TinaLee

On 9/28/2024 at 11:42 AM, millybess said:

 

I had no idea that open sandals weren't allowed at dinner in any venue.

Same with sweats at the pool.

I’m not sure how shoes even became an issue. I live in FL and my Vionic “flip flops” travel with me everywhere. While I’d never wear them on an excursion, they go everywhere on the ship, including to the dining room with a dress or Capri pants. 

17 hours ago, millybess said:

Better than the actual search function on this site.  

Isn't THAT the truth!!! 

Hi all - can someone tell me if it is possible to book services at the hair salon prior to boarding? Spa services opened up for us today (as did restaurants), and I can see the spa treatments such as massage and facial, but it says nail and hair services are in the hair salon and I see no way to prebook this. Am I overlooking something? 

Yes, they actually do. After our last river I contacted them and they emailed and then called me to discuss. They kind of have a lot going on with the folks on the rivers unable to sail due to high water, so I’d give them a bit more time. 

Thanks so much for the review. I know it’s been a while since you did this, but since you mentioned attending the shows could you please give me an idea what dining time you think will allow us to make it to shows? 

On 7/29/2024 at 6:09 PM, bruinbob95 said:

This is probably a stupid question, but...... here goes!

 

If requested, can the PV 1 in-room mini-fridge be stocked with Grand Mariner at no additional cost?  This is my go-to nightcap!

 

Thanks in advance!

On 7/27/2024 at 2:19 PM, KBs mum said:

 

I'm still mildly traumatised by the sight of an overweight person in a several sizes too small puce velour tracksuit. At least they were wearing granny knickers rather than a g string

Why do the overweight always get these comments? Seriously, why is that acceptable? Was that the single bad outfit you saw on your entire holiday? And why did you feel the need to share it? Do you feel better now? SMH 

On 6/24/2024 at 10:10 AM, RLK33853 said:

Demographics

 

     The other thing we found refreshing, was that for the most part everyone was fairly fit and active. 

 

oh, why did you have to go there? 

You also have to take into account on the Princess/Viking comparison that Wi-Fi (although it isn’t great - lol) and specialty dining (which is amazing) are included. There is absolutely no comparison on the buffet areas, as Viking blows Princess out of the water, and personally I appreciate that I can get specialty coffee 24/7 included on Viking. Included excursions, free use of their laundry rooms on each deck (even detergent is included), free use of the spa, a really nice gym are all positives for us. If you love big production shows and a casino, Viking may not be for you, but I will say the vocalists in the tiny Viking show lounge were outstanding. 🙂 

27 minutes ago, deec said:

I am curious how different is the price point.

Do you mean between Princess and Viking/Crystal or between Viking and Crystal? 

Here's my odd question. Since our PVS comes with daily refreshment of liquor in our mini bar, and we aren't really hard liquor drinkers, do you think they would put Koppabarger hard cider in our mini bar? That Wildberry is my husband's favorite. Thanks! And thanks to the OP for posting these. Still won't do SSP since it's fairly costly for a 14 day cruise and we aren't likely to have a drink outside meal times, but since they've gone up to $9.50 a drink and two a day would get you fairly close to the $25 per day for the SSP we may have to look at it again. 🙂 

Thanks for doing this. Like you, we have sailed Princess multiple times, in multiple locations, and found ourselves giving Viking a try. We love their ocean cruises. Rivers may just not be my thing, but we will try again. One of the three was completely amazing, so we're willing to try again. Interested in getting your take on Viking Ocean and the comparison with Crystal. 

On 6/4/2024 at 9:57 AM, mrbluesea said:

If its a choice between euro and dollar as a reciepent I would rather have 10 dollars than 10 euros given the exchange rate between the two currencies.

The difference is 0.80 and they have to pay an exchange fee - not sure that math works in their favor. 

We've used Welcome Pickups in many ports, but in Italy we use Stefano's Romecabs. Highly recommend, great people to work with. 

On 5/16/2024 at 11:09 AM, z111 said:

I have been disappointed by the food on Viking. 

Much of it seems bland.

Almost all of it is the taste of disappointment. 

 

Chef’s Table had decent plating but none of it was great. If it were a restaurant and i got a bill for it, I’d have rated it 2 out of 5 stars for the food and 5 out of 5 for the service.

 

i lived in Vegas for a long time and i know that you can provide tasty food at scale. (Vegas has some great buffets that probably easily turn 1000 people in a day.)

 

The crew is so fantastic. And when they ask “how is everything”, i don’t feel like i can say what i think, in part because, i don’t think there’s anything they can do.

 

i’m also wondering if food has gone downhill as it seems people generally like the food.

 

Other than that, everything else is beyond expectation. 

 

 

 

Could you tell us which ship you're on? And maybe which itinerary? Thanks!

1 hour ago, shipboy said:

Be interesting to see where they’ve booked your second leg flight to 😁

It would be from FLL to Orlando and I can drive it faster than flying it! We did our own air. 

On 5/4/2024 at 3:14 AM, Mich3554 said:

Viking will book a one way ticket.  We are on a cruise right now where we only needed one way airfare to Bangkok.  The ship is docking less than 100 miles from our home.  
 
We did not use Viking Air as their business class was considerably higher than what I was able to book our flight at ultimately, so I canceled the air on our itinerary.  However, when I booked this cruise, I mentioned we only needed one way fare and they complied.   

we are doing a TA in December and were told we could not book one way air. We only need the flight to Barcelona pre-cruise, as we're basically sailing home to Florida. Weird that they let some do it and not all. 

Have you looked into ride share? Try the Rome2Rio website as they will list many options. I assume if you're considering staying the night you would have some sort of luggage or a larger bag with you? Keep that in mind as well. You may have to check a larger backpack at St. Mark's (I know you do at the Doge's Palace). 

Sadly, no. If you fly in or out on any day other than the day you embark or disembark they will charge you a deviation fee. and, as stated above, you'll need to arrange your own transportation. We don't use Viking Air, as by the time we pay for deviations and selection of our own flights we can usually book better tickets on our own. We also do self-exploration and arrange our own transfers. 

5 hours ago, kazu said:

And just in case it may apply, HIA is not available for cruises under 7 days.

Yes, it is. We’re doing the little 6 day before Rotterdam repositions and we got the HIA. 

Ahhh… Princess fries - it’s a real thing! We love them. We often went into the buffet to make a cheese plate or get some shrimp before watching a movie and all around us people would ask where we got the food - ummm… the buffet is right there! Happy memory for us! Enjoying your review! 

We’re sailing the “baby” cruise of 6 days in April before she crosses, and we haven’t sailed HAL since about 2005(?), so very interested in your review. We are breaking our own “no short sailings” rule on this one! 🙂 

24 minutes ago, sunviking90 said:

I was also very apprehensive of using Stockperks, but it went very smoothly. I “skipped” all the personal info questions and uploaded our brokerage statement with more personal info (other investments, our address) blacked out. 3 days later got the email that it was accepted, went into the app to redeem credit, and it came through the next day. 

This is exactly what we did - we didn’t grant them access to our brokerage account, but did send a pdf of the cover page with account number, other stocks, etc blanked out. Worked like a charm - now if only I could use it before we board - lol! 

12 hours ago, grandpacobra said:

I applied to Princess a month out and they said they use stockperks now to handle obc. Long story short. My son and i in two cabins on Regal P did not get our obc. Stock perks verified we had 100+ shares. But did not tell Princess. U have to join stockperks and email them back and forth until you see obc on your res. TA said it would appear 2nd day of cruise, never happened. Princess cruise was great, stockperks suk

 

Actually, once stockperks verifies that you do qualify for the OBC it falls on you to hit the "redeem" button to have this applied to your cruise. If you failed to follow this step, that is why Princess did not apply the credit to your account. 

Wow, this thread jumped the shark…