Peregrina651

@formernuke A request for Edinburgh. May 9 would like to know more about the shuttle bus. Where it stops, how often it runs; whatever you can share with us would be appreciated. TIA.

On 4/20/2024 at 5:33 AM, CDNPolar said:

I think if I bought stock, I would want to be a loyal customer.

Bought stock for the stockholders' benefit. Still own the stock even though we haven't sailed with the company in 15 years. Will sell for a hefty profit. It has nothing to with company loyalty; it is just an investment.

Back to OP's original question. How to contact Viking.

E-mail them at TellUs@vikingcruises.com. They will forward your suggestion to the appropriate department.

On 4/23/2024 at 1:26 PM, OneSixtyToOne said:

Juno Beach is part of the Commonwealth excursion. There is a visitor center there staffed by Canadian college students (the same age as those who died there).  It also visits the Pegasus Bridge which was featured in the movie The Longest Day. The museum also has full scale replicas of the gliders used in the assault. The first Allied casualty of D-Day occurred here. Viewing the Bayeux Tapestry is also a stop on the excursion. Since most pax are Americans who want to go to Omaha, this excursion has very few participants. I highly recommend it.

Ditto. Fewer guests do this one, so the experience is more intimate while still being equally as impactful.

3 hours ago, SteelCity Cruiser said:

we used the train service from the port instead of the Viking shuttle. It was 5 pounds for a round trip ticket and runs about every 30 minutes and only took about 15-20 minutes each way.  The train station is a short, easy walk from the dock.  Ticket booths are right inside the station entrance

 

I was wondering about using the train.

I just checked the routing on Google Maps and while it may be a shorter time compared to Viking's shuttle by the Google Maps' estimation, I walk slower than the Google estimation. So for us, it is 50-50 -- and Viking shuttle gets us closer to where we want to be.

Regardless, now that I see what the shuttle schedule is,  I am glad that I booked I booked our tour at the Little Dublin Museum for 11 am, because with the tendering, I don't see us arriving much before 10am, even if we are on the first shuttle at 9am.

Here's the link to Irish Rail for timetables and tickets: https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/

Tender and shuttle information most helpful!!! I'm taking notes because we are doing things on our own.

One question. Since the day we booked at the end of 2022, our invoice listed departure time as 11 pm. Today, someone on the roll call reported that the time on their invoice is now 8:30pm (and 8 pm in other places like MVJ Calendar). Did something like this happen for your sailing or has your departure always been 8pm. TIA

20 hours ago, ustowas said:

Which Viking homeland? We are on May 22 Bergen to Stockholm.

No such animal. It is either Homelands boarding May 20 on Sky or May 23 on Neptune.

2 hours ago, formernuke said:

Today we did the “iconic London” excursion (included), mostly as a free shuttle into the city.

Friendly reminder, Mars is docked inTilbury, while most of the other BIE sailings are scheduled for Greenwich.  It is a different set of shore excursions if you are docked in Greenwich. And, the choice is different yet again if you are scheduled for an early afternoon sail-away (because departure time in Greenwich is dependent on the tides. See your Viking invoice for the departure time for your sail date).

The included tour in Greenwich is "Royal Greenwich by Foot."  My May 9  sailing departs at 2pm on Day 2. We have two other shorex on offer in Greenwich: "World of Shakespeare" and "Tower of London." Everything else is too long for the time slot.

1 hour ago, Jim Avery said:

Tell Viking that Carnival does it...🍸

Kiss of death?

I think you have posed one of those 'damned if they do, damned if they don't scenarios.  No matter how they handle it, there will be complaints.  

Still, perhaps they should have suggested that folks double-check their schedules for conflicts and that otherwise, no action was necessary.

I forgot that you were boarding in Tilbury, not Greenwich.  

5 hours ago, formernuke said:

Lunch at an excellent local pub. Chicken pie and mash followed by a very large (and excellent) apple crisp. 

Do you remember the name of the pub?

The 2024 BIE season is almost underway.

22 minutes ago, dcl999 said:

Unfortunately it is not listed on the June 17th cruise. Really wanted to do this one. They only offer the included town tour. 

Strange. E-mail Viking and ask why there is only the included tour on the day you are going to be there. tellus@vikingcruises.com

Bon voyage!!

So glad you are doing this. I'll be hanging on every word! Please report on the shuttle buses for each port, even if it is just a photo of each day's schedule. I'm sure I will have more logistical questions as we get closer to our departure. Thank you.

Other informative threads. I knew when I started a list of threads 2 years ago that it would come in handy eventually:

On 4/10/2024 at 12:49 PM, OneSixtyToOne said:

Concerning Naples, we discovered that most of the original frescos and artifacts are not at Pompeii or Herculean, but are on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, which is a short cab ride from the cruise terminal.

And it was amazing!  Much easier walking, too!

47 minutes ago, PasadenaDave said:

We might just go to airport in the morning, check bags and sightsee from there.

Interesting approach but will the airport let you do that? Because of terrorism, many airports don't accept bags that far in advance and they don't have lockers or baggage holding areas before security.

10 hours ago, vacationprincess said:

We land at LHR 8am embarkation day, will go directly to the ship and the ship overnights at Tilbury.  We will have the remainder of the day after we make the trip from LHR to Tilbury. 

Figure 3 hours minimum from airplane to ship.

It is about an hour from Tilbury station to Cutty Sark Station in Greenwich, not including the 20 minute walk to the station and time to buy the train ticket. [Google Maps is good for quick estimates but the  Citymapper or Tfl apps will get you better directions for travel] . So, call it 1.5 hours to Greenwich. 

NOTE: there are multiple stops for Tilbury on your way home. The station you want is TILBURY TOWN.  If you miss it, get off at the next station and grab a cab to the ship.

At least you don't have a back on board time and can stay  until the sights close for the day.

Use timeanddate.com for sunset time, if traveling home in daylight is preferred.

First, thank you for the heads up.

Second, please share with Viking directly everything you have shared with us here. TellUs@vikingcruises.com. Tell them everything just as you have shared here. They can't fix what they don't know is broken.

While I agree that 2 night extensions tend to be a waste, no matter where you are in the world, yours seemed to be particularly poorly organized and poorly thought out. Your arrival at the airport was certainly not up to Viking's standards. 

The normal protocol is not to punish those who have arrived on time. What normally would have happened was that the bus would have left for the hotel on time. Then, either you would have been asked to take a cab to the hotel (for which you would have been reimbursed once you boarded the ship) or a car would have been arranged to take you to the hotel. 

The transfer to the ship was also a disaster. Why on earth were were you not taken to the ship in time for lunch?? Failing that, it could very easily have been a full day tour with a lunch stop. It has been done elsewhere, why not here?

When do you land in London? Embarkation day or earlier? When does the ship depart Tilbury? Same day or next day? In other words, do you have enough time to accomplish the trip?

1 hour ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Did the Chilean Fjords expedition cruise in October so we saw our share of glaciers. 😃

Me, too, but this was an entirely different experience from other glacier experiences I've had.

I know you have made your decision for this trip; my comments were for other readers who might have the impression that these are new ports for Viking. 

13 minutes ago, SailorPaulH said:

Norway and Djupivogur and Westman Islands replacing

6 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

I also was hesitant of what shore excursions will be available on the alternate route.

Both Djupivogur and Westmann Island are regular stops on the Iceland circumnavigation, so it is not like Viking has not visited either port before. The big attraction at Djupivogur is the Fjarslaron (sp) Glacier Zodiac boat ride. It is a long ride to the site but the countryside is beautiful and the up close-ish and personal experience with the glacier is worth it.

Sometimes there are photos that I want to save for the photo albums I put together (just in case I don't get a good photo or the weather is lousy). And I like to print the calendar to a pdf file just in case.

I get the impression the OP did not have a chance to write them down in his long conversation with Viking.