Peregrina651

Note that the Viking price offer is a limited offer. It does not mean that you can choose any flights you want at that price but that you can choose from the flights they are offering at that price.

I learned on our very first Viking adventure that the fee charged for Viking Air Plus was worth every penny -- especially as I listened to other pax complaining about getting up in the middle of the night so they could make the crack of dawn flight they were scheduled for or how many stops they would be making instead of flying non-stop. I'm already spending thousands of dollars for my vacation, so why quibble over the fee if it will make things easier and less stressful. Following these boards, I have learned a whole lot more about dealing with Viking Air and Viking Air Plus. • I always add Viking Air when I book to lock in the air pricing; I know that if I try to add it later, it will cost more. Once the air is locked, so is the upgrade to premium-econ or business. Also, very easy to cancel as long as it is done before flights are ticketed. • I do not add the Air Plus fee at booking. TA will add it when and if we are actually flying Viking Air. • I book flights somewhere between 300-275 days before our return home date (just to make sure that all of the airlines have had a chance to open booking for the dates I am looking at). • Always plan to arrive a day or more early. Viking will charge you a deviation fee and you will lose your transfers -- but it sure beats the stress of arriving late because of airline delays. • No matter what and even working with a travel agent, doing your own research is paramount -- which nowadays is quite simple. Even if you aren't booking your own flights, you need to have an idea of what is out there, what you find acceptable and what is absolutely not acceptable (connecting flights under two hours!! regardless of what the airline charts say is not acceptable -- and especially if you have to go through customs). • If price is your criterion for choosing between Viking and OYO (on your own), you cannot get around doing the math before you choose. Sometimes booking through Viking is cheaper and sometimes OYO is cheaper. It depends on where you are flying from and to and what Viking has contracted with the various airlines. So much to think about when making flight arrangements.

Although not always, so it is important to check prices, if saving $$ is your goal. Example: SantaFe1 and I are on the same May, 2024 cruise. We both book business class and we both book well in advance. She saved 30% using Viking Air and I saved 40% booking on my own. So much depends on where you are coming from and where you are headed to, that you need to run a price check each time you book. That said, there are times when you may choose to use Viking Air regardless of savings. We did when we did the Nile River cruise this past January. At that point in time, I was concerned about possible cancellations and I wanted everything on my Viking invoice.

A few caveats and explanations. Viking issues tickets around 60 days out. Once ticketed, if a passenger makes changes to the flight arrangement, there may be a fee, if they can make the change at all. As SantaFe1 has done, a passenger may request (and pay for?) early ticketing. Even if posted on MVJ, the flight plan is not final until it is ticketed. Anyone -- Viking, passenger, airline -- is able to make changes before ticketing. There are advantages to early ticketing and there are disadvantages to early ticketing (which I leave to others to explain because I've never done it).

Exactly.

Ask them to make it fresh for you.

I fast-forwarded through it and I thought that it was entirely out of place. I felt it was asking the audience to go easy on them because they had already suffered enough. Still, if i was going to comment on what they had to say in their review, I had to watch the whole thing. My guess is that showing all the delicious looking the food would not necessarily convey the point they were trying to make.

Glad you got it all straightened out. Just one question. Did you send your e-mail to TellUs@viking.com or to TellUs@vikingcruises.com? I have have always used the latter because I was under the impression that the former would not work. However, if they both work and actually end up in the same inbox, all the better.

I can't believe that I watched the whole thing! But if I was going to criticize, I figured the least I could do was to watch it. I'm not a huge fan of vanity videos and I don't spend my days tracking them down and watching them. I think maybe I have sat through two or three of these things and only because they were a topic of discussion here. My take away is as follows: • in spite of not liking the food and the beds, they gave an over-all rating of 5-stars • in spite of not liking the food and the beds, they have booked another Viking cruise. • in spite of not liking the food and the beds, they spoke highly of Viking and urged others to give them a try • I feel that they didn't do their homework in some areas such that their expectations were not based in reality -- like not knowing in advance that their spa service actually already included a tip (something they could have highlighted had they known) • they kept referring to Viking as a luxury cruise line; Viking has never made that claim. • this was a long cruise for them -- 15 days • they never mentioned the demographic of the ship -- and they are much younger than the demographic that Viking markets to • as for the food, they called it as they saw it. Some of it was based on their unfounded expectations but some of it was actually problems encountered (such as running out of room service menu items toward the end of the cruise). • I don't need to know that they cruise because they can't have kids; I do need to know how many cruises they have done and on what cruise lines they have already sailed. Not sure I need to know how much they spent on the vacation either. • they only spoke about the cruise itself; nothing about their pre-cruise experience, did not mention if they used Viking Air or did a cruise extension. To be honest, once they got past their superfluous intro, I thought they did a good job of narrating and editing their piece -- not great, just good. I thought they were fairly balanced in their comments and their criticisms and I did not feel as though they had some sort of axe to grind. I actually found it to be an enthusiastic endorsement of Viking, especially considering that their major criticisms were about two very important areas of any travel experience -- beds and food.

Food is highly subjective. Bed comfort is highly subjective. What else did the reviewer have to say? What did other reviewers have to say? You can't judge anything on just one review and you have to keep in mind that no cruise-line can please all of the people all of the time. Still, as noted in the last post, Viking ships fill up quickly.

Thank you! After skimming the PDF, I wanted to see what it looked like in action so googled for videos. Very helpful.

Thank you! Your explanations are always edifying and always appreciated.

Even after a roll call is started, it is good to check every now and then to make sure someone hasn't started a second roll call. It does happen sometimes.

Go back to the roll call forum for Neptune and look for duplicates. Report any and ask to have them merged.

In general, Viking Air does not book trains for pax. Viking Air does not provide transfers for guests unless they are landing at the airport on Day1 of the itinerary. So if you are are arriving in Paris by train, it is a deviation -- because you aren't arriving in Paris at the airport. If you reside in Great Britain and are coming by train booked for you by Viking (do they even do that?), then you should talk with the London office, not with the US office (whose answers always assume that you are coming from North America.) If you are arriving in Paris as part of "France's Finest" and Paris is the second leg of the itinerary, the transfer from Lyon to your ship in Paris is part of the package -- and those train arrangements including the transfer to your ship are handled by the ground team in France and not Viking Air.

Oops, very sorry. I skimmed over this detail. You should ask Viking directly if they will be providing transfers to MIA (have your TA do it since their contact point is better versed in these details than the call center). If they haven't booked anyone on your sailing to fly out of MIA, it is possible they will not be offering transfers. Also, you should double check your departing flight to make sure that you have enough time to get to MIA at least 3 hours before departure. The Viking invoice usually has some sort of comment of the earliest time you should book a flight, but that time will be out of the Ft. Lauderdale airport, which is close to the port.

And I've arranged such transfers as well and have done so before leaving home; that way it is taken care of and one less detail to fuss with -- or forget to do. As long as your flight departs on disembarkation day and you have arranged your own flights, Viking will sell you transfers to the airport. If you work with a TA, they can add the transfer for you. Or transfers can be added via MyVikingJourney, the guest interface/self-service portal.

Wishing your friend well. He will have quite a tale to tell when the ordeal is over.

Don't call or chat. Go straight to tellus@vikingcruises.com. Be sure in include your booking number.

That's the Viking system. Squeaky wheel gets the grease. A lot cheaper than providing transport to everyone who uses Viking Air. So the message is loud and clear: V awards bad behavior. Be loud and annoying and you will be paid to go away, even if you are in the wrong.

Coincidence, I think. But the more we share experiences, the more I think that there maybe two driving forces: how the hotel manager likes to handle it and the capabilities and capacities of the folks running the show at the checking booths. Personally, I prefer getting them at check-in because it eliminates having to guess where to find them in the cabin (because in all the times they were in waiting for us in the cabin, they weren't always in the same place.

And only if your flight arrives at/departs from the airport on arrival/departure day. There is no going back to or staying at the airport to get transportation to the ship if you land before arrival day or on departure just want to get to the airport to pick up a car.

I also agree. It is one of the areas where Viking drops the Customer Service ball with a loud resounding thud!

P.S. Add the ship phone # and email to your contacts before you leave home. 😉 (It is supposed to be a wink. Does it look like a wink?)

Yes! Call the ship. Don't bother calling Viking because if ship isn't at location stated in the final docs, it was a last minute change and such changes are not tracked by the call center. In the US, it is a local call. Outside of the US and from a US phone number, it is a local if you call over wifi. If you call on the local cell network, it is an international call.