Shore excursion reviews

[Celiac Cruiser]

Am I missing something?? On other cruise lines they have a section on the website with reviews and comments by past cruisers for each shore excursion. Does Viking have that? Where can I find it?

 

Viking, if you are listening, having reviews of the Viking shore excursions (free and paid) by past cruisers, would help avoid some folks booking private tour companies. There are plenty of reviews of the private tours. Viking tour reviews (if they are positive), would definitely encourage me to sign up for more paid tours!

[Vineyard View]

I think this is a great idea......for a number of reasons.....there are many ports where all guests who are traveling would find useful when deciding to jump on a Viking tour or not (including myself).......however I do believe that those of us who enjoy and book private tours are attracted to them for the small or totally private group experience that allows for personalization - often times at the same price range as traveling with a bus load of people. There are just certain ports where for some of us, that is a much more attractive way to see that area....

[Celiac Cruiser]

Thanks Vineyard View. I agree that the small boutique tour offers a different and more custom experience but it would be nice to have reviews of all the options when making the decision whether to 'jump ship' or not.

I know Holland America has reviews of their shore excursions on their website. Crazy that Viking doesn't. It is almost like they don't want the reviews made public.

[Peregrina651]

Thanks Vineyard View. I agree that the small boutique tour offers a different and more custom experience but it would be nice to have reviews of all the options when making the decision whether to 'jump ship' or not.

I know Holland America has reviews of their shore excursions on their website. Crazy that Viking doesn't. It is almost like they don't want the reviews made public.

 

I don't think that it has anything to do with not wanting the reviews made public. I know that when I write comments on the cards we are given after each tour (left in our staterooms), that what I write isn't written for public consumption. It's terse and fragmentary and not something I would want published, especially without my permission. Viking does not have any public commentary on its website and no reviews of any sort. Besides which, I want reviews from an unbiased source, not the vendor.

[Vineyard View]

Spot on points Peregrina. I agree with those observations and hadn't thought of that - so I guess our best bet remains CC reviews from all of us - maybe there is some way that there could be a destination link here for such reviews......but then that would need to take place for all cruise lines, so practically speaking it probably won't happen.

[Celiac Cruiser]

I understand your points but if there was a way to post a shore excursion review on the cruise line website - like a review of a product on Amazon - then it would help to evaluate the excursions. A cruiser would post with the understanding that their comments would be public. This is different from the evaluation cards in the cabin.

 

All reviews are subject to bias but if you see a clear trend, you can take that into account. These reviews are also helpful for knowing the issues with 'difficulty' ratings. Do they mean the length of time on your feet, the excessive number of steps, the overall 'cobblestone' footing, etc. When I travelled with my 90 year old dad, these tidbits were helpful.

 

Of course, they would not necessarily have to be on the cruise website. It would just be nice to see all the reviews for a given shore excursion in one place.

 

Thanks for the conversation.

[Gigiandbaba]

Whatever tour you do in St. Petersburg, be sure that the visit to the Hermitage is in the morning before it opens to the public or else it is VERY crowded and then not as enjoyable.

[Celiac Cruiser]

Thanks Gigiandbaba (love your name - that is what we called our Ukrainian grandparents)

 

Do you know if the Viking Ultimate 2 day goes to the Hermitage in the morning?

[Peregrina651]

I understand your points but if there was a way to post a shore excursion review on the cruise line website - like a review of a product on Amazon - then it would help to evaluate the excursions. A cruiser would post with the understanding that their comments would be public. This is different from the evaluation cards in the cabin.

 

All reviews are subject to bias but if you see a clear trend, you can take that into account. These reviews are also helpful for knowing the issues with 'difficulty' ratings. Do they mean the length of time on your feet, the excessive number of steps, the overall 'cobblestone' footing, etc. When I travelled with my 90 year old dad, these tidbits were helpful.

 

Of course, they would not necessarily have to be on the cruise website. It would just be nice to see all the reviews for a given shore excursion in one place.

 

Thanks for the conversation.

 

Maybe we could simple ask Cruise Critic if they would create a sub-section under Viking Ocean for shorex reviews/discussion. Just because they do it for this cruise does not mean that they have to do it for the others.

[Celiac Cruiser]

That would be GREAT! How do we make it happen?

[Gigiandbaba]

Celiac cruiser-I don't know when the Viking tour goes to the Hermitage-we did the Alla tour. And I really don't know the things that Viking does but Alla took us on a tour of the subway system -it was really quite facinating as each station had a different theme-we saw "the Olympics" and "Naval" things and the trains went very fast!!!! We got on at one station and off at the next. And really, the best reason to go with a private tour is the small group-so much easier.

Edited December 14, 2016 by Gigiandbaba

[Peregrina651]

That would be GREAT! How do we make it happen?

 

Try contacting Laura at community@cruisecritic.com. She's the CC head honcho.

[roothy123]

Isn't there a whole section on Cruise Critic for excursion reviews? Not all that many people take the time to write them, and the ones on there aren't all that detailed, but I frequently look for them anyway. Sometimes you don't know which cruise line the reviewer used, but lots of shore excursions arranged by the cruise lines are pretty much the same no matter which cruise line they're offering the excursions to. I can't imagine it would be all that different on a, say, Royal Caribbean or Oceania cruise, except perhaps the price. Sometimes you'll see the exact same excursion name, and you can look it up on that vendor's site!

 

Also, some people on Trip Advisor review excursions - not always by the specific vendor/company, but at least those are helpful in figuring out which attractions people liked the most, how much time was given at each stop, how much walking was involved, etc.

 

I personally like arranging excursions or planning what I do in port instead of relying on the excursions offered by the cruise lines. That's not because I think they're lousy or necessarily overpriced or overcrowded. I just do a lot of researching, and in doing that, find things to do on my own.

[roothy123]

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/shore-excursions/port/73/

 

The above is a link to the excursion reviews on Cruise Critic. I selected St. Petersburg, but of course there are a lot of other cities to choose from.

[Celiac Cruiser]

Thanks Roothy123,

Too bad they don't have a category for "2 day tour"- but this is close to what I was looking for.

Cheers!

[Peregrina651]

Isn't there a whole section on Cruise Critic for excursion reviews? Not all that many people take the time to write them, and the ones on there aren't all that detailed, but I frequently look for them anyway. Sometimes you don't know which cruise line the reviewer used, but lots of shore excursions arranged by the cruise lines are pretty much the same no matter which cruise line they're offering the excursions to. I can't imagine it would be all that different on a, say, Royal Caribbean or Oceania cruise, except perhaps the price. Sometimes you'll see the exact same excursion name, and you can look it up on that vendor's site!

 

.

 

There is discussion of shorex in the Ports of Call section of the boards but I think what Celiac Cruiser is looking for is reviews of the tours as offered by Viking, which are probably tailored to Viking's specifications and therefore a slightly different animal that what is reviewed in the Ports of Call section. Personally, I would rather read about the tours offered by Viking here in Viking Oceans that to have to weed through the Ports of Call section, port by port, looking for the one or two comments about the Viking tours that might be there. If I am booking on my own then, Ports of Call is the place to be because I want to read about the tour companies specifically, what they offer and how they do business.

[robinlynn]

I think this is a great idea......for a number of reasons.....there are many ports where all guests who are traveling would find useful when deciding to jump on a Viking tour or not (including myself).......however I do believe that those of us who enjoy and book private tours are attracted to them for the small or totally private group experience that allows for personalization - often times at the same price range as traveling with a bus load of people. There are just certain ports where for some of us, that is a much more attractive way to see that area....

 

If you go to the Ports of Call section of Cruise Critic , you will find information on the various ports and tour companies that go to those ports.

I was happy to see the company I am using for three ports received great reviews

 

Robin

[OBX Cruisers]

Several CC posters attempted to share information on excursions for the Viking Star Homeland cruise in 2015 by creating a "special" thread. As time went on, however, these were buried too far down the list to be really useful.

 

It does appear the "Shore Excursions Reviews" under "Cruise Reviews" might be the best vehicle for this info. What is missing though is a way to narrow it down under ports by specific "Providers" (Viking Ocean, Norwegian Cruise Lines, or local company). I'll contact CC about this improvement.

 

I would also like to see a direct way to add a "Shore Excursion Review" without going through the full "Cruise Review." Am I missing something?

 

Then we all just need to refer questions re excursions to that area. Doesn't look like there's a word limit so that shouldn't hold us back.:)

[Celiac Cruiser]

Thanks OBX Cruisers. It would great to have the features you mentioned.

Cheers!

5 months until my first VOC!! I have a feeling it won't be my last.

[Vineyard View]

I use the Ports of Call section regularly to research various ports.....it is very helpful when looking for private tours, restaurants, etc (along with TripAdvisor)......however I do agree that a specific VO Excursions thread would be most helpful (maybe broken down by geographical regions) when determining which tours would most line up with individual expectations or desires....so We could see if it was an active excursion with A lot of walking to see various sites....for others it could be a great guideline for too much walking or hills that would be difficult....or it could explain how much time spent traveling in a bus vs being out and about......a lot of bus time is an instant no-go for us and for others is a must-have. Yes....it would be extremely helpful.

Edited January 2, 2017 by Vineyard View