Wishing for a wish list

Can anyone advise as to how many days before departure the Wish List is accessible on MVJ? Having booked on Viking Star "Empire" departing 27 March 2016, I have been able to set up MVJ since February 2015 but excursions are still not listed anywhere. I am still 276 days out. Thanks in advance.:)

Ours appeared about 4 or 4 1/2 months pre-cruise. I would be surprised if Viking issues anything, especially with prices, until at LEAST 6 months out, based on experience with other lines. What I do is try to find the same or similar cruise for the current year and see what that cruise offers, if it's possible to see that information. I just did that with a cruise I'm watching for next year on another line. While the content, time and cost could easily change between now and summer of 2016, it at least gets me closer to the information I need.

Ours became available about 3 weeks before our booking window opened.

Ours appeared about 4 or 4 1/2 months pre-cruise. I would be surprised if Viking issues anything, especially with prices, until at LEAST 6 months out, based on experience with other lines. What I do is try to find the same or similar cruise for the current year and see what that cruise offers, if it's possible to see that information. I just did that with a cruise I'm watching for next year on another line. While the content, time and cost could easily change between now and summer of 2016, it at least gets me closer to the information I need.

Thanks Roothy123. In fact, I have done just that, off several of Viking's web sites & used the info to set up a spread sheet & word doc. So unless Viking radically changes the excursions, all I'll need to do is, in effect, a cut & paste into my Wish List. However, until that becomes available, I have come to a grinding halt - very frustrating for one who, like you, is a passionate forward planner:D

Avonglen: Yep, passionate planner is what I am, although I don't keep spreadsheets! I see you're on Empires, as I am, although perhaps the reverse itinerary of my cruise? No "Empires" itinerary rolls around again until my cruise in late September, but if it helps any, I'll tell you what I did and thought about and experienced. You may have already done and thought about this stuff, but if so, just pretend it's new info!

Early on (although I forget how early on, and who) someone on CC posted info on the April Istanbul to Empires excursions. The Viking dailies for the maiden Empires cruise were also posted. I printed out pertinent info. Then, as I said, excursion info popped up on MVJ, earlier than anticipated (4 to 4 1/2 months pre-cruise). Someone on our Roll Call noticed it, and also mentioned that it appeared that the excursions were bookable as well. I booked a couple complimentary ones, but didn't book any paid ones, so don't know if those can be booked or just placed on the wish list until later. (My DV booking window is still a ways away). We also don't know whether those excursions will show up once we board the ship, and if so, if we'll get the exact time that was offered or if some of us will be asked to go on a later excursion. A few maiden cruisers mentioned website bugaboos early on and/or excursion time changes once they boarded. That wasn't too alarming to me, as excursions often seem to be changed a bit once you board, at least on the cruise line we've used the most. However, if you're finely orchestrating your day, it might be pretty frustrating!

The complimentary excursions are just listed as morning cruises, making me wonder if no afternoon cruises will be offered, or if they'll only be offered later if Viking ends up with too many morning participants for the guides/buses they've arranged. I was quite willing to take an afternoon, or late morning tour, but from CC feedback, it appears they weren't popular, so who knows what Viking will do come Fall - or next year for you! I'm a pretty independent traveler, so I'm just researching how to get to the various cities on my own so that I have a good sense of how to get to, back from, or around in, each of the cities we visit. If you want any info on that, let me know, but I have to warn you - I'm not much of a cab or private excursion person! I'm also getting better maps than the nice but not highly detailed ones Viking offered in April and posted on MVJ.

As you know, Viking doesn't offer a complimentary excursions on turnaround days. Therefore, one isn't offered for our embarkation day in Venice, when we're there 11 to midnight. However, Viking IS offering a few paid excursions in the evening (pretty interesting ones in my opinion), and perhaps one or two in the afternoon if people don't want to pre-plan anything on their own for that day. I don't remember if these were offered to the April maiden cruisers, but I think those folks were there overnight, with both complimentary and paid excursions offered. For us, I think there are also a few new paid excursions for the disembarkation port (Istanbul) as well.

As for the excursions in other itinerary cities, plus the complimentary tour in Istanbul, it looks like the excursions are pretty much the same as what was offered in April, though I did notice a FEW changes. A few sounded new to me, and I think a few were dropped, but can't say for sure, as I didn't compare them one by one. However, the basic places visited were those that were described in April. Sometimes I'm able to find info on excursions in the Ports of Call section of CC, and/or attached to cruise ship reviews in CC. You'd be surprised how many cruise lines offer the exact same excursions!

Bottom line is that, like with all cruise line excursions, you need to keep in mind that excursions are a relatively volatile thing, especially for cruise lines that don't run the same itineraries back to back season to season (for example, Celebrity in the Caribbean). Also, if you're doing Istanbul to Venice, some times will be different from Venice to Istanbul due to travel time and tides, so times in port can change, impacting excursions. Because it's a short hop from Dubrovnik to Kotor, we are in Dubrovnik until late, so there are a couple evening excursions offered for us that weren't offered in April. Also, I think Viking has the usual cruise line policy that says some excursions are subject to minimums and can be canceled. Of course, that won't apply to the complimentary excursions. Also, some sites visited may be closed on a particular day, making it necessary to substitute something else. If you're really set on a particular excursion, particularly one of the longer and/or more expensive ones, you might want to arrange something on your own.

I see you're on Empires, as I am, although perhaps the reverse itinerary of my cruise? No "Empires" itinerary rolls around again until my cruise in late September, but if it helps any, I'll tell you what I did and thought about and experienced. You may have already done and thought about this stuff, but if so, just pretend it's new info!

Many thanks for your input roothy123. I look forward to your experiences on "Empires". Although I'm actually one of the crazies doing the "Viking Empire" from Istanbul to Stockholm for 50 days, I value any info from your experiences you can provide - every little bit helps. Even though I'm still over 200 days out, I'm excited about the prospect of undertaking such a journey. Have a feeling the closer I get, the more the sleepless nights will increase. I never have a good night's sleep the night before departure o/s anyway!!!

Can anyone advise as to how many days before departure the Wish List is accessible on MVJ? Having booked on Viking Star "Empire" departing 27 March 2016, I have been able to set up MVJ since February 2015 but excursions are still not listed anywhere. I am still 276 days out. Thanks in advance.:)

I know ours were not available until about 3 months ahead, BUT the info on the Viking Ocean Cruises site (not MVJ) shows "typical" excursions for each port if you go to your cruise, then click itinerary. Example: http://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/baltic/baltic-jewels-midnight-sun/itinerary.html#_

In the case of our cruise, the "typical" excursions (and prices) were almost identical to what was eventually offered on MVJ. There were a couple additions, but not a lot. We made a general priority list from the VOC site, and it helped us make decisions more efficiently when the real offerings came out.

This also gives you some ideas for shopping for non-Viking options.

Since Viking Oceans and the Star were NEW this year, it is hard to tell whether the "later" posting of excursions was due to newness of their site or not wanting to display offerings until they were finalized.

When your bookings do open up... IF you and your companion decide to go on two different excursions on the same day, you MUST have separate logins to MVJ and book them separately. See my post here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=46383170#post46383170

I totally understand why Viking wouldn't want to open up the Wishlist too far in advance of the booking window. Presumably they would like to be able to tweak the excursions as needed, and having things disappear off a Wishlist is disconcerting.

My suggestion to Viking would be that they clean up their web site message:

"If booking is not yet open, you may want to browse and use your Wishlist..."

This is confusing, because it implies that the Wishlist is available once the MVJ account is set up.

Also, the MVJ message that you are X days away from your booking window should include information regarding the Wishlist -- e.g. that it will be available a few weeks prior or whatever. Otherwise, people are confused and keep looking for it, calling Viking, asking about it here on CC...all completely unnecessary.

 

Also, the MVJ message that you are X days away from your booking window should include information regarding the Wishlist -- e.g. that it will be available a few weeks prior or whatever. Otherwise, people are confused and keep looking for it, calling Viking, asking about it here on CC...all completely unnecessary.

I agree. But then what web site actually works the way people think? Having worked in creating many, I know how hard it is to "think" as a newly arrived audience when you are steeped in the information yourself.

Viking will catch on when they get tired of answering the phone. I suspect different people designed the web site -- not the ones who handle customer service calls!

FYI, we have had EXCELLENT service on the phone with our questions that were not answerable on the web site, including some details about a specific excursion. They went well above and beyond for us.

Enjoy the planning!

At least once the excursion information is loaded onto a person's MVJ, things are perfectly clear. When I click on the excursions for a particular port, a message pops up saying reservations aren't accepted yet and that booking will commence 67 days before embarkation. (I don't know if that's tailored to my stateroom category or not, but we're in a DV.) There's a pretty noticeable Wish List tab that I used to place a paid excursion on my wish list.

At this point, we plan to do things as a pair, but don't always, so I appreciate the info about the necessity of creating separate MVJs.

avonglen, I didn't realize until now that "Viking Empire" was the name of the 50 day segment! I envy you - some wonderful ports on that 50 day voyage! I only get to see 10 days' worth! I probably would have needed every day of my two year plus waiting period to plan THAT cruise!

Thank you everybody for the advice you have given me on this topic - it has helped to sooth my frustration with the Viking website for MVJ. Yes I initially did do as suggested above & selected the excursions from the itinerary on VO for "Viking Empire" for 2016. However, it was when I set up MVJ that I reached for the phone & rang Viking Australia as I discovered that MVJ's itinerary for several ports in Spain, Portugal & France was different from that shown on VO's web site for the Star's 2016 cruise. Needless to say, that was a pointless exercise & despite several more phone calls & e-mails, I am still none the wiser.

I guess my need to ask about when the wish list would be available stems from my frustration of not being able to find info on the excursions shown on the MVJ ports that are shown nowhere else on Viking's web sites, particularly re Bordeaux (where we will be in port overnight) but there is no info re the excursions on offer. As mentioned to roothy123, I am a devoted forward planner who undertakes extensive research before I commit to o/s travel. As a solo traveller, it gives me the necessary confidence to undertake all that I intend to do by knowing the how, when, where & why of it all.

Again, thanks everybody for your help & support on this topic.:D

Avonglen - just a thought - for Bordeaux, you might try looking on the Viking Rivers site for their Chateau, Rivers and Wine cruise (or something like that) and see what tours are available for that river cruise. Since Viking has been doing this for a bit over a year now, they would probably be using the same local tour operator for Bordeaux. It might give you some ideas of what MIGHT be on offer. We took that cruise last Spring.

IMO you would want to do a tour of the wine country there. The city of Bordeaux is easy to do on your own. They have a great tram system that should be within walking distance of the ship - the tram takes you all over the city. You could get a good overview of the city just taking the tram. There's a couple of very interesting churches there and a couple good museuns. But you have to go to the wine country if you do nothing else. Dinner in town would also be high on my list.

Ours appeared about 4 or 4 1/2 months pre-cruise.

Well, here I am 98 days out from embarkation and, in fact, exactly 3 months to the day before I depart from home, and STILL NO WISH LIST! I have also now made my final payment for the 50 days I will be on the "Star" plus the pre and post extensions for Istanbul and Stockholm. Now Viking has all my money, there is no reason why I cannot access MY WISH LIST, is there??:rolleyes:

Well, here I am 98 days out from embarkation and, in fact, exactly 3 months to the day before I depart from home, and STILL NO WISH LIST! I have also now made my final payment for the 50 days I will be on the "Star" plus the pre and post extensions for Istanbul and Stockholm. Now Viking has all my money, there is no reason why I cannot access MY WISH LIST, is there??:rolleyes:

I wouldn't think so. We are booked for the Mediterranean Odyssey Oct '16 and, while I can look at MVJ and my day by day itinerary, if I try to look at any excursions, it tells me how many days I have left until my excursions are available for booking. As of today, that is 221 days, so to book I have to wait until Aug., but I'm hoping to be able to at least see them a month or two before then to consider our options.

Becki

Well, here I am 98 days out from embarkation and, in fact, exactly 3 months to the day before I depart from home, and STILL NO WISH LIST! I have also now made my final payment for the 50 days I will be on the "Star" plus the pre and post extensions for Istanbul and Stockholm. Now Viking has all my money, there is no reason why I cannot access MY WISH LIST, is there??:rolleyes:

Happy Christmas Viking. I guess you are now all in holiday mode & no longer reading the threads on CC. Have now resigned myself to the fact that I will never have a Wish List as the 67 days out from embarkation when I can book the land tours are now fast approaching (that is if details of the tours ever come up on the MVJ website). Maybe this will mean that I have to go see my TA & get her to laboriously book them for me......oh well que sera sera!!!

Happy Christmas Viking. I guess you are now all in holiday mode & no longer reading the threads on CC. Have now resigned myself to the fact that I will never have a Wish List as the 67 days out from embarkation when I can book the land tours are now fast approaching (that is if details of the tours ever come up on the MVJ website). Maybe this will mean that I have to go see my TA & get her to laboriously book them for me......oh well que sera sera!!!

Well, you're much more organized than I was. I rarely ever book anything more than three months out. I did book one paid excursion on Viking, but only did that about six weeks pre-cruise once I was sure I knew what I wanted to do. For the included excursions, I didn't rush to book them right when my window opened up, but still got exactly what I wanted.

Viking's excursions weren't available for wishing or booking as early as some cruise lines' excursions are, but at least once my cruise rolled around, I was happy to see that none had been canceled, changed substantially, or offered at a higher price! There wasn't even any paper in the first day's materials that listed shore excursion changes. Obviously Viking is doing something very right in the excursions department.

I say just relax and enjoy things for a while! You still have time....

Dear avonglen,

Happy holidays to you, too! Our apologies for the delayed response.

Typically, the Wish List becomes available on My Viking Journey 107 days prior to embarkation. At 96 days, you’ve already overtaken the typical time frame, so an answer to your question required a bit of troubleshooting.

The Wish List was not available because a complete list of shore excursions was not available. It appears the shore excursions for the Viking Empire itinerary encountered a technical difficulty when loading to My Viking Journey. Luckily, we are now working to correct the problem and your Wish List should be available on My Viking Journey by early next week.

Please remember, the Wish List is only a tool to organize your schedule, you must still add selections to your cart and complete check-out to confirm your choices.

Thank you again for your patience in awaiting our response, avonglen. Please don’t hesitate to contact us directly at TellUs@vikingcruises.com if you have any additional questions.

Warm regards,

Viking Cruises

Happy Christmas Viking. I guess you are now all in holiday mode & no longer reading the threads on CC. Have now resigned myself to the fact that I will never have a Wish List as the 67 days out from embarkation when I can book the land tours are now fast approaching (that is if details of the tours ever come up on the MVJ website). Maybe this will mean that I have to go see my TA & get her to laboriously book them for me......oh well que sera sera!!!

Thank you Viking for that advice. I look forward to next week when I can access the Wish List excursions.:)

Thank you Viking for that advice. I look forward to next week when I can access the Wish List excursions.:)

Hey Avonglen, I hope the wishlists and tour confirmation pages opened for you as hoped. I'm thinking that just maybe the wishlists and the confirmation dates might be somewhat room level dependent. Our (level 8) wishlist opened something very close to Christmas, and our tour reservation confirmation page opened up on Dec. 31st. Our dining preference reservation window won't be opening until January 7th or 8th. The lists and the procedures between the different pages becomes much more clear once those windows open.

After speaking with a Viking Rep. the differences between the MVJ and the port rotation pages became much clearer, too. Because Viking has totally sold out their 2016 sailings, those ports and rotations shown are actually for prospective customers to peruse and plan with for the 2017 sailings. Once I heard this, it really helped explain some of the discrepancies between the lists. Happy New Year. It's getting closer and closer for the Empire trip.

Yes I have been able to access the port excursions to set up my personal Wish List - very exciting! However, from about Bordeaux on, only the complementary tours are shown - none of the paid excursions. I have a feeling that, from what Viking has advised, that they are having some sort of problems with loading details of the paid excursions (?maybe software?). Just have fingers crossed that the info re these will be available before my 67 day booking window opens:)

Yes I have been able to access the port excursions to set up my personal Wish List - very exciting! However, from about Bordeaux on, only the complementary tours are shown - none of the paid excursions. I have a feeling that, from what Viking has advised, that they are having some sort of problems with loading details of the paid excursions (?maybe software?). Just have fingers crossed that the info re these will be available before my 67 day booking window opens:)

Still no excursions for Bordeaux & Paris & only the complementary ones for many of the ports after that. Am very concerned that I will not be able to book what I wish to do as my 67 day deadline is now very close.

Viking, does the unavailability of excursions on the MJV website mean that those of higher cabin category - I am DV - have beaten me to the punch & that all excursions are now fully booked except those shown on my MJV i.e. that I will be unable to book any excursion in Bordeaux & Paris, & only book the complementary one in London? Please set my mind at rest that this is not so as I would be extremely disappointed to find that many of the 50 days that I am aboard will either require me to book private tours or spend a great deal of time on board:confused:

Avonglen - I would call them. This is dreadful! Something doesn't sound right. On the maiden 50-day cruise there were plenty of optional excursions available even for those who could not sign up until once onboard. Yes SOME (very few) of the limited space available tours were full - but very few - I'm talking about 3 or 4 for the entire 50 days. Got to be something wrong with their systems or something.

If you went through a TA and can't call Viking directly, perhaps get them to give Viking a call.

I feel your distress on this one big time!

Dear avonglen,

The absence of shore excursions for Bordeaux and Paris is not because the excursions have sold out, but because they have yet to be made available.

Currently, we are working with our vendors to secure the details of the excursions in both of these ports. Once the details are confirmed, the shore excursions will be made available to book on My Viking Journey.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Best regards,

Viking Cruises

Still no excursions for Bordeaux & Paris & only the complementary ones for many of the ports after that. Am very concerned that I will not be able to book what I wish to do as my 67 day deadline is now very close.

Viking, does the unavailability of excursions on the MJV website mean that those of higher cabin category - I am DV - have beaten me to the punch & that all excursions are now fully booked except those shown on my MJV i.e. that I will be unable to book any excursion in Bordeaux & Paris, & only book the complementary one in London? Please set my mind at rest that this is not so as I would be extremely disappointed to find that many of the 50 days that I am aboard will either require me to book private tours or spend a great deal of time on board:confused:

Dear avonglen,

 

The absence of shore excursions for Bordeaux and Paris is not because the excursions have sold out, but because they have yet to be made available.

 

Currently, we are working with our vendors to secure the details of the excursions in both of these ports. Once the details are confirmed, the shore excursions will be made available to book on My Viking Journey.

 

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

 

Best regards,

Viking Cruises

Thank you Viking for explaining the situation, though I do wonder about those in the higher categories of cabins who would have been able to book their preferred excursions at the 107,97,87 & 77 days out from departure on 27th March from Istanbul. They must be very patient & understanding also.

However, as you seem to be having trouble organising vendors of excursions, perhaps the solution is to revert back to the ports & excursions of the 2015 Viking Empire. From the comments made by id4elizabeth above, it seemed that all the excursions ran very smoothly. I for one would be very happy for this to happen.:)