CDNPolar

No offence intended... but where you feel it seems odd and explanation is needed, I feel that it is odd that anyone would want to or even consider doing it. But then I cruise on a line that no one does this... so it is not part of my cruise experience.

I bring my own! Haha. (Joking) I worked in the hotel industry for the beginning of my career. You would be surprised how many people will bring their own sheets and especially pillow cases.

We have had changes made to our Ocean itineraries that were not ideal, but if you read the ticket contract, Viking have the right to do this, and even though they will try not to, sometimes they have to. What Peregrina651 says could well be the case. First off, I would write tellus@vikingcruises.com and ask them? Tell your reason for your concern, and see what they say - you will likely get a phone call back. Unfortunately now, you will have to make the decision to extend your stay which if you are doing your air through Viking you will have to pay a diversion fee and then also a hotel and any tour fees that you want to book privately. Unfortunately this stuff happens, but I would prefer it to happen when I have the time to decide to cancel or make alternate arrangements and not be a last minute thing.

This only confirms that Viking occasionally misses the mark. On our hotel post disembarking the Viking River Cruise in Eastern Europe, the check in to the hotel was totally botched by Viking. The entire ship arrived at the same time and we had to line up to check in with only 2 check in clerks on. This took hours. Everyone was upset and this was the end of the cruise, so something that you remember. You have to nail the start and finish and if you do that then a few mishaps in the middle are not as bad. Get in touch with tellus - we did - and they were generous to us.

Ok.... so Fouremco said: Because I have the time, interest and experience, I do all of the research when planning a cruise, so when I'm ready to book, I know exactly which cabin I want on which ship on which cruise before I pick up the phone to call my agency or go on their website to make my booking. And it's purely because of the perks that I book with them instead of directly with the cruise line. Essentially the same thing and I have done this too. I think that the key is here, that we are "directing" the TA to what we want because we have done all the research and know exactly what we want. The TA really has no research or investigation to do... we do it all. Same thing to book directly with the Cruise Line - which we do more often - ask all the questions we have of the cruise line, then finalize the booking with a deposit, then move the booking over to the TA. Same thing really.... Only when direct with the cruise line first, you can get any questions answered right then an there.

Ok... that makes sense

Is this a family and kid thing too? Viking is absent of anyone under 18 and tends to be a much older crowd, however now we are seeing much more 40's 50's and in general a wider audience. We love Viking, and want to try other lines, and although this might be an amusement walking down the corridor, I will still rely on knowing my cabin number to find my cabin.

The last time I was on a cruise line other than Viking Ocean or Viking River was at least 15 years or more ago. I don't remember this being a thing then? Perhaps the line I was sailint it was not popular, or this is a newer thing? Perhaps I turned a blind eye? On Viking Ocean and Viking River which we total now more than 10 cruises, I have never seen anyone decorate a cabin door. My comment - thank goodness. I cannot imagine packing this kind of stuff to take on a cruise ship.

There are so many shorts, clips, reels of flight attendants sharing their wisdom of the dirtiest areas on the plane, and one that does not surprise me is the seat back pocket. I have watched people that is sit beside, blow their nose repeatedly on a tissue and then stuff it in the seatback pocket, only to take it out again, blow again and then put it back. They have swabbed these seat back pockets and find all kinds because parents will stuff a folded dirty diaper there until they get up to take it to the lavatory. Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting is that seatback pocket. I am not a believer that the air on a plane is responsible for illness, it is hand to tray table, hand to seatback pocket, and then hand to mouth. This is where your sickness is coming from when you fly. This discussion is about United. This is NOT just a United thing.

Respectfully, I think that you are mis-reading this. For those of us that pass a booking over, we actually do the booking and make the deposit with the cruise line, and THEN move the booking to the TA. We - the cruiser - do the final button pressing and then pass over. The TA still gets their full commission. We do this just to get the perks that we would not otherwise get.

Most cruise lines have a period of time - 30 days, 60 days - that you can move a booking made direct with the cruise line to a TA. Again, similar to Fouremco, I do all the booking, choose my cabin, add the extras that I want, make the deposit payment directly to the cruise line, and THEN move the booking to the TA for the perks. How am I getting the perks you ask? When the TA takes over the booking, then there is OBC (On Board Credit) added to my journey and then I get a new invoice that shows that OBC added. Depending on the TA, then other perks can come in the mail via cheque / check or rebate.

For the OBC and perks / rebates. We would not get them otherwise.

Lucky you can.... that is one reason that we often don't use a TA because the one that we do use the most always has an out of office on her email and you cannot reach her directly on the phone. If there were something urgent, we would be out of luck. That is why we do everything and pass to her when the booking is complete and we book air on our own.

Fair enough. Thank you for this. I also look forward to other comments and additions to this.

I am sorry, and no offence, but I don't understand why anyone would do this? Can someone explain why you would do this? Again - no offence, I just don't get it.

I have a work colleague that is envious of our Viking Ocean and River cruises. She says that she always wanted to try Viking but they are SO MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE than the larger ships that she sails on. I finally said... ok. Please do this for me. You see Viking advertised at $6000.00pp and your cruise is $4,500.00pp. Go on your cruise, but when you come back, please have a list of everything else that you paid for while on the cruise. WiFi, drinks, shore excursions, port fees, - anything else. When she got back we looked at everything that she spent, and essentially we came out even. She just assumed that Viking was going to charge her for everything that she was used to paying for on the larger lines, because she never investigated far enough to understand that Viking was including everything that she was paying extra for. There is a belief (and I disclaimer that this may not be accurate) that many of the larger lines only cover their base cost of running the ship with cabin sales, and the profit comes from the add on sales once you are on the ship. We have been looking at larger ships and different lines from Viking but in the evaluation process, it is very hard to understand what you have to pay for once you get on the ship. They don't really share that on their web sites.

Haha. Yeah - the QR codes. I want a real menu. I hate those things for ordering and deciding. Not the same experience for me anyway.

Did not think of this, but this is a good idea to have a three way call. The shop card is / was such a great perk and we ended up with slightly over $1,500.00 and then the annual rebate. Good deal. Only downside for us is they don't book every cruise line and they don't book our favourite cruise line.

We found with the box store, that we would talk to whoever answered, but they all seemed equally qualified to answer our questions.

Wow... Sorry to hear that you headed back early. We were 16-17 hours into our departure from Ushuaia and had to return for a broken hip fall in the Drake Passage. It is not uncommon for the ship to return whether it is caused by the ship or not. If the medical situation is too much for the ship to deal with or life threatening, they turn back. This is just something that you must accept when you book an excursion like this. There is no help closer than 2-3 days of travel. Every cruise line is going to have a different offer for something like this. I bet if you read in detail your cruise contract, that it states that you may cut short for medical reasons, but in general they don't 100% promise or guarantee any landings or kayaking, etc., it is based on weather. We lost one day to weather and only had four good days, you got three. Legally, I don't think that Hurtigruten owe you anything, but if you take the 10% is that on the total cost of your just finished trip? In cash? Do you plan to sail with Hurtigruten again to take advantage of the 30%?

I spent 10 days in Monaco overlooking the harbour and the cruise ship port. I saw Viking in the harbour several times. Sometimes they were anchored and sometimes they were at the dock. I believe that there is only room for one ship to dock in Monaco, so it is luck of the draw.

I think that coffee is everywhere now....? Right? The biggest challenge I have is when we travel, I do enjoy my coffee a particular way, and not every country has the same options. I get that I am in a different country, and must now adjust to enjoy in their style, and I do.... but....

Good to hear... not that it is uncommon, but this discussion changed direction and I just looked at it again and thought... what ever happened to the coffee junkies????

First, just caution that we should not talk names or TA companies on CC. In short: 1) I feel that there are more US based TA's that give higher levels of OBC or perks than there are Canadian based TA's doing the same. 2) Apparently we can use US based TA's to book, and some on here do. I have never looked into that at all because I just assumed that it was not doable... 3) In Canada, you have to shop around and ask the TA what they offer because some do and some do not and yet others charge you for the privilege of working with them. 4) We work with two very large organizations and one gives OBC at different levels based on the length of the cruise, a per person rebate cheque at the end of the year, and discounts on travel insurance. The other can offer quite substantial cash incentives for booking if the cruise is a pricy one, and an annual rebate against the cost of the trip. This has been discussed in many places on Cruise Critic and a hot topic for some because it would appear that we are looking for a TA to give over their commission and their hard earned income. The fact is like I said above, some offer, and some don't. I am not coercing any TA to give me money to work with them, I simply ask what they offer to have my business, and what I get is what is available to anyone without asking. I just want to know up front before I book. We used a TA for an expedition cruise last year, and everything for her has changed since. We did not pay any fees to her for the expedition, but now just to engage her it is $150pp research fee, and then there are other fees that come over time and none of them are deducted from the cost of the trip even when fully paid. We have decided not to work with this agent again. When others are offering rebates and OBC, why would I pay fees to someone to do the same thing.

Only having cruised on Uniworld once, and we arranged the air on our own, a couple of questions: 1) Do Uniworld arrange air also? If so, would this CFAR include cancelling the air? 2) Is the cost reasonable?