Multiple Free Excursions Not Allowed on Multi-Segment Cruise

[-Lew-]

We're cruising on Viking Sky this fall on a multi-segment cruise that was combined into a single booking.  Excursion selection opened yesterday and we were faced with Viking not allowing us to book more than one free excursions on multiple logical segments.  This applies regardless of whether the free excursions are duplicates or different.

 

One example would be for our three days in Fusina where the second day is the end of the first segment and beginning of the second.  Viking will allow us to book a free transfer to and from Piazza San Marco on day one, but not again on day three.  There are other repeated port calls with the same restriction.

 

Has anyone been faced with this same restriction?  Is there a way around it?

 

Thank you for your advice... 

[May B]

While you’re waiting for somebody to respond, who actually knows a solution, I’ll ask: did you call Viking? Or even write to that tellus email. Or live chat.

 

Good luck with it. I predict you’ll get everything you want.

[OneSixtyToOne]

Typically Viking does not offer reservations on back to back overnight days. The crew is involved with turning the ship over for arriving and departing passengers, etc. Once you are onboard they will arrange something for those passengers that are sailing both legs. Venice, however has always been an odd situation. Fusina is an industrial port and you cannot wander off the ship unescorted so they need to make arrangements.

[-Lew-]

36 minutes ago, May B said:

While you’re waiting for somebody to respond, who actually knows a solution, I’ll ask: did you call Viking? Or even write to that tellus email. Or live chat.

 

Good luck with it. I predict you’ll get everything you want.

 

Thanks, May.  I did send a message to Viking.  Hope they can assist us.

 

6 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Typically Viking does not offer reservations on back to back overnight days. The crew is involved with turning the ship over for arriving and departing passengers, etc.

 

Understand... However, in the case I mentioned Viking does offer excursions on day one and three, but not on turnaround day two.  Other duplicated port calls do not involve a turnaround, but still do not allow a second free excursion.

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, -Lew- said:

 

Thanks, May.  I did send a message to Viking.  Hope they can assist us.

 

 

Understand... However, in the case I mentioned Viking does offer excursions on day one and three, but not on turnaround day two.  Other duplicated port calls do not involve a turnaround, but still do not allow a second free excursion.

Lew - which ports (without a turnaround) do not allow multiple included excursions?

We are traveling there in 2024 similar itinerary.

Can you give us some examples so we know what to plan for?

[dd57]

I know Viking includes one excursion in each port, not each day.  So if you spend multiple days in a port, you only get one.  At least that is for a single segment cruise, and happened to us on a Viking river cruise.  But if you are doing a B2B or multi segment, that seems excessive.  

[-Lew-]

1 hour ago, CCWineLover said:

Lew - which ports (without a turnaround) do not allow multiple included excursions?

We are traveling there in 2024 similar itinerary.

Can you give us some examples so we know what to plan for?

 

Kent...  Our experience was all turnarounds and duplicate ports were allowed one free excursion in total...whether the excursion was the same or not.  In addition to multi-day turnarounds, we encountered the issue for the following ports: Crete, Rhodes, Ephesus, Troy, Naples, Sicily, and Florence.

 

For Istanbul it wasn't an issue because we're doing a dinner cruise on day one and a free excursion on day three.  For Athens, where we port twice, the second for two nights, we'd like to use the free excursions for a ride into the city and return on our own.

 

I'll post what I learn from Viking here...

[Hazel52]

We had a similar situation last Spring. All was resolved once on board for all 3 days. Including an included tour on the 2 days we wanted to do included tours. Perhaps you’ll get the same answer from Viking. Did you try the chat option in MVJ?

[-Lew-]

25 minutes ago, Hazel52 said:

We had a similar situation last Spring. All was resolved once on board for all 3 days. Including an included tour on the 2 days we wanted to do included tours. Perhaps you’ll get the same answer from Viking. Did you try the chat option in MVJ?

 

Thank you for relating your experience.  I'm one who jumps online asap to book excursions.  I'd prefer not waiting until we're onboard and taking our chances.

 

I submitted the online form outlining my concern.

[FetaCheese]

1 hour ago, -Lew- said:

 

Kent...  Our experience was all turnarounds and duplicate ports were allowed one free excursion in total...whether the excursion was the same or not.  In addition to multi-day turnarounds, we encountered the issue for the following ports: Crete, Rhodes, Ephesus, Troy, Naples, Sicily, and Florence.

 

For Istanbul it wasn't an issue because we're doing a dinner cruise on day one and a free excursion on day three.  For Athens, where we port twice, the second for two nights, we'd like to use the free excursions for a ride into the city and return on our own.

 

I'll post what I learn from Viking here...

Was on Venus, Dec 2022.  V provided a free shuttle to downtown Athens, To/ from Hadrian's gate/Plaka district.  I remember they ran all day, on the hour. Guest services should have the exact schedule.  Did not need to book shorex just for downtown.

Edited July 22, 2023 by FetaCheese

[-Lew-]

9 minutes ago, FetaCheese said:

Was on Venus, Dec 2022.  V provided a free shuttle to downtown Athens, To/ from Hadrian's gate/Plaka district.  I remember they ran all day, on the hour. Guest services should have the exact schedule.  Did not need to book shorex just for downtown.

 

Good info!  Thank you...

[CDNPolar]

One included per port.

[FetaCheese]

2 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

Was on Venus, Dec 2022.  V provided a free shuttle to downtown Athens, To/ from Hadrian's gate/Plaka district.  I remember they ran all day, on the hour. Guest services should have the exact schedule.  Did not need to book shorex just for downtown.

Correction -- was Dec. 2021.  Other info was correct.

[May B]

In Copenhagen and Stockholm, we used the shuttle to go into town. Walked back in Copenhagen.

 

We took the first shuttle of the day and arrived early, wanting to be sure it didn’t fill up before we got there. There were about eight guests, total, on both of them!

[flare3192]

I am surprised you will be in Fusina and not Chioggia. We did the cruise and spent the 3 days in Chioggia. There were no excursions you could book on the second day before leaving for the cruise. However there were about 6 or 8 excursions available on the second day that we were not informed of until that week. You have a few days to decide on them. All of them were listed on the web excursion page. There is transportation to Venice the second day to do your own thing if you want to.

[OneSixtyToOne]

47 minutes ago, flare3192 said:

I am surprised you will be in Fusina and not Chioggia. We did the cruise and spent the 3 days in Chioggia. 

When we were in Chioggia, the Viking guide told us that we were lucky because they can only dock one ship at a time. If it’s taken, they dock in Fusina. The local staff called it “the ugly place.” They hate going there and prefer Chioggia.

Edited July 23, 2023 by OneSixtyToOne

[shmabbies]

3 hours ago, flare3192 said:

We did the cruise and spent the 3 days in Chioggia. There were no excursions you could book on the second day before leaving for the cruise. However there were about 6 or 8 excursions available on the second day that we were not informed of until that week. You have a few days to decide on them. All of them were listed on the web excursion page. 

 

 

This was our experience in March 2023 on Sky in Chioggia.  We were able to book Day One and Day Three (both were included, free excursions) from home.  Day Two offerings were in our cabin on a piece of paper (easily overlooked) and we chose a paid excursion to Verona (which I highly recommend).  I did not get the sense there was a lot of availability on those Day Two excursions so personally I would not recommend waiting a few days to decide.  We turned in our form immediately.

 

Though it worked out for us, I'm concerned about what OP is reporting and I'm concerned about some of the responses.  Viking's text DOES say one included excursion PER PORT and I believe it always has, but I'd probably not book if I knew this was going to be enforced - not that one knows in advance and we would be reliant on posters telling us about it before final payment.

 

 

[Murt22]

We will have the same situation next September. It seems that it would make sense to book our own excursion for the 2nd day - as long as there is a way to get to it. If it is not clear where we are in port, that could be an issue. Guess I need to do more research.

[Hazel52]

16 hours ago, -Lew- said:

 

Thank you for relating your experience.  I'm one who jumps online asap to book excursions.  I'd prefer not waiting until we're onboard and taking our chances.

 

I submitted the online form outlining my concern.

We do, too. Just wanted to reassure you that if you get no response before your window opens, book what you can and go to guest services to resolve once you board. Also, we were in Chioggia which was a lovely port and easy to walk to and explore for 1 of our 3 days. If I remember correctly, I did an online chat with Viking before our cruise and they said we’d be able to have an included tour each day - even the same one…. As in “Venice on Your Own” once we got on board. Don’t know why they do it this way for back to backs, seems confusing.

[longterm]

On 7/22/2023 at 9:15 AM, -Lew- said:

 

Thanks, May.  I did send a message to Viking.  Hope they can assist us.

 

 

Understand... However, in the case I mentioned Viking does offer excursions on day one and three, but not on turnaround day two.  Other duplicated port calls do not involve a turnaround, but still do not allow a second free excursion.

We were on the Italy, Adriatic & Greece cruise in March 2022; we were in Venice for a few days, docked 2 of the 3 nights in Fusina, the 3rd at another spot whose name I now forget (started at Fusina, moved to the other for a night to accommodate another ship at Fusina, then back to Fusina for 3rd night).

From what I remember, we were able to do excursions into Venice all 3 days; on arrival day we took the excursion to Murano and Murano; on the 2nd day, which I think must have been embarcation/debarcation day for many, we took the included walking tour, and then on the 3rd there was a bit of a snafu. Originally we were supposed to tour St. Mark's, only to be told that tours on Sundays aren't available, so we were quietly and unceremoniously bumped from our scheduled excursion.

 

About 10 of us were in the same situation and some of us complained, so the Viking tour director arranged a private water taxi and tour for us to the Doge's Palace (didn't get to go into St. Mark's though), as well as a brief walking tour in the city. Because we arrived at about 8:30am, St. Mark's Square had about 20 people in it; it was a wonderful time for photos--the light was really nice--and we were lucky to stand in the square without a crush of people. 

[Murt22]

33 minutes ago, longterm said:

Originally we were supposed to tour St. Mark's, only to be told that tours on Sundays aren't available, so we were quietly and unceremoniously bumped from our scheduled excursion.

I looked at our itinerary for next September, and our 2nd day in Venice is a Sunday - so that information is very useful. Thanks. We are also in Rome on a Sunday...

[longterm]

2 hours ago, Murt22 said:

I looked at our itinerary for next September, and our 2nd day in Venice is a Sunday - so that information is very useful. Thanks. We are also in Rome on a Sunday...

The odd thing was that Viking had a St. Mark's excursion for that day, even though I'm sure that tours haven't been allowed in St. Mark's on Sundays for many years. Then, to make it worse, nobody told us; I just happened to be going through my excursion slips, noticed that they didn't give us anything for that Sunday, and that's how I found out the excursion had been canceled. 

 

But, they did a great thing and arranged a wonderful excursion for our little group, picked us up in a private water taxi, dropped us and picked us up right in front of St. Marks Square. Plus, our group was small going through the Doge's Palace, which was nice. 

 

This was at the tail end of the Covid lockdown, and Italy at the time wouldn't let cruise passengers roam freely in any Italian towns without a guide--so we had to stay with our handler, with a Viking person tailing behind to make sure we all stayed in the group. We were given about a half-hour to walk about on our own, near the Rialto bridge.

[millybess]

On 7/22/2023 at 9:12 AM, -Lew- said:

We're cruising on Viking Sky this fall on a multi-segment cruise that was combined into a single booking.  Excursion selection opened yesterday and we were faced with Viking not allowing us to book more than one free excursions on multiple logical segments.  This applies regardless of whether the free excursions are duplicates or different.

 

One example would be for our three days in Fusina where the second day is the end of the first segment and beginning of the second.  Viking will allow us to book a free transfer to and from Piazza San Marco on day one, but not again on day three.  There are other repeated port calls with the same restriction.

 

Has anyone been faced with this same restriction?  Is there a way around it?

 

Thank you for your advice... 

We booked Mediterranean Odyssey and Empires of the Mediterranean separately and unexpectedly, Viking combined the booking under one booking number.  That was okay with us.

 

However, what came as a surprise was when it came to booking excursions and dining, it was treated as two trips.  There were no problems booking included excursions (some of them were really good and better than what we're used to).  But for a B2B cruise, we had 12 specialty dining reservations which was more than we wanted to use.

[-Lew-]

As promised, below is my correspondence with Viking's Guest Services Department.  I understand, but do not agree with, Viking's policy.  After all, I paid for each segment as if they were separate cruises, but Viking is not allowing us full benefit of what would otherwise be included excursions.

 

As a point of comparison, we sailed on Regent Splendor for three consecutive cruises in January and February of this year and were able to take advantage of as many included excursions as we wanted...including repeated port calls.  I am aware Viking and Regent are two different cruise lines, but they do cater to the same clientele.

 

=====

 

Me...  We're cruising on Viking Sky this fall on a 55-day multi-segment cruise that was combined into a single booking.  Excursion selection opened yesterday and we were faced with Viking not allowing us to book more than one free excursion on multiple logical segments. This applies regardless of whether the free excursions are duplicates or different.

One example would be for our three days in Fusina where the second day is the end of the first segment and beginning of the second. Viking will allow us to book a free transfer to and from Piazza San Marco on day one, but not again on day three. There are other repeated port calls with the same restriction.

It appears we're being penalized by the fact that Viking combined the segments. This was not our choice. Can anything be done to correct this?

Thank you for your assistance.

=====

Viking...  Rest assured, you will receive your allotted number of reservations for each segment. When we have a large number of in-transit guests booked on a combination cruise, we will offer one included tour and one optional tour in the 'in-transit' ports. These excursions are only available to book on board, as they will not be available in My Viking Journey.

=====

Me...  Regarding your statement concerning booking onboard, can you guarantee full availability of excursions and times as there were when excursion bookings opened on July 21st?  If so, I’m fine waiting until we board.  If not, I would appreciate it if you would find a way to confirm us for a second booking on turnaround days.

In addition to turnaround days, we were not allowed to make a second free booking at the following ports that are visited on other days:  Crete, Rhodes, Ephesus, Troy, Naples, Sicily, and Florence.  Will a full complement of excursions be available to us once we board…guaranteed?

=====

Viking...  Your cruise is part of what we call a combination cruise, which is made up of multiple, separate itineraries. Shore excursions are not listed on embarkation/disembarkation (turnaround) days but are available to be booked on board. There should be no problem reserving your remaining shore excursions on board. We suggest going to the Shore Excursion Desk/Guest Services as soon as you can. They'll advise what is available and when.

As far as the included shore excursions for Crete, Rhodes, Ephesus, Troy, Naples, Sicily, and Florence, you may only do one included tour per port; even if we have 2 days in the same port. We have to be fair to all guests, and all guests receive one included per port (not per day). There will be optional shore excursions available to you and of course the on board staff will be available to advise you of the details.

[shmabbies]

I'm horrifed.  Lew, would it be too much of an imposition to ask you to list Day One (port name), Day Two (port name) and so forth for dummies like myself who are having problems visualizing?  If not, I understand that it's too much trouble.  We were on the "Italy, Greece, Adriatic" combo in March this year (I booked it as a 14 day cruise and well after final payment learned it was two one week cruises) with three days in Chioggia that worked out fine in that, as I've previously posted, we did included free excursions on Days One & Three (booked from home) and a paid excursion for Day Two (booked on board).  This contradicts what you were told is the existing policy.   Our 2024 cruise has three days in Athens (which I'm actually not worried about since we've been there many times & have a private guide we love if needed - but in principle I find what you were told unacceptable) but it also has two non-consecutive days in Crete - at different ports - wondering how this will be treated.  Going forward this will greatly impact our future bookings.  It will be the third nail in the dissatisfaction coffin.