Excursion & Restaurant Booking Time Changed?

[philw1776]

Elsewhere on the net (Facebook) folks claim the new excursion booking window now opens at 12 NOON PST on the date cited.  Several people say that called Viking & confirmed.

This means booking at 3PM EST and after dinner in the UK.  Australia and NZ get the shaft.  IF this is so.  Confirmation by soon to cruise folks solicited.

 

EDIT:  Just read Questions about Excursions thread where OP had to wait to book until 3PM.  This looks real.

 

Edited March 17, 2019 by philw1776

[Pushka]

Yeah. It’s gone from 5.30pm for me to 5.30am and earlier in NZ and eastern Australia. Awful timing for me as my window to book opens up this Wednesday in two days time and I’ve had 5.30 pm etched in my brain since excursions came out. Being in DV I have to book at that time or possibly miss out. Viking Australia knew nothing about it last week. I’d have expected some info from Viking given it impacts on me so soon. 

Edited March 17, 2019 by Pushka

[lackcreativity]

I know not everyone will be pleased by this, but even if my time had moved to 5:30 am, I would prefer that to the 3:00 am time frame that was the norm for folks on the east coast here in the  US. That middle of the night scenario just seemed impossible to work around: too late to stay up and go to bed after, too early to get up for the day, and personally, if I wake up at 3 in the morning, going back to sleep after getting on the computer just doesn't happen either. Even though I am still working and this comes in the middle of the work day, I can find ways to make this happen more easily than in the middle of the night. I regret the inconvenience this may cause for anyone else, but I am thrilled!

Edited March 17, 2019 by lackcreativity

[lextrvlr]

Why the devil should those of us who hold bookings not be notified of this change by
Viking, and not via the Cruise Critic rumor mill?

Viking may be getting too big for its britches!

[Little Monty]

1 hour ago, Pushka said:

Yeah. It’s gone from 5.30pm for me to 5.30am and earlier in NZ and eastern Australia. Awful timing for me as my window to book opens up this Wednesday in two days time and I’ve had 5.30 pm etched in my brain since excursions came out. Being in DV I have to book at that time or possibly miss out. Viking Australia knew nothing about it last week. I’d have expected some info from Viking given it impacts on me so soon. 

 

 

So Pushka has it gone back 12 hours ? ie we were scheduled to book excursions at 6pm this coming Saturday night .. so should I assume it will now be 6am Sunday morning (Brisbane time is 30 min ahead of Adelaide).

 

Thanks philw1776 for the heads-up.

 

Agree with lextrvlr .. why no message from Viking ?

[Pushka]

42 minutes ago, Little Monty said:

 

 

So Pushka has it gone back 12 hours ? ie we were scheduled to book excursions at 6pm this coming Saturday night .. so should I assume it will now be 6am Sunday morning (Brisbane time is 30 min ahead of Adelaide).

 

Thanks philw1776 for the heads-up.

 

Agree with lextrvlr .. why no message from Viking ?

 

Agree. I’ve emailed the customer service at Viking Australia. It also means that the “Days to Book” is wrong for us Aussies and New Zealanders. It’s an extra day. I would have thought that there may have been comms from Viking for those whose excursions were loaded into their MVJ especially those booking in a couple of days!

 

Why should I get news of this first from Facebook? And then from Cruise Critic. And not from Viking. I’m going to a Viking presentation here in Adelaide on Friday. Will raise the poor communications issue. 

[Pushka]

Viking has confirmed it from a phone call on hold for 30 minutes. 

But I think they are telling people the wrong time for Sydney. She said it was now 7am. My calculations for Adelaide (30 minutes behind) is 5.30 am so Sydney would be  6 am (we are still on DST and US has moved on to their DST)

@Little Monty - what time does this make it for you? Am I correct?

Edited March 18, 2019 by Pushka

[Little Monty]

16 minutes ago, Pushka said:

Viking has confirmed it from a phone call on hold for 30 minutes. 

But I think they are telling people the wrong time for Sydney. She said it was now 7am. My calculations for Adelaide (30 minutes behind) is 5.30 am so Sydney would be  6 am (we are still on DST and US has moved on to their DST)

@Little Monty - what time does this make it for you? Am I correct?

 

ah ha .. of course. I forgot you are on daylight saving time till the end of the month. Therefore you are 30 min in front of us (and Sydney is 60 min ahead of us).

 

The time on West Coast of US is presently just after 6pm Sunday (according to google) - and it is just after 11am in Brisbane - so we (Brisbane) are 17 hours in front of West Coast US.

 

So .. midday on the West Coast of US will be 5am Brisbane time (5.30am for Adelaide, 6am Sydney time).

 

With adjustments required as daylight saving begins / ends in each location.

 

 

 

Edited March 18, 2019 by Little Monty
error

[Pushka]

The operator was quite adamant she was right. I knew she was wrong. At least for this week. She kept saying 7am NSW. I told her it was 6am and she just said, I’m right. It was like she couldn’t give a toss. And this was after I’d been on hold for 30 minutes.  Not impressed. 

[RetroRod]

Just spoke to a Viking rep and asked her when can I book shore excursions for my June HL cruise. She told me this Thursday March 21. I asked what time and was told 12 o’clock noon. I’m in CA. I stated it’s not midnight? Oh no, she said, Viking changed their policy. She even got an email telling her of the change. I said it would be nice if Viking told their customers and that folks weren’t happy on C C about not being told. She said she would let her supervisor know about this. I’ll contact my TA tomorrow and she what kind of answer she gets on this. I did the survey at the end of my call and scored 1s  Hope I get a call or email about the survey😊

[travelingman]

3 hours ago, philw1776 said:

Elsewhere on the net (Facebook) folks claim the new excursion booking window now opens at 12 NOON PST on the date cited.  Several people say that called Viking & confirmed.

This means booking at 3PM EST and after dinner in the UK.  Australia and NZ get the shaft.  IF this is so.  Confirmation by soon to cruise folks solicited.

 

EDIT:  Just read Questions about Excursions thread where OP had to wait to book until 3PM.  This looks real.

 

 

Sorry for my slowness here but please help me out.

The East Coast has now changed to 3:00PM.

so, if I would booked on Monday at 3:00 AM under the "old" system does that mean it will now be 3:00 PM Monday afternoon.

In other words, the same day and not a day earlier.

 

Thanks.

 

Stan

 

[Little Monty]

6 minutes ago, travelingman said:

 

Sorry for my slowness here but please help me out.

The East Coast has now changed to 3:00PM.

so, if I would booked on Monday at 3:00 AM under the "old" system does that mean it will now be 3:00 PM Monday afternoon.

In other words, the same day and not a day earlier.

 

Thanks.

 

Stan

 

 

12 hours later than you were originally advised. So yes, 3pm Monday

 

Edited March 18, 2019 by Little Monty
Error

[Pushka]

11 minutes ago, VJMAZZ said:

Just spoke to a Viking rep and asked her when can I book shore excursions for my June HL cruise. She told me this Thursday March 21. I asked what time and was told 12 o’clock noon. I’m in CA. I stated it’s not midnight? Oh no, she said, Viking changed their policy. She even got an email telling her of the change. I said it would be nice if Viking told their customers and that folks weren’t happy on C C about not being told. She said she would let her supervisor know about this. I’ll contact my TA tomorrow and she what kind of answer she gets on this. I did the survey at the end of my call and scored 1s  Hope I get a call or email about the survey😊

 

Companies complain about social media and rumours yet this is a case of the rumour being true and nothing released by the company. It’s not good. I just hope the onboard experience is better than what I’ve experienced so far. 

[rudychance]

Yes, the policy changed within the last week because we could book our excursions on 3/9/19 in the early morning hours for Star sailing 5/25/19. Then we got an e-mail the day before booking specialty dining that the hours were 12 pm west coast and 3 pm east coast time.  We were able to book restaurants at exactly 3 pm. 

 

 

[Homosassa]

12 hours ago, travelingman said:

 

Sorry for my slowness here but please help me out.

The East Coast has now changed to 3:00PM.

so, if I would booked on Monday at 3:00 AM under the "old" system does that mean it will now be 3:00 PM Monday afternoon.

In other words, the same day and not a day earlier.

 

Thanks.

 

Stan

 

Maybe not. The time is given as Pacific Standard Time. We are now on daylight savings time.

 

That would mean to me that 12 PM PST is now 1 PM PDST which makes it  4 PM EDST (or am I now totally confused?)

Edited March 18, 2019 by Homosassa

[OneSixtyToOne]

2 hours ago, Homosassa said:

Maybe not. The time is given as Pacific Standard Time. We are now on daylight savings time.

 

That would mean to me that 12 PM PST is now 1 PM PDST which makes it  4 PM EDST (or am I now totally confused?)

I wouldn't put too much stock with it being listed as PST. In my experience a lot of people don't have a clue about the difference between PST and PDT. The unaware and unmotivated use the two interchangeably. It's a real pet peeve of mine when I receive memos that are obviously wrong. Any global company should state the time in GMT.

Edited March 18, 2019 by OneSixtyToOne

[Richard2]

If you logon to My Viking Journey, use the "Help" link to "Top 10 Questions," you will see "When Can I Book Shore Excursions."  It lists the number of days in advance of sailing for each cabin category, with the footnote that on that date, excursions open:
at 12:01 PM Pacific Time, 3:01 PM Eastern Time, 8:01 PM GMT, 7:01 AM AEST and 9:01 AM NZST

[zitsky]

I also emailed my TA.  Waiting for an answer.  If this is true, I'm happy.  I didn't want to wake up at 3am on the East Coast.

 

Edit:  Richard2 thank you.  I also found it in MVJ under "Welcome zitsky", then Help.  Wow!  This is great!  No getting up at 3AM!

 

Edit2:  There is no time (of day) listed for booking dining.  Just XX days before sailing.

Edited March 18, 2019 by zitsky

[Hunding]

18 hours ago, lextrvlr said:

Why the devil should those of us who hold bookings not be notified of this change by
Viking, and not via the Cruise Critic rumor mill?

Viking may be getting too big for its britches!

 

Too much, too soon...?

[zitsky]

I emailed tellus to ask when the website will be updated with times for dining booking.  I suppose it's the same as excursion booking times, but I'd rather not assume.

[travelingman]

1 hour ago, Richard2 said:

If you logon to My Viking Journey, use the "Help" link to "Top 10 Questions," you will see "When Can I Book Shore Excursions."  It lists the number of days in advance of sailing for each cabin category, with the footnote that on that date, excursions open:
at 12:01 PM Pacific Time, 3:01 PM Eastern Time, 8:01 PM GMT, 7:01 AM AEST and 9:01 AM NZST

 

Richard2 is correct.  I logged into my account and went to the above referenced area and sure enough it now states 3PM For East Coast and 12:o0PM for Wesr Coast.

 

Stan

 

[zitsky]

If you book 5 excursions and 1 is unavailable, do you still get the other 4?  Or do you have to go back and book the others separately?

[Little Monty]

18 hours ago, Pushka said:

The operator was quite adamant she was right. I knew she was wrong. At least for this week. She kept saying 7am NSW. I told her it was 6am and she just said, I’m right. It was like she couldn’t give a toss. And this was after I’d been on hold for 30 minutes.  Not impressed. 

 

Pushka ... MVJ does in fact state 7.01am Australian Eastern Standard Time (thanks Richard2 for the tip). 

 

Visit My Shorex Excursions page

*at 12:01 PM Pacific Time, 3:01 PM Eastern Time, 8:01 PM GMT, 7:01 AM AEST and 9:01 AM NZST

 

However it also says 8.01pm Greenich Mean Time and we (Brisbane) are 10 hours ahead of GMT so 8.01pm GMT is equal to 6.01am AEST (not 7.01am).

 

I am totally confused.

[zitsky]

49 minutes ago, Little Monty said:

 

Pushka ... MVJ does in fact state 7.01am Australian Eastern Standard Time (thanks Richard2 for the tip). 

 

Visit My Shorex Excursions page

*at 12:01 PM Pacific Time, 3:01 PM Eastern Time, 8:01 PM GMT, 7:01 AM AEST and 9:01 AM NZST

 

However it also says 8.01pm Greenich Mean Time and we (Brisbane) are 10 hours ahead of GMT so 8.01pm GMT is equal to 6.01am AEST (not 7.01am).

 

I am totally confused.

 

What was the time before?  Some of us were planning to get up at 3am to do bookings.  I'm glad they changed it.

 

I think it will be more likely that excursions sell out early.  Since everyone is awake, they can go online at a reasonable time.

Edited March 18, 2019 by zitsky

[Little Monty]

6 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

What was the time before?  Some of us were planning to get up at 3am to do bookings.  I'm glad they changed it.

 

Yes there are winners and losers. For us it has gone from 6pm to 6am (or maybe 7am, or possibly 5am??).

 

No big deal, we are early risers. It's just a bit confusing and I feel Viking should have have handled the change a little better.

 

Re your earlier question re 5 excursions and 1 not available, it sort of depends on the process you use. We have a couple of optional excursions we are really keen to book this weekend .. so we will book and pay for them first. We will then go back and book the included excursions - and if one is not available at the time we want we will either select another time or just give it a miss and arrange something once we are on-board.

 

We are in one of the earlier groups to be able to book so we don't usually have any problems. LM