Viking Star progress

Yesterday I spoke to Viking about my river cruise next week, and mentioned that I was on the Viking Star for the April 11 Empires of the Mediterranean inagural cruise. The rep. told me that the ship was finished well before the delivery date and was now on sea trials. I was wondering if anyone on this forum has any informaton to confirm this. I don't think it makes sense to leave the ship sit idle in a lay berth for six months.

Would be wonderful news if true. I had heard that there was going to be a "travel industry" muckily-muck cruise before our inaugural April 11 cruise. But to your point, that wouldn't eat up 6 months. Anyone else hear anything?

Just noticed captainmcd that you said you were on the Empires cruise - the whole 50 days? We are signed up for that too.

Just noticed captainmcd that you said you were on the Empires cruise - the whole 50 days? We are signed up for that too.

I wish! No, I am just on the first leg from Istanbul to Venice.

After all this time....waiting...paying....waiting....getting excited now - not so far away!!!

My husband and I are also extremely excited for our April 11 voyage; we're doing the entire 50-day trip.

Alas, We don't have all 50 days - we board in Barcelona 5/2 - 29 days still sounds pretty sweet!!' It is going to be amazing....

Alas, We don't have all 50 days - we board in Barcelona 5/2 - 29 days still sounds pretty sweet!!' It is going to be amazing....

We'll wave at you as we debark :-) We're cruising from Istanbul to Barcelona on the maiden, 21 days all told.

We'll wave at you as we debark :-) We're cruising from Istanbul to Barcelona on the maiden, 21 days all told.

Hi: We're on Istanbul to Barcelona as well! Sure would have liked to do the entire 50 days, but can't be away that long. We are Marsha and Lou from NYC.

Looking forward to meeting you.

Hi: We're on Istanbul to Barcelona as well! Sure would have liked to do the entire 50 days, but can't be away that long. We are Marsha and Lou from NYC.

Looking forward to meeting you.

Robert and Penny from Cape Cod. I'm a retired photographer, she's a retired professor: Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins. Looking forward to it. We're on Deck 8; you?

Yesterday I spoke to Viking about my river cruise next week, and mentioned that I was on the Viking Star for the April 11 Empires of the Mediterranean inagural cruise. The rep. told me that the ship was finished well before the delivery date and was now on sea trials. I was wondering if anyone on this forum has any informaton to confirm this. I don't think it makes sense to leave the ship sit idle in a lay berth for six months.

It seems possible to me that she's structurally finished and they are testing systems etc, but that the interior's yet to be fitted out; it would make sense to leave stuff exposed until it's been proven? I donno... I know we've done it that way with smaller yachts.

You would think Viking would use the building to peak everyone interest by posting or announcing the progress. I saw my first Viking Ocean TV add last night so they must feel she will be finished on time.

Robert and Penny from Cape Cod. I'm a retired photographer, she's a retired professor: Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins. Looking forward to it. We're on Deck 8; you?

Deck 6. Booked this so long ago but it's finally starting to feel real!

Just found this thread. We signed up and paid for this cruise ages ago,but have heard nothing from Viking other than the original invoice. Has anyone heard from them? Has anyone heard about air arrangements?

We feel like we are operating in the dark. Any input would be much appreciated.

Thank You

We talk to our rep at Viking regularly, but we initiate the contact ourselves. We have booked our flights and secured our seat assignments, although this is only possible because we paid the extra fee to be able to do so. For those who don't pay the fee, the ticketing assignments won't be finalized for a while yet, we're told. But it's still 5 months away...

In any case, if you have a travel agent have them work on your behalf to get questions answered, or don't hesitate to reach out on your own behalf using the contact info on your invoice.

Have you filled out your "Guest Information Forms"? This was supposed to be done as soon as you booked. Here's the page at the Viking Website that should help you get organized, if you haven't found it already:

http://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/my-trip/travel-requirements.html

Of course, you may have done all that, in which case forgive me :-) If you're just suffering from "I sent them my money and they aren't telling me squadoosh!" angst, well, you're not alone. But it's more or less par for the course, I think, when someone's trying to organize a new cruise line from scratch, and it's the price we pay for being a part of the launch. Or so I reassure myself :-)

Robt.

Just found this thread. We signed up and paid for this cruise ages ago,but have heard nothing from Viking other than the original invoice. Has anyone heard from them? Has anyone heard about air arrangements?

We feel like we are operating in the dark. Any input would be much appreciated.

Thank You

We are on the July 25 2015 Viking Homelands cruise and were told we cannot book our air (with deviation) till early December. There is NO communication from Viking at all unless we initiate it.

Happy that I was able to book our air yesterday (with mileage). Our cruise date is September 27, Venice to Istanbul. It has gotten so difficult to get business class seats but I always seem to manage....it's just time consuming and a lot of work! We are spending 3 nights pre-cruise in Venice, so leaving Los Angeles on September 23, arriving in Venice on September 24. Too early to search for hotels and I haven't done the research yet on where we want to stay. The last time I was in Venice was in 1979. We are leaving Istanbul right after the cruise since we have been there before (just a few years ago), and there is an overnight in Istanbul anyway. That will give us enough time to hit the Grand Bazaar the day before disembarkation for a little shopping before heading home.

Robert

Thank you. I will pursue the site you cited to complete the form(s). Unfortunately our travel agent, who is out of state, is not responding to our email inquiries so will take your suggestion and hunt up the booking invoice for contact information directly with Viking.

Thanks again

Nancy

You'll be redirected to the Viking Rivers website to complete this form.

Better find your travel agent's invoice first as you'll need the Viking reservation number to access their system. Ours was a seven digit number starting with "17" for a Viking Empire tour booked last summer (2013).

Looking closely at their header info you can see a code for the trip which you can decipher as well as a string of four digit codes which are your cabin assignments (one number for each leg).

You'll be redirected to the Viking Rivers website to complete this form.

 

Better find your travel agent's invoice first as you'll need the Viking reservation number to access their system. Ours was a seven digit number starting with "17" for a Viking Empire tour booked last summer (2013).

 

Looking closely at their header info you can see a code for the trip which you can decipher as well as a string of four digit codes which are your cabin assignments (one number for each leg).

Thank you, Leo.

At least now I know where our room is--thanks to your decoding clues!

Nancy

Just found this thread. We signed up and paid for this cruise ages ago,but have heard nothing from Viking other than the original invoice. Has anyone heard from them? Has anyone heard about air arrangements?

We feel like we are operating in the dark. Any input would be much appreciated.

Thank You

We've received a commemorative coin from the sea trials as well as a medallion recognizing the building of the Star.

Carol from California -

Sure wish we were leaving from Venice. (We'll be on the July 25 Stockholm to Bergen portion.) If you haven't decided on a hotel for Venice, you may want to check out Locanda Orseolo. A small inn just off St. Mark' Square, it was magical. We're planning a return to Venice at some time just to stay there again.