UK Only Viking Venus Cruise

[Clay Clayton]

I think it will be interesting to see how many aboard these first round the UK sailings will be new to Viking. Given that the vast majority on our cruises have been from the US it wouldn’t surprise me that Viking may be tapping a new market for them. 

[TayanaLorna]

32 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

I think it will be interesting to see how many aboard these first round the UK sailings will be new to Viking. Given that the vast majority on our cruises have been from the US it wouldn’t surprise me that Viking may be tapping a new market for them. 

Viking previously had a cruise that sailed around the UK that was open to Americans, Canadians, Brits etc.  I think it included stops in Scotland also.  What's new is this is a UK resident only cruise.

[Clay Clayton]

31 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

Viking previously had a cruise that sailed around the UK that was open to Americans, Canadians, Brits etc.  I think it included stops in Scotland also.  What's new is this is a UK resident only cruise.

Yes by first round I meant these first post Covid cruises.  Since only UK residents are allowed I wonder how many will be first time Viking cruisers since (at least based on our experience) the majority aboard have been from the US

[Mrs Miggins]

The email announcing these cruises was only sent to previous Viking cruisers.  We have been on 3 previous Viking ocean cruises and have another booked, my friend has been on 4 and has 3 more booked. Several others have been on Viking river cruises.  On each of our cruises we have met many other people from the UK.   The round England cruises are not being advertised currently on the Viking UK website.

By the way the British Menu seems a rather lazy stab at popular dishes.   I assume a US menu would include Burgers, Grits and Black Eyed Peas.

 

[Clay Clayton]

26 minutes ago, Mrs Miggins said:

.   I assume a US menu would include Burgers, Grits and Black Eyed Peas.

 

As it should. Perhaps add clam chowder and have chocolate layer cake for dessert. 

[TayanaLorna]

13 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

As it should. Perhaps add clam chowder and have chocolate layer cake for dessert. 

A US menu would have to be regional.

[uktog]

15 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

A US menu would have to be regional.

So should a UK one - Scottish/Irish/Welsh/Cornish/......... the list goes on and on 🙂 

[JeriGail]

2 hours ago, uktog said:

So should a UK one - Scottish/Irish/Welsh/Cornish/......... the list goes on and on 🙂 

Submit these ideas to Viking for new Chef's Table options!

[NeilP57]

Just received an email from Viking UK saying that these UK only cruises are being opened up to the general public from tomorrow, rather than being restricted to previous Viking customers based in the UK.

 

On availability front, the final cruise (June 5) has only 4 Explorer Suites left whereas the two earlier cruises ( May 22 and 29) seems to have availability across all categories. Maybe experienced Viking customers just want it to settle down a bit before joining.

[arlowood]

We are booked on the 5th June cruise. 

Got the email last week and registered our interest then received the follow-up email with the dates and pricing. Spoke to our normal TA who have booked us on several Viking river cruises and one ocean cruise but she stated that Viking were not dealing with them now. She helpfully provided the email address for their normal contact in Viking UK customer services.

Fired off an email and eventually got a call back last Wednesday. At that time there was limited availability in the grade that we wanted but we got booked on a starboard cabin on Deck 8. Bit far from the main restaurants but not a major issue.

The fact that this cruise has almost sold out could be due to people adopting the cautious principle. If any major issues are due to surface then they will more likely be identified on the first or second cruise.

 

Just keeping our fingers crossed that this fear over a third wave in the UK does not prompt the Government quash these UK only cruises. Currently the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advice still carries a ban on international cruising but with the plethora of UK only cruises being offered by P&O, Princess, Cunard, Fred Olsen etc, I can only assume that the cruise operators have been given the go-ahead by the authorities

Edited March 24, 2021 by arlowood

[MikeD1000]

I have to make an apology about something I posted earlier.  The Café is not going to be closed, but will not be self-service.  That's in line anyway with some of the cruises we have done, where passengers don't use the tongs and spoons.

[Janet&David]

2 hours ago, arlowood said:

We are booked on the 5th June cruise. 

Got the email last week and registered our interest then received the follow-up email with the dates and pricing. Spoke to our normal TA who have booked us on several Viking river cruises and one ocean cruise but she stated that Viking were not dealing with them now. She helpfully provided the email address for their normal contact in Viking UK customer services.

Fired off an email and eventually got a call back last Wednesday. At that time there was limited availability in the grade that we wanted but we got booked on a starboard cabin on Deck 8. Bit far from the main restaurants but not a major issue.

The fact that this cruise has almost sold out could be due to people adopting the cautious principle. If any major issues are due to surface then they will more likely be identified on the first or second cruise.

 

Just keeping our fingers crossed that this fear over a third wave in the UK does not prompt the Government quash these UK only cruises. Currently the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advice still carries a ban on international cruising but with the plethora of UK only cruises being offered by P&O, Princess, Cunard, Fred Olsen etc, I can only assume that the cruise operators have been given the go-ahead by the authorities

In terms of government advice (FCO etc), there was a post on Twitter (sadly the way that most government policy is announced in the UK nowadays) on 8th March from the All Party Parliamentary Maritime Group as follows:

“**NEWS** Maritime Minister @robertcourts announces the reopening of the domestic #cruise market in England on 17 May at tonight's @APPMPG meeting”

 

The minister in question retweeted this and confirmed the policy on his website. Hopefully this will be enough for travel insurers, even if the FCO doesn’t formally change its advice (assuming your insurance covers UK-only travel). Of course the government could change its collective mind - not for the first time. 

 

We’re on the second cruise. Avoided the first as it must take some time to sort out the processes with real passengers but reckoned the second should be OK. Presumably the crew will join the ship a week or so before it leaves Italy, where it is currently parked - so they will have been isolated and regularly tested for a couple of weeks before picking up passengers (and presumably practising the new processes with some of the crew pretending to be passengers). Obviously the relatively young, international crew will always represent a greater COVID risk than the somewhat older passengers who, even without Viking insisting on vaccination, will be vaccinated way above ‘herd immunity’ levels.

 

Not quite counting the days, in case plans change, but definitely looking forward to it!

 

David

[Jim Avery]

Cant wait to hear some good old onboard reporting of fun stuff.  Seems at least a decade since we could have our vicarious fixes between our own cruises.  Always love hearing others onboard experiences.  🍸

[downsmead]

13 hours ago, NeilP57 said:

Just received an email from Viking UK saying that these UK only cruises are being opened up to the general public from tomorrow, rather than being restricted to previous Viking customers based in the UK.

 

On availability front, the final cruise (June 5) has only 4 Explorer Suites left whereas the two earlier cruises ( May 22 and 29) seems to have availability across all categories. Maybe experienced Viking customers just want it to settle down a bit before joining.

Tonight, the website is showing all 3 cruises as sold out 🤷‍♀️

[Jammy Bun]

36 minutes ago, downsmead said:

Tonight, the website is showing all 3 cruises as sold out 🤷‍♀️

That's weird, there was plenty of availability when I looked this afternoon!  Maybe they're adjusting the prices now that it's open to all Brits, not just previous Viking cruisers.

Or maybe ................ ???   No, I won't go there!!!

[Squawkman]

Although I’m not a UK resident, I did check out this cruise on the Viking UK website - https://www.vikingcruises.co.uk/oceans/cruise-destinations/baltic/englands-scenic-shores/index.html

 

It appears that there are only 3 included tours. The fourth port (Tresco) has only optional excursions. Yet Viking still advertises their mantra of one included excursion in each port. Am I missing something?

[Jammy Bun]

10 hours ago, Squawkman said:

It appears that there are only 3 included tours. The fourth port (Tresco) has only optional excursions. Yet Viking still advertises their mantra of one included excursion in each port. Am I missing something?

I can't answer your question - but remain amazed that such a small place as the Scilly Islands would be welcoming(?) a cruise ship at this point. 

[kcpvwill]

Viking still says 4 guided tours for this cruise.  Perhaps  the 450 guests are asked to chose one of the 5 excursions advertised to get an average 90 guests on each tour.  Pure speculation on my part.  Incidentally we have been to all the stops and it is a great itinerary.  

[Heidi13]

13 hours ago, Squawkman said:

Although I’m not a UK resident, I did check out this cruise on the Viking UK website - https://www.vikingcruises.co.uk/oceans/cruise-destinations/baltic/englands-scenic-shores/index.html

 

It appears that there are only 3 included tours. The fourth port (Tresco) has only optional excursions. Yet Viking still advertises their mantra of one included excursion in each port. Am I missing something?

 

We experienced this in the Marquesas Islands, where they had virtually no tourism infrastructure. The included excursion was the tender ride ashore with a map of the immediate area for your own walking adventure.

 

They did have a 3-hr 4x4 optional tour, but with restricted numbers.

 

As the included tour must be offered to everyone, they did not have the resources ashore for all 900+ pax to sign-up for the 4x4 excursion, and the island had no other resources to accommodate these numbers. They didn't even have sufficient English speaking guides to provide a guided walking tour around the bay.

 

Have sailed past the Scilly islands many time, fortunately managing to avoid them, so haven't been ashore. However, I know they are small, so possibly a similar situation to our experience on the Marquesas, where they don't have the resources to accommodate even 450 on a single tour. 

[DGHOC]

Interesting as they rang me just yesterday to chase whether I was interested.

 

I spoke to a lovely young chap, and explained that in addition to knowing Cornwall, The Scilly Isles and Dorset really well, and having visited Liverpool a number of times, that the itinerary wasn't inviting enough. Whilst I love the Viking ship experience, I do need an interesting itinerary.

 

I also mentioned the fact that I would want to be in a completely vaccinated environment and as it is impossible for the crew to be vaccinated yet, and that they weren't insisting on passengers being vaccinated, that it was a double reason for passing.

[Clay Clayton]

The Twitterverse (at least the cruise portion) is stating as of 10:30 am EDST that Viking has announced the 3 announced cruises are fully booked with past guests and will not go on sale to the general public. 

[Jammy Bun]

11 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

The Twitterverse (at least the cruise portion) is stating as of 10:30 am EDST that Viking has announced the 3 announced cruises are fully booked with past guests and will not go on sale to the general public. 

And do we believe that?  🤨  Seems highly unlikely, given that there was availability in most grades on the two May cruises yesterday afternoon - and I'm not talking just 1 or 2 cabins in each grade.   

[Clay Clayton]

Given that sold out really means less than 50% sold since they have announced a maximum of 450 guests, I can accept that they have closed bookings. They would have left all available categories open hoping that the last two or four guests would buy the most expensive cabins they could afford. 

[DGHOC]

Mmmmm, I'd be surprised, there was considerable availability when I looked.

 

However, I wish Viking well, I hope it's a huge success for them AND I hope all the guests have a fabulous time. Incidentally, we visit the Lizard peninsular and the Roseland peninsular multiple times a year and love both dearly. I highly recommend the trips when docked in Falmouth. We stay in a cottage at St Anthony Head that overlooks the Carrick Roads directly opposite Falmouth, and have watched the Viking ships in situ.

 

Sigh, it would be lovely to sit in the Explorer's lounge with a pot of Earl Grey and two of those little raspberry tarts watching the wild rocky coastline pass by!!

 

Bon voyage to you all, happy travels!

[arlowood]

It would seem that the 3 UK based cruises have "sold out" in a very short time.

As a fan of Viking cruises, both river and ocean, my hope is that the obvious demand from UK based customers will be a hint to Viking that at least a proportion of their annual itineraries could feature round trip cruising from a UK port.

Many of us are now at an age where the hassle and stress of international flights is one factor that we would rather avoid as part of our cruise planning.

My wife and I have sailed round trip with P&O (UK) from Southampton and Fred Olsen from Rosyth(Edinburgh) and we find that much more appealing than struggling with flying to and from the departure port.

It might sound a tad selfish to our transatlantic and antipodean colleagues but I'm sure they would not grudge us a few UK based cruises each year.

It is quiet clear that P&O UK is moving its passenger demographic to a younger family clientele with the introduction of larger ships and the threat to sell of the smaller adult-only ships.

If that trend continues then Viking could benefit from a large swathe of disaffected P&O customers.