Favorite VO Itinerary?

[Escaper]

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our Into the Midnight Sun cruise last year, and would like to book another.  We have done 9 Princess cruises, mostly Caribbean.

 

To those fortunate enough to have done multiple VO cruises, what has been top of the list for you?

 

Much obliged!

[CCWineLover]

Oh my - you'll get lots of interesting answers here! 

Where in the world intrigues you I think is the most important thing - and possibly how difficult is it to fly there?

 

We hit a Home Run on our first VOC - the Homelands Cruise from Stockholm to Bergen.  Truly fascinating, with every single port (except maybe Helsinki) being truly wonderful, with the best being St. Petersburg.   Viking people have told us this is now one of the most popular cruises.

 

We also enjoyed our recent repositioning cruise from Barcelona to Copenhagen on the Jupiter.  Lots of interesting ports and it was the maiden docking to many of them for Jupiter.

 

We'd like to try some more cross ocean cruises as well, after reading on CC from people who have done them and just thoroughly enjoy it. 

 

Don't think we will do a Northern Lights one - don't like the cold weather and don't like the probabilities of seeing the lights at all.  But want to see that part of the world, so we are signed up for the Midnight Sun exactly a year from now.

 

Taking the South American cruise from Santiago to Buenos Aires this December-January.  That should be an interesting itinerary - but am a little apprehensive as it seems Viking doesn't do as well in areas they are new to.

 

Have fun!

[lackcreativity]

Empires of the Mediterranean was our first and also our favorite. (No slight to our other two cruises.) The itinerary is great and we were lucky to have excellent weather in April and smaller crowds. In Santorini, the Viking Star was the only cruise ship visiting that day. 

 

I look forward to reading the responses to your question.

[Haworth]

Cities of Antiquities for us, great itinerary and despite going late November had brilliant weather, would go again at the drop of a hat

[molymoo]

If I had to choose i suppose it would be our first ... Viking Homelands.  We went from Stockholm to Bergen and every port (sorry CC ... even Helsinki) was great.  The itinerary had some of the "traditional" European fare; churches , museums, etc. but also a lot of the more natural wonders.  My favorite moment of the cruise was early in the morning when we sailed into the Songnefjord toward Flam (they have since changed the itinerary a bit).  They served Mimosas in the Explorers Lounge very early in the morning for the scenic cruise and while we sat many of the passengers arriving after us literally gasped as they walked into the lounge and saw the amazing scenery of the beautiful fjord!  It was a great morning!

Edited June 26, 2019 by molymoo

[CCWineLover]

13 minutes ago, molymoo said:

If I had to choose i suppose it would be our first ... Viking Homelands.  We went from Stockholm to Bergen and every port (sorry CC ... even Helsinki) was great.  The itinerary had some of the "traditional" European fare; churches , museums, etc. but also a lot of the more natural wonders.  My favorite moment of the cruise was early in the morning when we sailed into the Songnefjord toward Flam (they have since changed the itinerary a bit).  They served Mimosas in the Explorers Lounge very early in the morning for the scenic cruise and while we sat many of the passengers arriving after us literally gasped as they walked into the lounge and saw the amazing scenery of the beautiful fjord!  It was a great morning!

Wow!  We went to Eidfjord, which was gorgeous as well.  Took the all day tour to Flam - Norway in a nutshell.  Now THT was our favorite all time Viking excursion!!

[Heidi13]

Although it wasn't with Viking, our top destinations are:

 - Baltic/Scandinavia

 - South Pacific

 - SE Asia

 

The Meddy used to be on the list, but having experienced it in the 1970's, most ports are now way too busy. Panama Canal is always a favourite, but only if it doesn't include the Caribbean.

 

Still to visit most of South America, but once we do, I suspect the Amazon, Cape Horn & Chile Fjords will also make the list. 

 

[Peregrina651]

So far, we have done 3 Western Med itineraries and Midnight Sun with VO. Of the four cruises, Midnight Sun was definitely the best.

 

It actually took us three attempts to complete the Western Med circuit. The first time, the ship broke down and we spent most of the entire time in Barcelona. Loved BCN but wanted see the other ports, so we booked for the following year--and I got sick on the last leg. So we went back again so I could see what I missed. Good thing we did it when we did it because  Viking is no longer doing the southern half of the loop.

 

 

4 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

the Homelands Cruise from Stockholm to Bergen.  Truly fascinating, with every single port (except maybe Helsinki) being truly wonderful, with the best being St. Petersburg.   Viking people have told us this is now one of the most popular cruises.

 

Of course it is their most popular. They have sailed it more times than other itinerary they have. In 2015 Viking Star spent the summer doing it. In 2016 both Star and Sea were doing it, except for the 4 weeks that Sea did the inaugural runs of Midnight Sun. In 2017, Star, Sea and Sky, were all doing it, except for the month that each took to Midnight Sun. I am glad to see that they are finally able to branch out beyond the Baltic, the Med and the Caribbean. There is just so much more to see.

Edited June 26, 2019 by Peregrina651

[CCWineLover]

20 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

So far, we have done 3 Western Med itineraries and Midnight Sun with VO. Of the four cruises, Midnight Sun was definitely the best.

 

It actually took us three attempts to complete the Western Med circuit. The first time, the ship broke down and we spent most of the entire time in Barcelona. Loved BCN but wanted see the other ports, so we booked for the following year--and I got sick on the last leg. So we went back again so I could see what I missed. Good thing we did it when we did it because  Viking is no longer doing the southern half of the loop.

 

 

 

Of course it is their most popular. They have sailed it more times than other itinerary they have. In 2015 Viking Star spent the summer doing it. In 2016 both Star and Sea were doing it, except for the 4 weeks that Sea did the inaugural runs of Midnight Sun. In 2017, Star, Sea and Sky, were all doing it, except for the month that each took to Midnight Sun. I am glad to see that they are finally able to branch out beyond the Baltic, the Med and the Caribbean. There is just so much more to see.

 

Me too!  But glad we did it once!  Looking forward to our South America cruise in December - now that is branching out.  Am curious to see how Viking does in this "new land" as so many CC readers have told horrible tales about new areas of Asia and Alaska.  Have our fingers crossed!  Just need to go with the flow and lower the expectations.  The Jupiter is a nice ship though.

[tvmovielover]

We were lucky enough to do the Southern Med cruise (maybe a different name now?), the first year they had it and we were on its third sailing with good weather, no breakdowns, etc.  It went to places we had not been before: From Rome: Malta, Sardinia, Tunisia, Algeria, Valencia and finally Barcelona.  They had to drop Tunisia and have changed other ports too.  I think others would enjoy the original itinerary if they can ever do it again.  It was our favorite.  We also enjoyed the Midnight Sun cruise a lot.  However, I too am glad they are going beyond the Baltic, Med, and Caribbean.

[deec]

We do Midnight Sun summer of 2020 and will probably sign up South America during that cruise.

Nothing will EVER compare to our WC in 2018 :)!!!

 

We did Barcelona to Stockholm (it went to St. Petersburg and Tallinn) in Spring of 2017. This itinerary was great with a few sea days to enjoy the ship too!!

 

Although we enjoyed the cruise to Amazon and Caribbean the ports were not wonderful!!  But we thought we really want to see the Brazilian side of the Amazon.  In hind sight my research was not thorough enough!  Not Viking's fault!!

Although it was not an Ocean cruise nor with Viking, we really enjoyed  the Amazon River ,  Peru's sacred valley and Machu Picchu.

[moatenote]

We've done 3 VO cruises--Homelands, Empires, and Eastern Seaboard.  My very favorite was Homelands, and Empires is a close second.  I agree with CCWine Lover that Helsinki was just okay.  We took photos of our shoes being on Russian soil in St. Petersburg--never thought I'd be there!    

[Richard2]

We have done 5 VO cruises, and were confident nothing could ever top Into the Midnight Sun - until we did Iceland's Majestic Landscapes.

[sleepybobo]

1 hour ago, Richard2 said:

We have done 5 VO cruises, and were confident nothing could ever top Into the Midnight Sun - until we did Iceland's Majestic Landscapes.

 

Both Into the Midnight Sun and Iceland’s Majestic Landscapes are on my wish list. 

 

 I also like Trade Routes and Greek Odyssey. 

 

I’ve done two VO cruises - Venice, the Adriatic Sea & Greece and Russia & the Baltic Sea. Both were wonderful. The Adriatic Sea was more memorable because we were blessed with nearly perfect weather and it was our first Viking cruise. 

[geffric]

As far as the Viking Ocean I've done.. Homelands was one of the best. 

But ATHENS to MUMBAI was so unique and wonderful to visit Isreal,  Egypt, Jordan and India in one trip..a very special trip..

 

On the other hand..We have Australia/New Zealand coming up..so ..

[Peregrina651]

2 hours ago, Richard2 said:

We have done 5 VO cruises, and were confident nothing could ever top Into the Midnight Sun - until we did Iceland's Majestic Landscapes.

 

OK! Good to hear! We are booked for next summer!

[deec]

no matter where we may choose to explore next , this wonderful quote inspires me and we continue to journey around our wonderful world!:

Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry,
and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.
~ Maya Angelou ~

[Escaper]

Thanks for all the input.  Keep the comments coming!

 

[cocopico]

We've done five VO cruises, and all were great.  We have also been very lucky with weather, even on the two "quiet season" Mediterranean cruises.  If forced to do so, I think I would rank them as follows:  (1) Into the Midnight Sun; (2) Empires of the Med; (3) Cities of Antiquity & Holy Land; (4) S. America and Caribbean; and (5) West Indies Explorer.  In general, we were very happy with all the cruises, but felt the European cruises had more cultural interest than the Caribbean cruises.  I also think Viking has the most experience with those itineraries.  Aside from the interesting ports, we've also concluded we like the longer cruises (12 to 15 days vs. eight days), particularly when there are a couple of sea days sprinkled in the itinerary.   We are doing the South America & The Chilean Fjords cruise in January, which will be our longest cruise with LOTS of sea days, and I'm hopeful that it will be another winner!  We strongly considered the Iceland cruise, but decided to do Iceland by land on our own.  So many choices . . . 🙂    

Edited June 27, 2019 by cocopico

[Hanoj]

Viking Homelands was our favorite and we hit a grand slam with unusually warm and dry weather late May into June on the Stockholm to Bergen itinerary accompanied with calm seas.. Instead of touring Helsinki we went to Porvoo , Finland and had a marvelous time. Tallinn, Estonia was my favorite port; I loved the contrast of it’s medieval old town and it’s modern downtown. There’s hardly any indication the country was once a Soviet state. 

[deec]

Cocopico,  I will be VERY interested in your SA cruise...please let us know once you return!

[CCWineLover]

8 minutes ago, deec said:

Cocopico,  I will be VERY interested in your SA cruise...please let us know once you return!

 

Deec - we are doing the South America cruise (Santiago to Buenos Aires) this coming December on Jupiter.  A bucket list item, including going to Iguazu Falls.   Will try to post to everyone about the cruise when we go.  So looking forward to it!

[deec]

Thank You!

[Richard2]

CCWineLover and Cocopico:

We are doing Santiago to Buenos Aires in Dec 2020. Will be very interested in what you have to say.

Thanks!
 

[cocopico]

4 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

 

Deec - we are doing the South America cruise (Santiago to Buenos Aires) this coming December on Jupiter.  A bucket list item, including going to Iguazu Falls.   Will try to post to everyone about the cruise when we go.  So looking forward to it!

We are probably doing the reverse of your trip (Buenos Aires to Santiago) in January on Jupiter.  Hopefully they'll have all the logistics worked out by then! 🙂  We'll be looking forward to your report.  I think its going to be a great cruise!