Newtogroup

3 hours ago, Moonlion said:

We booked the following independent excursions which not were not organized by Viking but by outside vendors (e.g., Viator, Tours by Locals).  Some of our independent tours were private which included just the 6 of us and some were small group tours.

 

In Montevideo, we booked Tours by Locals with Gonzalo Mara: Montevideo City Tour + Winery Visit & Tasting (https://www.toursbylocals.com/private-montevideo-city-tour-and-winery-visit). This was a private tour ($750 total for all 6 of us). Gonzalo was an outstanding guide and we really enjoyed the tour and wine tasting. 

 

In Puerto Madryn, we booked booked a private tour with Sentir Patagonia (their Peninsula Valdes tour): https://sentir-patagonia.com.ar/. Total cost for all 6 of us came to $870 ($145 per person) which included entry fees and a box lunch. It's a long ride to Peninsula Valdes and back but was an excellent tour. 

 

In Port Stanley (Falkland Islands), we booked an all day tour to Volunteer Point with Shaun Jaffray (https://adventurefalklands.com/). Price was $200 per person which included entry fees and a packed lunch.  As mentioned above, it's a long, bumpy ride to Volunteer Point in 4x4 jeeps but a lot of fun.  This was a highlight of our trip and highly recommend Shaun Jaffray!

 

In Ushuaia, we booked a private tour with Calaio Tours (Option 3: National Park w/ Hiking; 5.5 hours): https://www.tourguideushuaia.net/nat-park-w-hiking-5-hs/. Price was $170 per person which included park entry fees.  Our guide, Gaby, was outstanding and took us on 5 brief (20-40 minutes each), easy to medium-difficult hikes in the Tierra del Fuego National Park.  If you are mobile and reasonably fit, we can highly recommend this excursion. 

 

In Puerto Montt, we booked a private tour with Chile Dream Tours (LAND OF VOLCANOS: LAKES REGION): https://chiledreamtours.com/en/shore-excursion-puerto-montt-volcanoes/.  Price was $945 for all 6 of us ($157 per person) and included park entry fees and a fabulous picnic lunch with 2 or 3 excellent local wines.  This was another outstanding guide and tour. 

 

In Santiago (Valparaiso), we booked a private 2-day Tours by Locals excursion with Caroline O.  On our first day in Valparaiso, we toured Valparaiso and Vina del mar; on our day of disembarkation, we stopped at a Casablanca winery and then toured Santiago with drop-off at the airport.  The price was $200 per person for both days.  Caroline was an outstanding guide and we really enjoyed the 2-day tour. 

Wow!! You are simply AWESOME!!  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!  This is so helpful!  I REALLY appreciate it!!

14 hours ago, Moonlion said:

We traveled with 2 other couples (6 of us total) and mostly did private tours which were all excellent to outstanding.  With 6 of us, private tours were very affordable since they usually charge by tour and not per person.  We didn't do any included (free) tours since they seemed too limited.  We did the following optional (paid) Viking excursions:

Artistic Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires): four of us went on this tour and it was excellent - loved it!

Birdwatching at the Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve (Buenos Aires): one couple went on this tour and said they really enjoyed the experience, tour guide and photo opportunities.  

Hike Magellan’s Strait Park (Punta Arenas): DH and I went on this one and really enjoyed the hike and views; however, need good mobility for the hike.  Our guide was excellent. 

Strait of Magellan Park (Punta Arenas): the other two couples went on this one and said it was OK but not great. 

Happy to answer any other questions. 

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! This is great and helpful!!  The "private tours" are different than, or same as, ones that you listed? I'm new and don't even know if you can do private tours via Norw. or if you are saying they were with a different company.  If different, would you be willing to share those?  I know that there are others on our sailing that might be interested too :). 

And since you are happy to answer questions 😉 🙂

How does it work with boarding the ship a day early and disembarking a day late?  I've only done about 5 cruises, and have never seen that.  

THANKS AGAIN!!!

What I just got from NCL via email 😞

Regrettably, we are unable to send a list of shore excursions for previous sailings.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.

OMGOSH!!!!  THANK YOU so much for sharing!! I'm shocked with how much information I can USUALLY find on the internet, and I couldn't find this anywhere :(.  And I contacted Viking asking for something like this, letting them know that I understand ours could be different, but that I just wanted "an idea" of what to expect for budgeting and planning... They came back with the dates that our ship's list will be available...

If you happen to have any advice on the ones you did, or wish you did, that would be great.  And/or ones that you heard weren't great (I heard that the "free" ones weren't the best :()....

THANKS AGAIN!!!

On 4/23/2023 at 12:19 PM, LindaS272 said:

Ask in the chat function if they can send you a pdf—even if it’s not for your specific cruise. They should be able to at least send you what was offered this year.