That’s probably a cardinal rule of smart travel–buy travel insurance from a third-party, NOT from your cruise or tour company.
We also use Allianz—they paid off quickly when we did put in a claim, and treated us well when a trip we had insured was cancelled before it left (not enough passengers). They refunded the entire policy, not just the portion for the time left. I requested a 1/3 refund (policy purchased 6 months prior, trip cancelled 2 months before it was to begin) and Allianz offered a full refund.
We have a Viking Ocean cruise booked so I’ve been following the Viking Ocean board on Cruise Critic. There have been a lot of complaints about one particular feature of the travel insurance sold by Viking. As I understand it, if you have to cancel (for a covered reason), you get a voucher, not a refund. The voucher has to be used on a new cruise in a fixed period. So far so good, as long as you know that’s what will happen. The problem comes if the “new” cruise has to be cancelled. Then you are apparently out of luck. Better to have 3rd party trip insurance in my opinion.
Our Rhine Getaway week was wonderful! I’ve added some info about our Florence/Tuscany travels afterward in Italy thread, but I should add some info to this Viking thread.
I’ve been pretty active in a Facebook group, “Viking Rhine River Cruises”. Learned a lot there prior. Really do like the whole river cruise concept. The other wife in our foursome did have some struggles with stomach bug and stamina, so she (along with my husband and sometimes all of us) shifted to Leisure group. She also did miss out on some activities. I did all of the free excursions and the Colmar Pocket WWII paid tour (which was wonderful). I also did Marksburg Castle paid tour along with the other husband. It’s nice to be able to mix/match activities. We ate together most meals and sometimes joined up to meet other people too. The total trip (Amsterdam prior 2 nights at Hotel Roemer, train to Florence - 4 nights at Palazzo Dei Ciompi, rental car through Tuscany with last night at Rome airport) was probably too ambitious. But this was 50t anniversary celebration for the other couple… and we will never be younger than we are today
Which itinerary for your November trip? I am up early (still adjusting) and peeked a while ago at a Viking email promotion - so fun to dream!
We are doing Cities of Light. 4 days in Paris, 7 day river cruise on the Main and 4 days in Prague. The cruise includes 2 days in Paris and Prague and we added 2 additional days on each end.
The only city that overlaps from the Rhine is Kolbenz, I’ve signed up for Marksburg castle which is a repeat. We will see how we feel that day.
I had such a feeling that life is short so I booked this very last minute.
I am thinking that last minute booking sometimes results in lower cost (unsold rooms). We booked in April for our Sept Rhine Getaway. There were only the standard/swan water level rooms then… fine, since that was what we wanted to save money for other travels.
Many people book a year or more in advance. And since Viking knows there is strong demand, they require full payment way ahead. If we do another one, it will likely be one booked not too far out since we like to keep the calendar open.
LOL - We thought we got a lot of Viking catalogs before… but we had 3 in our held-mail (including ocean cruise). Also some email offers. It’s fun to dream.
We’ll want feedback on the Paris to Prague itinerary. At first glance last year we thought we might not like being on a ship in Paris. (We enjoyed staying near Notre Dame for a week a few years ago, with all the city vibe.). But now that we’ve seen how Viking works, I think it might be really nice. I do like having them do all the planning!
Cities of Light is a bit different than some other Paris itineraries. I think
The basic cruise is 2 days in a hotel in Paris. A bus ride to Trier, Germany. With a stop halfway at the American cemetery in Luxembourg. 7 days on the Main River and another bus ride to Prague, with 2 nights in a hotel. We added additional days on the beginning and the end.
If you want a cruise only itinerary, this isn’t the one for you. If you aren’t thrilled with bus tours, this also isn’t for you.
The one thing I tell people looking at river cruises, to really study the trip. See if that’s what you want. It’s such an easy vacation to have them do the planning.
I would add if you are an experienced ocean cruiser, do not try to compare river cruising to ocean cruising in any way. The only thing they have in common is that the boats float on water. <180 passengers vs. thousands, everyone eats in the same dining room, included excursions every day, no real sea days, no charge for WIFI, wine and beer included with lunch and dinner, no sales pitches disguised as ‘lectures’ to buy art, jewelry, very low key evening entertainment, etc. This list goes on.
That’s a really good point. We’ve done a few ocean cruises and enjoyed them. But it is a totally different vibe. In 2012 we did a Norwegian Western Med cruise. It was a great way to sample different cities/countries. But it was often a long way from port to city (I think 90 min or more for Rome, Florence), and the shore excursions even then could be over. $200 per person. River cruise ports are at or close bus ride to town, and Viking includes free tours each day. Also optional paid tours… but we skipped most of those.
A comment we made a few times was how nice it was to have a small ship, easy navigation without following a map of 15 level of big ship! In 2012 we’d have to plan how to have breakfast in time for the 7:30 shore excursion, usually not even time to hike back to the room to brush our teeth. In 2016 we booked a Caribbean cruise because in Europe we’d just not had time/energy to appreciate all the entertainment options.
On Viking, it was all about visiting the locations. There were evening port talks and some low key entertainment (music quiz, guest violinist/pianist, trivia quiz - always also an on board DJ and a dance floor). You get familiar with the others on the ship.
