moatenote

1 hour ago, KDN2024 said:

We will be taking this cruise in the spring.  Do we need any local currency (euros etc.) for tipping of tour guides/bus drivers?

We're taking this cruise in July (can't wait!!).  I emailed Viking Guest Services and they said we can use US $ for tips.  Quite a relief since most of those countries have their own version of the krona.

Tours for our Homelands cruise July 12-26, 2024 just appeared on MVJ about 148 days before day 1 of cruise.  We're in a PS1 and get to book the tours on March 7, which is 125 days before day 1.

How many days before departure will Viking Ocean list the port excursions??  Thanks for any information!

We were in 8004 for the Alaska cruise in July and loved it.  Very quiet and short walk to upper deck of EL.  We also have it booked for our next 2 cruises.

We recemtly completed a Viking Ocean Alaska cruise and it was great!  The very best excursion we did was a private whale watching tour with Glacier Wind Charters in Icy Strait Point.  We did a 3.5 hour outing and the owner, Teresa was terrific in corresponding with us and arranging "pickup."  Her son was the pilot of the boat and gave us great commentary on the wildlife in the area, the whales, and other things we might see.  The boat was very clean, the windows were spotless (unlike a bummer whale watch tour we did in Seward with a different company). I heartily recommend this company if you're considering a whale watching tour in Alaska.

We've booked the Homelands cruise from Bergen to Stockholm for July 12-26, 2024 and are considering taking this post-extension too.  We've never been to Iceland and this trip sounds good.  Would appreciate any information you may have about it.  Thanks in advance!

Yes, thank you all for posting info about this.  We've booked 8004 and are looking forward to more Viking cruises!

I like the idea of being on the top deck so I don't hear people walking above me when I'm trying to sleep (a very light sleeper).  But I wonder if it's too close to the Explorers Lounge and be noisy from there.  So many decisions!  We're going on the Viking Homelands cruise in July 2024 and I can't wait!!!!

Many thanks for this wonderful information!  Our only hesitation to taking the Keani Fjords tour insstead of the Resurrection Bay one is that they caution us that the water in the Gulf of Alaska can be rather rough and a problem for those of us who tend to get seasick----and that's me!!

We're considering this tour when we visit there in July.  Would appreciate any info about it.  It costs $199 per person, but most optional tours in Alaska seem very expensive.

Thank you for your suggestions!!  I appreciate them very much!

Just one day, July 4; we're on a Viking Alaska cruise

Would appreciate recommendations for this port.

Would appreciate any information about this cruise if you've been on it.  Thanks!

Yes!  We're currently on the VO Med O from Venice to BCN (2 days left) and we're spitting every morning.  The hearsay is that there have been at least 50 Covid cases onboard, but we know nothing officially.

We start our Med O cruise in Venice (May 13) and would appreciate any information on the arrival process at the airport (VCE).  How long will it take us to clear cusstoms/immigration, etc.  We're scheduled to arrive there at 9:05 am.  Thanks!  We haven't cruised in 2 years and are looking forward to sailing on Viking Ocean again!!!!

We used Air Plus for our upcoming May 2023 Med Odyssey cruise because of the vouchers given us by Viking when they canceled a previous cruise for 2022.  We initially had great flights and times, but the Air Dept. would not ticket the flights and Delta made many bad changes in schedules (and seats).  Until you are actually ticketed, you have nothing but a worthless reservation, and the airline seemingly can do whatever they want to your flight schedule, seats, etc.  We tried many times to get Viking to ticket the flights we wanted, but they refused, saying they would not do it until much closer to flight time.

We just booked our included and optional tours for our Mediterranean Odyssey VO cruise in May, and I noticed that very few tours (even long optional ones) included lunch.  This was disappointing because we've enjoyed the included lunches in the past.

Definitely book a starboard cabin--the best views will be on that side

We love Viking Ocean cruises--we've been on 4 and have 2 more booked (rebooked with vouchers, actually).  That's the good part...We were booked on a Mediterranean Odyssey cruise for May 2021 but canceled and rebooked with vouchers and great discounts for May 2022.  We usually book our own flights but because of the great discounts, we decided to book with Viking and got Air Plus too.  For our return flight from Barcelona we booked Delta Comfort seats many months ago.  We asked (via our TA) to be ticketed on the flights right after we paid Viking in full for the cruise.  Viking Air said no, that they would ticket flights in February 2022.  Well, February has arrived and Delta has now booted us out of our reserved Comfort seats and relegated us to the back of the plane in Economy seats. And of course, now all the Comfort and Delta One seats are taken.  Our TA says she's working with Viking but we've heard nothing now for several days.  Lesson learned--MAKE VIKING TICKET YOUR FLIGHTS AS SOON AS YOU PAY THEM THE FULL AMOUNT.  We're two senior women in our mid-70's and the thought of Economy seats for a 10+ hour flight is agonizing.  Don't make our mistake.......

We are rebooked on the Viking Mediterranean Odyssey cruise for May 13-25, 2022 (after it was canceled for September 2020).  We have made our final payment and our TA tried to book our flights on June 29, after Delta posted flights for our cruise days.  She was told by a Viking Air rep that we could not book any specific flights until 90 days prior to our trip, so she emailed them our preferred flight schedule and seat preferences and she was then told that rarely would Viking allow us to book before 310 days prior to our final day of cruising.   We want to fly Delta first class (Delta One) on the overseas flight from Atlanta to Venice and then Delta Comfort on the return international flight from Barcelona to Atlanta.

I have been waiting as patiently as possible, and yesterday marked the date that meets the 310 day requirement, so our TA contacted Viking Air again.  Now  she was told that business class within Viking's contract with Delta is currently sold out!  How is that possible unless Viking did allow some travelers to book early??

We love Viking Ocean cruises and have been on 4 and have 2 more scheduled, but this experience has been very frustrating. I sent an email to Tellus@vikingcruises.com today, because they have been very responsive and helpful in the past.  A few hours later I received an email saying that an Air Specialist will contact me to discuss this.  I know it's a crazy, hectic time for Viking, trying to get everything back to some semblance of normal cruising, and I really appreciate the quick response from their Viking Social Department.  Hope to have good news to share tomorrow.

I was really looking forward to the new planetarium on Jupiter but was disappointed when we actually got to use it.  Prefer the Explorers Lounge the way it was.

4 minutes ago, haydn12 said:

We were on the same June 2021 cruise.  They offered us 125% voucher but it had to be used in 2021 or 2022.  We can't book this year and already have a cruise booked for 2022.  They did offer us 110% towards the same cruise in 2023.  It ended up costing us about $200 more for the cruise as the air fair wasn't included.

Oops, I was mistaken--we were offered the 125% voucher with the same conditions you listed.  And, like you, we had already booked for 2022.  We are now scheduled for Alaska on June 29, 2023.  

On 5/14/2021 at 6:52 AM, dwlmg said:

Yesterday, May 14, 2021, according to Cruise Critic, the US Senate passed a law allowing foreign cruise ships to sail from one US port to Alaska without stopping in Canada. The bill now goes to the House and eventually to the President to sign. It begs a few questions. Does Viking have uncommitted resources (a ship) to use if the opportunity opens? Would Viking make an accommodation to allow those who were booked for Alaska in 2021, received a voucher when the cruise was cancelled and rebooked in 2022.  My guess is that I could cancel the 2022 booking and get a voucher for the monies paid into the voucher but I would lose the extra 25% in the voucher value applied to the 2022 booking.

We were booked for June 2021 for Alaska.  When Viking canceled, we were not offered the 125% voucher we had received for an earlier cancellation of the Med Odyssey cruise.  Did you receive a 125% voucher for a 2021 Alaska cancellation?????

Did I read correctly that this ship does not have a planetarium??