Karen_Travels

Aloha!

Thanks for the info on the WC GBR tour. That's crazy that you all had to hike to get to the boat. I remember you all saying you weren't happy with the Viking excursion. Those massive tour boats are annoying. I hope it was at least only Viking people not a mix with families with children 😱. Although any boat with that many people trying to get in and out of the water is not a good time, particularly if they are new to snorkeling. Madness! Interesting to know they had a scuba option. One person on our cruise asked Viking about that and was never able to get an answer - then the excursion was full, anyway, before he had a chance. Sadly, other than the handful of us who could book a heli tour, there are really no other options to get to the GBR from Cairns given our limited time there. I'm not counting a half-day to Green Island because it sounds like the snorkeling there is terrible. 

Oh, good. I'd planned on having to wear a stinger suit. I had not heard they were terrible to get on and off. UGH, another thing to dread. It's tempting, but they'd probably frown on me bringing scissors to use to extract my mom from their stinker suit. Hah  

Strange that it sounds like there were enough spaces available to go to the GBR for the WC but not for our cruise. I agree it sounds like the Viking GBR tour sucked but I'd rather do that than not to get to see the reef at all. Interesting that the 2020 WC will be there longer. That arrival will be too late for most of the regular full day tours (unless there is a helicopter involved) but at least something should be available to work with that later departure time. 

Did any of you snorkel/dive out of Bali? That would be another option but the popular snorkeling places off Bali get very mixed reviews online. To me it sounds like the people who like Blue Lagoon, etc. might not have experience snorkeling elsewhere to compare it to whereas the conditions off the neighbor islands sound far more impressive but require a full day tour to get there. Unfortunately, I doubtful we'll have that much time in Bali given we already have one full day and one half day of land tour scheduled seeing some temples, etc.

We'd still want to see the GBR, however. It was the main reason why we selected the Bali to Sydney itinerary. I looked at Whitsunday but the port times/logistics didn't seem to work for private tours and the Viking cruise/snorkel there is $599! 😲. The only other place that seems possible is when we're docked in Townsville. Then we could ferry over to Magnetic Island where there are two snorkel trails that are a swim out from shore or there are some small boats that do snorkel tours around the island. A $1K heli trip to Orpheus Island is beyond our budget. 

Thanks, everyone, for all the information and insights. If any of you have more suggestions, your help is most appreciated! I feel so bad for the folks on our cruise who haven't found any way to make it out to the GBR. 

Aloha!

Karen 😃

On 9/23/2018 at 1:12 PM, Jim Avery said:

As you said, lots of first time arrivals on the WC. Generally things went as planned other than missing a couple of ports for weather reasons and Halong Bay for political reasons. The most noticed thing about being a "newbie" is that if other ships were in, Viking got the lesser dock space. Not always but fairly regularly. At new ports we did get a lot of "dignitaries" coming on board for a lookout and free meal. Usually a short plaque ceremony for the increasing number of city crest plaques on display. In all it went very well for a first time .

Aloha Jim (and anyone else from the WC),

Question for you: How long was your ship docked in Cairns? For our upcoming Bali to Sydney cruise we are only in port from 8 am to 6 pm which pretty much precludes booking an independent snorkel trip to the GBR. The Viking GBR tour filled up before most of the cabin categories were able to book excursions so there is now much venting and unhappiness on our roll call. I don't remember seeing anyone from your cruise report this problem so I'm wondering if you were in port longer. Viking clearly grossly miscalculated the amount of interest there would be in seeing the GBR this time! 

Fortunately, I snagged us spots on a half-day heli/snorkel cruise months ago, thanks to the suggestion of someone on this thread (whew and thanks!). I'd be pretty bitter (like my future shipmates) if I was going that far only to be forced to miss the GBR. I'm just wondering why things seem to be going so badly for Viking at Cairns this time. Perhaps a larger percentage of WC travelers had already spent time at the GBR during previous trips so your fellow travelers were less inclined to want a snorkel tour? Or were you there long enough for people to be able to schedule their own? It also sounded like Viking offered two snorkel options for the WC instead of reserving only one snorkel boat for us. It seems strange. I'm just was curious about your experience in Cairns and any thoughts you might have on this. 

Thanks much!

Karen 😃

On Viking River I did have the crew once call (without my asking!) to find a restaurant that was safe for me during a "lunch on your own" portion of a full day excursion. I am gluten free but have other allergies, too. That was wonderful of them to do but appreciate Viking Ocean has a lot more passengers to assist so I'm not sure what to expect there.

I travel with the assumption I won't be able to eat anything on excursions so I bring prepackaged GF snack bars on cruises. Because they are sealed by the manufacturers I've never had problems taking them through customs/security at ports. Frankly, even if the folks on shore say the food is safe for me to eat I really don't trust it. I've been burned too many times by restaurants who don't understand gluten free and I certainly don't want to spend a big chunk of my vacation feeling sick. Some countries also sell wheat products for people with Celiac Disease that are actually low gluten rather than gluten free. That's still too much gluten for me.

I will say that countries are likely to restrict the importation of fruits, vegetables, meat, alcohol, and cheeses. If you just brought some GF bread or rolls to eat while ashore you're unlikely to have problems at the port but that would depend on the country and the person working the port

.

If someone from Viking is checking the boards - I think we would all like to know if Viking River has been testing a new dinner format (buffets each night in main dining room, apparently in addition to menu service - much like has been traditionally done only for breakfast and lunch). Is this something Viking has been trying out this summer on their Budapest to Bucharest (Passage to Eastern Europe) cruise? Did they switch to this format for a single cruise or have they switched to a new dinner format permanently? More information on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

To the OP: I would suggest re-reading what I wrote as clearly you took it the wrong way and my apologies for any confusion. I said it "reads more like" something, not that it was. I asked about the dates of travel because it would be helpful to know if people in the Budapest to Bucharest cruise sailings before and after yours had the same nightly dinner buffet experience. If not, it would seem that Viking was testing something different for that one cruise. I commented that EVERYONE should do research prior to booking a cruise. I, in no way, said the OP had not done that research although I did interpret some of the OP comments as implying something came as a surprise. My apologies for any times I misinterpreted your comments (like regarding the French Balconies). I commented that I had researched before our trip to make sure we were on the same floor as the restaurant so we could use the elevator from that floor to the lounge level. That and the fact that my mom prefers to avoid stairs meant the elevator was useful for us. It would obviously not be useful for everyone and, as I discussed, it does not completely eliminate the need to climb stairs so people need to be aware of that. OP talked about the apples and oranges differences between river and ocean cruises. I agreed that they are very different and people should really look into what will work best for them and what type of vacation they want. That's why everyone should do research by reading reviews like the ones on Cruise Critic. I don't know why me commenting how important it is to check out details prior to cruising was taken in such a negative way. There is a learning curve on learning how to read cruise company descriptions of what is being offered. (e.g. "panoramic tour" is travel code for "tour on a bus" and if the cruise line isn't specific about transportation it is likely to be by motor coach, AKA "a bus") Sites like this are a huge help in figuring out what to expect.

I'm sorry the OP was so terribly disappointed with his Viking River cruise experience. That is very sad. The review also left me with questions - like if waiting in line for a dinner buffet was annoying, why not order off the menu for table service, instead? Was that also not satisfactory? Were they not offering evening food service on the lounge level (usually there is a light buffet there) on that cruise? Or had that been replaced by something else? Viking was doing tests of a reservation-only Italian specialty restaurant on some of their river cruises for a while but rumor was this had been discontinued. Perhaps they are trying a different dining experiment now?

Again, whether service was good is a subjective (but important!) experience. I wouldn't interpret people saying "my food was great!" to be a disagreement with someone else's comment that they thought the food was terrible. People are simply offering their own subjective perspectives. However, whenever anyone reports the configuration or basic operation of a cruise ship is quite different from the previous reviews/experiences that have been shared, I think it is natural for people to have more questions to try to better understand. For example, the number of common areas, the available dining options, and claims that Viking is misrepresenting their cabin sizes should be facts that people can attempt to verify.

My thanks to Bruin Steve and all those who have taken the time to provide reviews and other information. I find it very helpful! Happy cruising, everyone!

🤔Hmmm...yes, I would be interested in the dates of your cruise since your review reads more like a promo for Celebrity than an accurate remembrance of a Viking cruise.

On Viking river cruises there is usually a small buffet by the terrace/bar in the evening but NO dinner buffet in the main restaurant (other than the one theme night as others have mentioned). Dinners don't require that everyone be there at 7pm (unlike ocean cruises with fixed seating times) although no surprise that the first people there would tend to sit by the windows. People also do tend to sit the same place each time.

Viking dinners in the main restaurant are sit down meals ordered from menus that feature three different options for each course and that usually include one "local specialty" item for each course. In addition, there is always the option of ordering steak, salmon, chicken, and something vegetarian as entrees.

If Viking was, in fact, trying out a buffet for just the one cruise you were on clearly that was a failure. In that case, your negative review is understandable although people should realize that what you described is substantially different from what anyone could expect on a Viking river cruise. However, if Viking WAS experimenting on that one cruise, that would explain why Viking's service was so different on your cruise than any others people seem to have experienced. The crew would be trying to adjust to a nightly dinner buffet that is not a part of any other Viking cruise others have reviewed. On our two Viking European river cruises the waiters quickly learned our preferences and brought us drinks, etc. most times without needing to ask. The service was friendly and excellent.

There is nightly entertainment in the bar. It is limited (usually a soloist or small band) but it isn't a one night-only situation.

Odd that you have a real estate background and were unfamiliar with "French balcony" which is a typical real estate term but perhaps there aren't many of those where you live. Yes, French balconies are not the same as other types of balconies. People should understand that before they book. River boats are also much smaller and their cabins are, as well. The cabin for our upcoming Viking Ocean cruise is in the cheapest category (although the cheapest Viking Ocean cabin has a balcony with a table & chairs, unlike the cheapest Celebrity cabins which are windowless interiors). It has about twice the square footage of a Viking River French Balcony cabin. I will say that Viking has nicely sized bathrooms (with heated floors!) so that does take up some of the square footage. That works for me as I like being able to shower without constantly hitting my elbows or getting the TP wet! 😂 Totally worth it as a trade off, IMHO. It is important, however, to get the double doors to the shower closed completely in order to avoid leaks! 😉

We used the elevator (easier on my mom's knees) but it wasn't used by many people. It is important to realize it only goes two floors. We researched ahead of time so we knew not to book an aquarium level cabin if we wanted to avoid stairs (but, as mentioned, the sun deck is only accessible by stairs). People should be aware that river boats are made for people who are able to climb stairs, etc. Wheelchairs & scooters are not permitted and some Viking river boats do not have elevators at all.

The day of scenic cruising can be seen and heard from the top deck of the boat OR from the restaurant or bar so those were options if you didn't want to share space with others on the top deck.

It's true, river cruises aren't for everyone. People who want to spend time in the spa, pool, gym, surf machine, go-cart track, or watching Broadway shows do need to stick to ocean ships. River cruises are focused on seeing the various cities/ports along the way and they offer a very different experience.

Everyone should do research before booking a cruise to make sure the style of ship/boat, itinerary, and amenities will fulfill his/her vacation preferences. Just be sure you base your decisions on good reviews from people who have actually traveled on the ships and itineraries you are considering.

Happy cruising, everyone, regardless of what kind of cruise(s) you prefer! 🏝

We were on Viking (Budapest to Passau) so I'm not familiar with the Uniworld excursions. I will say, however, as much as we loved Budapest (and we spent extra days there) the highlight of our trip was an excursion to Český Krumlov in the Czech Republic. On Viking this is offered as an included optional excursion out of Linz. This town is a UNESCO World Heritage site with great Renaissance architecture. The center of the town is pedestrian only and it has cute little shops and restaurants. There's the castle with the moat where the bears live and the location along the Vltava River is very scenic. We had a walking tour of the historic center of town and then were able to shop, eat, and explore on our own.

To get there we had a scenic ride through the Austrian countryside which we enjoyed as well. If you're interested and Uniworld doesn't offer this as an excursion you could probably arrange something on your own.

I would say that the river cruises can be quite active, it just depends on what you'd specifically like to do. I've only done Viking so I can speak for other lines. For the European cruises (other than Portugal) the river boats don't have a pool or gym but I can't say that I missed either. Generally the included excursions are walking tours that last two hours or so. After that there is usually plenty of time to explore on your own. Of course you can spend your whole time in port doing your own thing if that's what you prefer. I'd say more than half the time the boat stayed in port until the evening so there was time to catch dinner or other entertainment. The boats would offer optional excursions to pub hop (to try different types of beer), visit a concert venue, have dinner somewhere special, etc. In a few smaller villages the stops were shorter so we could make our way to the next port but that was plenty of time to explore the village, anyway. I never missed having a pool or gym since we pretty much spent all day walking around. People with more energy that I have would then top off the day with trivia or dancing in the bar.

In terms of ages I'd say most people were in their 60s but there is quite a range. I'm in my mid-50s and my mom is in her early 80s. She was probably one of the older people on board. On cruises we've seen a honeymooning couple in their late 20s, a big extended family traveling together probably ranging from teens to 70, and some couples in their 40s and 50s.

I'd agree that it is good to do river cruises while younger/fitter. Some of the Viking river boats don't have elevators and the ones that do only have elevators that go between two floors (where the restaurant, bar, and non-aquarium level cabins are located) so stairs are needed to go up to the sundeck and sometimes to get out onto the dock. Europe is not as accessible as the US and Canada so there is plenty of walking, stairs, places with no ramps, and uneven footing like cobblestones. (Castles have stairs! Lots of stairs! :')) On river cruises I've seen a couple of people using walkers and a few using canes but not onboard. They seemed to use them for extra stability when walking around the cities/towns. There are no scooters or wheelchairs used onboard (although I've seen a loaner wheelchair onboard which I think is in case someone is injured). This is quite different from ocean cruises which are more accessible and may allow scooters and/or wheelchairs. Some ocean cruises seem to mostly have people who never leave the ship. They just go to the spa, pool, casino, and other entertainment. Again, there is quite a range on that depending on the cruise line and the itinerary. Longer/more exotic cruises tend to have people are more interested in exploring than drinking, for example. River cruises are more consistently for people who actively want to get out and explore wherever the boat goes.

If you are looking for more active types of exploration, I suggest scheduling your river cruise during warmer months. The days are longer and there are more likely to be optional excursions offered that are more athletic. For example, we did the Rhine Getaway last December. It was lovely but due to the time of year there was more emphasis on Christmas markets. That same cruise offered in the summer includes optional excursions like biking through Kinderdijk (home of the windmills!) which were not offered for the December cruise. I'm also guessing that more younger (i.e. working aged) people are likely to be on the summer cruises since that's when most working folks take vacations. They are also probably more likely to take the shorter cruises (limited vacation time!) so the longer itineraries might have more retirees.

I haven't been on the Romantic Danube cruise but I LOVED the Danube Waltz that goes to some of the same places (all of which I quite enjoyed). The Waltz doesn't travel as far but it does go to more countries so that made the difference when we were picking out which to go on. Plus the Waltz includes an optional included excursion to Český Krumlov in the Czech Republic which regularly shows up on lists of the top however many places to see in the world. Český Krumlov was the highlight of the trip for us but it was all wonderful. That said, I thought Budapest was amazing. The architecture, in particular, is simply spectacular (don't miss seeing the buildings along the river illuminated at night - breathtaking!). Vienna, Krems, and Passau were also quite lovely and interesting. We also preferred the Danube over the Rhine in terms of the variety of places visited so I'm sure you'll truly enjoy the Romantic Danube.

Hope that helps and happy cruising!

We've done the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel and the Danube from Budapest to Passau. Both Viking river trips were wonderful but we thought the Danube was considerably more scenic, particularly with regards to variety. The Rhine has lots of castles, mostly in ruins. Castle. Castle, Castle. Interesting but not a huge variety of architectural styles or different types of vegetation.

The Danube has the beautiful scenic valley as other people have mentioned. It also seemed to have a wonderful variety of towns along the way. It visited more different countries and the historic towns were more often located within an easy walk of where our boat was docked that when we were on the Rhine. On the Danube it seemed like either the towns we visited had not been destroyed in a war or had at least been rebuilt so that they looked the same. Budapest was incredible with breathtaking architecture (particularly when seen at night! Wow!) but then we also visited some lovely quaint villages. Quite the range. Our Danube cruise also included the option to take an (included) optional excursion to Český Krumlov in the the Czech Republic. This World Heritage Site was the highlight of a trip that had many, many wonderful experiences. The town is located on a different river so it was a bus ride to get there. That was actually interesting as it gave us a chance to see more of the area. The town is wonderful and it includes a castle (not in ruins!) with a moat where bears live. The town is very well preserved and the pedestrian-only nature of the inner city helped to preserve the feeling that we had been transported to a different time.

I can't remember really going through any industrial areas on the Danube although of course the boat did a lot of traveling at night. There were a few industrial buildings on the Rhine but not a lot.

Good luck with your trip planning!

Have you read your toothpaste ingredients list lately? Shocking! But yes, readers without books are a sad bunch. And on Viking the cereals are in bins so I don't have access to my personal favorite, the Frosted Flakes box......:cool:

Exactly! My toothpaste will probably be the only thing I have left in the original container. No cereal boxes to read and probably I won't even be able to find mattress warning labels to try to decipher! :eek::')

Have a terrific trip ... no matter what you decide to do, it’s wonderful to see so many places in comfort.

We have booked the helicopter flight/snorkel cruise trip in Cairns! Whooohooo! [insert image of happy dance]

Thanks, again, everyone for all the great information. This flight/cruise seems like a great deal although more than we'd wanted to spend. After hearing about this option and how expensive the Viking GBR excursion was, it seemed like our best bet. Plus, I was afraid to wait until Viking released their excursion information for fear that nothing would be available by then. Honestly, it's great that my mom will be able to check two items off her bucket list at once. I did a scenic helicopter flight into the Canadian Rockies once which was pretty awesome but I'm guessing the GBR is probably one of the most impressive things in the world to see from the air. We're excited!

Jim - Glad to hear you didn't have any problems with Kindle upload. That's good to know. I just always worry that I'll be trapped somewhere and my Kindle will die. I never have to worry about electronic failure or batteries dying when I read paperback books! :')I don't expect to have a lot of time to read on the cruise but I'd hate to be forced to spend my time re-reading the ingredient list on my toothpaste. ;p

That's disappointing. I assumed there would be quite a few coffee table-type books but hoped they would also include a nice supply of fiction and other popular types of books. Glad to hear that people are contributing books to the cause. For those of you on the WC and other long cruises, access to books is important! It always worries me having to depend on my Kindle and being able to download more ebooks.

I'll try to bring a couple of paperback books to read and leave on the ship for future cruisers to enjoy.

Yes, Overdrive app is great but to get books uploaded to a Kindle, it has to go through Amazon. Other formats might load directly to a smartphone or computer.

I'd read the Viking Ocean ships have plenty of "real" books on shelves throughout each ship. Was that selection of books helpful?

Thanks for all the great info. I will plan accordingly. You have all been such a wealth of information. I really appreciate it. You've all been way better than all the guidebooks I've read, combined!

On the lanyards, it's funny because I've resisted wearing them at work and haven't used them on previous cruises. This time, it suddenly seemed like a good idea. This time since this cruise should have a pool, hot weather, and a number of sea days, I might be doing a lot more running around the ship in clothes that are pocket-challenged.

Very true. Why buy bags of Komodo Dragon Chow when the dragons can chow down on tourists? We'd be a nice break for the dragons since the goats faster...and have more common sense than many tourists. Death by selfie - it's a thing!

h2so4 - about much per person was your private tour and snorkel on Komodo? How many people did you have to have? Even though they made a few mistakes, it sounded like a great day.

Viking is theoretically offering us a pink beach snorkel optional excursion (4 hours) plus the included Komodo dragon tour (2 hours). Even if the cost is reasonable, I'm not sure about our odds of getting into both excursions. We're down in steerage so there might not be much available by the time we get to pick. Nice that they helped out the guy on crutches. The direct to the watering hole option might be the way to go. That will be day 5 of our trip but I suspect we'll still be trying to re-hydrate and recover from the flight over. Staggering around the island while we're exhausted seems like it would lead to at least one of us tripping and/or being chomped by a dragon. On the brighter side, if I'm going to die in a travel mishap, "eaten by a Komodo dragon" sounds much better than "tripped over her own feet, again" as a way to go!

Thanks, deec, on the info on the Viking pink beach snorkel. I figured they should have offered it to the WC folks and I wondered how it was and if it was possible to do both.

Was there anything interesting to buy in the Komodo shopping? I wouldn't have thought to bring much cash ashore. Were they taking only Indonesian money?

In Brisbane - The Mirimar on the way from Lone Pine sounds great. I'd like to see the view from the river and get the audio commentary. Plus, after wandering around Lone Pine for a few hours, sitting down for a while would probably a top priority.

No typo?!! That's great! I'll have to check into that more. About how long did your husband get to snorkel once on the boat? I figuring it would probably take a little while for a safety talk, getting gear, etc. so a two hour snorkel would be a lot less than that? Did they provide stinger suits? I've read mixed things about whether those are needed on the GBR or if the jellyfish are only a problem closer to the mainland.

Funny Heidi asked about lanyards. Right before I checked this board today I was looking online for lanyards and wondering if they would really be helpful or not. Sounds like that's a yes? Might be worth the investment for me since it would save me time searching for my mom's card. Hahaa! Shhhh...don't tell her I said that. :')

Thanks, again, for everyone's help!

Karen

Yea, thanks so much for the help!

h2so4 - Great blog! Loved the entertaining posts about your WC. Yes, that was very helpful to hear about what you done and I quiet enjoyed your excellent pictures from your trip. For Brisbane I'd researched taking the bus, ferry, or Mirimar. Good to know that a cab is a reasonable option. I'd like to do Mirimar but would prefer to arrive at Lone Pine earlier in the day. I'm happy to hear that we might be able to catch it on the way back.

I'm feeling even worse about the Viking WC experience in Cairns after reading about h2so4's experience. If I'm reading this correctly, you were able to do a GBR helicopter ride and single location reef snorkel for less than what ended up being a Viking excursion on a massive party boat to a packed platform! :eek: That's pretty stunning ($608 AUD for two people (~$456USD? (ck for a typo on your blog here)?!? Wow. I'd prefer more snorkeling time but my mom has never been on a helicopter so this could be a great option, depending on what Viking offers. Thanks! (and my sympathies again to Jim and the rest on the disappointing Viking WC GBR excursion)

Great to hear both of your experiences at the various ports. What is it with the flies on Thursday Island?! I do now recall reading Jim's comments about the flies but I think I blocked that out! Ekk! I'm going to hope that in December they won't be as bad. I certainly won't plan on spending an extended time walking around there. If it's still like a low budget version of a Hitchcock movie (The Flies) we might end up doing a quick "we touched the most northern part of Australia, now let's get back on the tender!"

Jim, I'm glad to hear that at least you had a good lunch in Darwin, in spite of the painfully short visit. I've had gator before, would be interested in trying kangaroo, and I've also had other kinds of meat that then slipped my mind! Hah! Hopefully we'll get to try some exotic Australian foods like that meat pie while we're traveling either on land or sea. Sorry kangaroos. I just draw the line at eating koalas since they're super cute and they probably taste like eucalyptus cough drops.

Good to know there is a grocery in Darwin. That might be helpful if we don't manage to load up on junk food in Bali.

Komodo seems like a bit of a challenge. The overly long, hot walk through nothing interesting to see seems to be a common complaint there. My mom, in particular, would be interested in seeing more flora and fauna but I'm not sure if the long walk actually provides that. h2so4 managed to get in a dragon tour plus a snorkel and walking on the pink beach. That sounds so much nicer than a long hike in the heat and no dragons. Thanks for the info on how to get to the watering hole. We might take your shortcut through the shopping zone and skip the hike. I will certainly feel safe there being guarded by skinny guys with sticks. I hope the dragons will have been well supplied with goats prior to our visit.

Good to know about the Brisbane koala union. We'll try to get to Lone Pine before they run out of fresh koalas. However, I'd be sad to skip the Viking panoramic tour because then we won't get to drive by the oldest pub in Brisbane without getting to visit it. ;)

Hmm...I was hoping for better on Hamilton. OK, a nice resort is nice but not so much our thing. Thursday Island and Hamilton Island are the two ports on our cruise where the included excursions are "explore on your own". Not sure how DIY counts as excursions but at least Viking will be providing a tender ashore instead of holding us captive. We are scheduled to be at Hamilton for 10 hours so we have time to do something. Their current tentative excursions options are the DIY at the beach, Whitehaven Beach, or golf. So either sand or sand traps.

Thanks again for providing so much information! This will be a big help! It is very kind of all of you who took the time to write up experiences on your WC. It's was great to read about your adventures (razor wire for the Somali pirates! Eek!) since a WC is far beyond our budget until my lottery win. The info on the ports I'll be visiting are, of course, particularly appreciated. There aren't a lot of reviews online for many of those ports and usually they don't included much detail.

If anyone thinks of anything else I should know about that route or ports, please let me know!

Kind Regards!

Karen :D

To all the WC travelers who shared experiences, pictures, and insights, THANK YOU! It was wonderful to read along a live the WC through you. I appreciate you taking so much time to share.

Questions for the WC folks:

We'll be on the Bali to Sydney cruise in Nov/Dec 2018. It looks like you were the first Viking ship to visit some of these ports and we will be second. Any advice or insights you could offer on any of these ports and excursions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks to Jim for solving the Darwin mystery! We couldn't figure out why we are scheduled to arrive in Darwin at noon and depart the following day at 1pm. Reading your description about the ship traveling 10 knots to get in and out of port, now it makes more sense. [lightbulb moment!] Sorry you were all shortchanged there with only a few hours in port. At least it seems like Viking learned from that. Our schedule allows many daylight hours of sailing in and out of port along with (hopefully) enough time in port to allow us to actually see something.

I only saw comments on some of the ports we're visiting so I'm guessing your cruise didn't stop at all of the same place we will. Your feedback on any of these locations would be lovely. We're scheduled to go to:

Bali

Lombok

Komodo

Darwin

Thursday Island

Cairns

Townsville

Whitsunday Island (Hamilton Island)

Brisbane

Newcastle

Sydney

I was very sad to hear about your group experiences in Cairns. We are hoping a Great Barrier Reef snorkel would be a highlight of the trip. Terrible that Viking charged that much and then plopped you all on massive boat to a crowded platform. I certainly hope they will have corrected that before our trip. We're only in port for a tragically short 8am to 6pm making it very difficult to arrange anything on our own. Wish they had us scheduled for two days there or at least one long day. Wished they'd also offer a GBR snorkel out of the Whitsundays.

In Brisbane it sounded like people went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Did that seem worthwhile? We're there from 8am to 11pm so that's one place that we should have a reasonable amount of time to explore.

In addition to benefiting from the WC trailblazing this part of the world for us, it looks like we won't be in crowded ports. According to the online ship tracker, with the exception of Sydney, we are the only cruise ship scheduled to be at each of these ports the day we're there. Whew. There were a few places like Brisbane I would have expected the WC to be docked close to the CBD instead on the edge of town or having to tender. Not fun.

Thanks, again, for all your great posts about your trip and thanks, in advance, for any information you could provide about the places we're scheduled to stop.

Kind Regards,

Karen

It seemed like most of the excursions were listed on the My Viking website by 2-3 months before the cruise. Then you pay online. Excursion information is probably available for most ports right after you sign up for the cruise but they add more later so it is good to avoid signing up super early. I've never heard of anyone having trouble getting the excursions they wanted on Viking River so there is no rush to sign up. Just make sure you sign up at least a couple of days before the tour is scheduled to begin (although earlier is better!).

We haven't used OBC for excursions. I've seen people say that they were not allowed to use OBC to book optional excursions until they were on the ship. A couple of people said they were able to work something out with Viking ahead of time but that might have been Viking Ocean rather than River or there could have been special circumstances. Being able to spend OBC ahead of time does appear to be an exception, at most.

When I've checked prices it looked like the Vantage base price was a bit cheaper than Viking but their other costs would have added up to more than Viking. Just the cost to add a few excursions with Vantage put the price higher than Viking and Viking includes excursions in almost of all of the ports they visit. Other items (like beer with lunch and dinner) would be another factor to consider. Perhaps there Vantage offers sale pricing that could make up that difference? We've just gotten burned on other cruise lines by signing up with a "bargain" base rate only to discover much later than their costs for excursions were extremely high.

Hi!

On Viking River Cruises, their included excursions begin in the morning unless the ship arrives at a location later in the day. In the afternoon and evenings optional excursions are usually offered although some of the optional ones are full day. The included excursions tend to be a walking and/or bus tour that provides an overview of the area. The optional excursions may go to a different area or focus on more specific interests (like winery tours, visit to scenic locations not included in depth on the included tour, tours related to local industries or home visits, or dinners at local restaurants).

One thing to say about river cruises is that (at least in Europe) be boats are generally docked near the older historic part of the towns/cities you visit. This makes it easier to explore on your own and at your own pace, if that works better for you. We'd usually take the morning tour, come back to the ship for lunch, and then go back out to explore independently.

I don't know if this helps but tours don't usually leave before sunrise. That means if you are taking a cruise in the middle of the summer when the days are longer, tours might be likely to depart earlier. If you go in the winter tours will tend to leave a little later. Just a thought.

Good luck with your planning!

Aloha GrandmaHofmann!

Here's a link to a search for dress code: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search.php?searchid=131736591

As you can see, there's been a lot of discussion. Hope that helps!

Happy cruising!

Karen

The secret is out and Viking Orion does indeed have the most advanced 3D Planetarium in the World on board! I am very pleased to have been appointed as Resident Astronomer on this wonderful ship and look forward to delivering iconic lectures, planetarium shows and stargazing nights for all the guests. See you on board!

:hearteyes:

Thank you so much, sir!

We look forward to meeting you on the Komodo & Australia Coast cruise that starts the end of November.

When cruising around South America we were disappointed that we never could get a good view of the stars (too much upper deck light on that Celebrity ship). We'd already been talking about how much we hoped to be able to successfully star gaze on this cruise. Imagine how thrilled we were to find out that YOU would be aboard along with a planetarium! Whooohoo! [insert happy dance emoji here]

Thank you, in advance, and happy sailing until then!

Kind Regards,

Karen

this is a general cruise comment, from observations during cruising for over 30 years …..

 

- the itinerary 'arrival' time is REALLY the time they expect the gangway to be opened … ship cleared by authorities and you are free to come and go. Ships almost ALWAYS arrive WELL before this time and go thru the process of 'clearance'. often ships arrive 3 or 4 HOURS b4 the posted "arrival" cuz lord knows folks want to get OFF as soon as "arrival time" arrives …. (ala the RUSH to get off an airplane!! where arrival is at the gate .. not time landed)

 

- departure time is a different thing …. this is all most always purty darn accurate and the 'all aboard time' is usually pretty close to the same time. Again I'll refer to an airplane …. this is "push back time" …. gate closed and we're moving.

Great information! Thanks Capt BJ and Dauntless (and anyone else I missed, sorry!).

It's going to be an adjustment for me going back to an ocean cruise after being spoiled by the longer times in port we've mostly experienced on river cruises. Of course at the moment the times seem a bit short. During the actual cruise, I'll probably be beat after a long day in port and happy to return to the ship (and the air conditioning!). :D

Thank you and happy sails to you!

Karen

We're going to have a resident astronomer? This cruise just gets better and better.

Thank you for sharing the article!

For best results, included excursions should be reserved in advance when booking for V cabins opens 60 days in advance of sailing. If you are closed out of any included excursion at this point, you should contact Viking at tellus@vikingcruises.com and tell them that you have been closed out (and are very upset, etc. etc.). If you wait until you board to book and they are out of places on the tour, it will be much harder to fix. We are told that the included tours are part of the package so it is more than reasonable to expect that you will not be denied a spot on any one of them.

Great, thanks Peregrina! We plan to leap on reserving excursions as soon as we're allowed to make our selections. Knowing that at least we'll get the included excursions is a comfort although I was surprised that two of the included excursions are "spend the day on your own". Hmmm is that really an excursion or just a shuttle service? ;) There could be a guide providing commentary along the way so I guess that counts!

Thank you for your help!

Yea! Happy travels!

I'm curious as to how accurate the arrival times seem and how quickly after the ship arrives in a port people are able to disembark. Obviously it would depend on whether you're taking the ship's excursions and if it is necessary to tender. I'm just wondering since I'm spoiled from our last two cruises which were Viking River cruises. :D

The wait and hassle of disembarking was probably my biggest complaint about the bigger ocean ships (although Viking Ocean is about half the size of the other ocean ships I've tried.

Thanks and have a wonderful time! I look forward to hearing about your adventures.

Karen