Live from the Viking Star World Cruise 2021-22

[2oldishcoots]

Did anyone do the tour to Montserrat? I’d be really interested to know their opinions & the cost, which I realize wouldn’t be etched in stone. We’ve been to Barcelona a few times & never made it there yet. We are on the Neptune in Barcelona for the next WC and are hoping this could be on our plan.

[GKTV32162]

World Cruise Day 131/152 - Leixões (Porto), Portugal - It was a bumpy road getting here

 

https://kolbsontheroad.blogspot.com/2022/05/world-cruise-day-131152-leixoes-porto.html

[Twitchly]

48 minutes ago, GKTV32162 said:

World Cruise Day 131/152 - Leixões (Porto), Portugal - It was a bumpy road getting here

 

https://kolbsontheroad.blogspot.com/2022/05/world-cruise-day-131152-leixoes-porto.html

That was the bumpiest part of our cruise, too. Lots of broken dishes!

[Rabbit27]

I can not believe how fast your cruise has gone 🙈

loved your photos today 😊

 

[Azulann]

If I remember right, the port terminal in Porto is made up of small tiles. It was  really cool  when we were there  a number of years ago. We went to a UNESCO  world heritage site  to a small village. We  missed the tour of  city of Porto.

[Insanityx4]

10 hours ago, 2oldishcoots said:

Did anyone do the tour to Montserrat? I’d be really interested to know their opinions & the cost, which I realize wouldn’t be etched in stone. We’ve been to Barcelona a few times & never made it there yet. We are on the Neptune in Barcelona for the next WC and are hoping this could be on our plan.

We did the tour to Montserrat on another Viking cruise in 2019. It's a nice drive and the view from the top is amazing. Montserrat Monastery itself was a bit disappointing but the experience was worth the drive.  We did a day trip which included the highlights of Barcelona. We used Barcelona Day Tours which picked us up at the ship upon arrival and will either return you back to the ship, a hotel, or the airport. The price was around 99 euros pp for 4-12 people. We we able to get a group together on the ship through Cruise Critic boards and 12 of us went.

They also do a Montserrat and winery tour to Catalonia for around 90 euros. I believe they also have a 1/2 day tour to just Montserrat. They were well organized, knowledgeable, spoke excellent English, and were professional. I would definitely recommend them. Another plus, for anyone not returning to the ship, they take care of your luggage during the tour. It stays with the driver in the mini van.

Edited May 3, 2022 by Insanityx4

[Clay Clayton]

11 hours ago, 2oldishcoots said:

Did anyone do the tour to Montserrat? I’d be really interested to know their opinions & the cost, which I realize wouldn’t be etched in stone. We’ve been to Barcelona a few times & never made it there yet. We are on the Neptune in Barcelona for the next WC and are hoping this could be on our plan.

Like Insanity, we did a 1/2 day tour to Monserrat with Barcelona Day Tours. We had a group of 10 or so I out together on our rollcall. They picked us up upon disembarkation from our Transatlantic and we headed to Montserrat. We arrived in time for the choir performance which was very enjoyable. After some free time we headed back to Barcelona and we were dropped off at our various hotels.

 

I was pleased with the ease of communication and our guide. He even said goodbye and jumped off the van and  ran several blocks back to the last hotel stop to return a fellow guest’s phone that we discovered had been left after they got out at their hotel.  The driver the. took the last of us on to our hotels. Talk about service!  

[Azulann]

Did the same thing . Barcelona day tours was great . I loved at last seeing Montserrat. It was a  C lovely half day excursion up the mountain to the religious site and back to our hotel in Barcelona 

 

[Wavetripper]

2oldishcoots, replying to Monserrat. We have done this excursion with Viking, cannot recall the price but we enjoyed the rack railway ride from the base of the mountain climbing up to the Abbey, very steep but the views were amazing. The Abbey is impressive for its location and history. 

We purchased a couple items from the souvenir store as a memento of the excursion. 

We had free time so we chose to walk a couple of trails one of which led to a magnificent outcropping (Creu de Sant Miquel) a 20 minute walk one way with a fantastic view of the Abbey and valley. Great for pictures. 

Hope to see you on the 2023 world cruise as we will be boarding in Los Angeles.

Cheers

 

Edited May 4, 2022 by Wavetripper

[TayanaLorna]

22 hours ago, 2oldishcoots said:

Did anyone do the tour to Montserrat? I’d be really interested to know their opinions & the cost, which I realize wouldn’t be etched in stone. We’ve been to Barcelona a few times & never made it there yet. We are on the Neptune in Barcelona for the next WC and are hoping this could be on our plan.

We also toured Montserrat when on a pre extension before sailing a TA with Viking last Fall.  Due to Covid fears and social distancing before boarding, we splurged and did a private tour with Christian from Barcelona Day Tours.  It was around $500 for an 8-hr day for the 2 of us and well worth it.  I am a fan of Gaudi and wanted to see as many of his buildings as I could, visit Montserrat, see the interior of La Sagrada Familia and go to Parc Guell.  Given our desires, Christian organized and timed our day to see everything we wanted plus more.  We did it at our pace and never felt rushed.  It included skip-the-line tickets for La Sagrada (with audio guide), Parc Guell and a timed entrance to see the Black Madona and the Boys Choir at Montserrat.  He was excellent in giving us background, history and stories about what we would see as well as dropping us off as close as he could get us to sights.

 

Montserrat was awesome and took up about a third of the day.  We actually wished we had more time.  We did not take the tram to the upper chapel constructed on the site where the madonna was discovered nor were we able to hike any of the trails.  That would be a whole day visit.  However there was an event in the plaza with costumed dancers performing different local dances.  Christian suggested we take another ariel tram down to a lower parking lot to meet him when we were finished.  It brought us down along a river gorge with fantastic views.

 

Barcelona Day Tours has several small group tours in and around Barcelona.  They use 12 person mini vans for their "stock" tours and will go with only 4 people.  They will pick up at cruise dock, airport or hotel and will drop you off at a different location if you arrange in advance.  We went in a Mercedes sedan for our private tour.  

 

Mo tser

[2oldishcoots]

Thank you @Insanityx4, @Clay Clayton, @Azulann, @Wavetripper, & @TayanaLorna for all these comments. So looking forward to spending time taking this trip. 

[JM0115]

15 hours ago, Azulann said:

If I remember right, the port terminal in Porto is made up of small tiles. It was  really cool  when we were there  a number of years ago. We went to a UNESCO  world heritage site  to a small village. We  missed the tour of  city of Porto.

The cruise terminal in Leixoes (Porto) is one of the nicest ones we have seen. 

[GKTV32162]

World Cruise Day 132/152 - Sea Day - Star Wars and German food

 

 

https://kolbsontheroad.blogspot.com/2022/05/world-cruise-day-132152-sea-day-star.html

[JM0115]

Live update on the Star: Starting yesterday with 5 days to go for those leaving in London, there is a different vibe on the ship. People are talking about packing, what they want to leave behind or donate, making last minute dinner plans with friends, etc. The ship seems quieter as well and more empty. It is almost surreal after 133 days on board. Picture of an empty World Cafe last night!

[Clay Clayton]

2 hours ago, JM0115 said:

Live update on the Star: Starting yesterday with 5 days to go for those leaving in London, there is a different vibe on the ship. People are talking about packing, what they want to leave behind or donate, making last minute dinner plans with friends, etc. The ship seems quieter as well and more empty. It is almost surreal after 133 days on board. Picture of an empty World Cafe last night!

Hard to believe it’s ending…at least for some.   I hope that those continuing on to Norway will keep posting…some of us are enjoying living vicariously!  
 

For those disembarking, thanks for letting me tag along…safe travels home.  And don’t forget once you’re home you have to pay when you leave a restaurant!😂

[JM0115]

54 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Hard to believe it’s ending…at least for some.   I hope that those continuing on to Norway will keep posting…some of us are enjoying living vicariously!  
 

For those disembarking, thanks for letting me tag along…safe travels home.  And don’t forget once you’re home you have to pay when you leave a restaurant!😂

We had a nice “party” today for those attending the wine tastings. We had such a great time on board!

[cruiselvr04]

I have followed this thread from the start.  Hard to believe it’s almost over for you.  I’ve enjoyed all the pictures and commentary along the way.  It seemed to start out a bit rough but you adapted and went with the flow which is what travel is all about.  What great memories you’ve made.

 

 

[GKTV32162]

World Cruise Day 133/152 - Sea Day - Walk the walk

 

 

https://kolbsontheroad.blogspot.com/2022/05/world-cruise-day-133152-sea-day-walk.html

[Clay Clayton]

So as y’all are nearing the end, would like input from those of you who are in V and DV staterooms.  Do you regret the decision to not book a PV?  Mike and I hope to book the WC in 2024 or 2025 and while we know we would enjoy the extra space, storage, and pressing of the PV we can’t quite rationalize the additional $40,000 (presuming pricing stays the same which we know it won’t😢)

 

 

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

So as y’all are nearing the end, would like input from those of you who are in V and DV staterooms.  Do you regret the decision to not book a PV?  Mike and I hope to book the WC in 2024 or 2025 and while we know we would enjoy the extra space, storage, and pressing of the PV we can’t quite rationalize the additional $40,000 (presuming pricing stays the same which we know it won’t😢)

 

 

 

Clay - Having survived 3 weeks in an ES1, we are more than happy to get back to our lowly DV4. That $40K would be a nice deposit on another WC.

[LogCabinGirl53]

A couple of mundane questions:  

 

Does anyone know if they have a variety of flavored decaf coffees available?

 

I understand DV Cabins come with binoculars.  Does anyone use them and are they bulky?  Are you allowed to take them off the ship?

 

Thanks for insight.  Going on Neptune this upcoming WC.

 

Mary

[Insanityx4]

I only drink decaf coffee and as of 2020, our last cruise, the answer is no to flavored. The decaf in the room and in the restaurant, World Cafe, etc. is really delicious. There is also a machine in the World Cafe that serves lattes, espresso, cappuccino which is ground before it comes out, also very good, it is also open when the World Cafe is closed. The binoculars in the room are very small and not very good at all. I have never heard of any restrictions taking them off of the ship. If you are interested in good binoculars, I would bring your own!

[Clay Clayton]

13 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Clay - Having survived 3 weeks in an ES1, we are more than happy to get back to our lowly DV4. That $40K would be a nice deposit on another WC.

Well it would only be $30k compared to a DV 😂. But I know you book those to be center ship.  Luckily we don’t have seasickness issues so unless someone expresses deep regret (or we win the lottery -doubtful since we don’t play) we will likely be in a V2.  We were in a far forward one for our first Viking Cruise and enjoyed being so close to the water and always hearing the low wake….but the anchor thingamiggy not so much so will likely try for one of them towards the stern. Have you heard any scuttlebutt about when 2024/25 WC will be announced?

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Well it would only be $30k compared to a DV 😂. But I know you book those to be center ship.  Luckily we don’t have seasickness issues so unless someone expresses deep regret (or we win the lottery -doubtful since we don’t play) we will likely be in a V2.  We were in a far forward one for our first Viking Cruise and enjoyed being so close to the water and always hearing the low wake….but the anchor thingamiggy not so much so will likely try for one of them towards the stern. Have you heard any scuttlebutt about when 2024/25 WC will be announced?

 

Clay - negative on any rumours with respect to 24/24 WC being published.

[Jim Avery]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Clay - negative on any rumours with respect to 24/24 WC being published.

If you don't have a good rumour then start one....🍺