TayanaLorna

Well I stand corrected on pre existing conditions and the ability to transfer an insurance policy to another cruise. Once again living in PR is a disadvantage because many insurance companies cannot insure us here or their premium far exceeds Vikings cost so we go with TripMate.

It sounds like you booked at the $25 pp promotion so if you cancel prior to the 120 days out you only lose $50. Also do not buy trip insurance until prior to that 120 day cancellation period as there is nothing to insure at that point. Trip insurance is never refundable nor is it transferable to another cruise. Why does Viking require full payment a year in advance? Because they can. Many of the itineraries sell out quickly and Viking loyalists book years in advance.

Hope you have a safe trip. Look forward to your report. This board began as statement about undesirable passenger habits but evolved into one about how we might protect ourselves against them. I too appreciate the comments and suggestions as we are a bit uneasy about taking our first cruise since the safety protocols were dropped.

We found the tables for 2 were along or near the windows and along the far wall. The 4's and 6's were more in the center. As i recall the table service restaurants were most busy between 7 and 8 pm.

Agreed about the Star Theatre for sure Kent. Only time we went there was if our meet point for an excursion was in the ST. I went there for a couple of lectures but was able to sit in the peanut gallery far from others and everyone had to mask anyways.

Port talks are available in the evening on your TV. Plus the Star Theater evening performances were live on in the stateroom. At least they were on our last cruise. Although our last cruise was during all the Covid safety measures, people on our roll call talked about how they planned to isolate themselves for the two weeks prior and said they were masking all the time where they lived even if they didn't have to. So yes, we knew who we wanted to hang with.

Go to the Viking website page for your cruise and look at each day of your itinerary. You will find a list of "potential" excursions included and optional for each day. There will be no times or prices and not all excursions may actually be offered, however it's a good start for research. Northern Lights is not a new itinerary so the excursions you see will probably be what you get.

Yes a number of activities were missing from our recent cruises - the Kitchen Table, yoga, stretch and meditation classes, the Nordic Spa how to class, Meet & Mingle, bridge and galley tours. But I was surprised they did the different wine and spirits tastings on our last cruise.

Yep. Friend of ours was disappointed that his favorite single malt scotch was not in the Explorers Lounge. The bartender found one and put it under the bar for him. But then he tips the bartender at the beginning of the cruise.

Yes. Last time I emailed them I got the same message. I received a call in 3 days. They used to respond the same day that the email was sent.

Puerto Montt can be a missed port if there are strong winds from the South. Sometimes the ship has to anchor and tender if the tides are too low. Might be too much chop on the water to safely tender. Punta Arenas is famous for really strong winds. The town even has bars along the sidewalks to hang on to. We had 60 mph winds with higher gusts. Most land excursions ran but anything on the water was cancelled as well as the excursion with the gondola ride and hike. We had two tugs pull us off the dock upon departure. Ushuaia is pretty bullet proof. Loved that cruise!!

I ignored the 60 days message and was connected to an agent. I am about 6 months from our cruise. I had 2 itineraries picked out but neither of the flights were under their contract. She spent about a half hour working with me and could not come up with a Viking contracted itinerary that did not involve an extremely long layover or a too short layover. She suggested I call back in 2 or 3 weeks as more flights are added. Air Plus passengers can book anytime. Just know that flights may change. The 60 day message was playing already in July 2021 when I was trying to book flights for our Fall TA.

I used to get confused between the Explorer's Club past guest discount and on board credit (OBC). The past guest discount comes only from Viking. The OBC can come from Viking or from a travel agent. The on board credit from Viking appears on the Guest Statement. The OBC from a TA does not appear until you are onboard as is my understanding. Also my understanding is Viking controls how much OBC a TA can offer and it is dictated by the length of the cruise. Then there are the Vouchers. These come from Viking and are from cancelled cruises or from some mishap where Viking feels it prudent to offer monies toward future travel. All these different offerings come with different rules too. And sometimes it seems they change the rules on you. Oh my.

Well yes but the air does not woosh quickly into the stateroom unless the balcony door is open. And i don't think the 2 seconds we have the door open to exit allows an excess of virus to enter. Not something i worry about. Viking has those sanitizing robots go through all the public spaces onboard. I've been known to do laundry at 4 am and go down to the Living Room Bar at 5:30 am waiting for the barrista and have seen them.

All experiences are informative. Love the Ocean cruise ships and was going to schedule our first River until i began reading about the ships and people's experiences. I don't like the lack of 2 people dining tables and being forced to sit with 4 to 8 other people, don't like the lounge being the venue for lectures, port talks and entertainment with no where else to get away from crowds but the top deck, and i don't like having to pay so much more for a balcony room. Still too risky for me given no testing or masking.

There is a nonalcoholic beer for $5.00, the House Wine outside of lunch and dinner times is $5.00, Premium listed wines are $6.00, Viking Sparkling is $5.50 and Prosecco is $8.00. I have never seen non alcoholic alcohol. Isn't that an oxymoron? Juices, sodas, mineral water outside of meal times range from $3.75-$5.00 but if this is something you like outside meals you can just take a can with you when you leave the WC. Both my DH and I drink alcohol - mostly wine but an occasional cocktail or after dinner drink. We enjoy trying all the different wines and don't always like the daily house wine choice. We feel paying for the package for both of us worth it. On one 18 day cruise we planned to purchase it on board. However my DH had a bout of diverticulitis right before our cruise and was not drinking alcohol so we did not purchase it. I drank the house wine or an occasional premium one, sparkling wine or a cocktail but probably not as much as if my DH was drinking. Toward the end of the cruise my DH had a few wines. Our bill at the end of the cruise was 1/5 of the cost of paying for SSP. And you know you can bring your own beverages on board whether alcoholic or not.

Excellent analysis. Safe trip to you also.

Thanks for the recommendation. Are the KN masks NOT made in China? Been avoiding them but don't care for the around the head strap of the N95. So glad you finally did that TA.

We always carried the little sanitizer bottle found in our stateroom and used it after every time we returned from the buffet. I carried it on my person most of the time because i liked to use the stairs but must hold on to the rail. I would use the stairs, open the doors, find my seat wherever then sit and use the sanitizer. Does Viking still provide bottles in the room? This is our first cruise since Viking dropped the Covid protocols so we are a bit uneasy and planning ahead of time how to protect ourselves.

Thank you so much. Good to know. Sounds like the N95's are the best choice. We are used to wearing them for long periods already. We chose our next cruise because it boards in San Juan and we live in PR. Can avoid airports and planes until we return home. We are fully vaxed and boosted. Hoping to get an omicron targeted booster when available. Sounds like next step of protection is social distancing and especially away from those exhibiting any symptoms. Hand sanitizing is a given.

Red bagged room service trays? If guests are quarantined, then apparently they are requesting a Covid test themselves or being asked by Viking.

I appreciate all the comments here and especially those who do mask to protect themselves and others, as well as those who admit they are sick, test and quarantine. A question to those who masked and did not get Covid: what kind of mask did you wear? I am remembering many people claim that they do mask, did everything right but still got Covid on a ship. Case in point is our GP doctor who went on a cruise to Alaska. He claims he did everything right. However we have never seen him or any of his staff wear a N95 or KN95 mask. The black paper mask we see there are always slipping down their noses and are certainly not tight fitting around the face. Just thinking about how many N95 masks we need to order for our next cruise. Went on 2 cruises last year - one in the height of the Delta strain and one at the very beginning of the Omicron strain. We all wore the black masks provided by and as required by Viking and neither ship had a single case of Covid. I know this is off topic but there seem to be some safely masked cruisers on this board.

We went to 2 out of the 3 Jupiter shows in 2020 and enjoyed them so sign up. They filled up fast but it was still a novelty back then with few negative comments. Shows were in the afternoon and the evening sometimes. However we do prefer the additional seating space on the upper Explorer lounge instead of the Planetarium and are glad that the new ships do not have it. When trying to use the seating up there we found that it was too often filled with people waiting to get into the show. Word got out that the best seats were in the back so people were lining up early.

Oh no Clay. So sorry. Not surprised, however, with Covid as well as the instability of that part of the world.

Yes the document said 3 things regarding Covid testing - the guest can request a test if feeling unwell, the guest can request a test upon disembarkation if one was needed for further travel and Viking could request a passenger take a test.