Tell Me About Viking Shore Excursions....

[need2cruisesoon]

We are booked March 2021 on the 22 day Med Sojourn (Barcelona-Athens) Viking Star.

 

I've been looking at the excursions online and it seems there are plenty of options at each port.

 

However the included excursion looks pretty lame, you know the "At A Glance" or "Walking Guided Tour" or "Motorcoach around the City"

To be honest these look like a waste of time and wondering your thoughts.

So I am assuming that most people ignore the complimentary excursion and opt for a chargeable excursion or book there own independently?

 

Can you tell me the average cost of what Viking charges?

 

Thanks,

Need2Cruise

[HDS]

Also interested in this topic re Mediterranean cruise. 

Would appreciate seeing the cost range for Viking excursions, half-day, full-day, preferably for Mediterranean voyages but those of other destinations would also be helpful.

Thanks in anticipation.

Edited February 19, 2020 by HDS
repeated word

[AuntieWerewolf10]

Check out some of the Roll Calls. The Sea is sailing the Med in May and one of the passengers put together a spreadsheet of shore excursions, Barcelona to Athens.

[Peregrina651]

20 minutes ago, AuntieWerewolf10 said:

Check out some of the Roll Calls. The Sea is sailing the Med in May and one of the passengers put together a spreadsheet of shore excursions, Barcelona to Athens.

 

@CharTrav is the passenger and she recently updated it with this year's prices. Here is a link to the roll call. Mediterranean and Adriatic Sojourn, 06 May 2020, Barcelona to Athens

2 hours ago, need2cruisesoon said:

To be honest these look like a waste of time and wondering your thoughts.

 

For the most part, the tours are designed to give an overview, for those who want a brief bit of history and an introduction to the area. Sometimes they are bus tours and other times they are walking tours; it depends on the port. Some people only do the included tours and then spend the rest of the time in port exploring on their own.  Other people will do an included tour plus an optional/independent tour while yet others don't bother with the included tours at all, choosing either Viking's optional tours or booking independently .  How this breaks down in percentages, I have no idea, though I would guess that it different from sailing to sailing and itinerary to itinerary.

 

Personally, how we choose to spend the day depends on the port and what is on offer. If the included tour is covering ground that we want to see, we will take it; we know what we want to see. Usually we will do either one of the optional tours or we will explore on our own. Depending on the port, many times the cost of a Viking optional tour is very reasonable.  Very occasionally we will do an independent tour but we have yet to do this on any of the ports between Barcelona and Naples because we found the Viking prices reasonable -- unlike our upcoming trip to Norway and Iceland where many of the tours offered can be done for less if booked independently.

 

 

[lackcreativity]

Don't just assume that the included excursions are to be dismissed, but read the full descriptions carefully. On the limited portion of your cruise that we have covered, both the Dubrovnik and the Katakolon included excursions were excellent. In many ports, Viking offers free shuttle service to a central location in the port city. We usually combine an excursion and some time on our own after that. Our excursions include a mix of optional ones and included ones. 

 

We are not very experienced cruisers, having only sailed with Viking, but optional excursions seem reasonable. Simple, half day excursions may be $49 - $79, and full day excursions perhaps $99 - $129. The extraordinary ones (like helicopter rides) are priced accordingly. The most we ever paid was $149 per person for a full day excursion to Predjama Castle and Postojna Caves, which included two admission fees and lunch at a hotel restaurant.

[HDS]

Thanks "lackcreativity"  (I suspect that name is tongue in cheek).   You have given me the information I was seeking. 

[lackcreativity]

13 hours ago, HDS said:

Thanks "lackcreativity"  (I suspect that name is tongue in cheek).   You have given me the information I was seeking. 

Happy to help. We have taken three ocean cruises with Viking, with another one this fall. Hope you enjoy yours as much as we have. 

[lackcreativity]

HDS,

 

Just to add a little more information, my designation of the included tours for Dubrovnik and Katakolon as excellent are based on several factors that differ for the two examples listed. A good guide is one of the prime factors in evaluating the value of any excursion, and we were lucky with both of those tours.

 

The destination itself is another factor, and I think I would love Dubrovnik no matter what. Walking through those city gates is indeed like walking back in time. The tour was very good, with inside visits at a monastery and a small exhibit about the (mostly young) men lost in the war. At the end of the walking tour, we told the guide we were remaining behind, bought tickets on our own to walk the city walls, and then had a nice lunch to recuperate from that adventure. We took the Viking shuttle back to the ship late in the afternoon. It really was a great day. 

 

Katakolon is honestly a place of less interest to me, but the include tour took us all through the park, with admission to the archeological museum at the end. It showed us everything that the site had to offer, in an organized and efficient way, with an interesting guide. We even saw a group of young students (and a local dog) run a race on the original Olympic track. I think that Olympia was kind of a low key visit, but I think the tour was the best possible version of this site. 

[JUSTTWO4FUN]

We have been on 6 ocean and 10 river Viking cruises.  On the ocean sailings we have found that the included tours really depend on the shore excursion director on board along with the cruise director.  Our first 5 ocean's the included tours were pretty good as we like to get a flavor of the local and explore on our own.  Also we have found local tours available in the port's info center's to be a good source and just book it directly.  My last journey which I have just returned from was not up to par for Viking as our cruise director that joined in LA was a bit less experienced and basically just read to us the included description from our travel dox.  It appeared that Viking was a last minute thought by many of the tour operators and they sent left over equipment and guides through out our South Pacific sailing.  We booked optional snorkeling through Viking in Papeete and Bora Bora, and were totally disappointed, however when reach Tonga we did a private trip with the recommendation from the info tent and it was fantastic. Since most of the ports in this part of the world are large cities, and we are not city people, we were just a bit disappointed with the ports but not Viking.  The cost of the optionals in the South Pacific were a bit on the high side however, everything in the South Pacific is high. Our time sailing from London to Montreal provided very interesting included tours. We definitely saw things and have memories we not have had even trying it on our own or taking a optional tour.  I would recommend booking the included tours if they do not interfere with your optional tours and you can cancel them on ship.  This would confirm you a place on the tours when you board ship.  Viking's excursion desk is very accommodating usually.

[HDS]

I appreciate all the responses from Viking cruisers and I hope they are as useful to the originator of this thread, need2cruisesoon, as they are to me. 

[DarcyWilloughby]

However the included excursion looks pretty lame

 

We just returned from a Viking Caribbean West Indies tour and so I can only remark on those included tours. Overall they were disappointing. We signed up for a number of them but after doing three we canceled the rest. Our walk in the old town section of San Juan was fine -- although we also did our own walking tour after we got there and had more fun. One of the tours duplicated parts of our optional tour on the same day but we had a good guide who kept us laughing. And then there was the included excursion that spent nearly 2 hours driving to and from: two brief stops for a view and one stop at Nelson's Dockyards that was OK. The amount of time though and the incessant monologue of our guide about anything and everything began to annoy within 15 minutes. We felt they were time fillers. (Just so you know: several older members of our group ALWAYS liked the included trip; so there you go.)

 

On the other hand, the optional trips were outstanding: one was the highlight of our trip. And of course we wandered on our own to several beaches during our trip. In the future we are not likely to choose many of the included tours if they're like these.

[Nippy Sweetie]

We always book the included tours but often veer off from them at points of interest to us. However,  I definitely would not call them 'lame'. They can give a good overview but, obviously, vary from port to port.