Carolyn448

I was looking at the Ancient Mediterranean Treasures cruise for 2021several days ago and the promotion was $400 off airfare and special cruise fares without any details. I just looked at the Viking site again and they had changed the posting to reflect the lower airfare and now seem to be showing a discount on some classes of cabins. I'm now thinking that the newer listing does reflect the actual discounts, so my question may have been answered. 

Has anyone experience with what Viking is offering for the promotion in October? The promotion seems ambiguous as to discounts and air rebates?

I think you will be ok because the ship stays in Barcelona overnight and doesn't leave until late the next day. Still, it's a worry. We almost did the Barcelona to Rome cruise but my husband's orchestra had a gig and it didn't work. Also Barcelona has a big airport with lots of options to get there from the States. Have a good cruise!

Thanks to all those who replied to my inquiry. Usually we do go a day early but time was a little short so we are taking a chance  on things going right. It looks like good weather from Wisconsin, so are chances are good. Carolyn

My husband and I are the Nov 15th Viking Star cruse to Cuba that the itinerary state departs from Miami at 6 pm. We have a flight that arrives in Miami at 1:30pm. If our Viking Air flight is delayed does the ship actually depart promptly at 6pm or do they wait for passengers they know are arriving late?

My rep called my back today about the port/tender situation. After some checking he told me that they dock at the port. According to him the size of the Viking ships are designed so that they don't have to tender at the ports at which they call. I hope he is right. Carolyn

I'm going to call my Viking rep tomorrow to ask just this question about docking in Cienfuegos. I also had a question about the air reservations because I'm thinking about upgrading our flights. By the way, Viking did a very good job in booking our flights. I would have booked the same flights myself. It's a little less critical in Santiago because we only really have time for the included tour before leaving.

This has become a very useful discussion. I think that ships going to Cuba is still so new that a lot of information is not available. Also, we will take some Euros with us to exchange. I continue to explore what is available in Cienfuegos and even the "official" tourist office does not have much more than Viking is offering. The tour to Trinidad looks interesting but not the 3 hr round trip on bad roads. I think right now we may just plan to walk around on our own and not do anything in advance. Also it's good advice to book the included tour as early as possible. Thanks for all the comments.

Thank you for your replies to my question. I will certainly pay attention to when the Viking tours open for booking. Also if you receive a reply to you message to Viking I would love to hear their response. I think the cruise companies are very pushy about their own tours. We took a Baltic cruise with Holland America a few years ago and they were really promoting their tours to St. Petersburg. We contracted (via the internet) with a private company (Denruss) and had a great two days in the city.

Carolyn

Dear jbeeg,

Thanks so much for your answer to my questions. This is exactly what I wanted to know. I'm not sure we will make other arrangements beforehand but I am very interested in making arrangements to see more than what Viking offers.

Carolyn

My husband and I have booked a cruise to Cuba for November 2018. We will be docked in Cienfuegos for 3 days. The listed excursions are not that great and we would like to get off the ship and walk around and/or use a local travel agency to see more of the city. Can we do this with the group visa that we get from Viking? Does Viking have any ability to book local tours?

Thanks for the information.

My husband and I will be spending about 4 hours at the Montreal airport (following our cruise) before flying back to the US. Is there anything to do there? Also, where is good place to eat? We will be flying back on a Saturday. Thanks