Welcome To Viking Ocean!

What do you think the average age will be on the ship?

Viking is targeting the same demographic for Oceans as for their River Cruises so it seems likely the age distribution will be similar. But who knows until the tickets are sold.

In their FAQ on the web site, the information for passengers with disabilities does not seem encouraging. Here's what they say.

If I had mobility issues and read this, I'd be looking for another line for my cruising.

-- roy --

I am thinking about booking the Viking Homeland tour but my travel agent said we have to pay this December for the entire cruise. That seems very early for full payment. Have all of you that booked have the same terms for your cruise? Usually we have to pay the balance within 90 days. I have other trips to pay for for 2013 and 2014. We may wait and book later.

Little Rascal, don't know if it makes a difference (agree it is hard to make final payment 18 months+ out) pls note last paragraph in the post below. Yes, Viking Oceans policy of early final payment is first in our dozen cruises where final payment

is required more than 120 days prior to sailing.

Symmes99 Symmes99 is offline

Cool Cruiser

Join Date: Oct 2000

Location: McMurray. PA

Posts: 17

Default Glitches in the reservation system

I asked my TA to book a V2 cabin on the 6/27/15 cruise. The price should have been $4,999 per person according to the VS website, but my reservation form showed a price of $5,149 per person. That price does not mach up with any price listed on the VS website; the next higher category is a V1 cabin, for $5,199 per person. So I asked my TA to check with Viking. Viking said "Good catch!" It appears that the computer programming has a flaw that will be addressed shortly. They fixed the price on my confirmation so it matches the V2 website price.

So, if you book something, double check the pricing (which you would probably do anyway but now you have something to look for). Also, I received a $300 per passenger past-passenger discount.

Other tidbits: the deposit is fully refundable through 12/31/13 with no cancellation charge applied. After that date, the full payment is refundable up to 121 days out, less a $100 per person cancellation charge.

Gerry

Booked this cruise, traveling with another couple. 2yrs is so far away!

Andy, thanks for this forum! Look forward to the next two years of discussion. We've booked Viking Star for Sept 27th 2015 Venice to Istanbul with 2 days pre and 3 days post. On our first Viking River Cruise this Aug 17th Basel to Amsterdam with 2 days pre and 2 days post (Lucerne) Have picked up a lot of good information so far and looking forward to our Viking experience!:D

Hi Everyone,

My wife (Dianne) and I have just booked on the Sept 15, 2015 sailing from Barcelona to Istanbul. Have a hard time believing we have booked this far in advance having been a big fan of last minute vacations.

We have never taken an ocean cruise before and only this May we had our first river cruise. The river cruise was with Viking and we had such a good time and were so impressed with Viking that as soon as we saw the Viking Ocean brochure and were able to decide on the itinerary we climbed on board.

Note to Kikki21 - I see you live in Leicestershire. My wife spent her childhood in Leicester (am I right this is the same vicinity?) but she has not been back in some time. Perhaps we will meet if you decide to try Viking.

Ed

My husband and I are considering Viking Homelands 15 day cruise starting July 25th with pre and post extensions. We like the idea of a 'smaller' ship. We have a 24 day trip to China next month Sept 15th so are looking forward to our first Viking tour. 2 years is a long time to book for the Ocean cruise but apparently they are booking up quickly. We have until end Dec to pay. This forum is a great place to gather so much information about the trip and the people we will meet.

Lori

Can't believe I just found this. We have sailed on Azamara, Silversea, and Seabourn and love the smaller ships and prefer Veranda suites. Just today, I got a pop up and decided to check it out. My wife and I are going to have a discussion tonight. One that looks intriguing to me so far is the Venice to Istanbul itinerary.

Prices and offers look pretty attractive. A little disappointed that tips were not included, but hey, we realize it all comes down to dollars and cents in the total overall cruise fare.

Who knows, maybe a new cruise line in our future.

I have booked on the Empires of the Mediterranean cruise from Venice to Istanbul in Sept 2015. Viking have only just released booking to Uk customers in the past few weeks. I was wondering if any of the contributors who may have booked this cruise are aware how the extension bookings are going. I am interested in the Italian Cities 3 night extension pre-cruise as well as the two night Istanbul extension post cruise but I have not yet booked them. The delay in booking is a mixture of a) to limit the amount paid so far in advance and b) I may possibly travel on the Orient Express from London but the train operator have not released their 2015 Timetable yet (no surprise!). I don't wish to leave it too late to book and find the extensions fully booked as I have read elsewhere for earlier cruises in this maiden season. All comments welcome.

???

Can't believe I just found this. We have sailed on Azamara, Silversea, and Seabourn and love the smaller ships and prefer Veranda suites. Just today, I got a pop up and decided to check it out. My wife and I are going to have a discussion tonight. One that looks intriguing to me so far is the Venice to Istanbul itinerary.

 

Prices and offers look pretty attractive. A little disappointed that tips were not included, but hey, we realize it all comes down to dollars and cents in the total overall cruise fare.

 

Who knows, maybe a new cruise line in our future.

In the UK the cruises are being offered including tips if booked by the end of 2013. I have already booked the same cruise as you are considering for a September 2015 departure and I agree the pricing/offer looks attractive. If you believe the website it seems to be selling well!

Made final pymt for 2015 Viking Ocean Cruise. Viking Star Sep. 27 to Oct .6, 2015 Venice to Istanbul.

Found some more current 10/11 2013 stuff on the build progress on both new Ocean class ships with (2) more being talked about. Will look forward to seeing where Viking expands with these new ship routes?

Meeting (Happy Hour) with Michael Weldon (Dir Bus Dev) of Viking Cruises next week and look forward to hearing about this. We hope to link up with others on this Ocean Cruise. Bob & Margie

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...227092451.html

http://www.themeditelegraph.com/en/2...8pK/index.html

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...235374211.html

We will be joining Viking Star on May 2nd in Barcelona for 29 days ending in Stockholm. My husband and I so much enjoyed our Amsterdam to Budapest River cruise on a Viking that we decided to take the plunge. We look forward to this amazing paid for so far in advance vacation!

We will be joining Viking Star on May 2nd in Barcelona for 29 days ending in Stockholm. My husband and I so much enjoyed our Amsterdam to Budapest River cruise on a Viking that we decided to take the plunge. We look forward to this amazing paid for so far in advance vacation!

Viking Star receives first 2 of its 4 new engines. Nice video and update on (2) more new Viking Ocean Cruise sister ships, Viking Sea and Viking Sky.

We're so excited, ready to book another Viking Ocean Cruise for 2016.

http://www.corporate.man.eu/en/disco...uise-ship.html

http://worldmaritimenews.com/archive...e-ocean-ships/

She's in the water!

Viking Cruises' inaugural ocean ship – the 930-passenger Viking Star – was floated out at a ceremony in Italy

http://www.usatoday.com/story/cruise...loat/11348183/

http://timespentatsea.blogspot.com/2...oated-out.html

Hallelujah! Last thing I saw, they were dropping an engine into a bare-steel hull module. Now, seemingly overnight, she's intact and afloat :-)

In one of the links the chairman of Viking said she would be christened May 17th next year - is it normal to do this after the maiden cruise has initiated? We depart Barcelona May 2nd, and others begin in April......

In one of the links the chairman of Viking said she would be christened May 17th next year - is it normal to do this after the maiden cruise has initiated? We depart Barcelona May 2nd, and others begin in April......

Yeah. The official christening will take place when she reaches Bergen the first time. They want to christen her in her Nordic roots. She's being built in Venice. They'll do a shakedown or two, probably with travel agents on board, to get her to Istanbul, then the Maiden Voyage begins there, wends its way through the Adriatic and Mediterranean then up the coast of Europe etc.

That makes sense! We have 2 nights in Bergen - does this mean that we will be able to experience the christening first hand as passengers - and if so does anyone know what that experience would be like? Worth staying around for, or using that time exploring Bergen? Thank you!

Hi Andy:

My husband, Dennis, and I just booked on the Viking Sky-Mediterranean Odyssey for 09-04-16! We put down our small deposit on July 5th. Remainder is due Dec. 17, 2014-OUCH!

We are recent converts to cruising. Our first ever cruise was this June on the Viking Spirit from Paris through the Heart of Normandy. We met Sherry & her brother, Ed on this cruise. They were seasoned travelers. Sherry told me they booked the Viking Sky's Mediterranean Odyssey for 2015. When we heard Barcelona, Croatia and Venice, we were hooked.

Kathy

We are taking the Viking Rhine Getaway on Oct25 from Amsterdam to Basel. We are interested in spending a few days in Zurich on our return and have our airfare on our own. Can you please suggest how to get to Zurich on our dis-embarkation on Nov 1? Thank you.

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Hello All,

We are booked on our first Viking Cruise this summer and I was pleasantly surprised to receive $200 back on my credit card (after our cruise was booked and totally paid for ) by using a referral from a friend.

If you are interested in receiving a discount and need a referral customer number, you are welcome to contact your travel agent with our names, Rhonda and Tom Bovine, Viking Customer Number #1325098851

We will also receive credits for a future Viking cruise if you contact them.

Can't hurt to contact your travel agent and give her the information and you are welcome to share this information with your family & friends to receive the discount as well. Let me know if you choose to participate, happy cruising! My email is rbovine1@gmail.com Thanks!:)

We are taking the Viking Rhine Getaway on Oct25 from Amsterdam to Basel. We are interested in spending a few days in Zurich on our return and have our airfare on our own. Can you please suggest how to get to Zurich on our dis-embarkation on Nov 1? Thank you.

 

 

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Hi toninwa,

We are doing the Rhine Getaway in July and will be flying home out of Zurich also. I was able to get a direct from Zurich to Atlanta so that was the best route for us. We are planning to take the train from Basel to Zurich and have booked the Radisson Blu hotel which is the only hotel located on the Zurich airport campus, so it will not require any taxi, etc the morning of our flight. The train runs hourly and I think it will be a breeze as it goes directly to the airport. Here is the link http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

Hope this helps.

Hi Everyone,

 

Welcome to the Viking Oceans Forum. I'm pleased to have the honor of the first post !

 

Host Faith & I will be moderating this forum. We look forward to discussing all things Viking Oceans, as they prepare for the launch of Viking Star in April 2015. I'd like to wish everyone at Viking Oceans all the very best of success in their new venture.

 

If there's anything I can do to assist, you are always welcome to email me by clicking on the link below. Thanks very much, and enjoy the forum !

Is there a forum for Viking River Cruises?

Thanks