lackcreativity

My two post covid experiences in booking air have been the same as yours. Granted, I was calling with specific itineraries on an airline I know Viking contracts with, so perhaps I was just lucky.

Recent price increases most likely just keep up with recent cost increases. I keep reminding myself of the sad but true reality of two years of lack of any revenue. Some of that will have to be recouped somehow, as there were still expenses during that time.

I generally agree with this, with the exception of Chef's Table. We like that experience very much, but have found that only selected menus appeal to us. So once on board, we will scan the menus there and book one if we are able. If not, there are plenty of good places to eat on board so we don't stress over it.

This is why I value the Viking Cruise Critic thread: I continue to learn new things. I thought I had researched all the options of places to go instead of Rome, but I never came across Pitigliano. After a quick glimpse of some photos, it is certainly on my list now! Thanks, and hope you enjoy your tour.

If you are trying to avoid long periods on a bus, one thing you can do is use Google Maps to check the distance/travel time between the port and the destination. That won't answer your question completely, but it can identify excursions where you will spend a long time just getting to where you want to go. I am thinking of Rome from Civitavecchia for example. Even without traffic, the ride to Rome is at least an hour plus a rest stop. You can use this as a sort of screening feature before you look at other factors about the excursions.

If I wanted to eat breakfast with people in bathrobes I could just stay home and do that!

We also very much enjoyed our one post-Covid cruise, and are looking forward to our next two. Your observations led me to review specifically what I felt was different about that cruise. Honestly, it was mostly related to passenger behavior. It is hard to hold Viking responsible for that, except perhaps in how the staff react to it. I must admit, I am not sure how the staff in dining venues is supposed to handle a large party whose volume is too loud, or police the passengers on a tour bus who keep removing their masks as soon as the guide's back is turned. However, I can't help but think that a more experienced crew member would have prevented the woman in her bathrobe from entering the World Cafe for breakfast that morning! Now, I am long past the point of being distressed about jeans in The Restaurant, but I must admit that experience did leave an impression.

I imagine that any company in an industry that suffered a two year (or was it just 18 months?) shutdown is going to have financial difficulties for a period of time afterwards. I am not surprised if costs go up and standards diminish to an extent also. I observed some of each with Viking in looking at possible future cruises and on the one post-Covid cruise we have taken. Even so, we greatly enjoyed that one cruise because our expectations were prepared for some changes. I will have patience waiting for things to settle, although the pressures added by inflation are likely extending the recovery time. I imagine Viking is not alone in dealing with these issues. My patience does have a limit, but then so do my available years to travel!

Rare Giant Phantom Jellyfish, Oh My! Viking Expedition Ships Aid Antarctic ResearchExploring the underwater world in one of Viking Expeditions' yellow submarines isn't just fun, it contributes to science too. Read in Forbes: https://apple.news/AN0IZ4V8lQf-BBcapnYk3FQ Really interesting! Sadly, still not enough to make me head to an area of such cold and ice, but I bet it would be fascinating.

I have no doubt she can do just that! Your point about the sign-up bonuses does open my mind to that possibility. Thanks.

Bernini's Apollo and Daphne defies belief that someone could create that from stone. It has the same effect on me that Michelangelo's David has on so many people. The timed entry ticket system that the Borghese employs makes it a welcome change to be able to see the art without the usual crowds. If I had only one day in Rome, I could imagine spending it at the Roman Forum and the Borghese. I suppose many people would place the Vatican higher on their list, and I can understand that too.

Bo1953, That sounds very much like what I will have to do. We also do not have points to work with, since we only take one trip a year and our credit card is a cash back card. It never seemed worth switching, and now is seems too late to worry about it. I have looked for segments that would make the Bangkok to Baltimore portion tolerable, but I can't see taking four days to get home. Just the thought of that seems exhausting! So far, my best hint (thank you klfrodo) has been to check flights from Toronto. That is just a 90 minute flight from Baltimore, and business class from there seems less expensive. Actually, I never expected to be able to travel to Asia at all, for this very reason. This Viking itinerary from Bangkok to Mumbai is very appealing, but if it never happens for us, I will still be most grateful for all the places we have seen.

Thanks for the advice. I do understand the pricing issue for a trip that far in advance. My problem is that I think I will only book the trip if I can figure out an acceptable way to get there. We have only traveled East Coast to Europe so far, and suffer through economy seating on those. That is not an option for going all the way to Bangkok for me. Neither is paying as much for the flight as we are paying for the cruise. I am just trying to get some information since this is all new to me.

Having just completed the first two segments of what can actually be a four segment cruise (from Barcelona to Istanbul) in April, I was scrolling down to post the explanation. However, glad to see Peregrina got here first! Rome was the turn around day for our portion of the cruise and we did receive excursion options once on board. I honestly cannot remember how many were offered. Since we had been to Rome previously, we just took the included panoramic tour. It was a relaxing ride, with over an hour of free time in the Vatican. Since it was Easter Saturday, that was an interesting experience just from the atmosphere in St. Peter's Square. We also had time to return to a familiar pizza place nearby for a quick lunch. For a first visit to Rome, I think it would be a disappointment. For us it was a nice way to spend half a day. We did enjoy the Barcelona to Venice cruise so much that we are finishing the route from Venice to Istanbul in the fall.

So far, we have always used Viking Air with Air Plus, and I also do my browsing with Expedia and then call Viking with the flights I am interested in. We have been really lucky getting our first choice of flights that way. Thanks for the reminder in case we ever decide to book on our own.

Gardyloo, Amazing! Thanks for the very detailed information. I have never heard of this product, but I will file it away for my future reference. Right now, the fly in the ointment so to speak is that I am still working (part-time) and my husband runs a small business. Our travel days are limited for now, other than one trip a year, two on a good year. Add in a few long weekends Baltimore to Boston to visit family, and that's the best we can do.

FlyerTalker, Thanks for all the various pieces of advice. I appreciate your input. The only one that does not really apply is your information about the cash back/points credit card. My dear daughter, the very frequent traveler, has had that conversation with me, with the spreadsheet to back it up! She wheels and deals in points and we are a great source of frustration to her. Our cash rewards go into a savings account, so I could mentally designate that money for this expense. It's not that we don't have the money, it's that I have never been willing to pay the cost for a more comfortable version of eight hours spent in economy class to Europe. Flying to Bangkok is a whole other experience. A World Cruise is not in our future. I guess I am considering this Bangkok to Mumbai trip as our "Trip of a Lifetime", and that could justify the cost of business class for me. I am just looking to learn a good way to do it. P.S. I have tried JFK, but the lowest price I saw was for $4800 on Turkish Airlines. But then, I was just using Expedia. Do I need to go to each individual airline's website to check prices? Is there something better that Expedia? I can find my way from the East Coast to Europe without too much trouble, but the other side of the world is a new experience for me!

We've been traveling by economy class from Baltimore/Washington/Philidelphia airports to various airports in Europe for the last ten years. It is miserable, but we have never been willing to pay what amounts to another whole cruise cost just to fly to our destination. We could have managed it financially, but it would have cut back on the number of trips we have taken. Now, for the first (and only) time, I am looking at a cruise from Bangkok to Mumbai. I know I cannot manage flights of 13 plus hours at a time in coach, so I am considering business class. Sadly, our credit card of choice is a cash back card, so there is no big stash of points somewhere just waiting to be used. We could even include New York and Boston as starting points, if that would help. We don't need to have the most luxurious experience, but there must be a flat surface on which to sleep. My early research leaves me with the impression that this will cost five to six thousand dollars for each of us. If that is the case, then we have a decision to make. Are there any clues that you more experienced business class travelers can share as I continue to investigate options for this potential trip in late 2024? I would appreciate any hints about finding the best fare.

Our experience on the included excursion a few years ago was that we were escorted with a guide and were provided with tickets for entry into the museum. The current description of the included excursion does not mention the museum, so perhaps someone who has been more recently will have more information.

Not accurate. I have only cruised with Viking, and really like their product, but I am browsing here for some variety of itineraries. Viking has a variety of live music. There is a small night club called Torshavn with a small band and singers, at least so I have heard. We tend to linger over dinner and then perhaps go to the Explorer's Lounge. There is a piano there, and there is usually a guitarist on board who rotates locations. In addition, there is a classical duo who perform in The Living Room most evenings. Since that area is open to the Atrium, you can find a spot on several levels to listen. There is live music most nights in the Star Theater as well, with a small band and a quartet of singers. The shows performed there could do with some updating, as a few have been around since Viking Ocean first started sailing. If you are new to Viking, that won't be a problem! The Cruise Director and others will sometimes perform in this venue too. I am not sure where you learned that Viking did not have live music. I would not compare them to the mega ships offerings (or to be fair, not to any other lines, since I have only sailed with Viking). We have enjoyed much of what we have heard on our four Viking cruises.

I have done it as well, changing to a new cruise with the same booking number. Since the new cruise was longer and more expensive, we did have to pay the increase in insurance premium, as I would have expected.

I really would love one day to do some extended stays in a few of our favorite places in Europe on our own. For the present, I am just two weeks shy of my 70th birthday (YIKES!) and still working. I have a great job, part-time and pretty flexible, but extended time away is still difficult. That's why I continue to let Viking take care of us and all the details. Our trips right now still have that "see as much as we can in a bit of a rush" feeling. Being able to take our time and settle in to a place remains a travel dream.

Flyer Talker, Thanks for your reply. On the flight to Paris, both arrival and departure are in Terminal 5, so that should (probably) be fine with our two hour layover. On our return from Marseilles to Baltimore, we will need to change terminals but we have a four hour layover. Since you have confirmed the luggage transfers and we don't have to go through customs or immigration, I can reduce the anxiety level a notch or two!

Sorry, I suspect this has been addressed here somewhere, but I have little patience for the search feature on Cruise Critic. We are traveling with British Airways from Baltimore (BWI) to Paris, with a connection in Heathrow. Flights are booked on the same ticket, both legs with British Airways. Will I have to retrieve luggage in London, or does it just transfer through? I have done this before, and I don't remember having to do that, but someone recently told me otherwise.

We have been to most of the ports of Mediterranean Odyssey with Viking. We usually do mostly include excursions with a few optional ones on each cruise. Often, we will take advantage of the free Viking shuttle service and tell the guide we will not be returning with the group so that we can have extra time on our own in a port. Here is my input on a few of the ports. On our stop in Barcelona, we had a really exceptional guide who made the included excursion a great experience. Take note, that tour does not go inside the Sagrada Familia, and many would call that the highpoint of a tour of Barcelona. We had seen it before, so we didn't mind missing an inside visit that time. From Monte Carlo, we did the optional excursion to Nice, Eze, and Monte Carlo. It's a very long day, with not enough time in any of the stops, but I think it was my favorite excursion of the trip we took. Eze is a very small hilltop town, and it is a demanding climb but the stone houses and shops are so charming and the Exotic Garden at the top is breathtaking. We did the included excursion in Dubrovnik and it was very good. We walked with the guide from one end of the town to the other, and entered a small museum to honor the people (mostly young men) who lost their lives in the War of Croatian Independence in the 1990's. We also visited a monastery. We remained behind after the tour to have lunch and then walk the walls of the city. Take note that the included excursion for the port identified as Florence/Pisa does not actually go to Florence. Also, the included 6 hour excursion in Rome actually only spends about four hours in Rome since the port is an hour away. Most of your time in Rome will be spent on the bus, with perhaps a few stops just to take photos. Enjoy your cruise!