Cruising Domer

We contacted our Viking TA for a 2026 sailing under one of the April promotions that was advertising savings up to $1,000 per couple and a past guest loyalty discount of $400 per couple. The savings were on top of the pricing that was on the website (ie, they were on top of the savings for the reduced / crossed out prices). So for easy math, if the published fare on the website was crossed out and reduced by $1,000 per person -- total savings were $3,400 ($1,000 website reduction x 2 people, or $2,000 total + $1,000 promotion for two + $400 past guest loyalty for two).

My wife and I are in the same age group and sailed with Viking for the first time last year. We did the Arctic Explorer itinerary. Many of our port stops had more active excursion options - sea kayaking, RIB rides, horseback riding, ATV adventures, etc. There were a handful of other cruisers about our age, and a few families with their children who appeared to be in their late teens / early 20's, but we were in the minority age-wise. Our itinerary might have had a slightly different demographic as compared to others that may be less active. I only mention that to answer your specific question about the age of passengers and provide context, but we didn't see it as a negative at all. Our fellow cruisers were, for the most part, very active (as we noted by those that were also on the more "strenuous" excursions with us and observing people around the ship and in town) and also friendly, social folks. We wouldn't hesitate to book another Viking cruise if we like the itinerary, as we enjoyed the overall Viking experience and time spent with our fellow cruisers -- and in fact have our next cruise booked with Viking this July.

Here are the prices for those Viking excursions on an upcoming July 2024 cruise: Vigur Island - $229pp Golden Circle - $269pp Norther Iceland's Natural Treasures - $299pp Skalanes Nature & Heritage Center - $219pp

Not to start an argument, but just imagine the uproar that would ensue if Viking changed their policies to include gratuities within the cruise fare -- enough folks already complain about having to pay the cruise fare so far in advance as it is, I can't imagine what people would say if they had to pay for gratuities that far in advance as part of the cruise fare!

I agree with this, and as crazy as this sounds, if there are codeshares for the flights you are interested in, have those flight numbers available too. On our cruise this past summer, there was a flight we were interested in which happened to be a flight operated by American Airlines. We were unable to book the AA flight; however, we were able to book that same flight via the British Airways flight number under their codesharing arrangement.

Timely -- I have a flight on United scheduled for later today out of ORD. I just received notification from them this morning that they have changed aircraft for the scheduled flight, and due to the new equipment and different configuration, my seating assignment has also changed. It can happen, and at times (like for me, now) it does.

Why not try to split the difference between options 1 and 2? I frequently travel as you do with all of that equipment (including usually two DSLR bodies); however, on certain trips, I've also packed lighter and traveled with just one DSLR and a light load of lenses. Extra cards and batteries would accompany that, but I've left the tripod/monopod, laptop, card readers (not much use without the laptop), etc. at home and it makes for a relatively lighter load to carry. Not being familiar with what you normally bring out with you on excursions, have you considered packing for your trip what you'd normally carry on most (granted, not all) of your excursions versus your entire kit? If your DSLR has multiple card slots and can record images to two cards simultaneously, you could also leverage that to have an instant backup of all of your photos.

My experiences, having returned to ORD from several international flights over the past year with the most recent one being in April, have been the same. Once at customs and immigration, there has been virtually no wait at the GE kiosks or leaving the area after collecting your bags. There is a good walk to get to the area, though, and then my experience has also been that the total time is most dependent on how long it takes your bags to arrive.