id4elizabeth

8 minutes ago, emptyK said:

Where are you hearing that the July 17th ship is sailing full? I'm trusting very few sources at this point.

From two different tellus reps- the 2nd one a tellus@Viking "supervisor" named Josh who said 900 passengerd give or take.  Before that I was told 928 passengers.   I just talked to Sales to try and switch from 17th to 13th and he confirmed 900 on the 17th and 50% full on the 13th on Jupiter.  So that's 3 Viking sources in total.

15 minutes ago, id4elizabeth said:

It's been sold out on the Viking web site for weeks and still says sold out.  My guess is you're right and they held cabins back.  Unfortunately they did not do so on the 17th ship.  I'm thinking of calling Viking Sales right now and see if I can switch.  Thanks!!

Tried switching to the 13th - no luck.  According to Viking rep "regulations" require that Jupiter's 1st sailing in Iceland is no more than 50% capacity.  So you're a lucky dog foggyethan!

33 minutes ago, FoggyEthan said:

 

I think you were told that it's sold out by a customer service rep, and I was told 195 bookings by "tell us". Perhaps your rep was wrong. Perhaps my "tell us" was wrong.

It's been sold out on the Viking web site for weeks and still says sold out.  My guess is you're right and they held cabins back.  Unfortunately they did not do so on the 17th ship.  I'm thinking of calling Viking Sales right now and see if I can switch.  Thanks!!

44 minutes ago, FoggyEthan said:

I just got a call back from Viking after emailing tellus. She said that she looked at my sailing, July 13, and that it only has 195 bookings, give or take. So less than half sold. Yet the July 13th still doesn't have any shore excursions announced.

 

So this knocks down the hypothesis that we don't have tours announced because they went up to full capacity and can't get tour operators.

 

Then I'd say you lucked out and are sailing with a lot less than full capacity.   Your ship is supposedly Sold Out in all cabin categories, so if there were only 195 bookings, that an absolute max of 390 passengers - less than half full.  I'd gladly change places with you since we have 900  I could just move my flights by a couple days and be all set.  At least then I could enjoy the ship, even without ShoreX.

If not lack of busses and guides, I'd be curious then what the problem is?  And why the 1st 3 sailings have had ShoreX for nearly a month?  Something happened between the July 10th sailing and ours on the 17th and yours on the 13th.

3 hours ago, gramfrog said:

Elizabeth, yes, this is all so frustrating, but don't fret.  I'm not sure if you have been on a Viking Ocean cruise, but prior to the pandemic the Viking Ocean ships tended to run full.  We have been on five such; the Cuba cruise, for example, had not a cabin left, nor did A New Year's Turquoise Seas.

We never had any real problem with finding lounge chairs in Wintergarden, and just some difficulty around the infinity pool open air at Aft.  Certainly not like the craziness on larger commercial ships carrying three, four, and five times as many people.  

Dining is not a super difficulty when the ship is full; just be flexible. Most likely, table spacing will not be measurably different than 2019.  Not will the buses; after all, we are all vaccinated.  Be prepared for that.  The spa was never a problem with a full ship. There is simply more square ft. per passenger vs. other cruise lines when sailing Viking (and yes, it does cost more for those square feet).  

I totally agree with you that their inside sales and the supervisors on the phone could VASTLY improve; since I need to speak to them several times a week (my career) I note the name of any particular agent and ask if they wouldn't mind sharing their four digit extension   if I have follow-up questions.  And yes, VIking keeps voluminous notes on anything you say, both to your gain and to your detriment. Just saying.  Use it to your advantage.

I agree with you gramfrog - the Viking ships are lovely.  This would be my 5th Viking Oceans cruise. 

What I don't think I made clear is that the requirement to social distance will no doubt change everything.

For example, the MDR --- if tables have to be 6 feet (or even 3 feet) apart, then fewer people can be in the restaurant at the same time, which means the 900+ passengers will have to be spread out over a longer opening time which may mean you won't be able to book your table when you want.  As I recall the tables used to be fairly close together, which we actually liked as we got to know more people aboard ship that way.  (Fortunately, we already have our dining reservations booked but others don't.)  If they move tables farther apart in the World Cafe, breakfast seating could be a challenge.

If they've removed seating in the Wintergarden to accommodate social distancing, fewer passengers will get in at tea time - my personal favorite activity.  A picture of the Explorers Lounge was posted on one of the CC boards a few days ago and lots of seating had been removed, so fewer people can be there at any given time.  I'm remembering those lovely areas on the pool deck where lounge chairs faced out to sea.  If they remove some of those to social distance them, then fewer of us can sit there.  Same goes for the Living Room area.  All public areas will have less seating to accommodate social distancing.

As far as the public "spa" area is concerned, we didn't used to have to book a time to go, we just showed up.  Now we have to book 45 minute time slots, which cannot be done until we board.  Viking has already announced the the public spa area will be "capacity controlled" which I'm taking to mean fewer people will be allowed in at any given time.

Even though yes, we will all be vaccinated, Viking has said we will need to wear masks when outside our stateroom and social distancing will be enforced for Iceland cruises.  This was stated in the Covid Protocols we all had to sign up for several weeks ago.  So, yes I do think there will have to be spaces left vacant on tour busses.  I think that's a big part of Viking's ShoreX problem - that they can't pack the tour busses, so need more tour busses.  With all the cruise lines entering the summer cruising season in Iceland, there's not enough busses to go around.  I think (but have no inside knowledge here) that the first 3 cruises were not totally packed, so they had enough ShoreX busses to go around.  But then they packed the ship for the fourth Sky sailing, so now they have a problem.  Of course, they could always relax the social distancing requirements, but that may be an Iceland government requirement outside of Viking's control.

So, I'll continue to fret about the lack of ShoreX.   The rest I can deal with, but I do not think it will be a wonderful shipboard experience like it was for our other 4 Viking Oceans cruises.

(Wonder if we'll have to wear masks in the public spa area?)

I got a call from a "supervisor" at Viking this evening by the name of Josh.  No good news to report. 

The new excuse / reason for ShoreX delays for mid-July and later sailings is no longer "world events in Europe" but "worldwide pandemic".  No logical reason for why the worldwide pandemic has been overcome for the 1st 3 sailings close to 4 weeks ago but not for later except he did say something that alarmed me.  That was that each sailing is different.  And that Viking absolutely stands by their one included excursion in each port.  Optional excursions were different and they were doing their very best to come up with them but they might be totally different than the 1st sailings.  This did not leave me with a great deal of comfort.

Next topic is number of passengers.  He told me all cabins were sold out.  Of course they could be holding some cabins back and showing sold out.  I pressed for a number of passengers on our particular sailing of 7/17.  He put me on hold for a while and came back with the number 900 or so.  So this (and my guess is subsequent) sailings will indeed be packed.  I'm trying to imagine tables farther apart in dining rooms, every other row in busses, missing lounge chairs, missing places to sit in the Wintergarten, etc with 900 + passengers on board.  This jibes with the 928 figure I was given earlier if there's been a few cancelations.

So, packed ship with few ShoreX so even more people onboard, no place to sit in public areas, awkward dining times due to spread out seating, inability to get into the public capacity controlled "spa" area - - not setting up to be a really fun trip so far.  Oh and not to forget wearing masks in public areas - that's if you can find a seat.

I've decided to give up contacting Viking as it's just too frustrating -- I'll just keep trying MVJ and if ShoreX become available and we get some decent ones, great -- otherwise we'll wait to the last minute and cancel.  That way the ship won't be so full for those that gut it out.

Thanks VILounger!!!

Terrior1 - Iceland with 4 ports has been on Viking's itineraries for YEARS as "Iceland's Majestic Landscapes" (Bergen to Reykjavík).  At least 4 of the ports should have been more or less a slam dunk.  Djup and Westman islands are the only 2 new ports.

FoggyEtan - I don't for a minute think Viking is malicious.  But I am beginning to think incompetent might be applicable! 

I still haven't figured out why the 1st 3 sailings have had their ShoreX for 3 weeks and for some reason everything ShoreX came to a complete stop for the 4th.  All 4 sailings were announced and booked at the same time.  And Viking has continued to ADD ShoreX for the 1st 3 sailings and the rest of us have gotten ZIP.  And the best reason they have come up with is "world events in Europe "

Sorry if I'm beating a dead 🐎 horse, but !!!

7thl

34 minutes ago, FoggyEthan said:

I suspect that they want to learn from those first three sailings in order to get things right the first time for the other sailings.

If that's the case then our excursions won't be posted until after we embark

ValerieDennis - I get what you're saying.  What I don't understand is why the 1st 3 sailings out of the first 4 that were all announced at the same time have had their excursions for over 3 weeks and we don't.  World Events were the same for those sailings as for ours.  

So today is June 1st and still no ShoreX for the July 17th sailing (promised for May 1), so I friutlessly contacted Viking and got a NEW EXCUSE.  Get this!

"Current world events in Europe prevent us from offering excursions ahead of time like we usually do.  Please check back with MVJ periodically."

So what do you think this means?  "Current world events in Europe"???  "Ahead of time"???  Does this mean there will be no ShoreX before we get on board?   I was told that's all the information they've been given.  Which is even less than we've been given before.

My guess is this applies to all the subsequent sailings after the first 3 sailings, which have had their ShoreX for over 3 weeks now.

I realize some folks may be fine with just sailing around Iceland for 8 days, but is everyone else OK with no ShoreX?

41 minutes ago, BlairsvilleCruiseGirl said:

We're on the 8/17 Jupiter.  When TA and I were on the phone last week with Viking finalizing payment, I gave the rep the flights I wanted (ATL-CHI-KEF on United, Business) and asked about AirPlus.  He put us on hold for awhile, then came back and said they were "out of business class flights entirely and only had economy.  And AirPlus was not going to be handling any more bookings for that sailing."   So, we're on our own for flights.  As a first-time-Viking-cruiser, I was surprised.  Never had RCCL, Princess or Celebrity reject booking flights for us!

 

Very strange!  Perhaps Viking is becoming overwhelmed.  I've always found cheaper flights on my own and I'm a 9 times Viking cruiser.  You can always use Viking transfers even if you book your own air - as long as you're coming and going on embarkation and departure days.

13 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

We think summer dress is bright colors and white or light.  On Midnight Sun in Norway when it was cold, the flannels and dark colors were out.  It wasn't really warm until the heat wave in London.  In SA it was warm in northern cities and cold at the horn.  Clothing colors and style changed with location.  But it really doesn't matter.  There are no fashion police.

I'm not worried about it as far as fashion police - just kind of wondering what people were thinking.   I'll no doubt go with something in between.   Just curious

21 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

We land on embarkation day at 6:20 am and theoretically could arrive via Viking at the ship before passengers disembark.  This is exactly what I was wondering.  Usually embarkation is at 11 am and one must wait until cabin is ready.  If it is true that cruises were sold at half capacity, are the unused cabins from previous cruise ready for us?  Guess we 7-17 people will learn from the 7-10 people.

Except I was told by a tellus@Viking rep that our sailing (7/17) was 928 passengers out of a possible 930 which is pretty much bursting at the gills - not anywhere near half capacity.  If the sailing before us was that full, it would mean that they had to clean all the cabins - not just half of them.  Here's hoping what I was told about # of passengers was wrong!  And that your theory is the correct one - for lots of different reasons! 

Dress / Fashion Musings

It's dinner time and we have reservations at Manfredi's let's say.  The dress is "resort casual".  It's around 45 F degrees out, but it's the end of July.  Do I wear long pants and wool sweater in navy blue according to the temperature outside (winter)?  Or do I go with turquoise Capri pants, sleeveless tank top with sheer floral overblouse (summer)?  (I only want to pack one of these ensembles.)

Embarkation Musings

(These questions would not apply to the first sailing but would apply to all the subsequent sailings.)

So let's say we get in very early in the morning (6:40am) on embarkation day, along with coincidentally other Viking passengers.  We all get our Covid swabs at KEF.  Let's say we have Viking transfers.  They round us all up, gather all those red tagged pieces of luggage and we're on our way by 8:00am.  Do they take us directly to the ship?  If so we'd arrive no later than 9:00am, just as the passengers on the previous voyage are getting off.  Very few cabins will have been thoroughly cleaned yet. 

They process us through the boarding and Covid testing protocols and now it's 10:00 am.  Now more cabins have been cleaned but not all.  Does Viking now let us get on the ship and if so where?  Have they had time to thoroughly clean that area, let's say the "Living Room" area?  Will there be any food/beverage service available?  How long do we have to wait before we can get to our rooms?  If it's afternoon, will we get lunch?

On my past Viking Oceans trips embarkation has been by cabin category.  If you got to the ship early you could drop off your bags and then toodle around the port till it was your embarkation time.  My assumption (always a dangerous thing) is that cabin category is going to have nothing to do with boarding and that once we check in at the dock we cannot leave the ship.

I'm not complaining here, just trying to figure out how all this is going to work.

We actually don't have Viking transfers and in fact are arriving a day early.  But I am trying to figure out what would be the best time to arrive at the ship, without adding to any chaos with all the early morning flights.

Just saw that Lindblad is starting cruising around Iceland starting July 7, with many of the same ports.   Except in Djup*** their excursion takes them to the iceberg lagoon (jealous!).   The cruise is about 4 times the cost however. 

I don't think we're going to have the island to ourselves with all these cruise lines jumping on board.

Still no ShoreX for July 17th sailing!

Thanks Peregrina651! 

2 hours ago, BQEC said:

Generally, cruise cancellation notifications will be issued in advance of Viking's usual air ticketing date, which is 75 days ahead of the cruise date. Now it is 55 days temporarily. So Viking cancelled cruise notifications will probably be issued closer to their ticketing requirements of 55 days. I doubt that excursion availability would factor into a cancellation by Viking. They might offer a choice, go with whatever excursions can be arranged or cancellation by the guest, with Viking retaining payment as a future cruise credit. Once a cruise credit is created, no refund would be possible until after 24 months had elapsed. Also had been allowing transfer of cruise credit. I also doubt that that a cancellation for light bookings will occur as most lines are sailing light to allow for social distancing and having available cabins for quarantine guest, or crew quarter considerations. 

Wondering if others have encountered the same ....

Thanks BQEC - that answers my question! 

The reasons are actually not what I was after - I'm more interested in how soon Viking would cancel before sailing, assuming it wasn't an emergency that happened at the last moment.  

On 5/20/2021 at 9:52 AM, Australia08 said:

I’m on the July 17 Iceland trip. I was supposed to be able to book excursions May 1. They are still not posted and my understanding is that they will be released to everyone the same day. I am presently on a week long vacation with limited cell service so I am really stressing that I won’t be able to book if they are released this week. It’s actually preventing me from enjoying the trip I’m on right now. If I only knew when they’d drop I could actually take that day away from my touring to be near the internet. Instead I find myself cutting time at particular sites just to find some available internet to see if anything has happened. 

I wouldn't worry too much about this coming week - reading between the lines of several phone and email conversations I've had with Viking recently, I keep hearing, "We HOPE TO have them available for booking by the end of May; first of June at the latest."  It's been weeks now since they dropped the "soon, any-day-now" response.  Last week I even heard this response;  "For sure they'll be posted by the time you embark"  so please enjoy the vaca you're on and don't let Viking's incompetence wreck it for you!

On 5/20/2021 at 10:29 AM, Peregrina651 said:

 

They were for the first three cruises. Hopefully fixing that problem is one of the things that is delaying things for the subsequent cruises. A lot of people were not happy about how things rolled out for the first 3 sailings to book shorex.

 

 

I've been told in a phone call from the tellus@Viking rep that none of the Welcome Back voyages will have the ShoreX released by cabin category.  They will all be released at the same time on a first-come-first-served basis for each sailing.  I'm sure that's not making the upper tier cabins happy at all, but Viking is so late in getting them posted to begin with that's probably the only way they can do it now.  Totally frustrating to be on a cruise with the possibility of no optional ShoreX  available.  They delay is not I believe a systems issue - I believe they have lost the few tour operators they had and are scrambling to find new ones.  I think they miscalculated and only contracted with vendors for the first 3 sailings, and not the rest.  Meanwhile other cruise lines have entered into the Iceland market with sailings starting mid July and grabbed up the existing tour operators. 

My only suggestion is to email tellus@Viking.com and ask WTHeck is going on.  Hopefully if enough of us email them somebody somewhere at Viking will get on the stick.

General question - if Viking decides to cancel a cruise (not in an emergency, but just generally, let's say they don't get enough bookings, or they find they are unable to put together shore excursions) how soon ahead of sail date do they usually cancel?  Asking those who've had cruises canceled by Viking in the past?

We enjoy moving around a bit - different views, different neighbors, different servers.  But then the last time we were on Viking Oceans we were on for 50 days, so we had lots of opportunity to move around.  But, if you don't like where they seat you, then ask for a different area - they are usually willing to work with you if they have other tables available.  Everyone is different with their preferences - although the tables with a view are pretty much everyone's favorite, particularly as it will be light outside.