General Questions

[roothy123]

A friend is interested in taking his first-ever cruise. I'll call Viking or my travel agent in the morning to ask some questions, but in the mean time, thought I'd give Cruise Critic a shot.

 

Viking is now offering free airfare on certain cruises in 2017. If you don't want/need the airfare, can you get a $ credit for it? If you want to fly in early (or stay late), do you pay the deviation fee and then possibly pay extra, or how does that work? The cruise starts and ends in Miami.

 

For a 2017 cruise, the brochure I have says full payment must be made by July 2016. However, when I asked Viking about another 2017 cruise, the deadline for payment turned out to be later. Does anyone know when final payment would be for a cruise in Dec. 2017?

 

One person does not eat meat. What's it like for a vegetarian at Manfredi's and Chef's Table? She does eat seafood.

 

Is Viking going to the West Indies (Caribbean) this winter, or do those cruises start next winter (2017)? I'm wondering when I might get some feedback on their Caribbean excursions. Our friends want to keep expenses low, so they'll probably just take the included excursions.

 

Are there any prohibitions on bringing alcohol on the ship?

[Lucky Granny]

Only two questions I can answer:

 

You can bring alcohol on the ship. I was told they ask that you not drink your own in public places....but who can tell where a glass of wine came from?

 

You can do vegetarian at Manfredi's, but the menu at Chef's Table is fixed. Your friend could just skip some courses and fill up at the buffet later. 10 flavors of gelato!!

[sitraveler]

There was a thread recently complaining that there is no air credit for refusing the included air.

 

Final payment dates have changed several times, they seem to use that as a marketing gimmick.

[OnTheWater50]

Viking is starting their West Indies cruises this October (2016). We are booked on a West Indies Cruise in January of 2017 so I am following developments closely! You can see a description of their included and optional excursions online (go to Viking Ocean, chose West Indies, chose a port from the bar on the left side, scroll down to see excursions, click on any excursion for a bit more info). There won't be any reviews because no one has been to these ports with Viking Ocean yet.

We have booked with a TA but I have talked with Viking 3 times about air: there is NO refund for unused air and, at least for now, there is NO Custom Air available (where you can pay $50 and have some choice of flights) - I think Viking is too new to this market to offer the Custom Air right now.

We have been on 2 Azamara cruises (which we loved) and are really looking forward to this cruise on Viking - seems to hit the sweet spot for us with style, inclusions, size of ship, dining, some alcohol. Fingers crossed!

[OnTheWater50]

Oops - forgot to add - there are no prices for excursions yet and late pricing seems to be a problem. We will probably do mostly included excursions (which look like bus tour of main sites) and a few on our own. The West Indies are very tourist oriented and the tourist industry is robust.

[Fairfield Nana]

Hi Ruth-- very interesting that YOU are asking these questions as many of us consider you our 'Go TO' person on all matters pertaining to Viking Oceans! You are always very helpful and well-informed (and experienced} in this area.

[roothy123]

Thank you for that, Fairfield Nana. I haven't been on here much recently, but yes, I already know a bit about Viking Ocean. But I've only done one cruise, and I didn't pay too much attention to some aspects (liquor, vegetarian food and air arrangements). Our friends have never been on any cruise, don't travel a lot and don't have the travel budget we have, so I want this experience to be wonderful for them. It sounds like they're going to say yes to the cruise, and if so, my husband and I will also go.

 

I did call Viking today. I forgot to ask about a credit for unused air, but sitraveler and OnTheWater have covered that. It's not a big deal to friend or us, but I WAS curious. We are fine with using whatever free air we're given, as it's not a long distance to travel from where we live, and we're saving our frequent flyer miles for a bigger trip. I've learned not to expect fantastic air arrangements from cruise lines! I did ask about going out early for the other couple, and was told that the deviation fee of $100 per person would be charged and we'd still get their (assigned) air. I didn't ask about or consider Custom Air as I figured flying from Washington or Baltimore to Miami couldn't be too terribly bad - probably on American, I'd guess. (And yes, BWI is part of their free air, as well as the two DC area airports. That was nice to hear.) I asked if they could give us later final payment than what's in the booklet I have, and they agreed. I was disappointed that the stateroom category I saw available only a day or two ago was gone, gone gone today - but the early bird DOES get the worm.

 

Sounds like the alcohol policy will work, and I did look at a thread discussing pros and cons of where to buy it. I would guess the vegetarian options will be sufficient. I know I didn't eat one course in the Chef's Table but I certainly didn't starve that night...and World Cafe or room service is always an option.

 

Thanks for the info on how to look at excursions - very helpful.

 

I'm curious about Cuba. Did Viking manage to add Cuba to their itineraries because they are a foreign cruise line and didn't need approval from anyone to do so? I thought the cruise lines had to get some kind of approval before they could start going to Cuba.

[Lucky Granny]

I don't know if I'm off or on the subject, it seems to have changed a couple of times. But I have been to those Caribbean islands with another cruise line and noticed a similarity. If you do not want to spend your time on any of the islands doing water things (swimming, snorkeling, scubaing, vegging, etc.) or the zipline type thing, there is not a lot else to do other than ride around in/on some type of transportation and just look at the beautiful place. Most excursions will take you to the highest point on the island so you can look down at how beautiful it is. They will take you to the fort, or seaport, or garden, or whatever is considered the grandest thing they have to show. Unlike some European ports, they don't have intensive museums, or monuments, or Eiffel Tower or London Bridge type sights. So I kind of anticipate the included excursions with Viking will include a ride to see everywhere and will great.

[roothy123]

I don't know if I'm off or on the subject, it seems to have changed a couple of times. But I have been to those Caribbean islands with another cruise line and noticed a similarity. If you do not want to spend your time on any of the islands doing water things (swimming, snorkeling, scubaing, vegging, etc.) or the zipline type thing, there is not a lot else to do other than ride around in/on some type of transportation and just look at the beautiful place. Most excursions will take you to the highest point on the island so you can look down at how beautiful it is. They will take you to the fort, or seaport, or garden, or whatever is considered the grandest thing they have to show. Unlike some European ports, they don't have intensive museums, or monuments, or Eiffel Tower or London Bridge type sights. So I kind of anticipate the included excursions with Viking will include a ride to see everywhere and will great.

 

Yep, other than Havana and possibly Belize, the itinerary reads likes a Celebrity cruise. I've been to the other ports besides Havana, so it's not exactly making me get very excited. But I always find things to do. Even in Cozumel and Key West I'll find SOMETHING! In Belize people will complain about the hour long bus ride to Lamanai ruins, or the Belize tendering, or the disorganization at their terminal, or the shabbiness of Belize City. I notice the longer Viking Caribbean cruises have some pretty good itineraries, however. I forget where each one goes, but I loved Barbados. We rented a car and went all over the east (I think) and south coast looking at and photographing big sea stacks and a few modest tourist attractions. Don't write it off as just another Caribbean island. It surprised me. Willemstad was colorful, and I loved seeing that bridge move back and forth. Antigua is a crowd pleaser for most people. St. Lucia isn't all that fabulous, but those Pitons are worth the trip over to that island! St. Martin was pure fun (watched the planes go overhead at Maho Beach, but were there on wrong day for the huge KLM plane). St. Barts had a totally different feel. I resisted going to San Juan for way too long and then loved it when I did get there. Tortola was nice, but we had a horrible rental experience from Hertz there.

 

OnTheWater, if you want to see what we did in San Juan, St. Kitts, etc. here's a link to our 2014 Celebrity cruise: http://www.pbase.com/roothy123/southern_caribbean_cruise_march&page=all

 

There are also galleries in previous years for one other Caribbean cruise on Celebrity and two on Oceania. If you run into a youngish couple from Great Britain on your cruise, please ask if they cruised on Empires of the Med in late September. We shared a half day private tour by Milo in Kotor.