JeriGail

44 minutes ago, jtwind said:

It seems clear that if you want to enjoy your embarkation town on embarkation day, and you have a place to keep your luggage, the best option is to board late.  But what all do you give up by doing so?

I guess we may miss dinner, waiting for results in our room.  Late getting on excursion lists?  Restaurant reservations for the rest of the cruise?

On embarkation day I made reservations for Chef's Table, Manfredi's, the spa, and changed some excursions.  You can also check to see if wine tastings or special ship tours (like a galley tour) are available.

The photo of the add-on drawers in the closet that I saw most recently came from one of the World Cruisers from his blog - 

World Cruise day 4/152 - it's my birthday and they seemed to notice! (kolbsontheroad.blogspot.com)

He also used a hanging shoe storage item on one of the doors.

3 hours ago, StuLaurie said:

I think I read the SEA does not have the drawers in the closet. Is this is still the case?

As of December 2021, it did not.  It has been cruising since then, so there would not have been any opportunity to add drawers.

Several CC members have posted photos of a collapsible shelf unit that they used in the closet as a replacement for more drawers.

1 hour ago, jtwind said:

Of course not.  But would you rather have a person get on the ship before results come back?  (I should have put quarantine in quotes).  So, the remaining question is (if the testing is done in the cabin) is there a bag drop at the pier?

On our late November 2021 cruise from Barcelona, there was not a place to just drop off bags and leave.  There were Viking staff there to take your tagged bags (with your name and cabin number), but we had to go through the boarding process at the same time as bag drop-off.  I'm sure it's a security issue to have someone drop-off a bag and then just leave.

28 minutes ago, cabogal said:

We are on the Orion on April 25 and February 24th was the day I could make reservations. I tried all day on the 24th and every day since and it always tells me "reservations are not available at this time."  I talked to a Viking Rep and she told me that the tables for 2 were already booked and she wouldn't let me book a table for 4 unless there were 4 in our party.  She told me to make reservations on board.  I had made the Restaurant reservations, but when I tried to cancel one it said "Cancel failed." It won't let me cancel any reservations.  I guess it's time to speak to a Rep again.

If you have a reservation in The Restaurant, you must cancel it BEFORE you can make a reservation in an alternate restaurant.  I know you said you tried to cancel, so that issue needs to be addressed first.  Viking needs to be clearer in their directions so that passengers know about canceling The Restaurant bookings first.  For us, making The Restaurant reservations were a waste and were never needed.  It was also very easy to get dining spots at Manfredi's or the Chef's Table once on board so don't stress about this.

2 minutes ago, MSEm said:

Is Viking still sending out the "Viking Red" luggage tags.

Is Viking sending out luggage tags for your cruise with the cruise date , Ship, and cabin number printed?

Thanks for all the info on this site.

We received them for our November 2021 cruise.  The red leather tags go on your luggage before your flight.  The paper ones with name and cabin number go on when you travel to the ship from the airport or hotel.

1 minute ago, CCWineLover said:

Ha Jeri!  That was our ritual too!  Taking cookies back to the room!  They really were good and a decent variety.

And maybe a gelato to go. 😉

 

It was kind of funny that when he asked if he could take a cookie to go, the server prompted him to take more!

10 hours ago, Eggtuary said:

I've been sharing everyone's posts here with my wife.  I think you've convinced her we'll want most of our dinners at the World Cafe! 🙂

 

Now she has a question for you:  Is it possible to take food from the World Cafe back to one's room?

Yes -my husband took cookies several times and was encouraged to take several.

5 hours ago, longterm said:

Yep; in the aft port corner if I remember correctly.

They are just aft of the aft stairs with the women's on starboard and the men's on port.

4 minutes ago, KBs mum said:

The main component of syrup is sugar in various forms, how can it be sugar free?

Can't remember seeing peanut butter, but probably available

Sugar free (sweetened with sorbitol or other non-calorie sweeteners) are available in most restaurants, but I don't know about Viking.

2 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

I never noticed there were rest rooms on Deck 3 Atrium but there they are on the Deck plan.  Guess that's a lounge area at which we never spent time.

It seems that all decks with public seating have restrooms.  I used the deck 3 ladies' room when our cabin bathroom was "in use" and once when our toilet wasn't flushing!  😄

2 minutes ago, eel said:

Thanks! First time on Viking.

If they have availability can you go to the specialty restaurants more than once each?

Yes!  We went twice to each, but could have done more.

26 minutes ago, PGNOW said:

We were on the Sky for the transatlantic crossing in March 2020.  It was our first cruise.  We made it half way across the Atlantic before turning around---beginners luck.  We had booked a guaranteed cabin and since that cruise left half empty we received an upgrade to cabin 5006, which was a little bumpy, but otherwise fine.  We just booked the same cruise for 2023 and chose cabin 3047.  After reading comments about being above Torshavn we wanted to get the thoughts of more experienced people regarding location.  Any comments and suggestions for a good DV6 location would be greatly appreciated.  We are very mobile, so that is not a consideration.  Thanks for the assist.  Hopefully this time we'll get to complete the cruise.

When I did research on these cabins, 3055 and 3053 were indicated as being the cabins to avoid.  3047 seems to be a bit close to those two, so I'm not sure if it would be noisy or not.  I prefer being a bit aft, so I would choose cabins 3060 - 3072 (port) or 3061 - 3073 (starboard).  Avoid 3058 or 3059 since they're both next to a public restroom.

7 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

True enough, but wearing a GOOD mask - like an N95 or KN94 surely - surely offers far better protection than going without. This is not to imply that I like wearing the things of course. 

I live in a retirement community with a wide range of ages and health levels.  Those with vulnerabilities usually wear the KN95s, but if I wear one too, it increases their protection.  The other plus side to wearing a mask is that I haven't even had a sniffle in the last two years.

1 hour ago, Jim Avery said:

We are both fully vaxxed so don't worry about covid anymore than pneumonia, tuberculosis, or any of hundreds of other potential diseases but we do not want to tolerate, at considerable expense, masking and daily testing for 4+ months.  Not to mention the poor folks that have been dumped ashore in third world places.  Something out there for everyone so we can find plenty to do with that money till Viking returns to "normal" whatever that turns out to be.  🍸

We are vaxed and boosted and also do not worry about getting sick.  However, we do worry about those who may be immunocompromised or have multiple risk factors and could become very ill from COVID.  Viking's daily testing helps ensure that an ill passenger does not spread it further. 

We cruised in December 2021 and had a food borne illness outbreak (E. Coli).  Passengers who were ill were quarantined in their cabins too.

I totally agree that passengers should be able to quarantine onboard.  That was my greatest fear on the cruise - testing positive and being put ashore in a questionable hotel.

3 hours ago, mhb1757 said:

It really wasn’t a complicated request. Having paid for air plus I called yesterday to request flights. After a near eternity on hold I finally reached an agent and Yes the flights I wanted were in contract so no extra fee. Got them booked (very slowly) and a mere 1 hour and 48 minutes later the call ended. Very nice, polite man, I didn’t get the idea he was terribly knowledgeable but he got the flights booked. 
sadly I forgot to request that they go ahead and ticket the flights now so I can pick preferred seats and/or upgrade with miles (I have platinum status with Delta and can’t do anything until flights are ticketed and if I wait until Viking tickets them 60-75 days out the comfort seats are gone). In the past all I had to do was ask them to ticket now and the agent did it in about 30 seconds.
 

Today I have another 45 minutes on hold before someone answers, and again it’s a nice guy but seems to know even less than the first one. Tells me I have to book comfort seats thru Viking, that I won’t be able to upgrade via Delta, I’m pretty sure that’s not right but I have $$ left on my voucher so fine, I’ll book it thru Viking. He puts me on hold for another prolonged period only to come back and tell me what I knew already, nope I have to book comfort seats thru Delta. I ask him to go ahead and ticket the flights now, at first he says he can’t do that I have to wait. I ask him to please check with his supervisor. He agrees, yes, another 10+ minutes on hold. And surprise…. Yes he can go ahead and ticket the flights now, so hold again while that happens, another 10 minutes on hold and boom, I am disconnected. There’s 1 hour and 27 minutes of my life wasted. 
on a positive note, it probably saved me from losing my mind… if I had had to listen to one more round of that annoying “Traveller” song it might have done me in. 
 

This is the first time I have had contact with Viking Air since covid. Was this typical or did I just have extraordinarily bad luck?  This sure isn’t the same level of service they used to provide. 

I researched my flights, found the ones I wanted, and forwarded them to my TA, and then she called Viking and got my flights.  I was probably lucky too, but I had no issues getting my flights and upgrading my international flight to economy plus on the airline's site (no PE on that flight).

2 minutes ago, millybess said:

Could you elaborate on this please. I need to be converted so we can take more cruises. 😊

Verandahs are only on deck 3.  V1's are forward while V2's are aft.  DV's are mainly on 3, 4, 5, and 6, with a few on 7 and 8.  You can check out the locations of the different cabin categories in the PDF below.  It says the Star, but all Viking Ocean ships have the same configuration. 

Star_deck_plans.pdf

On 10/10/2020 at 1:49 PM, What was that? said:

A recent post by Aussie Cruise Nuts got me to thinking, and I now have two questions somewhat related to their topic (but not really).

1. In the PS cabins, are the balcony doors all sliders, or are some sliders and some hinged, as they are in the PV cabins?
2. Which PS cabins have the beds placed with the head of the bed forward, and which have them head aft?

Inquiring minds want to know - I am doing research in case our Jan-Feb cruises are canceled, looking primarily at PS2 on deck 7.

Someone posted this PDF which indicates which way the bed faces.  However, the PDF does not show the forward part of the ship.  The poster said the pattern continued as you went forward, so if it was AFAFAF, you just continued that pattern.

BeddirectiononOceanShip.pdf

5 hours ago, #1cruisetravelfan said:

Any advice on Cabin 3045?   Are we going to have issues from Torshavn?

We were originally booked in 3055.  When I researched that cabin, I found it was the really terrible one in terms of noise.  3045 should be forward enough that it should be safe.

15 hours ago, millybess said:

Wow!  I need packing advice from all of you. Where does all the stuff besides clothes get packed like hair appliances, razors, shaving cream, Advil, bandaids, blister pads, devices, chargers, vitamins, Voltaren, aspirin, not to mention big bags of Lesser Evil Popcorn?

I also don't take hair appliances (Viking has a nice hair dryer) and put pills, bandaids, devices, chargers, and prescription meds in a carryon or backpack.  I also had 3 days of clothes in one of the carryons.  We each had one 22" checked bag (some clothes for each of us in each bag) plus a carryon each for a 17-day trip.  I really like Viking's shampoo, conditioner, and lotion, so I didn't pack any of those.

1 hour ago, Squawkman said:

It IS on the website - but nicely hidden under the “Resources” tab of each cruise itinerary. The direct link is:

 

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/why-viking/community/viking-explorer-society.html

 

 

When we exited our cruise in December 2021, we were given the same info as the link above - $200/person if the cruise was booked within a year and $100/person if booked within 1 - 2 years.  I've looked at cruises with the double past guest discount and it was $400/person within a year.

1 hour ago, PRH said:

Questions:  is Viking providing individual shampoos, conditioner or shower with large refillable bottles?  Where are you docking in Venice given the government ban on cruise ships.  Thanks!

In December, our bottles were not small since the shampoo and conditioner lasted for our 14 night cruise.  There was always a 2nd set left on the bathroom shelves, so you could get a new one if you ran out.

17 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

For what it's worth, I was just told again by Viking yesterday that, generally speaking, once an extension is filled, that's it. 

Keep checking since some may cancel the extension and open up some spots.

3 minutes ago, miami mama said:

We usually get room service for breakfast so we can quickly dress and leave. However, if I show my husband the pictures above, he might insist upon trying it. He likes a hearty breakfast and that certainly looks like one. I'm guessing it is in The Restaurant where you can order this.????

Yes!  We also enjoyed breakfast at Mamsen's (waffles) and cinnamon rolls in the World Cafe.  Too many choices!

4 minutes ago, SteelCity Cruiser said:

Where do you get Lamb Chops for breakfast?????????😃

The Restaurant!  The pistachio bun is from the Living Room. I went down there first and got my tea latte and pistachio bun and took them up to The Restaurant.  I've had lamb before, but that was my first lamb chop - loved them.