Later embarkation time Viking cruise - Venice

[Plucas]

We are taking the Italian sojourn from Venice to Rome. We arrive a day early into Venice, staying on San Marco, and we want to maximize the day in Venice when we are to embark. The port in Chioggia is at least an hour away and while we are allowed to embark at 2:00, we want to try to stay a little bit longer.  I’m wondering if we could wait to embark until 5:00 or 6:00 or even later. The ship stays in port overnight so there is no risk of missing the ship departing. This is our first cruise so I appreciate insight from this forum.

[formernuke]

Yes it is ok to board later than your cabin availability time

[Mike07]

I did the Grand European starting in Budapest that spends the first day as an overnight.... At dinner at 1900, there were still like 30-40 people that hadn't arrived yet because of flights and/or delays. There were a few arriving mid way thru dinner because flights landed at like 1800. Some apparently got in at close to midnight.

[Peregrina651]

BUT,  you need to let the ship know what time you plan to board so that they can be ready for you. By 6 pm, most pax will have checked in (hopefully) and the ground crew who handle check-in may have gone for the day (barring delayed flights). Don't worry. They have a Plan B for late arrivals.

 

How to contact the ship? Two weeks before you sail you will receive final documentation from Viking via e-mail. The e-mail will contain two important bits of data: the ship's e-mail address and the ship's phone number.

 

Don't want to wait until two weeks before sailing to get this ball rolling? Contact Viking at  tellus@vikingcruises.com. Include you booking number and your phone number. Don't bother calling or using chat for this job; this is a job for TellUs.

 

FYI:

1) dinner is any time between 6-9pm (unlike the river cruises, where dinner for all is one 7pm seating). Complimentary room service is 24/7. Allow half an hour or so for the formalities of check in and boarding.

2) Viking usually opens check in around 10 am; it is first come first served for all cabins. No killing half a day waiting for "your" boarding time.

3) the 2pm time given on your invoice is actually the latest time your cabin will  be available for occupancy. It's a nice fact to know but I've never had to wait that long to at least dump our hand luggage.

 

Food for thought. What to do with your luggage while you are out and about seeing Venice. You can't drag it around with you if you are planning to visit the inside of any of the buildings -- and honestly, you don't want to drag it around with you even if you aren't doing inside visits.

 

In the meantime, if you haven't found it yet, check out this thread for new cruisers.  DO NOT start at page 1. That information is outdated (and misleading).  The link will take you to page 66, in the middle of 2022, even some of that information will be outdated because of Covid concerns that are no longer in place. Yes, you will be confused because you are jumping into the middle of multiple conversations. Just keep reading!

 

Finally, welcome to Cruise Critic, welcome to Viking and welcome to the world of cruising. If you have more questions, ASK!

 

[Frisky070802]

2 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

....

 

Finally, welcome to Cruise Critic, welcome to Viking and welcome to the world of cruising. If you have more questions, ASK!

 

I just want to give a shout out to @Peregrina651 for this response.  It was really above and beyond the call of duty (given the original post) and had a lot of useful info.  

[OneSixtyToOne]

I hate to throw cold water on your plans, but last year on our Mediterranean Odyssey cruise our stay in Venice was cut short due to bad weather. We did not overnight there and instead left around 7:00 PM. We headed to Crotia in heavy seas and gale force winds where we picked up about 100 passengers that missed embarkation. To compound matters, the Italian air traffic controllers had a one day strike. People arriving that day saw nothing of Venice.

 

Make sure to contact the ship to confirm you will indeed not depart early.

 

Edited June 20 by OneSixtyToOne

[Peregrina651]

Cold water, maybe, but necessary advice nonetheless. 

[Plucas]

11 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

BUT,  you need to let the ship know what time you plan to board so that they can be ready for you. By 6 pm, most pax will have checked in (hopefully) and the ground crew who handle check-in may have gone for the day (barring delayed flights). Don't worry. They have a Plan B for late arrivals.

 

How to contact the ship? Two weeks before you sail you will receive final documentation from Viking via e-mail. The e-mail will contain two important bits of data: the ship's e-mail address and the ship's phone number.

 

Don't want to wait until two weeks before sailing to get this ball rolling? Contact Viking at  tellus@vikingcruises.com. Include you booking number and your phone number. Don't bother calling or using chat for this job; this is a job for TellUs.

 

FYI:

1) dinner is any time between 6-9pm (unlike the river cruises, where dinner for all is one 7pm seating). Complimentary room service is 24/7. Allow half an hour or so for the formalities of check in and boarding.

2) Viking usually opens check in around 10 am; it is first come first served for all cabins. No killing half a day waiting for "your" boarding time.

3) the 2pm time given on your invoice is actually the latest time your cabin will  be available for occupancy. It's a nice fact to know but I've never had to wait that long to at least dump our hand luggage.

 

Food for thought. What to do with your luggage while you are out and about seeing Venice. You can't drag it around with you if you are planning to visit the inside of any of the buildings -- and honestly, you don't want to drag it around with you even if you aren't doing inside visits.

 

In the meantime, if you haven't found it yet, check out this thread for new cruisers.  DO NOT start at page 1. That information is outdated (and misleading).  The link will take you to page 66, in the middle of 2022, even some of that information will be outdated because of Covid concerns that are no longer in place. Yes, you will be confused because you are jumping into the middle of multiple conversations. Just keep reading!

 

Finally, welcome to Cruise Critic, welcome to Viking and welcome to the world of cruising. If you have more questions, ASK!

 

Thank you all for the thoughtful and informative responses.

[TayanaLorna]

From Santiago, Chile we had an all day private excursion which dropped us off at the port of Valparaiso at 7:30 pm.  We didn't notify Viking.  However it was not a port known for early or changed departures and Viking had excursions planned for the next day with an evening sail away time.

 

However, Venice could be another story as others have indicated.  Our original Venice sail away time was 2 pm but changed to 10 pm which was certainly in our favor.  Arrival and departure times for Venice can change for a number of reasons beyond Vikings control - tides, wind direction, amount of rain - either separately or at the same time.