With the Beer, Wine and soft drinks avail at meal times ...

... does it also include any type of juices ... what brand of soft drinks - Coke or Pepsi products ...

Are juices available at any of the beverage stations other than coffee or tea ... how much are soft drinks when purchased outside of meal times ...

Thanks ...

From the bar menu. Prices already include 15% gratuity:

Does that mean juices are not complimentary during meal times?

Does that mean juices are not complimentary during meal times?

It certainly means that if you order a juice from the bar, that it will cost you but, since I pretty much stick to water as a beverage, I did not pay attention to what was available to drink with meals or what machine was dispensing what at what time of day, so the answer to your question is going to have to depend on help from other readers. The best I can do is pictures of the bar menu.

Does that mean juices are not complimentary during meal times?

The world cafe has a juice dispenser on both sides that was available all the time as far as I know. It dispenses orange juice (both sides), cranberry (sometimes only one side other days both sides), apple, and I think lemonade. Don't know what happens in The Restaurant since we never ate there or any either of the specialty restaurants. Does this help?

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... does it also include any type of juices ... what brand of soft drinks - Coke or Pepsi products ...

 

 

 

Are juices available at any of the beverage stations other than coffee or tea ... how much are soft drinks when purchased outside of meal times ...

 

 

 

Thanks ...

Coffee and tea are always free wherever you get it - lounges, bars, etc. Don't know about soft drinks.

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In the World Cafe on Sea at lunchtime, there is a servery of soft drink cans -- Coke, Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite which are free. No Pepsi. Serve yourself or ask one of the drinks servers to get it for you. You can have still or sparkling water too. Lager or dark beer. Red, white or rose wine. But I didn't see anyone asking for spirits or cocktails or anything "fancy", so I don't know about them.

I did not see any sign of "paying for it" at any mealtimes in any eatery. Sometimes, you might even get a refill!

FM,

Your fridge will be prestocked with some sodas & juices when you board. And, depending on your cabin category ( DV and above), it will be restocked daily with your preference at no charge.

On our first Viking Oceans cruise, we had a V2 cabin, so only had a one-time stock of Diet Coke. So, I purchased bottles in port and chilled them in the fridge. (That is my "morning coffee" ;) ) I like the bottles better as I can drink as much as I want and return them to the fridge, or I can take them on our excursions in the little cozies, which keep them somewhat cool for awhile. I found that the prices for a nice 20oz Coke or Pepsi product in most ports was no more than 2 euro and often less.

Hope this helps!

Becki

The world cafe has a juice dispenser on both sides that was available all the time as far as I know. It dispenses orange juice (both sides), cranberry (sometimes only one side other days both sides), apple, and I think lemonade. Don't know what happens in The Restaurant since we never ate there or any either of the specialty restaurants. Does this help?

 

 

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In the World Cafe on Sea at lunchtime, there is a servery of soft drink cans -- Coke, Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite which are free. No Pepsi. Serve yourself or ask one of the drinks servers to get it for you. You can have still or sparkling water too. Lager or dark beer. Red, white or rose wine. But I didn't see anyone asking for spirits or cocktails or anything "fancy", so I don't know about them.

 

I did not see any sign of "paying for it" at any mealtimes in any eatery. Sometimes, you might even get a refill!

Very helpful - thanks. As we do not drink coffee, wine or beer ( :O - lol ), I was wondering about the value of the beverage package in order to get beverages outside of dining hours ... such as juices, water etc ...

FM,

Your fridge will be prestocked with some sodas & juices when you board. And, depending on your cabin category ( DV and above), it will be restocked daily with your preference at no charge.

 

On our first Viking Oceans cruise, we had a V2 cabin, so only had a one-time stock of Diet Coke. So, I purchased bottles in port and chilled them in the fridge. (That is my "morning coffee" ;) ) I like the bottles better as I can drink as much as I want and return them to the fridge, or I can take them on our excursions in the little cozies, which keep them somewhat cool for awhile. I found that the prices for a nice 20oz Coke or Pepsi product in most ports was no more than 2 euro and often less.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Becki

Yes it does - thanks. Was surprised to get a phone call on a Sat AM (yesterday) from the Viking rep inquiring whether we had made a decision yet re: the Sky next year. I mentioned we were still looking at other cruise lines/itineraries, one of which is a B2B aboard RCL Anthem of the Seas (9-night Canada/New England and 5-night NY/Bermuda). When I answered his question that the cost was just over $6K for a verandah stateroom aboard the Anthem, he pointed out that we could drop down from the DV6 category (at just over $10K) to the (basic) V2 category stateroom which would save us $1K per person for a total of only $8K for the NY West Indies cruise (aboard the Sky).

Since all Verandah and Deluxe Verandah cabins are the same, he pointed out that for $2K less we would only miss out on the cashmere blanket, the daily restocking of the mini-fridge and the 2 guaranteed dining reservations by going with the V2 Category.

It does make a bit of sense when put into that perspective. If juices, along with water and tea were available, then we wouldn't miss the daily restocking of the mini-fridge ... and we could go ala carte with non-alcoholic drinks/smoothies (totally forgot about bringing aboard our own case of soft-drinks or bottled water - still reeling from all the controversy re: NCL and the bottled water restriction! - lol)

And giving up the two guaranteed reservations wouldn't be a biggie as I can't see us not getting into Manfredi's or the Chef's Table at all during the two week Sky cruise. With only a 60-day shore excursion booking window, I'm not sure if that would prevent us from booking the complimentary shore excursions if space runs out. Concerned a bit about the 3 pm room availability due to DW's health/stamina ... but it looks like there are a lot of comfy places to rest until the stateroom becomes available.

So going with the V2 Verandah stateroom doesn't really equate to a lesser stateroom aboard other cruise lines ... and with only a difference now of only $2K instead of $4K between the less expensive Anthem and Sky, it makes it more palatable ... decisions decisions decisions

Very helpful - thanks. As we do not drink coffee, wine or beer ( :O - lol ), I was wondering about the value of the beverage package in order to get beverages outside of dining hours ... such as juices, water etc ...

 

Considering that the beverage package costs $30 or so per day per person, unless you drink a lot of alcohol, imho the beverage package just doesn't make sense (would you drink 10 glasses of juice outside of mealtimes?). And, btw, if Viking is going to continue to throw enticements at you, it does not make sense to accept it as a freebie either (included gratuities is a much better enticement).

As far as your decision-making goes one cruise-line vs another, people have made some interesting observations about the Viking that may create added value for you. :

• one included tour each port day
  
• virtually no children on board-- because cabins accommodate only two people--no bunks, no sofa beds --and children can not occupy a cabin without an adult in the cabin; also, no children's programming
  
• no casino
  
• no formal nights; business/country club casual dress code
  
• as one CC member commented in his review of the entertainment--no magician, jugglers or comedians
  
• no super glitzy stage shows but still plenty of musical entertainment ranging from light classical to Broadway to easy-listening; one cruise heard an ABBA show while on the cruise we just came off of, they did a concert version of Les Miz (and that was in addition to the nightly show in the theater). I remember that there was live-music somewhere on the ship every day from 5pm until they closed the disco--piano, guitar, classical trio play, singers and dancers.
  
• there is no up charge for the specialty dining rooms--and most people report getting reservations once you are on board (we certainly had no trouble and we were a party of 4). You could eat in there every night if you wished as long as they could fit you in.
  
• the spa is open to all passengers; there is no fee to use it and you don't have to book a massage or some other treatment to have access to its sauna, steam room and hot tubs.
  
• free self-serve laundry (detergent included)
  
• there just aren't as many people on board --less than 1000 vs how many on the other cruise line
  
• no art auctions
  
• announcements are made once a day -- mostly to announce that folks can start going ashore now.
  
• no steel drum music -- at least not in the Baltic or Med (that might change in the Caribbean simply because steel drums are the local sound)
  

FM,

Beware; you will be spoiled for other cruise lines once you cruise Viking! :D We are Elite on Princess, have sailed Celebrity and Royal Caribbean several times. But, the last time we sailed on Royal Caribbean, in order to join friends, we jokingly complained to each other while waiting in the long lines for, it seemed, everything, that if we were on Viking, we would not be in these lines. :p

Becki

FM

Go with a TA. You will save 15% above what the rep told you bringing you down to less than $7,000.

Another point in Viking's favor in addition to all the the plus items listed by Peregrina651 is the approach of not trying to suck money out of you at every chance (my impression from one HAL cruise we did in 2011). Basically, if you stick with doing all the included excursions, you can pretty much ensure that your cruise fare covers everything. Btw - we had a PV2 cabin which meant we had a fridge drawer stocked with a mixture of hard liquor, wine, beer, bottled water, juices and sodas; a few candy bars; and a bottle of champagne. How anybody could or would consume all of that in a day boggles the mind. But, except for the champagne, anything you consumed during the day was replaced the next day (candy bars included). If you wanted more than what was provided in the drawer, you had to pay for that. There was room in the fridge to add more to it (things you bought). We actually did NOT get to the bottle of champagne at all during our time onboard but took care of it in our hotel room (room service dinner) during our post cruise extension in Stockholm. Packing that bottle safely and securely in my backpack to carry off the ship was a fun project involving zip lock bags of laundry and telling the bell captain at the hotel why that bag in particular should be treated with care. [emoji2]

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FM

 

Go with a TA. You will save 15% above what the rep told you bringing you down to less than $7,000.

Not all TAs offer an additional 15%; mine didn't (but that was before I even knew such a discount was possible).

I've had the same TA for over 20 cruises give or take. 15% is a normal discount on Viking with a TA. (We've been on over 45 cruises but have stuck with the same one for the last 20 or so)

If you are in a cabin that has a mini-bar, stocked daily or whenever, you can stop your attendant or leave a note requesting a different configuration of offerings. We asked for a lot of Schweppes Bitter Lemon (refreshing but not so sweet) and ditched the sodas we never drink. They provided per our request from then until the end of our cruise o the Star. We took our beverages elsewhere on the ship all the time. They always put new glasses in our cabin, too.

We will be in an Explorer Suite and would only want soda in our refrig. How many cans of soda would be stocked at one time, if all we want is soda?

I also read that there is a place in one of the eating venues that has a "tray" of sodas during lunch. Can passengers take cans of soda from there and put them in the cabin refirig?

Thanks for your help. This will be our first Viking Ocean cruise after many Princess cruises.

Alice

I don't recall seeing anywhere you can take cans away, but an Explorer Suite would be replenished at least twice a day. If you tell your cabin steward what you want, I am sure you'd have at least 6 new cans twice a day.

I've had the same TA for over 20 cruises give or take. 15% is a normal discount on Viking with a TA. (We've been on over 45 cruises but have stuck with the same one for the last 20 or so)

On our three cruises so far, 2 with Viking, we've dealt directly with the cruise line (have a pretty good relationship with our Viking agent btw, lots of emails between us including sharing pictures we've taken on our cruises and general chit chat). Are you saying that the way to get better pricing with Viking is to work thru an external TA, never directly with Viking?

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Char,

Yes, you can even initially book a Viking cruise thru your Viking rep and then transfer to a TA for better pricing. The friends we now cruise with did that and were shocked at how much they saved. One thing to note: if you are booked thru a TA, you will then be expected to contact your TA for any and all ?'s , which many people do not understand. But, Viking pays commissions to those TA's and so expects them to earn them. :)

Becki