graceswan

On the one Viking Ocean cruise I was on, all the included excursions was just a city tour. You get on a bus with 30 - 40 people and you may stop somewhere in the city and a tour guide will talk about different spots in the city.

If you want to do more exciting excursion, you will have to pay something. On our cruise it was from an additional $49 pp up to $159 pp for an all day excursion. Those have less people.

If the money is making you cringe, I would go on Princess. That being said, I don't think you would regret anything about your trip on Viking. The ship is gorgeous, the staff is great, the food is excellent. For the excursions, the included ones are kind of bland, generally just a tour bus and a walking tour. Great tour guides, but if you want to do anything more adventurous, you will have to pay an additional charge for an upgraded tour. Depending on what room you choose, you may get drinks provided in your mini bar.

We had a V cabin that included the mini-bar. We had our cabin steward trade out what we don't drink with what we do. It was nice to have, but if we had saved a lot by downgrading cabins we would not have missed it. The lower cabins were sold out, so we had no choice.

For shore excursions, their availability is based on the class of room you box; the higher you book, the sooner you can reserve excursions. The more interesting excursions you pay for do sell out; Viking will make sure that you will have a space on the included excursions.

That happened to us at one of the Norway stops because, frankly, they just don't have enough tour guides to service that area. If that is not the case with your stops, you can always check with private tours or check with your Roll Call and see if you can join any private tours anyone has set up. I actually prefer private tours to the ship's.

Has anyone had any luck reporting someone to the cruise? I know they ask before we board are we sick. Maybe if we report someone they can make them get a visit with the ship doctor and quarantine them for everyone's safety.

Probably had leftover lobster that had to be cooked. I am sure it is not the norm. The benefit of the buffet to Celebrity is they can get rid of food on board that needs to be cooked. I would think they have it down to a science, but I am sure some things will throw their counts off (bad weather and people getting seasick and not eating, demographics of people on board, etc.)

You lucked out!

We are Celebrity cruisers and just took our first Viking Ocean cruise. Comparing apples to apples, I would say Viking in a heartbeat!

With the better itinerary, I would have to say Celebrity since you will be in Aqua Class and have Blu to dine in every night. Do put Viking Ocean on your bucket list, though. If you like Celebrity, you will LOVE Viking.

Try to book in advance if you can. We are on Sea in February. We were joining my husband's aunt and uncle, who are not tech savvy. I booked reservations when our time slot opened up. They system would only allow me to make reservations for two. I thought, no big deal, I will add them to my reservation when I get onboard. When I went to change the reservation, they told me they were booked the entire cruise! We ended up going by ourselves the first night. Then I was steaming all through dinner as I saw 10 table with enough room to fit 4 people remain empty the entire 1 hour and 15 minutes we were there. We gave his aunt and uncle our second reservation so that they could at least get to enjoy a different restaurant, but I did tell Viking on my comment card how disappointed I was that reservations weren't handled more efficiently.

Next time, we will call ahead of time.To tell the truth, the restaurant was as good as Manfredi's so I didn't feel like we missed anything (although my husband loved their mussels!).

Ours was two beds pushed together. We were in a Penthouse Balcony.

I would think it would be better to ask this question on your sailing's roll call forum. Look above this chat and there should be a "Find Your Roll Call" link.

I booked my cruise rather late (45 days in advance) and paid for the air. I looked up what flights I liked and was going to contact them with suggestions and they sent me a flight schedule before I could. I immediately called them, mentioned my concerns and told them of the flight I had found. The rep looked online and found me an even better flight. We are only going coach.

I would say if you really wish to have a specific flight, it might be better for you to book yourself and then get travel insurance to cover the unlikely situation that you don't make it to the ship on time. If you always arrive days early, you don't even have to worry about that.

If you are purchasing outright, the gratuity is charged when you buy the drink. With an included drink package, there is no extra gratuity.

The other thing I would say, is don't be hard and fast on the $ per day cost. I have found that some of the perks are dependent on booking either oceanview or balcony or above. The price works out to more dollars per day, but when you calculate gratuity, OBC and/or drink packages it is really saving me money. I have walked off cruises only owing $2 when in the past it has been several hundred dollars. Plus I have a better room, can go to a speciality dining venue, get a massage, pick up some gifts, all while paying for it along and along before I even start the cruise.

I used to be cheap and only look at the price per person per day. Now I look at the value.

There is a Room Sticky that lists comments on the rooms if you know your choices.

I like the special line for debarking. There was quite a line waiting to exit when we got of the ship, and we just hung to the left in the suite line and breezed right through.

Try asking that question on your Roll Call.

If you are not picky, see if they are offering any deals while you are onboard and let that decide for you.

Don't forget to go to your roll call chat. Many people put together private tours and will take additional people to make the cost less per person. We have done some great tours that way.

Donna

Yes, eat at Luminae. My understanding is they can get you a dish from the dining room if you want it, but with the food being so great at Luminae, you will not want it.

We went to the MDR one cruise on one night when we were assigned to Blu because we did not feel like we wanted a full meal, only soup. Big mistake. Loud, crowded, took so long for service. Went back to Blu the next night and our waiter asked about us and said he missed us. We told him we went to the MDR and he said why did you do that. We told him we just wanted some soup and he said, I would have gotten you anything you wanted. We told him we would never make that mistake again. He had spoiled us to the MDR.

We always went right when they opened, so we did not have a problem getting the table we wanted. Once you go once, they will know your preferences and will accommodate you as best you can. They asked us to book our time for the next day when we left, and we did.

They have mostly two top tables and about 4 deep. The people sitting next to you are really close by so we would play it by ear. We said hi and made some chit chat. If they didn't seem interested in talking we would just talk to each other. We only had that happen once at breakfast. Usually everyone was pretty friendly, and we discuss about what we liked and what they should order. You generally see the same people every day. I think people like the same time of dining generally.

We have sailed Aqua Class a lot and actually hit it off with one couple our first night in Blu and then made plans to meet each night for dinner and then went to the shows together. It was night to make plans.

You will love Luminae. My tip is to take the waiter's recommendations as gospel. The best waiters end up at Luminae and they taste the dishes, so they know what they are talking about. They have never steered us wrong.

Since you are a first time cruiser, I would suggest you go to your roll call for your cruise. A lot of cruiser get together individual tours and would appreciate you going along with them.

I would say if you booked an early table, there would be less chance of them being full and less chance of your granddaughter being overtired. We have eaten early at every venue (we like to eat a light lunch and have an early dinner) and the restaurants are never even full when we leave.

I wouldn't think that most kids would like the menu; not very kid friendly. You can always pick up something and take it to another part of the deck. They generally have pre-portioned servings out to take and go.

Donna

Best French Onion Soup I have ever had. Had their chicken pot pie as one of their specials and it was very good.

They have THE BEST french onion soup!