Notification that excursions were open

[Tas353]

I received a notification that the excursions for my Alaska cruise were open. When I went to MVJ it says they aren’t available. They are due to be available at noon pacific time tomorrow. Is this normal? Thx 

[Peregrina651]

 

Considering that there is no such things as 'normal' right now, I would say to believe what is says on MVJ -- and that you should check before Noon Pacific just to make sure they aren't already open.  If they aren't open when you check. Log out and then log in again at 12:01PT. If you are logged in before noon, sometimes it doesn't refresh when booking opens.

 

 

[TayanaLorna]

5 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Considering that there is no such things as 'normal' right now, I would say to believe what is says on MVJ -- and that you should check before Noon Pacific just to make sure they aren't already open.  If they aren't open when you check. Log out and then log in again at 12:01PT. If you are logged in before noon, sometimes it doesn't refresh when booking opens.

 

 

Good advice.

[TayanaLorna]

Check this also.  In MVJ, when you click on Shore Excursions, it takes you to all the days of your cruise with Day 1 highlighted.   Day 1 never has excursions.  On my last 2 cruises since start up and excursion posting irregularities, I found if I clicked on any other day but the first day or a sea day, there were excursions listed.  The only reason I tried this is because others on my Roll Call were saying the excursions were up but I kept seeing "not available".  Go figure...

[Tas353]

10 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Considering that there is no such things as 'normal' right now, I would say to believe what is says on MVJ -- and that you should check before Noon Pacific just to make sure they aren't already open.  If they aren't open when you check. Log out and then log in again at 12:01PT. If you are logged in before noon, sometimes it doesn't refresh when booking opens.

 

 

I woke up during the night and there they were! Successfully scheduled them this morning. 

[Tas353]

4 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

Check this also.  In MVJ, when you click on Shore Excursions, it takes you to all the days of your cruise with Day 1 highlighted.   Day 1 never has excursions.  On my last 2 cruises since start up and excursion posting irregularities, I found if I clicked on any other day but the first day or a sea day, there were excursions listed.  The only reason I tried this is because others on my Roll Call were saying the excursions were up but I kept seeing "not available".  Go figure...

Thank you! Got them scheduled. Relieved. 

[ohiojohn]

Today, I booked my excursions at 3:06am EST. Some people mentioned excursions would be available at noon PST or 3pm EST. But mine became available at 3am and not 3pm. I did not plan to get up at 3am. I then checked MVJ and there were the excursions ready for the taking.  

[Peregrina651]

5 hours ago, ohiojohn said:

I did not plan to get up at 3am.

 

No, but your brain knew that you wanted to check  and so it woke you anyway.

[FolsomMike]

By the time I noticed that excursions were open (two days later) almost all of the paid ones were sold out. Any chance they will add more later?

[Peregrina651]

2 hours ago, FolsomMike said:

By the time I noticed that excursions were open (two days later) almost all of the paid ones were sold out. Any chance they will add more later?

 

Write to tellus@vikingcruises.com and ask. Tell them how very disappointed you are that so much was sold out before you could even book and ask them if they will be adding more seats. Name the tours you really want to take so they know exactly what they should be adding.

 

Viking does not keep wait-lists so they really have no way of knowing what the demand is. The more people who write to let them know what there is unfulfilled demand, the more of a chance that additional space will be added.

 

In the meantime, keep checking (like every day, twice if you have the inclination) for openings. People change their minds; people have to cancel their cruises; more spaces are added -- and all without fanfare. If you can only get one seat for a tour you really, really want , take it (unless it is for Day 2 of the cruise because you won't be able to cancel it if you don't get a second seat) because it is easier to wangle another seat on a tour, if you already have one.  If a second opens up, take it even if the times don't match; that can usually fixed.

[Jjg34219]

I gotta share my story about booking excursions. I couldnt exactly remember when our Alaska cruise bookings would open, but on the 26 th I just happened to check MVJ while we were on our Viking river cruise in Europe. So I log on at 910 am in Europe which just happens to be 1210 am PST,  and voila there were the excursions opened and we quickly booked every one we wanted…just happened to be in the right place at the right time! 😀