Live blog of "Viking Homelands" now up!

[Ukalady]

I'm at the airport on the first leg of our May 30 "Viking Homelands" cruise on the Star and am I excited! Yes, I've read everything on these boards for the past several months about the very real challenges for passengers on this new ocean cruise line, but I'm still thinking it's going to be really special.

 

I've just a few posts up there at this point but plan on oodles of details and photos as I did last year when I did my river cruise blog. You can "subscribe" to get email updates when I put up something new. I'll be posting as someone completely new to ocean cruising--new ship, new cruise line, new passenger. Oh, boy!

 

Here it is: http://oceancruisenewbie.com

[Azulann]

I love reading travel blogs.

Thanks for the link. I will book mark it. You have a great writing style, love your humor. The picture of you and your mom is lovely.

I will follow your journey on the Viking Star.

So glad someone is picking up a blog after CruisinSubman ends his fifty days of travel.:)

[DianeLikesToTravel]

Ukalady, I can't wait to read about the adventures you and your mom will will have on the Star. Bon Voyage.

[goksucats]

I'm at the airport on the first leg of our May 30 "Viking Homelands" cruise on the Star and am I excited! Yes, I've read everything on these boards for the past several months about the very real challenges for passengers on this new ocean cruise line, but I'm still thinking it's going to be really special.

 

I've just a few posts up there at this point but plan on oodles of details and photos as I did last year when I did my river cruise blog. You can "subscribe" to get email updates when I put up something new. I'll be posting as someone completely new to ocean cruising--new ship, new cruise line, new passenger. Oh, boy!

 

Here it is: http://oceancruisenewbie.com

 

I'll see you on the ship Ukalady! We fly out of Kansas City tomorrow!

[KyOh]

I've just subscribed to your blog. I'm so anxious to hear about the things you do on this cruise. We are signed up for the same one in July '16. Have fun!

[algaes]

Ship is tied up at Stadsgardshamnen 24 (according to Viking Daily) next to J Lindeberg offices and directly across from Grona Lund amusement park

[roothy123]

Yay! Another blog. I love blogs. This itinerary looks fabulous, and includes some places we have been to and really enjoyed, plus some we haven't. The fjords are great (although I think we went to different ones than you will), and of course the Baltic area is fascinating. Enjoy your trip - I'm very jealous.

[t&c_traveling]

Hi. Looking forward to your review of this cruise. We are going in this cruise Sept 4, 2016. I would really be interested in hearing about your experiences with the excursions (both free and ones you paid for ). I hope you have a wonderful cruise and hope they fixed the issues that i have read about so far.

[TERRIER1]

Ship is tied up at Stadsgardshamnen 24 (according to Viking Daily) next to J Lindeberg offices and directly across from Grona Lund amusement park

 

The port of Stockholm says Stadsgarden S160. Is this the same as Stadsgardshamnen 24?

[roothy123]

This got me curious, so I looked on Marine Traffic. As of 2:30 EST Friday, she's docked beside a major road called Stadsgardslegen. I then went to Google and found this picture, although it may have been taken months ago: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Eriks+Gondolen/@59.317524,18.090392,3a,75y,107.85h,98.43t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sjEoiGCypztaLU0laqUPaVA!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x465f77fb57761637:0x61fe9991596d1ba7!6m1!1e1

 

Whether she is actually at that spot or not I don't know - but obviously that location was expecting Viking visitors of some sort, as they had a big sign when the picture was taken! Does Viking River Cruises go to Stockholm? If so, perhaps the port allowed her to use her usual berth instead of assigning her to one of the more commercial dock locations, of which there are at least several. Stadsgardslegen is definitely not where we ended up when we ended a cruise a few years ago in Stockholm! Looks nicer!

 

Generally, I use port website info over ship info as sometimes ports do change dock assignments. It has happened to us a couple times. Of course, one time we were listed on the same port website as coming into two different docking locations several miles apart - couldn't figure that one out! Luckily the rental guy we were supposed to meet stayed on top of it and was there to meet us.

[roothy123]

OK, mystery solved: Looks like the two locations are the same. One looks to be the port designation and the other a street address. The street leading to the gates in the picture ends in "hamnen," which means "port."

Edited May 29, 2015 by roothy123

[id4elizabeth]

We are at the port very near to town, although there's a massive wall you have to get up - no problem with the tour and shuttle busses but not sure about walking. You can literally see the Old Town from the back of the ship. The reason you see the Viking sign is the Viking Ferry Service is right in front of us. A big "Viking Cinderella" was parked next to us when we returned from our afternoon excursion. If you can zoom in on 'maps' far enough you might see some ferry terminal car/truck lanes. The Star is next to these ferry lanes.

 

The free shuttle busses drop you at the Stockholm Opera. We haven't done the shuttles but that's the info they're giving out. The stop seems quite centrally located.

[LadyVol1]

The shuttle drops off near the Stockholm Opera House and was supposed to run continuously from 9 AM to 5 PM but two passengers took a cab back to the ship this afternoon after being told the shuttle wouldn't be at the Opera House for an hour. I'm not sure what definition of continuously Viking uses!

 

And although we are here overnight, the shuttle stopped at 5 PM. That's a fine example of the port immersion that Viking keeps advertising. But that's just my opinion.

[roothy123]

I've learned to take information on shuttles (any line, any port) with a grain of salt, as they're usually provided by the ports (for a fee or for free, depending upon what arrangements the cruise line has made, if any), so you're kind at their mercy. If you guys are headed to Helsinki, beware the shuttle that stops for two hours at lunch time! Have euros for a cab (cheap if you find others to share) if you want to get back at a particular time. It's too far to walk, and the tram only goes part way.

[editor@cruisecritic]

I was lucky enough to have two different trips on Viking Star leading up to the christening, and can't wait to hear about your trip, UkaLady.

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

[Lucky Granny]

I was following Ukalady's blog and enjoying it immensely. However, their cruise departed June 5, and her last post was June 12. The blog just ended. I am wondering if anyone know what happened?

[roothy123]

I was enjoying it too, but maybe she'll come back on here at some point and post. It is, after all, a vacation. I always go on a cruise with good intentions of emailing, but rarely end up sending more than one or two emails on a two week cruise, even if I have internet access. I doubt I'll ever get to the point where I can do entire blog! I admire people who do.

[t&c_traveling]

I hope so too. I really enjoyed Ukalady's blog. It was full of interesting information. I hope she is enjoying her trip and will update soon. Hopefully nothing bad happened

[OneBag]

I feel like I do when one of my adult children goes radio silent. On the one hand, it's none of my business. On the other, I worry.

 

I too hope all is well with Ukalady and her mom!

[SeattleBB]

Same here. We just boarded yesterday for the Homelands cruise and I've been thinking about her a lot. I do hope everything is ok.