A caution regarding booking excursions and specialty dining

[Haworth]

Great minds, enjoy your trip, any feedback or tips welcomed

[LindaS272]

7 hours ago, claranda said:

We took our first Viking Ocean cruise last year and were surprised to see that because we were in a Penthouse Junior Suite we had THREE guaranteed slots in EACH speciality restaurant. I therefore booked three time for Manfredis and three for Chefs Table - on a SEVEN night cruise. This is ridiculous.

Subsequent discussion here shows that veteran Viking cruisers know that eating in the specialty restaurants for the entire cruise is not desirable. I’m with those that will grab one or two Manfredi’s or CT (depending on the menu), and then check the Restaurant/WC menus the rest of the time. The latter offer so many good selections so frequently it’s sometimes hard to fit in M’s or CT.

[millybess]

14 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

Subsequent discussion here shows that veteran Viking cruisers know that eating in the specialty restaurants for the entire cruise is not desirable. I’m with those that will grab one or two Manfredi’s or CT (depending on the menu), and then check the Restaurant/WC menus the rest of the time. The latter offer so many good selections so frequently it’s sometimes hard to fit in M’s or CT.

That is an excellent point regarding veteran Viking cruisers. I recall our first Viking cruise several years ago. We were anxious about both restaurant and excursion bookings when our window opened…..never to be repeated!! It was a total waste of time and, at that time, very early morning energy. 

 

We also like the World Cafe. It’s nice to just wander in whenever you want and not have to stick to a previously scheduled reservation. It’s just more relaxing that way and it’s also a very friendly environment. 

[Reuben's 3rd]

Like Navy Cruiser, mvj for our trip (Jan 12 2023, from Barcelona) said and currently says that dinner reservations were not yet open.  I used the chat function, explaining that we were under 60 days away, and the person on the  chat function was able to book us exactly what we wanted, one Chef's Table and one Manfredi's, both for 7:00 pm.  I checked and both bookings show up under the Calendar function.

Karen

[cruisewiscrrq]

First time  Viking ocean cruiser. On Mars Viking Homelands June 20th. DV cabin. Have noticed on various cc boards about difficulty in getting optional excursions in this category of cabin.  Have done many private tours on other ships, so that is not the issue.  However the one excursion I really want is Flam Railroad.  There does not appear to be any private tours out of Eidnfjord.  Should I book one out of Bergen?  Or will this likely open up on board?

[donaldsc]

We have a DV4 category cabin.  We logged onto the Viking site 2 seconds have the tours were opened.  We got all the tours that we wanted.  If we had waited 5 minutes some of them were booked.  When did the OP log on?

 

DON

[surfcitygirl]

10 hours ago, cruisewiscrrq said:

First time  Viking ocean cruiser. On Mars Viking Homelands June 20th. DV cabin. Have noticed on various cc boards about difficulty in getting optional excursions in this category of cabin.  Have done many private tours on other ships, so that is not the issue.  However the one excursion I really want is Flam Railroad.  There does not appear to be any private tours out of Eidnfjord.  Should I book one out of Bergen?  Or will this likely open up on board?

When we cruised to Eidnfjord I just booked directly with the Flam railroad. The station is practically right at the dock, just a few minutes walk. 

[duquephart]

The Flam RR station is in Flam.