farmecologist

Haha no doubt! My spouse and I really dislike shared tables for dining. I suppose we are both a bit introverted...but we do like socializing in the lounge/bar areas! 👍

I agree. Food is extremely subjective...and much of it comes from expectations. Frankly, we have been happy with the food on all cruise lines, even the "lowest of the low" in terms of supposed luxury ( i.e. - carnival, etc... ). And that is because in real life, we do not "dine out" much at all, and eat fairly simply at home. Have we been lucking out on food quality? Maybe...but I really do think our lower expectations play a much larger role. I'm a little shocked when I read through the many threads here on CC complaining about food...especially since food quality has never even gotten us close to the "complaining" stage. Perhaps we are more laid back than others as well...who knows! 🤷‍♂️

Looks nice! We just booked our first TA ( "West Indies & The Iberian Peninsula") from San Juan to Barcelona. Sailing is March 27th, 2024. One thing I realized is that since it starts in San Juan, we won't have to deal with massive jet lag at the beginning of the cruise! Apparently "West Indies & The Iberian Peninsula" is a "new itinerary". Looking forward to it!

Ok thanks! We were thinking the same. However, a friend was suggesting use of the Nordic Spa wasn't included. I'm thinking they were getting confused and were thinking of the spa treatments, which obviously are not included.

We just booked our first transatlantic. West Indies & the Iberian peninsula - March 27 - April 8, 2024. It was such a great deal that we couldn't pass it up ( free air, SSP included, reduced rates, past customer discount ). Plus, the lower priced room categories were still available. Just a killer deal...especially for Viking. 👍 Really looking forward to the sea days, as I feel it will be far more relaxing than the port intensive itineraries we have done in the past. The SSP will make it even more relaxing...🤣. Plus, the Viking ocean ships are absolutely beautiful! One question...the use of the thermal spa ( i.e. - "Nordic Spa" ) is included...correct? If so...big time bonus there as well. The promenade deck will be well used as well for walking.

Which transatlantic are you on? We just booked the "West Indies & The Iberian Peninsula" itinerary - March 27 - April 8th, 2024. The deals *finally* came through for us...via the "Thanksgiving" sale ( TGS23 ). Free air, SSP, and special rates, plus they threw in a past customer discount. ANd they had some "cheap" room category rooms left. Killer deal for a 13 day, that's for sure. Oops: answered my own question...looks like you are not on an actual "transatlantic".

Yep so it isn't just me....I have been noticing that as well. Bummer!

Darn...I saw the RA11 deal email and was hoping they would throw free SSP in as well...since that is the deal we snagged last year. Was the deal last year ( reduced fares, free air, free SSP ) a one-off to attract folks back after the pandemic?

Last November we snagged a deal with reduced cruise price, free airfare, and SS drink package thrown in as well. I think that is the best deal you are going to find with Viking.

Well..I want to see a lower cruise price...AND free air. And SSP thrown in as well if we are lucky. I'll have to admit...once you snag a deal like that, it is hard to go back. 😁 I'm also surprised at folks disliking the free Viking air promo. It worked out great for us. However, we do live near a Delta hub ( Minneapolis ), and get great flights...so maybe that is why our experience has been better than many here.

I think some get confused by the terminology Viking uses compared to other cruise lines. No "inside cabins" on the river boats. The "below the waterline" standard rooms have the small picture window, similar to "ocean view" cabins on most ocean ships except viking. Viking only has "balcony" rooms on their ocean ships. We actually prefer the "below the waterline" rooms on the river boats. First of all, they cost a lot less, and it is literally one flight of stairs up to the main deck. River boats are often docked together...and I feel the "below the waterline" rooms are more private overall.

I agree. And after experiencing other cruise lines, I think most will agree that Viking has far less "nickel and diming" than just about every other cruise line out there ( except a few of the other very high end lines ). We have been on NCL, Celebrity, RCL, etc...and there is no comparison. We are also a fan of the prepaid drink packages, and have tried them on all of the cruise lines we have been on. Mostly due to the fact that the other lines charge an "arm and a leg" for drinks, and we like to try a few different drinks without worrying about the cost ( i.e. - if we don't like a drink we don't feel guilty about not drinking it ). Viking is by far the best deal out there.

Interesting. I'll have to look into Azamara. Looks like they have some decent deals as well. How are their excursions? I'm assuming they do not have a selection of "included excursions" like on Viking?

Yeah...we only book on sales, etc... and only when they are very good deals. We are not picky about the room class on Viking either. The fact Viking only has "balcony" rooms on their ocean ships is amazing to us. We used to hunt for deals all the time on other cruise lines...but the fact most other lines have non-balcony rooms made that difficult ( we will only stay in a balcony ). If hunting for deals is being "cheap", so be it....Oh yeah, we are cheap! 🤣

I should fit right in then! 🤣

Wow...some salty folks on this forum...I like it! 🤣 Thanks all for the info here. It cleared some things up. While we have been on Viking river cruises, we are considering our first Viking ocean cruise on 2024.

Ok...you have me interested. What are these "usual perks"?

Hi all, Just got back from our first river cruise and loved it! Any idea when Viking generally has the best deals? Last time we snagged free airfare and free beverage package. I'm assuming deals will be surfacing around the holidays ( Nov/Dec )...but just wanted to check with the gurus here. 😁 And please...could we cut the arguing about the free airfare? It did work out exceptionally well for us...but I do understand that some have issues. I think a lot of it has to do with location, etc...

I agree...I'm really skeptical that river cruises will be banned once this is all said and done.

We are doing a river cruise very soon, leaving from Basel and arriving in Amsterdam. Like you, we will spend several days in the Amsterdam area after the cruise. We are actually staying in Haarlem this time and will take the train back and forth into Amsterdam. I haven't seen anything yet that says river cruises will be affected. However, maybe it was an oversight, or they just didn't mention it. Should be interesting to see what happens.

Thanks for the info! One really dumb question though...where on the Viking site do I enter the MCS23 code? Edit - Figured it out...It was right in front of my face on the site and I missed somehow!

The train station cafe looks like a great tip! Thanks much!

Ended up booking the GAIA hotel just next to the SBB station. Any suggestions on restaurants?

That's what I am thinking as well. And the agent kind of implied that. I said it was strange that my viking journey (MVJ) didn't match up with what they were finding. The agent admitted it is, in fact, different in many cases and 'complex' itineraries are impossible on MVJ. We were trying to do a pre-cruise deviation in Amsterdam and *then* fly to Basel a few days later to catch the cruse. LOTS of options were available, and the agent spent a significant amount of time on the line with me looking at many different options, flying into different cities, etc... Unfortunately, while doable, the timing wasn't great ( the Basel flight would have reached Basel pretty late in the day ). In the end we decided to do a few days in Basel pre-cruise and a few days in Amsterdam post-cruise, with essentially the same flight schedule. I didn't see any of these options on MVJ, even with AirPlus 'enabled' on our account. The point, I guess, is I'm grateful we have options. Viking is a first class operation. Their agents are some of the best out there, at least in my experience. 👍

Yep, similar to my experience...there are FAR more choices available via AirPlus that are NOT available on myvikingjourney.com. The agent even admitted to that...