CCWineLover

32 minutes ago, Snowcat1 said:

Can anyone who has been on this cruise please tell me about the excursions they did, likes and dislikes? Thanks.

For us the highlights were:

Optional:

- Photography tour  in Barbados.  Excellent by Ronnie Carrington

- Snorkel excursion in St. Martin. Wonderful day.

- Train ride in St. Kitts.  We liked it since it was unusual, but others didn't.  

- Virgin Gorda & the Baths.  Quite unique.

Included:

- Great guide for Old San Juan walking tour - lots of walking and learned a lot!

Dislikes:

Included tours in:

- St. Thomas, Dominica, St. Martin

4 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Someone on my blog commented as to why we were eating dinner in The World Cafe instead of The Restaurant. Here's what I told them: 

 

We have switched to the buffet for our dinners for a couple of reasons. The Restaurant on Viking ships seems really LOUD to us! I think it's the low ceilings. We also find we eat a lot more when we go to the MDR. They bring bread, we eat it. They take our order, and we wait. We eat more bread, and they bring the appetizer. We eat it, and we wait for the entrée and eat more bread. And of course, we have to eat what they bring. So we eat more or less of something because we do or not not like because we don't want to waste it.

 

At the buffet (which on a Viking ship serves pretty much the same food as the MDR) we can take a little of this and a little of that.

 

And to be honest, I am past the dressing-up stage. If we were still on a ship that REALLY dressed up, I might be into that. It would be fun to get my tux out again. But here people just put on hard-soled shoes (which I hardly ever wear anymore) and better pants and shirts (I live in shorts and tee shirts) I will take a pass. We will still put on that stuff for the specialty restaurants but that's about it.

Also agree exactly with your points - we do the World Cafe for dinner almost exclusively per your points:

1.  Restaurants are way too loud

2.  we eat more at MDR and restaurants, less at WC (since we can sample small portions)

3.  Don't have to dress up much at all

plus

-If we order something at MDR that sounded good and for some reason doesn't look or taste good, we'd have to get the waiter and put in a new order.  and then more delays.  So MDR is less flexible for us.

1 hour ago, Ready to Sail! said:

I just did a quick check of the new Vela deckplans to see how they compare.  I know it is longer and a little wider with a little different distribution of catagories and sizes so would assume the Vela deckplans would be a little different.  It looks to me like they used the existing deck plans and just added cabins to the aft. The elevator/stairs lobbies look the same.  Guess we will have to wait until someone is on board and can make a comparison between your list/pictures and the Vela.  

CC, Good reason for you to book a cruise (if you haven't already) on the Vela😄.  Actually I am researching for 2026 and looking at Vela itinerary so that's why I looked at the deckplans.    

 

 

Thanks!  Yes, we've researched the new ships. That's also why I indicated my charts were for the "Star" class.  There will be no more Star class ships.  There were 10 produced with 1 (the Sun) going to China and renamed.  So Viking has 9 Star ships in service.  I also listed them in the order they came available.

We already have booked on the new Vesta - Malta cruise in March 2026.   I agree, it appears the front of the ship maps the same.  However, I had thought the rooms were slightly bigger-perhaps that is in depth not width.  We'll have to see!

Last week I disembarked from Viking Mars and was quite curious about the rooms that face the elevator and stairs lobby.  This was because our room 5028 showed on the Viking Web Site deck plans as facing the elevator lobby.  Pleasantly surprised that it didn't!  Great room, great location.  Being the analytic person I am, and having an unexpected sea day due to ice flows from Greenland, I decided to chart out (with pictures) all the elevator lobbies forward & aft, and the aft stairs.  I did indeed find that the Viking web site deck plans are off, with respect to location vis a vis the lobbies.  (Notable incorrect diagram is deck 8 which sits exactly above deck 7 room by room and Explorers Lounge - somehow they shifted deck 8 on the plan quite a bit).

Pictures all show port side rooms (even numbered), but the same situation exists for corresponding starboard side rooms (odd numbered).

I hope that this helps people in their plans. 🙂

Viking Ocean Cabins Facing Elevators+Stairs.pdfViking Ocean Cruises - Deck Plans 3-8.pdf

1 hour ago, rjp50 said:

When flying on your own, I see 4 alternatives: taxi, Flybussen, tram and Viking transfer.  What are the estimated costs for each of these?  For the Flybussen and tram, how far from the ship is the walk to get to the stop for each?

Use Rome2rio.com

https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Bergenhus-13-5003-Bergen-Norway/Bergen-Airport-BGO#trips

Does not have Flybussen, but you can look that up on their site with a bit of legwork.

https://www.flybussen.no/en/airports/bergen-airport-flybussen-bergen/

A quick look up on Google Maps, which is easy for people to do, shows Bergen cruise terminal to Radisson Blue (closest stop for Flybussen) as 750 meters walking taking 11 minutes.   Have done it several times and it is quite easy if you are mobile.

2 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Thanks so much for this great tip. 

DrKoob -

Thank you as well for doing this Live Blog.  We just got off the Mars in room 5028, so I know where you are - nice location in our opinion.

We also did this Into the Midnight Sun in July 2022 from Greenwich to Bergen - it was one of our favorite cruises of the several we've done with Viking.  I sincerely hope you enjoy your trip.  Your blogging is always appreciated, and we'll look forward to your commentary and pictures.  Your website is so well organized!

I concur with Lorna (friends of ours) re: Geiranger.   We were just there and also did the hike to the waterfalls and the Norsk Fjordsenter Museum.  Easy walk from town and was mostly lots of stairs (maybe 400-500 of them?) with wonderful spray from the river/falls as you went up.  Another recommendation is to get up early (like at least 5 AM) to watch the sailing in the Fjords to Geiranger.  Absolutely breathtaking!   Also, we took the included Panorama Tour, which was one of the best includeds we've done - spectacular scenery.  

Pics from a couple weeks ago. In the view pic, the arrow shaped roof in bottom left is the museum.

18 hours ago, deec said:

We are cocktail drinkers but although the wines on the SSP are not as robust as they were pre-covid I do think they are better than the included.  I don't have a sophisticated palate/nose ( I can never identify apricots or lavender etc or whatever the wineries suggest) and know very little about wines but I do know how it tastes to me. So we continue to get the SSP.  We were on the British Isle Cruise in May, One of the bartenders was very helpful with some wine choices.  I have found that they have more time than wine stewards in the dining room at meals. Experienced Viking Bartenders have often suggested something that is NOT on the menu because there are only a few bottles onboard.  We drank fewer cocktails or  wine with the very busy British Isle itinerary...I really like a few sea days and chance to sleep late and maybe some pool time. We  found last fall there are far more choices of wines on SSP on the River ships.  We are headed to Zurich to Paris this fall and will report back. 

Dee - we've had the same experience with bartenders.  We got to know Mike on the Mars this past cruise at the Aquavit Bar (our hangout).  He was so good.  He got to know our tastes and would often tell us: " I've got to remove inventory", meaning there were bottles of red wine and champagne even (not sparkling) that had been opened and were going to be tossed....  so he would suggest our trying them (no cost).  He was fantastic!!

5 hours ago, Mlb4chris said:

Doing our own air, I’m a control freak when it comes to plane flights. Seems like it will work for us. I’d be anxious to hear about your trip, I do remember you were doing the May cruise. I’m definitely anxious to go, not sure which I’m more excited about, the destinations or my first VO trip🎉. 

@Mlb4chris

I just now saw you are San Luis Obispo!  How cool!  We are back home in Paso now to the massive June winds!!  Always a come down when back from a cruise!  We did meet a couple from Atascadero on our cruise though.

FYI - we do our own plane flights all the time (no more Viking Air for us - as I'm also a control freak with airline flights).  A thought for you - we do TAP Portugal from SFO-Lisbon non stop and then connect.  We did this SFO-LIS-BCN this past trip in May.  Very easy to do.  Lisbon a nice airport.  We've also done SBP-PHX-LHR-BGO before, but that's a long haul (other direction).  Was our 4th time to Bergen.  Absolutely love that city.  So comfortable and easy to walk around everywhere!  Take the funicular up to top of Mt Floyen for sure!  Easy to do on your own.  Cost was I think about $17 usd.  Beware - food is expensive though in Bergen.  Opposite of Spain and Portugal where food and wine are so much more reasonable than even Paso Robles 🙂

You will absolutely love this cruise for your first Viking Ocean.  Fantastic ports.  Great staff as always, and we had some excellent lecturers where we learned so much about all kinds of things - history, wildlife, off the wall topics, and more.  Fortunately all the enrichment presentations can be seen later on your room TV.

Have a great time!  We'll want to hear all about it.

If you have any Specific questions, give me a holler at kjstong at gmail dot com  as I also see you enjoy wines  (we'll trade Paso/SLO wine tips! )

Kent and Pam

Paso Robles Wine Lovers

11 minutes ago, hutch1994 said:

Think it also depends on the ship.  On the March transatlantic cruise on the Star the wine by the glass on the SSP wasn't great at all.  Slim choices.  

We've done several cruises this past year - different Viking ships and itineraries.  We always check the wine lists before deciding on SSBP.  Every time we say no because pretty much since COVID, they've all been VERY slim choices for wines by the glass.   Ahh  those wonderful pre-COVID cruising days!   But it is not a supply issue but a conscious business decision Viking has made regarding the wine offerings (and SSBP ) vis a vis the cocktail folks.  As I said, I do believe this is the reason you see much much fewer of those special SSBP glasses in the restaurants these days.  Our just finished cruise, one evening I only saw 2 other couples with those special stemmed glasses and most people were drinking wine (either the included or their own).

1 hour ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Expensive. $20/day.

We drive to our cruises the day before and stay at the DoubleTree. For longish cruises, it's cheaper. DoubleTree used to allow free parking for the length of a cruise. Our longest was 43 days. The cruise port parking lot was a definite...NO. DT has changed their policy and now charge $10/day (the last time we stayed there)...I think we broke it. 😂

Thanks for the insight!   We've stayed at the Doubletree before (not for a cruise, however), but for visiting friends in Palos Verdes, so I know where it is.  Had not thought of that.  How did you get to the ship and back?  Uber/Lyft?   $10 might still not be so bad.  Will have to check.

1 hour ago, Insanityx4 said:

On Expedition ships most excursions are included and you can book more than one if time allows. On our last cruise on Octantis, in one port the first excursion ran late so we missed the second one (both included).

Our next cruise coming up on VO we booked both included and not included tours for the same day. The problem with that is if our included tour runs late, we will miss the tour that we have already paid for. I recommend leaving at least 1-2 hours between tours and more if you are in a tender port.

Absolutely correct!  We always try to do 2 tours if available (one in morning, one in afternoon).  If the times work out, we always try to book the optional one first and take the last included available.  If the first tour is late, not that big a deal missing the included.  And . .  it seems the final included tour is always the last one to be booked (people seem to book up first the mid-late morning tours, then the mid-afternoon and first in the morning ones, and the last one is always open the longest.

2 hours ago, Mlb4chris said:

hello all... we had originally thought we'd extend our may 2025 trade routes cruise with a few days in Belgium but now thinking of heading straight home instead.  this will be the longest cruise we've embarked upon and while the extension sounds good now, i'm thinking by then i may just want to head home (we'll have a layover on the way home too).  my question, is it feasible to catch a 10:50am or 1:30pm flight into London (our layover)?  i'm not sure what time one usually makes their way off the boat and i know it varies.  the Bergen airport appears to be about 1/2 hour or less from the terminal and i'm guessing its not a huge airport to navigate.  thanks for any insights!

Bergen is an easy airport.  We just got done with Trade Routes in late May.  Especially since you arrive the day prior in Bergen and spend your last night at the pier in Bergen, you'll have no difficulty in making your 10:50 AM flight.   If you use Viking Air, you'll likely have to get up early however.  The bus to the airport doesn't take long.  If you are doing it on your own, also easy - we always take the Flybussen airport bus - inexpensive and efficient.

Your only worries will be whether your plane is on time and/or not cancelled!  Seems to happen a lot these days.   I'd definitely go for the early flight!

Enjoy the Trade Routes - it's a fantastic cruise and itinerary!!

1 hour ago, millybess said:

We have a PIF date that is after our shore excursion booking date.

 

Has anybody experienced this before?  We haven't, and I dread having any issues on the excursion booking day.

Interesting . . .

Wondering what that scenario might be - perhaps you can be more specific.

Do you mean your payment in full date comes closer to sailing date than your excursion booking date?  So you would be picking excursions before paying anything more than a deposit?  I personally have never heard of this and and wondering how that can occur.

2 possibilities that I can think of but there is likely more:

1-you have a 6 month PIF date and your excursions come available 180+ days out  (didn't know that excursions are that far ahead of sailing)

2-you are sailing soon and PIF date is immediate (less than 6 months) but excursion dates have already passed.  Not sure how this would be possible though.

Each day a red and a white is designated as "the included" lunch/dinner wine.  House sparkling wine is also available.  The majority of "stations" have these wines of the day for included.

We have learned that if you like a certain wine, and it is not the wine of the day, you can ask your server for your favorite, and they will try to find it.

We just got off a Viking Ocean cruise.  The included wines were basically the ones we've had on many cruises before.  A Chilean Cabernet, a Marius Grenache-Syrah, a German Red Blend (Volmer), a Portugal Red, a Spain Riojo, a Spanish Tempranillo, and maybe a couple more reds I cannot remember.  The whites seemed to be Chardonnay, Sauv Blanc, Pinot Grigio, and some other white blends (wan't paying much attention to whites).  Enjoyed the Cab and the German Red the best and got them every meal regardless if they were designated as the "daily" wine.

We used to get SSBP but on this cruise, it appeared the SSBP people were mostly cocktail drinkers (as observed, the SSBP people get wines served in a stemmed wine glass while the included wine drinkers get a non-stemmed glass).  We saw hardly any stemmed glasses but lots of cocktails.  It appears that the affect of the post-COVID change reducing the quality and availability of wines available on SSBP has caused the perhaps desired affect.  We are not cocktail drinkers and thus SSBP is a waste for us, as for us, the included wines are not that much different from the wines by the glass available on SSBP.

10 minutes ago, NightShayde said:

Awesome. Thank you!

Do you happen to know if it's a Keurig or Nespresso? Or some other brand with which North Americans are unfamiliar? Trying to figure out if bringing a few of my hot apple cider pods would be worth it.

It is a Nespresso using the original pods.  Do a search on forums and there are many answers about these machines, including some valuable pictures.

We bring Nespresso original pods from home as we like strong regular coffee.  The ship pods have gotten a bit better.  They used to be 4's and now are 6's.  The decafs are good at 10.  

If your apple cider pods are Nespresso Original sizes, they will indeed work.

17 hours ago, toolworker said:

Do Viking Ocean ships have these features?

 

1. 1. Booking and changing tours at reception 24/7

2. Booking and changing things on the app - tours, dining reservations, ... ?

3. Quietvox or equivalent for tours (phone app doesn't count)

4. Starlink internet

5. Play enrichment talks on TV with pause, resume, save your place.

6. 800 number to call Reception from shore for international phone charges only.

 

I'm asking because we've been cruising Regent lately, and it doesn't have any of them (except phasing in Starlink).  I've seen these on other lines but can't remember which lines have which ones.

1.  Yes, you can change/book in person at the reception desk with some caveats.  When onboard you must cancel at least 48 hours ahead of time on an excursion.   Notes regarding cancellations before you get on board are good, but not relevant since OP asked about doing it in person at the reception desk, which means you are already on board.

2.  Yes.  Unlike Clay, I found the app extremely handy and useful for booking dining reservations, tours, general information and more.  Perhaps the user interface isn't the best and I would design it differently (it appears to be designed by a geek IT person and not a consumer).

3.  Yes.

4.  Starlink, as stated, depends on location no matter what cruise you are on.  We actually surprisingly had decent Starlink wifi recently in Norway even.  Who knows all the variables.

5.  Yes, and that has been nice!

6.  No 800 number.  Ship number is found on back of cabin room card.  Have used it.  It works.  Whether you are billed or not depends on the plan you have.

2 hours ago, deec said:

Some details but Viking IMO could better serve its future passengers if their descriptions were more like those presented in the port talks.  How much time on the bus?  Are there bathrooms available, will there be shopping opportunities?  How difficult is the walking,  even with Included tours there are some passengers who SHOULD not attempt with walkers or wheelchairs!    Also Viking could do a better job describing the port (I know docking assignments might change but for the most part Viking could give more specific guidelines.  Is the port walking distance to the city or village, will there be a shuttles,  how far is the walk to the excursion bus, how far is the ship from town? Will the port be in an industrial area?   Armed with this information I think folks could more easily plan.  I know much of this information can be teased out with Google maps etc But when Viking has it available to them why do passengers have to be researchers too?

Dee I Totally agree!  Viking has done a much better job on the cruise we just finished in describing all of these items in minute detail.  However, this is given in the port talk and is the afternoon before.  Too late for most people.

What they need to do, and I put it in my comments (again!), is put this information in the descriptions that people use to choose their excursions, not give it to us the night before when we are committed money-wise already.

For those able to drive to the port in San Pedro (we live just up the California coast so no air needed) . . .

Have any of you parked your car there?  Is there a facility?  I seem to remember that some friends parked at the cruise terminal, but can't remember about price and availability.

Thanks!

On 6/7/2024 at 5:20 PM, JPtheATC said:

Does anyone know why Virgin Gorda was canceled on the West Indies cruise for 11/19/24-11/30/24?  Viking replaced it with a stop in St. Croix.  Any thoughts?

Hello @JPtheATC

We are on this cruise on Viking Sea.  First, a couple corrections to your statement:

1.  The cruise is Nov 19 to Nov 29  (not Nov 30)

2.  The port being replaced is Roadtown, Tortola not Virgin Gorda.  Virgin Gorda is a separate island in the BVI and is reachable from Tortola via Ferry.  We visited the Baths there on a previous Viking Cruise excursion.  

That being said, as others have related, we'll never truly know why.  Cruising these days involves going with the flow, accepting changes that can occur from weather, wars, holidays, policy changes, and more, as nothing in an itinerary is truly guaranteed.  Hopefully it will work out.  For us, of course, and possibly others who've been to BVI and not St Croix, this is a nice change.  For others, it probably isn't.  In any case, it is what it is.  Would be interesting to see if this change is reflected on the other West Indies Explorer itineraries.

Looking forward to meeting you on the cruise.  If any others reading this are on this cruise, please check out our Roll Call.

Kent and Pam

1 hour ago, Ready to Sail! said:

Could someone currently on a cruise now please at least take a look at Deck 4, aft elevators and tell us which cabins are directly across and open door is facing into lobby.  I'm looking at cruises and few available cabins are in the vacinity but since the deck plans are not accurate would like to know.  Thank you. I would really appreciate. 

I today took pictures and documented on Viking Mars of all the rooms facing the elevator lobbies forward and aft and the aft stairs.  I'll be putting it into a summary document.  In the meantime, for you, the 4th floor aft elevators:  

4072/4073 face the lobby and 4070/4071 can also slightly see the lobby.  Here's the picture.

Hope this helps. The full door you see is 4072 and the partial door to the right (as you move forward on the port side) is 4070.

You need to post this on an Antarctica forum, not Viking.

Viking does not allow children, so you won't get any help here.

13 hours ago, Tom.in.nc said:

On thing to note, even if you have booked and THEN find a promotion code you can usually get it honored.  Two key phrases are “can you revise my booking” and “we are thinking about canceling if we can’t apply the code”.  These often allow the Viking Representative to make changes when they otherwise could not.

Note that if you have used a Travel Agent or have assigned the booking to a Travel Agent, s/he will need to be on the call to give an OK.

Interesting.  Maybe things have changed.  We've tried that exact thing in the past and yes I know how word it . . .  but always the answer is no, you have to cancel and rebook (which likely means you lose the cabin you had).  This was perhaps 3-6 months ago.

Also beware that if you have certain vouchers, you definitely are stuck with the original booking.  Did find that out a few weeks ago.  Can't be switched to promotion due to voucher rules.

But good points. Will have to try it again when it applies.  Thank you for the advice.  Obviously someone has been able to get them to do it.  (apply the promotion on a previously booked cruise).

6 minutes ago, Islandbc said:

Just wondering if you have taken a stroll past 5060.  Thanks

Yes I did!  5060 is a fine location. Decently distant from elevator lobby.   The only questionable one is 5068, which is the only one that faces onto the elevator lobby.

Here is room 5068 view from the elevators.  (Same applies to 5069 on other side).  Maybe I'll try to take shots of all floors at the elevator lobbies and document all this!

On 6/2/2024 at 11:38 PM, OneSixtyToOne said:

Good to hear. We have Vigur Island booked on our upcoming trip in August. We were also able to book Northern Iceland’s Natural Treasures. It did fill up fast. As for Reykjavik, we’re on the pre-extension and have to Golden Circle booked independently on our free day. When on the ship we’re doing the full day trip to the southern coast. 
 

I will do a “Live From” post for the cruise (Iceland’s Majestic Landscapes)  so stay tuned for more information.

 

Joe - you'll enjoy the Vigur Island tour - we did that last year.  Hope the weather is good for you.  Also the Natrual Treasures tour.    We also did an independent Golden Circle tour in Reykjavik (Saga Tours), which was outstanding, as well as using Saga for a Southern coast independent tour.    People can look at the many Live from threads on Iceland cruises from the past couple years that contain a lot of good information as well.

20 hours ago, cmaasfamily said:

Thanks, all. That's good info on only one included excursion per port (not per day). I wasn't aware of that, although frankly, we don't do included excursions often, especially not in a major port like Barcelona. 

We also don't do that many included tours.

However, the included tour we had in Barcelona was actually one of the best included tours we've done with Viking.  Yes, there was a short bus ride for orientation and some out of the way sites, but the majority was a good walk tour of Barcelona - easily 3 hours of walking.  We got to see quite a bit, and had a wonderful guide.   I do think many of the more immobile people were disappointed that there was walking involved, but it was perfectly described.