Moonlion

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).

We were discussing the topic of solo travelers on the "Onboard Neptune now - British Isles Explorer" post I had started (pasted below). On our May 2023 BIE, Viking sponsored two events for solo travelers ("Solo Traveler Get Together") at 5:30 PM in the upper level of the Explorer's Lounge on Days 3 and 10 of cruise, which were listed in the Viking Daily.

Hi deec, We booked 5 independent excursions (all excellent to outstanding in our opinion) and did Edinburgh completely on our own (no Viking or independent tours - booked a tour of the Royal Yacht Britannia and then walked down the Royal Mile). Here are the independent tours that we booked, mostly through TripAdvisor but you can book directly with the tour operator (see my post #123 on why we booked via TripAdvisor): Holyhead: Busy Bus Tours: Sightseeing Day Tour to North Wales from Holyhead Cruise Terminal; www.busybus.co.uk/north-wales-trip-from-holyhead/; this tour is also available through TripAdvisor. Note: there were only 8 of us on this tour in May, all Neptune passengers, but could be larger groups in high season. Liverpool: Mad Day Out Beatles Taxi Tours (with Ian Doyle); https://mad-dayouttaxitours.co.uk/; can book through TripAdvisor. The price is per cab (up to 6 persons), not per person. This tour was outstanding! You need to book months in advance since he sells out fast. Belfast: Odyssey Coach Tours – Shore Excursion: Giants Causeway Tour (Small Group) https://odysseycoachtours.co.uk/giants_causeway_tour/shore-excursion-giants-causeway-tour-small-group/; can book through TripAdvisor. Note: there were only 10 of us on this tour in May, all Neptune passengers, but again could be a larger group in high season. Orkneys: Craigie’s Taxi, LTD http://www.craigiestaxis.co.uk/; Note: the cab drivers are not official tour guides but they know the islands well and will take you to wherever you want to go (£50 per hour for up to 4 passengers in a car; you can pay by cash or credit card after the tour is completed); see my post on the Orkneys for the sites we visited. Invergordon: Thistle Excursions https://www.thistleexcursions.co.uk/; can book through TripAdvisor (Tour 2: Cawdor Castle, Inverness, Culloden Battlefield and Loch Ness). Note: there were only 6 of us on this tour in May, all Neptune passengers, but again could be a larger group in high season. We took two Viking optional excursions ("Scenic Assynt" in Ullapool and "Walking the Nature Trails of Mousa Island" in the Shetlands). However, to be honest, I can't wholeheartedly recommend either of these (see my posts above). Other passengers we met on the cruise took the "Ancient Civilizations" optional excursion in the Shetlands and all said it was great. We took 5 included Viking excursions and can recommend Historic Canterbury in Dover and Royal Greenwich by Foot (Greenwich of course) - both are walking tours. The rest (City Views of Dublin, Shetland Panorama & Ponies, and Panoramic Bergen) were "just OK" in my opinion, and are pretty much bus tours. Hope this helps.

Hi LewiLewi, We met and chatted with a couple of solo travelers in the Explorer's Lounge or on excursions. They seemed to be enjoying themselves and happy with the cruise. Can't comment on shared tables since DH and I were always seated at tables for two by the hostesses at dinner. We did note many larger tables especially in the Restaurant but not aware of the seating arrangements (individuals or couples wanting to meet fellow passengers or larger groups traveling together). Viking sponsored two events for solo travelers ("Solo Traveler Get Together") at 5:30 PM in the upper level of the Explorer's Lounge on Days 3 and 10 of cruise, which were listed in the Viking Daily. We weren't in the Explorer's Lounge during these times so can't reported on how well-attended the events were. Keeping in mind the demographics of most Viking passengers (mostly people in their 60s to 80s), the atmosphere on Viking ships is generally quiet and subdued. However, I would assume that the Explorer's Lounge in the late afternoons before dinner service starts would be a good place and time to meet other passengers. It seemed relatively lively and busy to us at those times. The 4 PM Afternoon Tea would be another good venue to meet other passengers. I went by myself one afternoon (DH was taking a nap) and was seated with other groups. Also, we went to Torshavn on a couple of evenings and it was very lively and fun with a lot of people dancing. Hopefully, others on this forum can comment on solo traveler experiences on Viking cruises.

Since we independently extended our stay in Norway, we just got back home this week. Oh my, it’s such a drag to have to go back to work, cook our meals, clean up after ourselves… my “head” is still back on the Viking Neptune, so I thought I would sum up our experiences. Overall, we had a fabulous time on this cruise and would not hesitate to book another Viking cruise. In fact, we’re booked on the Viking South America & Chilian Fjords cruise next February which we’re really looking forward to! Was the cruise perfect? Absolutely not… but in all our years of travel, land or sea, for work or pleasure, we've never experienced 100% perfection on a trip, not even on expensive, supposedly “luxury” trips. I think it helps to do our research beforehand and learn from other travelers what to expect, both the good and the not so good. We go in expecting that there will be a few glitches along the way and, unless major, try not to let it dampen our enjoyment. So, what did we like about this cruise? In our experience, the crew and service on the Neptune were over-the-top outstanding. They were without exception friendly, attentive, went out of their way to be helpful, and quickly learned what were our “likes” (for us, classic real-lime-juice margaritas which the bar staff made perfectly). We never encountered any staff who were dismissive or in the slightest rude to us. The itinerary of the British Isles Explorer cruise is excellent! It’s a busy – you could say exhausting – itinerary (12 port stops and only one sea day in a 14-night cruise) but we experienced so many different cities, countries, and a lot of beautiful scenery in the UK. It helped that we booked some excellent excursions on the cruise. We loved the quiet, relaxed, subdued environment with only 900 or so other passengers on board and the ship's understated but beautiful décor. The spa is also a wonderful experience and doesn’t cost extra. Our cabin was fine and glad we had the balcony. Although the ship was full, it didn't feel crowded and we could always find peaceful spots to sit and relax (just avoid the Explorer’s Lounge an hour or two before dinner service starts). We really enjoyed the enrichment lectures on the history, culture and wildlife of the region, and the onboard historian was excellent. We were also very happy with the musical entertainment on board – in fact, we thought that most of the musicians were really good! The lack of Broadway show-quality entertainment was not an issue for us. The weather in May was great! Despite threats of rain, we had lovely weather throughout the cruise other than a couple of afternoons of light rain. Temps were in the low to high 60s (F) so we didn’t need all the cold-weather gear we packed. Even in Bergen which is known for clouds and rain, we had sunshine and warm weather when we visited. The seas were remarkably calm, like being on a river cruise. We didn’t miss any ports even in the Shetland and Orkney Islands which are often missed due to winds and rough seas. We occasionally felt some very gentle rocking motion on the ship, but I didn’t need any seasickness remedies (and I’m very prone to seasickness). More than 80% of our meals in The Restaurant and Specialty Restaurants were good to excellent and a few dishes were outstanding. However, there were some notable disappointments as mentioned below. We didn’t book any specialty restaurants before the cruise because we like to see the menus first, especially the Chef’s Table since we like some of their menus but not others. As soon as we boarded, we went straight to the reservations desk by Manfredi’s to view the CT menus and had no problem whatsoever booking reservations at CT and Manfedi’s, and at the times we wanted. We did note that a couple of days later, the prime timeslots (6-8 PM) at Manfredi’s were booked up. For us, the Silver Spring Beverage Package was reasonably priced, and we took advantage of the premium wine list along with enjoying a pre- or post-dinner cocktail. Admittedly not wine connoisseurs, we found 2-3 white and 3-4 red wines that we liked. We found Viking to be well-organized and efficient when it came to embarkation, getting people on tours, tendering, shuttles, disembarkation, etc. We met several lovely fellow passengers on the cruise. What could be improved? Overall, we found that the Viking included shore excursions were limited, not very inspiring and could use some improvement. Although a couple of the included excursions were excellent (Canterbury) or good (Greenwich), most were “just OK” in our opinion, some just a 2-to-3-hour bus tour with a few brief photo stops. We would have been disappointed if we had only gone on the included excursions. The Viking optional excursions we took were better, but I thought overpriced for what we got. Perhaps we were spoiled by the independent tours we booked, all excellent-to-outstanding in quality, and about half the price of the Viking optional excursions. Since most of our meals at dinner were very good and at times excellent, we don’t have major complaints about the food. However, there was a notable lack of consistency in the quality of some dishes even when DH and I ordered the same item on the same night in the same venue. Seafood was usually good, but steaks and beef were at times thinly cut, overcooked and tough or fatty. It seems that Viking could tighten up on the quality control of food preparation in the restaurants. Our independent extension in Bergen and Oslo including the scenic train was fantastic. I’ll post separately about our train experience. Happy to answer any questions.