Bolsover gave an excellent service throughout.
We booked the cruise with Bolsover rather than Viking direct.
We were offered very poor flights initially…Manchester/Heathrow/NY/San Juan but rejected this and eventually got Manchester/Atlanta/San Juan which although indirect was better.
As we are not comfortable online the requirements to upload and submit documents was stressful.
We left Manchester in snowy conditions and flew to Atlanta…Immigration and baggage collection was stressful due to insufficient time and very late gate changes to the far side of a massive airport.Flight to San Juan was OK.
We flew economy for both legs which was a mistake for us,too cramped,too uncomfortable and too basic at our age.
Never again.
Arrival in San Juan improved the experience with excellent reception late at night by Viking staff who transported us to the ship,registered us and provided excellent food and drink in the early hours of the morning.
The ship was excellent,just as advertised.Our room Penthouse veranda 5012 was even better than expected with really good service and help from cabin staff.
We went on all included excursions daily ( no sea days) which were a mixture of walking tours around towns ( it was hot) and coach tours around scenic countryside.
We went on 2 paid for excursions in addition which were really just a repeat of the included ones.
We ate in the buffet for breakfast and lunch which was really good and The Restaurant or the speciality venues of Chefs Table and Manfredis at night.
All were very good,Manfredis being predominantly Italian food not to everyone’s taste.
We had the £200 Silver Spirits package which added premium brands to the included lunch and dinner drinks as well as all drinks that you could possibly want at other times.
Considered excellent value.
All Viking staff were excellent throughout.
We didn’t venture to afternoon tea or the evening shows as we tended to be onshore in the afternoon’s and in one or more of the cocktail bars before and after the excellent dinners.
The ship did tend to “sway” quite a bit when at sea,we put this down to its relatively small size.
We had been to many of the ports before several years ( or more) previously and it would be fair to say that some had not improved since those days.
Some ports of call were rather more worth visiting than others.
When in port the experience was very different depending on how many,if any,other cruise ships were there.
Sharing a small port with massive HAL,Celebrity and Carnival ships was very different than being the only ship there.
Disembarking was very smooth and efficient,airport transfers much better on return as more time was allowed and much less rushing was required.
As previously stated 2 long flights such as that required,in economy,was not an experience to be repeated.
Well done to both Bolsover staff and the on site Viking staff.I am aware that criticism of Viking office support seems quite a common feature,we heard plenty.
Would we do it again ? Definitely,but being more selective on flights,their timings and certainly not in economy.
We flew Virgin and Delta.
