mtnestr2011

First Regent cruise coming up. Received our luggage “tags” which are just a piece of paper to fold and staple in place. No “pleather” tag, and we’re in a concierge suite. I guess I should be happy I don’t have to print them from an emailed attachment, 😂.

Love it, thanks @GeorgiaPeach51 for compiling this list! A couple more I would add are Steve Berry and the Cotton Malone series (obscure history woven into modern day thrillers), and anything written by Kristin Hannah (The Nightingale, especially).

Kayaking at Mackinac was a paid excursion (local company) as it is US waters and Viking may not use their water toys. Do not expect to use any Viking watercraft (other than tender) at any US stop. Our September Milwaukee-to-Toronto trip dropped Port Pelee for an overnight in Toronto’s industrial port area where we had our first and only opportunity to go out in zodiacs, SOBS, kayaks (no sub on that trip). Those wanting to enjoy Viking’s small watercraft should take the Canadian-intensive itineraries.

The result was the same whether it was a local or state reg: NO alcohol was permitted to be served on the Octantis while we were docked in Detroit on September 28th. I sat in the Explorers Lounge for sail-away listening to the bartender and beverage manager apologize repeatedly and assure incredulous guests alcohol could be served just as soon as the ship left the dock. Wade through early Octantis GL itinerary reviews here on Cruise Critic, and you will find a couple in April that mention, "Much to everyone's surprise, we hit a couple of serving restricted areas for libations" and "Also, there were bar and drinks restrictions when we were in port that were not expected. They made up for it by providing 2 bottles of wine for every room, but I was not able to get the wine I really wanted to drink.” [LOL, that last comment about leaving bottles of wine in each room did not apply to our cruise] It's smart to question what we read on social media as people tend to post from an emotional in-the-moment point of view. I did, however, go to the source (sort of) and emailed Tellus to ask if it was true there were alcohol restrictions in some ports as nothing was ever mentioned in any of their contractual fine print with no reduction in the cost of the silver spirits package. I received a phone call from a Tellus representative confirming, yes, sorry, Viking has to adhere to local regs at some ports. I recognize the travel experience is different from what we experienced pre-pandemic. After this recent trip, I am skeptical that any cruise line can live up their advertising. I find no fault with the short-staffed, hard-working crew on board. I fault the corporate entity that is not honest in communicating known challenges ahead of time and how they will handle it. I took three very different international trips this year, so I can't help but compare how each set expectations they met or failed.

And the requirement for local liquor license applied when docked at a US port, not in US waters. Operative word being docked.

rmalbers: There we’re reports from early season Milwaukee stops that alcohol could not be served until the ropes were dropped. The Milwaukee liquor license had been obtained by our September cruise, but Viking still did not have a liquor license to serve while docked in Detroit. That was of little consequence, though, as we were in Detroit for a short afternoon and sailing out by 5pm. I imagine that challenge influenced the timing of our stop there.

To add perspective my comments: While we did enjoy many aspects of our week on Octantis, the experience did not come close to what we might have expected and enjoyed elsewhere for $3,470 per day (couple per diem cost for NS room, standard Viking trip insurance, base gratuities, silver spirits package). I might have been less aggravated with being a “guinea pig” had I paid the base cabin rate. It’s common to have a “soft opening” with reduced rates or incentives in the hospitality sector to work out the kinks. Viking would have garnered more repeat customers had they followed that model with their new ventures in North America.

Oh, my, you must have taken one of the initial Toronto-Milwaukee trips! We deliberately chose the final Milwaukee-Toronto cruise (Sep 24 - Oct 1), as I hoped the new itinerary kinks would be resolved by then (nope). This was our first experience with Viking, and I finished the trip with a rather lukewarm impression of the company. The original cruise we booked and immediately paid for a year ago was based on promotional material that touted the toys—submarine, zodiacs, SOBs, kayaks—activities we were very much interested in as well as traversing 4 of the 5 Great Lakes. The trip materially changed enough to feel like a bait-and-switch and makes me cautious about booking with Viking again. Would I have accepted the cost of this cruise (as compared to a Tauck-guided cruise on Ponant in the same GL) knowing we would lose two stops and overnight in Milwaukee and Toronto (not weather-related), not be able to use the “toys” while in the US, and have the hotel in Chicago changed as it was? No, I would have taken the Tauck trip on the smaller Ponant ship.