SailorPaulH

27 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

We are doing the Bergen to Oslo train post-extension. Does anyone have information as to what time we disembark, when it departs Bergen and what time it arrives in Oslo?

Here is a 2024 train time-table:

https://www.vy.no/files/eyx1eny7/vyno-production/59a9b8d84df25c2ca1d65498ca4f072a97ebd5c5.pdf

I was told my train time asking a Viking agent on the Viking Chat

7 hours ago, SteelCity Cruiser said:

Just FYI on the Clarion hotel: It is a lovely hotel, and it is basically across the street from the train station so you will walk over there the morning of the train trip (takes 5 minutes, max).  The bad news is that rooms there are quite small.  We had 1 checked bag and two roll ons and lived out of the roll ons during our pre-stay (never opened the big suitcase) which was easier in the smaller hotel room.  The good news is that it is a lovely hotel, beautifully located (easy walk to the opera house and other attractions), and it has a fabulous breakfast buffet - one of the best we've ever seen anywhere.  Being on the noon train, you'll be able to avail yourself of a hearty breakfast the morning of your journey!

Yes, I was happy to see that it was the Noon train - because I can go for an early morning 5k run before breakfast (got my route mapped out). Interestingly, my research turned up that due to construction on some of the lines in July, the train will head north on the Gjovik line towards Roa and then on to Honefoss (which is considered the true eastern end of the Bergen line), instead of the usual Oslo -> Drammen -> Hokesund -> Vikersund -> Honefoss route.

3 hours ago, bookbabe said:

In September, it was that morning…but it was EARLY morning, we were on the very first train of the day.  I didn’t realize other trips might use later trains, I’m very jealous.

 

FYI, depending on your hotel, you may be walking over to the train station.

Our hotel is Clarion, The Hub just across the road. We are making our way there independently as we took a deviation to fly in a day early. Viking agent told me our train was the 1203 pm (so working on that assumption) the day we leave Oslo. We have a collapsible duffel bag in case it's a night before luggage pick-up. It would be great if these little details involving transfers were available in MVJ, but I guess these logistics could always be in a state of flux .... Thanks everyone for the input!

A question for those that have done 'The Best of Norway & Scenic Train' Viking Pre-Extension. On the day we leave the hotel for the train to go from Oslo to Bergen, does Viking take your luggage the prior night or on the morning of the train departure day (in our case we would be on the 12:03 PM to Bergen, if that may matter)? Just want to be prepared as we will be out late on the last night in Oslo.

1 hour ago, philw1776 said:

Thanks. Looking for details on actual port location as there are 2 very different dock possibilities at least.

On our Viking Homelands cruise in 2022, our ship Jupiter docked on the west side of Akershus Fortress (in view of Aker Brygge). Meanwhile the Venus was docked on the east side (in view of Oslo Opera House). Easy walking distance (from either docking location) to nearby Aker Brygge, Sentrum and Bjorvika areas. Plenty of public transport options available (ferry, bus, tram and the "T-Bane") - you can buy a Ruter pass for a day (or more) that you can use on these transport options.

On 5/9/2024 at 3:16 AM, duquephart said:

Finally got to do a bridge tour while aboard Jupiter just recently. Very interesting and informative. 

How/where do you sign up for a bridge tour?

Following up on some previous posts here. Our reservations were due to open at 12 PT (3 PM ET) today, and opened early at 12 Noon ET (3 hours early). No big deal for us as we don't eat at CT and Manfredi's we can book onboard if we decide to go. For me, it's about getting DW's times for pampering in the Spa --- and that worked out pretty good. So it may well be that restaurants/spa bookings open a few hours early than advertised, YMMV.

Clay - thanks so much for your reports and photos - always a good read and kept us looking forward to our next VOC.

5 hours ago, rmalbers said:

Last Sept when we got off there were a line of taxi's right there, no problem at all.  The only issue is that, if you are staying for a few more days, your hotel room will probably not be ready.  Don't be that angry tourist when that happens and be ready to store your suitcase/s and go for a walk/tour. Kindness will get you a room quicker than anything.  That's from actual experience.

Yes - we arranged with our hotel to drop our bags early and then we are off to a couple of sights we wanted to see but missed on or last time in Reykjavik, and then on a whale watching boat until we check in for real before dinner. Most hotels are very helpful like this in our experience.

On 4/28/2024 at 9:12 AM, Mike07 said:

 

 

I would hope that VIK is thinking of stuff they could do for stockholders, but my gut tells me it won't be OBC. The reason being is that for many of us, we're not spending tons of money on-board, because VIK is all-inclusive (we have a different thread if you want to debate "all-inclusive"; though that thread might have been mod-locked and deleted, b/c it became so contentious) My guess with CCL, RCCI, and NCLH is that they're betting that you spend on the monies on alcohol, SD, gift shop, ShoreX, etc.

 

Maybe VIK could do a discount of $100 or $200 for a charged port excursion? IDK.... I do know that getting a bunch of Viking jackets is going to get old.

Buy a majority of the shares, and you can vote yourself unlimited use of the OS ...........  just joking .....

3 hours ago, CurlerRob said:

My personal experience is dated (2019), but I think it’s still valid. Our shuttle ran every 30 minutes, drop off was at the Harpa Conference Centre - an easy few minutes walk to the heart of downtown. 
 

You can also walk the shoreline back to the ship if the weather is good - about 50 minutes. 🍺🥌

 

Does the shuttle run on disembarkation day, so you can leave ship and be dropped off with your luggage at Harpa...? or is taxi or local bus the only way to do that (our self post-extension begins at hotel across from Harpa).

9 hours ago, island lady said:

I was wondering about that also.   We are in 7016 directly in front of deck 7 elevators on Venus doing the circumnavigation of Australia.  Wanted port side due to the land on the port side during the cruise.  

 

Any noise or "elevator dinging" that could be heard inside the cabin at that location?   Thanks in advance.  🙂 

We have been in 7006 - that deck is very quiet in our experience.

1 hour ago, WanderingBrit said:

Imagine how useful this post would be if it included which ports were being replaced, or even which country they were in?

I took a look at the cruisemapper web-site and for that cruise itinerary it shows Molde, Norway replacing Alesund, Norway and Djupivogur and Westman Islands replacing Akureyri and Isafjordur ... so a southern Iceland route instead of of northern Iceland route at the end. It seems to be a one-off.

2 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

I'll suggest the biggest challenge is finding sufficient crew meeting the required Viking standards. If they take up all 4 options, 10 new ships in 6 years is a lot of crew recruitment and training.

 

It isn't only the hotel crew that is of concern, there is a worldwide shortage of Masters, Deck Officers and Engineering Officers.

For a fully immersive experience, each of the new ships will be equipped with 998 oars.

12 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

We never got a free upgrade however twice we were offered upgrades from DV6 to PV1 or PV2 for a price.  The first time it was $399 per person and the second time it was $199 per person.  The difference between the DV's to PV's at the time we booked was $1,200 per person so we thought it was worth it.  The offer came via email one week before the cruise.

When you got the offer (for $$) to upgrade, did they tell you the cabin number that was on offer?

More ships on the way....

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/04/viking-ocean-orderbook-6-ships-get-accelerated-delivery-4-more-options/

1 hour ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

I don’t understand why education is free in Scandinavia but you have to pay for the toilets.

Education is free in Scandinavia in the same way alcohol is free at lunch and dinner on Viking cruises.

I know currency exchange is not possible on board, but is it possible to break larger notes to smaller (same currency) on board?

In addition to the previous excellent recommendations for Oslo - I suggest Radhuset (Oslo City Hall) - it is close by the ferry that takes you over to the museums on Bygdoy (Kon-Tiki, Fram, etc.).

Hi - anyone know if Viking runs a shuttle bus service to and from the ship to the town center in Torshavn? I don't know where the ship docks exactly. Thanks.

2 hours ago, longterm said:

That may be where we were! I seem to recall it was a couple of doors down... this is a photo of my son who was 13 at the time, back in 2010, in the restaurant. I bet that's the same place. 🙂

My wife just reminded me it could also be 'Bombay Brasserie' which is right next door to the hotel. Also was very good when we tried there (Indian food is our favorite). Earls Court area in general has lots of choices for Indian food.

30 minutes ago, longterm said:

I stayed there with my son back in 2010 and we really liked it; back in those days wifi was nonexistent, but I'm sure that's resolved now. 

Very good location; we're staying at a different place this time due to price, but the M Gloucester was very nice. Good Indian restaurant next door, if I recall.

'Light of India' is just up the road - went there on two separate trips: it was really good.

The main thing for us in Seydisfjordur is to go on the Skalanes excursion. There is some time to do our own thing in the town before or after that. What I had noticed is that the included one (that I have now cancelled) was called 'Seydisfjordur on Foot & Viking Festival' --- previously I had only seen mentioned a more abbreviated included excursion called 'Seydisfjordur on Foot'. The chat agent was very polite albeit probably misinformed - the shuttle bus explanation makes no sense (time of travel, sleep, eat, etc.) and I didn't want to get into a lengthy debate with the agent. 

2 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

I’d go on the chat function and ask about that excursion time. They might be able to rebook you on another or at least tell you that excursion will be canceled so you know well in advance.

 

We had an excursion time cancelled on us without notice last July (included boat trip in Bergen). We booked another time via chat, but they were not able to tell us why our previous time had been canceled. I think they bumped us to book in somebody more important because that excursion time still showed on the schedule.

As you suggested I used the chat feature, and the explanation was something I have never heard of before on Viking Ocean. That included tour does indeed finish after the ship leaves port! Supposedly, a shuttle bus will take you to the next port.

In this case, the ship leaves Seydisfjordur at 4 PM. A shuttle bus takes the excursion group to the next port (Akureyri where the ship arrives 8 AM next day!). This seems very weird and I didn't get into the logistics of where you sleep, eat, etc., and just canceled the excursion. We can do a port walk easily enough on our own earlier in the day if we want to.

On 3/17/2024 at 11:08 PM, kctwinmommy said:

We have a DV cabin, went on right at our time to select, and still got everything we wanted. I would say the only thing we may have missed was the exact time slot for an included excursion. But it was like instead of getting a 9:30 start time, we had to pick 10:00, so no big deal.

I just got off MVJ and we had an easy experience booking all our desired excursions and times for our July 2024 cruise. No freeze issues and able to pay by ACH quickly.

The only odd thing was an included excursion I booked that goes from 3:00-5:30 pm, but ship departs from port at 4:00 pm. Either the port departure time is wrong or that time option for the included excursion is not for real - I guess I will find out. I am a pretty strong swimmer, but I don't think I can Viking Venus a 90-minute head start!