Viking Expeditions Thread

[miami mama]

We'd love to hear from anyone on the Octantis (or ready to go soon) about the submersibles. Any news on when or if they will be back?

 

Also, if you could confirm the model of Nespresso in the rooms themselves. Tellus was able to let me know the Zunius Nespresso was on the Expedition ships, however, I don't know if that is what is in the dining areas (as they are professional grdae)  or if they are also in the rooms. One tiny glimpse on one of the youtube videos appeared to show something different. 

 

 

[PeabodyMa]

Is the layout of Manfredi's the same as the ocean Manfredi's? How does it differ?

[photopro2]

3 hours ago, PeabodyMa said:

Is the layout of Manfredi's the same as the ocean Manfredi's?

The Viking expeditions website has an interactive deck plan available via the "ships" tab.

 

Moving your cursor over the plan will highlight some sections of the ship (including Manfredi's) in red and clicking the red area will take you through to an image of the various places. Many of these now have photographic images replacing the original artists impressions.

 

From the image provided on the website I would say that the decor in Manfredi's on the new ship looks almost identical to before, although the layout might be slightly narrower than I recall from the ocean ships.

[PeabodyMa]

Thank you! I think Manfredi's on the Octantis is one room, not two rooms as the Ocean ships.

[Iloveketo]

Our next cruise starts in 69 days with a pre in Chicago! Then we embark the Octantis in Milwaukee and head to Georgian Bay! I’m so excited! We disembark in Thunder Bay. I hope we love the expedition ship as much as we do their ocean ships. Fingers crossed!

[May B]

44 minutes ago, Iloveketo said:

Our next cruise starts in 69 days with a pre in Chicago! Then we embark the Octantis in Milwaukee and head to Georgian Bay! I’m so excited! We disembark in Thunder Bay. I hope we love the expedition ship as much as we do their ocean ships. Fingers crossed!

We’re doing the same, but not until July. Oh, not doing Chicago; have been there several times.

 

We’ve never been on Viking Ocean but certainly have high expectations for this pricey trip!

[Iloveketo]

We have never done Chicago.

We did our first cruise ever on any cruise in January of 2020 on Viking for their Turquoise Caribbean cruise and loved it!

Since then we did Viking’s West Indies Explore in December of 2021. It was so nice! Then 3 days after disembarking from that ship we embarked on the Viking Orion for a 33 day Fr. Polynesian cruise. Wow! What a great cruise even with more sea days than port days! Loved it!

Ships are very similar, but a few like the Orion have a planetarium on the second floor of the Explorer’s lounge. 
Menus are basically the same on every ship… that being said the beef on the Orion was a little better than our first two cruises, but the poultry was too over cooked, in my opinion. 
The service has always been wonderful!

[May B]

5 minutes ago, Iloveketo said:

We have never done Chicago.

We did our first cruise ever on any cruise in January of 2020 on Viking for their Turquoise Caribbean cruise and loved it!

Since then we did Viking’s West Indies Explore in December of 2021. It was so nice! Then 3 days after disembarking from that ship we embarked on the Viking Orion for a 33 day Fr. Polynesian cruise. Wow! What a great cruise even with more sea days than port days! Loved it!

Ships are very similar, but a few like the Orion have a planetarium on the second floor of the Explorer’s lounge. 
Menus are basically the same on every ship… that being said the beef on the Orion was a little better than our first two cruises, but the poultry was too over cooked, in my opinion. 
The service has always been wonderful!

That was a dramatic one, 33 days!

 

Interesting, the minor differences in the kitchen from one ship to the other. 
 

Chicago has tons of sightseeing, and certainly good restaurants.

 

Are you using air from Viking, and do you have your itinerary yet?

[Iloveketo]

We always use Viking Air+. My husband deals with all the specifics. He had flights home that he liked and even upgraded with United. Then UNITED switched our flights home, which my husband hated and United didn’t refund the upgraded seats or carry them over. He has a complaint in with United, but United said it could take 30 days to get an answer. Viking Air+ helped him arrange better flights, but he has to deal with United regarding the upgrade. Who knows if by the time my husband gets an answer there will be any upgrades available. He will never fly United again if at all possible!
Flying is always the absolute worst part of any trip!

As far a the food goes… you can start out with the same quality, but if you overcook something you can ruin it. 
Since we left on December 21 for the Caribbean and we were only home 1 day before heading to the west coast to get on the next cruise, which we disembarked on February 5th, I think, it seemed like we were gone forever. We both decided that our limit for being on vacation was 30 days. I knew this about myself, but my husband had been gently pushing for a world cruise. Now, he isn’t! Yay!

[May B]

26 minutes ago, Iloveketo said:

We always use Viking Air+. My husband deals with all the specifics. He had flights home that he liked and even upgraded with United. Then UNITED switched our flights home, which my husband hated and United didn’t refund the upgraded seats or carry them over. He has a complaint in with United, but United said it could take 30 days to get an answer. Viking Air+ helped him arrange better flights, but he has to deal with United regarding the upgrade. Who knows if by the time my husband gets an answer there will be any upgrades available. He will never fly United again if at all possible!
Flying is always the absolute worst part of any trip!

As far a the food goes… you can start out with the same quality, but if you overcook something you can ruin it. 
Since we left on December 21 for the Caribbean and we were only home 1 day before heading to the west coast to get on the next cruise, which we disembarked on February 5th, I think, it seemed like we were gone forever. We both decided that our limit for being on vacation was 30 days. I knew this about myself, but my husband had been gently pushing for a world cruise. Now, he isn’t! Yay!

That’s called “live and learn”, I guess!

 

It’s frustrating to have to explain why you’re due an adjustment, which should just be common sense.

[May B]

EmileG, i was so sad to see that you had to cancel. That omicron was SO annoying! Hopefully it has no helped us get over the hurdle that prevented your travel. I hope you are both fine and busy planning future trips. Thank you for all your help here!

[emileg]

On 3/12/2022 at 11:16 AM, May B said:

EmileG, i was so sad to see that you had to cancel. That omicron was SO annoying! Hopefully it has no helped us get over the hurdle that prevented your travel. I hope you are both fine and busy planning future trips. Thank you for all your help here!

Thank you for your concern. We didn't cancel. We were bumped in Miami the day we were supposed to leave for Ushuaia. As my wife tested negative one week later and never had any symptoms, we and her doctor suspect it was a case of false positive.

 

We are very busy planning future trips. Our next is in less than a month on the Celebrity Silhouette from Southampton to France, Spain and Portugal, with four days prior in the West End in London. However, now we see the UK rates are going up and up. My greatest fear is not getting Omicron, but testing positive and not being allowed to board. We will make a decision two weeks prior to departure whether to cancel or not.

 

We have a trip in the end of July on the Rotterdam to Shetland Islands and Iceland out of Amsterdam. In January 2023 we are booked on the Viking Osiris for a cruise on the Nile plus tours of Egypt and Israel.

 

I will still follow this thread. Maybe we can get to Antarctica in February 2024 if we haven't aged out of it by then.

 

Best to you in your future travels as well.

Edited March 17, 2022 by emileg

[May B]

19 hours ago, emileg said:

Thank you for your concern. We didn't cancel. We were bumped in Miami the day we were supposed to leave for Ushuaia. As my wife tested negative one week later and never had any symptoms, we and her doctor suspect it was a case of false positive.

 

We are very busy planning future trips. Our next is in less than a month on the Celebrity Silhouette from Southampton to France, Spain and Portugal, with four days prior in the West End in London. However, now we see the UK rates are going up and up. My greatest fear is not getting Omicron, but testing positive and not being allowed to board. We will make a decision two weeks prior to departure whether to cancel or not.

 

We have a trip in the end of July on the Rotterdam to Shetland Islands and Iceland out of Amsterdam. In January 2023 we are booked on the Viking Osiris for a cruise on the Nile plus tours of Egypt and Israel.

 

I will still follow this thread. Maybe we can get to Antarctica in February 2024 if we haven't aged out of it by then.

 

Best to you in your future travels as well.

Thank you!
 

You have some great trips planned! I hope they all proceed without a hitch.

 

I saw a medical opinion that 45% of the US population has had Omicron. Clearly a ton of those were asymptomatic. We’re going on Brilliance of the Seas tomorrow, and many people have posted their excitement at testing Negative. Evidently many of us worry about testing Positive, whether “false” or “real”. The disappointment for a little five-day is nowhere in the same ballpark as for a huge adventure on a brand new expedition ship.

[emileg]

4 hours ago, May B said:

Thank you!
 

You have some great trips planned! I hope they all proceed without a hitch.

 

I saw a medical opinion that 45% of the US population has had Omicron. Clearly a ton of those were asymptomatic. We’re going on Brilliance of the Seas tomorrow, and many people have posted their excitement at testing Negative. Evidently many of us worry about testing Positive, whether “false” or “real”. The disappointment for a little five-day is nowhere in the same ballpark as for a huge adventure on a brand new expedition ship.

On our upcoming trips, I am more afraid of testing positive than getting Omicron.

[May B]

4 hours ago, emileg said:

On our upcoming trips, I am more afraid of testing positive than getting Omicron.

One way to avoid testing positive is to avoid catching it! 
 

I don’t know of any way to prevent a false positive. I do think they’re more likely with a PCR test than an antigen test.

[sippican]

10 hours ago, May B said:

One way to avoid testing positive is to avoid catching it! 
 

I don’t know of any way to prevent a false positive. I do think they’re more likely with a PCR test than an antigen test.

 

Agree! But the only sure way of doing that is complete isolation from the world. I know many who have caught it despite being diligent in their efforts and precautions.

[May B]

23 hours ago, sippican said:

 

Agree! But the only sure way of doing that is complete isolation from the world. I know many who have caught it despite being diligent in their efforts and precautions.

So very true! Omicron was soooo contagious. And now along is coming a MORE contagious omicron? I can’t even imagine.

[marybrodo]

We are booked for the June 18 Viking Octantis Milwaukee to Thunder Bay.  I freely admit that I may be getting over-anxious, but I find it odd that there is not a single, solitary shore excursion on My Viking.  You cannot book a spa appointment.  For weeks, MVJ has said that we would have air information today; today it says "you will be getting an email".

 

The primary reason these all make me a bit anxious is that from the little bit that I have been able to find online it is not clear to us that the construction that was undertaken in Milwaukee to allow for the Octantis to dock there is yet completed. https://www.fox6now.com/news/port-milwaukee-expansion-soon-to-accommodate-larger-cruise-ships

 

Recognizing that I may be way over concerned about all of this, any information, comments, suggestions would be appreciated (be gentle if you are going to suggest I just relax!! :-))  

 

Thank you for your kindness.

Profpuff

[lsuskybird]

33 minutes ago, marybrodo said:

We are booked for the June 18 Viking Octantis Milwaukee to Thunder Bay.  I freely admit that I may be getting over-anxious, but I find it odd that there is not a single, solitary shore excursion on My Viking.  You cannot book a spa appointment.  For weeks, MVJ has said that we would have air information today; today it says "you will be getting an email".

 

The primary reason these all make me a bit anxious is that from the little bit that I have been able to find online it is not clear to us that the construction that was undertaken in Milwaukee to allow for the Octantis to dock there is yet completed. https://www.fox6now.com/news/port-milwaukee-expansion-soon-to-accommodate-larger-cruise-ships

 

Recognizing that I may be way over concerned about all of this, any information, comments, suggestions would be appreciated (be gentle if you are going to suggest I just relax!! :-))  

 

Thank you for your kindness.

Profpuff

I, too, have been concerned about the listing of shore excursions. For our July Paris to Prague river cruise, the shore excursions have been on MVJ for months; however, for our Octantis cruise leaving in a little over 2 weeks, some of the ports have no listings. For those of us that are planners, the uncertainly is difficult. The positive side is that I trust Viking to deliver a fabulous experience.

[secretcinderella]

5 hours ago, marybrodo said:

We are booked for the June 18 Viking Octantis Milwaukee to Thunder Bay.  I freely admit that I may be getting over-anxious, but I find it odd that there is not a single, solitary shore excursion on My Viking.  You cannot book a spa appointment.  For weeks, MVJ has said that we would have air information today; today it says "you will be getting an email".

 

The primary reason these all make me a bit anxious is that from the little bit that I have been able to find online it is not clear to us that the construction that was undertaken in Milwaukee to allow for the Octantis to dock there is yet completed. https://www.fox6now.com/news/port-milwaukee-expansion-soon-to-accommodate-larger-cruise-ships

 

Recognizing that I may be way over concerned about all of this, any information, comments, suggestions would be appreciated (be gentle if you are going to suggest I just relax!! :-))  

 

Thank you for your kindness.

Profpuff

Profpuff,

We are Cindy and Joe from Houston.  I sympathize as I am a planner myself!  I actually booked this as a B2B cruise in Jan. 2020.  But a little thing called "cabotage" prevented Viking from allowing us to take the Toronto to Milwaukee leg prior to the June 18 Milwaukee to Thunder Bay.  We were extremely disappointed this didn't work out, and since we have the post land tour up to Hudson Bay booked we couldn't just stay on board going back to a US port.

 

I was nervous as well so I spoke with a Viking rep about when our excursions would be ready to book.  April 22 is our date as of today, according to our NS cabin category.  Oddly enough, our spa and dining reservations open March 30.  Seems "off" to have those available before excursions, but these days we just roll with it considering everything else that's happened in the last 2 years!

 

I suggest you go the Viking website (not MVJ) and look at the general offerings of each port and take some notes as to what looks good to you.  When you get the green light you'll be ready to grab what you want. 

 

We did use Viking Air+, and the flights have been ticketed (I had to request that action several times).  United wouldn't allow us to upgrade directly through them for any amount.😬  Instead we've been wait listed with mileage points for business seats, but am not holding my breath on that.  Not very impressed with Viking Air at this point (first time to use). And frankly am skeptical about another Viking Expedition from Toronto up the St. Lawrence I've booked for Oct. this year.  We love their river and ocean cruises, so hopefully there won't be too many bugs on the expeditions. 

 

Good luck!!

Cindy 

[marybrodo]

Dear Bird and Cindy,

Thank you for your kind replies and reassurance.  Know of my best wishes for a wonderful time on your planned trips.  I will relax, look for the excursions as suggested by Cindy, and have faith in Viking!!

 

Take care.

Profpuff

[miami mama]

Excursions are up and listed on MyVIkingJourney for many of the ports between New York and Toronto. 

[miami mama]

Don't be surprised when trying to book excursions that were originally included in the overall fare. ("Viking [Expeditions] offers a variety of excursions, virtually all included in your cruise fare".) They will cost you. I have booked excursions in two different ports that continue to show as included on the Viking.com website but on MyVikingJourney have a cost associated with them. I raised my concern about this through an email to tellus@. Since that concern was not addressed in their initial response, I have asked specifically why I have incurred costs associated with 2 "included" excursions. 

[May B]

12 hours ago, miami mama said:

Don't be surprised when trying to book excursions that were originally included in the overall fare. ("Viking [Expeditions] offers a variety of excursions, virtually all included in your cruise fare".) They will cost you. I have booked excursions in two different ports that continue to show as included on the Viking.com website but on MyVikingJourney have a cost associated with them. I raised my concern about this through an email to tellus@. Since that concern was not addressed in their initial response, I have asked specifically why I have incurred costs associated with 2 "included" excursions. 

Thx for telling us. I hope it gets resolved appropriately!

[CharTrav]

On 3/21/2022 at 1:12 AM, secretcinderella said:

United wouldn't allow us to upgrade directly through them for any amoun

That's odd. I've always been able to in the past. But you can't do it until Viking actually issues the tickets. Simply booking/reserving the ticket isn't enough.  I've had to pressure Viking Air to take that step earlier than they normally do it - approx 70 days before departure - so I could make sure I could upgrade to Econo Plus while seats were still avaialble. I would have to go thru this kabuke dance with the air agent assuring them that yes I'm aware that if things change after they issue the ticket I recognize that an extra fee might get charged. What I'm not sure of is whether I was able to upgrade to business as well from the United web site.  I certainly did the Econo Plus uograde.  I'm assuming you're a united FF?