NCteacherlovescruising

The whole thing kind of annoyed dh. I mean usually it’s like 90 days or so. And by then we will already have a 2026 cruise booked.

Nevermind. They want final payment in June 2025.

Even though someone suggested the Iceland/Norway cruise, we really prefer the Under the Midnight Sun ports. That would give us two days in London, in addition to possibly a couple pre or post cruise.

On the cruises we’re looking at, one of the ports is Geirangerfjord. I’d read about a new policy banning most ships from here beginning in 2026. Will Viking still be able to go there? I’m 57, dh is 60 and we’re very active. Are we too young to enjoy Viking? Sitting on tour busses isn’t our idea of a good excursion. We enjoy our feet on the ground, walking around and exploring. We just got home from 3 weeks in Europe where we averaged about 18,000 steps a day and loved every minute of it! The ports look amazing!

Adding London would make sense since we can get direct flights home from there. convenient

I understand this. I was just mentioning that she may be joining us. She was with us on the Mediterranean cruise we just did too, as was another couple we hang out with. I’m aware of the vast differences and what Viking will be. At least for the most part. No kids and no casino would be a big plus. I hope that means no smoking as well. While I was disappointed with the lack of entertainment on the Pearl, I expected more with it being an NCL ship. When we were on one of their larger ships, their entertainment was good. That was several years ago too. Quite frankly, we were exhausted from our daily excursions and the average of 18,000 steps a day in the heat in the Mediterranean on the Pearl. Going to bed early wasn’t a problem and reading was a nice, relaxing way to end our days. I’m flexible to an extent. I’m a teacher so it would need to be mid June-early August. Allowing deviation of airports would be awesome, especially if we did the Norway/Iceland cruise.

Wow! Thank you for all this information and I do find a couple of those paintings quite interesting. However, our stay in Paris will be brief so we will only have time for one museum so it must be the Louvre. If those paintings above are from the Orsay, we would probably like it. But we will only stay 2-3 days and there are other places I’d rather spend my time.

Just checked out this promo. I don’t recall if the cruise price was the same of less, but the air increased by $100.

What is their deviation fee? You would think they would allow a couple days on either end for free.

I wasn’t expecting it to change their pricing, but other lines may be more do-able for us. It’s not the price, it’s the final payment being so early. My husband gets a bonus every year that we use to make final payment on our cruises. It’s painless. looks like if we wait a better promo could be around the corner though. We would probably already have something else booked by then. Once I return from a cruise I like to start planning my next. It’s only couple days. We always pay our gratuities. I just assumed since Viking is “all inclusive”, gratuities were included as well. I believe they have been on our Celebrity promos. Free air would be great since all our miles will be used up by then! Back to back trip to Europe will wipe us out. I could discuss with my husband and friends. That’s an option. Yes, that’s all we’ve ever done. Our last cruise was on the NCL Pearl, which was smaller than most we’ve been on. I was disappointed with their onboard entertainment but since we had a port every day, we just went to bed early and read for a while. It was our best cruise ever, btw! It was Athens to Venice and the ports were beyond amazing. Kotor was what prompted me wanting to see fjords. Our favorite ship the RC’s Oasis of the Seas. It was beautiful and had so many things for us to enjoy. However, I can’t recall any of the ports we went to on that trip. I will check this out. Thanks. That’s a good idea. Will do. She may be going with us if we do this. I will let her know, but final payment isn’t an issue for her. She’s retired and pays for her vacations out of her inheritance. (She’s a few years older than us) Ours are paid for with my husband’s annual bonus. I’m aware it would quite a different experience. We would love the kid-free experience. Nothing against kids, but as a teacher a vacation away from children would be a treat. We don’t do the art auctions, deck parties (stopped going to those about 10 years ago!) and such. I do enjoy the major theater productions, comedians (which Celebrity and NCL don’t have), live music in the bars and the silent disco. I realize I won’t be getting the same experience with Viking. We would be doing it for the ports. We would be close to 60 at the time of this cruise, so not young and our children are grown. We always fly in a couple days early just in case of delays or canceled flights and staying after a day or two is also probable when so far from home.

Charlotte I’d prefer 2 over 4. I’ve never been to London and think it would be cool to see. It could be a problem having to make final payment so early. I have a friend that’s booked with Viking but for next summer. She’s thinking about doing this with us. We do have a TA that gives $300 pp for Viking. So daily gratuities aren’t included? Thank you! Thanks! We’ve never been to London so 2 looks appealing to us. Could I use those codes as a first time cruiser with Viking? We used our AA miles last month flying to Europe and next summer we will use our Chase miles to fly into Barcelona and out of Paris, so we will be all out of miles options. Of their air is considered a “good deal” we might consider it. We aren’t overly picky about location of rooms, although neither of those locations would be ideal. Good to know, thanks! Would we be able to see the excursions before we can book them? Just so we’d know what we wanted when it opened for us. Again, the issue may be having to make final payment so early. We can only take one big vacation a year and this would force us to pay for two at the same time.

SMH What’s wrong with some people?

I usually wear mostly dresses on our cruises, but with the Viking cruises were looking at, although summer, it would be quite chilly.

Looking at a few itineraries for summer 2026. I would like to see fjords. Which of these itineraries would you choose and why? 1. London to Bergen - British Isles Explorer- London, London, Dover, English Channel, Dublin, Wales, Liverpool, Belfast, The Highlands (Ullapool), Orkney Islands (Kirkwall), Edinburgh, The Highlands (Invergordon), Shetland Islands (Lerwick), Bergen, Bergen $8299 2. Bergan to London - Into the Midnight Sun - Bergan, Bergan, Geiranger, Sail the Norwegian Sea, Lofoten, Tromso, Honningsvag, Sail the Norwegian Sea, Shetland Islands (Lerwick), Orkney Islands (Kirkwall), Edinburgh, Sail the North Sea, London, London - I must say I'm not familiar with much of this itinerary. This one is $1,000 less than the other two for the same amount of days. 3. Stockholm to Bergen - Viking Homelands - Stockholm, Stockholm, Tallinn Estonia, Sail the Baltic Sea, Gdansk Poland, Bornholm Denmark, Berlin, Copenhagen, Alborg Denmark, Oslo, Oslo, Stavanger, Eidford, Bergan, Bergan 4. There's one that is Iceland and Norway as well, but I'd rather see London or Denmark than Iceland. The website is showing a $25 deposit and "reduced" airfare. I don't know if I'd ever book cruise air again or if it's even a bargain. Are the prices good now or should we just wait until other cruise lines open their Norway itineraries for summer 2026? We would be first timers with Viking so no extra discounts. We would probably book a DV. Would all the good excursions be sold out before we could book?

We've never sailed with Viking. Is this a buffet or sandwich shop?

Thank you! This was what I came here to find out. 🙂 Within the same category I see pricing differences as well, is that based on cabin location?

That's a great idea, but if our budget allows, I think we're going to Bordeaux and Paris. We're waiting on airfare to open so we'll have a better starting point.

Thank you! Will do.

I appreciate your detailed response. Neither of us are knowledgeable when it comes to art so I don’t know what we would enjoy. I’m sure doing some research would be beneficial. Typically I’m more interested in artifacts, sculptures, statues, and such than paintings, although I can’t imagine a visit to this museum without seeing the Mona Lisa, as well as some other well known pieces.

I wouldn’t want to do that. interesting. It’s not the first I’m hearing of inconsistencies with MSC. Flights should open in a week or so at which time I will know the timing. Hopefully we can catch a morning flight to Bordeaux and won’t need to worry about it.

Haven’t done these tours, but stayed in Amalfi last month and visited the three villages in option 1. I would definitely choose it to get more time in Amalfi and especially Ravello. Ravello was absolutely charming and beautiful and I would want as much time there as possible. Go to the Villa Cimbrone gardens for stunning views.

Awesome! Although I wouldn’t want to get hot and sweaty at the pool before getting on a plane. ✈️

Great, thanks! I was aware of vacating the room. This will be our second sailing with them. Just didn’t know how long they would let us just hang out on the ship, specifically the YC lounge. It’s good to know we will have a comfortable place to hang out until it’s time to head to the airport.

We will be on the Europa round trip from Barcelona (Marseille, Genoa, Naples, Messina, La Valletta, sea day, Barcelona) in June 2025. Just wondering if MSC will offer an excursion on our debarkation day where they will take us to a tourist attraction (perhaps a Gaudi house or something), hold our luggage and then drop us and our luggage off at the airport? Or if we should just try to book an early-ish flight. We will be flying to Bordeaux post cruise. Also, how late will they let us hang out in the YC lounge that day?

Has anyone taken a private tour of the Louvre you would recommend? My husband and I will be in Paris for the first time next summer. This is on our list of things to see, but it’s so huge I feel like we could use someone to help us navigate so we don’t miss the main attractions.