Excursion issues

There is a group of us 6 going on a Viking Ocean Cruise in April. One couple has taken a Viking River Cruise before. I have a real problem already with Viking Ocean. Since there is 6 of us we obviously would like to be on the included excursions together. Well we all logged in and tried to book the same excursion times. 2 couples were able to book the same times but one couple was not. Obviously this is a problem. We have tried to call Viking numerous times for their help. They claim they can not help. So now we are in quite mess. What was suppose to be a great Cruise is starting off on a sour note. I don’t know if I would recommend Viking to anyone. I have taken many cruises and never had this problem especially being a past cruises with them. Shame on you Viking I expected better

Your right Viking is rather new to Ocean cruises. They need to be able to link reservations so that everyone can get dining and excursions together. It is something they need to work on as there is many cruisers who travel in small groups of 6-10 and it is a nightmare to arrange to be together.

Exactly not everyone can log in together and should not half to. New or not they know what other cruise lines do. do they want repeat customers? If they want to be #1 they need to treat their customers as #1 with that type customer service and yes since there is 6 of us we can not book specialty restaurant until we board. Really. Different rules for different groups.

Exactly not everyone can log in together and should not half to. New or not they know what other cruise lines do. do they want repeat customers? If they want to be #1 they need to treat their customers as #1 with that type customer service and yes since there is 6 of us we can not book specialty restaurant until we board. Really. Different rules for different groups.

What cruise line have you used in the past that had included excursions? Even those do have a pecking order if you are in the upper suites when it comes to reservations.

By any chance is one of the couples in a V cabin rather than a DV or higher cabin?

Those who book a V1or V2 cabin cannot book specialty restaruant resevation until on board.

Don't worry , it will al be straighted out when you are on board. Talk to guest relation to reseve a table for six, but be flexible to reservation times.

As to excursions, booking wiindows depends ont again on the cabin level you are in.

Very helpful , the FAQ on Viking web site to get the lay of the land of this crusie line.

Relax, and I hope you find you enjoy your cruise.

If not, there are lots of crusie lines out there that can met your indidviadul needs.

I would agree that they should be able to sort this out for you once onboard. Go to the excursions desk after you board and explain the situation.

We just returned from our first VO cruise, and the logistics for their excursions was top notch. The excursions staff was very accommodating, and very well organized.

Email TellUs@vikingcruises.com and explain the situation. Be sure to give your cruise information. I have been extremely impressed with their responsiveness.

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I agree with Greek Chick - this is too complicated and stressful when 2 or more parties are involved for excursion planning. The difference with other lines is that for the most part, they just post the excursions ahead of time and booking is done as planning is done rather than by room category. Its much easier for multiparty booking that way and the cruise line has time to adjust the offerings as the cruisers plan.

TellUs@Vikingcruises.com would not respond to a question that I had about excursions. I had to go through my travel agent. Talk about adding more chaos.

We were in Viking Sea 2 years and there were 6 of us. 2 different cabin classes. As soon as we got on the ship, we went to the explorer desk, and they linked everything up for us so we were all on the same tours. We had no problems. We also went to the restaurant and they did the same thing. We had a wonderful experience and everyone was very helpful

There is a group of us 6 going on a Viking Ocean Cruise in April. One couple has taken a Viking River Cruise before. I have a real problem already with Viking Ocean. Since there is 6 of us we obviously would like to be on the included excursions together. Well we all logged in and tried to book the same excursion times. 2 couples were able to book the same times but one couple was not. Obviously this is a problem. We have tried to call Viking numerous times for their help. They claim they can not help. So now we are in quite mess. What was suppose to be a great Cruise is starting off on a sour note. I don’t know if I would recommend Viking to anyone. I have taken many cruises and never had this problem especially being a past cruises with them. Shame on you Viking I expected better

Hi, Greek chick56. Sorry to hear about your frustration. I can’t guarantee you that things will work out for you, but I can tell you about our experience on the Viking Sea last month.

We were a party of 8 traveling together. Half of our group booked many months prior to the cruise, one couple booked 2 months out, and we booked less than a month before sailing. Needless to say we all weren’t able to book the same excursions and times. We mostly did the optional excursions, but there were a few of the ports where we did the included excursions. For the included excursions, Viking either switched it for us once on board or suggested we just tag along with the excursion we wanted to go on with the rest of our party. They told us that there are usually some no-shows and we would probably be accommodated…and that was the case.

For a couple of optional excursions that we wanted to get onto the excursion desk staff or the customer service desk staff (if the excursion folks were gone) were able to accommodate us, too. Your mileage may vary, but they seemed very accommodating for us. Perhaps you will have good luck if you can’t get things straightened out before you depart.

Hope this helps some.

We are traveling with friends this summer on the Viking Homelands. We are in the same cabin category so that simplifies things. Viking has been able to link our reservations so we are on the same excursions. We are doing the Oslo extension with the train. I was able to link reservations for specialty restaurants but it took a phone call as there was no way to do it on line.

We are traveling with friends this summer on the Viking Homelands. We are in the same cabin category so that simplifies things. Viking has been able to link our reservations so we are on the same excursions. We are doing the Oslo extension with the train. I was able to link reservations for specialty restaurants but it took a phone call as there was no way to do it on line.

Can you please explain this further. Have you actually booked the excursions? Does one person make the reservation for all 4? This seems contradictory to everything that we have read here so further explanations would help. Thanks

For the extension/train trip our reservations were linked. We want to make sure we are seated together as it is a long train ride. For the excursions we did book separately but. were able to get in the same times, etc without any problems. I can see where it would be helpful if Viking would allow block booking for larger groups traveling together. It just makes sense. For the specialty restaurants I made the reservations for two and then called the Viking serice people. They were able to change my reservations to a group of four.

Thank you for the update. We do not make dining reservations until we board so that will not be a problem. We will try to book our excursions together to avoid issues. Certainly makes planning interesting for those of us that like to plan ahead. :)

Like mentioned above, just go to Guest Services when you board and they’ll take care of linking your bookings so you can travel and dine together. It was no issue with us last year, they were very accommodating. Enjoy your travels.

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