Insanityx4

 The restaurant is only open for dinner and I never saw lamb chops in the World cafe at any meal.

2 hours ago, Melinda Palmer said:

Are you able to get lamb chops for breakfast? 

We took our trip, Santiago to Ft. Lauderdale last April 2023 and at the time Viking was trying hard to get licensed to use their "toys" in other countries. We were told only Antarctica and Canadian ports in the great lakes. I sounds like maybe that has changed.

3 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

We are thinking about booking Polaris for either Toronto to Fort Lauderdale or Lauderdale to Santiago. If anyone has any been on either of these itineraries, I’d appreciate hearing your thoughts.  We think it would be a great way to try out the expedition ships at a great price. But after reading the few reviews of these, it seems that is the only real pro for doing so, most reviewers say there isn’t much use of the special equipment nor many interesting ports. 
 

 

Lastly, if anyone has done Viking’s overland excursion to Monte Pichu, would love to know its cost and whether you found it a good value. 
 

TIA!

We did the Santiago to Ft. Lauderdale cruise last year on the Octantis. We were originally scheduled on the Polaris but it went into drydock for repairs from the rogue wave so we were put on the Octantis. It was a full ship since they combined both cruises. The ship leaves from Valparaiso which is about 1 1/2 hours from Santiago, so be prepared for that it if you plan to go in early. We spent 3 days in Santiago before the cruise (loved Santiago and wish we had more time there). We did a day trip through Viator to Valparaiso which dropped us off at our hotel the afternoon before the ship left. 

The cruise itself was not great in some ports and very good in others. The highlight of the cruise was a paid for (but now included) trip the San Lorenzo and the new canal. There was a huge container ship in the new canal and it was fascinating to watch. You could see the smaller ships going through the original canal in the background. Out tour was small, about 18 people in a mini van.. I'm sure the included trip will be quite different. It was our third time going through the canal and it was a different experience since the ship is smaller and we had three yachts going through with us.

The only Expedition cruises that include the toys are Antarctica and the Canadian side of the great lakes. Viking has been trying to get licensing for South America and the US without success for several years.

When we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale there was a huge flood that closed the airport for two days so we had to fly out of Miami. Viking did provide transportation to the Sheraton in Miami and paid for one night, no food included which they weren't obligated to do since the rainstorm wasn't something they could control. It was a interesting trip and we enjoyed it. The food on the ship was very  good. We never ate in the restaurant which is only open for dinner because the choice of entrees (only 3) were also available in the world cafe along with the grill which offered steak and lobster nightly and the expanded sushi bar. In our opinion the food and service at Manfredi's was not comparable to the ocean ships. Also no chef's table or afternoon tea.

One of the excursions in Cozumel was a taco and tequila tour which was more of a sales pitch for purchasing tequila and other local items and ran over by two hours so we missed the submarine trip which was disappointing until we talked to some others who went and said they packed about 40 people into the submarine with seats for about 25 so you really couldn't see much.

We really liked the enclosed balcony. You can keep the window open or closed depending on the weather and still feel like you were on a balcony.

Good luck Clay on deciding what to do! I hope this helps.

Yes, they do offer a non-alcohol beer as well as mocktails. A lot of mixed drinks can be made with the alcohol and taste very good.

Not in my experience. You can certainly bring non alcohol spirits on board if you can find them in stores in port or from home. I drink only caffein free diet sodas and they don't have those either except on our last cruise on the Octantis they did have diet tonic in cans in the Aquavit Terrace bar but you have to ask for it, and they charge you for it without a Silver Spirits Package.

About half of the upper area of the Explorers Lounge is taken up with the planetarium. Be sure to bring a jacket because the Explorers Lounge is always really cold because of the Planetarium.

On Expedition ships most excursions are included and you can book more than one if time allows. On our last cruise on Octantis, in one port the first excursion ran late so we missed the second one (both included).

Our next cruise coming up on VO we booked both included and not included tours for the same day. The problem with that is if our included tour runs late, we will miss the tour that we have already paid for. I recommend leaving at least 1-2 hours between tours and more if you are in a tender port.

12 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Very sorry but the list is correct.  I personally verified and checked nearly every room.  This is the Viking Star Class (Star, Sea, Sky, Orion, Jupiter, Venus, Mars, Neptune, Saturn).   The rooms are the same for all these ships.  Personally I wouldn't trust anything a rep at Viking tells me - as they've been wrong so many times on information I know to be correct.

Best of luck!

Totally agree about the Viking reps!

I called Viking and they said the list is wrong so reaching out to my TA to be sure. Could be things have changed on the newer ships.Thanks for the info on the trip.

We almost always choose the port side but this trip is Canada and New England Scenic Shores and it's recommended to be on the starboard side as we go down the New England coast and through Nova Scotia. We changed from 5030 to 5031 but might change back since it's still open.

Apparently they hug the Nova Scotia coastline and Prince Edward Islands but we do spend most of the time during the day in the Explorers Lounge or up on deck so probably doesn't make a difference.

Just checked and 5030 also has a door!

27 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Good luck.  I don't know which itinerary you have, but for all the ones we've had, it didn't make any difference starboard or port.   The ships are far from land in nearly all itineraries between ports.  If/when they are closer, we find it more fun to be above deck where you can go from one side to the other easily, or be in Explorer's Lounge and see it all (such as South America or Norway Fjords).

We prefer sliders over doors and have made that exact decision - choosing a slider over the "supposed" preferred starboard or port side.  

They are already all booked on the Starboard side which is recommended for our trip. As we get closer to the cruise hopefully something will open up.

It's not a big deal but we would prefer the slider.

We just realized after we booked cabin 5031 that is not a slider. Hopefully we can change. We have had a PV before with the door and the curtain kept getting caught in it plus the view is not as good with the split windows.

My sister sails on Celebrity and has mentioned that some people visiting the buffet do so with disposable gloves! They definitely stand out but maybe not a bad idea. Clear plastic would be the way to go, not surgical blue!

This topic has definitely gone off course but is getting interesting!

58 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

This is who Steve Dassios put us onto in 2024.  They are offering some good plans now as you discovered (Travel Insured International FlexiPax).   One big benefit is they are good up to 3 years out and you can transfer from the original cruise to a new one at no charge as long as the new one is 3 years or less from the date you put the insurance deposit down.  Flexible is right!

Didn't know the 3 year part. I did find the information from Steve however.

My point is that Viking customer service is the best once you are on the ship. Sound's like you got a bad apple once aboard. However most Viking reps before the cruise are clueless and totally unhelpful.

The FlexiPax plan is not offered on the USAA website even though they carry Travel Insured International. I was able to find it through Travel Insurance Center.com. I was looking for quotes and they contacted me. You won't find it on the Travel Insured International website either because of the huge discount. I purchased it today and it immediately showed up in my Travel Insured International account!

I'm really surprised to hear that. Customer Service has always bent over backwards to solve any issues we have ever had on any of our cruises with Viking. The best service we have ever encountered out of all the cruise lines we have sailed with. Sounds like you got a rep who should not be working for Viking.

Not trying to start a new topic here but we had a similar problem several years ago on a VO cruise and we reported it to our room steward. Maintenance tried to fix the problem without success and we were immediately moved to another cabin the next day. Maybe because they had a cabin that was empty in the same category. The problem had been reported by a previous passenger and apparently it wasn't an easy fix. Our room steward was aware of the problem before we arrived.

Thanks for all of your input and information. We found a plan through Travel Insured International that has really good benefits including $500,000 medical evacuation and Repatriation of Remains for much less than Viking's Tripmate and a lot more benefits. It's called FlexiPax. We used Travel Insured International on our last cruise when we got rained out in Ft. Lauderdale (flooded runway) at the end of the cruise for two days and had to fly out of Miami. They covered pretty much all of our added expenses. Our travel agent gave me a quote for them for our upcoming trip that was about the same cost as Tripmate so I started doing my own research and found FlexiPax! We are going to go with that plan and save almost $400!

We are not fans of Viking's travel insurance. Especially now that they only gives cash refunds if cancellation is for medical reasons, otherwise a voucher.

I'm sure this has been discussed many times in the past but I am looking for recommendations for an insurance company that people have used, are reasonably priced, and that they are happy with. Thanks!

I really think it depends on your travel agency as to when the OBC in added to your account and available to be used. With us is when we board the ship.

4 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

So funny!  We just watched again the movie Bottle Shock for the first time in 10years or so.  We first visited Napa in 1976 to wine taste so it brought back those memories as well.  And don't forget Chalone (down towards us in Paso)....

Will have to stop by our next visit to Napa 🙂

Have enjoyed Trefethen (and Freemark Abbey)  as well as Stags Leap (which won best red in 1976).

Have to put a biased plug in for our region in Paso Robles though.  There's some good wines here too 🙂

 

Husband went to school with Gary Eberle. We have known him since the mid 70's. UC Davis. 

1 minute ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

We’ll be at Grgich Hills next week.

I’ll bet they have a bottle or two of Chateau Montelena still around!!
Also going to Freemark Abbey - it’s going to be a great week!!

The weather should be good! We have had a rainy winter so far. Have a great trip!