Moonlion

On our May '23 BIE cruise on the Neptune, we couldn't see Chefs Table menus in advance. However, the day we boarded, we went to the Manfredis reservation desk and could view all 5 Chefs Table menus for our cruise including the dates. Once onboard, we had no problem booking Chefs Table and Manfredis on the days and times we wanted.

We also skipped the comfort check-in and it took at most 5 minutes for the on site check-in including taking the photo. The only advantage I can see of comfort check-in is that your selfie photo may look better than what the Viking check-in agent takes of you 🤣

Yes! We went to Edinburgh and did on our own (no Viking or independent tours). We toured the Royal Yacht Britannia and then Ubered to the top of the Royal Mile and walked down. Great day!

We took the Bergen to Oslo train at the end of May. We booked independently, not with Viking's extension. Here is my promised report. We booked the "Plus" seats (aka "Komfort Class") directly through the Vy.no site. We thought the Plus seat were definitely worth it if going independently since the cost was not that much more than the standard seats (about $25 extra per ticket). However, if going on a Viking extension that includes the train, I'm not sure it would be worth it to purchase two Plus seats since the standard seats seem comfortable enough. The Plus seats are in car #1, at the front of the train in the Bergen to Oslo direction. Therefore, there's minimal foot traffic through the car with people going to and from the dining car. Other advantages included: slightly wider seats (maybe 1/2 to 3/4 inch); much more legroom (about a foot more than the standard seats); a nice table for working or eating that is not obtrusive given the huge amount of legroom; fewer people booked in the Plus car; and a coffee/expresso machine available all day. The Plus car in general seemed less crowded and packed. There's been a lot of discussion about which side of train has the more scenic views. To be honest, there were great views on both sides of train so I wouldn't worry about it too much. However, I thought the edge went to the right side if facing forward in the Bergen to Oslo direction (see my notes below). In the Plus car, most of the forward facing seats are on the left side of train in the Bergen to Oslo direction; most of the seats on the right sight are rear facing. On the left side, some of the best forward facing seats without a wall obstructing the views are: 29/30; 33/34; and 41/42. On the right side, the best forward facing seats without obstruction are: seats 11/12 and 3/4 (however, seats 3/4 are the back of the train right next to the WC). All the seats in the standard cars are forward facing in the Bergen to Oslo direction. Not sure if they would be rear facing in the Oslo to Bergen direction. We took the 11:43 AM train (May 25th) which was a good decision since we spent one night in Bergen after disembarking from our BIE cruise on May 23rd. We got to sleep in a bit, had a fabulous, relaxing breakfast at the Thon Orion Hotel and then took a cab to the train station ($20). The train left exactly on time and arrived in Oslo at 7:05 PM. There was still plenty of daylight in Oslo when we arrived. In fact, at this time of year, it didn't get dark in Oslo until after 10 PM! My notes: No Wifi on train; train almost empty at Bergen but was about 3/4 full at end of trip especially in the standard cars; Dining car was busy but we could find seats both times we went (fairly decent selection of food items - try the meatballs); WC is very similar to airplane toilets in size and cleanliness First hour (11:45 AM to 12:45 PM): about 85% of time is spent going through tunnels; best views are on the left but you only see glimpses of scenery between tunnels Second hour (12:45-1:45 PM): about 25% of time in tunnels; starting to see snow-clad mountains; nice scenery both sides but more spectacular on right side Third hour (1:45-2:45 PM): almost half the time spent going through tunnels or across bridges with more limited views; beautiful snow-clad mountains on both sides but more panoramic views on the right side; it was so white and bright, we needed sunglasses! 2:25 PM: reached Finse station; at 1200 meters; the highest elevation on trip Fourth hour (2;45-3:45 PM): few tunnels; starting to leave mountains and seeing more farmland and rural areas; lots of rivers, lakes, green hills and dense trees in distant mountains; left side more scenic Fifth hour (3:45-4:45 PM): trees lining tracks, beautiful, glittering lakes; gorgeous views on both sides; right side more scenic towards the end of the fifth hour Sixth hour (4:45-5:45 PM): farmland, lakes, very green; best views alternate between the right and left sides 5:45-6:30 PM: better scenery on the left; more industrial and built up the closer we got to Oslo Last half hour: more tunnels again; industrial and urban

Same with us, we're very low maintenance for our TA and repeat customers. I don't think I called her once for our last cruise. We also go with a large chain TA and get max OBC. In fact, our TA gave us more than the max amount Viking allows for OBC on our last cruise ($800 instead of the allowed $600 for our 14-night cruise). I thought Viking would cut back the OBC amount but we got the full $800 😃.

Yes, we found the food quality very mixed at Manfredi's, one night the rib eye was good, the next just terrible. We also liked the Classical Duo, and also the Contemporary Duo (husband and wife musicians) in Torshavn. Hopefully, they bring some local guest talent onboard. They did on our cruise. Agree with you about Tomas. We didn't make a point to go listen to him in the Explorer's Lounge. The guitarist/singer, Zeus, on our 2022 NL cruise was phenomenal. Enjoy your cruise!

@MikeyB So sorry to hear about your poor experiences with the travel consultant. As you know, we just got off the Neptune but didn't book any future cruises while onboard. We had already booked our upcoming Viking cruise (South America/Chilean Fjords in Feb. '24), along with the May '23 BIE cruise we just took, while onboard our Jan. '22 Venus Northern Lights cruise. The travel consultant on the Venus back then was excellent, took only one appointment to book everything and we received some excellent savings at the time (for the SA cruise: $600 pp for the onboard booking; $400 pp for being a repeat Viking customer; $200 OBC to use on the Venus NL cruise; and the 6-month final payment deal). I think Viking may have been running special deals in winter '22 to try to get people to cruise again after the Covid pandemic. Since we had booked the '22 NL cruise through a TA, our future bookings were forwarded automatically to that TA. Just curious how you're finding the rest of the service and crew on the Neptune? Hopefully, as good as our experiences. Hope you are enjoying your cruise and it exceeds your expectations (other than the travel consultant)!

Definitely 6 PM on the Neptune in May. However, in The Restaurant, people started queuing up well before 5:45 PM and they started seating people at 5:45 PM.

Lucky you to go on a WC next year! Please keep us posted. I too kept up with some of the '22-23 World Cruise bloggers and got the same sense. At first, they went with the Viking excursions and then got tired of following the "red lollipop" around with 35+ other passengers. Many started to book private excursions or just explored places on their own. I completely understand that.

This is very true. Although the hostesses never asked us if we wanted to share a table (I guess assuming that DH and I wanted a table for two), we often sat close enough to other couples or groups to strike up wonderful conversations with them. We met several lovely fellow passengers this way.

Yes, others that reported that they have requested to share a table with other guests. See this post:

I don't think Viking has much choice. With 900+ passengers on board - most choosing included or optional excursions offered by Viking - the best they can do is to offer excursions with 35+ people. There are just so many tour operators they can find at a price that people are willing to pay. Most Viking passengers seem reluctant to book independent excursions - either because they fear they may miss the sail away if the tour doesn't return on time or they don't want to go through the hassle of researching independent tours. If the majority of Viking passengers started to book independent tours, the prices would sky rocket and/or the number of passenger on these independent tours would substantially increase. For those of us willing to take the "risk" of going on independent excursions, we reap the benefits of low prices and fewer passengers. It's simple supply and demand.

Yes, all of our independent tours ranged from 4 to 10 passengers at most. However, you will need to check carefully with the tour operators for the number of passengers expected on your tour We went in May and the numbers could be higher in peak season. All of the Viking included and optional excursions we took were more than 30 passengers and some close to 50. Others have reported that some of the Viking optional excursions may have as few as 10 passengers but this wasn't our experience unfortunately.

Calculate what you think you will drink before, during (if not the included wines and beers) and after dinner and include the premium wine pairings at the Chef's Table ($25 pp - unless you go with the included wines). If more than 3 drinks per day, the SSBP may be worth it for you. If not, buy by the glass.

The terminology is VERY confusing. It takes a lot of research to figure out what you are getting!

Dinner is from 6-9 PM (all dining venues). On our Neptune cruise in May, show up before 5:45 or after 8 PM if you don't want to wait for a table; otherwise, you may have to wait about 15-20 minutes for a table for two (not that big a deal). However, each cruise has its own "vibe" in terms of popular times and dining venues.

Saga Class along with Premium Economy are a couple of steps above Economy Plus (Econ+ is basically the same service and seats as in regular Economy but a little more legroom). Premium Economy (e.g., on United or Delta) is in a separate section, has roomier, more comfortable seats, even more legroom than Econ+, the seats recline more, and better food service and alcohol options, and a few other upgrades (e.g., larger video screens).

Ha, ha... my three daughters who all worked as restaurant servers in their college years, routinely chastise me because I only tip 18% for decent but not over-the-top service.

deec, I have also read all the "gratuity" threads and was very tempted to reduce the amount of our expected, fixed gratuities (instead, use some of it to tip staff we directly interacted with). However, in the end, the service and crew were so outstanding on our cruise that we paid the full fixed amount and gave some crew who made our vacation special an extra cash tip. I do hope that our fixed gratuities directly benefited the crew in some way.

With the typical demographics of most Viking ships (people in their 60s to 80s), Viking is about as far as you can get to a "party ship" and people trying to hook up.

You'll need to ask Islandic Air 🤣. Actually, most US domestic flights (except some trans-continental) and many regional international flights sell "business class" tickets that are not lie-flat seats.

Correct, Saga class is more equivalent to "Premium Economy."

The US has a special agreement with Canada that flights returning to the US via Canada go through formal US customs in Canada; when you arrive in the US from Canada, you don't need to go through customs again. I believe that fights to the US via Dublin Ireland have the same arrangement.

I think - but suggest that you call Air Canada to confirm, that transiting through Canada from the US to Europe, you only go through passport control in Canada but not "customs" (where you have to pick up your checked bags, they go through your luggage and then you recheck your bags for the next flight). However, if you return from Europe through Canada, you do go through customs which I agree is a nightmare in Toronto. We went through Toronto last September on our return to the US and it look almost 2 hours. The only reason we didn't miss our connecting flight was because every flight, including our connecting flight to the US, was delayed by hours in Toronto. Another airport to watch out for is Brussels. After our May '23 BIE cruise, we flew from Oslo to Brussels and had a connecting flight to the US. Our layover in Brussels was 1.5 hours but it took more than 1.5 hours to get through passport control (not even customs!). The lines snaked through the airport! I was sure we would miss our connecting flight to the US. However, there were so many people stuck in the long lines, United delayed departure by 30 minutes until everyone got through.

No dogs that I was aware of on our May 9-23, 2023 British Isles Explorer Cruise (Neptune).