Viking Cruise Research Help Needed

[thdave]

I'm looking to book a replacement trip for our May, 2020 river cruise to Russia.  My wife and I like several Viking trips in their brochure and searched those on Cruise Critic to no luck.  It's best to search new cruises and put in Viking and the departure port in the menu, but still, as I enter Viking Shores and Fjords, I see many South American Fjords and other Norway trips that don't include ours.  I also want to research pre- and post-trip packages, including Iceland, Oslo, and Amsterdam.  I just don't see good responses to my search within cruise critic and find better results if I search in Google.  Any advice?

[lackcreativity]

I'm not sure of your goal in the search. Are you looking for reviews or comments about the trips, or are you looking for specific factual information about the trips? I have found the Viking website full of all kinds of helpful information and it's my first source when researching a trip. It's pretty easy to navigate, except that people often miss the information about possible excursions for each port. You have to click on each individual port for an itinerary to see the list of possible excursions. Then, you can click on an individual excursion for details about it. Pre and Post extensions are shown all the way at the bottom of the itinerary page. 

 

If I missed your point and you are looking for opinions or reviews here on Cruise Critic, then I am not much help. I find the search feature here to be less than user friendly.  Good luck.

[Heidi13]

Suggest sticking to Google, as I find the search function here very time consuming. I find Google is more likely to find a CC post than using the search function here.

 

You can also start a new thread and request feedback for an itinerary or specific ports from many of the great people on the Viking Board.

[Peregrina651]

2 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Suggest sticking to Google, as I find the search function here very time consuming. I find Google is more likely to find a CC post than using the search function here.

 

Not only is it time consuming but it does not give accurate results. I have tried a number of times to find a particular thread whose name I know and not once has the search engine been able to find it.

 

4 hours ago, thdave said:

as I enter Viking Shores and Fjords, I see many South American Fjords and other Norway trips that don't include ours.  I also want to research pre- and post-trip packages, including Iceland, Oslo, and Amsterdam.  I just don't see good responses to my search within cruise critic and find better results if I search in Google.  Any advice?

 

"Viking Shores and Fjords" is a newer itinerary and there might not be much about it. However most of the ports of call  as well as Iceland, Oslo and Amsterdam are not new to Viking. When looking for information about Viking extensions in those cities do not limit your search to reviews or comments from people who have done them as part of "Viking Shores and Fjords" because that is going to be a very, very  small subset. The extensions are the same regardless of what cruise you are doing.

 

Ports of call arrangements are handled by 3rd party contractors. They are the same regardless of which itinerary you are sailing, so don't limit your research to only reviews that cover your itinerary. Look for any review that covers any of the ports you will be visiting.

 

Amsterdam: ocean and river cruises run from Amsterdam -- and more river cruises in a year than ocean -- so see what you can find in the the River Cruising forum and especially in the river roll calls because more itinerary specific information seems to be shared their than in the River Cruising section.

 

Iceland:  Most cruises that start or end in Bergen offer an Iceland extension -- Viking Homelands, Into the Midnight Sun, Iceland's Majestic Landscapes, etc.

 

Oslo: again, cruises that start or end in Bergen offer an Oslo extension.

 

Extension are  described by the number of nights. A two night extension will be three days -- the afternoon you arrive (so not much time to tour)  -- night 1 -- Day 2 for touring -- Night 2 -- departure day on 3, so check out of hotel and head to the airport or ship. A 3 night extension will give you 2 full days for touring, and so on.

 

Some people like the idea of doing the extensions on their own because they can do more nights for the same amount of money; other people are happy to stick to the Viking extension because Viking handles all of the logistics.  Your vacation, your choice, your bliss.

 

Don't forget last year's roll calls, particularly the busy ones, sometimes they can be chock full of information.

 

 

 

 

[OnTheJourney]

I agree with Andy's suggestion to use google (or just Viking's website - which offers very thorough and detailed info on all their available trips).  As he mentioned, Google often links to a CC thread anyway. I've never done much searching here other than to view roll calls or to get other feedback as to a specific destination. I think you have to consider also that anything you see in the presently listed schedules are very possibly subject to change. We have no idea what will emerge as a result of the CV situation. 

Edited April 20, 2020 by OnTheJourney