Considering Viking - Questions

[pacruise804]

On 2/5/2020 at 11:30 PM, Clay Clayton said:

I meant all of them-they are all youngsters to me! 😢

 

I'm not sure how young you consider young - DH and I are late 40's and will take our first Viking cruise later this year (on 12 days though 😉 ).  For us, my husband gets considerable personal time off from work and my in-laws are very generous to watch our 15 year old while we are gone (daughter will be in college).  This cruise is to celebrate our 25th anniversary, so we've also been saving for a few years knowing it would be a bigger trip.  We are also saving for a trip in 2 years to take our in-laws to Alaska for their 50th anniversary - so sometimes it's the kids paying and not the parents.

 

I have seen a lot of younger people (20's & 30's) doing extensive world travel and was initially surprised.  Then I realized they don't have children, which changes everything 🙂 I've also read that millennials generally value experiences more than possessions, so they might not have the house payment and other trappings that kept our generations from traveling as young. 

[DaveSJ711]

7 hours ago, pacruise804 said:

 

I'm not sure how young you consider young - DH and I are late 40's and will take our first Viking cruise later this year (on 12 days though 😉 ).  For us, my husband gets considerable personal time off from work and my in-laws are very generous to watch our 15 year old while we are gone (daughter will be in college).  This cruise is to celebrate our 25th anniversary, so we've also been saving for a few years knowing it would be a bigger trip.  We are also saving for a trip in 2 years to take our in-laws to Alaska for their 50th anniversary - so sometimes it's the kids paying and not the parents.

 

I have seen a lot of younger people (20's & 30's) doing extensive world travel and was initially surprised.  Then I realized they don't have children, which changes everything 🙂 I've also read that millennials generally value experiences more than possessions, so they might not have the house payment and other trappings that kept our generations from traveling as young. 

 

We're in our mid-60s and relatively new to cruising (3 total, all last year, all with Viking).  But, we've had the travel bug for decades -- I'm up to 50 foreign trips, and my wife is just slightly behind.  We're childless, so that's made our travels easier to fund!  Plus, we've moved in and out of different jobs -- I'm a lawyer, she's an educator -- which has freed up time to go off and explore.       

 

[Clay Clayton]

On 2/7/2020 at 10:25 AM, pacruise804 said:

 

I'm not sure how young you consider young - DH and I are late 40's and will take our first Viking cruise later this year (on 12 days though 😉 ).  For us, my husband gets considerable personal time off from work and my in-laws are very generous to watch our 15 year old while we are gone (daughter will be in college).  This cruise is to celebrate our 25th anniversary, so we've also been saving for a few years knowing it would be a bigger trip.  We are also saving for a trip in 2 years to take our in-laws to Alaska for their 50th anniversary - so sometimes it's the kids paying and not the parents.

 

I have seen a lot of younger people (20's & 30's) doing extensive world travel and was initially surprised.  Then I realized they don't have children, which changes everything 🙂 I've also read that millennials generally value experiences more than possessions, so they might not have the house payment and other trappings that kept our generations from traveling as young. 

My statement was Intended to be tongue in cheek (and to express my jealously that I didn’t get to sail Viking until we retired.) Sorry if it didn’t come across that way. 

 

So happy you and others are able to experience  this earlier in life and hopefully this won’t be your last!

 

[_alan_]

Took our first cruise ever last year shortly after my 55th.  I intend to do quite a bit more.  On that cruise there was a younger person with her elder relatives.  She fainted while at the Vatican museum presumably from the heat and tight quarters of people.  I think she was 22.    So, you never know who's going to be the one having the health issues.  

[pacruise804]

On 2/8/2020 at 11:02 AM, Clay Clayton said:

My statement was Intended to be tongue in cheek (and to express my jealously that I didn’t get to sail Viking until we retired.) Sorry if it didn’t come across that way. 

 

So happy you and others are able to experience  this earlier in life and hopefully this won’t be your last!

 

Thank you, Clay 🙂 I assumed from your previous posts you meant no ill will - I apologize if I came across overly defensive.  It is often hard to tell tone in forums.

 

I'm hoping Viking doesn't spoil us too much for other lines - mainstream is definitely a little easier on the budget 😄 

 

 

[CCWineLover]

40 minutes ago, pacruise804 said:

 

I'm hoping Viking doesn't spoil us too much for other lines - mainstream is definitely a little easier on the budget 😄 

 

 

Ha!  We had the same hope (that we wouldn't be spoiled too much).  Happily though, after 4 VOC's and 4 more upcoming, we have been spoiled like crazy!  And we love it!  I hope that you'll also be spoiled and will thoroughly enjoy your VOC! 

[Peregrina651]

2 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Ha!  We had the same hope (that we wouldn't be spoiled too much).  Happily though, after 4 VOC's and 4 more upcoming, we have been spoiled like crazy!  And we love it!  I hope that you'll also be spoiled and will thoroughly enjoy your VOC! 

 

Ditto! Spoiled for life!

[aungrl]

7 hours ago, pacruise804 said:

Thank you, Clay 🙂 I assumed from your previous posts you meant no ill will - I apologize if I came across overly defensive.  It is often hard to tell tone in forums.

 

I'm hoping Viking doesn't spoil us too much for other lines - mainstream is definitely a little easier on the budget 😄 

 

 

My prediction:  If you cruise and love Viking, you will be ruined for mainstream lines forever.  Viking is our preference even over the luxury lines!

[Clay Clayton]

7 hours ago, pacruise804 said:

 

 

I'm hoping Viking doesn't spoil us too much for other lines - mainstream is definitely a little easier on the budget 😄 

 

 

Good luck with that! 😂. 

FWIW, we have found transatlantics on Viking to be relatively budget friendly. We had been watching a RC crossing for March and just about the time we were ready to book Viking had a promo and after taking into account the OBC our agent provides (which pays for gratuities and leaves enough for non mealtime alcohol) the cost for Viking was only $10 more per person per day compared to what we had budgeted to spend on Royal.  So we decided the lack of kids, much smaller ship, presumably better food, thermal suite and internet were easily worth that little bit. 

Edited February 11, 2020 by Clay Clayton

[pacruise804]

At least if we are spoiled maybe we will do some less expensive land travel in the off years 🙂 I am glad to see I'm more likely to be spoiled than disappointed 😉