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What is disembarkation day like on Viking ?


Eloise4Ever
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I am new to Viking, having mostly sailed on Celebrity. I am looking forward to our first Viking cruise in mid-December. I have read a lot of the threads on this forum to learn about Viking and they have proven very helpful. One thing I didn’t see discussed was disembarkation day. I am wondering how this normally goes on Viking? What time do passengers have to vacate their cabins? What is the latest time that one generally has to leave the ship? What time are the restaurants open until for breakfast? Is there a serene feeling on-board or is it a bit chaotic, with the sense that the crew just wants to see the back of you now your cruise is over?

 

I think the last question could be ship and/or crew specific, rather than cruise line specific, as I have experienced both on Celebrity on different sailings. There is nothing worse than feeling hurried and harassed on the final morning of an enjoyable cruise as it leaves a bad taste in ones mouth as you leave. Conversely, feeling relaxed and being able to enjoy a leisurely breakfast is a fitting end to a fantastic journey and leaves one feeling well disposed towards the cruise line as one departs.

 

I would be grateful for any and all accounts or tips for the last morning on a Viking cruise. Thanks in advance.

Edited by Eloise4Ever
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All is mellow. World Cafe us serving full breakfast. No announcements. You will be told at what time your bus departs and you are expected to walk off the ship in time to get your luggage and be on the bus before it departs. 

 

Out of cabin by 8 am. All off ship by 9:45am. 

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Very relaxed experience.  No stress.  VO has every detail worked out to get everyone and their luggage off the ship very efficiently.  Super easy if you are taking VO’s transfer to the airport.  We did a private transfer to airport in Hong Kong and it was also very smooth.

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Hopefully our disembarkation from the Star last Thursday was an aberration.  Ship was cleared a bit late in Miami and after vacating cabins at 8am everyone congregated near gangway.  Colors were being called but passengers with late times clogged corridors and refused to move preventing others from getting through.  There was only one card scanner in use and when it flagged person in front of us for unpaid account balance entire line halted for five minutes until issue was resolved (VO error).   For us the situation was just annoying, however there were quite a few fragile seniors who had difficulty standing on line for over an hour.  To be fair, this was the only element of the trip that VO handled in a less than first class manner.

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16 minutes ago, imcpa said:

Regardless of how organized, efficient and relaxed it is, I expect to be very sad as they drag me off kicking and screaming....just like all of my prior cruises that I never wanted to end.

 

Yes, this is exactly how we felt after 8 weeks on Orion!

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The reason that it feels like the staff is hurrying you off is so that they can turn the ship around and get the next set of cruisers on and in their rooms by their promised time.  I know how hard it is to leave but we all have to remember how excited we were to get on the ship at the beginning of our cruise and the next group feels the same.   I, for one, would not want their jobs that morning and cannot fault them.

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We got off the Sky last Sunday (4th November) and wasn't too happy with the disembarkation arrangements. 

 

Cases had to be outside room by 10pm on the previous night and if you put them out earlier they would come along beforehand and take them off which is probably a good thing as corridors then didn't get too clogged up that way so don't expect if you put luggage out at 9pm and think "0h I shouldn't have put that in there" there probably will have already gone. 

 

All cabins had to be vacated by 8am and each coloured luggage is told where to meet for disembarkation i.e. we were star theatre (theater as they spell it but I'm  English!)  at 9am.  Breakfast in the world cafe was a nightmare no seats to be had when we went up at 8am had to sit on side of pool area for a while but didn't want much to eat anyway as not early breakfasters but needed a coffee. 

 

As you mention Eloise, I think on that last day you are treated as being in the way as we noticed that staff in the restaurants etc who used to say morning sir/madam and be friendly just looked at you this time as if you shouldn't be there - we have also had this on other cruise lines so not just Viking.  It was a totally different atmosphere on the ship. 

 

We then disembarked the ship just after 9am allocated our luggage in the luggage hall and was then directed to the bus.  Apparently it is law that all passengers have to be off by 9.30am ish but not sure whose law this is as on other cruise lines i.e. Fred Olsen, Thomson and P & O we have been able to wait in the lounges until a decent time when we were taken to the airport having vacated cabins by 8am or 9am. 

 

Our flight home from Athens was not until 1425 so we had an extremely long wait at the airport (arriving at approximately 10am), check in desks were not open until 12 and there was no where to sit inside so ended up sitting in a smoking area outside where there was a cold wind (even for Athens) and we are not smokers.  Check in desks finally opened at just after 12 and then once we had checked in we easily found somewhere to sit that side before our flight in 2 1/2 hours time and as it was it was late anyway. 

 

Viking could have given people on later flights a panoramic tour of Athens instead of getting them off the ship and dumping them at the airport.  It was our first ocean cruise with them having done many river cruises with them but have another one coming up for Xmas so let's see if it is a repeat situation although our flight home from Rome is earlier in the morning so will not be too bad for us. 

 

 

 

 

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Thanks to all for your input. I am glad to hear there are no announcements on Viking but very disappointed that passengers must vacate their cabins by 8am. It’s 8:30 am on Celebrity which is plenty early  IMO. So far it’s a draw, Viking 1: Celebrity 1. I am, however, concerned that the only option for breakfast on disembarkation morning may be the buffet. Peregrina reports that the World Café serves a full breakfast and Peasmith that the buffet was so full on disembarkation day there were no seats available. I hope I have picked this up incorrectly and that somebody can confirm that the restaurant is open for a proper, served breakfast on the final morning. One of the joys of Celebrity is being able to sit down to a very relaxed breakfast in the main restaurant before we disembark. The waiters here are as kind and helpful on the last morning as they are at any other time. It is a wonderful oasis of calm before setting off for a day of travelling home. In the case of our Viking cruise, when we leave the ship we will be going to our hotel in Miami so we will be in no rush to leave the ship. What time is breakfast served until?

 

Naturally I understand that the ship is preparing for the next guests, however, that preparation relates mainly to the cabins. I see no reason why normal food service cannot be maintained for the number of days each passenger has paid for, including breakfast on departure morning. Also, I am flabbergasted that Viking expects their guests to believe that there is a "law" that states guests must leave the ship by 9:30 am!

 

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When we disembarked in Bergen we were up at 3:30 am and left the ship to locate luggage at 4:30 am. No time for breakfast, they had danish and coffee at the bar by the theater.

Needless to say not the best way to end a cruise.

 

So, this April when we end the cruise in Hong Kong we have booked a 12:45am flight and plan on leaving the ship at around 10pm when everyone else will be putting their luggage in the hall.

 

Based on our past experiences we don’t sleep well the last night anyway, and if I have to get up early and stand in lines it just makes things worse. 

So we have a red eye out, no crowds, not really missing any cruise activities, sleep on the plane, relative comfort of business class.

 

we used Viking Air so the will handle transfers, even at the odd time we arranged.

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The statement that it is law to be off the ship by 9:30 may be a misnomer, but I suspect it has to do with passport control and customs personnel.  Unlike an airport that has arrivals throughout the day, a port has a limited number of ships on any given day.  The passport control and customs officials are scheduled to serve the arrivals.   The 9:30 deadline is probably to conform with the entry into the country of disembarkation based on when the immigration officials will be there and may vary from country to country, port to port.  This is just my theory and is not based on any first hand knowledge.  

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14 minutes ago, ropomo said:

The statement that it is law to be off the ship by 9:30 may be a misnomer, but I suspect it has to do with passport control and customs personnel.  Unlike an airport that has arrivals throughout the day, a port has a limited number of ships on any given day.  The passport control and customs officials are scheduled to serve the arrivals.   The 9:30 deadline is probably to conform with the entry into the country of disembarkation based on when the immigration officials will be there and may vary from country to country, port to port.  This is just my theory and is not based on any first hand knowledge.  

 

Maybe it's just me, my itinerary or the fact that both the cruises I've been on have both overnighted in the last port but I have never had to go through anything at the port upon disemabarcation..  You do have to be cleared through the ship.  I have always carried everything with me as we stay a little longer in the final port.

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On my recent VO cruise which terminated in NYC with an overnight there, we did have to go through customs with our luggage after we left the ship.  They checked our passports and asked if we had anything to declare even though we could have hauled off anything on the prior day in port.   On other cruises, we have passed through customs without any interaction with officials (they were just standing off to the side and observing).  So chances are that you (Dauntless) went through customs and didn't even realize it since you were not stopped or impeded.  As stated in my previous post, practices may, and I'm sure do, vary from port to port.

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6 hours ago, Eloise4Ever said:

Thanks to all for your input. I am glad to hear there are no announcements on Viking but very disappointed that passengers must vacate their cabins by 8am. It’s 8:30 am on Celebrity which is plenty early  IMO. So far it’s a draw, Viking 1: Celebrity 1. I am, however, concerned that the only option for breakfast on disembarkation morning may be the buffet. Peregrina reports that the World Café serves a full breakfast and Peasmith that the buffet was so full on disembarkation day there were no seats available. I hope I have picked this up incorrectly and that somebody can confirm that the restaurant is open for a proper, served breakfast on the final morning. One of the joys of Celebrity is being able to sit down to a very relaxed breakfast in the main restaurant before we disembark. The waiters here are as kind and helpful on the last morning as they are at any other time. It is a wonderful oasis of calm before setting off for a day of travelling home. In the case of our Viking cruise, when we leave the ship we will be going to our hotel in Miami so we will be in no rush to leave the ship. What time is breakfast served until?

 

Naturally I understand that the ship is preparing for the next guests, however, that preparation relates mainly to the cabins. I see no reason why normal food service cannot be maintained for the number of days each passenger has paid for, including breakfast on departure morning. Also, I am flabbergasted that Viking expects their guests to believe that there is a "law" that states guests must leave the ship by 9:30 am!

 

I have spoken to a few staff members about what happens when everyone is off the ship.  There are other duties for the restaurant and bar staff while it is guest free.   Unfortunately, some guests only see what is on the surface and know nothing about what goes on behind the scenes.   I see it as part of the cruising experience and accept that it can't be leisurely even though that is ideally what we would all want it to be.  As for how the staff treats you, it is our experience that we were treated by Viking with utmost respect on the final day just like any other day.  

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When we had a later flight from Barcelona in early 2017, we ate a leisurely breakfast in the Restaurant-they did not make us leave much before 9:30 (we only had carry-on and most who did just had it with them nearby).  In Bergen last summer, we left the ship with our carry-on  a little before 6 to catch a local bus to the airport nearby.  We had a decent breakfast in the world cafe at around 5:30 before we disembarked.  They do seem to try to make it easy for you to leave early or late.  We definitely had a decent meal before leaving for a day of airplane food!

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Just got off the Sea yesterday in San Juan, Puerto Rico:

 

Everyone received color coded luggage tags and a disembarkation letter a couple days prior to the end of the cruise. This cruise overnighted in San Juan.

I will paraphrase.

 

Preparing your luggage -

Tagged luggage needed to be placed outside the cabin by 10:00 p.m. for the transfer to the cruise terminal.

Any luggage not placed outside is your responsibility to transfer off the ship.

Passports, medications, breakables and valuables should be kept in your possession or in your hand luggage. 

 

Vacating your Stateroom - 

all staterooms must be vacated before 8:00 a.m. 

 

Due to local requirements, all guests must disembark the vessel no later than 9:30 a.m.

 

 

In our last Viking Daily, the disembarkation schedule was detailed by colored tag:

All groups meet in Atrium on deck 1, gangway was on deck A.

Aqua 1 4:45 a.m.

Green 1 5:00 a.m.

Orange 1 5:15 a.m.

Red 1 5:45 a.m.

Aqua 2 6:15 a.m.

Green 2 6:45 a.m.

Orange 2 7:15 a.m. 

Red 2 7:30 a.m.

Aqua 3 8:00 a.m.

Green 3 8:30 a.m.

Purple 1 9:00 a.m. 

White 1 & 2 9:15 a.m.

Black 1 At leisure, directly ashore from 5:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

 

(We had a late flight 3:38 p.m. and were in White 2.)

 

Dining(breakfast) was offered:

Room Service 24 hours

Viking Bar 4:00 - 10:15 a.m.

Mamsen’s 6:30 - 9:30 a.m.

Aquavit Terrace - closed

The Restaurant 7:00 - 9:00 a.m.

World Cafe 5:00 - 9:00 a.m.

 

 

Viking arranged a ship visitor pass after disembarkation. We were allowed to return to the ship and relax in the public areas until we were transferred to the airport at 12:30 p.m. 

The World Cafe and the Pool Grill were open for lunch at 11:30 a.m.

 

The 9:30 disembarkation included: leaving the ship, retrieving our luggage from the color coded group, and processing thru U.S. customs, with nothing to declare and showing our US passports. Viking loaded the luggage onto a truck for transport to the airport. 

Once everyone was off the ship, we traded our passports for the visitor pass and returned to the ship, spending time in the Explorer’s Lounge, having a light luncheon at the near empty pool grill since most of the other visitors went to the World Cafe. It was interesting to watch the next group of cruisers arriving and wandering around in awe. 

Around 12:15, we were called from the Atrium for our final walk out the gangway, retrieved our passports and climbed on buses to the airport.

Once we got to the airport, we retrieved our luggage which had already gone thru the USGA screening. Then proceeded to airline checkin, TSA security, etc.

 

Overall and well executed process.

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15 hours ago, Eloise4Ever said:

Naturally I understand that the ship is preparing for the next guests, however, that preparation relates mainly to the cabins. I see no reason why normal food service cannot be maintained for the number of days each passenger has paid for, including breakfast on departure morning. Also, I am flabbergasted that Viking expects their guests to believe that there is a "law" that states guests must leave the ship by 9:30 am!

 

Sorry, you actually have no idea how far you are from the facts. Cabin preparations for the next cruise are what is visible to the passengers, but on turn-around days, the cabins are but the tip of the iceberg. Turn-around days are chaotic for all the officers and crew, especially the many of them that you don't see. All crew contribute, as multi-tasking is expected.

 

There is no law dictating when passengers must be off the ship, but cruise lines have metrics on when disembarkation should be complete, to ensure embarkation starts on time. The cruise line may also be limited by the availability of Customs, Immigration, Longshoremen, etc.

 

Having experienced many turn-around days, both as an Officer and laterally as a pax, I actually know what the crew experience, so suggest you might want to cut them a little slack.

Edited by Heidi13
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26 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

Sorry, you actually have no idea how far you are from the facts. Cabin preparations for the next cruise are what is visible to the passengers, but on turn-around days, the cabins are but the tip of the iceberg. Turn-around days are chaotic for all the officers and crew, especially the many of them that you don't see. All crew contribute, as multi-tasking is expected.

 

There is no law dictating when passengers must be off the ship, but cruise lines have metrics on when disembarkation should be complete, to ensure embarkation starts on time. The cruise line may also be limited by the availability of Customs, Immigration, Longshoremen, etc.

 

Having experienced many turn-around days, both as an Officer and laterally as a pax, I actually know what the crew experience, so suggest you might want to cut them a little slack.

Thank you.  Exactly what I was trying to get across.

 

May I suggest to grab a "proper served breakfast" at the hotel in Miami.  Sounds like a great way to start the new portion of your trip.

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They start preparations for the next cruise well before the current passengers disembark - things start arriving in the cabin for the next lot i.e. fresh dressing gowns and slippers appeared in the cabin wardrobe at least two days before we got off and a thorough clean on our last day i.e. a very good hoover all round so less time needed when we got out.

 

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Heartfelt thanks to Dhsamso and AuntieWerewolf (great user name!) for being so helpful as to reply with the clarification I was seeking, i.e. what restaurants are open on Viking on the morning of disembarkation. I am heartened to hear that numerous dining options are available up until 9am. Further thanks to AuntieWerewolf for the very comprehensive rundown of arrangements for leaving the ship.

 

I am taken aback at the hostile and patronising remarks posted by others. As it was so condescendingly put, “some cruisers know nothing of what goes on behind the scenes”. Rather than “actually having no idea how far I am from the facts”, this experienced cruiser has a very good idea of what disembarkation/embarkation day entails for the crew. I have built up some great relationships with crew over the years and had many chats with them about life onboard. What this cruiser will not do, is pay a high price for a cruise on a premium/luxury cruise line and “cut them a little slack” to the extent that I don’t expect a “proper served breakfast” on the morning of disembarkation. I think that is a very reasonable expectation. To suggest that I should avail of same in my post-cruise hotel instead is, quite frankly, absurd.

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No one mentioned that you can order room service. On my last VO cruise we ordered a sandwich before we went to bed (to eat while we had to wait in the airport for our late flight home) and had our breakfast delivered in room so we did not have to deal with the last day crowds at the world cafe. On our first 5am departure, we only had croissants and bagels at the bar in the atrium while we waited for our departure group. 

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Very well said Eloise4Ever - Viking are not cheap holidays and I expect to receive the same service from start to finish. 

 

With regard to other comments on room service not everyone feels like eating so early in the morning and certainly not before leaving the cabin at 8am.  We did likewise ordered from room service the night before to take to the airport - the Italian club sandwich was very nice but was a bit of a job transporting it as they cut it in half and it has so much filling in it - best to take some aluminium foil to wrap it tightly in as we had the see-through security bags to put ours in!

 

 

 

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