Parsley Cruises

This arrangement, however would be a MAJOR inconvenience to those who are working in the 9 to 5 world. A one size fits all is just not a realistic possibility. Frankly we have taken three VO cruises and two river cruises which now have optional excursions and have never logged on to make my selections in the wee hours. I have always made a note of the date and will generally log on sometime that day when it is convenient for me ... often later in the evening! Never had a problem with getting the excursions I wanted at the times I wanted.

 

Frankly I think that the "wee hours rituals" are more about feeding the excitement of the planning of the trip than any serious issue of availability. After all, booking a Viking Cruise doesn't leave a lot for planning freaks (I know, I travel with one!) to really sink their teeth into. Booking excursions takes on a greater level of importance.

I think in all honesty that it would be nice if this tedious thread could be brought to a halt.

If people don't like the hours that the options for booking things opens up, then why don't those people either book with a different cruise line or simply move house? Alternatively, why don't the people involved ask their 'leader' to get the entire world to revolve around them, or to change the worldwide time zones? Maybe they could go one step further and make time go metric (not)!

Just think of the sheer joy of having constant blitzes about it on the tv, the not-stop email stuff about it, not to mention tonnes of printed trash through your letter box about it!!!

It doesn't stop there (could be worse than an election!) - where would it all be centred on? I'd vote for Greenwich (UK). So, there we have it, world wide elections, with all the attendant mountains of media coverage; 10 months per year, 10 weeks per month and 10 days per week, and 10 hours per day!

IF you couldn't face that, then why not accept the situation as it is, be grateful that there is something out there to plan for, look forward to it and embrace any inconvenience. Try turning a negative (if that is how you view it) into a positive, look on the bright side and stop complaining about something so trivial.

Does anyone know if it is possible to see the wish lists for both people traveling in one place and that only one of us is in charge of booking? We do not want to do the same excursions on all days but I can only seem to see my own wishlist.

I think that it is possible to view the calendar for the cruise, and that will show what has been arranged for the passengers on your reservation.

However, it all happened so quickly for us that I didn't really bother with a wishlist. Having said that though, it isn't the first time we will have done our particular current itinerary.

Good luck.

Do both travelers have to book from their own Wish List, or can one person book excursions for both? How does that work? We don't always want to do the same excursion, but I can only see my own Wish List. Seems only one person would be needed to book for both parties. Thanks!

When I did our excursion bookings, I acted for both of us, and it was simple and worked fine.

It is nearly always true that you could do a pre or post cruise extension less expensively on your own. Only you can decide if the convenience of having Viking manage the details is worth the extra cost to you.

 

One other aspect that may be of some value is the possibility of being able to meet some of your fellow travelers in advance of the cruise. Meeting new people and sometimes new friends is one of my favorite parts of vacation, so that might be an appealing part of a Viking pre-cruise for me.

We're in the UK, and from start to finish it's all booked through Viking. Along with the various pdfs which are with the online invoice, there is an Atol. It's peace of mind - they are responsible for us from the moment we check-in at the airport for the outbound flight. Looking forward to relaxing into the whole trip. Technically, we will be able to check-in for the outbound flight 24hrs before the flight, at which time we'll be on a motorway travelling to the airport, so for argument's sake, we reckon that the Atol comes into play once we've dumped the bags at the outbound airport and proceeded through security and into the Dep Lounge.

Can't really be bothered with saving a small amount of money - we'd rather have peace of mind.

Not quite clear what you mean by 'customize your air through Viking Air'; however we asked Viking to sort out our flights for us, heading straight to the ship on embarkation day (the day of the outbound flight), and we are doing a post-cruise extension (booked with Viking).

So, firstly we got exactly the flights we wanted; secondly we asked for the flight upgrade to business and that all went very smoothly indeed. We now have our pre-cruise documents, and it's got all the hotel details etc. there for us to read.

I've been in touch with Viking, to double check about the transfers - and it's all included, done and dusted.

Hope all goes well for you.

It's going to be our first Viking ocean cruise, but not our first ever ocean cruise. We are going to attach the cruise bag tags at the airport when we get our bags ready for the transport to the ship. I'd hate them to go missing during the airport handling procedures, which is always a risk.

We're going to put the lovely red leather ones on our bags for in the airplane cabin, that way, if our little red Viking stickers come off, at least that's another way that the Viking rep might notice us. Also, we're going to put our spare ship bag tags folded inside the red leather Viking ones, with simply a note of our mobile numbers.

We've just sent a query about hot chocolate - is it available, and is it available through room service?

Hope so.

We stipulated our first choice of airline at the time of booking, even outlined what time of day we wanted for flights, and it simply happened.

As soon as the airline published it's schedule (about 11 months before the cruise), the bookings were done, we opted for business class upgrade, and the details automatically appeared on our phones. We were able to book our favourite seats on the flight, and that was pretty much instant on our phones - and now it's almost time to think about packing!

Full marks to Viking though, for the cruise documents pack - it's lovely.

Really? When you have business class tickets you get to bypass the long lines for Passport Control/ Immigration?? CDG too? If so, another justification for spending the extra airfare.

 

 

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In the UK, if you are business class then you probably will go fast track through when leaving the country. When entering the country, there is no such option.

There's no real bonus where the authorities are concerned to getting a business class ticket - simply because there is absolutely no guarantee that your luggage will be the first off the flight into the baggage hall. Several times we've had our luggage last on the baggage belt (so much for paying the extra, although we do, just for the better inflight experience).

Going back to the original theme of this thread - the officials employed by the authorities in different countries will do whatever is in the current best interest of their own country. Passengers need to be patient and understand this. If a country has a particular security level increase - everyone just needs to be a little understanding. Additionally, it can vary according to where your flight originates from, and whether or not there is any security 'intelligence' relevant to some of the passengers etc.

Well, our feelings which lead us to cancelling the auto-tipping on previous cruises (which were nothing to do with Viking) included huge disappointment with food (veggies being virtually raw, persistent wrong orders being brought to table, and a very rude comment from a waiter!), plentiful mould on bathroom grouting, unacceptable poor level of statement cleaning, poor replenishment of stuff in stateroom - and that's just the tip of the iceberg. We tend to tip quietly when it's deserved.

Probably by simply booking direct. I do know however, that some folk in the UK use travel agents, and that they have to pay quite some time before departure.

We're very happy with the situation for us - and we get to see what the excursions are before we pay the final balance.

We don't like doing things through a travel agent, and have built up some nice relationships with cruise line reservations people.

Our date for payment for our cruises is about 80 days roughly before departure, so we can’t grumble. We prefer paying after the excursions are published so we’re happy.

Having visited Iceland several times, there is plenty of accommodation available; we usually go February or March. Beware there’s no guarantee of seeing the lights; and there’s no point paying out for special excursions to see them. We’ve known people pay for such excursions and fail. However we’ve been lucky. We don’t go to Iceland because of the lights; just love it there.

Viking provides small bar hand type soap, liquid shower gel, shampoo, conditioner & body lotion, it’s their own brand called Freya and very nice. As others have said, all replenished as needed, no worries there. Enjoy Viking, the ships and experiences are wonderful.

 

If you have an interest, there’s an afternoon English tea in the Wintergarten which is very nice.

 

Happy travels and I’m sure you’ll love Viking.

 

 

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Hmmm - if we have time to make it to afternoon tea! After a load of loyalty to another cruise line we had a very bad experience with afternoon tea, so here's hoping that won't ever be repeated again.

The bathroom replenishment situation seems similar to what we used to get on our previous favourite cruise-line. Cutting down on the replenishment on that particular cruise-line was just one of the signs of things going downhill. It sounds ok on Viking though.

Anyway, I think I've solved the situation with the shower tray situation - I'll just get a new pair of flip-flop sandals.

Many thanks for all the information and advice.

Thanks for the info - very helpful. Some cruise lines do, some cruise lines don't.

Many thanks

Ok, so it's almost time for our usual countdown to cruise. Almost got everything sussed, but:

1. I can see that Viking provide shampoo etc and 'soap'. Do they provide shower gel, and if so is there plenty of it?

2. I can also see that we get a nice roomy shower - do they provide a non-slip mat to use inside the shower?

Many thanks in advance for any answers - I think that should just about be all our daft questions done and dusted.

Looking forward to all of it - we know it might be a little different from all our previous cruises; but we'll embrace the changes.

Vive la difference!

Woke up of my own free will today (just like last week when I did the excursions). Jogged to the gym, did all I needed to at the gym, jogged home. Then we did our dining stuff and had breakfast - nice routine.

However, we just can't settle to anything in the Chef's Table - mainly we simply selected Manfredi's and we'll duck and dive when we are on board for the rest.

However, I understand that there's no lunch in the mdr on embarkation, and no lunch in the mdr on a port day. We've obviously been spoilt in the past, with always a wonderful lunch on embarkation day in the restaurant, and always some form of afternoon tea available (either in the accommodation-specific lounge or in the suite). Well, it's always good to try something new, and so far this Viking cruise is full of new experiences for us.

Hope everyone else - on whatever cruise - get the dining and excursions of their choice.

I have to be at work at 5AM Mon-Fri, so I have to get up 2AM-3AM every morning to get my dogs fed and walked before leaving for work at 4:30AM.

So I was excited to finally see something come along that was convenient for my schedule for a change. :D:D:D

 

Now if I could just get activities on the ships, shifted to my early hours.;p(I usually walk around the ship in the wee hours exploring)

You comment about activities on the ships, and I have read that the gym is open but is this only during attended hours? I think if I have to wait to use the gym, I could always use that time for downloading photos and amending them; however it would be nice if the gym was open - otherwise I'll end up having to jog around the deck.

It's a sorry state of affairs when something like this particular thread heads for the waste bin.

I am not elitist, nor am I condescending; so whilst I can see that your request would suit you, it might not suit other people. It was perhaps a frivolous thing to bring up in the first place.

If a person selects a holiday which means that they may experience a minor inconvenience, then firstly they should put up with it (as so many of us do) and secondly they shouldn't go on about it maybe?

I have tried to point out that there are many, many people who have to put up with inconvenient hours - and believe you me, without such people there wouldn't/couldn't be (for example) such things as cruise holidays etc.

Enough said.

Finally - what is truly laughable is someone making a fuss because they simply have to be awake a bit early in order to get online and make a simple reservation.

I was not suggesting for one moment that people were actually working late to take the reservations - I was referring to that incredible group of hard working and undervalued people who work in operations departments of travel organisations (trains, planes, ships etc), not to mention the people who have to provide support to them.

Whilst we're at it - let's not forget people in the emergency services who provide that unseen but very necessary support to all of us - police, fire, medical and rescue.

If it's good enough for people to provide albeit unseen support so that most of us can lead comfortable lives, then it should be good enough for other people too. In the light of this - maybe people shouldn't complain about their compulsion to be awake once or twice a year in what they feel are unacceptable hours.

Rest assured I understand much more than you might be comfortable with, and I am certain that my viewpoint is reasonable.

What about this for a grand idea (and this will be the last post from me on the topic)....... people who don’t like waking in the middle of the night to make their reservations (and don’t forget to be hugely thankful for all the wonderful folk who work nights in the travel sector); do the wise thing and move to live in UK. Now that’s a grand idea.

Although we can and do enjoy being able to be among the first group of passengers to reserve stuff, we know from experience not to rely 100% on it.

On previous cruises special menus have been radically altered, excursions cancelled and ports missed. It pays to be flexible and accept the inevitable.

The thing to do is simply accept the system, be happy that you are lucky enough to be going on a cruise and smile.

Thanks for the information. We get fed up with going to the MDR for lunch all the time, so we can easily live with this arrangement.

Once again, many thanks.

Don’t be ridiculous! I’ve booked and subsequently enjoyed excursions with other cruise lines a heck of a lot more than 80/90 days prior.

Furthermore, the majority of ‘venues’ won’t object to being booked way in advance; and anyway from what I’ve seen the Viking excursions aren’t that ‘involved’ mainly.

If people don’t like getting up early, they can simply book their own excursions.