leishirsute

I ended purchasing annual policies that cover multiple trips for the year.  Comes out cheaper, but does not include cancel for any reason, just medical during travel, emergencies at home with family or trip changes by the travel providers.

On 8/15/2023 at 4:11 PM, biggerbearmom said:

Steve is the one who told me about just covering the deposit until final payment.

The other thing is that all of the policies he sells are primary coverage. With the Viking insurance you must claim with your own medical insurance before they will even consider or pay on a medical claim. There is really no benefit to using Viking insurance.

Please note that paying the deposit only does not lock in the Viking travel insurance premium cost.  In the course of a 20 minute booking phone call with Viking, I paid only the covering deposit only to have the Viking Tripmate insurance premium go up by $200/pp during the call because it wasn't paid in full at time of deposit.  Viking said they had no control of Tripmate rates and gave us a $100/pp shipboard credit to lessen the blow.  They refused to give $200 shipboard credit.

In the past, VIking has emailed to me an excursions pricing example for the itinerary prior to booking if the itinerary was not a brand new one.

2 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

When are you thinking of going? Excursion prices for 2025, for example, might not be set yet.

I was just browsing but checking 2024 cruises to get an idea of excursion pricing.

I am trying to budget for an Alaska cruise and was checking the Holland America website which shows some attractive Alaska itineraries.  However, I can't determine excursions and excursions pricing.  When I chatted with Holland America, I was told that I needed to book first before I could get any excursion pricing.  How is someone supposed to budget for a cruise if the pricing is not shown?

On 6/26/2023 at 4:51 PM, Rackham said:

Are you looking for "Cancel for Any Reason" as part of an annual policy (trip cancellation coverage is very, very standard)? I don't think I've seen that offered anywhere due to the economics behind underwriting this situation.

I have searched and can't find one. That makes me wonder what happens when wanting to return or cancel due to a death in the family of a non-traveling member of the family.  Do we have to eat the cost of the trip with these annual policies?

On my prior Viking cruise that had a port stop scheduled for Jerusalem, it was rerouted to Malta instead.  The cruise had several booking cancellations that did not want to opt for the reroute to Malta.  Viking's included insurance covered that cancellation by giving credit towards another cruise.  As far as I can determine, an annual travel insurance plan would not have covered that reason.

And VIking told me that for river cruises, all excursions open at the same for all cabin levels.

Is there anyway to see which excursions have been sold out for a Viking cruise prior to booking the cruise?

If not, that seems like a game of chance.

I was trying to access the same info that is available on the VV app for the phones.

It appears Viking inaccurately expects people to have cellphones in order to get their cruise information after embarkation as they remove any trace of a booking on the myvikingjourney website after departure.  One would expect the info on the website to match the info on the phone app.  Is there any way to get my cruise info on a Windows laptop after embarkation?

On 6/10/2019 at 1:37 AM, Got2Cruise said:

I’m confused about the cutoff t shirts. Wasn’t it a bit chilly to wear them? Lol

 

As for baseball caps, there are two reasons men wear them. Some men use them as a fashion accessory such as hip hop artists. Then there are other men who are balding and think wearing a baseball cap everywhere looks better. Umm no it doesn’t. On RC most wearers fall into one category. lol 

3rd reason: To keep their heads warm, just like many people who wear wigs.  Should wigs be banned in the dining areas or outrageous hairdo's?

Sometime  people wear hats to keep their heads warm and feel comfortable in hat.  Much like many people who wear wigs.  Maybe a hat with a hair design would be a accepted since wigs seem to be accepted.

1 hour ago, Mike07 said:

One more thing, and I'm not going to bring up previous points I've made because I don't want to drag this group into a debate.... I think it would be cool to be on a Viking ship where half the passengers cancelled.

 

One of my favorite cruises was when a ship was brought back into service post-COVID, and was running at 25% capacity --- with 750 passengers. It was wonderful!

The passenger to staff ratio is probably closer to 1 to 1 than 2 to 1 that is usually advertised.

1 minute ago, Mike07 said:

Sheesh, if timing worked out, I would be happy to take some of y'all's state rooms if Viking is offering a deep discount on said rooms. The itineraries still look interesting. I also would never have done the Holy Land by Sea because there are many land tour operators.

 

Be advised, the Russians likely have nuclear armed subs operating in that region well this current Hamas Israeli war. There is a lot of scary stuff in this world beyond some homemade rockets in Gaza.

I would think the Russians are putting everything into the Ukraine war and can't afford to start anything else in another part of the world.

5 minutes ago, Reaniel said:

 

You've gotten a even better offer than me.  When Viking called back on my inquiry on our sailing, I was only offered the option of no-penalty transfer to another sailing that's set to begin in 90 days.  The offer of full conversion of what you've spent into future voucher is a significantly better one.

I've noticed that Viking changes refund offerings as well as posting credits on MVJ among different passengers.  I wonder if passengers who take more Viking cruises get preferential refund offerings.

7 hours ago, Twitchly said:

After we had to cancel our Holy Land cruise, we ended up doing a land trip instead (more than a year later). In retrospect I’m very glad it turned out that way. A couple of days there would not have been enough.

Unfortunately, traveling with someone with medical dietary requirements does not allow for land travel.  When we checked most land tours will not guarantee that medical diets can be accommodated although they say they will try their best.

Whereas, cruises tend to handle special dietary needs quite readily.

@dreamercruise It must be a major logistics operation to vie for replacement stops with other lines that are doing the same "last minute" arranging.  Larger lines probably have more clout to get their desired ports.  Some of them have announced new itineraries earlier than Viking.

@PhilRSchultz I already sent in my vote to Viking for Sicily if Jerusalem doesn't happen. Of course, they have so much quick logistics changes to manage and maybe by remote chance that area will settle down by 11/14m, though doubt it.

Is there any cruise forum where TA names can be shared?

Curious

Thanks for clarifying what to expect from TA's in this day and age.

I would probably do better using some concierge service.

I've been burned in the past locking into one agent that was not very accessible.

I am not expecting the names of any travel agents.  I'm just trying to get an idea of the services and advice to be expected from a TA above and beyond doing my own booking.

30 minutes ago, BaumD said:

First, we are not allowed to name or suggest travel agents. I presume you are dealing with on-line or internet agencies. Maybe a local brick and mortar store where you can sit down with a real person would be more to your liking. A local TA may not be able to give you the same deal (i.e. $$$) as a big on-line agency, but may be able to help you navigate the process and answer your concerns.

Actually,I've phoned a few local agencies.  They sound great at first until I start asking questions that require a bit of research, then they tend to ignore the questions or answer me that such information is available online.  It seems to me that kind of diminishes the value of a travel agency.

Hi,

I'm on a travel agency search and so far have not had great luck in locating an agency that provides advice on topics such as:

+ is it more economical to book my own air and trip insurance

+ does the cruise handle special dietary needs

The agencies I've contacted talk a great game but when I ask more detailed questions about cruises or desired destinations, they send me URL's for me to do my own research.  I'm not seeing any value in a travel agency if they are mainly about booking travel.

Is that how travel agencies work now?  Maybe I have incorrect expectations of service offerings from travel agencies.

I'm seeking an agency that will consult with me and not just send me URL's for me to the research.

5 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Well, I don't think that our cruise line of choice is marketing directly into the gay community, but if you watch PBS or Downton Abbey you will certainly get your share of advertisements from them.

 

Other gay friends and couples that I have talked to about cruising always refer to the big ships and the party ships and the gay themed cruises.  Most of the men that I have known that have cruised in the past have not been interested in the smaller ships that we prefer.  I am not trying to stereotype, this is just my experience.

 

I wish that there were more friendly gay couples on the cruises we go on so that we are not the token gay couple!  Haha.

We also prefer the small ships. More interested in the port excursions than the casinos, buffets, and on board entertainment.  Can you tell I'm older?  LOL