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Yes, I’d like to go to London again. And I’ve got miles on several airlines, so I’ll have to see what my travel companion wants to do. I think we are definitely going to book this one. I love the Cruise Critic boards. So many people are very kind and helpful. It’s a super resource.

We are not foodies, so I’ll reckon we will be happy. Thank you very much.

Thank you. That is something I will try to find out when my TA calls me back. Thanks much.

😂I love thinking

Just read your blog. Very interesting and informative. Thank you. We are not looking at booking the rarified level that you enjoyed 😊but class B1. It was fun to hear about it though. Glad to hear you were pleased with the cruise and enjoyed reading your review.

So the Sirena was refurbished in 2019. Is the bathroom nice but tiny? Thank you for the information. Everything we can learn is helpful.

I found your blog and I’m going to read it! Long and detailed sounds good to me. I’ll come back here if I have questions. Thanks very much.

That is excellent information. We will have to talk about our plans. It would be nice to spend a few days in London. Thank you!

So we begin in London, but it appears to be leaving Southampton. I think we will take the included airfare so Oceania will make our reservations. We were thinking of doing a few days in London, but the logistics of getting to Southampton seem daunting. Whereas with the included airfare, transfers to the ship are provided. If it were Greenwich or somewhere close I’d not be concerned. But Southampton is on the coast I believe. We will be using our TA so I’m hoping to get an idea from her about this.

This is very good news. We are looking at B cabins on Sirena. We are all about the itinerary as well, but I admit we like the feel of Viking ships. We are really not interested in the entertainment, so like y’all, the lack of lots of entertainment is of no importance to us. It sounds like Sirena will work for us.

Value for the price is good. Thank you.

Oh yippee! Glad to hear this. We are looking at a Baltic cruise beginning end of August for 12 nights. It’s a very interesting itinerary. Thank you very much.

Hmmm. Well if there is a preponderance of bad or good reviews, or if a certain aspect of the cruise line is commented upon often enough, that at least to me, is worth considering. I’m hopeful some people will have some helpful comments. Thank you for your input.

My friend and I are looking at a cruise next summer on Sirena. This will be my fourth ocean cruise (all others on Viking) and she has been on one Viking and a lot of Caribbean cruises years ago. We have seen a lot of bad reviews and dissatisfaction with Oceania recently in reviews and on the boards. The specific itinerary and time frame on Oceania suit us, so we are reaching out to get feedback from those who have experience with this line. Thanks very much.

I agree. I’ve traveled on Tauck when I go alone because the lowest category is no single supplement when it’s available. It is more expensive than Viking would be if I went as a couple and paid half of that. But no single supplement is uncommon, and Tauck is excellent. That said, I prefer Viking for its many itineraries and the Scandinavian feel. I will always go on Viking if I have the choice.

I stayed at the JW Marriott last year and I walked up to the town. It was about a half hour walk. There’s a lovely big park on the way, where I stopped and sat on a bench for awhile. I visited the Stavropoleos Church, which was very interesting, and just got a feel of the town. The Peoples Salvation Cathedral, across from the hotel, was over the top in my opinion, but there were a ton of people visiting. Yes, the Marriott isn’t in the middle of town, but for me, the walk over was informative. And the hotel itself was great for me because I was traveling alone and there were several restaurants onsite so I felt more comfortable eating there.

Great! Thanks very much. I’ll keep my eye on promos and I will make sure my TA asks for the 6 month pay period.

Thanks TayanaLorna. I’ve done 6 Viking cruises but I am always learning from you and others on here. Thanks much for the good information. I admit I don’t check the guest statement carefully after booking, so I will do that for sure before booking again. Last time we booked onboard because of the 6 month final payment. So can we use a promo code AND get 6 month final payment because we have an upcoming cruise?Do not have to book onboard for that? If we booked a cruise now for next September, say, and booked with our TA, we could wait until March to pay? Because we have a cruise in this coming February? Thanks again.

What a beautiful report. Very happy your journey went well! I did the Bucharest to Budapest alone on another line, but am hoping my travel buddy will join me on the Viking cruise. I’ll have her read your very detailed and thoroughly enjoyable commentary and I’m sure she will be hooked. Thanks for taking the time to put together this wonderful report.

Oh man! I needed a laugh after reading the news! Thanks for that.🤣

Thanks for all the input. Nine sea days for a 2 week trip, unless a transatlantic crossing, is a lot. Sorry for everyone’s disappointment.

It just seems like on this forum people feel that Oceania is the outlier in not offering complete refunds for changed itineraries. When I was on my first of three Viking cruises, we couldn’t dock at one important port because of fog. So that was that. We just moved on, no recompense for it. I just assumed that was cruising. But people here feel that Oceania must refund because they will miss several ports. I just want to know if Oceania and apparently Viking are the only ones not offering refunds. Only it sounds that way from people saying they will never use Oceania again because of this. I’m pretty reticent to use them now too.

I’m fairly new to ocean cruises so I’m not experienced like so many of you with 10, 20 or more cruises behind you. You are very fortunate that you’ve never had any problems at all. I guess the world is rapidly changing and maybe cruising is not the best way to travel? I’m on here because I was considering Oceania. I’ve only been on Viking and love it but was looking for different itineraries. There have been a LOT of complaints on the Viking forum about the diverted Mideast cruises. So far I believe that people have to either cancel the cruises themselves or accept the new itineraries. So they are apparently following a similar plan to Oceania. So someone said all the other lines are offering refunds. Which are those because I’d be interested in considering them in future. Thank y’all.

How lucky we were then. Three days in Bergen followed by two more in Oslo. Sunny, warm 80s, not a cloud or drop of rain. It was July of course, but it seems warm sunny weather is not unknown in the summer. So May might even be nicer than expected. Enjoy.

We loved into the midnight sun. Scandinavia is our favorite place so that was part of it. Orkney and Shetland were not at all crowded last July when we stopped there. And in fact, other than Bergen, it didn’t seem like there were TOO many tourists. Even in Bergen it wasn’t crazy. We took the train to Oslo after the cruise and it was very busy. But the weather was warm and it was mid summer so the locals were enjoying the time of year. I went solo on the Iceland circumnavigation. It was super. I’d do any of the Viking cruises again, as well as the river ones.