CDNPolar

Question is how "immediate" is Lomotil? This is a pill that has to digest. Immodium quick dissolve works almost immediately for me.

We were on a river cruise over both Christmas and New Year this past December. We went on a very enjoyable winery tour on the 24th of December and brought back a bottle for Christmas Eve dinner and also a bottle of bubbly for New Years Eve. Often discussed here and there (not necessarily about Viking excursions) where there is an expectation to buy something when you are taken into a store... (We felt this clearly on our Egypt River Cruise). We have never felt the pressure to buy wine when we are on a winery tour with Viking BUT I feel almost an responsibility to buy at least one bottle and bring it back, but only if we really enjoyed one of the wines we tasted. I see this as our way to give a little to the economy where we are visiting. I do emphasize however that we have never felt obligated, and I see most walk out without purchasing. To us, this is kind of special to bring that bottle back and have Viking open it for us.

We have sailed mostly Viking but also Uniworld and Hurtigruten. Personally the breakfast and lunch buffet on Hurtigruten although not as expansive as Viking, in my opinion was slightly better, but the dinner choices and execution on Hurtigruten did not hold a candle to Viking evening meals and choices. Uniworld was The Nile and to me the food was passable. Passable meaning that I would not complain, but there was nothing really to compliment beyond the fact that it was good food on par with a decent restaurant at home. To us with our more limited experience Viking wins, but this vote is subjective to our tastes and experiences.

We have been close and right across and never bothered us at all. Looks like this is a mixed bag of YES, and NO. Think that it may come down to your sensitivity for sound.

Our first cruise in 2025 is for our 10th wedding anniversary. We are not telling Viking or our TA because we dread this kind of thing happening. If I get into this situation ever - and I hope I don't - and Guest Services could not give us back our original cabin or one that we considered acceptable in exchange, I would be emailing tellus@vikingcurises.com while on the cruise. This would be a fatal blow for me and I am not one that would appreciate this as a surprise. The 2025 cruise has been booked with our selected and desired cabin for almost a year now. Don't change my cabin. Airlines can upgrade me to business anytime and I don't even care if my husbands seat is within talking distance, but don't change my cabin.

That was served every night on our cruise... delicious!

But, my understanding in this situation - because we were in this in December with a booking two weeks out from sailing - is that anyone in a Guaranteed situation is informed before arriving at the ship. And, it was also my understanding that the Guaranteed cabin person that is given the upgrade, not someone that already has a cabin number assigned.

I dread this situation. We don't want to get a surprise of a cabin that we don't like the location of. If someone called us and offered us that is one thing, but I have read this before that someone arrived at the ship and were checked in to a different cabin than booked and could not have their original booked cabin.

Ok... after 10 Viking cruises, we are waiting for that phone call. We were on re-start cruises at the end of the pandemic that 300 cabins open and were not offered an upgrade. I find the whole upgrade thing an interesting concept with Viking.

Completed 6 to date and have 4 booked.

Here in Canada now it is $92 bucks a bottle I think... At least $89 for sure. (Exchange part of that and taxes... ahhh... our taxes on liquor products.)

Spectacular before the sun rise.

There is an interesting post by a brand new member in another forum, that tells the story that two weeks before her cruise the cruise line cancelled the cruise and offered refund to the cruise fare, but no compensation for purchased air (assume on own) or visas, etc., that were costs incurred that now could not be recovered. My question is, does your cancelation insurance - if you buy it - cover you for cancellation fees associated with costs such as cancelling air fare purchased? Other costs could be if you prepaid hotels before or after the cruise that are non-refundable? Full airfare may not be recoverable if the air transfers into a credit for future use, but there still could be cancelation fees associated. I have looked into my current annual policy which is a Canadian Blue Cross policy, and I will call them to ask the question directly. All I can find in the Blue Cross language is the following but I don't know if this is actually stating coverage for this situation or not? When the loss incurred is directly or indirectly caused by a travel provider default, the reimbursement of your insured travel expenses is limited to the amount indicated on your insurance certificate, up to a maximum of $7,500 per insured person. In addition, the total amount that the insurer will be required to pay for all claims in the event of a travel provider default must not exceed: - $2,000,000 per event - $5,000,000 per calendar year

For us, happiness is having several cruises booked in the future. Gives us something to talk about (between us) and plan for which is exciting to us. We go through waves of talking and planning for the most current upcoming cruise to the third cruise in the line up. Some of this is strategy with Viking to keep the 6 month full payment option alive and much easier to do now with $25 pp deposits. (The 6 month full payment option for CAD and US) It is not uncommon for us however to decide to move a cruise that is booked now to a different date or even a different itinerary entirely. We actually see these as placeholders for travel.

Yeah - I have one brother that is notoriously late for everything and we have offered to join us and they always respond that they will think about it. Never a commitment. This would be the brother that one day will say "Oh, that cruise you mentioned, we would like to join you" and I guarantee you that the ship will be sold out, or sold out of cabins that they would choose to afford.

It may not, but it also may... Free Air is still air that is in Viking's air contract rates and would fall under the same rules and costs as air that they are charging us for. We always have to pay the deviation fees and any up=charges if they are there. The air is not "free", this is just Viking's way of discounting the price of the cruise without discounting the cabin price. To me, and this may or may not be the real truth, I see this as a brilliant marketing move. By offering a deal to guests with free air, Viking never reduces the cabin price which keeps a certain value of that cabin in front of us. If they were to discount the cabin significantly then we would see non-discounted cabins as very expensive for future cruises... Not sure if the above is making sense the way I am saying it? It makes perfect sense to me however as this is a pricing type of strategy that is used in different industries. The act of lowering your price makes the consumer only see the lower price in the future and then they see the regular price as high. With Viking we always see the air as extra cost, which it is. Don't get me wrong, this is a deal when they give free air, and a strategic way to do it.

I get you on the 2am thing... If we feel a "bump in the night" going through a lock we have gotten up and sometimes it is just confirm that we are indeed in a lock and go back to sleep. I will say however one of the best early starts - 5:00am - was the approach to the Panama Canal. In the dark the lights and the approach is breathtaking - from my perspective anyway. This was almost as good as the actual lock. We were on deck from 5:00am until we cleared the lock into the canal. Re cabin upgrades, and especially on Ocean, we actually hope we are never upgraded because what I have gathered from posts is that you are not given a choice, you are just assigned the upgraded cabin with no option to keep what you booked initially. We choose our cabin carefully and we like mid-ship to slightly Aft and we don't want a forward cabin at all.

We found when we started cruising with Viking in 2017 that Veuve was on the SSBP on River ships but NOT on Ocean ships. We drank a couple cases on one river cruise. We have found since - our last River cruise - that Veuve was either out of stock, or not included in the SSBP as we were informed by the bartender. We have never found it included in 7 Ocean cruises.

I would hope that you have emailed tellus@vikingcruises.com to share this feedback with them directly. I am not certain that comments on a survey are acted on quickly based on the sheer volume of surveys they receive. This just shows that even standard menus can be impacted by the team that are preparing the meals - and the Chef's input is paramount.

Was this your journey from LHR to Tilbury? I have been concerned about this. We have a cruise booked for early 2026 and we are flying into LHR but boarding in Tilbury. Since we are flying from Canada, we will likely arrive between 6:30am and 10:00am local London time on a Saturday. I would. hope that this transfer mid-day on a Saturday would be better than. your experience?

Not all cancellation insurance covers you if the cruise line cancels the cruise, but if you did have this rider then you could potentially claim the cancellation fees and the visa costs.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. I cannot imagine how you feel having such an anticipated cruise vacation cancelled so short notice. Would you please share more? Where was the cruise sailing from and to? What was the reason given for the cancellation? Did you have cancellation insurance for the airfare fees? Need to understand more about the situation to understand all sides.

You are welcome! Happy insurance hunting. For me it has become a journey of reading policies and multiple calls back to confirm or clarify language, and I am always learning about this nasty necessity called insurance.

Love Cava, but in Ontario Canada we have to buy our wines from the LCBO or Liquor Control Board of Ontario or from local Ontario winery stores. The LCBO does not stock a lot of Cava. I certainly prefer a Cava over a Prosecco.

What part is not true. Be specific. we know you always have a bee in your bonnet when it comes to the SSBP