Tips for New Viking Ocean Cruisers

[PKNC]

I have read that Viking ships have a business center with computers. Can anyone confirm that the Venus has a business center with computers and that MS Excel is installed? Is usage complimentary? My husband would only need an hour or so.

[KBs mum]

1 minute ago, PKNC said:

I have read that Viking ships have a business center with computers. Can anyone confirm that the Venus has a business center with computers and that MS Excel is installed? Is usage complimentary? My husband would only need an hour or so.

Usage is complimentary, but I have no idea which systems are on the computers. Internet is complimentary if he brings a tablet or laptop

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

I haven't been on Venus, but I've been on 3 other VO ships.  All had 3 or 4 computers and a printer in a quiet part of the Explorers Lounge. However, I don't think there were any programs loaded on them.  I  used them to print boarding passes, google information, and read/respond to emails.  The wifi signal is often stronger there than in the rooms. 

[duquephart]

On Orion there was a computer area down near the customer service.

[LindaS272]

3 hours ago, JeriGail said:

On the Viking "seacation" cruises around the UK, the cabin stewards brought a kettle in for those who wanted one.

We’ve been on four Viking ships in different parts of the world. We learned early on on the first one that your steward will take away the coffee machine and give you a proper kettle. We did that on each subsequent cruise. Room service supplied us with a small pitcher of milk to keep in the fridge—to replace as needed. I bring my own decaf tea bags—Barry’s Irish tea.

[deec]

On the Sky, Sun and Sea the computers were under the stairs by customer service.  They might have moved them up to Explorer's Lounge...upstairs of Explorer's Lounge is my husband's favorite place to work on photos.  Although I am guessing those areas won't be available on the Jupiter and Orion for our next cruises because of the planetariums.

[FlyerTalker]

Computers on Jupiter are by the customer service area.  They have a browser installed and connection to a printer.  Did not see any office-suite programs installed.

 

You could likely have access to Google Docs and web-based Office 365.  I just take a fully equipped laptop on all my travels - better to not have to rely on finding a proper machine elsewhere.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

Maybe I didn't mean the computers were in the Explorer's Lounge.  Maybe it's the Living Room?  I never paid a lot of attention to the names of the public areas, so I may have said the wrong location.  But yes, the location given by someone above is correct -- under the stairs, with the customer service desks on one side and a sitting area (perhaps with the passenger-provided book area I missed in August) on the other side.  Head away from the piano and the coffee/tempting pastries, look in the middle, and you'll see it.  And while Jupiter does have the planetarium, it didn't affect placement of the computers.  

 

 

[Azulann]

 Just off the Venus There are 4 computers behind the staircase between Guest relations and  the Living room. There is a printer there too..  I know they have Microsoft but did not really look for excel.  

I used it to post on CC because my iPhone was having issues logging in to CC. Folks at guest relations were  there to help too. 

[Twitchly]

3 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

Computers on Jupiter are by the customer service area.  They have a browser installed and connection to a printer.  Did not see any office-suite programs installed.

 

You could likely have access to Google Docs and web-based Office 365.  I just take a fully equipped laptop on all my travels - better to not have to rely on finding a proper machine elsewhere.

Same here. I have a very lightweight little MacBook I bring along, mostly to download photos onto from my camera. Frees up storage so I don’t have to bring so many memory cards. When we’re back on land during the post-cruise extension I’ll (hopefully) use the hotel’s WiFi to upload them to the cloud. 

[copper004]

On Viking Ocean ships, if I purchase post cards (yes, old school) in port, is there any place to purchase stamps or mail them onboard?

[bottomfeeder]

I'll ask again because I'm thinking my question got buried earlier:  for anyone who's been on a Viking cruise since the restart, can you tell me if Viking has sugar-free flavored syrups in the Living Room coffee bar?  I might actually bring some of my own if they don't, but hoping they do!

 

Thanks in advance?

[Heidi13]

11 hours ago, copper004 said:

On Viking Ocean ships, if I purchase post cards (yes, old school) in port, is there any place to purchase stamps or mail them onboard?

 

The Purser's Desk accepts letters/postcards, which are given to the ship's agent for posting ashore.

 

We always had stamps on them, so can't confirm if they will charge your account for the cost of a stamp.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

1 hour ago, bottomfeeder said:

I'll ask again because I'm thinking my question got buried earlier:  for anyone who's been on a Viking cruise since the restart, can you tell me if Viking has sugar-free flavored syrups in the Living Room coffee bar?  I might actually bring some of my own if they don't, but hoping they do!

 

Thanks in advance?

Sorry I can't answer this, but maybe someone will see it have the answer!  

[PasadenaDave]

If you don’t use Office 365 such as if this is excel through employer, he could log in remotely to access his desktop.  I semi-retired two years ago and am thus my own tech support or lack of support but Office 365 I am pleased with….no more boxes of disks to load programs onto PC

[FlyerTalker]

54 minutes ago, PasadenaDave said:

If you don’t use Office 365 such as if this is excel through employer, he could log in remotely to access his desktop.  I semi-retired two years ago and am thus my own tech support or lack of support but Office 365 I am pleased with….no more boxes of disks to load programs onto PC

 

That is assuming that the employer has implemented a remote desktop access program and VPN.  FWIW, many companies have abandoned that, due to the security issues involved with remote access.

[Buckwheel]

On 10/29/2021 at 10:21 AM, bottomfeeder said:

I'll ask again because I'm thinking my question got buried earlier:  for anyone who's been on a Viking cruise since the restart, can you tell me if Viking has sugar-free flavored syrups in the Living Room coffee bar?  I might actually bring some of my own if they don't, but hoping they do!

 

Thanks in advance?

I asked yesterday at the living room bar on the Orion. Their bartender pulled every bottle out from under the counter and none were sugar free. They do have lots of flavored sugared syrups though. 

[bottomfeeder]

39 minutes ago, Buckwheel said:

I asked yesterday at the living room bar on the Orion. Their bartender pulled every bottle out from under the counter and none were sugar free. They do have lots of flavored sugared syrups though. 

Thanks so much!  (Even though the answer was not what I hoped it would be!)  🙂

[Clay Clayton]

48 minutes ago, bottomfeeder said:

Thanks so much!  (Even though the answer was not what I hoped it would be!)  🙂

Might be worth emailing TellUs and asking if they could have a bottle of your favorite flavor aboard for your cruise. 

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

Might be worth emailing TellUs and asking if they could have a bottle of your favorite flavor aboard for your cruise. 

 

Interesting....there is no link or reference to "TellUs" on the Viking website.  Or none that I have been able to find.

[SRHall64]

48 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Interesting....there is no link or reference to "TellUs" on the Viking website.  Or none that I have been able to find.

It is an email address: tellus@vikingcruises.com

[KBs mum]

The tellus@ email address is only for US passengers, may not show up on all viking websites

[FlyerTalker]

58 minutes ago, SRHall64 said:

It is an email address: tellus@vikingcruises.com

 

I know that.  Just noting that it's a bit of a "hidden asset", as there is no mention online, both on the regular website and MVJ.

[millybess]

39 minutes ago, KBs mum said:

The tellus@ email address is only for US passengers, may not show up on all viking websites

That is news to me and explains a lot. Thanks! 😊

[Hockeyump]

1 hour ago, millybess said:

That is news to me and explains a lot. Thanks! 😊

I'm in the UK and have used the tellus address successfully.