CDNPolar

The standard room also known by some as the Aquarium Cabin or on deck 1 are the same size in floor space as @pontac indicated. We have stayed in the deck one, deck, two and deck three cabins. None of them balcony but on deck 2 and 3 they are French Balcony. We pay extra for the French Balcony cabins because we feel claustrophobic in the deck one cabins. BUT, if you are not so inclined, and you only sleep in your cabin, these are a cost savings.

Sorry - I was not "telling" you to use the search box.... if that were the case I would not have typed out the response that I did. I was simply indicating that this has been discussed and that you can find other discussions about this, if you are so inclined. I did not mean this the way you took it and I apologize.

Hi, and welcome to Cruise Critic. 1) In my experience no. Some Travel Agents may have group booking deals, but we have never seen this with TA's that we work with. We accept the Viking site and promos advertised as the best deal out there. 2) This is personal preference. We always start in the city that we can achieve a direct non-stop flight to. This reduces the risk of delays with connections, delayed luggage, and other perils including missing the start of the cruise. Often the "other city" is a connection flight and we do that coming home so we don't care if there are delays. Especially in the winter months we tend to fly in one day early so we have time if there are travel challenges. 3) We spend time in our cabin to sleep, shower, and change. Otherwise - regardless of weather - we are in the lounge or on deck if we are not off the ship. We book Viking's lowest price cabin, but I prefer to have at least a Juliette Balcony, so we are on deck 2 or 3. There are lower priced rooms on deck one, but without an opening window and the window is mid-chest / shoulder height giving these cabins the nickname of "aquarium class". 4) Pretty much any cruise line sailing the European Rivers in December and near Christmas have the option there. 5) Not from my perspective. Just ask more questions.

We are on Viking Edgir embarking November 27th to December 11th. Same 15 day cruise. There are no specific Christmas Market excursions in the line up, however I personally did not ask Viking this, but my brother did who was booking this cruise, and he was told that there would be added excursions to Christmas Markets, or that we would be able to visit on our own. The bigger question is will the ship still be in port after dark to visit the markets at night. Someone else with Christmas Market experience please chime in....

We are staying at the Movenpick in November hoping that our River ship will be docked there. We were on Treasures of the Rhine this past December and it docked right behind the Movenpick. We do know that it may be docked elsewhere however....

I would email tellus@vikingcruises.com and tell them of your husbands situation and how you would like to secure a restaurant booking at a consistent time daily. You never know, they may work with you on this. We have always found Viking to be very accommodating.

We have been in the area above Torshavn and never heard it and it does go late. We have been right above the Star Theatre and have never heard the Star Theatre at night because we have been in attendance, BUT we have heard the Star Theatre in the afternoon when they are doing rehearsals. So, as long as you don't want a quiet afternoon nap, or you don't go to bed before 9:30pm, you will be good.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. This is a wildly discussed topic and if you go and search this is not the first time this has been discussed. To me there are two considerations: 1) Local tour guides live where you take the tour. Tip them in local currency if you can, and if UK/Europe then use Euros if you don't have Pounds or other local currency. 2) Onboard Crew - the cruise may end in London, but that means nothing. Where are the crew spending most of their time off the ship? Are Pounds or Euros better? Is USD better? I still profess that the US dollar is the most recognized currency anywhere in the world. It can be exchanged at just about any bank globally. I would never give a Canadian currency as a tip. Heck, the USA won't even look at a Canadian dollar and we are neighbours. Canadian currency is not recognized in very many places, if at all outside of Canada. This is a personal thing and everyone should do what they want, or decide to not tip at all. We will never all be in agreement here on CC.

I don't necessarily expect this of every cruise line or operator, but with Viking, our preferred line, I got the impression that they were much more intimately experienced with each excursion before offering them to their guests. I am not suggesting that they experience each one, but Viking should know and offer more in a description than they do - IMO. Too often we have seen individuals half way through - or sooner - ask the guide if they can sit out the rest and if they are circling back or how to get back to the ship on their own. This is because the type of walking - cobblestones, stairs, etc. - are too much or the sheer distance. I think that cruise lines can do better.

For us, price increases are part of why we book 18-24 months out. We watch the cabin prices and see them increase each year from our booked price. We recently booked a pre-excursion 18 months out that was $799pp and now it is $1299pp and that is only 6 months later. Same dates, same sailing.

I totally agree with you here and I am going to make a sexist statement that I believe women are more prone to be concerned about wearing something again or people noticing that they wore something again... Mix and match takes care of that. Just put a couple of days between anything and no one will know.

Love this thought... "wonderful, unexpected things can suddenly happen"

I emailed tellus@vikingcruises.com and their response was: "Viking's advice is to tip in LOCAL currency when tipping guides and drivers."

Anxious to see what the response is when the email is sent. We experienced this with a friend that has sailed Viking over 15 times now and she knows her way around Viking both email and phone, and her very consistent response was you can only address this onboard. Viking will not sell the package to one person in a cabin that is inhabited by two people in advance of embarkation. Highly likely that they will approve onboard if the proper people are approached, but I will be very surprised if this is dealt with prior to being onboard. It must be assessed by the appropriate crew with the appropriate authority onboard. This is also not the first time that this has been discussed on CC and others have reported the same thing - no approval before boarding, but can be done once onboard.

If you have pre-existing conditions that could come into play while you are travelling and buying the PVP will not give you that, I personally would suggest finding an insurance company that will cover your pre-existings.

@pontac has given you great answers. You will love this cruise! Just go day by day. Each night Viking will put the next day's program on your bed while you are at dinner. Grab that after dinner and go to the lounge with your family and make your plans. This will tell you what time you need to be back on the ship, if shuttles are running, the lot.

All this will have its hiccups in the implementation, but I think for us when EES and ETIAS is done next year, that our transit through the first Schengen country will be a breeze. Where the EU passports flow through an automated scan and we line up, that will all be gone. I know that folks love their passport stamps, but this will be so quick and seamless.

They are not needed until you are passing your luggage over to the cruise line, so after you claim your luggage at your final destination. Lucky for us Viking use a plastic type tag that affixes without a staple. This is an innovation but not without a cost associated mailing them out in advance.

In my opinion, the difficulty is often not emphasized enough, but that depends on your physical ability and stamina. On our preferred cruise line which attracts many older folks, I feel that often the description is not explicit enough.

Not that this has been discussed in detail here but there are folks talking about organizing cards and other activities on the Roll Call for this cruise. I assume you are on the October 16th Viking Sea out of Barcelona. We are anticipating many lectures, crafts, painting, trivia, and probably many groups that will be looking to have board games or card games. I trust that over the 6 sea days Viking will do a little extra than if the cruise was having one or two sea days.

Yeah - I just don't fight noise. I have found these ear plugs easy for me to wear and so I just pop them in if there are going to be any noises that I think will keep me up. I also find on ocean ships, that in rough waters, you can have creaks and cracks and they just melt away with these ear plugs.

Yes - we wonder too... it was quite a struggle and it was clear that the ship was not sold out. They just really did not seem to want to move us.

We only book deck 3 and either a V1 or V2 and now after 10 Viking cruises, we keep booking these cabins. We tend to go mid-ship working towards the Aft, but we have also been only a few from the end of the corridor in the Aft. No issues at all. The dining room is not a late night venue and would never be a challenge unless you are going to bed at 8pm, but even then I doubt you will hear anything.

Hmmmm.... was going to compare to my bank but got this?

I get that if AC has booked this as a connection that they believe in their heart of hearts that you will make it. I personally do NOT accept this short of a connection because AC has failed me in the past more than once where either I made the flight but my luggage did not and then I was on a cruise ship with no luggage, or I missed the flight completely. This essentially means that I plan my way from actual experience and don't come on to CC and ask if this is enough time, but if someone does ask, I give my opinion like everyone else.