Squawkman

You won’t miss out on any included excursions or will you miss out on promised dining. You just might have to book on board. And chances are good you can also get optional optional excursions. We typically book V cabins which have less priority than DV and never had a problem. Excursions open up all the time during the pre-cruise booking period too.

I’ve done this several times always with my Viking agent. Booking must be within 14 days of disembarkation from any cruise and you get $200PP SBC for any cruises you book. SBC can be used before embarkation or on board. I can email you his phone extension if you’d like.

Let us know how it works out. I can always email you my Viking agent’s extension.

Then check his latest posting which includes up to DV1 at V2 pricing, gratuities, SSP but no free air.

Call it a sale, deal or whatever. Using Clay’s EIC23 promo code, we cancelled and rebooked Canada and New England Scenic Shores. For a net of $99 + $100 cancellation fee pp, we upgraded from DV6 to DV1 (813) with free SS for this 2 week cruise. Original promo also had free gratuities and did have free $399 air, but the DV1 is based on V2 pricing hence the net of $99. And there was no included SS which has value for us even though we don’t drink alcohol

There are 2 options: you will be offered to book on board, and the perks increase with the length of the cruise. Unless things change, one perk will be SBC for your current cruise which you can use towards gratuities if you haven’t prepaid them. The other option is to book with a Viking agent within 2 weeks of disembarkation which gets you $200pp SBC for for the new cruise. Might be a better deal especially for a short cruise.

Generally yes, but you may not be able to access your cabin.

For every Viking cruise (river and ocean) we’ve been on, we always asked for ice twice a day (when they refresh our cabin) and got it. On river longships, there’s an ice machine the public could use on the middle deck.

While on board you could dedicate any unspent OBC to gratuities.

Yes - don’t know why my pic didn’t show - it did when I sent it. But yours is better anyway 😊

Be sure to go on the top deck when you go through locks - and be prepared to duck.

Ditto for Viking.

interesting - but you're both correct as Viking agents are not usually told about promotions - they find out when a customer tells them the code.

I appreciate the info but please note neither code provides free air for Douro cruises despite the code being accepted. This was the case a few months ago. I had asked my Viking agent who then indicated in his 10 years with Viking he has never seen free air for Portugal.

If you read the posts here, you see that statement regarding SSP and gratuities on our invoices may be meaningless. I expect to check this out this week with my Viking agent.

Viking does offer a Porto to Porto cruise itinerary for UK residents - no need to go to Lisbon.

I wonder what would have happened if you paid before yesterday (I.e., in 2022). BTW, I’ve been on 4 Viking cruises post Covid and had no problems with service at any time. But I do feel Viking blew it by not announcing the SS and gratuities increases in an email. We only find out when we look at MVJ, most likely with a calculator at hand. Question for those who book SS when on board: is the cost immediately charged to your credit card or does it remain in your on board account until late in the cruise (like gratuities)? If it’s treated like gratuities, then you should be able to pay the difference at the end of the cruise and not have it block other functions of MVJ.

So UK folks get a 33% increase while Americans get 25%? Weird.

Here’s something interesting - last month we booked a cruise using a promo which included gratuities. So I just checked MVJ which showed $18 per day - but the following paragraph appears on the right: Pre-Paid Gratuities are included for a portion of your trip. To purchase for the remaining days please contact us at 1-855-706-2326. Then I checked my billing statement which clearly states: Promotional Amenities EHT22 Complimentary Pre-Paid Gratuities I’ll check this out with my Viking agent next time we speak, but I would expect Viking should pick up any increase for gratuities just as it does for cruise fare, prepaid extensions and excursions, etc. Honestly, I have no problem tipping extra, but I am a little perplexed with this policy. Question for anyone who has prepaid SS: do you get a similar statement for SS on MVJ?

Gratuities have always been billed per night seemingly as the first and last days of a cruise are 1/2 days. River cruise gratuities had been odd amounts due to Euro conversion. For the heck of it, I checked the parallel FAQ on gratuities on the river site and it says $20 if prepaid and 20€ if billed on board.

They were always a little more as they were 15€ which up until recently was more than $15.

Just checked MVJ for our river cruise. Gratuities there are now $20pp per day. SS is Los $25.

Yes, it could have depending on the 24 hour window and whether or not you were using Viking air. Read the attached file and see for yourself. 10MAY-210120_RiskFreeGuarantee.pdf

We did Herculaneum 4 years ago and our guide was fantastic. There were a couple of spots that explained the “demanding” classification, but she had work arounds for those of us who felt challenged. My suggestion is to talk to your cruise director ASAP and let her know your concerns.