MikeyB

Bookbabe is asking about an already booked cruise. All she would be entitled to is the past guest discount of $200 pp.

Now that information I would never question! 🙂 I like Viking Oceans and Rivers a lot. But I don't think that Norwegians know the definition of "loyalty". It's my belief that it should flow both ways. I spoke to a "senior sales manager" at Viking a few weeks ago about this issue. She told me that the calls that Viking makes are targeted. I told her that Viking runs after the "one and done" cruisers and ignores the base. She actually agreed with me. In my next lifetime, I will ask to be connect to Tor.

I would never, ever question your advice, but are you absolutely, positively certain about this? I have heard on this board another spin on the "within two weeks of the end of any cruise". What I heard was that Viking agents call some (but not all) passengers within two weeks of returning home and tell them of a discount they may obtain if they book another cruise. Meaning, you cannot call them within two weeks, they call you.

Will also be on this cruise but for 2 weeks (Athens to Barcelona). There is a "group" roll call. It includes your week and what looks like the next half year!

On a prior Viking cruise I walked thru the pool area on the way to breakfast. Noticed all the "occupied" chaises with no bodies attached to them. After breakfast I again went thru the pool area on the way to my cabin. Got my tablet and phone and went up to the pool. Saw the same unoccupied chaises. I promptly removed the book and sunglasses and the towel. Placed it ever so gingerly on the window ledge. I sat for two hours, and then left.

I have done TA's in both directions with Viking. Also loved it. I understand it's for a "special" birthday, otherwise I would also suggest (like Andy) going westbound. Picking up an extra hour gave me no excuse to miss the gym in the morning.

If your not happy with your service at Air Plus, you just need to call them back and request a supervisor. I waited 45 minutes today to speak to one, but all is good now. And the supervisor told me that if the client requests, you can be ticketed at 120 days

I agree with Linda completely. Please don't start a new trend. Tips are not expected. At the end of my cruise I make my way to my "Guys" and leave a gratuity.

This just in....we have another promotion for UWDawg to translate. It's for cruises identified as "closer to home". Question- Do we all live in the same place? Lots of free air and some cabin savings. FDA23

I should have added (but you didn't ask) that if you are staying in Istanbul, post cruise- do not worry about getting Turkish Lira. Between a credit card (with no foreign transaction fee) and American dollars you will make out fine. I had an amazing exchange rate of 12 to 1 less than a year ago. It is now 18.5 to 1. The Dollar is appreciated.

Yes, you are correct. Since you are departing Turkey by air, you will need one. The E-visas were very easy to obtain.

I really like Viking and I enjoyed reading your review. Very nicely written. PS.....Since you are "one and done", in about 3 (?) to 6 (?) months when you start receiving Viking literature with promotional codes that save $, please post the codes! Ignore the EBD code. 🙂

Hi Deec, This was my 9th Viking river cruise. I have taken the two you were on. They were on a Viking Longboat. On the Douro river the boats are smaller. Our Viking boat had zero charm. Zero. It is smaller in size but had a large gift shop! No dining on the Aquavit. When we rafted next to other river lines, I felt like I had the ugliest house on the block. My biggest problem with the Douro was that there is no night time sailing on this river. So we basically did an included tour and then had to be back on the boat almost immediately to sail to the next port. The Douro is pretty and Porto was amazing but we never really docked by a town (except for Porto). Tours always required a bus. A nice comfortable bus. And surprising, we had a great musician on board. He played the keyboard and guitar and sang. Never had such an individual on the prior 8 rivers. There was some very small problems (very slow service for dinner until I complained), running out of my favorite wine on the second night but the staff was amazing (except for the maître di). If this was my first, I would have said it was good, but compared to the others... Just sayin, because you asked.

Squawk- I spoke to an agent about the Capitals of Eastern Europe river cruise that interested me. Although I was not successful with my on-line booking, the Viking agent had no problem. (WOV22). If you are still interested in Duoro, perhaps you will need to contact Viking to confirm. I just got off the Douro river cruise in August. It was not my best one by any means. Stayed in Porto for 3 extra days and loved it.

Sounds like a very "unique" cruise. If you have not done it already, you need to contact Customer Relations and explain how dissatisfied you are.

My Panama Canal and Central America cruise does Honduras before Panama. And I still have my Colon "attached" to the cruise. Some pretty boys have all the luck! In case you have never been in Roatan, you are missing nothing by not going ashore. However, I feel Viking should have made you aware of this yellow fever vaccine requirement the moment you spoke to a Viking agent about booking this cruise!

First we lose Mr Luxury and now possibly Hubby1. I will have to do some serious drinking when onboard to get through my cruises.

Multi-tasking?

I am beginning to think that Clay works for Viking! 🙂

Selion- You might have missed by convoluted point. There is no savings using the promo. Its actually $600 more!

First, thank you again for posting this. So will someone explain Viking logic to me? I am not new to Viking, but I will admit that this is a new one, What that is, you decide. I looked over the cruises offered on this promotion and thought their new itinerary called "capitals of Eastern Europe" looked interesting. And at 17 days, my TA will give me $500pp OBC (but that is another story). When I did a "fake booking" the cruise for the standard "F" category (an aquarium room) using the promo code of Oct22 was $5,299 with free air! A total of $10,598. When I did the same "fake booking" for the same category without using a promotion code the cabin was $4,999 with free air. A total of $9,998. Is that a savings of $600 or do I have things backward?

Ignore what My Viking Journey tells you. Obviously your best opportunity to get a flight that is within Viking's contract with the airlines is to book early. Downside is that you will likely see multiple flight changes. For your August cruise I would be calling Viking in early January. I am doing just that for my river cruise that is also August 2023.

My dear.... the Mekong river cruise is $150 for VA plus.

Okay, I understand. However that is the type of offer that I inquired about. I called Customer Relations and ended up speaking to a Senior Manager in the Sales department. She confirmed what my agent said. That the offers are targeted and not offered to everyone. I then explained the concept of Loyalty. The senior manager could only apologize. I hate when they do that.

Was it shipboard credit or was it the "Past guest level 1 discount? This discount of $200 (or $400 when it was offered when Viking started sailing again after Covid) is when you book another cruise within one year of your prior sailing. There is a level 2 discount of $100 when a new cruise is booked within 2 years. It is deducted from your new booking and is not an onboard credit.