NEW to Viking - Dining

[LeRenardrouge]

9 hours ago, CharTrav said:

Good!  And don't forget to sign up for the Meet & Mingle so you can meet face to face with the folks you "meet" on the roll call! Do you need the link for that too?

 

Here - https://www.cruisecritic.com/rollcall/entry_cl.cfm?ship=1192

 

And I take back what I wrote earlier saying this "couldn't" be a segment of a WC. Oops! It's part of the 245 day WC London to London that started August 31st and proceeding westward. 

Yes indeed it is, I had already checked. Viking does not advertise these segments clearly and some WCers are not too excited to have segmenters who detract from their exclusive status.

[CharTrav]

1 hour ago, LeRenardrouge said:

Yes indeed it is, I had already checked. Viking does not advertise these segments clearly and some WCers are not too excited to have segmenters who detract from their exclusive status.

Really? That's too bad. From what I can see, they shouldn't get too hung up on the "exclusivity".  From a practical point of view there is simply no way that Viking would ever be able to find 930 pax willing and able to do the entire 245 days of this Ultimate WC. Altho Viking will certainly try for it. And why they only offer the WC in its entirety initially  (6 -9 months? Year? Just a guess) Then, as time goes on - am sure there's a formula that controls when - they begin to offer segments - first huge ones and later smaller ones. The ultimate goal of course is to have a full ship, everybody on board for all 245 days (or however long a particular WC goes). They might be able to achieve 75% but I suspect the reality is less. So segmenting will happen - while at the same time giving priority to those who want the full WC even if they book late (or maybe they can't. Hmmm). Regardless, nobody IMHO should get their nose out of joint over segmenting. It's simply a fact of life.

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, LeRenardrouge said:

Yes indeed it is, I had already checked. Viking does not advertise these segments clearly and some WCers are not too excited to have segmenters who detract from their exclusive status.

If pax signing up for a World Cruise believe the entire pax compliment is doing the entire cruise, they are poorly informed. Of all World Cruises I am aware of, the only one without segments was Viking's inaugural 2018 WC. Believe they had about 850 pax departing L/A. All other World Cruises/Grand Voyages I have worked on, or have researched for the past 10 years have had multiple segments.

 

The  2019 cruise had about 50% pax taking the entire cruise on departure Miami, which is higher than many other cruise lines. I note our first WC with a mainstream Line only had about 25% pax taking the entire voyage. Experienced cruisers, when booking a WC, not only expect to have segments, but are most likely to be a minority of the passengers.

 

The big difference I note with Viking is that the 2019/20 World Cruises are marketed as World Cruises, regardless of whether they are the entire 245-day R/T London, or the London - L/A & L/A - London. These 3 cruises are provided with Viking's full WC perks. The longer segments are marketed as Grand Voyages and have limited perks included. They are not marketed as being parts of the WC, but with a little research it was easy to figure out which one were on the Sun and which were Orion. 

 

However, once aboard I do not expect any difference in how pax are treated regardless of whether booked on a WC ticket or segment. For the 2020 L/A to London cruise, we already have an active roll, with some of us taking the entire cruise and others a segment. We already have a confirmed private tour in one of the ports and have both WC'ers and segmenters filling the van. I organised the tour and attendees were based simply on who responded first, not on how many days aboard the ship.

 

Sadly, some of our new friends will depart in Sydney and be unable to join us on subsequent tours, but it provides opportunities to establish new friendships, with those joining.

 

Personally, as a WC'er, we receive valuable perks booking a World Cruise that segmenters may not receive, but once we board the ship, we are all equal, regardless of how many nights we are spending on the ship.

 

Jim - what are your thoughts, as another experienced WC'er. 

[LeRenardrouge]

4 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

If pax signing up for a World Cruise believe the entire pax compliment is doing the entire cruise, they are poorly informed. Of all World Cruises I am aware of, the only one without segments was Viking's inaugural 2018 WC. Believe they had about 850 pax departing L/A. All other World Cruises/Grand Voyages I have worked on, or have researched for the past 10 years have had multiple segments.

 

The  2019 cruise had about 50% pax taking the entire cruise on departure Miami, which is higher than many other cruise lines. I note our first WC with a mainstream Line only had about 25% pax taking the entire voyage. Experienced cruisers, when booking a WC, not only expect to have segments, but are most likely to be a minority of the passengers.

 

The big difference I note with Viking is that the 2019/20 World Cruises are marketed as World Cruises, regardless of whether they are the entire 245-day R/T London, or the London - L/A & L/A - London. These 3 cruises are provided with Viking's full WC perks. The longer segments are marketed as Grand Voyages and have limited perks included. They are not marketed as being parts of the WC, but with a little research it was easy to figure out which one were on the Sun and which were Orion. 

 

However, once aboard I do not expect any difference in how pax are treated regardless of whether booked on a WC ticket or segment. For the 2020 L/A to London cruise, we already have an active roll, with some of us taking the entire cruise and others a segment. We already have a confirmed private tour in one of the ports and have both WC'ers and segmenters filling the van. I organised the tour and attendees were based simply on who responded first, not on how many days aboard the ship.

 

Sadly, some of our new friends will depart in Sydney and be unable to join us on subsequent tours, but it provides opportunities to establish new friendships, with those joining.

 

Personally, as a WC'er, we receive valuable perks booking a World Cruise that segmenters may not receive, but once we board the ship, we are all equal, regardless of how many nights we are spending on the ship.

 

Jim - what are your thoughts, as another experienced WC'er. 

 

This subject is probably best continued on the Aug 31, 2019 Viking Sun WC begining in London. Page 3 comments between you and Jim gave some idea of the views held by previous WC'ers.. 

[CharTrav]

10 hours ago, LeRenardrouge said:

 

This subject is probably best continued on the Aug 31, 2019 Viking Sun WC begining in London. Page 3 comments between you and Jim gave some idea of the views held by previous WC'ers.. 

Just read a few of the posts on page 3 and  4. Doesn't change what I wrote earlier. Or my opinion about the unrealistic expectation that after some time a world cruise will be segmented to ensure a full ship. At this point btw only the first half of the UWC has been segmented - between London and LA. There are now 15 segments of which 3 are "repurposed" cruises done by other ships, e.g., the Eastern Seaboard Explorer and In the Wake of the Vikings. Whether more segments will appear after LA either specific to the Sun or "repurposed" Orion cruises - who knows. But they'll probably happen. And so what? I don't buy the statements about why "segmenters" are less desirable. I'm done - off my soapbox.

 

And yes - I'm that slightly nutty person who maintains a spreadsheet (link provided in my signature block) tracking the schedules for all Viking Ocean ships at the "macro" level, sufficient to let one track and visualize their movements over a 3 yr period. It's a harmless hobby. 😁

Edited April 11, 2019 by CharTrav

[Pushka]

I’m thinking that unless Viking can sell WC through sectors then there would not be a WC at all. 

[CharTrav]

given the percentages posted by some of the earlier posters - based on first hand knowledge and much lower than my optimistic 75% estimate - you're probably right. However  - even 50% ain't bad. The question is picking the right timing for rolling out sectors. I would guess determining the sweet spot for that is a skill. 

Edited April 11, 2019 by CharTrav

[Heidi13]

CharTrav - We are booked on the 2nd half L/A to London and we now have 5 segment options. A few months ago they created L/A to Sydney and Sydney to London segments.

 

A couple of weeks ago they split the Sydney to London into 3 additional segments

 - Sydney to Hong Kong

 - Hong Kong to Bombay

 - Bombay to London

 

Didn't see any notices from Viking and the 3 new segments aren't included in the World Cruise/Grand Voyages section. I stumbled upon the new segments when researching which other ships were in port and I noted additional shorter options on Viking Sun.

[CharTrav]

33 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

CharTrav - We are booked on the 2nd half L/A to London and we now have 5 segment options. A few months ago they created L/A to Sydney and Sydney to London segments.

 

A couple of weeks ago they split the Sydney to London into 3 additional segments

 - Sydney to Hong Kong

 - Hong Kong to Bombay

 - Bombay to London

 

Didn't see any notices from Viking and the 3 new segments aren't included in the World Cruise/Grand Voyages section. I stumbled upon the new segments when researching which other ships were in port and I noted additional shorter options on Viking Sun.

You're right .. my bad.. I really shouldn't write notes late at night.  Sigh. My claim that there were no segments after LA is not supported by even my own spreadsheet!!! The one I checked last night to support what I posted.    I filtered it on "UWC 2019/20 segment" and somehow... whatever .. how embarrassing. I didn't "see" the 6 segments after LA (oooooo) that even I'd reported on earlier in the other thread I maintain (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2651194-viking-ocean-combined-cruise-schedule/) where I announce major updates to my consolidated VO ship schedule (doh!!!). And.. this just boggles my mind .. the total segment count I gave last night was wrong too -- I said 15 when it's 16.  Arg! How many times should I beat myself over the head??

 

Edited April 11, 2019 by CharTrav

[Peregrina651]

On 3/28/2019 at 10:40 PM, agnesd said:

When can you make dining reservations?  Are all cabin cats eligible for all restaurants?  How about reserving shore excursions?  I believe you can bring aboard your own booze. Is this just for carbon use etc?  Any tips would be helpful.  

 

 

As has been said, a lot of information can be found on MVJ but some of it can also be found on your Viking Guest Statement (not the invoice from your TA) such as when shorex booking and specialty reservations open for your category on your sailing

 

The Viking Guest Statement looks like this at the top and it may be sent as a PDF:

 

 

If you didn't get this document from your TA or Viking agent, you should ask them for it because this document outlines your contract with Viking. It states your final payment date, the cancellation policy (including what constitutes a cancellation, which may be different from other cruise lines) and the cancellation penalties. It tells you when booking opens for shorex and dining reservations. It gives you your cruise timeline including tentative port arrival and departure times. It also tells where they are going to send you final documents; if this information changes, make sure this gets updated.

 

If you are looking for tips for first timers, there is a whole thread dedicated to the topic and it is chock full of information:

Tips for New Viking Ocean Cruisers

[CharTrav]

Thanks @Peregrina651. Another way to get the invoice is from your MVJ. Use Menu...My Account which opens to a page with a button to "request invoice". 

[Peregrina651]

3 minutes ago, CharTrav said:

Thanks @Peregrina651. Another way to get the invoice is from your MVJ. Use Menu...My Account which opens to a page with a button to "request invoice". 

 

Good for getting a spare copy but we should all get a copy from our agent/TA and read it over to make sure that we agree to all the details before we put down the deposit.

[CharTrav]

10 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Good for getting a spare copy but we should all get a copy from our agent/TA and read it over to make sure that we agree to all the details before we put down the deposit.

ABSOLUTELY!!!!  😁