• Viking River cruises, WTF!

    From tim...@21:1/5 to All on Mon Sep 11 19:54:22 2017
    So,

    I know that Viking are not the preferred supplier for some people here, but
    I didn't realise just how bad they were

    Just booked myself, through a specialist TA a bespoke package:

    7 night Nile cruise, 2 nights in Luxor and 6 in Cairo, 4* on the ship, 5* in the hotels, £1600 single occupancy (I calculated that it would be about 1300 double occupancy - single supplements are well down ATM because of the political situation there). Plus a nanny to guide me from place to place
    (Oh I do hate that, but I suppose sometimes it's necessary).

    What do Viking want for their nearest equivalent, 3 nights shorter, but admittedly a 5* ship?

    5595 pounds, double occupancy with wait for it, a 100% surcharge for single occupancy (are they going to be buying me two seats on the flight FFS!?)

    OMG. Only difference is that the Viking offer includes tours in Cairo,
    which I am going to have to pay for/arrange separately. (and for which I
    want to do my own thing anyway, if possible). Plus they include the
    unlimited drinks package (on the boat) which I was offered at a not particularly attractive 20 pounds per day, so I declined.

    And as for the 5* ship, word on the ground is that I get a good chance of
    being upgraded anyway because business is so bad not all of the ships
    operate each week, and you can't downgrade the punters who have paid for a
    5*.

    Most amazing thing is, some dates for 2018 are already sold out!

    How much research do these people do?

    tim

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  • From Surreyman@21:1/5 to tim... on Tue Sep 12 00:48:47 2017
    On Monday, September 11, 2017 at 7:55:23 PM UTC+1, tim... wrote:
    So,

    I know that Viking are not the preferred supplier for some people here, but I didn't realise just how bad they were

    Just booked myself, through a specialist TA a bespoke package:

    7 night Nile cruise, 2 nights in Luxor and 6 in Cairo, 4* on the ship, 5* in the hotels, £1600 single occupancy (I calculated that it would be about 1300
    double occupancy - single supplements are well down ATM because of the political situation there). Plus a nanny to guide me from place to place (Oh I do hate that, but I suppose sometimes it's necessary).

    What do Viking want for their nearest equivalent, 3 nights shorter, but admittedly a 5* ship?

    5595 pounds, double occupancy with wait for it, a 100% surcharge for single occupancy (are they going to be buying me two seats on the flight FFS!?)

    OMG. Only difference is that the Viking offer includes tours in Cairo, which I am going to have to pay for/arrange separately. (and for which I want to do my own thing anyway, if possible). Plus they include the unlimited drinks package (on the boat) which I was offered at a not particularly attractive 20 pounds per day, so I declined.

    And as for the 5* ship, word on the ground is that I get a good chance of being upgraded anyway because business is so bad not all of the ships operate each week, and you can't downgrade the punters who have paid for a 5*.

    Most amazing thing is, some dates for 2018 are already sold out!

    How much research do these people do?

    tim

    Have I understood you correctly - nearly £1,000 per night?
    There must be an error?
    Book your own flights and fix the cruise locally, saving thousands?
    Maybe I'm naive, but I've seen such silly prices elsewhere recently - while searching to book a specific hotel at, say, £200 per night, up come 'offers' from established companies (Expedia, for instance) at around £700 per night. I can only assume they'
    re just waiting there for some idiot to sign up?

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  • From tim...@21:1/5 to All on Tue Sep 12 16:29:26 2017
    "Surreyman" <alanspencer3@googlemail.com> wrote in message news:e3db0ae1-6231-4f47-bd6a-bf1fae5f6378@googlegroups.com...
    On Monday, September 11, 2017 at 7:55:23 PM UTC+1, tim... wrote:
    So,

    I know that Viking are not the preferred supplier for some people here,
    but
    I didn't realise just how bad they were

    Just booked myself, through a specialist TA a bespoke package:

    7 night Nile cruise, 2 nights in Luxor and 6 in Cairo, 4* on the ship, 5*
    in
    the hotels, £1600 single occupancy (I calculated that it would be about
    1300
    double occupancy - single supplements are well down ATM because of the
    political situation there). Plus a nanny to guide me from place to place
    (Oh I do hate that, but I suppose sometimes it's necessary).

    What do Viking want for their nearest equivalent, 3 nights shorter, but
    admittedly a 5* ship?

    5595 pounds, double occupancy with wait for it, a 100% surcharge for
    single
    occupancy (are they going to be buying me two seats on the flight FFS!?)

    OMG. Only difference is that the Viking offer includes tours in Cairo,
    which I am going to have to pay for/arrange separately. (and for which I
    want to do my own thing anyway, if possible). Plus they include the
    unlimited drinks package (on the boat) which I was offered at a not
    particularly attractive 20 pounds per day, so I declined.

    And as for the 5* ship, word on the ground is that I get a good chance of
    being upgraded anyway because business is so bad not all of the ships
    operate each week, and you can't downgrade the punters who have paid for
    a
    5*.

    Most amazing thing is, some dates for 2018 are already sold out!

    How much research do these people do?

    tim

    Have I understood you correctly - nearly £1,000 per night?

    no 12 nights = 500 per night :-)

    There must be an error?
    Book your own flights and fix the cruise locally, saving thousands?

    Yep

    But that way you don't get any tours, which if you try to organise yourself will cost you far more than the amount that the tour company pay.

    But you can find independent travel agents who specialise in putting
    together the package and as they will have multiple people on any one boat
    for any one week can organise the tours as significantly lower cost. This
    is what I have booked - with booked myself flights showing at 400 pounds and single occupancy cruise cabin at 600 and 7 extra night at 50 pounds a night, 1600 all in is a bargain.

    Prices in Egypt are low right now, I am pretty sure that we were due to pay much more than I am paying today (and that was sharing a cabin with someone rather than going on my own) when we had to abort our trip booked for just after the uprising (unknowingly of course).

    Everybody is advertising bargains - except Viking it seems

    Maybe I'm naive, but I've seen such silly prices elsewhere recently -
    while searching to book a specific hotel at, say, £200 per night, up come 'offers' from established companies (Expedia, for instance) at around £700 per night. I can only assume they're just waiting there for some idiot to sign up?

    Durban (SA) surprised me

    SA is a cheap country and you can find good quality B&Bs for 25 pound per
    night

    And yet when I looked in Durban there are dozens of hotels offering rooms at 400 pounds per night, whilst others are offering the lower price.

    I can't work out who pays this money. The majority of South Africans can't afford it, and what is the nationality for whom SA is such a brilliant
    location they will pay that much for a (for them) out of season beach
    holiday when there are bound to be cheaper/more convenient/more luxurious,
    out of season locations to go to?

    tim

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  • From Ulf.Kutzner@web.de@21:1/5 to All on Wed Sep 13 04:26:17 2017
    Am Montag, 11. September 2017 20:55:23 UTC+2 schrieb tim...:

    7 night Nile cruise, 2 nights in Luxor and 6 in Cairo,

    How much research do these people do?

    How much research you should have done to understand
    there is no Europe in your post?

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  • From Martin@21:1/5 to Ulf.Kutzner@web.de on Wed Sep 13 15:02:08 2017
    On Wed, 13 Sep 2017 04:26:17 -0700 (PDT), Ulf.Kutzner@web.de wrote:

    Am Montag, 11. September 2017 20:55:23 UTC+2 schrieb tim...:

    7 night Nile cruise, 2 nights in Luxor and 6 in Cairo,

    How much research do these people do?

    How much research you should have done to understand
    there is no Europe in your post?

    and that in general you get what you pay for.
    --

    Martin in Zuid Holland

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  • From Martin@21:1/5 to Martin on Wed Sep 13 17:21:22 2017
    On Wed, 13 Sep 2017 15:02:08 +0200, Martin <me@address.invalid> wrote:

    On Wed, 13 Sep 2017 04:26:17 -0700 (PDT), Ulf.Kutzner@web.de wrote:

    Am Montag, 11. September 2017 20:55:23 UTC+2 schrieb tim...:

    7 night Nile cruise, 2 nights in Luxor and 6 in Cairo,

    How much research do these people do?

    How much research you should have done to understand
    there is no Europe in your post?

    and that in general you get what you pay for.

    An exception http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/news/viking-river-ship-crashes-into-bridge-in-germany/
    --

    Martin in Zuid Holland

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  • From tim...@21:1/5 to All on Wed Sep 13 20:08:20 2017
    <Ulf.Kutzner@web.de> wrote in message news:3878fba4-f4d2-4788-a076-d658b0e080d3@googlegroups.com...
    Am Montag, 11. September 2017 20:55:23 UTC+2 schrieb tim...:

    7 night Nile cruise, 2 nights in Luxor and 6 in Cairo,

    How much research do these people do?

    How much research you should have done to understand
    there is no Europe in your post?

    yes there is

    it's package deals sold to Brits, including all travel from the UK

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  • From tim...@21:1/5 to Martin on Wed Sep 13 20:09:16 2017
    "Martin" <me@address.invalid> wrote in message news:i1birc98duocnji4t472tcj03md947n44p@4ax.com...
    On Wed, 13 Sep 2017 04:26:17 -0700 (PDT), Ulf.Kutzner@web.de wrote:

    Am Montag, 11. September 2017 20:55:23 UTC+2 schrieb tim...:

    7 night Nile cruise, 2 nights in Luxor and 6 in Cairo,

    How much research do these people do?

    How much research you should have done to understand
    there is no Europe in your post?

    and that in general you get what you pay for.

    well that was my point

    what could one possibly be getting for 4 times the price?

    tim



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  • From Erilar@21:1/5 to tim... on Wed Sep 13 21:43:17 2017
    tim... <tims_new_home@yahoo.com> wrote:
    So,

    I know that Viking are not the preferred supplier for some people here, but
    I didn't realise just how bad they were

    Just booked myself, through a specialist TA a bespoke package:

    7 night Nile cruise, 2 nights in Luxor and 6 in Cairo, 4* on the ship, 5* in the hotels, £1600 single occupancy (I calculated that it would be about 1300 double occupancy - single supplements are well down ATM because of the political situation there). Plus a nanny to guide me from place to place
    (Oh I do hate that, but I suppose sometimes it's necessary).

    What do Viking want for their nearest equivalent, 3 nights shorter, but admittedly a 5* ship?

    5595 pounds, double occupancy with wait for it, a 100% surcharge for single occupancy (are they going to be buying me two seats on the flight FFS!?)

    OMG. Only difference is that the Viking offer includes tours in Cairo,
    which I am going to have to pay for/arrange separately. (and for which I
    want to do my own thing anyway, if possible). Plus they include the unlimited drinks package (on the boat) which I was offered at a not particularly attractive 20 pounds per day, so I declined.

    And as for the 5* ship, word on the ground is that I get a good chance of being upgraded anyway because business is so bad not all of the ships
    operate each week, and you can't downgrade the punters who have paid for a 5*.

    Most amazing thing is, some dates for 2018 are already sold out!

    How much research do these people do?

    tim





    I looked at Viking briefly, but discovered they require one to pay for
    every excursion in advance with no exception, and I can no longer hike long distances, much less at average guide speed, so I dropped them from consideration.

    --
    biblioholic medievalist via iPad

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  • From Martin@21:1/5 to tim... on Thu Sep 14 10:30:59 2017
    On Wed, 13 Sep 2017 20:09:16 +0100, "tim..." <tims_new_home@yahoo.com> wrote:



    "Martin" <me@address.invalid> wrote in message >news:i1birc98duocnji4t472tcj03md947n44p@4ax.com...
    On Wed, 13 Sep 2017 04:26:17 -0700 (PDT), Ulf.Kutzner@web.de wrote:

    Am Montag, 11. September 2017 20:55:23 UTC+2 schrieb tim...:

    7 night Nile cruise, 2 nights in Luxor and 6 in Cairo,

    How much research do these people do?

    How much research you should have done to understand
    there is no Europe in your post?

    and that in general you get what you pay for.

    well that was my point

    what could one possibly be getting for 4 times the price?

    A good question. In the case of River Cruises you are paying for all the adverts
    that they saturate some UK TV channels with and the rapidly expanding fleet of new boats.
    --

    Martin in Zuid Holland

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