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

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, Dauntless said:

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. 

We were there on a Transatlantic and therefore had few excursions. Like you we were generally out and about so the one rehearsal we heard wasn’t problematic. 

[powderhorn]

We currently have a V2 GTY cabin booked on the Viking Orion in February. All the V2 category is on deck 3 aft, over the restaurant.  Has anyone stayed in these cabins, and if so, did you hear any noise from the restaurant?

 

Thanks in advance

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, powderhorn said:

We currently have a V2 GTY cabin booked on the Viking Orion in February. All the V2 category is on deck 3 aft, over the restaurant.  Has anyone stayed in these cabins, and if so, did you hear any noise from the restaurant?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Our first Viking cruise we had a cabin over the dining room. Compared to some of the other cabins on  Deck 3, it is quiet as a drum; we never heard anything. Other Deck 3 cabins are over the disco or the theater and can be noisy at unwelcome times. In fact, when I book our upcoming cruise, on Orion,  after intervening cruises in DV 4 cabins, I intentional chose a Deck 3/DV cabin over the dining room.

 

However with a GTY V2 cabin you could end up anywhere on the ship. I've booked GTY V2 two times now and both times ended up with a DV4.

[KBs mum]

On 7/23/2021 at 7:31 PM, Squawkman said:

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.

No need to tip in most countries, certainly not as an automatic percentage. 

 

[Peregrina651]

13 hours ago, KBs mum said:

No need to tip in most countries, certainly not as an automatic percentage. 

 

 

Except that when you are talking shore excursions, regardless of local tipping customs, there is the expectation that Americans on cruise ships are going to tip guides and drivers anyway. 

 

Viking adds to the expectation that Americans will be tipping when it includes guidelines as to an appropriate amount in the cruise docs that are emailed to us 14 days prior to sailing. It is a fixed amount, not a percentage of the cost, and applies to included and optional alike. It is a guideline, not a requirement.

 

These are what the expectations seem to be.   In the end, we will each make our own decision as to what we think the right choice is.  

 

 

Edited November 26, 2021 by Peregrina651

[KBs mum]

15 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Except that when you are talking shore excursions, regardless of local tipping customs, there is the expectation that Americans on cruise ships are going to tip guides and drivers anyway. 

 

Viking adds to the expectation that Americans will be tipping when it includes guidelines as to an appropriate amount in the cruise docs that are emailed to us 14 days prior to sailing. It is a fixed amount, not a percentage of the cost, and applies to included and optional alike. It is a guideline, not a requirement.

 

These are what the expectations seem to be.   In the end, we will each make our own decision as to what we think the right choice is.  

 

 

Fair enough, if you want to tip nobody will object. My theory is that Viking puts guidelines in as Americans have a tipping culture where the correct amounts are important. As you say, it's optional.

In a coach load of different nationalities on an excursion, generally the US people will be the only ones the driver and guide put a hand out to. 

 

Unless I'm in a country where tipping is expected as part of wages, such as the USA, I don't tip unless somebody has gone above and beyond the requirements of their job. 

 

Basically, the point I'm trying to make is that there is no need to worry about it. If you want to tip, do. If you don't want to tip don't. Research local customs to see if tipping happens in that country or not. 

Edited November 27, 2021 by KBs mum