships and were promptly reimbursed.

We are on our first Viking Ocean cruise in July from Greenwich to Bergen with the extension to Oslo and booked their business air as a place keeper. Last month I booked our air for $1600 per person less than their cost. I had been periodically checking and figured this was too good a deal to pass up. No worries about how the doestic legs will be handled. But it was nice to know if I couldn't find anything cheaper I had thiers available.

Very much looking forward to our first time on Viking.

I don't think the day or time of muster is the same on each cruise, or maybe not even every cruise with the same itinerary. On our Midnight Sun cruise in June, it was held the day we left Greenwich (London), not the day we embarked. I think it was at 5:30, but don't remember for sure. Besides, if you're departing from Bergen, it might be completely different. It's nice to not have to bring a life jacket (they provide them at muster stations). If departure time is close to the muster drill time you can just head upstairs and outside to watch sailaway. Some sailaways aren't too scenic, and I head to dinner. However, the one from Greenwich is interesting because you sail right down the Thames (although away from London proper) instead of out into the ocean from an industrial port. The huge Thames barrier is worth seeing, too. My pictures are here: http://www.pbase.com/roothy123/london__greenwich_

Thanks for sharing your pictures. We are doing the cruise next July and will make sure to be on deck for the sailaway from Greenwich. We are excited to be taking our first Viking cruise.

Hi,

We have been “fans” of Oceania and have cruised with thema number of times on both their “O” and “R” class ships – lovely accommodationand wonderful cuisine. We have also tried Azamara and liked them too, especially their “Azamazing”evenings and friendly Captains and senior managers.

Recently, we have booked with Viking Ocean on a two-weekcruise . We tried to look for threads on the boards of Cruise Critic thatcompares Viking vs Oceania, but we couldnot find them.

Can readers here onCruiseCritic who have had experience travelling with both Viking and Oceaniagive us some idea what to expect when comparing these cruise lines?

Check out this Thread on Viking Ocean; https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2550577

It has a discussion about this.

I guess too many people were asking for the deal ;)

I could see offering 1 bag on cruises up to 12 days

2 bags on 24 + days etc...

Maybe they are re working the perk to include Concierge & above ..that seems fair to me

Yes. Another case of putting something out without thinking everything through. I'm sure they have received a lot of phone calls. I emailed my TA again after I found it on our 2019 cruise and he got it put on there - I guess it was just in the nick of time!

We are on December cruise from Capetown to Capetown. I checked and the laundry package is offered in Concierge. We are in a PH3 so I called my TA. He called his 'O' rep and got the laundry perk added to our booking. He did the same for another PH he has on the sailing. I say at least ask.

Thank you for all the great reports and information. We are looking forward to doing Into the Midnight Sun, our first on Viking Ocean next July. :DI am getting a good feel for both Viking and the itinerary.

We paid about $161 total for me and DH for medical evacuation 500K and it came with 50k medical for 55 days, 50 days of it cruise. At the time he was 75 and I, 67. It also included some for travel delay etc. I had one ship's doctor visit and my husband 2 - one each on 2 different ships. Total for all 3 was $880.65. The claim was paid promptly by Tin Leg (purchased through Squaremouth.) Yes, we could self insure that amount, but if it had been something really serious, then the cost could have been much higher. Money well spent from my point of view. Again, each person has to decide.

On recent cruises in February and March my husband had to see doctors on Seabourn and Oceania. The basic consultation fee for the doctor was $95 on Seabourn and $178 on Oceania. Quite a difference, as it was the same illness. The first dose of antibiotics on Seabourn hadn't cured the problem and we had moved over to Oceania when the first does ran out. One of the same tests was run - $21 on Seabourn and $35 on Oceania. Different prescriptions so I can't compare those costs.

Travel insurance (we bought evacuation and it comes with medical) covered them both and awaiting the check.

That's a faster time than my taxi driver made the last time I tried to go through town.

:') Had the pleasure of Handre as our cruise director in February and he was a delight. Helped make our cruise special. (Along with Katy in TK Grill Lounge and Jackie Asst. CD)He was doing some training and whenever I saw him in Colonnade he was eating a lot of fruit and always bananas.

On our recent 34 day cruise I think the 20 for $24.95items was offered about 5 times. It's a great deal, especially for items you don't want ironed or are willing to iron yourself. Things are literally just folded; all my husbands boxers were stacked and then folded over together. Mine done the same way. The price list posted is from 2010 and prices are significantly higher, as is true with most everything. I think dry cleaning a pair of trousers is now about $9.50 or so. But don't hold e that.

We just finished a 34 day circumnavigation of Australia April 9 on Oceania. It was late summer and the season changed to fall while we were there. I echo NOT going during summer. It was plenty warm while we were there and cooled down only as we rounded the southern area headed back to Sydney. They were also just coming out of a very rainy season. What made our excursions so enjoyable was that we booked almost all private tours (except Papua New Guinea), even getting off the ship in Melbourne and spending 2 days doing the Great Ocean Road - one of the highlights.

Your did not have to deal with shopping stops and were able to plan our own itineraries with the help of our guides and had anywhere from 5-10 in our groups. Since Oceania doesn't include excursions, (and theirs are ridiculously priced) we didn't feel like we were wasting money by not doing ships tours. We did do a PH because we wanted more space and we had to buy drinks, but we had amble OBC to cover that and more.

It was our second trip to Australia, the first being by land and including the outback. We loved it. We did get a lot from the circumnavigation, and I think it was because of using the private guides that got us to some interesting places that the tours didn't go to and also that extra interaction. So I wouldn't discount doing a circumnavigation, but just not suring summer there and do it with at least some private guides.

In PH on Sirena now and space does make a difference. Did PH since on for 34 days. Like the new walk in shower replacement for the old tub. Bathroom well lit, too