LindaS272

It’s not peanuts—it’s almonds/cranberries/raisins.

Ditto. Happened to us that way too both times. But now we just book a PV because we prefer them. On our SE Asia cruise in 2019, one couple from our travel mates on an independent excursion was “bumped” into an ES from a PV at check-in—no charge I believe.

Take @Peregrina651’s advice and email tellus@vikingcruises.com for an upper level guest services answer.

I think she means British Isles Explorer.

It’s extremely easy. A few days before the end of the cruise, Viking puts a letter in your state room telling you the gratuities will be charged at the end of the cruise unless you go to Guest Services and request it be removed. Nothing hard about that. I think you can also have it removed earlier if you want. They also ask you in the letter to check your account on the stateroom TV to make sure it’s correct.

None of these are required to have a decent, and I’d say, enjoyable cruise. 1.) is simply a form of payment and is no “deal” because you can pay a la carte. 2.) as a U.S. passenger, you don’t have to pay gratuities at all; you can leave money for your stewards or others as you see fit. 3.) you can do your own flights, or pay for Air Plus to get better connections. 4.) you don’t have to do any Viking excursions; you can book excursions with a 3rd party; you can wander around on your own in port & use public transportation.

Don’t forget the perk in PVs of free pressing & shoeshine! After having my wardrobe crumpled up in a garment bag folded up in my luggage, I send out for pressing as soon as we get in our room. And after hiking up a glacial moraine on Svalbard in July searching for fossils, my hiking shoes were pretty muddy. Felix & Risa had them cleaned up for me in time for the next day’s outing. 😎

Doing laundry on your own takes almost no time. You can fit it in to and from a meal or lecture presentation, etc. Gives you exercise, too, coming and going. Six VO cruises and we have always easily done our own.

Why? Norway is a modern country with 21st century infrastructure. 😎

If you’re confused about what the “greenhouse” is, it’s Fridheimar, the tomato greenhouse restaurant near the Golden Circle. Not to be missed for lunch!

I think those expressing their dissatisfaction have perceived something that they want to see in the marketing. Personally, I think it’s much ado about nothing. We’ll see if Viking responds to complaints, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

So that’s a change to the excursion—which is subject to change. I guess you see what you want to see. I don’t agree with the OPs assessment of this being a “bait & switch” on Viking’s part. There’s always an option to not cruise with Viking.

We had hard copy automatically on Saturn from July 4-19.

“Shore excursions vary by each itinerary and are subject to change.” This is on the top of the Viking cruises web page for each itinerary day on ocean cruises. While you might have hoped a previously advertised “included” excursion would be on your specific cruise, this language shows that excursions “are subject to change.” We’ve been disappointed a couple of times that some excursions listed on the website don’t end up being on our particular itinerary, but we know that shore excursions can change at any time. Even days before the date—as happened to us on our recent Norway/Iceland cruise on the Saturn when going to Svalbard.

I wouldn’t take that information to the bank about “all PV3” cabins having doors unless I compared it to the pdf & the PV2 & PV3 location maps on the ship. We prefer the slider because it’s just easier to open & close (esp. in North Atlantic gales), doesn’t take up veranda space, & found you can’t see out the window/door combo that well anyway. YMMV.

That’s what mine does, as described. It’s part of iOS and the Apple ecosystem.

My cc info along with my name & address, etc.is saved in my iPhone/iPad/MacBook Pro so I just have to add security code. It’s pretty fast, and I e never been shut out of something I want. We book PVs, though.

No, because it’s against the posting rules on CC.

Keep in mind this thread is for Viking Ocean. Reading books/curated literature on Viking River is completely different.

Might be a reason they can’t.

It’s just a joke 😎. Nordstrom & REI have been notorious for customer service & replacing items even years later. They used to have a policy of “the customer is always right” 😉 and would bend over backward to make you happy. No idea if service is still as good at Nordstrom since haven’t shopped there in decades; REI is still pretty good, though.

Yes, we always ask for a kettle when we embark & our steward puts a small pitcher of milk in the minibar, replacing every few days.

In MVJ under OnBoard Experieces/Preferences/Dietary Restrictions you’ll see this:

FWIW https://www.elliott.org/company-contacts/viking-cruises/

They did not have Diet Coke on our cruise on Saturn in July in the Nordic countries—only Coke Zero. I don’t remember if they had Diet in SE Asia (OP’s cruise) on our 2019 cruise—possibly they had Coke Light instead (hubby is the Coke addict, not me). Last year (March/April) from SJ to BCN Viking had Diet Coke.