Papillon612

The Oceania "assurance" is better than the Regent one I just got which says you may cancel within 30 days for a FCC.  

48 Hours is very generous IMO!  Way to step up, Oceania!  

I waited on pins and needles concerning our Oceania Asia cruise (cruise scheduled to leave Hong Kong on March 18), until a little over two weeks ago, and still waiting on my refund.  Now I don't have to stress over our July Oceania cruise!  

I think the entire cruise industry will have to do the same or lose their client base.  Good customer service like this will go a long way to keep passengers happy.  

Happy sailing!  

11 minutes ago, rettstrunk said:

Saling 8/25 to 9/1/19. My 15 year old sons passport expires in December ‘19.   He turns 16 in January.  I don’t want to renew a child passport and would want to wait till he turns 16 to get an adult one.   We are on Rccl going to St Martin, St Thomas and Coco cay.  I think we should be ok with the 3 month till expiration passport.   Am I correct?

I've always been told that your passport's expiration must be at least 6 months from the date you return home.  Some countries are stickers, but you should address your questions to the US Passport office.  

My husband and I just did the Canadian Rockies land tour in conjunction with Celebrity's Pacific Coastal 7 day cruise in August of this year.  WE ABSOLUTELY LOVED the land tour!  I completely understand everything that was said in earlier comments, but our experience was spectacular!  This is a small group tour.  There were only 10 of us and, believe it or not, we liked every single person on this tour very much! 

The problems with VIARAIL mentioned above have been somewhat corrected in that their schedule has been altered (delays were mostly due to the freight trains which get priority in Canada).  We were heading west from Jasper to Vancouver by train and it meant that we did not get the wonderful mountain views out of Jasper as expected, since with the new schedule, the train did not leave until 7 PM, and that also meant that we had to cancel our plans in Vancouver since we didn't arrive in time for our day there.   That was disappointing, but we had been to Vancouver before.  The room (as expected) on the train was very small, but was an experience to remember.  The food was included and rather good. 

Except for the rail portion (the VIARAIL schedule was out of the tour company's control), we felt that the value we received on this tour was well worth the cost.  Now, having said that, if you don't like staying in high end hotels, this is not the tour for you.  Our view from the Banff Springs Fairmont was to die for!!!  I can't wait to go back, and we plan to do so!  The bus ride was comfortable with convenient stops and the guides gave narration of the spectacular scenery and history of the area.  Everything was timed perfectly and done for us.  We didn't have to make reservations for excursions, buy tickets, stand in long lines, or do anything but enjoy the experience!  Most meals are NOT included, but that gives you options to eat what, where, when, and with whom you want. 

This was a first class tour in my book!   It ranks up there with the Alaska land tour we took in June 2017 through Celebrity (Great Frontier CruiseTour #8B by domed rail car - phenomenal trip).  I highly recommend either of these land tours!!!

Janice

Thanks for the clarification, Clay Clayton! Good to know.

1) I have questions that I have not been able to find an answer to on the Viking website. Some of you are talking about buying wine and bringing it aboard. Is that allowed or are you sneaking it onboard? If you can bring wine onboard legally, are you allowed to bring hard liquor as well? None of the other cruise lines we've traveled on allowed more than a bottle of wine per person on embarkation day. Any other liquor purchased ashore was taken upon reboarding, stored, and returned to you as you disembark the ship to return home.

2) DV1 staterooms have minibar replenished daily with bottled water, soft drinks and snacks only -- no alcohol until PV1 and above.

Just FYI, in our final Cruise Documents which we've just received in the mail, it states:

SILVER SPIRITS BEVERAGE PACKAGE

"On board our ocean ships, you may have free assorted hot teas, and specialty coffees anytime, as well as house wines, beers and soft drinks with onboard lunches and dinners. We also proudly offer a Silver Spirits beverage package, which covers any drinks (excluding champagne) up to $15.00, including premium wines by the glass, cocktails, all house pouring wines, beers, liquors, well drinks, mixers/long drink and soft drinks throughout the day for a flat fee per guest. Visit the Guest Services Desk when you arrive for details and to purchase."

DOOLZ, note the "excluding champagne"! Sorry!

That is $39.85 per day for both of you, since everyone in the cabin must buy the package.

I'm really sorry to hear that everyone in the cabin must purchase the SS package! I don't drink, but my husband likes higher grade scotches and sometimes an upgraded wine with dinner. We are booked on the Sun next June for our first Viking experience. He was planning on buying the SS package for himself. We are accustomed to upgrading my husband's drink package on Celebrity, while I have never had to do so. This goes into the "con" column when we are comparing the lines after we sail on the Sun.

I just called and asked Viking about the option for having some say in the flight reservations through Viking Air. She said that we would have to pay $150/pp and give our preferences to our TA, who would in turn speak with Viking Air to see if what we would like would be available to us. Also, I asked if we could add that $150/pp fee when we found out what they were going to book and she indicated that was often possible, but no guarantees our preferences would be available for the price we paid Viking. Viking is supposed to send us what they propose and we should have a week or so to decide if they meet our needs. She said that was usually 65 days out. I understand that part about no guarantees, but I've always spoken directly with Celebrity's Choice Air people, told them what I wanted, and not had to involve my TA. It is too far out now to do anything, but she said I could pay the $150/pp now to insure we have some say in the matter. I'll wait.

Thanks for the clarification. As I said, I have never sailed on Viking Ocean so have no preconceptions. I am familiar with Celebrity Choice Air and the options to book air fare. I usually verify the flights and costs before final payment date. Can you use Viking Custom Air the same way? I went to their air website but didn't find the flight booking capability.

 

How soon before the cruise can you book your air through custom air?

 

One thing I don't like about Viking is that the final payment date for an 10/18 cruise I booked is 1/18.

 

Thanks for your posts!

 

Michael

Viking wants full payment about 30 days after the reservation is made (whenever that is), but my TA was able to push it out several months. You could ask.

I'd also be interested in hearing what others say about the air. We booked the air during this past $500/pp off promotion that ends today. We've used Celebrity's Choice Air multiple times and all we did was find the flights we wanted and call Choice Air to actually book our selections. It would be nice to pay $50/pp more and have that same option with VO.

We love, love, love the aft cabins on Celebrity, especially on seadays, and try to book them when we can.

 

We booked 5110 on the Viking Star (right under the infinity pool) and would not do it again unless it was a cruise with a lot of seadays. The cabin was fine. Our cruise had zero sea days out of ten so we didn't have the opportunity to sit out on the balcony and watch the water. We did go out early morning, at night and sometimes in the afternoons after we returned to the ship after excursions. We just did not get the usage we expected.

 

We did not have any issues in a DV1 with availability of shore excursions or specialty restaurants pre cruise or on the ship.

 

We have booked a PV2 or 3 for our next cruise.

Thank you for your feedback, cruzzzinma! We toyed with 5110 on the Sun, but decided that the overhang from the Infinity Pool directly above was not ideal, so we opted for 4122, which is directly below 5110. With the slope of the rear of the ship, the overhang doesn't appear to be an issue with 4122. From the pictures I've seen of the aft of the Star (which is the same as the Sun), we thought the overhang in 5110 might not suit us, but glad you didn't have a problem with it. The same with the PV1 cabins having the overhang from Deck 7 (port or starboard, aft), so your choice of a PV2 of PV3 is farther forward and therefore, has no extra overhang above.

We also have no sea days on this itinerary, but I think we'll use the balcony, especially going so deep into the Eidfjord. We had an aft cabin on our Baltic cruise and the view from the balcony was spectacular coming out of Stockholm (through the Swedish Archipelago) and we will have one in February in Australia/New Zealand on Celebrity. I think this will be equally as good on VOC.

I'm glad to know that you had no problems securing the excursions that you wanted in the DV1. That makes me feel better. I assured my husband that the cabin itself is slightly larger than our Concierge or Aqua cabins on Celebrity (270 sq ft for VOC and 248 for Celebrity). I think he'll just get the drink package and his drinks at a bar instead of worrying about the minis in the frig in PV1 that you don't get it DV1. We have always had the problem of choosing cabin location over amenities (Celebrity Concierge aft facing vs. Aqua and our favorite BLU)!

Is there a way, however, to view the shore excursions prior to their release for booking?

Thanks!

Hello, all! I'd like to jump in here and ask a question and make a comment.

First, the question: My husband and I were debating between DV1 (love aft facing cabins) and the PV1 (overhand from Deck 7 could obstruct panoramic view somewhat, but has more room, more storage, and excursions can be booked 10 days sooner). We finally booked the DV1 on the Sun next June, and my husband is now concerned that we should have chosen the PV1 instead.

Not knowing at this point what the shore excursions VOC offers would be, how important is that 10 days really? Are certain excursions completely closed when it opens up for DV1 to choose? How can I access what will be available ahead of time (even if I am not able to book them yet)?

Now for my comment: We are Elite on Celebrity and have thoroughly enjoyed each and every Celebrity cruise we have taken. Some cabins have been better than others, some stewards better than others, some food better than others, etc. but all and all, we have been more than pleased. The nickel and diming compared to NCL, Carnival, RCCL, etc. is minimal. On the $10 sale days, don't go to the shops if you don't want to be approached with a sales pitch (although I just say "No Thanks" and walk on). We found Celebrity to be a real cut above the other mainstream cruises all around. I think anyone who is coming from some of the other cruise lines will be pleased as well.

Having said that, everything is subjective and what I like may be exactly someone else doesn't like and vise versa.

We decided that at some point we needed to try a "luxury" cruise line and I had been steered toward Regent, but found an itinerary I liked on Viking Ocean Cruises and we booked. The reviews and price told me I needed to try this before going too far afield with Regent. So far, what I've read about Viking Ocean makes me think I will be very pleased! I'm very excited about our upcoming VOC cruise next June, but have one more Celebrity before that. Until we experience VOC at least once, I can't say that I would never go Celebrity again. We've been happy!

Thanks for your help with my question.

That sounds wise.

 

So in my cruise planner, it says that you avail of up to 45% discount if booking in advance. Is that actually correct, or is it still cheaper to book on board and negotiate a discount?

 

Its showing 98 Euros per person for a three night speciality deal currently.

I just rechecked and a 3 night specialty dinner package is $109 US on the website. It was $109 for the same thing when we booked immediately after boarding the Reflection in January 2017. There would be no savings either way on the package.

We prefer to book the specialty dinner package upon boarding, rather than in advance. Our reason is that when you pre-book the package prior to boarding, you are assigned your first reservation time and restaurant, which has been made by Celebrity. Then you are able to book the additional nights as you desire. If you book onboard, you are able to better control the restaurant, day and time (if available) of your first reservation. We usually book all 3 nights at the time we purchase the package at one of the Specialty Dining kiosks as soon as we board. We have found that we get a better time for our needs than if Celebrity picks the restaurant and time (for the first dinner) for us.

However, like others have said, there is usually a discount for specialty restaurants on the first night, and sometimes on other nights. On the Summit in the Fall of 2015, Qsine had discounts on the last two nights of the cruise as well (30% on the next to last night and 50% on the last night). You have to ask to see if there are discounts other than the first night.

I hope this helps!

I don't see a roll call for your cruise yet. Why don't you start one. Here is a link to the Millennium roll call forum. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=285&order=desc

This was my first attempt at following the steps to create a thread. After receiving your message, I tried again, but seemingly without success. Help!

Hello,

Anyone else out there on this cruise? My husband and I are on this cruise after a 6 day land tour starting in Fairbanks on June 10, 2017.

I'm looking forward to hearing from others on this cruise and/or tour 8B (Great Frontier Expedition Cruisetour).