CDNPolar

Don't expect the Travel Space Bags to last a lifetime of cruising, as they are not that durable, but they work without any extra devices, and they have done what I needed them to. I pack an extra for coming home. I only use them for a couple things and I don't pack everything in them.

The "Chinese" do cruise, but they do so on sailings where the language and the crew are Chinese. The Viking sailings are not directed at the travelling Chinese from my knowledge and understanding.

Nice... another reprieve....

Oh my gosh! I bought these - these are on the Canadian Amazon - and my winter jacket took a fraction of the space. The large bags are large enough for my jacket (bomber style) to lay it out flat before rolling so it goes on the bottom of the suitcase and disappears! These don't require anything to make them work, just seal the bag and roll the air out.

It was the Viking Sea - October 2024 - I don't remember her name because she made absolutely no impact on our experience, other than this negative one. She was not what I had come to expect of Cruise Directors on Viking - ocean or river - and I would hope never to be on a ship with her again. Her only active interest was Baggo. (Bago? SP)

I participated in my first meet & greet in October last year. I was flabbergasted when the Cruise Director actually said/asked that we not talk anything negative about Viking while we were meeting. Her message was to bring complaints / concerns to them directly, but this really threw me. This felt like a boss that I had once that was known for telling you who you could and could not talk to - especially if they had left the company.

So was my post. It was tongue in cheek.

Have friends just booked first Viking Ocean Cruise for 18 months out. Any promos for a first time Viking? Cannot find anything so far.

Yes - ditto. Want to know too!

I am just referring to what was discussed in another thread. I did not bring this concept to the discussion - someone else did.

On another discussion someone mentioned that the "transformational top decks" would have water slides? I have seen top decks closed for low bridges, but never to the extreme that I witnessed in November last year whe our Grand European Tour entered into Main Canal and even the side railings were folded down. I then watched the crew folding and securing everything back up and cannot believe the amount of work that was. Hope Celebrity know what they are doing and I hope they are not bring their kind of "circus" to river cruising. I am sure that residents on the banks of the rivers don't want to hear kids screaming as they descend the water slide...

I don't know why I feel this way, but I only use Viking Red Tags when going on a Viking cruise. I recently was in line to board a Viking Ocean ship in Barcelona and the couple in front of me had Regent tags and AmaWaterways tags, but no Viking Tag. When we went on our last AmaWaterways cruise, we took the Viking Red off our suitcases. I think that I will continue to do this in the future. Although we love Viking, we have now decided to try other lines.

Yeah, I would second @gnome12's question here.

I am not trying to incite anything here, but the Viking Passenger Contract specifically deals with missed ports. It does not matter why the port was missed, the contract states that this can happen and that there is no compensation for this. I am NOT protecting Viking here, I would say the same thing about every cruise line. If every cruise line automatically compensated every passenger for a missed port, they would not be profitable. The fact that Viking does respond to guests that question things like this and ask for some sort of compensation - and Viking do at times compensate - is to me a real stand up thing for Viking. I have read here on Cruise Critic - and this member has commented on this discussion - about a member that complained of a missed port - and I was on the same ship - and this member claims to have received compensation from Viking. I did not get any compensation, but I did not complain. By the time I read this it was well beyond the cruise and I was not going to go to Viking and ask why this member got compensated and I did not... To me this is part of the Passenger Contract. I accepted that. If you choose to complain and you get something - good for you - but that does not mean that everyone should. Sorry - again I am not trying to incite anything here. This is my opinion.

Sorry, I don't mean to be insensitive if there is a mobility issue here, but to me Viking ships are not that large that you are too far from anything.... You are above the restaurants, and your elevators open to the Living Room and disembarkation areas. You will have a walk to the Star Theatre, the Thermal Spa and the Explorer Lounge.

Yes, but we book 99% of our travel in CDN $$ so we are never dealing with a conversion fee. We get our cards based on the perks of the card. This card gives us Maple Leaf Lounge access in Toronto, and other lounges around the globe. We also get free checked bags regardless of the class of service, Zone 2 boarding, carryon allowed, and we get Companion tickets each year. The value of the companion ticket alone each year pays for the card. And, we don't use this for medical at all.

I use a TD Infinite Privilege Aeroplan card. This card has a $599 per year fee, and I have no idea if there is a currency conversion fee. I just never look at that. I buy my travel in CDN $$ with the lines we sail, so it has never really come up. We specifically pay the 599 annual because of the perks that this card bring us as frequent travellers.

Many of the credit card cancellation and interruption plans are also age dependent if you are cancelling or interrupting for a medical reason that would not be covered in their medical because of your age. As a Canadian, we buy the Blue Cross annual cancellation and interruption insurance. We have medical coverage through my husband's work and it is an amazing plan. We buy: * 31 Day Trip * $5,000.00 per person cancellation and interruption (Has pre-existing stability requirements) This is for as many trips in a year that we choose to go on, and covers up to 5K per person per trip. This costs us (I am over 60 and my husband is under 60) a little less than $750 per year. Most of what we do in travel is more than 5K per person, but our Credit Card does still cover me for cancellation and interruption up to 2.5K, so essentially we have 7.5K in coverage for cancellation. Interruption in a plan with Blue Cross - could be different with a credit card - is unlimited. So, for a Viking or AmaWaterways cruise, where our total output could be 8-10K per person, or more, and I look at their cancellation penalties, we are getting some back from the cruise line, and some from insurance and break even between the two until about 40'ish days from the trip. It is under this threshold that we will lose some money. We see this as a gambling loss. We may lose 3-4K per person this way, but that is only if we have to cancel under the final month or so. We pay the $750 for multiple trips, and we are good. If we see something coming on the horizon, we would cancel a Viking or AmaWaterways cruise outside of their penalties - which is 120 and 90 days respectively. I personally would never put the full load of cancellation and interruption on a credit card. That is just our preference, but also because we have never seen limits high enough to cover our travel. Another thing is that we generally pay a bit more for flights that are either fully refundable if cancelled or can be cancelled for a fee like $200 per person. We don't need to cover the cost of our flights in an insurance claim.

For credit card coverage, be VERY CAREFUL as the coverage is sometimes ZERO if you are over 60 or 65. So, even if you are cancelling for a valid medical reason, they won't cover it if you are over a certain age. I recently had a friend that did not realize this and had to buy insurance because she found out she had NO coverage on her credit card based on age. She blindly thought she did before this. The other thing about Credit Cards is sometimes you are covered but for a short duration trip. Often you can top that up, but at a cost. Check the duration of the trip. Personally, I understand those that take risks or will "self-insure" for cancellation or interruption as we do that just by virtue that our coverage is annual and only up to 5K per person per trip. Most all of our trips are more than that per person. What we will not risk is inadequate medical coverage. Best practice is to pay for all on one credit card. There are some cards that will not cover if you did not pay the entire trip on that card. We had a valid claim denied because we used some airline points and some charged on a card. Because we used points the card said, you did not put the full cost of the trip on the card so we won't cover you. There are always hidden reasons that an insurer will not pay. You just have to know what they are.

Must have been a slip there by Tango, because no, we do not need a passport to fly domestically in Canada, just a government issued ID with a picture. However, I never fly without my passport, so that is my ID of choice when flying even domestically.

Everyone wants a piece of the pie. Ultimately in my mind, more ships and more options may dilute the market and perhaps force some lines to lower prices, or sail not quite full? I must say however that this past December when we arrived in Cologne and Vienna and there were a LOT of river ships docked, this was not the same crowding that 5 ocean ships bring to a port. One ocean liner can bring more people than a full slate of river ships.

All of the Viking deck plans are incomplete to my liking. On your Deck 3 plan, the aft cabins have a public washroom on each side. This is NOT however right next to 3058 and 3059 on the multiple ocean ships I have been on - there is a corridor that is at least 30 feet long from that washroom to the first cabin. We typically book in the 3065 to 3075 range and I know this hallway and the corridor well. Unless my forgetfulness is kicking in...

Pre-existing conditions are a difficult landscape to navigate. Some basic things to consider: 1) There are some pre-existing conditions - like diabetes - that if well managed, is technically a pre-existing condition, but not under the same scrutiny as other conditions may be. If you are prescribed meds and insulin and you are following your plan and your blood sugar is well managed, then even a change to your insulin or other meds does not make this condition "unstable". (This information that I am providing still must be verified by the insurer) 2) Other pre-existing conditions such as AFib and other heart conditions, also can be considered stable and you can get coverage as long as you meet the requirements. 3) Stability is a key thing here and the time frame of stability before the travel, or purchase of the policy. Some policies require 3 months of stability and some 6 months. Some may require 3 months of medical stability for cancellation or interruption, but 6 months of stability if you are trying to access medical care while you are travelling. So, in essence, the same medical condition may have two distinct different stability timeframes depending on what you are claiming for. 3 months to cancel for that medical condition, but 6 months if you have a emergency medical incident relating to that condition while travelling. 4) What impacts stability? Well, basically anything that you take medication for or are being tested or treated for CAN be a pre-existing condition. What dictates stability? * Medication change - up, down, or even stopping a medication * Tests ordered for a condition but not yet completed * Doctor suggests treatment - in your file - but you have not followed through Assume that if you have a medical condition and you either cancel, or need medical attention while you are away that the insurance company is going to fully investigate your medical background contacting your doctors and even hospitals. If they can prove that your condition was not stable for the period prior to the purchase of the policy, or not otherwise meeting the policy requirements, then you could be denied coverage. Too many people I know travel blindly thinking that they are covered when they are not actually. I have friends that are in their 80's and still very capable of travel, but one has a chronic and serious heart condition, and the other is perfectly healthy with no medical condition. This person is stable, but the medical insurance they pay is 4 times that of the healthy spouse. In my opinion they are doing it right - they are insuring against risk and they are insuring against losing their retirement savings if something happens while travelling. If there is anything in your medical file that could lead an insurer to a conclusion that you were not stable, then you need to consider the consequences.

Most all cruise lines you are "guaranteed" one landing minimum per day, but there are options that you have to sign up for that some cruise lines cannot accommodate everyone on the ship from a logistics perspective. We did NOT do this trip on Viking. @chengkp75 is correct however as this does not matter the cruise line and that there can only be 100 people on shore at any one time. Others can be on a Zodiac doing a cruise or a kayak or in the Viking Submarine, but on shore only 100 at a time. Some of these rules are for every cruise line regardless. One thing that I caution if you are going to do the Antarctic cruise with any cruise line is what is intended and part of the itinerary is only real when it happens. Weather can stop every activity for the day. We had 5 days along the continent, but one of those days was a write off because we could not land. So, we only had four days of landings and activities. If there is any injury on a ship it can turn around early and you lose out. This is what sailing to Antarctica is all about. Sorry to be the downer here...

AmaWaterways is 100% European owned. Yes they have an office in California, but there is NO US ownership. AmaWaterways cannot sail the Mississippi because they have no US ownership. It is a misconception that because they have an office in the USA that they have American ownership.