CDNPolar

To us the decline is in the experience level of the crew and their ability to deliver a truly memorable experience. Our thought and opinion is/was that during the pandemic when the ships were idle, Viking lost a lot of trained crew that did not return fast enough when sailing resumed. The ships were full of crew that were good, but were finding their feet in the service category that we had been used to. We could quickly spot new vs. tenured crew just in the way that tenured crew learned your name and greeted you differently over new crew members. Too many of the newer crew members were "shy" in a way that was sometimes obvious. In any case, we are looking at value for money spent with any vacation. We can afford Viking, but there has to be value for spend. For argument sake, we considered Mekong with Viking, but we can travel with a highly regarded and reviewed land based tour group on a much fuller itinerary for half the cost of Viking and that is substantial to us. As cruise fares continue to rise, we will look at alternative lines more often and alternative travel options more often. Friends ask what we love about Viking and it is this: 1). Viking is a luxury'ish line and the service standard checks all the boxes for us. (Used to check all boxes.) 2). We unpack once. 3). The food is - in our opinion - great, but we are not saying the best ever or that there have not been misses with Viking food. For the most part we find it well meets if not exceeds our expectations. 4). We love that every ship is the same and we don't have to learn new ship layouts and "rules" for dining and all that. 5). Specialty restaurants are included. 6). WiFi, and included beer and wine at meals, although we generally take the SS package. What we don't like about Viking is: 1). Price keeps going up. (Understandable as everything goes up, but where is the value now?) 2). Land side interactions with Viking are challenging at best most of the time. 3). Only a snapshot of most places visited - especially on Ocean - where we might like a deeper dive into a country or city. 4). Service levels on the ships seem to have dropped. (In opposition to my first point above)

Don't disagree with you on anything that you have said here. We still like Viking, but are not tied to Viking.

The rules often come with the "guarantee" which during Covid there were many different versions depending on when you booked, or they are in the letter / email that accompanies the voucher. Also you will find voucher conditions in the Viking ticket contract.

This has been discussed endlessly on CC. If you are ever offered a voucher from Viking vs. refund, take the refund. If you decide to take the voucher then know the rules inside out before accepting that option. Some vouchers come without option - we received a 10% voucher for missed cruise ports. This was a "gift" but had to be applied on your next booking and once applied could not be moved or used on any other booking. Just know the rules. Same with purchasing FCC vouchers on Viking River. You used to be able to apply these to a booking that you had previously made but had not made full payment. Not now. The booking you apply these vouchers to have to have an initial booking date later than the purchase date on the voucher. Lesson to the above story is just because you did it before does not mean you can do it again. Also be cautious as every Viking rep that you may talk to may have a different story or answer. With a voucher situation we had the Viking supervisor admitted that we were given false information based on the notes the agent made in our file but would still not honour that false information as in their words "You were given false information and we must stick with policy. I am sorry for the fact that you were given false information but there is nothing I can do." With vouchers it does not even matter what you were told (true or false) and was documented on your file.

It is just reality for the price increase. I am sure that the other cruise lines are increasing prices or decreasing what you get somehow. It is not just Viking - IMO. We expect to see a rise in price of up to $1,000.00 pp CAD each year. We look at a cruise option price this year and decide against but then look again next year, and it has risen at least $600 to $1000 for the same cabin. We are however looking at other cruise lines and not sticking with Viking for many reasons, and not just price. You will however see in my signature that we leave on a Viking cruise in less than 2 weeks and we have two more Viking Cruises booked for future. Does not mean that we will go on these, it is a tactic to keep our full payment deadline at 6 months from sailing. We just always keep at least one future booking.

I think that because you are in the USA, the rules are the same as Canada. There have been mixed answers on this but you always have to look for the rules of the country where you bought the cruise. If you cancel outright now - you should only lose the $25pp deposit, or $50.00. What are they going to do, send you an invoice for the remaining $150.00? No. But, if there is a possibility that you can go on another date, or another cruise itinerary in the future, you can modify the booking and move it and keep the $50.00 that you have put down already. You may have to up that deposit to the full $500 per person if there are no specials on, but that is the risk of moving your booking. The other thing to know, is that even if you pay in full, in both Canada and the USA, the penalties don't kick in until 120 days out from the sailing date, which means, if there is any possibility that you can sail, and or will change your mind with this cruise, you can pay and expect all but $100 per person back as long as you cancel 121+ days in advance of the sailing. Viking ask for full payment as much as 12, 14 and even 18 months out if you don't have another booking on file with them (Canada / USA rules) but again, no actual penalty until 120 days out which means you can still get all back but the deposit minus the cancelation fee against the deposit. (This varies too country to country.)

Knowing where you are coming from will help in the answer. You may have to clear immigration before you leave the ship, and then if you are flying from Vancouver to Iowa, then you will clear US immigration at the Vancouver airport before you get to security. If you book to self-disembark and DON'T put your bags out the night before - take them yourself - you will be fine. Viking have told you no earlier than 12:00 and you are 12:30 so you are following their guidelines.

On no! We will be divided into those that have the new passport and those that don't. We still have a number of years left on ours so we will have to suffer with the old one for a while longer. The only thing that might get us renewing earlier is if we have enough pages left for our booked travel before the current one expires.

I may be wrong, and certainly someone will chime in if I am, but I would THINK that if your end destination with the liquor is Canada, you don't owe the USA any tax, you will owe Canada tax if you are over your limit and you declare your amount. I would not voluntarily give the USA tax on something that was not going to remain in the USA.

Love this... I have often - in earlier years when I went to bars and clubs - been told that I looked unapproachable and stuck up. I am just not one that sits and smiles all the time! Haha. I am very happy on the inside, I guess it just does not flow outward.

Interesting thing with this is we have a friend that has commented on loud people before, but she has no concept of how loud she is. You can hear her all over the ship. No concept at all. I am NOT suggesting that you are loud. Just making a comment.

I have had similar situation with duty free alcohol at both Nexus and regular customs. The fact is that you can bring what you want through - 1 bottle, 2 bottles, 3 bottles - but you are only DUTY FREE on 1 bottle of spirits up to 1.5 litre. There are often specials in duty free stores where you buy 3 bottles and you get more savings. I will take advantage of this but always declare that I am over my limit. In most cases I have been waved past by the Canada customs because I declared the overage. With a couple of situations I was told very directly by the Canada Customs agent that I could NOT bring into Canada more than the allowed duty free limit, and they were adamant about this. I do not argue or fight with these folks, so I just replied, "I expect you will pull me aside and I will pay duty on the overage" to which she marked my card... and of course I got pulled when leaving the luggage hall, and when I told the inspection agent that I was over by two bottles because of a special, he waved me on and I never paid any duty. NO, the knowledge is not always there....

One of the confusing things on CC and with Viking is that the policies for everything are different based on if you are US, CA, UK, or AU. Most folks have their country or location in their profile and that helps to understand where the information is coming from.

I was going on the premise that in pre clearance procedure that if you did not have a visa, the ship would flag your key card and stop you from disembarking, but what you and Fouremco are saying makes sense...

From research I have done, I agree with this statement. If you plan to leave the ship, you would have to have a Visa. Interesting however that travel.gc.ca indicates no visa required for up to 90 days. Guess because it is not required until October 2023.

I am not trying to bring the haters to me now, but this is entirely true, you SHOULD have the right to be yourself and enjoy your vaction until you land in a country or destination where you are plainly NOT accepted and could be attacked or imprisoned for who you are. In some countries you have no rights and it does not matter where you come from and what your rights are at home. This is just a fact and there is no way around this.

What are your suggestions for Safari? We want to go on a safari but are concerned about being a gay couple and what kind of reception we will receive. Are there certain countries in Africa that would be recommended over others? We are not tied to a safari in SA, we are also thinking Tanzania. Thoughts? Concerns? Questions?

We have missed many ports over the years and never received anything.

Think that this is where it is covered. CARRIER’S RIGHTS AND DISCRETION. The Master of the Ship is authorized to take any action deemed necessary for the safety, security, comfort or well-being of any person or to prevent damage to or loss of the Ship. Carrier reserves the right at any time, without notice, to cancel any cruise, change or postpone the date or time of sailing or arrival, change your port of embarkation or disembarkation, provide a different Cabin than the one initially assigned, modify or omit any activity on or off the ship, shorten or lengthen the cruise; change, add or omit ports of call, substitute the Ship or provide for alternate transportation, render assistance to preserve life or property if conditions of any nature are deemed in good faith by the Carrier to require such action or prevent the Ship from maintaining its scheduled itinerary. The Ship, either before embarkation or at any time thereafter and whether or not required by any maritime necessity, may remain in port, proceed by any route and/ or deviate from or change the advertised or intended route at any stage of the voyage and may proceed to and stay at any place whatsoever, although in a contrary direction to, or outside of, or beyond the usual route, one or more times, in any order, for loading or discharging fuel, stores, laborers, stowaways, Passengers, or members of the Ship’s company, for this, or any prior or subsequent voyage and/or for any purpose whatsoever that we, as Carrier, or the Master may deem advisable. Any such procedure shall be considered not to be a deviation but within the voyage herein intended as fully as if specifically described herein, unless the applicable law provides otherwise. The above-mentioned provisions are not to be considered as restricted by any words of this Passenger Ticket Contract. The Ship may adjust compass, drydock or go on ways before or after commencement of the voyage and may sail without pilots, tow or be towed, and assist vessels in all situations. If the performance of the proposed voyage is hindered or prevented (or in the opinion of the Carrier or Master, is likely to be hindered or prevented) by war, hostilities, blockage, ice, labor conflicts, weather, surf, shallow or high waters, insurrections, disturbances on board or ashore, epidemics or pandemics of communicable diseases (including but not limited to COVID-19, influenza, norovirus), governmental restraints or declarations relating to epidemics or pandemics, other restraints of any governmental authority, health emergencies, acts of God, breakdown of the Ship, congestion, docking difficulties, or any other cause whatsoever, or if we, as Carrier, or the Master of the Ship consider that for any reason whatsoever beyond the control of the Carrier, proceeding to, attempting to enter, or entering or remaining at any port may expose the Ship or any person to risk of loss or damage, or be likely to delay the Ship, we may deviate from the scheduled cruise tour or may provide alternate transportation to some or all of the ports and destinations, and you and your baggage may be landed at any port or place at which the Ship may call, in which event our responsibility shall cease and this Passenger Ticket Contract shall be deemed to have been fully performed, or if you have not embarked, we may cancel the proposed cruise tour. If we are required to do any of these things, we will be responsible to you as follows without any further liability for refund, payment or compensation of any kind, unless otherwise required by applicable law:

I believe that you will find in the passenger ticket contract that if a port is missed due to weather there is no 'compensation' however you will be refunded if you paid for an optional excursion. You may hear from others that have written Viking and claim that they were given vouchers to compensate for a weather related missed excursion.

If you can leave the ship at 7am WITH your bags - don't put them out the night before. How are you going to transit from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale airport? You are arriving on a Thursday morning and potentially hitting rush hour traffic. You have at least a 30 minute ride if no traffic. I personally would go for it.

I think that we have to segregate South Africa into areas. If you are in Cape Town, and you are checking into the Marriott or any other global chain, you will not have these issues. Heck - we checked into the Four Seasons in Cairo as gay men in a room with a King bed and not a question was asked... but we are talking about South Africa. If you are travelling in smaller areas where openly gay is not the norm, you are bound to come across some challenges. I am a fan that in areas of the world that are not "gay friendly" or where we could face harsh consequences, you do it on a tour where you are part of a group and that the tour leader is well aware and knowledgable of the situation.

So, to be clear, you are using an e-sim, but then utilizing WhatsApp for your calling on that e-sim? Never thought of this. I could just have family that don't have WhatsApp get it....

Being Canadian, we hate the cost of roaming, BUT, feel it necessary to keep in touch with family and friends. We are with "R" and that cost is $15 per day per person, so it becomes more expensive to be away for a couple of weeks than the monthly plan including home internet and TV. We have looked at e-sims but don't like the fact that you are then "abandoning" the phone number that everyone has and you are essentially out of communication with home. I know that we should shut off on a vacation, but we don't feel comfortable doing this. We generally now use WiFi where we can and if someone texts (not an iMessage) then we email them back while on WiFi. We will put our phone on data roam if we need to but try not to. This more or less works for us because we can go on to roaming when and if we need to and reduce the cost. The problem with that is that "R" roaming is based on a 24 hour period in your home time zone. Depending on where you are in the world you could turn on roaming at 11:30pm Home Time but day where you are and then go past midnight and get charged for 2 days and you have only needed the roaming for a couple of hours. You have to calculate time and it just gets complicated. I think that where I am going with this is, if I could still see my main number - on WiFi - while using an e-sim, I would be more inclined to look at this method. If you or anyone can comment on this it would be appreciated.

Sorry - not sure how this works... do you have to "switch" the active number on your phone or does it still operate with both numbers? If both numbers still operate then do you know which number a call, text, or email, is coming through?