BluebonnetTexan

Duh! I kept missing that line about the Group column in the ReadMe! I thought I'd remembered you had the multi-segment cruises covered. I never scrolled far enough right recently either, obviously! It might be a good idea to add the info to the ReadMe, since the info is so far back in the LogNotes now, and hidden by default. Also, there's a new group - the Greenland, Iceland, Norway & Beyond cruise, is actually comprised of the Iceland & Norway's Arctic Explorer and Iconic Iceland, Greenland & Canada. Might be some others, I'm just aware of this one because we are doing Iconic Iceland, Greenland & Canada later this year. Again - you do an awesome job on compiling this info for us!

In case no one has expressed it lately - we really appreciate you doing this! 😍 I do have two questions 1) shouldn't the Viking World Voyage I & Viking World Voyage II on the Sky be labelled as "World" cruises instead of "Grand" in the Region column? 2) Is there a way to denote the cruises that are actually comprised of shorter segments also sold separately? For example, the 29-day Mediterranean's Iconic Shores is actually 4 8-day segments. And, all the various 15-day and 22-day versions contained there-in. It seems lots of folks sign up for these longer versions not realizing it is really a series of B2Bs. Just a thought! Thanks again so much for doing this! Nancy

As you have surmised, you can definitely do the Bergen-Oslo cheaper as a DIY than with the Viking extension. We were on Viking Homelands in 2019. We did our own air into Stockholm and out of Oslo (we live in Houston, so lots of options). We did Comfort Class train, three nights at the Comfort Grand Central, bought 2-day Oslo Pass, and Flytoget train to airport for what Viking charged for one person. The train from Bergen to Oslo is beautiful scenery for the most part as others indicated. We took a taxi from the ship to the train station, not very expensive. Then we walked from the train to our hotel which was inside the train station. Very convenient! We each had a large suitcase and backpack, no problem storing them on the train. Friends that we made on the trip who took the extension later told us that they wished they’d done it DIY as they didn’t feel like the added cost was worth what Viking provided. Enjoy your trip!

The visitor limits being imposed in the various cruise ports is also not unlike the controls now in place at many US National Parks.

Here’s another vote for spending as much time in Stockholm as possible. We had 3.5 days before our cruise departed and would have loved even more time. Vasa Museum should definitely be #1 on your list there. Lots there that I think I 12-year-old would enjoy. We also loved Tallinn and Gdańsk. Helsinki was I think the least favorite port of all we experienced on our Baltic trip. But, I’m glad we went to see how it compared to Stockholm, Saint Petersburg, Oslo, and Copenhagen.

Thanks to all for their many varied and detailed suggestions! I didn’t mean to imply in my original question that CC was my only source for research. It was more that I was puzzled about where the Iceland port info was located as I obviously overlooked it. I did do a general search and all I was seeing was Roll Calls with Iceland ports and didn’t really want to trawl through those. And, yes, more info is always better IMO, even if the OP may not need it, someone else reading this thread later may find it useful. We are definitely considering staying at least a couple of days after arriving in Reykjavik, thus this more generic phase of my research to determine what else we really need to see in that area (Golden Circle, etc.) and how long we should stretch our stay.

Thanks! I knew it was there somewhere. Thought I checked that one, but guess I overlooked it!

We are on the Viking Iconic Canada, Greenland and Iceland itinerary next August. I can’t seem to find Iceland in the Ports of Call forum here on CC for general research and feedback. Am I overlooking it or do I just need to read through all the roll calls for info? I know there was a lot of good info during the Welcome Back cruises, but those also had lots of restrictions which are now gone. I was also hoping to find info broader than the Viking forum.

Which specific cruise or cruises are you doing? In general if the included tour states it is "panoramic" (for example Panoramic Athens & Archeological Museum), then generally that is a bus tour driving by the sites with maybe a photo stop or two. I will state in that example, we just returned from a 10-day trip to Greece (non-Viking) and spent 5 hours at the Archeological Museum on our own - however, there are a few seats around the museum to rest a minute as well as a cafe with chairs/tables. We observed a couple of ship excursions touring the museum while we were there and of course their guide just takes them to the highlights, while we were looking at everything! 😉 Viking has this included tour labeled as Moderate. Since you mentioned Turkey, I expect you are likely going to Ephesus. I just checked the Viking Included tour and it is called "A Gentle Journey into the Ancient World" and keeps you on the lower part of the archeological site which is much easier walking than the upper part. We were just there Oct. 1 and I don't recall many places to take a rest. Viking has this tour labeled as Easy. If it is a walking tour, such as at Rhodes (Rhodes Town Walk & Palace of the Grand Masters), it too is listed as Moderate activity. So, my advice is to carefully read the descriptions of the included tours and check the activity level mentioned. Let us know which specific cruise you are on and people may be able to give more specific info about the included tours. If you do decide to go, you might want to get a set of walking sticks to use on excursions instead of the cane. I recently purchased a pair on Amazon that are quite lightweight, sturdy, and collapse small enough to fit even in a carry-on for only about $30. Looks like a great trip and I hope you are able to go and experience it to the fullest!