Excursion Planning

[zukecruiser]

Have an upcoming cruise in June on Viking Venus.  Working on planning excursions and cannot find any information on prices or excursion times in My Viking Journey. On last Viking cruise in 2019, all this information was available which helped when making actual excursion reservations.  Wondering if I am missing something or if this is way Viking now shows this information.

[millybess]

We are cruising in May and our excursions were available to view (along with prices and times) 90 days before.

[TayanaLorna]

8 minutes ago, zukecruiser said:

Have an upcoming cruise in June on Viking Venus.  Working on planning excursions and cannot find any information on prices or excursion times in My Viking Journey. On last Viking cruise in 2019, all this information was available which helped when making actual excursion reservations.  Wondering if I am missing something or if this is way Viking now shows this information.

Did you click on each day of your trip?  Embarkation day does not normally have excursions.  

[OnTheJourney]

24 minutes ago, zukecruiser said:

Working on planning excursions and cannot find any information on prices or excursion times in My Viking Journey.

Based on what has happened with the stated availability of excursions for the upcoming Chairman's cruise, there appears to have been inconsistency on MVJ - same has happened for booking dining times. 

[janetcbl]

I’m on a combination Baltic Jewels( Homelands) and and Into the Midnight Sun. Excursions were supposed to be open for booking last Wednesday. They weren’t. Contacted Viking and was told they were “still working on them”; they would be released “in a week or two”, and the agent suggested excursions would not be by cabin category. Not a happy camper here, but “going with the flow”, whatever that may be.

 

 

[zukecruiser]

Wondering if you are seeing prices and times on excursion details in MVJ other than just tour information.  I get the comment " Sorry, there are currently no excursions to view on this day" on each itinerary day. Thanks for any feedback.

[duquephart]

Going to be free for all once available.

[Peregrina651]

4 hours ago, janetcbl said:

I’m on a combination Baltic Jewels( Homelands) and and Into the Midnight Sun. Excursions were supposed to be open for booking last Wednesday. They weren’t. Contacted Viking and was told they were “still working on them”; they would be released “in a week or two”, and the agent suggested excursions would not be by cabin category. Not a happy camper here, but “going with the flow”, whatever that may be.

 

 

 

 

Much to our dismay, the tourism industry is not as ready for our return as we are to return. Securing contracts with shorex vendors has been a huge hurdle for Viking since it returned to the seas in May, 2021. Some itineraries are harder hit than others.

 

Viking was fortunate enough to be able to continue to employ a percentage of its staff throughout the pandemic. Many of the shoreside vendors were not as lucky; employees found jobs elsewhere; they had no choice. Who knows how many of them will be returning to the industry and when? Training replacements is a slow process -- especially to get the experienced, well trained guides that Viking demands. It will be a while before shoreside capacity is back to pre-hiatus levels.

 

Viking is also hobbled by a booking system that does not seem to be very flexible. If it were flexible,  we wouldn't still be having the booking problems that we face anytime the booking time line is thrown off because the contracts have been delayed. But 7+ years ago when the system was designed, who could have ever predicted an 18+ month world-wide shutdown of the tourism industry? Whoever thought that that a change to the booking time line would ever need to be adjusted on a departure by departure basis?

 

Janet is right. If we wish to cruise right now, we must be ready to accept that it is going to be a lot different in some regards and to accept that we will have to "go with the flow" or else we are going to be mighty unhappy campers.

 

 

[lackcreativity]

Combine the pandemic related glitches in Viking's scheduling shore excursions with the need to cancel stops in Russia and revamp those itineraries and you have an administrative nightmare.

 

As mentioned above, patience is a virtue. Just get me aboard and take me somewhere nice! Leaving Friday. (Hope I will remember to heed my own advice over any glitches that may occur.)