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lackcreativity
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Nottingham, MD
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Viking
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Mediterranean
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Sold Out Excursion Question - Viking Ocean - Cruise Critic Community Excursion booking - Page 2 - Viking Ocean - Cruise Critic Community Here are two more, again I didn't preview them, just copied them for you. There are several tricks of the trade for booking excursions, most likely you will find them in these links above, as the Viking crowd is generally a helpful bunch. Just a few highlights: Spots on an optional excursion are not yours until paid for, just putting them in your cart does not complete the process. Sold out excursions frequently have places that open up, so check back frequently. Even from our Veranda cabins (last to book), we have always been pretty satisfied with our bookings. We missed out on a couple over our five cruises, but overall good. Read excursions carefully to determine if you will be mostly on a bus for a panoramic tour, or will there be a walking portion. Also, note the difference between "see" a sight versus "visiting" the sight. See most often means from the outside, Visit usually means go inside. For example, you might see the Colosseum from the outside, or you might go inside. Enjoy your first Viking cruise!
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Thanks for great tips and advice on booking optional excursions! - Viking Ocean - Cruise Critic Community The link above I found just a page or two later than this first page. I didn't really scan much of the thread, but I did want to offer you one example. This is a pretty frequent question, and if you scroll through a number of pages of the Viking thread I am sure you will find a number of others.
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I do that all the time. It's easy enough to do with Google Maps. Enter the destination of your excursion, click on directions, add in the cruise port as the other location and enter. It should come up with the driving time. I use this also to gauge how far it is to walk from one place to another in a city. You just need to click on the little walking person figure to switch from driving distance. I don't walk as fast as the little Google person, so I always add some time!
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Viking does offer an option to past customers to delay the pay-in-full timing when you have another cruise already booked or when you book onboard. Be certain to request it when booking, as sometimes it is not directly offered, but it will be honored when requested. Final payment will be 6 months from sailing in those cases. If you wait until 2025 and find the availability you want with Viking, then keep that in mind going forward. Many of us use that strategy to manage our payment dates. In our early days with Viking interest rates were so low it didn't seem like such an issue. Now, a year's worth of earned interest is worth some effort!
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Since Malta was supposed to be an overnight, will you at least get to spend Christmas Eve visiting there? I was originally tempted by this itinerary, but the winter scheduling, the four sea days, and the uncertainty over the North African ports made me decide this was not the one I was hoping to find. This is really an unacceptable circumstance in my opinion.
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My advice is based on instinct, not experience, so hopefully others will have more specific advice. If you encounter this problem when your scheduled booking time arrives, immediately call Viking to have an agent handle it for you over the phone.
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Flyer Talker, Thanks for your input on my comments regarding Viking Air and our upcoming trip from Baltimore to France. Honestly, I was aware of much of what you said. In the past we would drive to Philadelphia or Washington to improve our flight options, but that became very tiresome in itself. I know well that for us there is only one preferred flight to Europe daily from BWI, and it is that British Airways flight to Heathrow. That was what I meant by our "usual" flight. I know how much some people complain about LHR, but to us, it is familiar. I knew about the long layover, but had planned to check in to the adjacent hotel at the airport for a shower and maybe a nap. That might be less tiring that the three flight itinerary we were assigned by Viking. However, the upcharge of $500+ per person along with the cost of the hotel room was not acceptable for us. We are not frequent flyers outside of one international trip a year and a couple of trips to Boston. To claim that air travel is in turmoil was an overstatement on my part. Supply and demand is certainly at play in the market now. It may be naive of me to expect to see prices from five years ago in the future!
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We have always purchased Viking Air, but for the first time I felt we did not get any value from it for our trip this June. For the itinerary I wanted, from our usual gateway on our usual British Airways through Heathrow, they wanted to charge us another $500 to $700 pp depending on when we called. The flights they picked seemed ridiculous: outbound we fly from Baltimore to Detroit to Paris to Lyon, and the return leg is similar to our preferred route (Marseille to LHR to BWI). The only reason we accepted that is based on favorable timing. The trip to France will take place during daytime hours, departing at 10:50 AM. I will accept some inconvenience to avoid those overnight flights in coach! My overall point is that since Covid (I know, tired of hearing that) air travel just seems in turmoil. Even our routine trips from Baltimore to Boston are much more expensive than they used to be.
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In my mind, Paris deserves much more than just a part of a day. If you think it is likely that you will have a chance to visit on another trip when a longer stay is possible, then select one of the other options. I really like Honfleur, and would look forward to visiting Rouen or Giverny. Obviously, for some Normandy would be their choice. However, if you think that your chances of seeing Paris are more a "now or never" situation, then I would say go for it! Use google maps to locate the drop off point at Place de la Concorde, and plan what you would like to see. You are basically right along the Seine, so Sainte-Chapelle is about a 30 minute walk, Musee d'Orsay is right across the Siene, and if well planned the Louvre is available for a mini tour. In the opposite direction, it is a 30 minute walk to the Eiffel Tower. It might not be possible to manage the lines to go to the top of the tower, but it is an imposing sight even from the ground. In one block on the Boulavard Sainte Germain, we found a cheese shop, a wine shop, and a bakery, along with the butcher and the fish monger, and fruit stand. Maybe you would want to go shopping and have a picnic in one of the several parks nearby. Or just find an appealing cafe and have lunch. If you do decide to go to Paris, be forewarned that traffic in route may well diminish your planned 4 hours of free time, so set modest expectations You certainly cannot do it all, but you can do a few special things. Enjoy whatever you do!
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I do understand the use of Viking River to make assumptions about Viking Ocean. In my opinion, if you like Viking River you will love VO. Of course, that is not universally true, but most often I would bet. We have only sailed Viking, but are considering Oceania in search of a new itinerary. Before sailing, all you have to evaluate is pictures and videos and comments online. Based on those factors, Oceania seems to have a different feel. I expect we will like Oceania, and loving it would be a bonus!
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That is my sentiment exactly, but unfortunately it seems that we may have reached that point. In our case, the problem is self-inflicted. We don't like cold weather, and we aren't beach fans. The Mediterranean is where my heart lies, and Viking's cruises there are now quite repetitive for us. Oceania has a number of appealing itineraries there, but so far, I haven't been ready to make the switch.
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What an odd coincidence, that my random example was the port in question! Years ago, during our land tour days, a case of food poisoning disrupted our travel. To rejoin the group, we had to take the train from Venice to Naples. That was an adventure, but we managed, even though we had to transport all our luggage. Oh, and be wary of random people (pickpockets!) offering to help you with your luggage. But that's another story. For a shore excursion, seek advice about what you should have with you in the very unlikely event of a missed connection (passport? prescriptions?). Have fun!
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You did not mention which excursion in which port you missed booking. To some extent that makes a difference. For instance, if you missed out on an excursion in Naples, and your next stop is in Rome, then booking an outside tour is less of a risk. Taking the train from Naples to Rome is a cinch in comparison to the African island story that was recently in the news. If you book an outside excursion that offers a liberal refund policy for a cancellation, then if a Viking spot opens you can book it and cancel the other. Also, there are certain excursions that may not have the option of last minute openings. The Alhambra in Spain is very strict in giving each cruise ship just a limited number of tickets, and each ticket has the passenger's name linked to the ticket. Even if someone can't use their ticket, it can't be transferred. ( To be honest, I haven't experienced this first hand, but have read it here repeatedly.)
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In Kotor, Montenegro we docked right across from the entrance gate to the Old Town. We could walk off the ship into Rhodes, Greece, Cartagena in Spain, Split in Croatia, Sibenik in Croatia, Copenhagen in Denmark, Bergen in Norway, and Zadar in Croatia. Sometimes Viking docks right in the heart of Barcelona, though we have never done so. I can't confirm whether bigger ships can do that as well, or if Viking is always able to get those spots, but it is great when it happens! We also love the Mediterranean, but are looking for some variety in ports. We have visited most every port there that Viking visits and keep hoping for some new additions.
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Trip Report - Lyon & Provence - Viking Denning 15 - 21 August 2023
lackcreativity replied to pontac's topic in River Cruising
I am so glad this thread resurfaced, as we are taking this cruise in June. I am really looking forward to it, especially since we are traveling with friends to celebrate their 45 wedding anniversary. It was supposed to be for their 40th, but then Covid and other things intervened. For the first (and likely only) time, we will be enjoying the luxury version of Viking travel. Our cruise from last year was overbooked, so we accepted a very generous offer to Move Over to a future sailing. One of the perks was an upgrade to the Explorer's Suite for both couples! Future cruises will be back in our budget-luxury category, so this one should be extra special.