VIKING first time cruising????

[rosewood jo]

Is there a chance at embarkation at the port, to get an cabin upgrade?

[Jim Avery]

3 minutes ago, rosewood jo said:

Is there a chance at embarkation at the port, to get an cabin upgrade?

I have heard of the elusive Upgrade Fairies but so far have not had even a glimpse.  Hope springs eternal...🍸

[Squawkman]

The upgrade fairy visited us once, but it was a few days before embarkation via email. We upgraded from a DV4 to a PV1 for $199pp.

[rosewood jo]

Had u sailed a bunch with Viking to get ur upgrade.  Or was it ur first time? 

[Squawkman]

1 minute ago, rosewood jo said:

Had u sailed a bunch with Viking to get ur upgrade.  Or was it ur first time? 

It was our first Viking Ocean cruise - we had done 2 Viking River cruises prior. But we were told the offer was random and did not consider prior Viking experience.

[CDNPolar]

This is not something that we hear of often or at all on Viking.

 

We were on an ocean cruise in December, just a couple months ago and there were only 500 and change on the ship which meant that half the cabins were empty.  We booked the lowest cabin category and there was no offer to upgrade and we have been on 5 Viking cruises.

Edited February 12, 2022 by CDNPolar
correction to spelling

[Moonlion]

1 hour ago, CDNPolar said:

This is not something that we hear of often or at all on Viking.

 

We were on an ocean cruise in December, just a couple months ago and there were only 500 and change on the ship which meant that half the cabins were empty.  We booked the lowest cabin category and there was no offer to upgrade and we have been on 5 Viking cruises.

Same with us.  There were only 418 pax on board our cruise in Jan '22.  We had booked a DV6 cabin and didn't receive any upgrades offers, either for free or at an additional cost. 

[Clay Clayton]

2 hours ago, Squawkman said:

The upgrade fairy visited us once, but it was a few days before embarkation via email. We upgraded from a DV4 to a PV1 for $199pp.

Same for us except it was two weeks prior. 
 

We looked into an upgrade onboard the March 2020 Transatlantic (that got turned back halfway) that sailed with under 450 aboard.  The price to upgrade to a PV on that was much much higher.  Something like $1000pp.  Based on what they quoted us then (we asked about all staterooms) it appeared the calculation they were doing was (brochure price of upgrade stateroom - actual cost paid for current room) divided by 2.  I verified this by using that formula for our previous upgrade of $199 per person it was within a few dollars. 

Edited February 12, 2022 by Clay Clayton

[TayanaLorna]

We got email upgrade offers twice within a few days of sailing.  One was $400 for a DV6 to PV1 (on our first Viking cruise) and the other was $299 for a DV5 to a PV2.  Both pricing well under the difference had we bought a PV when we originally booked.  We have seen the DV to PV price difference when originally booking between $700 and $1200.

[rosewood jo]

Wow.  That’s fabulous!    Wonder what triggers who gets the email? 

[MikeyB]

This is an excellent question.

Since Viking reads CruiseCritic perhaps they can address this on-line.  The chances of that is zero.

And there are no free upgrade offers.

Allow me to tell you what does not trigger an Upgrade offer-

Loyalty to the product.

[philw1776]

Yup, cruised with Viking for years, sometimes buying extra cabins for family members. Never sniffed an upgrade.

[millybess]

They offered us an upgrade once from a PS1 to an ES.  They offered it via phone call directly to us and left a voice message.  They didn't go through our TA and by the time we got back to them someone else had accepted the offer.  It was a couple of weeks before sailing and the cost was $50 extra per night.

[Jim Avery]

17 minutes ago, millybess said:

They offered us an upgrade once from a PS1 to an ES.  They offered it via phone call directly to us and left a voice message.  They didn't go through our TA and by the time we got back to them someone else had accepted the offer.  It was a couple of weeks before sailing and the cost was $50 extra per night.

I'll take it!  Call me Viking, call me.....🍸

[Mich3554]

5 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

We got email upgrade offers twice within a few days of sailing.  One was $400 for a DV6 to PV1 (on our first Viking cruise) and the other was $299 for a DV5 to a PV2.  Both pricing well under the difference had we bought a PV when we originally booked.  We have seen the DV to PV price difference when originally booking between $700 and $1200.

This is the only way we have gotten an upgrade.  The first time, I received an email offering to upgrade us from a DV4 to a PV1 but the price differential was the same as the online price differential. The second time, a few weeks before our cruise, we got an email offering an upgrade from a DV4 to a PV1 for a nominal cost. I want to say it was only $200 pp?  These were both pre covid sailings.

 

Our last cruise, despite the cruise only having about 40% of the normal passengers we were not offered an upgrade.  I’m guessing that many of the higher level cabins are already booked from upgrades from the 125% vouchers.   I know that our cabin steward mentioned that his ES were fully booked during all 3 of the cruises we did back to back.

[Squawkman]

2 hours ago, millybess said:

They offered us an upgrade once from a PS1 to an ES.  They offered it via phone call directly to us and left a voice message.  They didn't go through our TA and by the time we got back to them someone else had accepted the offer.  It was a couple of weeks before sailing and the cost was $50 extra per night.

Moral of the story is to always check your voicemail as well as email a few weeks before the cruise. 

[millybess]

2 minutes ago, Squawkman said:

Moral of the story is to always check your voicemail as well as email a few weeks before the cruise. 

Right.  We knew they were calling, but we were having way too much fun at Disney 🎢  and didn't pick up, so they moved on and rightly so.  We called them back and the offer was gone and the agent said we would have had to make a decision right then.  

[stretchcruz]

7 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

We got email upgrade offers twice within a few days of sailing.  One was $400 for a DV6 to PV1 (on our first Viking cruise) and the other was $299 for a DV5 to a PV2.  Both pricing well under the difference had we bought a PV when we originally booked.  We have seen the DV to PV price difference when originally booking between $700 and $1200.

I'd love to have that offer!!!

[deec]

we will be on the jupiter for 50 or so nights....would love an upgrade to a PV or higher!!

[CCWineLover]

On 2/13/2022 at 10:48 AM, Mich3554 said:

 

Our last cruise, despite the cruise only having about 40% of the normal passengers we were not offered an upgrade.  I’m guessing that many of the higher level cabins are already booked from upgrades from the 125% vouchers.   I know that our cabin steward mentioned that his ES were fully booked during all 3 of the cruises we did back to back.

Michelle - we have NEVER been offered an upgrade and we've done 7 Viking Ocean cruises now. 

I can only think that it is random, since we have asked about it and were always told no one gets them.  Even on our Bermuda cruise which was quite empty - nothing doing.

I do think it is luck of the draw, like winning the lottery.  I cannot find any specific reasons.  At one time I thought it was that the upper cabins were full from the 125% vouchers but even that didn't work, as upgrades were not done (for us) when those upper level cabins were open.

Like Jim says, there is an upgrade fairy out there but visits random people randomly!

[Mich3554]

30 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Michelle - we have NEVER been offered an upgrade and we've done 7 Viking Ocean cruises now. 

I can only think that it is random, since we have asked about it and were always told no one gets them.  Even on our Bermuda cruise which was quite empty - nothing doing.

I do think it is luck of the draw, like winning the lottery.  I cannot find any specific reasons.  At one time I thought it was that the upper cabins were full from the 125% vouchers but even that didn't work, as upgrades were not done (for us) when those upper level cabins were open.

Like Jim says, there is an upgrade fairy out there but visits random people randomly!

The cruises we were offered an upgrade on (I have only ever received an email) were Trade Routes which we took in Oct 2019 on the Jupiter.  We were offered a PV1 upgrade, but the cost differential was what it would cost from published fares.  We passed on it.  Next offering was for the SA cruise Dec 2019 we met you on.  The upgrade was $200pp for a PV1.  We took this offer.
Our last cruise was 3 cruises, and there were anywhere from 380-410 passengers.  No upgrades on any of the legs.  We did get a peek in the ES during turn around, but none offered.  My fear of trying out an ES is that it would increase our budget even higher than the PV we are now used to!

[steve1191]

We are booked on the British Isles Trip on Viking Venuson 7/1/2022. I would love to hear from those of you that have taken one of their Ocean cruises for your feedback on the overall experience, food, entertainment etc. We have a DV1 cabin on deck 3 which happens to be on the very back of the ship looking out to the ocean from where we have come. I would be interested in also hearing about the excursion offerings on the BRitish Isles cruise staring in Bergen and ending in London

 

Stevei

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, steve1191 said:

We are booked on the British Isles Trip on Viking Venuson 7/1/2022. I would love to hear from those of you that have taken one of their Ocean cruises for your feedback on the overall experience, food, entertainment etc. We have a DV1 cabin on deck 3 which happens to be on the very back of the ship looking out to the ocean from where we have come. I would be interested in also hearing about the excursion offerings on the BRitish Isles cruise staring in Bergen and ending in London

 

Stevei

YouTube is your friend. There are lots of reviews that provide you lots of information on experience, food, entertainment, etc. 

 

I would also suggest you review this thread:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2416372-tips-for-new-viking-ocean-cruisers/page/62/#comment-62141739

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, steve1191 said:

We are booked on the British Isles Trip on Viking Venuson 7/1/2022. I would love to hear from those of you that have taken one of their Ocean cruises for your feedback on the overall experience, food, entertainment etc. We have a DV1 cabin on deck 3 which happens to be on the very back of the ship looking out to the ocean from where we have come. I would be interested in also hearing about the excursion offerings on the BRitish Isles cruise staring in Bergen and ending in London

 

Stevei

 

The idea here is to get your questions in front of the biggest possible audience. To do that, you should be asking your questions in a new thread in the Viking forum where everyone can see it. A lot of your questions -- dining, entertainment --  have already been answered and 'searching' the Viking forum may turn up some of those answers. 

[Pete B]

On 2/13/2022 at 3:31 PM, MikeyB said:

This is an excellent question.

Since Viking reads CruiseCritic perhaps they can address this on-line.  The chances of that is zero.

And there are no free upgrade offers.

Allow me to tell you what does not trigger an Upgrade offer-

Loyalty to the product.

We booked the cheapest cabin for our upcoming Northern lights cruise, and received a complimentary upgrade a few weeks ago. I can only assume that they (Viking) were trying to free up cheaper cabins because thy were easier to sell. So there ARE free upgrades occasionally, especially in these strange times.