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Strategy for booking excursions


justin c
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getting ready to book excursions .

Is it best to book optional first and pay for them, then go back and book included or go in order adding them

All at once port by port?

For those of you who have already done your bookings, what was the best method for getting your chosen itineraries? Thanks, carol

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getting ready to book excursions .

 

Is it best to book optional first and pay for them, then go back and book included or go in order adding them

 

All at once port by port?

 

For those of you who have already done your bookings, what was the best method for getting your chosen itineraries? Thanks, carol

 

 

 

Go to My VIking Journey and add all the excursions that you want to your wish list. Then on the day that you can actually book you just move them to your cart and pay for them all at once.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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First, my husband and I previewed all the excursions. We decided which ones we want to do before the actual day we could book excursions.

Then, when it came time to book, we booked first the optional ones that we would be disappointed not to get to do and paid for them. Yes, we book as early as we can on the first day that booking is open for our level of cabin. I believe we were a DV4 last time.

Next, we go back in and book the included excursions we want since we like to take our excursions first thing in the morning. Time slots fill up and you may have to chose a time you would not normally want.

We were able to get everything we wanted.

We thoroughly enjoyed our ocean cruise after doing numerous river cruises with Viking.

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Just as with most online shopping sites, you do not secure your spot on an excursion just by placing it in your cart. Payment must be made in order for that to happen. As suggested, optional excursions that are of particular importance should be paid for promptly. I recall one Cruise Critic member who complained for weeks on a roll call that his excursions had been "stolen" out of his cart, and he was most unhappy with Viking over the experience! A half dozen people must have explained it to him, but it was after the fact and he was not mollified.

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I saved everything in my wish list but also printed them off with the times that the trips set off if they had multiple options so if I needed plan B I knew what to choose to save time. I also made sure I was at my computer ready when the booking slot opened which goes on Pacific time, 8am in the UK.

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On the day our tours opened. I set the alarm for 3am. We are on the east coast. I got everything we wanted. I booked the tours we had to pay for first and then went back for the included ones. I had back up times for included tours and had to switch twice. We are DV2.

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On the day our tours opened. I set the alarm for 3am. We are on the east coast. I got everything we wanted. I booked the tours we had to pay for first and then went back for the included ones. I had back up times for included tours and had to switch twice. We are DV2.

 

We did the same (at 3am!), except SO and I both logged in so we could book optionals quickly. We were DV6 and got all the tours we wanted...at the times we wanted (for Midnight Sun).

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Good points all. Paid excursions first and pay, then see where included fit in. I will say I was disappointed in my last cruise that the one excursion I wanted was sold out. I booked the included. The good news was later another excursion was added of the one I wanted. Bad news, it was at the same time of my included but I was able to make all the adjustments before I boarded. I could have arranged for the one I wanted on my own but going with both from the ship brought me back for lunch. In another location we couldn't get the extra one we wanted but were able to find one off the ship that covered the same area with a different perspective. The good news was that in doing that we got back to the ship for the included and if we had done the ship excursion we could not have signed up for the included. Though we thought this would be a pretty lackluster port at first, the included excursion was one of the best we had. So glad it all worked out but for the fee excursions, make a plan B you can use if the booking doesn't go in your favor.

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Just to add to what has already been said, I think you should always prioritize your excursions and book them in the order of which ones mean the most to you. Also, if you are looking at booking two excursions in one day (say, an included and an optional), be sure and book the included one when you book the optional one to assure that you can do both. A lot of times you have to pick the first or last “included tour” option in order to also do an optional tour on the same day. I’ve also noticed that the early included tour options tend to go first so that folks can do a tour in the morning and then spend some time on their own in port in the afternoon. If you initially don’t get one of your choices, check back in with myvikingjourney.com often because folks cancel tours all the time, especially as you get closer to the time they close out the bookings (around two weeks before sailing). Viking also sometimes adds additional slots if a tour is very popular. Finally, you can always check in with the Shore Excursions team on board to see if any slots opened up or at least get on a waiting list. Good luck!

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We’ve got a PS2, so we’re not going to panick. We’ve got our wish list done for excursions, there’s only one to pay for, and that’s what we’ll do first, then go back in immediately and sort out the other ports, but mainly if we don’t get to book anything else we’re not too bothered.

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We’ve got a PS2, so we’re not going to panick. We’ve got our wish list done for excursions, there’s only one to pay for, and that’s what we’ll do first, then go back in immediately and sort out the other ports, but mainly if we don’t get to book anything else we’re not too bothered.

 

If all the rest of your choices are included excursions, you are guaranteed a place on each of them. It may not be at the time you wanted, but you will be able to go if you wish. Once in a while I have heard of glitches where you may have to call Viking if it appears that all time slots on an included excursion are sold out, but they will make it work.

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All I can say is best of luck to one and all - we'll hopefully be up nice and early anyway on the day our excursions get released; and hopefully the internet will play ball. We'll just have to wait and see. If not, I suppose we'll make do and mend with whatever we get and look on the bright side and make the best of things.

 

We simply hope that everyone gets the excursions of their choice, and that when they go on the excursion that they have a great time.

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All I can say is best of luck to one and all - we'll hopefully be up nice and early anyway on the day our excursions get released; and hopefully the internet will play ball. We'll just have to wait and see. If not, I suppose we'll make do and mend with whatever we get and look on the bright side and make the best of things.

 

We simply hope that everyone gets the excursions of their choice, and that when they go on the excursion that they have a great time.

 

It isn't all luck. Sometimes it is knowing who you can contact in order to get things straightened out with the minimum of fuss. Booking at 87 days you should have no problems but for those who will be booking after you, it is good to know that there are ways that issues can be resolved without having to wait until we board.

 

We are all guaranteed a seat on the included tours (one per port of call) but sometimes Viking miscalculates how many seats it will actually need. In those cases, it is more productive to contact Viking immediately to let them know so that they can open up more seats, rather than to wait until boarding (when it might be too late to resolve the problem). In any case, keep an eye on MVJ for openings until you have a confirmed reservation

 

As for the optional tours selling out, I suggest contacting Viking and telling them how disappointed you are that the tour you so wanted has sold out and ask if they are planning on opening up more seats for that tour. Sometimes, there are capacity issues and nothing can be done other than to watch for seats to open up. However, sometimes it is simply a matter of adding another bus. In the past, putting your name on a waiting list was a dead end; so I suggest that if a tour you are interested in has sold out that, even after contacting Viking, you keep an eye on MVJ and watch for opening.

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Dear Fellow Cruisers:

 

We are in a DV cabin (67 days for excursion booking). I had my "wish list" setup and second choices ready with credit card in hand. At 3:00 a.m. (east coast U. S. time) I clicked on the Viking Ocean site and it opened up at 3:02. I choose my four optional tours and one included tour (same day as half day optional tour) and paid via credit card. I then reentered the Viking site and selected my additional seven included tours. I was able to obtain all of my first choices. At 3:15 a. m. I copied my Daily Schedule and went back to sleep. Very easy process for a first time Viking Ocean customer. Very pleased!

Joel Barry

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  • 2 weeks later...
I am booked for MIdnight Sun cruise in July 2019. When does the list of excurions show up on the website?. As of now, when I look, it says no excursions available. Is it just too early?

 

Way too early for exact excursions. think about 100 days out from sailing. However, if you go to the cruise web page there will be the itinerary listed and then go day by day and you will see a guideline of what will be offered. Things change so this is just a guideline of what might happen. If you don't see what you want there, don't be discouraged as it might appear by the time you can book. It's also good to try Viator for options. you don't need to book through them but they will give you options on what is available in the port and they usually have a section for shore excursions. It will also give you guideline of expected cost. If the ship doesn't offer it by posting time, you always have Plan B. These have always worked well for me, if not using the ship excursions or sometimes(If it is a paid excursion on the ship)these other options may work better and the timeline can be to your advantage to still be able to work in the included. this happened to us on the last cruise. We wanted to see an area but if we took the ship excursion, we would not have made it back to the ship in time for included. with Plan B we were able to see it all.

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It would be helpful if Viking set up MyVikingJourney so that we could have our billing info stored in our account (just as many on-line retailers do) so we could easily do our checkout without having to enter it each time we added an excursion(s) to the shopping cart for quick payment.

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It would be helpful if Viking set up MyVikingJourney so that we could have our billing info stored in our account (just as many on-line retailers do) so we could easily do our checkout without having to enter it each time we added an excursion(s) to the shopping cart for quick payment.

 

They do ask on MVJ for the on ship credit card info so they have it.

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They do ask on MVJ for the on ship credit card info so they have it.

 

I don't believe it then automatically links to the shopping cart. Otherwise, it should show when you click on shopping cart to check out.

 

I experienced a problem when booking yesterday morning at 3 a.m. ET. I had my Wish List up and ready to go the instant it was 3. Clicked through all excursions which took only a couple of minutes and everything was available. Quickly went to check out, entered the billing info and clicked to confirm. An error message came up saying "Extension is sold out." What? Since we are doing an extension (which was paid for over a year ago) this was odd. It did not say an excursion was sold out.

 

But, I could not go any further in the booking process and I could not check to see if one of the optionals had sold out between the time I added it to the shopping cart and while I entered the billing info. I was also in MVJ on my iPad so from that I found the excursion which was now sold out and deleted it. That freed up the check out process on my computer and I finished. But, I could just invision other optionals selling out while I wasted all that time.

 

It would have helped if when the error message came up it said which excursion had sold out so you could simply delete it and finish the check out for all the others.

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I am a newbie, sailing for the first time on VO on 3/19/2019. When will shore excursions be listed online for me to explore? I am in a DV cabin, so how far ahead of sailing will I be able to book? I am a veteran cruiser, 30 past cruises, but this is all new to me.

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The excursions typically show around 120 days ahead, but may vary a little. The typical excursions for your cruise can be seen on the VO website under your specific cruise under excursions.

 

You can find the booking times for your class cabin on the VO website. Go to the deck layout for your ship and click on your cabin class. It will show the cabin features, including advanced booking times for excursions and dining.

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Our cruise isn't for 400 days. When will they start listing the shore excursions so we can decide which we're interested in?

Linda

 

That will depend on your cabin type and those terms are on the website. The real excursions will be viewable about 100 days out. On your itinerary if you go day by day you can see sample excursions that could or will be available at the time of your cruise. If you're interested in something, investigate further to see the reviews of excursions on port destination reviews on CC. Also check out top destinations for the port on another site to see if something else would be more 'up your ally'. You have at least 300 days to peruse and see what suits you before it's time to act.

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