Great video! I’ve taken 4 Ocean cruises & 1 River cruise with Viking & I have loved them all: so far I have 1 of each booked for 2024. Honestly, those ocean ships feel like home to me now. Everything you’ve spoken about is absolutely true & I can’t imagine traveling with any other company.
Hey!! Thanks for the comment and coming along with us! Viking really seems to “fit” so well for us and so many people we speak with. They really do a wonderful job, and it’s such a welcoming place to go back to every time. Where are you going in ‘24? Hope the new year is wonderful for you!!:)
@@dchiddengems In May I’ll be on the Jupiter-my 1st ship in 2019!-for Venice, the Adriatic & Athens, but in reverse order. In Oct. my BFF & I are taking Paris & the Heart of Normandy w/a 3-night pre-cruise extension. If I win the lottery, I’ll take more!
Sweet! Sounds great! We are trying Azamara for two month-longs in ‘24. Looking forward to trying them as we’ve heard good things and like the itineraries. See you soon!
We love Viking and are about to embark on our second Viking cruise; this one is a 138 day World cruise. We’ve booked all of our excursions which are a combination of included tours, paid Viking excursions, that were paid by the Excursion credits that were part of the cruise fare, and personal private / group tours that added about 10% to the cruise price. For this total cost we are expecting an incredible journey with all of the enrichment and adventure one can expect from a once in a lifetime experience. We know that our time onboard will be comfortable and enjoyable without fear of a surprise charge as we ready to disembark.
Hey! Your cruise and combination of excursions sounds wonderful!! Really hope you’ll let us know about your adventures. When do you leave??! Hope it is everything you dreamed of and more!! Please let us hear from you, and Bon voyage!!!!!!
Thanks for putting this video together! Me and my wife have been on 2 Viking River cruises (Danube & Rhine rivers) and are planning another vacation with friends that may be onboard a Viking cruise ship so I've been researching and came upon your video. This is very educational and well put together.
Hey, David!! Thanks so much for the good words and coming along with us! We are so happy you found benefit from it. Hope you'll let us know how your travels go, and we're really glad to have you with us. Enjoy!!
i so agree. I've been on two Viking cruises and will do my third in December to Hawaii. Their ships are elegant, the food is terrific, the service impeccable, and the absence of children, art auctions, and photo galleries are all real pluses. i characterize Viking as a 'thinking person's" cruise. Oh, and the afternoon tea is extraordinary.. Viking is my favorite of the more than 30 cruises I've taken, with Virgin a close second for entirely different reasons.
Hey! Thanks for the comments and coming along. We totally agree!!:)! We’ve not yet done Viking. What do you love about them, and what’s the main difference? We heard from some folks it’s more of a party vibe. Any thoughts would be much appreciated!!:)
Hey, Tim! Totally agree. How great is it to have the luxury of not all the moving around-yourself and your stuff. We really enjoy cruising and longer-term travel where we settle in for weeks or even months somewhere. Thanks for coming along with us!!!
Viking has become our number one go to cruise line. Having been on 7 or 8 trips; it’s like a small quiet boutique 5 star hotel. We have 5 more trips booked through 2024.
Hey! Thanks for the comment and glad you’re coming along with us! Ya free with that analogy of a boutique hotel. You really are loving them with all those trips. Are you doing both ocean and river? Ever any issues with water level, if on river? Thanks again!!:)
@@dchiddengemsWe gave only done one river cruise (Rhine). We have the Egypt trip in February and the Grand River trip in May. We planned May as it’s spring and snow melt should still keep rivers high. Fall could be bad. We fly to London right after the Grand River to pick up a Viking ocean trip from London to Bergen. Did this two eeek trip last June and loved it so much we are repeating. November of 24 have a 29 transatlantic from Rome to Fort Lauderdale. We are retired and do about 3 months of travel a year.
Sounds wonderful! Enjoy!! That’s cool that you enjoyed it so much you’re repeating. What were your main reasons? Ports? Ship? Isn’t being retired awesome?! We’ll be in London in ‘25 with an Azamara cruise to the British isles. Looking forward to it. Enjoy and happy travels!!:)
@@dchiddengems Yes Indeed retirement is about as good as it gets. So why Viking? All the ships are the same, only the art work is different. After one trip you know where everything is. Ships are small with only 930 people max. Always place to sit and enjoy a quiet cruise. Not a party boat at all. The food and service is very good. We almost always book at least a two week trip. Even after two weeks the food is still good. Wine and beer is complimentary at lunch and dinner. They have a nice selection of wines by the bottle at very reasonable prices. We have always booked the “Penthouse veranda stateroom” about the size of a Marriott hotel room. All most all the people on the ship are college educated and well traveled. This sets a comfortable setting for the interaction with other people. No one under 18 allowed. A quiet ship experience is what you will get. We have sailed with lower priced lines and several of the ultra luxury brands. We feel for the money spent Viking has real value and seems perfect for what we want in a cruise vacation. We do about 90 days a year on the water.
Hey Alice! Thanks for the comment and coming along with us. Viking’s great, right? Where did you go with them and would you recommend the itinerary? Thanks so much for coming along with us:)
Hey, Erin!! We really did enjoy learning and hearing from the lectures and experts. It added a great deal to our perspective as we traveled. As always, we appreciate your coming with us:)
@@dchiddengems just got off the cruise now spending a few days in Bali - the cruise was fantastic - well at least the first few destinations- unfortunately Jakarta, Semerang and Surabaya (in my opinion) we’re not that great - the cruise itself was good, food, entertainment were good - the highlight as usual was the staff - wonderful people looking after everything - I felt the lectures on this cruise were only “meh” in some cases totally dull - but for the most part I enjoyed it
Hey! Thanks for the comment. Yes, they are also expanding their view to do more land options and excursions and treks. We’ve really enjoyed our time with them. Have you been?
Hey! Thanks for the question and coming along with us!! Funny you ask, as we’ve not yet been but we are going on two back-to-back Azamara cruises soon. We plan to review and compare to Viking, so stay tuned and thanks again!!:)
We spoke a lot with the entertainers and they spoke about all of them coming from a UK company. It’s possible that it is Blackburn International but we can’t be certain. We saw it on the below link:
What do call including basic excursions and forcing you to pay for the things you want to do like visiting the barrier reef. How far in advance did you have to pay in full? Pay for drinks? I thought everything was included. What was your bill at the end of your cruise?
Hey Warren! Thanks for the comment and coming along with us. They definitely offer excursions in every port, but we did want to do other things, which were extra. Wine and beer is included at lunch and dinner, and several other times they provided sparkling wine at different times. We bought the drink package to get drinks whenever we wanted for an extra $25 pp per day. You have gratuities and these items to pay, plus anything else like spa. We paid in full about 8 months before we departed. They really do provide most everything, and you don’t have to spend much of you don’t want to. Our bill for the month was about $2000 for both of us. We really loved it, but it’s an investment, for sure:). Happy travels!!
I love the idea of Viking becoming Viking Travel. I took my son on a river cruise in France for his 21st birthday, and it was one of the best vacations we’ve ever had. It was a chuck full of included tours and information and the food was some of the best we’ve ever had on vacation. They know how to do travel well, so I would appreciate other types of offerings from them.
Hey! Thanks for the comment! So glad you enjoyed Viking! What a wonderful gift for your son. Did he love it? We agree, Viking gets it! Happy to have you coming along with us!!!:)
@@dchiddengemsHe definitely loved it. The best was that the crew and the other passengers all got involved. When he got off the boat for our tour on his birthday, the other passengers who were already on shore all sang him happy birthday as a surprise, one passenger wanted the honor of buying him his first “legal” drink, the crew brought out a cake and sang him happy birthday at dinner, and in the lounge that night they put on music and everyone got up to dance, making it a real party. I put it all down to the small river cruise boat. Everyone got to know each other and it became like a little family. We were very fortunate.
Learn the difference between a boat and a ship. Fairly easy. Usually decided by the way the vessel reacts in a turn. Upper structure leans out on a ship and leans in on a boat.
Hey! Thanks for the comment. We found we liked some of the vase wines more than others, for sure. We bought the drink package, so we liked most of the premium wines. See you out there!!:)
Hey! Thanks for the comment. Yes, they do require full payment earlier than many other lines. The cancellation windows seem in line with others, but you do keep your money tied up longer if you book far in advance, as we do. We heard that sometimes they shorten it, but it seems to vary when. Glad you’re coming along with us!!:)
Sure wish I could join you as I love what viking offers vs other cruises but as I stated above, until they change their final payment date and make it more accessible we cannot make that kind of commitment. I’m sure it’s all designed only for people who can make that big final payment a year out. Unf we are not in that category.
@@sunnyta619 Just book a month or 2 before the cruise. There will likely be cabins still available. We're booked for November 2024 (paid in full when we booked). There are still cabins open on that cruise.
Hey! Thanks for the comment and coming along with us. For sure it’s not a low-cost trip:). While you do get a lot for the money, it’s an investment, for sure, and as we mentioned sometimes you can grow tired of it before you’re finished in longer cruises. Really happy to have you coming along with us!!!!
How was the feeling towards two gay men My partner is worried about treatment towards Two gay guys we are older one refined one not. But still want to be treated well how was your expirence with viking ??
Hey again! We understand your concern, as we had some of those same questions early-on ourselves. Our experience has been really good. We’ve never felt uncomfortable or treated as any less. In fact, we’ve found almost the opposite! We have almost always found other couples on board, and for sure always find our tribe on board-gay and straight. We have made good friends over the years that we are close to still, and we even visit and travel with them. Of course, there are all kinds of folks on board, but we’ve honestly been so pleasantly surprised and never had any issues. Let us know what you decide!!:)
Hey! Thanks for coming along with us. We hear you!!:). What about The Love Boat?!:). The Viking captain told us all ships are boats but not all boats are ships:). See you out there, and thanks again!!!!
