Mike07 Posted September 19 #1401 Share Posted September 19 4 minutes ago, Ktwofish said: Apparently there were 3 trips total last season that had medical emergencies (based on FB posts.) Unfortunately, we could not reach a nearby island with an airstrip, so we had to make the trip back across the Drake at high speed. Two sea days and a day in Port Stanley, Falklands, was not a good substitute for 3 days in Antarctica. Viking gave us 25 percent of our paid cruise fare, which is OK, I guess. I called Viking because there was a discrepancy with my 25 percent calculation. They deducted $500 from our paid cruise fare for the one night in Buenos Aires, which I thought was lame. Oof... that's rough a worst than I thought. I would have been disappointed if that happened to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ktwofish Posted September 19 #1402 Share Posted September 19 22 minutes ago, Mike07 said: Oof... that's rough a worst than I thought. I would have been disappointed if that happened to us. There was a whole ship of disappointed passengers. Of course, we all understood it was necessary to return to Ushuaia. Still, it was a big disappointment after traveling to the “end of the world.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breckski Posted September 19 #1403 Share Posted September 19 1 hour ago, Mike07 said: 1. The ship has too many people even though it's like 368 or 398 or something like that. Antarctica agreements restrict ship operators from putting more than 100 people on shore at any given time. 2. The way the tours are handled. Too many people for the zodiaks, SOBs, and kayaks. I think Viking is the only one that has SOBs though. 3. Viking would never "push into the ice" as I've seen from other operators. Cue, Gary Bembridge on Youtube and his experience with Ponant (Granted, they're a French line and I wouldn't go with Ponant on anything) 4. The whole jack******* nature of the shore excursions because the ship is too big. 5. No Polar bear plunge (not even entirely sure they did that fake pool plunge on my trip) 6. As I mentioned above..... stuff like kayaking, if you don't have a reservation, it's standby and GFL if you get on the tour, because there are so many people. The actual ship never feels crowded. It feels crowded doing the whole point of the trip (shore excursions with the toys). Great experience, the Polaris and Octantis are fantastic vessels. But, I know roughly what competitors charge and Viking would have to undercut said competitors a lot for me to go with them again. I have about 30 days on the Polaris between an Antarctica and Chilean Fjords trip. I absolutely would sail Viking again on an expedition ship, but Antarctica... the price is going to have to be exceptional, because I'm not going to quibble over up to $15k with how much time it took for me to get to Ushuaia. (I'm from NA... nothing went wrong on the flights) Again, zero regrets for taking Viking. They delivered the experience the brochure promised. But, it's a more competitive market than "Viking goes there, I'm going with them b/c I know them!". To be fair, I'm more active and younger than 95% of the viking clientele. I also have more days on Viking than probably 75% of their clients. So, what I'm looking for is maybe not what everybody else is looking for. We're using Seabourn this December for our trip to Antartica for several of the reasons you state but primarily the 30% fewer guests. And one item you didn't mention, a larger stateroom with a true balcony. We've enjoyed our Viking experiences, but do not fall into the Viking or nothing category. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted September 20 #1404 Share Posted September 20 Brings to mind our mode of recent travel in the past. Camping. There are those that go back pack camping with pup tents...then there are those that "camp" in a motor home...with all the conveniences. I was in the second group. 😉 I like my creature comforts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheJourney Posted September 20 #1405 Share Posted September 20 9 hours ago, island lady said: hen there are those that "camp" in a motor home...with all the conveniences. I'll take that one step further even (having no interest whatsoever in camping) in that I like my creature comforts in a nice hotel suite rather than on wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1985rz1 Posted September 21 #1406 Share Posted September 21 2 hours ago, OnTheJourney said: I'll take that one step further even (having no interest whatsoever in camping) in that I like my creature comforts in a nice hotel suite rather than on wheels. My definition of camping is a Holiday Inn Express. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheJourney Posted September 21 #1407 Share Posted September 21 1 hour ago, 1985rz1 said: My definition of camping is a Holiday Inn Express. Yep...that works. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LindaS272 Posted September 21 #1408 Share Posted September 21 4 hours ago, 1985rz1 said: My definition of camping is a Holiday Inn Express. Had a friend long ago who said her idea of roughing it was checking into a hotel without reservations! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted September 21 #1409 Share Posted September 21 14 hours ago, OnTheJourney said: I'll take that one step further even (having no interest whatsoever in camping) in that I like my creature comforts in a nice hotel suite rather than on wheels. Wheels meant we could bring the fur babies with us on long trips....many of which were months long at a time. Our motor home even had an electric fireplace, bath and a half (half bath being for the cat box) four TVs (one outside) and a washer dryer. It was not until we lost both of our dear fur faces to the demon cancer that we ended up selling the motor home. Now.....we mostly do longer cruises and stays at VRBO homes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare aungrl Posted September 21 #1410 Share Posted September 21 18 hours ago, LindaS272 said: Had a friend long ago who said her idea of roughing it was checking into a hotel without reservations! My husband's aunt used this one, except she always said: "....without room service." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheJourney Posted September 22 #1411 Share Posted September 22 On 9/21/2024 at 12:38 AM, LindaS272 said: Had a friend long ago who said her idea of roughing it was checking into a hotel without reservations! LOL... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheJourney Posted September 24 #1412 Share Posted September 24 (edited) Which side of the ship would you suggest to be on for this trip: https://www.vikingcruises.com/expeditions/cruise-destinations/great-lakes-canada/niagara-and-great-lakes-treasures/index.html?startLocation=toronto&endLocation=milwaukee-wisconsin&year=2026 I want to grab a jr. suite while there are still some available. Interestingly, most of the port-side rooms are already sold, so...lemme guess...might that be the preferred side based on the itinerary? Please let me know any thoughts on this. Also, would you advise booking it right on the website? Never did a V. cruise that way before but I see you can. I really don't like this Sept. 23 date (2026) for that trip. I don't want any summer dates and so I'm told by Trip Advisor people who live up there that the early May dates could be nasty because of when the midges hatch! Edited September 24 by OnTheJourney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare OneSixtyToOne Posted September 24 #1413 Share Posted September 24 19 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said: Also, would you advise booking it right on the website? Never did a V. cruise that way before but I see you can There is no downside to booking online as the booking can be transferred to your TA for any OBC they may offer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheJourney Posted September 24 #1414 Share Posted September 24 2 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said: can be transferred to your TA Yes I usually wind up transferring trips to my TA. In looking at the map for the cruise itinerary, I'd say port side is best - probably why more of those jr. suites are already taken than on starboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emileg Posted Tuesday at 07:16 PM Author #1415 Share Posted Tuesday at 07:16 PM We are just off the Viking Neptune, our first Viking Ocean Cruise. While on board we book a new expedition itinerary called Into the Northwest Passage, round trip from Nuuk, Greenland on August 12, 2026 on the Polaris. Is anyone else planning on taking this itinerary, way into the arctic circle and then through the very northern part of Canada. Anyone else plan on taking this expedition? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted Tuesday at 07:39 PM #1416 Share Posted Tuesday at 07:39 PM 16 minutes ago, emileg said: We are just off the Viking Neptune, our first Viking Ocean Cruise. While on board we book a new expedition itinerary called Into the Northwest Passage, round trip from Nuuk, Greenland on August 12, 2026 on the Polaris. Is anyone else planning on taking this itinerary, way into the arctic circle and then through the very northern part of Canada. Anyone else plan on taking this expedition? We are doing that route on Octantis as a B2B. Starting out from Milwaukee, over night in Toronto, continue out the St. Lawrence Seaway and then up to do a similar tour that Polaris is doing to the north. Our cruise ends in Nuuk on 8/10/25 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike07 Posted Tuesday at 08:02 PM #1417 Share Posted Tuesday at 08:02 PM 44 minutes ago, emileg said: We are just off the Viking Neptune, our first Viking Ocean Cruise. While on board we book a new expedition itinerary called Into the Northwest Passage, round trip from Nuuk, Greenland on August 12, 2026 on the Polaris. Is anyone else planning on taking this itinerary, way into the arctic circle and then through the very northern part of Canada. Anyone else plan on taking this expedition? 1. that's an awesome itinerary! I will do it some day, likely several times, though I need to figure out the operator I want to go with. 2. I would suggest the VE roll calls. Whether it's the Polaris or Octantis, that should not matter b/c you're beholden to mother nature and where the ice is. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AroundWithMAPTravels Posted Tuesday at 10:49 PM #1418 Share Posted Tuesday at 10:49 PM 3 hours ago, emileg said: We are just off the Viking Neptune, our first Viking Ocean Cruise. While on board we book a new expedition itinerary called Into the Northwest Passage, round trip from Nuuk, Greenland on August 12, 2026 on the Polaris. Is anyone else planning on taking this itinerary, way into the arctic circle and then through the very northern part of Canada. Anyone else plan on taking this expedition? We are , but not on that date. We love the arctic! Hope you enjoy…. And come back here afterwards to give your thoughts (we are going in September 2026). 😄 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now