We should be grateful

[sitraveler]

Please don't get me started on what Viking doesn't include in the included tours:

Istanbul-Hagia, Topkapi, Blue

Kusadasi-the walk down

Venice-Grand Canal.

 

I've done most of these ports before, I know what's there, you don't know what you don't know.

[cassandra44]

??? No idea what you are saying?

[CharTrav]

Cassandra44s - I think sitraveler is referring what the included tours should include but don't. For Istanbul, I would agree that the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, and the Hagia-Sophia are on its minimum must see list. They are also located fairly close together.

[cassandra44]

Ok...it wasn't clear especially walkdown in Kusadasi.

As far as Venice is concerned it is absolutely imperative to do several days in advance or after leaving the ship. A minimum of 2 days.. but preferably 7. I dont see much value in a short included excursion there except as a taster.

As far as the Grand Canal is concerned you can get off the ship and get a people mover to the huge car park which also is close to several vaporetto stops...and it is very easy to take one down the Grand Canal...the #1 stops at every stop, the #2 is faster.

But really several days walking around and riding the vaporetti on a pass and staying at a nice hotel actually in Venice is the only way to experience this wonderful city.

re Istanbul the Topkapi has so many interesting exhibits it takes several hours at a minimum and it would be hard to include that in an included excursion. Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque are close together and are easily covered and should be in an included excursion....also the Cistern made famous in the Dan Brown novel - the head of Medusa is a highlight. Plus the spice market and the large bazaar. Are they included?

We were on a HAL cruise and did a boat trip along the Bosphorus to see some of the older houses...really delightful at dusk.

Kusadasi...watch out for the leather shops...as I found out to my cost not really much of a bargain!

[rjscott]

I think, at least for the cruises departing from Istanbul, it would be difficult to have the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sofia and the Cisterns on the included tour due to time constraints. On embarkation day, the included tour was not offered, but this is the day our party of four opted to do our sightseeing before boarding, having arrived the night before. Over 5 hrs, we saw just the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and spent some time at the Grand Bazaar. We didn't even try to see the cistern, as lines there were also quite long. The line at the Blue Mosque was quite long, so that took the bulk of our time. With the time available on the second day before leaving port for Kusadasi, I don't think seeing these sights would be manaageable with large groups of people. As Cassandra has said about Venice, best to allow a day or two on your own for seeing the sights that have priority for you. We then were able to enjoy the included tour with its visit to the Rustem Pasa mosque, the Bosphorus cruise and the visit to the Spice Market.

 

Becki

[huntersyaya]

We boarded in Bergen yesterday and so far, exceeds our expectations. Allowed to board ship at 11am regardless of cabin level. Wonderful food at lunch and dinner . Able to make reservations immediately for Manfredis and the five course wine pairing restaurant...forgot it's name! No reservations needed for The Restaurant. Snacks in pool grill all afternoon. Gelato is awesome..six or so different favors. Have already tried three...all great. Bergen is beautiful. Cabins are so nice and bathroom is the best ever. SERIOUSLY!!!

[traveltwin]

And we disembarked yesterday after a fabulous trip. Really had a ball. Weather was great too, and food,cabins, staff were wonderful. The crew earned every bit oh the tip we gave. Hope you have a terrific time.

[traveltwin]

For future travelers, the icing on the cake was the train ride from Bergen to Oslo that we did on our own. Spectacular scenery. Oslo is a happening place to.

[Lennylover]

We boarded in Bergen yesterday and so far, exceeds our expectations. Allowed to board ship at 11am regardless of cabin level. Wonderful food at lunch and dinner . Able to make reservations immediately for Manfredis and the five course wine pairing restaurant...forgot it's name! No reservations needed for The Restaurant. Snacks in pool grill all afternoon. Gelato is awesome..six or so different favors. Have already tried three...all great. Bergen is beautiful. Cabins are so nice and bathroom is the best ever. SERIOUSLY!!!

When you boarded the ships, how did you make the restaurant reservations? Did you go to concierge or go directly to restaurants?

[huntersyaya]

We went directly to the restaurants...you really can't go wrong. Even the World Cafe is very good. Some of the biggest shrimp I have ever seen!

[HMforcruise]

We boarded in Bergen yesterday and so far, exceeds our expectations. Allowed to board ship at 11am regardless of cabin level. Wonderful food at lunch and dinner . Able to make reservations immediately for Manfredis and the five course wine pairing restaurant...forgot it's name! No reservations needed for The Restaurant. Snacks in pool grill all afternoon. Gelato is awesome..six or so different favors. Have already tried three...all great. Bergen is beautiful. Cabins are so nice and bathroom is the best ever. SERIOUSLY!!!

 

Love your enthusiasm and positive experience. I will follow your posts carefully as we are on the next sailing, but Stockholm to Bergen.

 

If you have time, can you post any tips that you deem important to us behind you....weather, DIY tours that you may do in any ports, included Viking tours you might do, shuttles provided, currencies used. Sorry my list is long. I know the ship itself will be fabulous. It is managing the ports without exhausting ourselves or our pocket books, that I am focusing on. Sounds like walking will be important to compensate for the gelato!

[CharTrav]

Love your enthusiasm and positive experience. I will follow your posts carefully as we are on the next sailing, but Stockholm to Bergen.

 

 

 

If you have time, can you post any tips that you deem important to us behind you....weather, DIY tours that you may do in any ports, included Viking tours you might do, shuttles provided, currencies used. Sorry my list is long. I know the ship itself will be fabulous. It is managing the ports without exhausting ourselves or our pocket books, that I am focusing on. Sounds like walking will be important to compensate for the gelato!

 

 

Re currencies, check the web but here's the answer: euro for Estonia, Finland, and Germany; krone (not the same) for Norway and Denmark; krona for Sweden; zloty for Poland; ruble (of course) for Russia.

[Dauntless]

We boarded in Bergen yesterday and so far, exceeds our expectations. Allowed to board ship at 11am regardless of cabin level. Wonderful food at lunch and dinner . Able to make reservations immediately for Manfredis and the five course wine pairing restaurant...forgot it's name! No reservations needed for The Restaurant. Snacks in pool grill all afternoon. Gelato is awesome..six or so different favors. Have already tried three...all great. Bergen is beautiful. Cabins are so nice and bathroom is the best ever. SERIOUSLY!!!

 

huntersyaya---Are you in a V or DV cabin? I'm in V on my cruise so I'm seeing if we are talking about the same situation. Since you didn't do this before you boarded, I assume it is V.

[Lennylover]

[/FON

Did you tip in the dining room and specialty restaurants?

[huntersyaya]

We're in a v..no problem getting reservations once we boarded. Food at manfredi's was really good last night. I had swordfish. Dh had veal ...both were good. We did not tip ...did not see anyone else tipping. After dinner we sat in atrium with couple who had just eaten at Captain's table...they enjoyed it, too. Trying room service this morning as we are getting off the ship early to do flam railroad on our own.

Everyone seems very pleased on the ship. We have cruised on Princess and celebrity in the past. This is the nicest of the 3. The ship is really, really nice!!

[id4elizabeth]

You do NOT tip each night in any of the restaurants!

 

We did have the same waiter and assistant waiter in the Main Dining Room every night so we did tip them a bit extra at the end of the cruise. The only people you tip as you go are the local tour guides and bus driver on the shore excursions. Otherwise you tip at the end - Viking adds a tip that covers all the crew automatically to your ship account unless you ask them not to.

[Cruzcritik]

We are looking at going on Viking so have been reading these threads, what amazes me is so much self righteousness as guests comments on their experiences.

 

It"s a fact that when a new ship is launched there are going to be "teething" challenges, however in the five star hotel industry these are carefully monitored over several months and they usually have a soft opening of 30% 50% 80% and 90% to iron out and perfect opening challenges.

 

During this time there are even incentives for people to pay a lower premium to stay at the hotel. After months o observations, tweeting, correcting and improving....

 

THEN they have a hotel launch.

 

Now lets look at the cruise industry and viking - people pay a large premium to join an "inaugural" cruise.

 

The cruise line has promised and marketed in their brochures a five star luxury product - hence the fares. So its more a case of 1 week shakedown and then "fill her up'!

 

All these guests have paid very good money and at this point there should be no or a minimum of hiccups, they are paying and expecting a flawless luxury experience and journey from embarking to disembarking.

 

At no point should anybody feel they are part of a guinea pig process.... and I am quite confident Mr. Hagen will agree with me.

 

What ever the perception of each individual experience a guest has good or bad - it has value.

 

If they wait to long, have poor service, things don't work when the are supposed to, well they have every justification to pass on their observations..

 

Of course there will always be a few who dwell on this... quite honestly at this level there is plenty of space to walk away.

 

It is the position of the onboard management and leadership to solve and alleviate any challenges and make those disappointed and valued guests happy.

 

We will wait a year before booking...:)

[traveltwin]

You do NOT tip each night in any of the restaurants!

 

We did have the same waiter and assistant waiter in the Main Dining Room every night so we did tip them a bit extra at the end of the cruise. The only people you tip as you go are the local tour guides and bus driver on the shore excursions. Otherwise you tip at the end - Viking adds a tip that covers all the crew automatically to your ship account unless you ask them not to.

..

 

Oops I did not mean to be unclear. Of course we didn't tip each night, but I had read that people were stopping the automatic gratuity for staff that Viking adds, and I feel pretty strongly that they all come from poor countries, work very very hard, miss their families, and we have every need met and get to travel in luxury, it seems a bit mean to stop the gratuities, especially with so many unseen, behind the scenes workers.

[rjscott]

..

 

Oops I did not mean to be unclear. Of course we didn't tip each night, but I had read that people were stopping the automatic gratuity for staff that Viking adds, and I feel pretty strongly that they all come from poor countries, work very very hard, miss their families, and we have every need met and get to travel in luxury, it seems a bit mean to stop the gratuities, especially with so many unseen, behind the scenes workers.

 

Your assessment is spot on. This is one of the most pleasant and hardest-working staff I've encountered in all the cruises we've taken. And I agree that it does seem a bit mean- spirited to have spent all this money on a cruise, airfare, excursions, and then try to pinch pennies by paying less than the "recommended" gratuity. But, hopefully that is made up by those who recognize those who go above and beyond with an extra gratuity, which does not have to be pooled.

 

Becki