Waitlists for sold-out extensions?

[Twitchly]

For our September British Isles cruise, there’s an extension we really, really want to do but it’s sold out. (“Great Homes, Gardens, and Gin”) 

 

Have any of you had any luck getting into an extension that listed as sold out? If so, how did you do it? Did you get on a wait list, or just keep checking MVJ, or what?

[CoolBeansVA]

Yes, our desired Athens extension was sold out when we booked our upcoming March cruise back in September.  We kept checking on MVJ and lo and behold, it became available in January, and we booked it. We don’t know whether it’s because people had cancelled or Viking added more capacity.  So keep checking back and good luck!

[Twitchly]

12 hours ago, CoolBeansVA said:

Yes, our desired Athens extension was sold out when we booked our upcoming March cruise back in September.  We kept checking on MVJ and lo and behold, it became available in January, and we booked it. We don’t know whether it’s because people had cancelled or Viking added more capacity.  So keep checking back and good luck!

Thanks; that’s heartening.

 

Did you ever ask if Viking has waitlists for sold-out extensions?

[Peregrina651]

12 hours ago, CoolBeansVA said:

Yes, our desired Athens extension was sold out when we booked our upcoming March cruise back in September.  We kept checking on MVJ and lo and behold, it became available in January, and we booked it. We don’t know whether it’s because people had cancelled or Viking added more capacity.  So keep checking back and good luck!

 

Viking does not keep waiting lists, so they have no idea what the demand is for a given excursion.

 

When I find myself sold out on an excursion that I really want, I e-mail tellus@vikingcruises.com. I tell them how very disappointed I am that an excursion I was so looking forward to is sold out and that I hope that they will be adding more seats. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Same thing if you get closed out of an included tour: contact Viking.

 

In the meantime, I check MVJ everyday to see if at least one seat becomes available. Viking will not let us know if they have added more space and since they don't keep a waiting list, it is first come, first served for any spaces that open up.

 

If just one space becomes available, grab it. Then call Viking and see what they can do about getting you another seat. (A bird in hand is better than two in the bush). Sometimes they will be able to accommodate you and others not; some tours have very limited capacity. Keep trying . Keep checking MVJ.  There is one caveat with this plan. Advanced booking and cancelling closes one week before you board. You will need to decide and act before the blackout period whether you will keep the one seat and hope to get another seat once on board or cancel the one seat; there is a 36 hours in advance cancellation deadline once you are on board (in other words, tours for Day 1, 2 and maybe 3, have to be cancelled before the blackout if you are going to cancel at all).

[JeriGail]

1 hour ago, Twitchly said:

Thanks; that’s heartening.

 

Did you ever ask if Viking has waitlists for sold-out extensions?

Email Tellus and let them know about the excursion you're trying to get into.  If Viking doesn't know that others want the excursion too, they can't add more spots.

[Twitchly]

10 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Viking does not keep waiting lists, so they have no idea what the demand is for a given excursion.

 

When I find myself sold out on an excursion that I really want, I e-mail tellus@vikingcruises.com. I tell them how very disappointed I am that an excursion I was so looking forward to is sold out and that I hope that they will be adding more seats. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Same thing if you get closed out of an included tour: contact Viking.

 

In the meantime, I check MVJ everyday to see if at least one seat becomes available. Viking will not let us know if they have added more space and since they don't keep a waiting list, it is first come, first served for any spaces that open up.

 

If just one space becomes available, grab it. Then call Viking and see what they can do about getting you another seat. (A bird in hand is better than two in the bush). Sometimes they will be able to accommodate you and others not; some tours have very limited capacity. Keep trying . Keep checking MVJ.  There is one caveat with this plan. Advanced booking and cancelling closes one week before you board. You will need to decide and act before the blackout period whether you will keep the one seat and hope to get another seat once on board or cancel the one seat; there is a 36 hours in advance cancellation deadline once you are on board (in other words, tours for Day 1, 2 and maybe 3, have to be cancelled before the blackout if you are going to cancel at all).

Thanks, good info.

 

Since this is for a pre-cruise extension (rather than an excursion), I would anticipate needing to nail down details well before cruising. 
 

I’ll shoot tellus a plea.

[Twitchly]

10 hours ago, JeriGail said:

Email Tellus and let them know about the excursion you're trying to get into.  If Viking doesn't know that others want the excursion too, they can't add more spots.

Done. Thanks.

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, Twitchly said:

Since this is for a pre-cruise extension (rather than an excursion), I would anticipate needing to nail down details well before cruising. 

 

My mistake. Blame it on my vision and the darned ex- words.

 

Still, even if you do send an e-mail to TellUs about an extension, keep checking on your own (or get your travel agent to do it).

[OnTheJourney]

Interesting topic, especially given that I've just been talking to agents about an extension that is being offered on a sailing I'm interested in whereby the accommodation being used is this small hotel that only has 18 rooms!  I was astounded to see this. Apparently, at least thus far, it is the only place being used. How can Viking offer an extension to 930 guests if they only use that small of a facility? It'll be gone in no time. Other extensions also mention accommodations that only have 50-60 rooms. That's all well and good if they have additional facilities. Otherwise it truly IS first come first served. 

[Let Me Travel!]

We wanted to do the train post-excursion between Bergen and Norway. Well after about 1-year I did email.  They did not have a waitlist or anything…I tried to book the hotel on my own and they are sold out…I booked the post excursion on my own…different nearby hotel and I booked the train on my own…it is actually just a hair less expensive to do it on my own.  I will have to take a cab or shuttle to the airport from Oslo.

[biggerbearmom]

We are doing the train trip on our own in April. Did you know there is a direct airport train that runs every 20 minutes from Oslo Central Station?

1 hour ago, Let Me Travel! said:

We wanted to do the train post-excursion between Bergen and Norway. Well after about 1-year I did email.  They did not have a waitlist or anything…I tried to book the hotel on my own and they are sold out…I booked the post excursion on my own…different nearby hotel and I booked the train on my own…it is actually just a hair less expensive to do it on my own.  I will have to take a cab or shuttle to the airport from Oslo.

 

[Let Me Travel!]

I didn’t know that! Thanks for the info….that will be a real benefit! 

[zalusky]

On 2/10/2022 at 4:29 AM, Let Me Travel! said:

We wanted to do the train post-excursion between Bergen and Norway. Well after about 1-year I did email.  They did not have a waitlist or anything…I tried to book the hotel on my own and they are sold out…I booked the post excursion on my own…different nearby hotel and I booked the train on my own…it is actually just a hair less expensive to do it on my own.  I will have to take a cab or shuttle to the airport from Oslo.

We are looking at doing this as well.  Will you have to get another Covid test in Oslo to be able to fly back because of the on your own situation.

[OnTheJourney]

For what it's worth, I was just told again by Viking yesterday that, generally speaking, once an extension is filled, that's it. 

[JDincalif]

On 2/11/2022 at 3:32 AM, Let Me Travel! said:

I didn’t know that! Thanks for the info….that will be a real benefit! 

The airport-to-city center train is called Flytoget. You can view schedules and fares and purchase tickets on its website: flytoget.no/en 

[knoxclone]

Train to OsloAirport  is super easy and much less expensive!

[JeriGail]

17 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

For what it's worth, I was just told again by Viking yesterday that, generally speaking, once an extension is filled, that's it. 

Keep checking since some may cancel the extension and open up some spots.

[DebraLeeW]

Yes that happened to me on the 4-22 British Isles. Spot opened up on the Bergen-Oslo 2 day train post-extension. I had voucher credit available, so I added it. Now Have to use real money for the excursions. Oh well.

[DebraLeeW]

I also noticed that one spot for the Great Homes Gardens and Gin pre- extension (for our 4-22 cruise) suddenly became available 2 days ago and did not last long on the MVJ site. So it is possible, but not likely. 

[OnTheJourney]

2 hours ago, JeriGail said:

Keep checking since some may cancel the extension and open up some spots.

I jumped on both extensions that I wanted to make sure I got them. There were only 8 rooms left as of the other day for the one that stays at a small facility. 

[Twitchly]

Viking called me Friday (responding to my tellus email) to tell me they couldn’t add more people to the extension, but that they were pretty sure there would be cancellations at some point so I should just keep checking. 
 

She also told me that since we booked the cruise through a travel agent, the TA would have to book the extension. We wouldn’t be able to do it directly. Really?? Has that been everyone’s else’s experience? Seems like working with a TA just keeps adding unwanted layers between us and Viking. 

[CurlerRob]

4 hours ago, Twitchly said:

She also told me that since we booked the cruise through a travel agent, the TA would have to book the extension. We wouldn’t be able to do it directly. Really?? Has that been everyone’s else’s experience? Seems like working with a TA just keeps adding unwanted layers between us and Viking. 

It's been my experience that cruise lines will deal with only one point of contact - either you or your TA, depending on how you booked (or transferred the booking control). That's not unique to Viking.

 

IMHO it makes sense. For a cruise line to accept direction from multiple parties just opens the door to misinterpretations, errors or conflicting information - none of which are to the benefit of pax.

 

The tradeoff is between personal, direct control or whatever benefits you feel are gained by delegating to a TA, with the resultant need for an intermediary. That's always going to be a personal choice. 🍺🥌 

[Peregrina651]

On 2/11/2022 at 11:11 AM, zalusky said:

We are looking at doing this as well.  Will you have to get another Covid test in Oslo to be able to fly back because of the on your own situation.

 

If the 72 hour/3 day rule is still in place and if you are extending one or two nights, you should be able to use the test that Viking does on board for returning to the US BUT you must make sure that you have the results from the test that was done the day before disembarkation.  Example: sample taken today, Feb 13, you must board the plane back to the US by Feb 16. Test the 13th, disembark the 14th, fly home the 16th.  Fly home the 17th or after and you will need to arrange for another test.

 

The airlines are the gatekeepers for making sure that you have the needed testing paperwork. If you don't have the right paperwork, you won't get on the plane -- and you will have to scramble to get a test. There are only spot checks as you go through US customs.

 

On our Iceland trip this past summer (2021), we were given the results from two days before we disembarked but did not find that out until we were at the ticket counter checking in for the flight. I saw the date on the letter but failed to check the date of the actual test.  If I had checked, I would have asked for the test results for the next day. In other words, don't make my mistake.

 

Viking does not routinely test departing guests on disembarkation day.

[zalusky]

We wanted to take the 2 day Bergen to Oslo extension but they only offered the 4 day and that is sold out now.  As a result we were going to have our travel agent put something together.

I suppose we could literally disembark and take the train to Oslo and then head straight to the Airport.

 

Of course things are changing and whose to know what the rules in July will be!

Our 120 day refund deadline is next month and so far things are looking positive!

[OnTheJourney]

2 hours ago, CurlerRob said:

either you or your TA, depending on how you booked (or transferred the booking control). That's not unique to Viking.

A sideline to this is that I forgot to transfer 2 Viking bookings to my TA within the 60-day timeframe, so recently she tried to access those bookings and wasn't able to; however, in my recent dealings with Viking I touched on this subject again and they said that if I have a long-time relationship with my TA that she should call them again and expressed that we've worked together many years, and subsequently they might make an exception. I was led to believe that such might well have more 'clout' than, say, if I'd be working with a new agent and tried to transfer a booking after the 60 days elapsed. Just passing along what I was told...

 

34 minutes ago, zalusky said:

We wanted to take the 2 day Bergen to Oslo extension but they only offered the 4 day and that is sold out now.

Doesn't Viking ever add extra accommodations, etc. for sold-out extensions so as to allow for additional bookings? I guess I'm probably viewing it too much like a typical shore excursion where often the (at least larger) cruise lines just add more busses depending on the level of interest as seats fill up.  

Edited February 13, 2022 by OnTheJourney