traveltwin

We were on the June 28 Homelands Stockholm to Bergen, and I concur with the positive review. We got very very lucky. Weather was wonderful and no mechanical issues. We had previously been to St Peteesvurg and also Berlin so also opted to relax and recharge on the ship. we also loved Warnemunde. No question there have been horrid glitches and hang ups on those later trips.

I have done a lot of river cruising and few ocean ... and my travel style these days is to relax and enjoy what I want to do, rather than feeling I have to do, see every place we go to. I think there must be room for improvement of logistics and details on excursions. A couple seemed rather contrived....didn't need an in depth tour of old sardine packing factory.

I want to reassure future cruisers that the ship is gorgeous and there are many wonderful aspects.

We were on June 27 Homelands and had a fabulous trip..... But I've been following all these posts and feeling so sorry for everyone's travel woes.

BUT WAIT.... THERE'S more..... Seems the Danube river is at record low levels and Viking has had to cancel, move, bus those river passengers too. I haven't liked the fact that they had all our money interest free for two years, but I do feel sorta sorry for the logistical nightmares for everyone....

So very sorry about all of this. We sailed on the June 27th Homelands from Stockholm to Bergen and had a really wonderful time. ship, staff, lecturers, food were all terrific. and we were wonderfully lucky with the weather. I do hope things will settle down and everyone can have the lovely experience we had!!!!

We have pretty good rolling cases, and we did not have a problem, because there were elevators everywhere we were. It is hard, though, getting luggage into the train, but kind people helped us. It was not as bad as some of those European stations where you go to a far track and see nothing but stairs! Cab drivers to and from stations also loaded and unloade. Because we're away for about three weeks we did not travel as light as usual, but it was definitely do-able unless you have serious mobility issues. No porters around any more!!!!

You do NOT tip each night in any of the restaurants!

 

We did have the same waiter and assistant waiter in the Main Dining Room every night so we did tip them a bit extra at the end of the cruise. The only people you tip as you go are the local tour guides and bus driver on the shore excursions. Otherwise you tip at the end - Viking adds a tip that covers all the crew automatically to your ship account unless you ask them not to.

Oops I did not mean to be unclear. Of course we didn't tip each night, but I had read that people were stopping the automatic gratuity for staff that Viking adds, and I feel pretty strongly that they all come from poor countries, work very very hard, miss their families, and we have every need met and get to travel in luxury, it seems a bit mean to stop the gratuities, especially with so many unseen, behind the scenes workers.

We disembarked last Saturday in Bergen (after a great 14 days). We had booked the train from Bergen to Oslo on our own from home. The ride is spectacular. So well worth seeing. then stayed in Oslo at Hotel Continental, also on our own, with Expedia, excellent. We opted for the hop on hop off bus for convenience and city overview. Went to Vigeland Park, free, and amazing sculptures. also Viking Museum and Fram Museum and a lot of walking through a very interesting, vibrant, clean city. Oslo was a big surprise. Loved it. We took the FLYTOGET express train from the central station for half price senior rate. Waaaay cheaper than taxi and very nice, quick. They leave every 10 minutes. Couldn't have been easier or quicker. a great finish to our trip.

For future travelers, the icing on the cake was the train ride from Bergen to Oslo that we did on our own. Spectacular scenery. Oslo is a happening place to.

And we disembarked yesterday after a fabulous trip. Really had a ball. Weather was great too, and food,cabins, staff were wonderful. The crew earned every bit oh the tip we gave. Hope you have a terrific time.

Perfect day today. Random thoughts. No doubt the gorgeous weather and smooth smooth seas have an effect., but we had a lovely tour, included, to Gdansk. I'm struck by how hard the crew work and how patient and helpful they are. Someone a while back said that they immediately stopped the included gratuity when they boarded. and this seems a pity. We see some of the folk who make our trip so pleasant -- and they do work hard. But there are also the behind the scenes ones. It seems mean spirited and selfish not to give money to support all of them. If we can afford such a trio surely we can afford to give something back.

Well just wrote a long post but wifi lagged and lost it. Main points. Today Tallinn. Terrific guide Marju on the included walking tour. Lots of cobblestones. Lots of ships in port. Lots of tourists. Weather gods smiling. Wonderful blue skies, sunny weather. I of course packed for colder climes. Came back to ship, soaked in hot pool, sauna, steam room. Doesn't get much better than this!

I'm on the Star feeling wonderful on the Homelands trip. I'm struck in reading some of these threads how it's rather embarrassing to see how entitled so many people seem to be. There are a lot of rather well fed passengers who have an array of every type, amount of food and drink and STILL find things to complain about.

The world is in a bit of a mess. We're destroying our planet. The lovely staff who work on these ships must marvel at the wealthy folk who can do these trips.

All I'm saying is I'm incredibly grateful and fortunate to have such a wonderful trip.

Some of the thread titles are just downright offensive.... Whiny, entitled spoiled children. We can and should do better.

Just sayin'. End of speech from one very thankful passenger.

Thank you indeed tee fine .... We are also on board and enjoying every bit of it. Weather is perfect, lecturers are great.... It seems such very good value for money... I think they're doing a great job. Upcoming travelers, you're in for a treat.

Hi Elizabeth... Didn't hurt that today and yesterday in Stockholm are breathtakingly clear and warm... Blue skies, sailboats racing right next to us. I don't know about the iced tea but will look tomorrow. Also haven't had a look at books. So far we're very pleased. The food is really good, service good. Checking in was easy. Was glad to have tips from previous ppl about bringing old key card to keep electric on for charging devices. Cabin super comfy. Friends and hubby went on bus tour today of Stockholm and said very good. Lecturer excellent on Vikings. TV in rooms works well. Wifi quite good. Of course it won't be as fast as home high speed. It's early days, but I certainly think they may be getting some bugs out and the value for money is very very good. Love the number of nice little spaces to relax on ship. More later.

I think you bashed and I think you meant to. You don't know the awesome Ms Elizabeth and that's your loss. Just because it's Cruise Critic doesn't mean you need to criticize. It's down right odd that you find it okay to complain about someone else, even though they're trying to help you, but how dare anyone say something negative about a cruise line.

 

If it bothers you that people here have opinions that may differ from yours, maybe you'd be happier to stay with the flowery prose on the Viking web site.

Okay then, over and out. Don't want to get into this kind of nonsense on holiday. So far so good on ship. Planning to relax and enjoy. Food is great, ship lovely, and I have no interest in spoiling with debates.

Will POST WHEN I GET HOME.

Seems to me that many posters have been complaining that Viking wasn't responsive....I don't know what ethical means here. Isn't that what you wanted??

fair enough. i take your point. i didn't mean to imply boorish. it was a considered thoughtful review and i guess i'm hoping that some of the original issues have been resolved.

Oh dear... What to say.... Some info was helpful and would be helpful to Viking. But an awful lot was just complaining and indeed nitpicky. Will post comments after we are on The Star this weekend. Clearly many issues were maiden voyage related and have already been fixed.

pqcking my sense of humor and also my sense of what issues we really important and which are not. I personally love a heated towel rack by the way.

I don't mean to bash what the reviewer thinks is helpful. Some of it is.

Welcome home! Many thx for info on weather. What did u like best? Anything we shouldn't miss? How was wifi on your trip? We leave on the 27th

Anyone that has been or is onboard Baltic cruise in May, June?

1. How cold has it been? Planning to layer and not going from Stockholm till the 27th June...so not to Bergen till early July

2. How well does the wifi work now that press tours are done?

3. Any special tips or ideas?

4. How much movement around North Sea, Stavanger? Should I get RX for seasick pills?

5. How much light in the day these days...white nights?

Thanks in advance

We leave in two weeks for the Homelands trip on the Star. Have to say I'm quite astonished at some of the posts here... I know it says Cruise CRITIC, but honestly, folks.... Did you really think a maiden voyage or the next few would not have had issues? Of course there would be glitches.

I'm greatly looking forward to this trip and will post reviews when I can. I don't think I have to post my previous trips, who remembers, but have been on Seabourn in Caribbean, Alaska years ago in Universe Explorer, Smithsinian Elbe River, and many Viking, Grand Circle river trips.

the difference between river trips and ocean trips on a larger ship means that they have some kinks to work out. We knew this going in and are excited about the trip.

I loved your helpful post! FB messenger is I need quite good. Didn't know about Boingo but will research it. Thx so much.

Good to know. Incidentally, the new Visa cards I ordered yesterday from Chase did in fact arrive today. So - good for them, less than 24 hrs! We will be having a week in London at the end of our cruise so will see how the c and p card works there.

will let you know on return -- two day delivery seems quite astonishing. The guy did say that if you use it some places (off ship) and it doesn't go through or they don't want a pin, tell them to input the number manually!

Just called Visa re our Chase United card, and asked for a chip and pin credit card to take to Europe for our Viking Star Homelands cruise in a couple of weeks. They are sending, to arrive in a couple of days! Good to know.

thanks, Ruthy. Still figuring it all out -- hubby has Verizon and I have ATT and i want mainly to be able to text him if we do different things and are apart....

Clearly turning off data roaming is a key point.