dcl999

We did the Pompeii excursion. Very interesting. It was difficult walking on the cobblestone paths. You should be very sure footed and have good balance. The cobblestones are about 6-12 inches and rounded.  We had time to take a walk into town, find the pedestrian area and stop at the most crowded pizza stand. 

Does anyone have feedback on Naples Above and Below? 

We have only taken a few long shore excursions with long bus rides. Any feedback on this one would be appreciated. It will be November 3rd.  
It doesn’t seem to be an easy place to get to without a tour.  We’re staying a few days in Athens on our own after the cruise. 
Thanks. 

We cruised from Budapest to Amsterdam the end of June. This was the first cruise where we used our balcony most days. Odd numbered cabin on Viking. We were rafted a few days but enjoyed reading on the balcony while cruising during the day and in the evening before bed. Many days we had a lovely balcony view in port. Weather was great. 

If you’re on Viking definitely casual and not country club. Lots of shorts and capris. A few casual dresses. I don’t remember any sport coats or dress pants or shirts. Two women wore close to cocktail dresses one night. It may have been a special occasion but they were a definite contrast to the LL Bean type clothes most others were wearing. There’s no need for much jewelry either. 
 

Vienna was part bus, part walking. We stayed on the outside except we had time to go into the church (not a Sunday). We did get quite a bit of the history and a decent orientation to the city. We stayed in the city and took the metro back to the ship. Our guide gave a good orientation at the end. We went to the Albertina museum on our own. It was a nice mix of half small collection of famous artists and half palace rooms. 
Budapest is also part bus, part walking. Good orientation to the city and one of the easier ways to get to see heroes square and castle hill and hear some of the history. The cathedral was crowded since all the tours arrive in the morning. 
We went to the hospital in the rocks on our recent cruise. They have tours in English that last about an hour. 

Viking air plus has been good about flying earlier or later but it used to be an extra $300 per ticket to fly into a different city.
We usually fly business class and tickets from our small town usually are cheaper booking directly and we have access to more scheduling options. 
We recently returned from Viking’s grand European cruise. Quite a few people did not hear about the air schedule changes and cancellations from Viking. 

We just got back from a 14 day cruise with several extra days on each end. We used our credit card almost all the time. The only pounds we spent were for tipping. We got about $50 worth of florints for 3 days in Budapest and would have been able to use a credit card for almost all of the expenses. I think we spent about 10 euros other than tips. Everything else went on our credit card. 
We keep a supply of euros since we travel to Europe frequently. 
Fellow passengers were unable to withdraw funds from the ATM. They had failed to notify the bank they were traveling. We have found a lot of ATMs have a maximum withdrawal of 200 euros. 

     Another major problem with Scenic is getting money back if you cancel a cruise. Yesterday we received our refund check for a cruise cancelled in December, 2021. I periodically emailed them asking for our money back. They kept replying it was taking time to process refunds. 
     We totally enjoyed the pre pandemic cruises we took. Our TA complained about the difficulty dealing with Scenic back in 2018 and 2019. 

We’re scheduled for a cruise in 3 weeks. We’re planning to take a PCR test about 12 days out.  We don’t think we’ve had COVID but if we test positive we can call our doctor, do the quarantine and then get a doctor’s recovery letter good for 90 days. We thought that would be better than getting a negative antigen test just before boarding and then finding that we had been infected and asymptomatic but showing positive on Viking’s PCR test. 

Has anyone had the eMed BinaxNow AG antigen test accepted for the pre board test? We’re going early and traveling on our own. 

I emailed the cancellation request and sent a letter just to make sure there wouldn’t be a question for getting a refund instead of voucher. Email address was vcmail@vikingcruises.com. Received a response within a short time. A check was mailed to us even though we had paid by credit card. If you book through a travel agent they have to okay the cancellation. 

One you do not have on your list is Scenic. We have only used Viking (4 river) and Scenic (2). Scenic’s Vietnam and Cambodia cruise with pre cruise was a very special trip. We felt the food, cabins and excursions were generally a notch above Viking. Scenic ran excursions even if just 4 people were interested. One night they did a dinner and show at one of the temples. Some of the evening entertainment was done by orphanages. Performances were at the level of AGT finalists. Scenic trains a lot of their own staff. All were very friendly and helpful but there were a few that were not fully polished. 
Guests and dress code were similar on both cruise lines. Scenic attracts few Americans and lots of Australians.
I do not like Scenic’s website. You have to call for most information. Their cancellation policy during COVID has not been as good as Viking’s. Our travel agent said that Scenic was difficult to work with. 

We rely on our credit card coverage. We received vouchers on a recent trip canceled for a medical reason. We will receive our money back for the unused portion of the vouchers when they expire. 

The UK no longer requires quarantine if you test positive for COVID. Are there any policies that will still cover trip cancellation/interruption if the cruise ship denies boarding or removes you from your ship? 

Fill out your restrictions in the onboard experience preferences section on MVJ. If you can’t eat something that is listed there call or send an email to Viking. They used to do kitchen tours and the area for special meals was well organized. 

On 4/25/2022 at 1:03 PM, bobitegirl said:

I am considering  ordering the Binax Now proctored antigen tests to use in Anchorage the day before my cruise starts. Would love to hear from anyone that used these. I'm assuming that Viking will accept them, but since they only offer examples of accepted rests, I'd like some reassurance from someone that has used them. 

That kit was not listed on the Viking Health and Safety webpage that I found for pre embarkation testing. I’ve sent an email to Viking to ask if the list has been updated. It is accepted for US entry. 

Any diesel smell in any of the cabins? Any updates on the quiet/noisy in the suites?

We’ve always avoided Seabourne  because of the pictures in the brochures. The only time my husband wears a suit is at a wedding or funeral and wears a sport coat and khakis only with reluctance. It’s rare that I pack more than black slacks and a few nice tops. We’re more of llbean than designer.  From the postings to this thread it sounds like we might be okay. 

We have filed a claim. We're still waiting to hear back. I did find the sentence that says we can recover our money when the credits expire . That won't be until the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024.

It makes no sense that we can't use the vouchers for another trip and receive the same benefits. The medical reason is one of those that will be resolved and not subject to future problems. 

We have emailed the question and are still waiting an answer.

We had to cancel a trip for medical reasons. Normally our credit card company would have reimbursed us for our non refundable costs. However both Viking and the airline have issued vouchers. Does anyone know what happens if I use the vouchers and then can not travel on the rebooked trip for a covered reason? Has anyone let vouchers expire and been able to collect then? Phone lines have been busy and haven’t been able to get through to claims. 

I’ve been checking schengenvisainfo.com for EU/Schengen countries. They have links to the specific country information. We’re double and triple checking requirements.

If the country requires a PCR test, we assume we will be checked by the official that will not accept a document that says NAAT.
I’m also checking the transit rules. The airports have different rules and country admission can be affected by recent travel or transit. Italy currently has a restriction if you have transited through certain countries in the past 14 days tourists can not enter. 

We’re booked on the February Greek odyssey. Even though it had the warning across the top about not available for booking, the information for the tours showed up if you went to each day. They were available to book just after midnight on the day listed on my reservation. Hopefully the optional ones we signed up for will be popular enough so they aren’t canceled. 

I call Viking and pay. I’ve never had a problem. I usually do this even when I’ve used a TA. 

I don’t know how it is now but Iceland in August had a group that overstayed but people in our time slot were good about observing capacity limits in pool and hot tub. Not as relaxing an experience as precovid

Are there any major advantages to combining back to back cruises into a single booking other than only one deposit? Disadvantages? 
I almost always book my own air - better schedule and prices.