TJfromOZ
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Posts posted by TJfromOZ
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We have just finished the VikingHomelands cruise and our previous ocean cruise was the Inside Passage on SilverShadow, and in general there is not a lot to pick between the 2 cruise lines.
Both offer kid-free cruises (asothers have said we love our grandkids but ....).
Being Aussies we are "neatcasual" rather than “elegant” and I think that is a more acceptable onViking.
We found the "includedtours" very superficial - you really need to pick one of the"optional shore excursions" to make the most of the trip.
We had a “butler” on Silver Seas –too formal for Aussies but a nice, friendly, helpful guy, while on Viking theyhave an excellent 24/7 room service.
Viking Star had 50% morepassengers than Silver Shadow but you would never know unless you counted.
We couldn't fault the staff oneither ship - excellent.
We didn't use Viking to book ourplane flights but some of the people we met from USA that let Viking book theplane flights seemed to have really weird itineraries - going backwards beforegoing forwards - and some very early mornings (leaving the ship on the last dayat 3.30am!).
Advice to others going on a Viking Cruise.
· Check the dates when you can bookshore excursions – for example may be 60 or 70 days from the start of yourcruise depending on cabin class - and book as early as you can as some of ourpreferred excursions were already filled but the time we got around to it.
· You can book more than 1 shoreexcursion on a single day – some booked an “included tour” in the morning andan “optional tour” (extra $) in the afternoon.
· This particular tour “VikingHomelands” was more suited to the history buffs than those going for scenicsightseeing (other than Norway).
· Youdon’t need to “dress up” at night – I carted a jacket around for 30 days andwore it once to dinner and took it off after 3 minutes – dress jeans (men) andskirt/slacks for ladies is all you need.
End result? As others have said - pick your destinations andtime of year first then pick who you go with (after checking the $$ of course :)).
Silversea vs Viking Ocean Cruise Experience
in Silversea
Posted
Hi Keith
Fair point and I appreciate your response so I don't influence anyone unfairly.
I certainly can't recall seeing any kids on either of the cruises and according to our travel agent they were "kid-free".
But having checked their web sites I'll revise my comment to:-
Both cruise lines are not particularly "child-friendly" and may even not allow children under a certain age on particular cruises, so make sure you confirm with any "luxury cruise line" if you are planning for children to go.