Viking policy on last minute pre-cruise planning

This arrived by email today and will be of interest to future cruisers as to Viking policies. Arrival timed to two weeks before sail date.

Dear xxx xxx,

As a final reminder, we ask that you review MyVikingJourney.com. Before you depart on your Viking Ocean Cruise, personalize your cruise experience and ensure everything is set as you like it one final time.

You have one week to adjust bookings online. Bookings will then close 7 days before your cruise sets sail. Once you arrive onboard, you will again have the ability to manage your Optional Shore Excursions and Dining options, with one exception—all shore excursion bookings within the first two days of sailing will be locked-in and non-refundable.

We are greatly looking forward to welcoming you onboard soon!

All the best,

Viking Ocean Cruises

Yah, we got that too. The "no-book window" and the commitment to the first two days of excursions is as described in the on-line materials. So no surprise there, and it makes sense.

I wonder what happens if you're a no-show for an "included" tour? We had signed up for the Istanbul included tour and will probably not do that, IF there are other things on our "must-see" list that we haven't been able to see yet. We have not cancelled this tour yet, as it's POSSIBLE that we might have seen our "must-sees" and would want to go on the tour. I hate to cancel, because then we wouldn't have that option. But I also wouldn't want to pay some kind of penalty for an included tour. I know if I call, they'll just tell me to cancel the tour, so they won't plan on more than are going to show up. This is the only one of our "includeds" that I've held onto as a possible option.

However, they haven't said that there's a penalty yet for included tours. Has anyone asked this question yet?

My guy said there would not be, for what that's worth. I'm sure they'll be happy if you just let 'em know the day before. If they have a waiting list, they can populate the tour from that. If they don't, then why would they care?

Good news.

The only thing I can think of is if they plan on more boats to take people on this Istanbul water cruise (kinda crazy if you ask me, since we're on a ship anyway, but might be fun), and then half of us don't show up, then they've paid for boats they won't use.

I think (big assumption I know) they've got enough capacity on all the includeds to make room for everyone - just might not be the time people want. I can't see them turning anyone away from an included tour who's tried to sign up before boarding. To advertise that they have all these included tours in each port, and then not have room for everyone would be REALLY bad. But there might be a waiting list for a particular time.

This one in Istanbul is the only one I have that we might not do, so hard to tell them ahead of time on this one. I could tell them that morning, but don't know if that would help them or not. Like you said though, there might be someone waitlisted for our time slot, so I'll do that.

Just an FYI -- we were advised by Viking that our included tour in Santorini was oversubscribed for the 9:30 a.m. departure so they were moving us to a 10 a.m. departure. Not a big deal for us.

Re: the boat tour on the Bosporus -- we took this a few months ago. It's really nice and you get the opportunity for great photos of the Dolmabache Palace as seen from the water.

We've been told by those who've done it that the boat tour on the Bosphorous is a must-take. Plus we'll get to go into the Rüstem Pasha Mosque, apparently one of the hidden gems of Istanbul. I'm looking forward to it and you would probably be annopyed after if you missed it, Elizabeth :-)

No doubt! So we'll try to see everything on our must-see list before. The problem children are the Blue Mosque and Grand Bazaar. The Blue Mosque is closed on Fridays, and the Grand Bazaar on Sundays, so trying to work the schedule so we can do both. Everything else we've fit in. In retrospect, I wish we had gotten to Istanbul 2 days early instead of one day early. And of course when we booked we had no idea the ship would be leaving at 2:00 which really limits the 12th. There's so much to see in this city! As in all the ports we're going to!

I'm pretty sure the reason we depart at 2PM is so we transit the Dardanelles in daylight; it's a spectacular and very historic strait, known as the "Hellespont" to the Greeks.

And when you look at the distance to Ephesus, it really is a long way. Looking forward to our deck 8 views Bear Music!

We'll also be passing abeam of Gallipoli on the starboard side. This April is the centennial of the Gallipoli Campaign with memorial services later in the month. Here was the start of the World War I theater of war against the Ottoman Empire.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-national-commemoration-of-the-centenary-of-the-gallipoli-and-anzac-campaigns

For the 50 Day Crazies, we set sail where the Ottoman Empire begins its disintegration into the current geopolitical quagmire and roughly end in St Petersburg where the Russian Empire begins its disintegration.

We sailed the Dardanelles - as well as the Bosphorous cruise last October. Both were really great experiences.

There are a couple 'included, tours later on in the last segment that are 'wait listed'. I went onto MyJourney yesterday to check if I had signed us up for one (maybe Tallnin?) and it was not available. That surprised me. Maybe because everyone has had the opportunity to sign up and they are needing to cap where they are - or hire another tour guide? Don't know....wasn't a big deal to me because we are walking on our own at a lot of ports......

Wow! I'm really surprised. I would have thought they would not turn away anyone for an included tour. Not exactly good press when they are claiming an included tour in every port. Are all the windows open at this point for this segment? If there are a bunch of people who can't get into the included tours it's not going to play well.

I honestly was just looking towards the end so not sure. I have to believe that they would find a way to get all who want onto included tours - and there will most likely be people who change their minds for various reasons, creating openings......I didn't notice any complimentary excursions wait listed while everyone was booking, but I am not sure about that either.

Good news.

 

The only thing I can think of is if they plan on more boats to take people on this Istanbul water cruise (kinda crazy if you ask me, since we're on a ship anyway, but might be fun), and then half of us don't show up, then they've paid for boats they won't use.

 

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I wondered about the boat cruise on the Bosphorus, too. However, most of the route that typical boat cruises cover is north of where we cruise in order to reach the dock in Istanbul. The boat cruise will likely provide new scenery.

These cruises are apparently very popular, and recommended by Rick Steves and others in guide books. There is the Palace, a large and rambling fortress, and other buildings that look to be pretty interesting, at least if you're a photographer like me. I'm also looking forward to seeing the Rustem Pasha mosque, too, as it sounds just as pretty as the Blue Mosque but with fewer tourists. The Spice Market is near there, too.

As for Tallinn, Vineyard View, that's a great place for just exploring on your own. I imagine you'll get on an included tour, but if not, it's no big deal.

And as for Kusadasi to Istanbul, yes, that's a LONG way. I checked a recent cruise ship's travel between those two ports and the ship left Kusadasi/Ephesus around 4 PM and got into Istanbul around 2 PM the next day. The ocean part was fairly fast, but once it hit the straits, it was a slow journey. It was amazing to me how many ships were chugging through the straits (mostly freighters) and heading to Istanbul.

I've been watching Smithsonian Channel's Mighty Ships program, which is a great show for providing insight into the challenges that cruise ships face in navigating, keeping to schedules, sourcing good local food, etc. Tonight they featured Celebrity Solstice (and they had some timing issues as well as weather issues); last week it was an Azamara ship.

No doubt! So we'll try to see everything on our must-see list before. The problem children are the Blue Mosque and Grand Bazaar. The Blue Mosque is closed on Fridays, and the Grand Bazaar on Sundays, so trying to work the schedule so we can do both. Everything else we've fit in. In retrospect, I wish we had gotten to Istanbul 2 days early instead of one day early. And of course when we booked we had no idea the ship would be leaving at 2:00 which really limits the 12th. There's so much to see in this city! As in all the ports we're going to!

Elizabeth,

I am feeling the same way! Oh, hindsight, you devil! :p

Becki

Roothy,

I also read great things about the Rustem Pasha mosque, so I am looking forward to seeing that as well.

Becki

Roothy, thanks for the tip on Tallinn - we plan on exploring on our own in a number of ports. We enjoy doing that wherever it makes sense.

And yes, you do want to sail the straits in daylight, and the journey Kusadasi-Istanbul is a long ways. We enjoyed it twice - all of it....You all will love the experience. Then you get to explore Kusadasi - what a treasure that is!!! And the Bosphorous cruise does journey up the channel where the ship will not travel. So many good options!!!

I wasn't aware of the series on Mighty Ships...may have to check that out....PBS had a clip a couple weeks ago showing the Worlds Greatest Train Rides and featured Oslo-Mydral-Flam-Bergen.....it was really great watching segments we will be enjoying later in May. Beautiful.....

The Mighty Ships program is great. Not only do they show you the ship, but also some of the "innards" - last night's program on Celebrity showed a mechanic climbing down a small space and inspecting the azapods, which are the things that are in the water and used to steer. (Not sure if Star will have them; most ships just use rudders, thrusters & stuff.) They also feature some of the excursions.

There's another show called Dream Cruises on the little-known channel AWE (a wealth of entertainment, I suppose). I have no idea if this channel is available to all TV viewers or not, but we only have a very basic verizon package for TV, so I would guess it's visible to many people. Those shows have featured a number of river ships, plus a variety of ocean ships, some well known and others I've never heard of. The show focuses more on the cruise and excursion experience rather than inner workings/challenges of a "mighty ship" but it's still a lot of fun. So far I've armchair traveled to Venice, Dubrovnik, and a host of other places. The narrator isn't very good (mispronounces lots of stuff), and the outline of the program gets a little old after a few shows (boasting, also showing someone getting a spa treatment, etc.) but of course it's still fun to watch. I keep hoping to see my favorite lines on there (Oceania for oceans, Viking for rivers) but so far no luck.

Add me to the list of people who regret not staying in a port after a cruise. Damn Hindsight Devil! At least with Viking, you get to spend at least a half day and a night there. On most of the cruises I've taken, and not chosen to extend my trip, all I've ended up doing is waking up in the city and then waving to the city as the cab whisks me off to the airport. Of course, when that happens, you just put that city on your list of "Go To's" for another cruise!

As for Helsinki, we found that city easy to do on our own, using the shuttle that the city provided to a convenient location near a tram. The tram then goes many places you might want to go to - pretty easy do that city on your own. Don't suppose anyone's going to Riga, but if so, I have great info for there.

I'm definitely looking forward to the trip through the straits to (in our case) Istanbul.