Port Times

[lovestx]

I am trying to help my son and his fiance book their honeymoon on Viking with the Into the MidnightSun itinerary.  I am new to VO and can't seem to figure out how to find the specific times they are in each port.  Can someone educate/coach me?

 

Also would be interested in any firsthand experience with this cruise. The 'kids' know that the crowd will be much older than they (mid20s) but they are o.k. with this.  They are not big drinkers and are really interested in doing a cruise that would be unique.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Frenchberet]

The port times are shown on the Guest Statement (page 3) that was emailed to your son.  We did this cruise in July 2018 and had a great time.  Norway is a beautiful country with lots to do and see.  They made a good choice with this itinerary.

[lovestx]

Thanks Frenchberet! Glad you enjoyed the cruise.

 

But I'd like to know the port times BEFORE we book.  Is there a way to see that online?

[lackcreativity]

The port times are not listed for Viking cruises on the website. In order to know this in advance, you would actually have to call Viking to book a 24 hold on a specific sailing and they will send you a quote which will have the port times. Many cruise lines do list the port times on their website, but Viking is not like most cruise lines ( and I mean that in a good way!).

[LeRenardrouge]

Port times also will vary depending on the direction you are doing, i.e. London to Bergen or Bergen to London.  In addition. Viking has tweaked this particular cruise over the years it has been doing it.  Those changes seem to be based on experience and possibly feedback from cruisers.

 

We did it going London (Greenwich Pier) to Bergen on July 1, 2017.  I will see if I can find my invoice which had the port times but I know it is not now identical to what we did.  On ours, they even did a change in days we were doing the Shetlands and Orkney Islands after we booked.  Not a big issue and seemingly to keep two ships being in port the same day.  

 

If you go to Viking’s main website and find the cruise, then look at each day’s itinerary, you will be able to see a description of each day and some of the possible tour options that may be offered.  

 

I’ll try to take a picture of the port times tomorrow for our cruise just to give you an idea.

 

It was a great cruise with gorgeous scenery.  There are many more younger couples on the Ocean cruises than on the river cruises and more active excursions possible (optional and extra cost).  I think one of their Ocean cruises would be much better for a honeymoon than their river cruises.  

 

 

Edited December 8, 2019 by LeRenardrouge

[lovestx]

Thanks for the helpful info. Glad to know I didn’t find the port times because they aren’t on the website!

 

i sense from all of you who responded that I shouldn’t worry that the port times will be inconvenient or too short.  My future daughter in law is most excited about the stop in Lofoten so hope that’s a well planned stop.

[Homosassa]

Just make sure that the kids know that even if an itinerary is provided to them with port times, that the ports, order of visiting, and port times can be changed at any time depending on circumstances during the cruise. 

 

Ports may also be cancelled and others substituted or a sea day is the replacement.

 

 

 

 

[lovestx]

I have told then that but, Homosassa, are Norwegian fjord ports often missed?

[Peregrina651]

There really is no way to give an accurate response to your question. There have been reports of ports being missed on this particular itinerary, usually because of the winds, but that can be said of any itinerary that Viking does.  "Missed ports" is just one of the cruising "facts of life."

[DaveSJ711]

Any trip in the North Atlantic involves the risk of missed ports.  We cruised from Bergen to Montreal, in September, and missed two ports (one in the Shetlands and one in Greenland).  Another Viking ship left Bergen right before us; it missed the Shetlands port, Torshavn in the Faroe Islands, and the same Greenland port (but added a couple of Iceland ports).  As the saying goes, "you pays your money and you take your chances."

[Peregrina651]

4 hours ago, lovestx said:

Also would be interested in any firsthand experience with this cruise. The 'kids' know that the crowd will be much older than they (mid20s) but they are o.k. with this.  They are not big drinkers and are really interested in doing a cruise that would be unique.

 

We did Midnight Sun the first year it sailed. We LOVED it. We did it before Viking was able to dock in Greenwich and our itinerary did not include an overnight in London or Lofoten but it did include 4 ports that are no longer part of the itinerary. We loved it so much that we are returning to the area to do the Bergen to Iceland itinerary.

 

We sailed before Viking instituted its over 18 rule and there were a number of families traveling with teenage children -- and there were even a couple of grandmothers treating their recently graduated granddaughters to a cruise. Because of the timing, this cruise will attract more family groups, even with the over 18 rule. So, it won't necessarily be two weeks of cruising with a ship full of grandparents. The itinerary also attracts active couples who like hiking, biking and kayaking.

 

One of the good things about Viking is that it is not a party ship.  It is a very laid back but very friendly crowd.

 

If you are interested, you can read my travelblog and see some of the pictures I took at intothemidnightsun.shutterfly.com . (This is not a link, so you will have to copy and paste it into your browser.)

[LeRenardrouge]

This was the itinerary for the cruise July 1, 2017 with embarkation at Greenwich.  

 

We had very good weather and did not miss any ports.  We did have rain for our day in Edinburgh; crossing  the North Sea was a little choppy but definitely not a problem.  The morning in Geiranger was quite cloudy but by afternoon it was mostly sunny.  We did the kayaking excursion in Geiranger fjord.  

[just_dont]

i sense from all of you who responded that I shouldn’t worry that the port times will be inconvenient or too short.  My future daughter in law is most excited about the stop in Lofoten so hope that’s a well planned stop.

We did the Midnight Sun cruise this past June from Bergen to London. All ports except Kirkwall (Orkneys) were scheduled 8:00 to 18:00. Kirkwall had a 16:00 scheduled departure. Ultimately, they moved our departure from Edinburgh up to 17:15, and with a fairly long tender, the last tender back to the ship was to be 15:45, although I believe in reality it ended up being 16:15.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Frenchberet]

4 hours ago, lovestx said:

Thanks for the helpful info. Glad to know I didn’t find the port times because they aren’t on the website!

 

i sense from all of you who responded that I shouldn’t worry that the port times will be inconvenient or too short.  My future daughter in law is most excited about the stop in Lofoten so hope that’s a well planned stop.

I checked our itinerary and we were in Lofoten from noon to 6 pm.  We did the optional sea fishing excursion and it was a blast.  There were only about 8 people on the boat and we each caught several big fish (pollock)!  We’re not experienced ‘fisherpeople’ but we had a great time.  It was one of the highlights of our trip.  
 

We also enjoyed the optional excursions with the huskies and crab safari, both in Tromso.  My favorite included excursion was a visit to the Ring of Brodgar in Kirkwell.  

[LeRenardrouge]

We scheduled a small group tour in the Lofoten Islands with two other couples we met on the CC roll call for our cruise with a company Lofoten Lights.  A few pictures of some of what we saw.

[lovestx]

Thanks, all, for the very helpful information!  I have passed it along to the happy couple.