Favorite VO Itinerary?

[SM77]

I agree w/ others; Viking Homeland from Stockholm to Bergen was absolutely amazing, especially St. Petersburg - we opted to do a private tour there and covered so many sites in two days.  Norway is amazing.

 

My other favorite itinerary is the Mediterranean - two B2B cruises from Athens to Venice, Venice to Barcelona on Oceania.  We loved Greece so much we booked another Oceania cruise Athens to Athens w/ an overnight stop in Istanbul.

 

We did Auckland to Bali, amazing trip, New Zealand is a gorgeous country, however there are a lot of sea days (Australia is a huge country) and for me, five weeks is too long; Australia north of Sydney is really hot & humid, same for Indonesia.  Wish we had more time in Sydney.  

 

We are heading to South America - Buenos Aires to Santiago in Dec 2019.  Southeast Asia - Bangkok to Hong Kong in 2021.

 

 We've done China, South Korea, & Japan on Crystal.  Another amazing trip, my second trip to China (first was a land tour back in 1989).  

 

If you are interested in exploring France, Germany, Austria, Hungary the river cruises are stellar, highly recommend the Danube River to Budapest and France's Finest (Seine & Rhone rivers).

 

[Peregrina651]

On 6/29/2019 at 12:40 PM, 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!

 

Did SA 10 years ago with Celebrity. Loved it. Because of the geography, it is Med and Midnight Sun/Iceland all rolled into one cruise. Med because many of the people of the southern cone of SA have strong European roots and Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Santiago are modern cosmopolitan cities--arts, theater, music, glass, steel and concrete. It is like being in the Med. However, as you head south, the climate changes and the landscape becomes more rugged, more mountainous and colder. It might be December but by the time you get to Falklands, Cape Horn and Ushuaia you are going to want your winter coat for going on deck--and a waterproof outer layer. The only thing missing is volcanoes (Iceland) but you get penguins instead.

[Cyber Kat]

On 6/26/2019 at 8:05 PM, sleepybobo said:

 

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. 

 

We are doing Trade Routes next fall. I’m excited for this one. 

 

We have done West Indies Explorer and we are doing Eastern Seaboard Explorer next month. 

 

On my wish list are: Into the Midnight Son and the Barcelona to Venice (forget the name) Med one. I’d also like the British Isles one, and I want to do a TA

 

We have a few river cruises we also want to do so we are mixing them in. We did the Grand European, Budapest to Amsterdam last year and we loved it. So many cruises, so little time. 

[Peregrina651]

26 minutes ago, Cyber Kat said:

So many cruises, so little time

 

Ain't it da truth!

[Clay Clayton]

No one has mentioned a transatlantic. We have only done these (Spring 2018 & 2019) and frankly are a little worried that they have spoiled us for our upcoming Far East Discovery cruise in October. We are worried we won’t wsnt to leave the ship in the ports. 😂

 

On the transatlantics we have loved our leisurely morning breakfasts (THE best lamb chops), our daily exercise walking the promenade, noon trivia, lunch of seared tuna  from at the grill over a salad made in the World Cafe enjoyed at the Aquavit, then the afternoon enjoying reading or a nap, an hour or two in the spa. Cocktails with those delish crab claws before a lovely dinner, then a nightcap after a few more leisurely  laps around the promenade before being lulled to sleep by the rocking (sometimes not gentle) of the Atlantic.  I mean when are we going to make time to see the Great Wall or Hong Kong??? 🤣

[Respbj]

Homelands was my favorite but will be doing Empires of ,the Med in April.

[Etexvrc]

We've been on 5 VOC.

Would have to agree with Richard2 in that Homelands was great (our first), but our most recent Iceland trip was outstanding.

In order of our enjoyment, 1) Homelands, 2&3 (Tie) Iceland & Australia/NZ, 4) Kiel Canal 5)West Indies.

 

I think that the Homelands give the most 'experience' for the money.  In other words, you visit several different countries in a whirlwind two week trip.  It was our first experience in Norway and fell in love with the country (have been back several times, both with & without Viking).  Estonia was a stop that we may have never enjoyed had it not been for the Homelands cruise.

 

Iceland is simply incredible!  We have traveled all over and have never seen natural scenery/beauty like that!  We will return.

 

Like many others here, we are scheduled to cruise South America in December (Santiago -> BA) so this list/order may change.

 

 

[Phillygirl3]

We are booked on Buenos Aires to Santiago, this year, so I guess we will be the guinea pigs for this itinerary.   I know that many of you planning on booking this cruise have some concerns because of past experiences of those who did a new itinerary with Viking in Alaska.  From what I have read the "bad" experience mostly centered on embarkation in Vancouver because there were too many other ships docked there and the Viking ship was anchored which created problems for passengers waiting to embark.  Let's hope that this isn't the problem in Buenos Aires.  

[Clay Clayton]

I believe the Sun did this itinerary last year as a segment on the World Cruise and I don’t recall any hearing any significant issues so hopefully the concerns are unfounded.   

 

We did a similar itinerary in 2010 aboard Norwegian Sun. It remains our favorite cruise. The perfect mix of sea and port days and absolutely beautiful scenery combined with such interesting wildlife. 

 

Have a great cruise!

[lackcreativity]

On 8/14/2019 at 8:46 AM, Cyber Kat said:

 

We are doing Trade Routes next fall. I’m excited for this one. 

 

We have done West Indies Explorer and we are doing Eastern Seaboard Explorer next month. 

 

On my wish list are: Into the Midnight Son and the Barcelona to Venice (forget the name) Med one. I’d also like the British Isles one, and I want to do a TA

 

We have a few river cruises we also want to do so we are mixing them in. We did the Grand European, Budapest to Amsterdam last year and we loved it. So many cruises, so little time. 

Cyber Kat,

I noticed you have done the West Indies Explorer. What did you think of that one? I just happened to watch the Viking video of that cruise, and was tempted to consider it.

 

All of our trips so far have been in Europe, by land or river or ocean. From Scandinavia and Russia all the way to Greece and Turkey, my travel interests are focused there. I have loved every trip we have taken. Beaches are not my idea of a good time. My (perhaps unfair) perception of Caribbean cruises is all large cruise ships with partying crowds getting off ships to sit on different beaches each day. 

 

Before our first Viking river cruise, which led to our first Viking ocean cruise, I used to think I was not a "cruise person". Could I be wrong in thinking I'm not an "island person" too?

 

P.S. We did Trade Routes last fall. I wish you better weather than we had, but we loved that cruise in spite of it. Bruges and Malaga were highlights, and we missed Falmouth because of storms, but every port was a treat. We went to Honfleur instead of Paris, and skipped the Alhambra (one of the best sights ever) since we had been there previously. Enjoy!

[acadian_dad]

We are considering doing the Viking Homelands (Stockholm to Bergen) followed by the Paths of the Vikings crossing to Montreal from Bergen as a back-2-back August next year.   Everyone here says the homelands is a wonderful itinerary (and that would be our main focus) but hitting a few of our bucket list ports (Iceland, Greenland and l'Anse-aux-Meadows on the return has me intrigued (not to mention Montreal being very close to home on return).   Has anyone done the Vikings Paths crossing to Montreal and any comments on that itinerary ?

[CCWineLover]

On 8/23/2019 at 6:58 AM, Etexvrc said:

We've been on 5 VOC.

Would have to agree with Richard2 in that Homelands was great (our first), but our most recent Iceland trip was outstanding.  In order of our enjoyment, 1) Homelands, 2&3 (Tie) Iceland & Australia/NZ, 4) Kiel Canal 5)West Indies.

I think that the Homelands give the most 'experience' for the money.  In other words, you visit several different countries in a whirlwind two week trip.  It was our first experience in Norway and fell in love with the country (have been back several times, both with & without Viking).  Estonia was a stop that we may have never enjoyed had it not been for the Homelands cruise.

Like many others here, we are scheduled to cruise South America in December (Santiago -> BA) so this list/order may change.

 

 

Look forward to our meeting on the Jupiter in South America this December! 

We also thought Homelands (Sky) was tops, followed by Western Europe Coast (Jupiter), and West Indies (Sea).

Hoping you are right and wouldn't mind our SA cruise going to the top of the list!

We liked Norway so much on the Homelands cruise that we are going back on the Midnight Sun cruise next summer.

 

10 hours ago, Phillygirl3 said:

We are booked on Buenos Aires to Santiago, this year, so I guess we will be the guinea pigs for this itinerary.   I know that many of you planning on booking this cruise have some concerns because of past experiences of those who did a new itinerary with Viking in Alaska.  From what I have read the "bad" experience mostly centered on embarkation in Vancouver because there were too many other ships docked there and the Viking ship was anchored which created problems for passengers waiting to embark.  Let's hope that this isn't the problem in Buenos Aires.  

I agree with you Phillygirl3 - it certainly appeared that the Alaska Viking cruises issues had to do with tenders.  We'll have a few on the SA cruise, but we don't have many other ships to compete for space and resources with.  In Alaska there are loads of ships and Viking is new thereby last in the queue for everything.

 

Our SA excursions are posted now, so we'll see how the excursions go on a "newer" itinerary.  I read about issues Orion had with excursions in new itineraries like Australia/Bali.  Cross our fingers!!

[Cyber Kat]

1 hour ago, lackcreativity said:

Cyber Kat,

I noticed you have done the West Indies Explorer. What did you think of that one? I just happened to watch the Viking video of that cruise, and was tempted to consider it.

 

All of our trips so far have been in Europe, by land or river or ocean. From Scandinavia and Russia all the way to Greece and Turkey, my travel interests are focused there. I have loved every trip we have taken. Beaches are not my idea of a good time. My (perhaps unfair) perception of Caribbean cruises is all large cruise ships with partying crowds getting off ships to sit on different beaches each day. 

 

Before our first Viking river cruise, which led to our first Viking ocean cruise, I used to think I was not a "cruise person". Could I be wrong in thinking I'm not an "island person" too?

 

P.S. We did Trade Routes last fall. I wish you better weather than we had, but we loved that cruise in spite of it. Bruges and Malaga were highlights, and we missed Falmouth because of storms, but every port was a treat. We went to Honfleur instead of Paris, and skipped the Alhambra (one of the best sights ever) since we had been there previously. Enjoy!

We really enjoyed the West Indies cruise.  On the whole cruise we went to ONE beach and it was the last day in St Thomas.  We did the Champagne Catamaran cruise to St John - which is wonderful!  No party crowds in site - just miles of unspoiled beach.

We did mostly optional tours.  Viking didn't quite have the Caribbean down for the included tours, but it might be better now.  Most of the were the "panoramic" bus rides - which we aren't fond of.

We went to St Croix instead of Tortola because it was not long (March 2018) after the devastating hurricanes in 2017.  The Viking tour was a walking tour, and I really enjoyed it.

In San Juan we wanted to do the rain forest horseback ride, but the rain forest was really badly damaged, so we did the walking tour - which again was very interesting.  We really saw and learned a lot.

In St Kitts we did the St Kitts Railway - great fun!  An excellent way to see the island, the narration was fantastic, very informative.  They had a local a Capella group that sang Caribbean songs and there was the ubiquitous rum punch or fruit juice.  We also did the included tour of Basseterre by bus which ended up at the appropriately named Fairview Estate - awesome views, bougainvillea in bloom everywhere, interesting house tour and gardens.

In St Lucia we did one of my favorite tours - a whole day, Land and Sea tour.  Apparently there was a portion of it that was a bus tour.  This was cancelled because people complained that the roads were in poor condition.  Fine with me - we really just wanted the boat trip.  It was a large catamaran, but not crowded - lots of room to move around, and a great crew.  We sailed up the coast with a cruise through Marigot Bay and past the Pitons - which you have to see from the water.  They are very impressive.  We docked in Soufriere, where we boarded vans to go up to the Morne Coubaril Estate.  Very interesting tour, we learned all about coconuts and chocolate production - which is what the estate was known for.  After the tour we had a very nice Creole buffet lunch in their open air restaurant.  From there, we went back to the boat, and anchored in a little cove for a swim, then we sailed back down the coast while dancing with the crew, drinking the usual rum punch and fruit juice.  We pulled into the pier singing Sweet Caroline and everyone on the dock joined in.  An all around very enjoyable day.  

In Barbados, we chose a Photography Tour.  It was a small group tour - 10-12 in a van, with an excellent guide, who is a well-known photographer in the islands.  He took us to all sorts of off the beaten path spots - lots of photo ops.  He gave tips - even for casual picture takers using phones.  He was very knowledgeable about Barbados and it's history.  It was a fantastic tour.

Guadeloupe was the only island and tour I wasn't wild about.  I think Viking has substituted another island for this.  I'm guessing that a lot of people complained.  Our original excursion - a trip to a distillery and a waterfall - was cancelled.  We should have just stayed on the ship 😄 - but I booked the Jacques Cousteau Reserve that I had also been considering - bit mistake!  I'm not sure what I was expecting, but what we got was not it.

First off, the bus they put us on to get there was worse than the worst budget airline.  I have never been in a bus with 6 across seats before.  It was very claustrophobic.  On the way out of the port, the local French police, decided to pull a surprise bus safety inspection.  Every bus was stopped and there were other ships in port that day!  We all had to wait until the inspection team got to us and inspected our bus.  Our driver was fined because we weren't wearing seat belts - but they inspected EVERYTHING.  Sorry Guadeloupe - do this when the buses are not filled with tourists who paid for an excursion, not to sit in the hot sun waiting for you!

It was kind of downhill from there.  The bus ride was really long over winding mountainous roads, the guide was supposed to use the Quietvoxes but he didn't and he didn't speak English very well.  If he forgot a word, he would lapse into French for awhile - great if you speak French. but otherwise, not so much. 

When we got to our destination, we had to pay to use the most disgusting bathroom in a supply closet!  The Jacques Cousteau Reserve was an island that we went to on a glass bottom boat.  There wasn't a fish to be seen - not one.  Some people got to scuba dive - we don't, so we just stayed on the boat.  The scenery was lovely - I'll give them that.

Then we had to reboard those horrid buses for the trip back.  Back at the boat, I realized I had dropped my sea pass card in the bus, and couldn't get the driver to understand why I had to get back on to look for it.  I could find it.  But someone told me that someone else had found one.  Instead of leaving it with the guard, the person took it back on the ship, so I had to wait until someone could go get it and bring it back.

The only thing that saved that day, was the Viking crew welcoming us back with a line of smiling faces, music and champagne.  They had no idea how much I needed that! 

If Guadeloupe is on your itinerary - don't get off the ship!

Antigua more than made up for it with another great day.  We did another Land and Sea.  The first part was the included tour to Nelson's Dockyard (very interesting), Shirley Heights (awesome views) and a multi media presentation of the history of Antigua, that I thought would be hokey, but was very well done.  After that we boarded a catamaran - again, not crowded, and sailed out to a reef where some people went snorkeling.  The crew prepared a wonderful bbq lunch and we had a lovely time sailing back to the pier.  Definitely better than the day before!

I was really looking forward to St Maarten, but they were still recovering from the hurricanes, so we just did the included tour.  It was a bus ride, but we made several stops at interesting spots and had a fantastic tour guide.

In St Thomas, as I mentioned before, we did the Champagne Catamaran out to St John, and had a nice relaxing last day of the cruise.  St John is gorgeous!

So as you can see - no "partying crowds,"  no sitting on beaches all day - though you probably could have if you wanted to.  I would absolutely do it again, but we have so many other itineraries we want to do, that I can't justify doing the same one twice 😄  Maybe if I win the lottery or someone gifts me with a free Viking cruise!
 

[lackcreativity]

 

2 hours ago, Cyber Kat said:

So as you can see - no "partying crowds,"  no sitting on beaches all day - though you probably could have if you wanted to.  I would absolutely do it again, but we have so many other itineraries we want to do, that I can't justify doing the same one twice 😄  Maybe if I win the lottery or someone gifts me with a free Viking cruise!
 

Thanks so much for your in depth review of the West Indies Explorer. Maybe it would be something we would enjoy, and it could open up an entirely new area for us. Some of the architecture shown in the Viking video looks charming, and while I didn't see a castle anywhere, there are apparently some old plantations and churches to keep me interested.

 

The price is reasonable, plus, a non stop flight from Baltimore to San Juan would be much easier than that trans-Atlantic overnight economy flight!

[Cyber Kat]

2 hours ago, lackcreativity said:

 

Thanks so much for your in depth review of the West Indies Explorer. Maybe it would be something we would enjoy, and it could open up an entirely new area for us. Some of the architecture shown in the Viking video looks charming, and while I didn't see a castle anywhere, there are apparently some old plantations and churches to keep me interested.

 

The price is reasonable, plus, a non stop flight from Baltimore to San Juan would be much easier than that trans-Atlantic overnight economy flight!

It was the short flight that partly sold us.  The homes are very colorful and there were some pretty churches.  Lots of flowers, pretty scenery - different, but worth seeing.  With the exception of Guadeloupe, Viking picked the islands well.  Many of the towns were very quaint.  Different look from Europe, but charming in their own way.

 

[retiredman]

Has anyone done the British Isles Explorer? We are considering booking that and would appreciate any comments.

[philw1776]

Done 6 river cruises and 2 VO cruises, Homelands (Scandanavia, Baltic countries, St Petersburg, Russia) and Med Odyssey, Barcelona to Venice.  Loved both cruises.  Want to get back to Norway and would do Med Odyssey again repeating a few excellent tours and sampling other new tour experiences.
Going Viking Transatlantic, Bergen to Montreal next August.  Appreciate any tour, etc. input.  Would like to do Viking Midnight Sun and a Greek Isle focused cruise 2021.
Just finished last week an excellent Denali land and Alaska Inner Passage cruise on Silversea.  Superb.