CDNPolar

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.

Right now it appears that the EES program roll out will START in October. Does not look like it will be in every EU airport on any one day in October. The information I read suggested the start of the roll out in October. We fly into Barcelona in mid-October and I really hope that this is started then so that we can get it over with sooner rather than later. If not October we then fly into Amsterdam late November and perhaps take care of this at that point. It seems as though under the watchful eye of Immigration officials we will scan our passports, have a photo taken, and render our fingerprints all at the same terminal. The articles I read make it sound seamless and simple. ETIAS is apparently going to become active in roll out early 2025. So, EES and ETIAS.

It is stealing in actuality. I am certain that this is also why some of these packages are so expensive to buy.

Thanks... We are quite looking forward to this TA cruise as it will be our first. I have long been fascinated by the concept of a 6+ day crossing. I am certain that we will fill our days and because I am up early even on vacation - 5am - I will do my walking early as I am sure that the walking decks will be crowded during the day. I will have audio books downloaded and movies shows so I can sit in a corner somewhere or on the open deck if warm enough. Hopefully there will be interesting lectures during the crossing.

Dragging bags is a challenge in many European cities because of cobblestones, so we just use an Uber or a Taxi and go door to door. We choose to not be weighed down by the luggage when moving around.

Where we live in Canada we have all four seasons, and we can have extremes in both summer and winter meaning down to -30C or lower in the winter and +35C or higher in the summer. We however are "winter babies" and love the cool to cold. I guess we are just used to dressing for this weather. We would rather put on a sweater to protect against cold than take off something because it is too hot. This weather for river cruising is enjoyable to us.

Also never seen this in the line up of services.

If you are presenting as 2 at the host stand, you don't even have to ask, as they will just automatically seat you at a 2 top. However, if you are going in at 6pm, you should ask for a window 2 top, because there is one side that has a bank of 2 tops - I believe on the Port side - that are like "inside cabins" and not as prime in their location in our opinion.

In our opinion yes. We don't want a forward cabin of any category. We like our mid-ship cabin and book early to have the selection. We booked late for one cruise and there was only a forward cabin available and because the ship had empty cabins after embarkation Viking reluctantly allowed us to move two or three days in. The seas were rough and the motion and the noise in this deck 3 forward cabin was something that we could not tolerate.