CDNPolar

Happy that you are seeing reductions in price and that you have that option to contact someone and get the reduction. The cruise line we sail, we tend to only see increases in cabin prices. If you are using a Travel Agent that is separate from the cruise line then they are getting a commission for your booking. This is part of their job to manage your booking, so if you want that price reduction, contact them and ask them to get it for you if they can.

We take a lot of included excursions with Viking. I have read many saying that these are no more than a drive around in a bus with someone talking and an occasional picture stop. Not our opinion or experience at all. We know that some excursions - optional - are overpriced compared to other tour companies direct, but in many cases I see a lot of the optionals as how I feel about "Swimming with the Dolphins" on a Caribbean cruise. To me swimming with anything is not about the culture and food of the city/country. I find many optionals as not offering value to me for the price quoted either through the cruise line or privately. We have rarely had any issue with an included tour, and mostly really enjoy them because we have someone educating us on the city/country that we are walking through. We have, but don't regularly book with outside tour companies just because it is easier to book through the cruise line. We don't want the hassle of finding a meeting place if they won't pick up at the cruise port, we don't want the hassle - and this has happened more than once - where the tour company cancels last minute.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. This is a very unfortunate situation for sure and I am sorry that you are losing money. Unfortunately the reality is that Hurtigruten does not have any obligation to you for this since you did not book through them. For future reference, please take this advice in the helpful way that it is intended. We never book hotels for any trip where we have to pay in advance and are not refundable. Our experience is that anything can happen at anytime and often things end up in the situation you are in. We book only hotels that can be paid at the hotel itself and generally have a cancellation of 24-48 hours prior to the booking - for any reason. In the off chance that we have to pay in advance, we ensure that we have selected a room that has a cancellation and full refund within a certain window of time. We have done this only recently with hotels for a post-cruise stay in Mumbai that we are booking on our own. We have no option but to pay in advance, but there is a full refund if we cancel 72 hours in advance of the booking check-in date. Again, sorry to hear about this and it is for sure an unfortunate situation because in our opinion, Hurtigruten are a very good cruise line and we very much enjoyed sailing Hurtigruten.

Many annual plans you can "top up" per trip if the max coverage does not cover all. We combine our annual, with credit card, and know that in some cases we would lose a bit but that is in most cases only in the final 60 days before travel. Before that with cruise line cancel penalties not being 100% we will make it out okay. We have three trips this year. To cover each individually I priced it to about $3,600.00 for the two of us. For the annual, we paid $1,300.00 for the two of us. We feel with this + the credit card, our risk is low to lose anything.

There can be reasons why one will be let in and another will not. One cabin may be waiting on delayed luggage and not have any other clothes. This would be noted on the cabin and hosts would not deny entry for that reason. We never know why one is let in and another is not. I would assume that shorts in the evening will depend on the style and type and would be an individual decision.

The silicone ones for me were a game changer.

Compared to Viking Ocean - I have never done Viking Expedition - the buffet breakfast and lunch is very comparable. Dinner only has three options per night and they are basic. You don't sail Hurtigruten for the food, you sail for the expedition and the experience. Viking food, in my opinion is much better and would be too on Viking Expedition ships. Consider also that on an expedition like this no matter what cruise line you go on, any food must be loaded at embarkation. There is not restock anywhere along the way. We noticed certain things start to disappear as the days went on probably because there was more demand than expected for certain items. There is only one main restaurant on Hurtigruten and one kind of small burger joint. There is a specialty restaurant for the Suite Guests. You can book that if not in a suite, but we did not see the value as it was extra money and appeared to be only a slightly elevated product. One person commented that there is nothing to do for children, especially during the Drake Passage. Hurtigruten had children's programs in the Science Centre at that time for those that were not sick in the cabin. You also want to be careful that you are not on a really large ship as they may not offer landings. Many larger ships sail through and around the Continent but don't do landings. I would however only suggest taking children if they were really either science or nature focused as there is really nothing else for them. If they are not going to get excited to see penguins up close or a whale cresting the surface, then this is not for them.

Ahhh....! That is great, but with the 14 fewer cabins and the 28 fewer people, if the lounge and dining areas are roughly the same dimensions, then there is just that much more room. I feel crowded on a Viking River cruise.

Also depending on the ages of the children, Hurtigruten had projects and seminars specifically for the kids in the Science Centre.

Your dress code question about black jeans is open for debate. There are those that I have read here on CC that have been turned away, but this seems to be ship and crew specific. I don't think that anyone can give you a answer that is 100% reliable. No offence, but your definition of "nice black jeans" is subjective to the person looking at them. Sometimes there is no dress code compliance in the dining room at night and other times people are asked to change or denied entry. This right from the Viking Ocean website: During the day, dress is casual including shorts (if the season is warm), slacks or jeans and comfortable shoes for walking tours. Swimsuits, swim shorts, cover-ups and exercise attire should be reserved for the Fitness Center, pool areas and Sports Deck. There are no “formal nights” in the evening; evening dress is “elegant casual” for all dining venues, performances and special events. On these occasions, required attire for ladies includes a dress, skirt or slacks with a sweater or blouse; for gentlemen, trousers and a collared shirt. A tie and jacket are optional; jeans are not permitted. The evening dress excludes World Café where the dress remains casual after 6:00 PM.

Welcome to Cruise Critic! Interesting question, and I have personally never come across this before where there is a published difference at embarkation of ship and shore time. A few questions: 1) Is this a cruise itinerary that is part of a longer world cruise or something that you are getting on mid-way? 2) Where is this cruise ship headed after it leaves Vancouver? 3) Where were you alerted to this difference in ship vs. shore time? My thoughts and opinion are: Whatever time you are given to board, do so based on the shore time in Vancouver. Navigating a difference between ship and shore time for those boarding a ship would only cause mass confusion and who would know when you were to board. The only other advice is that once underway, monitor closely if there is a difference between ship and shore time and that you are looking at when you need to be back at the ship so you don't miss sail away. Today smart watches and phones will adjust time automatically to shore time when you arrive in port. Be very careful that this adjustment is not out of sync with ship time.

Agree. I personally don't think that we are ever in a "normal" era new or not. Too much change globally in every regard to ever consider being normal again, whatever that was to begin with.

Yes, we love Viking, but because of this fact, we are looking to try others on River. I find Viking river cabins way too small, and I am not going to pay the extra for a balcony or suite cabin... Also because of this "over crowding" it concerns me that when everyone shows up for a port talk or in the evening, they cannot all sit in the lounge, many have to be in the Aquavit lounge too. I always feel crowded on a Viking River cruise.

I have to look and see the cabin number....

Overall with this, I think that money is money, and if you are paying gratuities through the Viking program - either included in your fare or in addition on your final invoice - the crew are getting their gratuities in whatever payment currency they get their pay in. If you are paying cash in hand, it is additional to the individual and they are likely grateful for this in any currency. I feel like the answer is: 1) Wherever possible tip cash in local currency where the ship is sailing. 2) An overriding currency in the EU and neighbouring countries is probably the Euro. 3) Don't tip in a currency that is not internationally recognized by major banks - like the Canadian Dollar. 4) When in doubt tip with the USD because it is the most recognized international currency globally.

Exactly! It took us some time to realize that calling in and emailing got you a completely different response from a different "level" of knowledge. I consider emailing tellus as starting at an escalated level of customer service. We email about many things now and are always pleased with our response and if not pleased, we feel that at least it is the correct answer.

I know that this is the Viking forum, but we went to Antarctica on Hurtigruten and there were lots of younger children on the ship. 5, 6, 7 years old and up.

Never experienced this, however ask them to remove the wine glasses from the table. That would be a clear statement that you don't want any wine. On our preferred cruise line, wine is included but if you refuse they immediately remove the wine glass and no one comes a calling after that....

Welcome to Cruise Critic When river cruising is impacted by high, or low water levels many things can happen. If the water levels are too high for the ship to pass under bridges, you may be bussed around the bridge to another ship or taken to hotels and bussed to your excursions. Your river cruise could turn into a bus trip. However, this has never happened to us but we understand Viking to take good care of you and use top hotels. We were on Treasures of the Rhine this past December and just one week before all ships were stopped in Cologne and no one was sailing past Cologne. We were lucky - one week later - and sailed all the way through from start to finish of our itinerary... but, there were several times that we could not dock where we were intended to dock because the docks that Viking use / book were under water. In a couple of cases we docked further down the river and were bussed when we could have walked from ship to city centre if we docked where we were intended to. This is a risk of river cruising any time of the year. If you have CFAR, and make sure you do before you execute anything, then you can in fact cancel for any reason, BUT you will not get a refund, you will get vouchers for a future Viking cruise that you can use on any cruise ocean or river. Be very careful that you FULLY UNDERSTAND the terms of the vouchers before you take this option. Vouchers can have many different restrictions attached to them.

True... and we tend to stay in town after a walking tour and look around so as long as the ship is not leaving until 6pm or later, we can just hang out until dark.

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....