Viking Sea - cost of excursions, and is there such thing as a "bad" cabin?

[MikeLikesBoats]

Hi all,

 

We're planning our first Viking Ocean cruise, signed up for a PV1 and seemed good to go. My wife and I are very active, and value excursions highly. The agent sold us hard on the "all inclusive" nature of the excursions (no nickle-and-diming here, right!). We've now learned (I know, rookies...) that you in fact only have access to one free excursion option per port, which don't seem to be well reviewed, and the amazing looking dozen-or-so others at each port cost extra. What I don't know is "how much extra," and if I should be rebudgeting to make them possible. The cost of the PV1 definitely brought us to the top of our budget. 

 

At this point all the DV cabins I found appealing are gone, so our best options seem to be "stick with PV1 and the free excursions" or "drop to V2 and have $4k extra spend on excursions."

 

What would you do?  My specific questions are:

1) Do y'all agree, the included excursions aren't great and I should budget for the extras?

2) How much have you found the nicer excursions cost per person?

3) If I drop to V2 -- where they assign you a cabin closer to the date -- are there any "bad" cabins on Viking Sea? I.e., is that taking a risk?

 

Thanks so much to all!

 

Edited July 23, 2021 by MikeLikesBoats

[Azulann]

Hi Mike and welcome to Viking Forum.

 Need more information :  Where are you going, what are your ports of call and when are you sailing?

I  have taken  all but one of the included excursions on my Trans Atlantic from PR to Barcelona.  I paid $120. for an all day trip to Seville, Spain from port of Cadiz. It was worth it. All the other  included excursions were guided walks through the old districts of the ports in  Spain, Tangiers, and a bus tour and time in a small fishing port on Maderia and St. Martin.  I thought all guides were outstanding.

Most excursion last about 2-3 hrs. You can also just explore on your own in the port town if you like, or join a private tour organized on  your roll call. This was all pre Covid.

Last week was on Viking Orion in Bermuda, did the included tours, one of which was the Crystal Cave which  normally costs $50. or so. Again the guides were great , learned lots about Bermuda and what I was seeing. You can also go to Viking web site and  check out  the data of each day  of your cruise. It will show the included tour and description of all the tours offered. It will help you make your decision.

I did  pay $79.00 for an  art museum tour  in Hamilton. The docent was the director of the museum. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2021 by Azulann

[SantaFe1]

25 minutes ago, MikeLikesBoats said:

What would you do?  My specific questions are:

1) Do y'all agree, the included excursions aren't great and I should budget for the extras?

2) How much have you found the nicer excursions cost per person?

3) If I drop to V2 -- where they assign you a cabin closer to the date -- are there any "bad" cabins on Viking Sea? I.e., is that taking a risk?

The included excursions tend to be either  a panoramic bus tour with a stop or two or a 1-2 hour walking tour of a town.  The other excursions typically range from about $50 to $400 pp (for the day, overland excursions run into the thousands).  They are usually worth it, but sometimes not.  Depending where and when you are going, you can often book your own excursions more cheaply.  St. Petersburg is a good example.  Finally, we always stay in PV1 and I don’t think there are any bad cabins.  V, I understand,  has some less desirable rooms, over the theater, the nightclub, by the tender boats, etc.  I’d try for a DV if you can still get one, and try mixing the nicer included excursions with a few of the optional ones that you really must do.

All that said, Regent really does have all included excursions.  Compare prices, they are much more expensive!  All in all, we greatly prefer Viking.  PS.  I have never, ever regretted extra money spent traveling!  

[Mich3554]

In the past, we have done a mixture of included and paid excursions.  From what I remember, the costs of the paid excursions range from about $59 pp to $179 pp.  

 

Our last 2 cruises were 15 and 18 days respectively.  The first was more port intensive, but during each cruise we paid around $1500 in excursions for both of us combined.  You can go nuts with choosing paid excursions, but we chose what interested us, and things neither of us had seen.
 

Some of the more memorable excursions we did were Stonehenge and Salisbury (lunch included), Monet’s home and gardens (lunch included), and a penguin colony (lunch included).   We paid for a Falkland’s Island war tour, which the guide was utterly fascinating as he was one of the few injured in the war.  We took the train that is the furthest south in South America.  

[MikeLikesBoats]

1 hour ago, Azulann said:

Hi Mike and welcome to Viking Forum.

 Need more information :  Where are you going, what are your ports of call and when are you sailing?...You can also go to Viking web site and  check out  the data of each day  of your cruise. It will show the included tour and description of all the tours offered. It will help you make your decision.

 

Thanks, Azulann! Appreciate the quick reply. We're doing the West Indies Explorer, Carribbean ports:  https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/caribbean-americas/west-indies-explorer/index.html#itineraryday/1

 

They do list the excursions, and the non-included ones look great. But there's no indication of price, which is why I'm concerned. If they're $50/person on average, it's obviously a very different conversation than if they're $300-400/person on average (each day we want to do them).

Edited July 23, 2021 by MikeLikesBoats
better link

[NeilP57]

Having travelled in both a PV (Venice to Istanbul) and a V ( Caribbean) with Viking  they are both great staterooms. We have decided to take the smaller stateroom  (V and DV are the same size) and spend the savings on optional excursions and the drinks package if it is not offered as a promotion. 
 

Whether you need many optional excursions really does depend on your itinerary. Some have many great independent excursion opportunities which will always be cheaper than a cruise line excursion. 

With Viking the better category stateroom the earlier you can book speciality restaurants (no extra charge) and shore excursions but I have not experienced any issues with these even if in the lowest V category. 
 

Obviously these comments apply to normal non Covid times. 

 

Hope this helps. 

[Twitchly]

We are about to take our 2nd Viking cruise, PV room both times. That said, the DV rooms look fine. Aside from slightly less room, no couch, and a few missing perks, they’re not wildly different from the PVs. Every room includes a balcony and the same excellent service. 
 

DH and I like to spend time in our room to wind down in the evenings, so we appreciate the couch and extra space. If you’re more of a socializer, that may be less important. 
 

We also don’t cruise as often as many folks here do. If we did, we would probably go for the V or DV cabins and be perfectly happy. 

 

On our last Viking cruise, I think we bought 5 non-included excursions. It’s nice to have the option to do that, because the included ones are a mixed bag. For example, when in France, the included tour was a bus ride to Paris and back with little time for anything else.  We opted instead for an excursion to Monet’s gardens, which was fantastic.
 

All of which is to say that if having a choice of non-included excursions is of high importance, you could safely take a V or DV room and save your money for jaunts. If a Viking excursion is sold out by the time you’re allowed to sign up (V and DV rooms get access to reservations later then PVs), you can book something with other providers, often for less money.

 

 

[duquephart]

And keep in mind that the included excursions are not free. Both the driver and the guide will have their hands out.

[Squawkman]

25 minutes ago, duquephart said:

And keep in mind that the included excursions are not free. Both the driver and the guide will have their hands out.

Tipping the guide and driver is the same whether or not the excursion is free or you pay extra for it. In fact, many of the optional excursions are longer which could mean larger tips.

[SantaFe1]

1 hour ago, MikeLikesBoats said:

They do list the excursions, and the non-included ones look great. But there's no indication of price, which is why I'm concerned. If they're $50/person on average, it's obviously a very different conversation than if they're $300-400/person on average (each day we want to do them).

Eventually, the actual excursions they are offering on your trip, along with the price and times, will appear in MVJ.  It used to be about 100 days out, but with things as they are, who knows.  We did Iceland three weeks ago and they appeared about 45 days out.  We booked an optional each day, and they ran $79 to $199 pp, and I saw some more active ones that we didn’t take that were up in the $200s.  The most we have ever paid for a Viking day excursion was $399 for my husband’s Patagonia fishing expedition in Chile.  Remember, if you use a travel agent, they will usually give you a few hundred in OBC that you can use toward excursions.  And for the first time ever, on our Iceland trip, we were able to pay by e-check rather than CC and we saved 3%.  I think for our six Iceland excursions, we paid about $1000 each, or $2000.  At the time we weren’t allowed to do our own excursions, and had to be part of the Viking bubble.  But that was later relaxed, and I’m sure you can do some on your own.

[Not a Georgia Peach]

We did the West Indies cruise in 2016.  The included excursions were not particularly exciting, and the transportation was typical Caribbean style buses.  You mention that you are active people and I'm not sure that these excursions would fit that description at all.  We have stayed in DV cabins and our last cruise was a PV.  The PV definitely has noticeable extra room and we wouldn't go back to a cabin the size of a DV.

[Tiki-Is-Texas]

FWIW re cabins, what we will avoid in the future is being far forward on the deck(s) near the anchor lockers, perhaps decks 4 & 5.  In rough seas there is enough racket to be disturbing in the cabins near the bow. My reference point was 2nd cabin from the bow otherwise all good. 

[annxstitch]

We are planning on going on a Viking World tour.  We went on the Tokyo to Vancouver trip afew years ago and loved it.  We were in a PV room and it was spacious and very comfortable with a dresser and the closet.  Due to financial considerations we are going with a DV6 room and I wonder if there is any storage space besides the closet.  Does the closet have drawers and/or shelves?  I read that if you are on deck 3 you hear the band noise and wonder if anyone else has experienced this--our room is on deck 3.  Thanks in advance and if I can help others please let me know

[CCWineLover]

3 hours ago, MikeLikesBoats said:

Thanks, Azulann! Appreciate the quick reply. We're doing the West Indies Explorer, Carribbean ports:  https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/caribbean-americas/west-indies-explorer/index.html#itineraryday/1

 

They do list the excursions, and the non-included ones look great. But there's no indication of price, which is why I'm concerned. If they're $50/person on average, it's obviously a very different conversation than if they're $300-400/person on average (each day we want to do them).

Hi Mike - We took this 10 day West Indies Explorer cruise in February 2019.

We enjoyed it so much!  I had made a list of the tours and prices that at least might give you an idea of things.

Highlights:  the train trip!!  the snorkel trip!!  the Virgin Gorda trip!!  The San Juan Horse Ride!!  The Barbados Photography trip!!   Some of the included tours (not all).   Not a bad optional excursion.  I heard that people also loved the sail to Nevis as well but we didn't take it.

2019 February Viking Sea-Optional and Included Tours.pdf

[Clay Clayton]

4 hours ago, annxstitch said:

We are planning on going on a Viking World tour.  We went on the Tokyo to Vancouver trip afew years ago and loved it.  We were in a PV room and it was spacious and very comfortable with a dresser and the closet.  Due to financial considerations we are going with a DV6 room and I wonder if there is any storage space besides the closet.  Does the closet have drawers and/or shelves?  I read that if you are on deck 3 you hear the band noise and wonder if anyone else has experienced this--our room is on deck 3.  Thanks in advance and if I can help others please let me know

You should follow the WC roll calls. Lots of good information over there. In the past, the WCs were on the newer ships which had drawers in all category’s closets. However, the one this December is on Star which didn’t have them pre-Covid. I believe I read on one of the rollcalls that someone had spoken to the World Cruise Desk and that drawers were going to be added. YMMV. 
 

We were in a V far forward port side on Deck 3 on our first cruise.  We loved being close to the bow wake but did hear rehearsals in the theatre. Not bothersome but if you’re sensitive something to think about.  We also heard the clanking of what we presume was the anchor chain in rough seas. Others have reported that being over Torshaven can be problematic. If noise is an issue, you might want to try to be closer to the stern. 

[Heidi13]

6 hours ago, annxstitch said:

We are planning on going on a Viking World tour.  We went on the Tokyo to Vancouver trip afew years ago and loved it.  We were in a PV room and it was spacious and very comfortable with a dresser and the closet.  Due to financial considerations we are going with a DV6 room and I wonder if there is any storage space besides the closet.  Does the closet have drawers and/or shelves?  I read that if you are on deck 3 you hear the band noise and wonder if anyone else has experienced this--our room is on deck 3.  Thanks in advance and if I can help others please let me know

 

The Viking Sun was the 4th ship and the original World Cruise vessel. It started with additional drawers in the cupboard of the DV cabins. However, Viking Sun has now gone to a Chinese Joint Venture and Viking Star is doing the 21/22 WC.

 

Although not currently installed, Viking have assured the 21/22 WC pax that they will be installed before the cruise. Starting in 2022 the Viking Neptune assumes the role as the World Cruise vessel and she will no doubt have the additional drawers.

 

Suggest coming over to the Viking Roll calls and joining the one for your cruise. We have a Roll Call for 21/22 on Star and 2 roll call on Neptune - 22/23 and 23/24.

[JeriGail]

18 hours ago, annxstitch said:

I read that if you are on deck 3 you hear the band noise and wonder if anyone else has experienced this--our room is on deck 3. 

Our original Viking cruise (now canceled) had us in 3055.  I searched on that cabin number and found multiple reports of late night noise from the nightclub.  The problem was only reported on cabins close to Torshavn, not all of deck 3.

[Squawkman]

1 hour ago, JeriGail said:

Our original Viking cruise (now canceled) had us in 3055.  I searched on that cabin number and found multiple reports of late night noise from the nightclub.  The problem was only reported on cabins close to Torshavn, not all of deck 3.

I agree. I would imagine that 3055, which is directly over Torshavn, could be noisy. However, I had no problem with 3020 and have 4 cruises booked at opposite ends on Deck 3. 

[sleepybobo]

3 hours ago, Squawkman said:

I agree. I would imagine that 3055, which is directly over Torshavn, could be noisy. However, I had no problem with 3020 and have 4 cruises booked at opposite ends on Deck 3. 

I had 3022 twice. No noise from Torshavn. We could hear the band rehearsing. But we weren’t bothered by it. We have 3022 booked in our next cruise. 

[JeriGail]

1 minute ago, sleepybobo said:

I had 3022 twice. No noise from Torshavn. We could hear the band rehearsing. But we weren’t bothered by it. We have 3022 booked in our next cruise. 

The noise comments I saw were specifically about the cabins on the starboard side - the odd numbers.

[sleepybobo]

3 minutes ago, JeriGail said:

The noise comments I saw were specifically about the cabins on the starboard side - the odd numbers.

Interesting. I wonder why. We have 3017 for Alaska cruise next year. Hope it’s okay. 

[JeriGail]

Just now, sleepybobo said:

Interesting. I wonder why. We have 3017 for Alaska cruise next year. Hope it’s okay. 

There were only a couple of cabins that were noted as being problems - 3053, 3055, and 3057.  3017 is forward so it's away from Torshavn.

[annxstitch]

On 7/24/2021 at 11:39 AM, JeriGail said:

Our original Viking cruise (now canceled) had us in 3055.  I searched on that cabin number and found multiple reports of late night noise from the nightclub.  The problem was only reported on cabins close to Torshavn, not all of deck 3.

Thank you for your response.  It had been bothering me so I called my travel agent and did one upgrade so we are on deck 4. 

[JeriGail]

Just now, annxstitch said:

Thank you for your response.  It had been bothering me so I called my travel agent and did one upgrade so we are on deck 4. 

The one report on cabin 3055 said the noise was so bad - late night and early morning rehearsals - that they believed that cabin should only be used for performers.  We changed our cabin to deck 3 aft.

 

Deck 4 has the advantage of being between two passenger decks, so you should be good!

[Dauntless]

So, I have only stayed on deck 3.  One V1 and one V2.  I was in Clay's cabin,  3010 and heard no noise from the theater.  This is a port cabin.  V1 I was in 3074.  heard no noise, again a port side cabin.  I was usually at the shows or during the days, I was on excursions.  In the 2 cruises I only had 2 sea days.  If you don't involve yourself with the destinations you might experience something that I didn't.