ptkelley

7 minutes ago, TexasTraveler54 said:

Lucky for me - this fits between March and July cruises and stops in ports I have never visited.  Not happy about no business flight option, but plan to go anyway.

 

Have you already called Viking Air?  Are they not offering Business Class upgrade? If so, that would be a bummer. I am so excited about this.  

Has anyone been able to see the Invitational Cruise on MVJ?  I cannot.  Perhaps operator error. thx. 

On 2/2/2022 at 5:38 PM, Hazard10 said:

We entered the ribs via the door in the last photo attached. There is a step down to it and 4-5 people helping if needed. Everyone I saw was fine on this including people in their 80s.

 

Thank you for great pics and info. I am wondering about the Covid procedures for food. Are there buffets, self serve coffee, etc. would love to know if you have time to comment.  We have an upcoming cruise booked on this ship. Thanks! 

Thank you, OTJ, for mentioning the book. I just finished it and found it interesting. I learned many things from the author’s background research. Also, he had been in a different part of the ship, so his experience was different than mine. 
 

i, too, wrote a lengthy memoir upon returning home and found that process cathartic. I did much soul searching, just like the author. For me, it is awesome and wonderful that we were Providentially  rescued! 
 

weighing in on boredom: down time on the ship is relaxing to me. Sure international travel can have times that are monotonous even tedious. But that is part of the experience and I try to make the best of it. Furthermore, the monotony during the ordeal itself felt safe, even soothing. Because nothing further was going wrong. 
 

I look forward to the Chairman’s Cruise, when we can talk about this face to face. The distance of time may be helpful. I rejoice in all the things that went right. I am grateful to Viking, the crew, the officers, the rescuers, the tugs, the Norwegians, my fellow passengers, everyone who helped us. 

it was good for me to think about this again. 

Chairman Hagan, in his latest video on viking.tv, said that Viking will take possession of the Venus in April. 

10 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

I suspect Italy is doing the same (?) Our first cruise in Jan. is scheduled to start in Rome. 

Hi everyone, if I read this correctly travel to Italy from the US for tourism purposes is prohibited thru 31 Jan 2021. Let me know what you think thx

https://www.esteri.it/mae/en/ministero/normativaonline/decreto-iorestoacasa-domande-frequenti/focus-cittadini-italiani-in-rientro-dall-estero-e-cittadini-stranieri-in-italia.html

Hi Everyone! We purchased,  thru Viking, air deviation ($100 pp) to go early and stay longer and purchased Viking Air ($50pp) to have flexibility in dates, times, routes, airlines.  We also upgraded to Business. I was told the cost was offset by the complimentary Economy class but I have no way to verify that. The Viking agent told us this was all 100% refundable if we change or cancel before being ticketed (60-90 days out). So, we figure that gives us till October to wait and see. We chose this option because we had a May vacation cancelled and all we got was travel vouchers from the Airline, we don’t want that again, 

right now we are booked LAX thru JFK to Rome. 

We also got the email invite! So excited. I called to get a little more info. I was told there will not be any Viking pre or post extensions offered. Also that air deviations ( going early and / or returning later) will not be available with the free economy air (or upgrade thru Viking). At this moment the only thing available to add on is insurance and air upgrades. I really hope Viking will allow air deviations because we need a few days to recover in the new time zone. Not to mention, making sure we get to Rome in time to catch the ship! 

Thank you so much for this info! Invaluable! I am looking forward to hearing more! 

When you say the North Sea crossing was choppy, I am wondering if it affected life onboard. Was the Spa or anything else closed? Were passengers afraid or just queasy? Thx! 

On 9/11/2019 at 10:17 PM, kittycrews said:

Lovely to read about your return to that hospitable country.

 

We were on a cruise with Regent Seven Seas in the Med when we got our "save the dates" for 18-25 January 2021. When we came home to Scotland, we called our Viking hotline and booked the 26 January Barcelona to London leg to continue our journey as a B2B. A very helpful representative, Scott Bennett, booked us on the same deck, same category as our March 2019 cruise, but on the side of the ship to give us the best view sailing north. We still had a remainder on our voucher which was applied. Along with early booking, previous cruiser and travel agent discounts we got an increible deal. See you all in 2021?

Hey Kitty, do you mean that you used your voucher and had some money left over and you were allowed to carry it over and apply to another cruise? I have been told over and over by Viking that I could not carry over any money. That once I applied my voucher it counted as completely used even if there was a balance left over. So I  have not used it yet bc I want to maximize my voucher. Thx 

Thank you for the comprehensive info! 

Is there a laundry room on deck 8? Thx! 

9 hours ago, TexasTraveler54 said:

Have not received any email about this from Viking. ☹️

Check your Spam/ Junk email folder.  Mine got put there! 

On 6/19/2019 at 6:36 AM, DGHOC said:

 

Ummm, this does seem to vary TT. I was told, upon booking my voucher cruise, that excess can indeed be used for future cruises just as long as the monies are used before the stated end date. Pre and post extensions could also be paid for by the voucher. I have an amount left over from mine.

The amount left over is what I am wondering about. Does it show up as an onboard credit in the cruise you used it for? There doesn’t seem to be a written policy on this. Twice I have been told by Viking Survivors Hotline it goes into on board credit for that cruise. Once I was told that if I use the voucher it is counted as used if there is s balance left I would lose it. 

49 minutes ago, Squawkman said:

 

While we were technically not "survivors", we were adversely affected as with 2 days notice our planned Scandinavia cruise on the Sky was cancelled. We also received the full refund and voucher for a future cruise. The voucher did not include what we paid for airfare - only cruise fare - not sure if this was the same formula for survivors. As we had the final payment coming due soon for a cruise in November, we asked and were able to apply it to the cost of both cruise fare and airfare for this pre-booked trip. There was a balance left of $4 which we were able to apply to insurance - something originally covered by my credit card but now needed to be purchased.

Yes, thanks.  I think if I want to maximize the use of my voucher I will have to do something like that.  Use the voucher all up at once, no carry over.  Seems like the voucher is passenger specific, too.  I still don't have the full understanding.  Thanks again. 

Thank you.  Yes, I should have clarified, I do have that information.  I was mainly wondering about maximizing the full amount of the voucher if I booked a cruise that had a value less than the voucher.  I have now called three times and had 3 slightly different answers.  Perhaps booking a cruise of equal or greater value than the voucher is the way to go. Thank you so much for responding

Hi! Has anyone received a written copy of the Terms and Conditions for the Voucher for the Future Cruise?  If so, would you please let me know where you got the written copy?  I have verbally been given slight variations of the Terms from the Viking Sky Hotline. I don't want to mess up. Thanks!

Hi Everyone, 

just checked Viking Cruises website. For January 26, 2021 the Viking Venus is scheduled for the Iberian Explorer, Barcelona to London cruise.