benel204

Thank you all for your insights and suggestions as we ponder these two options for our Med cruise. These are all very helpful.

Thanks for your comments. I am really torn now between NCL Escape 11-day Med cruise and Viva 10-day Med cruise---either ship would be a new experience for us. Because there will be a port stop every day, we won't have sea days or even much time to fully experience what each ship has to offer. Our main experience is with Celebrity Solstice class, which we really liked. Obviously I'm having second thoughts about jumping ship from Escape to Viva. Ports of call difference is the Escape includes Cannes and Mallorca. Both itineraries include Italy, Croatia and Malta, which are priorities for us. Any thoughts from experienced NCL cruisers?

Thanks! this is very helpful. And I appreciate your thoughts about Med cruise vs Caribbean.

What time are the shows at Syd Normans? And are the shows just once a night? We are booked for the NCL Viva in May 2024 (our first NCL) and the #1 complaint that scares me about this ship is the lack of seating for what appears to be an enormously popular show. Would the seating be any better on the NC Escape Syd Normans? That is our other option for almost identical Med cruise itinerary.

Thanks for the tip....I may have to monitor the Haven price on the Costco travel site then.

Thanks for the reply. How close to the embarkation date would I get a notice to bid for an upgrade? We have a deposit on the cruise now, final due end of December. And if we booked through Costco, would we still receive the notice from NCL?

How does one go about "bidding" for an upgrade with NCL? We booked our May 2024 cruise through Costco travel. Would like to get a Haven suite, but not sure we want to add another $5k. What is the secret process for upgrading directly through NCL and "bidding"??

The tour operator was Italy tour sharing: https://italytoursharing.com/ Joe Banana limos is the parent company: https://www.joebananalimos.net/ We had very good experience with them I am also looking into these companies, although have not used: https://www.shoreexcursionsinitaly.net/ https://www.italytours.eu/shore-excursions/

Thank you all for the detailed responses to my questions about optional excursions. I greatly appreciate it. I'm thinking that for ports in Italy, we will book those through a small group tour operator (< 10 people on a tour) we've used before (and in fact found through this site!).

Ah, thanks LIndaS272 -- I hadn't thought about that.

Question about Optional excursions on Viking: Do these through the ship or arrange with a third party? We are considering a first cruise ever with Viking (Ocean Star), the Mediterranean Odyssey in May 2024. In looking at the "Included" excursions, most of them will not allow us to see much--they look like a budget option. On a previous med cruise (Celebrity), we arranged excursions through tour companies that specialize in the particular region (esp in Italy). I can't find any prices on the optional excursions listed on Viking. Question for experienced Viking cruisers: 1) What has been your experience with V optional excursions, relative to arranging with a third party tour guide operator? Were the prices and guides comparable? Was there any particular advantage doing excursion through V (other than they will guarantee the ship won't leave you behind)? 2) If we are in DV cabin, will we even have the option of booking through Viking, given the cabin pecking order? I would hate to find out a mere 60 days in advance that we are not able to book through Viking. I plan much further in advance and would like to have excursions taken care of. Thanks for any insight

Thank you all for the information about finding a TA who might be able to offer a promotional code or onboard credit. Anyone have a TA to recommend?

Hello, We are possibly going to book our first ever Viking tour (an ocean cruise Med Odyssey May 2024), booking directly with Viking. However, I am not pleased that the ~$16K expense would not even include gratuities or any beverage package (not that we are heavy consumers). In reading through various resources, it looks like having a "promotional code" would help us to reduce the cost or get onboard credit, possibly both. Does anyone have more insight on where/how to get a promotional code or onboard credit or both? We were excited about the itinerary, but the other cruise lines (and booking through Costco Travel) are now feeling like a better value.