Five hours in port?

[dancermom09]

One of the member reviewers was not happy with the Star at all. I think they were primarily talking about the cancelled days in London and Paris, but they generalized that full days in port are being shortened to five hours in port.

 

Is this happening anywhere else? We have never been to Europe, will probably never get back, and chose Viking because of the long days in port. Sailing on the Sea in April 2016.

 

I've been looking around for another cruise. Azamara has a couple in May 2016 that look good. We would lose something of the deposit at this point, but also $700 in trip insurance. Since we paid in full last fall, we bought trip insurance on line (MH Ross) and it does NOT transfer if we change our dates. Bad choice, but wouldn't trip insurance be the same no matter where we purchase? Sorry, I digress.

[id4elizabeth]

You have to look at the times in port carefully. I think (without going back and checking more thoroughly) we had only 6 hours in Lisbon. Stavanger was also short as I recall. Also, although there might be 12 hours in a port, sometimes a chunck of those 12 hours are at night. We had a lot of departures at 11:59 (midnight) but arrivals at noon or 1:00 pm. So unless you're into nightlife, some of these hours are 'useless'. You really only had an afternoon.

 

It also depends on if you're using Viking tours and shuttles. Most of the Viking "sightseeing" tours get back before dinner (with some exceptions like Berlin) and the optional evening tours cost extra. The free shuttles likewise usually shutdown before dinner with the last shuttle being at 5:00pm. So unless it's walkable or you're prepared to use taxis or public transportation, you'll be getting back to the ship by 5:30 or so. If you're doing private tours or DIY, then staying later in port, eating dinner ashore, etc is an option. So it depends on a number of factors.

 

Note, I don't think my statements above only relate to Viking - this is probably true of most cruise lines. The difference with Viking is that it's hard to find out what the port times are. Other cruise lines generally post their port times, but at least on the maiden cruise, getting port times out of Viking was like pulling teeth. Have they posted their port times for 2016?

[sitraveler]

Not to overly defend Viking, but the port time changes were to arrange the ship's christening in Bergen. They made major changes which effected the paying passengers experience adversely. I don't think you should have the same thing going forward.

[OneBag]

One of the member reviewers was not happy with the Star at all. I think they were primarily talking about the cancelled days in London and Paris, but they generalized that full days in port are being shortened to five hours in port.

 

Is this happening anywhere else? We have never been to Europe, will probably never get back, and chose Viking because of the long days in port. Sailing on the Sea in April 2016.

 

I've been looking around for another cruise. Azamara has a couple in May 2016 that look good. We would lose something of the deposit at this point, but also $700 in trip insurance. Since we paid in full last fall, we bought trip insurance on line (MH Ross) and it does NOT transfer if we change our dates. Bad choice, but wouldn't trip insurance be the same no matter where we purchase? Sorry, I digress.

 

I have no idea what cruise you are on or whether the port schedule is fixed yet, but if you're booked, you should be able to set up an account at MyVikingJourney.com and from there you can view "My Account" to see if the port schedule is there yet. FWIW (probably not much since this is not your cruise), below is our July 11 2015 Homelands port arrival/departure schedule.

 

We were originally sold on the highly touted long port days and were disappointed when we saw the actual port times. But to be honest, after reading so many great things about the ship, we're mostly okay with being forced to spend more time on board than we'd originally imagined. We are the sort of travelers who book adequate but not great hotels in central locations because we spend as little time in our hotels as possible. Every now and then despite our best efforts to the contrary, we end up at a fantastic hotel with all sorts of amenities, but we never want to take the time to enjoy it and we never do. So we've adjusted to spending more time on the beautiful ship. We will be traveling independently before and after the cruise, though, so we know we will be able to take our time for part of our journey. If you've never been to Europe and don't expect to return, perhaps you might consider adding some land travel days before and/or after your cruise so you come back feeling like you have seen a lot of a few places and a little of a lot of places.

 

DAY 1 | BERGEN, NORWAY

 

DAY 2 | BERGEN, NORWAY | PORT DEPARTURE: 6:00 PM

 

DAY 3 | FLÅM, NORWAY | PORT ARRIVAL: 7:30 AM | PORT DEPARTURE: 3:00 PM

 

DAY 4 | STAVANGER, NORWAY | PORT ARRIVAL: 8:00 AM | PORT DEPARTURE: 2:00 PM

 

DAY 5 | ÅLBORG, DENMARK | PORT ARRIVAL: 12:30 PM | PORT DEPARTURE: 9:00 PM

 

DAY 6 | COPENHAGEN, DENMARK | PORT ARRIVAL: 8:30 AM | PORT DEPARTURE: 10:00 PM

 

DAY 7 | BERLIN (WARNEMÜNDE), GERMANY | PORT ARRIVAL: 6:00 AM | PORT DEPARTURE: 6:30 PM

 

DAY 8 | GDAŃSK, POLAND | PORT ARRIVAL: 1:00 PM | PORT DEPARTURE: 11:59 PM

 

DAY 9 | AT SEA

 

DAY 10 | TALLINN, ESTONIA | PORT ARRIVAL: 7:00 AM | PORT DEPARTURE: 4:00 PM

 

DAY 11 | ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA | PORT ARRIVAL: 7:00 AM | PORT DEPARTURE: 11:59 PM

 

DAY 12 | ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA | PORT ARRIVAL: 12:00 AM | PORT DEPARTURE: 6:00 PM

 

DAY 13 | HELSINKI, FINLAND | PORT ARRIVAL: 7:00 AM | PORT DEPARTURE: 4:00 PM

 

DAY 14 | STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN | PORT ARRIVAL: 9:00 AM

 

DAY 15 | STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

[diane.in.ny]

Insurance from Allianz allows one transfer as long as the time period for the original purchase has not started.

[TERRIER1]

One of the member reviewers was not happy with the Star at all. I think they were primarily talking about the cancelled days in London and Paris, but they generalized that full days in port are being shortened to five hours in port.

 

Is this happening anywhere else? We have never been to Europe, will probably never get back, and chose Viking because of the long days in port. Sailing on the Sea in April 2016.

 

I've been looking around for another cruise. Azamara has a couple in May 2016 that look good. We would lose something of the deposit at this point, but also $700 in trip insurance. Since we paid in full last fall, we bought trip insurance on line (MH Ross) and it does NOT transfer if we change our dates. Bad choice, but wouldn't trip insurance be the same no matter where we purchase? Sorry, I digress.

 

 

Port times changes occurred on my July 25 2015 cruise. One of note is Gdansk which was originally 1 pm to 11:59 pm and is now 6:30 am to 1 pm. There were others as well.

[dancermom09]

Thanks for the input. My Journey says 240 days until I can see my excursions, so no port information. I know I can see the excursions on the site, but is there another place to look for port times?

[OneBag]

Thanks for the input. My Journey says 240 days until I can see my excursions, so no port information. I know I can see the excursions on the site, but is there another place to look for port times?

 

I was able to see port times in my calendar at MVJ long before I could see excursions. I could see port times the minute I signed up for MVJ but my experience wouldn't be relevant because MVJ didn't exist for much of my waiting time.

[DianeLikesToTravel]

I'll be on the Mediterranean Odyssey this year. Port times listed under My Journey:

 

Venice: over night

Venice: over night - 4pm

Split: 8am - 6pm

Dubrovnik: 8am - 6pm

Corfu: 9am - 11pm

At Sea

Naples: 8am - 6pm

Rome: 7am - 11:30pm

Livorno (Tuscany): 9 am - 8 pm

Monte Carlo: 8am - 11pm

Toulon: 8:30am - 6pm

Barcelona: 8am - over night

Barcelona: disembark

[roothy123]

You probably don't have Santorini on your itinerary, but if so, that's one port where many cruisers are often squeezed for time. I know Costa and Celebrity frequently have short days there (e.g., 8 AM to 1 PM or 4 to 10PM). You can see a good amount in that time, but you may have to take a ship's excursion to do that. All cruise ships tender in Santorini, are taken to one of two locations by Santorini-run tenders, and then everyone has to get up the cliff via cable car, mules, tour bus, walking, etc. That takes a while, especially as some cruise lines make independent people wait until the people on tours are off the ship. Getting back down the cliff, especially when multiple ships are there, can take a long time, so a full day is best for that beautiful island.

 

Problems with having a short day are likely to occur if you 1) arrive and depart a city same day you came 2) have a city that is far away from the port city, 3) have a special situation like Santorini, or 4) experience unusual weather or sea conditions that arise after the captain sets the schedule. Tendering also takes some time (any port), but not enough to make a huge impact on schedules. Usually the last tender leaves a half hour before the ship is scheduled to depart, so at least you don't have to stop sightseeing any earlier than in a non-tender port.

 

The times listed for the two itineraries posted are great. Some people may not want to stay in Gdansk and miss dinner to get in more sightseeing, but my experience is that evenings in a city can be really nice - fewer people, more natives out, see the city in a different light than most cruisers, etc. Some of my most vivid cruise memories are from evenings in a city.

 

I, too, was able to see times in MVJ quite a while ago.

[Janet-]

is there another place to look for port times?

 

You could try http://ports.cruisett.com/. Alternatively google each individual port authority.

[Lucky Granny]

I have booked Viking Homelands on the Sea, departing May 8, 2016. As soon as full payment was made, Viking emailed a four-page Guest Statement which has the itinerary on page 3. I was very disappointed to see the short times in port, as we booked (and paid a lot) with Viking because they advertised a Destination Cruise which would allow more time in port than on the ship. That has turned out to be untrue, as it's docked hours look more like a Carnival cruise wherein they want you on the ship spending money more than giving someone else your money ashore. As another poster noted, arriving at 6 am is a farce if nothing is open at that hour, and leaving at midnight limits what you have time to see in the dark and after lots of places are closed. I am hoping there will be enough complaints before next summer that they will make some changes. I will not be able to make myself happy with enjoying the ship.....there are lots of other beautiful ships I could enjoy for half the price.

[roothy123]

I have booked Viking Homelands on the Sea, departing May 8, 2016. As soon as full payment was made, Viking emailed a four-page Guest Statement which has the itinerary on page 3. I was very disappointed to see the short times in port, as we booked (and paid a lot) with Viking because they advertised a Destination Cruise which would allow more time in port than on the ship. That has turned out to be untrue, as it's docked hours look more like a Carnival cruise wherein they want you on the ship spending money more than giving someone else your money ashore. As another poster noted, arriving at 6 am is a farce if nothing is open at that hour, and leaving at midnight limits what you have time to see in the dark and after lots of places are closed. I am hoping there will be enough complaints before next summer that they will make some changes. I will not be able to make myself happy with enjoying the ship.....there are lots of other beautiful ships I could enjoy for half the price.

 

Unfortunately, I don't know if complaints would help, as there are other considerations involved (tides, travel time, etc.) I went on Cruisett.com to look at similar itineraries and there weren't any, especially the Norway-intensive component of Viking Homelands. When I did find something similar, it wasn't so great either. I don't know how many sea days you have, but the Crystal itinerary I found had a day at sea before and after Gdansk, coming from St. Petersburg and going to Copenhagen. I like port-intensive itineraries, and would want fewer days at sea and more in port, even if the port days ended up being shorter.

 

The only thing I can suggest, other than trying to find another cruise on a different line, is to see if Viking is doing the same cruise in reverse, as the reverse itinerary may give you longer days in the ports you're most interested in. I think I remember that for the April Empires of the Med cruise (Istanbul to Venice) there was a long day in either Pula or Kotor. On our reverse trip in September, we have the long day in Dubrovnik, where there are plenty of things to do, day and night. If the reverse itineraries have better times for the ports you're most interested in, maybe Viking will let you switch. If not, maybe getting up earlier will have to do! That's what I'm going to have to do in Santorini if I want to make the most of my day there! Good luck with your situation. Port changes and time changes can be frustrating, but what can you do?

Edited June 19, 2015 by roothy123