CCWineLover

We've done both Barcelona and Rome on our own and thoroughly enjoyed them. Quite easy to do and easy to navigate around. We did the Rome-Barcelona cruise last November - great cruise and wonderful itinerary. We did 4 nights in Rome and 2 in Barcelona (wish we'd done 3 or 4). So much to do and food is such a wonderful part of each of these classic cities! Or you could do Paris, as you had wanted to, and then do the cruise - or vice versa.

Not totally true. Every ship we've been on does rotate - have seen 3 and 4 days of one menu. But they certainly do not rotate between 21 menus - at least not in the last several years. Again, my premise is they have "executed" 21 different menus, and may have many in "storage", but are not actively serving every one of those 21.

Clay - maybe they meant that there have been 21 menus since Ocean Cruising began in 2015. I doubt there are 21 menus in current existence. These above we've all seen, except #10. Can't think of others. We've been on multiple cruises in the past year and haven't seen anything beyond what you've listed.

Sounds like someone is just upset with their decision and all they want to do is VENT! Sounds like someone should just cancel and move on. Speaks with hyperbole about old points and says many substandard practices but lists only 2 - of which they are all debatable. I suggest people scroll past this thread after reading it for what it is. Signed - veteran cruiser

We are on Venus July 15. This means we board in Greenwich July 15. There are some tours that go out that evening. You STAY onboard the ship the first night. We leave Greenwich on July 16. There are tours on the 16th and the schedule shows us leaving Greenwich at 3 PM. Your own schedule should tell you exact time that you leave Greenwich (or planned time). As someone earlier said, the confusion likely is because Viking refers to it as "London" Netting it out, you spend your first afternoon/evening/night onboard, stay onboard the next day and leave in the afternoon of the next day. No hotel involved.

You nailed it. Our thoughts exactly. These were our experiences too, and we are not a troll. Not sure why someone is so vile against your comments (calling you a troll) . . . It really comes down to everyone's personal opinions and experiences. There is no right or wrong - just understand what the various experiences will be like and make your own decisions.

I agree - don't wait to book premium or business class. In addition, the way prices are going up, as soon as you book them, you get the current price. If you wait it will likely be higher. However, I'm confused - my TA told me to contact Viking Air directly to communicate my preferences since it would be much quicker and easier than having an intermediary (were they just not wanting to do it?). So I did and it was simple and quick. Don't think there is a rule that the TA "has" to do it. "Others report that if you booked veranda or higher cabins that V gives special price discount for air upgrades" The lowest cabin on Viking is called "veranda", so this can't be correct. I also have never gotten price discounts based on cabin and we've had Veranda, DV, and PV rooms. So perhaps you mean that if you book the Suites or higher you might get discount. Would be worth verifying.

Yes, determined by the Cruise Line. I would ask them, not Cruise Critic. We were on Viking, and soonest we could board was 11:00 AM once and another time it was 1:00 PM. So it also depends on the specific itinerary among other things.

I had to laugh - on our Ocean cruise (in Norway even!) in April, we saw two people in their bathing suits (and a TShirt) at the World Cafe. They went to get the cold cuts/salad stuff and you could see the water dripping down on the floor. Absolutely bizarre!! Wouldn't want to sit in their seat after they left, that's for sure! Sounds like we definitely are off and running!! oh - and in Norway, can't they turn the sun off a little earlier in the evening?

Sometimes Ocean ships we've been on had 2 evening shows - one at 9:00 or 9:15 and an additional early one at around 6:15 or so. Previewing the next day's activities: we would get the next day's daily in our rooms when we got back from dinner. However one time I was down at the excursion desk at around 6:00 and they had some copies there. Also, the CD tapes a TV show about next day's activities and it was available in the evening - not sure what time though. He would tape it in the afternoon from various places on the ship, which you could recognize. Just curious - at what time do you need to know about next day's activities?

Hi Lorna. I think the nice travel pouches disappeared with COVID. (Cost cutting). Still get luggage tags. In fact, we get 2 each for every cruise, and even 4 for Back to Back. Since we only use one apiece per cruise, we must have about 10 of the luggage tags sitting around 🙂 Still have the old travel pouches though - they are great for carrying certain items.

Thank you for the nice comment! I am sure that you will thoroughly enjoy your cruise! But what a distance to fly! We love traveling too and we are targeting Athens to Istanbul in 2024. You will enjoy the Med coast - we did Rome to Barcelona. Very much enjoyed Nice/Eze/Monte Carlo (we did the all day optional excursion), as well as Montpelier (we did the wine home/castle optional tour - fabulous for wine lovers!), and of course you can't say enough about how great Barcelona is! I seem to remember you Melbourne boys were planning the Southern Crossing (Buenos Aires-Barcelona) at one point. Likely you got cancelled like we did! We rebooked for Nov 2023. Come join! Thoroughly enjoy Melbourne (and Australia). Cousin in Perth so we've been way out there a couple times. Have enjoyed our wine tastings in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Margaret River. We like wine!

That would be my understanding. However, please do not make your decision based on CruiseCritic people's responses. It is also my understanding that you need to notify Viking (or have your Travel Agent do so) in writing by the required date. I would read the fine print of the Risk-Free Guarantee process carefully. Please continue to try to get hold of Viking via phone and chat. They are swamped right now since they just announced the cessation of daily COVID testing and people are rushing to book. You might also send an urgent email letter about your intent and how you can't reaching anyone at Viking via phone to: tellus@VikingCruises.com

Thnx! This is wonderful news! We had to test last month in Bergen at checking just before getting on gangway. Then at dinner tests we’re back and people were removed from dinner wh tested positive. Just ugly. No more!!!!

What port are you boarding? Was your test a spit test just before you get on gangway? Is that the negative proof? Or is the negative proof the test done 72 hours (or 24 hours antigen) done before the first Viking event?

Excellent! It must be that in December they were more worried about COVID and getting everyone off so they could clean before people came on. And so that departing passengers didn't mingle with newly arriving (and possibly COVID carrying) passengers. I guess that is not a concern now. You are better off staying on the ship. The room at the Sheraton was nice, but it was a bit crowded and no windows or anything. Just glad though to have something at the time.

It might be just a ship by ship decision. Versus Viking worldwide.

Agree! I think even more people will cancel/bail on Viking this summer because of their testing policies. It is interesting that people who proclaim to be for testing say they like that Viking "keeps them safe", yet that now would be so far from the truth. Even Viking effectively enables the passing of COVID by not enforcing masking onboard, by allowing people to gather together at bars and eating, by allowing people to go maskless on excursions, and by allowing people to wander around on their own in ports and mingle with locals. Not sure how Viking is keeping people "safe" then. Kind of duplicitous in my opinion. But their ship, their rules. We'll just have to see how they respond since the majority of their passengers are from USA.

You’ve got a point. Vikings investment in testing equipment, now in heavy use for a year, is really just a sunk cost. now at least, people shouldn’t be under the illusion that Viking is keeping them safe - unless they make everyone eat alone, take Viking excursions only, and no socializing allowed.

Joe note the correct email. My mistake. also, my relatives are all from Keosauqua. Phil Stong who wrote State Fair is from there was was my Dads cousin. My cousins now are in Fairfield and Cedar Rapids. kent Stong

Thx! Darn auto fill!!

You beat me to it. Just saw this also. Helps those on post cruises, but still have to get on the ship, and stay on.

Helps those on post cruises but still have the dreaded Viking walk the plank problems. We will see what Vikings responses are. Most likely nothing will change. They spent too much on testing equipment (ocean)

When we arrived in San Juan last December, the ship got in around 2 or 3 am. They had us out of our rooms at 8 AM I believe. Then off the ship at 9 AM. Those who had later Viking Air flights were shown across the street where Viking had a hospitality room at the Sheraton. People waited there (with snacks, drinks, etc) until their Viking Air transportation time to the airport. Note - this did not apply to those who did not have Viking Air - they left at 9 AM and were on their own. You might contact tellus@viking.com and ask if this is still going to be the case, and/or what will be the process for your specific cruise.

We too. We've often tried the standard and the premium to compare. Sometimes, the standard offering is more to what we were in the mood for than the premium, for a given course, even though they were both good. They are not always the same varietal or style. i.e. one could be a red Bordeaux blend and the other a zinfandel. One could be a port and the other a different style desert wine. We liked the chance to mix and match and compare. Viking was always more than happy to fulfill our requests. Just ask. Oh - and if there was a particular wine that was fabulous, they didn't mind giving another pour, including one "for the road" ! We enjoy both Chef's Table AND Manfredi's. Our recent cruise, we went to all 5 Chef's Table menus (some in our opinion were better than others. Irony is - for us California menu was the worst and we are from California).