Into the Midnight Sun

[lemartinet1@aol.com]

Just following all the discussions here.  We (Christine and Charlie) are leaving on the July 15, 2022 cruise out of London.  Like some others here, this will be our third attempt to go on this trip.  I am being extra cautious for the next several weeks, because I would hate it if I tested positive for Covid right before my departure flight.  I recently had Covid (very easy to contract) and though it was very mild,  a positive test would have prevented me from flying; so, I'm keeping my mask on whenever I'm out and about until I get on the ship.  Looking forward to meeting everyone on the July 15 trip.  I booked the sled dog hike and the island of birds excursions. 

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, lemartinet1@aol.com said:

Just following all the discussions here.  We (Christine and Charlie) are leaving on the July 15, 2022 cruise out of London.  Like some others here, this will be our third attempt to go on this trip.  I am being extra cautious for the next several weeks, because I would hate it if I tested positive for Covid right before my departure flight.  I recently had Covid (very easy to contract) and though it was very mild,  a positive test would have prevented me from flying; so, I'm keeping my mask on whenever I'm out and about until I get on the ship.  Looking forward to meeting everyone on the July 15 trip.  I booked the sled dog hike and the island of birds excursions. 

Hello Christine and Charlie - we are also on the July 15th Venus Midnight Sun out of Greenwich.  If you recently had COVID and recovered (between 14 and 90 days of sailing) you can get a note from your doctor that says you recovered and then you are exempt from having the have negative Covid tests.  Lots of discussion on this.

Kent and Pam

Also - we have a Roll Call Specifically for this July 15 cruise:

 

[Barrhead2015]

We were on this cruise back in 2019. The highlight for us is Lofoten island. We went a private photo tour of the island. Most amazing scenery. You could also hire a car to drive around for a day as the road condition is very good and essentially one one major road through the island. 

[Cototraveler]

Is there a meet and great on the June 15 Northern Lights cruise?

[Heidi13]

19 hours ago, Cototraveler said:

Is there a meet and great on the June 15 Northern Lights cruise?

 

Viking are still not holding official M&G's. Best place to ask is on your roll call, if someone has set up an unofficial meeting.

[ekp]

Has anyone  ever used a baggage shipping service?  We are thinking of using one to avoid the Heathrow luggage mess.

Ella

[CCWineLover]

13 minutes ago, ekp said:

Has anyone  ever used a baggage shipping service?  We are thinking of using one to avoid the Heathrow luggage mess.

Ella

Ella - I’ve not done it but remember peopl discussing it.

 

perhaps do a forum search on Viking forums and see.  That research approach has worked for me in the past to answer a variety of questions.

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, ekp said:

Has anyone  ever used a baggage shipping service?  We are thinking of using one to avoid the Heathrow luggage mess.

Ella

 

We have used Luggage Forward, brilliant service.

 

They send the information about a month prior to shipping the cases, including the instructions, restrictions and labels. They suggest a few days that the bags should be picked up to ensure delivery. If memory is correct, once you select the day, they provide a 3 hr window for pick-up.

 

Driver provides a tracking number so you can track the cases 24/7.

 

We next saw them in the cabin, shortly after embarkation.

[ekp]

We are trying a Baggage service.  Hopefully the bags will meet us at our hotel in London.  Hopefully none of our flights are cancelled.  Crazy times at the airports.  Thanks for the input.

Ella

[CCWineLover]

14 minutes ago, ekp said:

We are trying a Baggage service.  Hopefully the bags will meet us at our hotel in London.  Hopefully none of our flights are cancelled.  Crazy times at the airports.  Thanks for the input.

Ella

Best of luck, Ella!   We leave Friday for LHR and arrive Saturday. Greenwich on the 15th. 

We're going to pack light.

Safe travels.

[slewis7]

We are on this itinerary in June, 2023 leaving out of London (Greenwich).  We just arranged our flights, via Viking Air, to arrive early in London and I am looking for suggestions/recommendations for London (or perhaps even Greenwich) hotels for our 3 night stay.

[OneSixtyToOne]

2 hours ago, slewis7 said:

We are on this itinerary in June, 2023 leaving out of London (Greenwich).  We just arranged our flights, via Viking Air, to arrive early in London and I am looking for suggestions/recommendations for London (or perhaps even Greenwich) hotels for our 3 night stay.

On our last 2 trips to London we stayed at the Rembrandt Hotel. It's located across the street from the V&A Museum and is two block from the South Kensington tube stop (The Piccadilly Line has direct access to Heathrow). It's right in the museum district, has great tube access, close to Harrods and Kensington Park, and there are many restaurants in the area.

Edited October 26, 2022 by OneSixtyToOne

[janetcbl]

3 hours ago, slewis7 said:

We are on this itinerary in June, 2023 leaving out of London (Greenwich).  We just arranged our flights, via Viking Air, to arrive early in London and I am looking for suggestions/recommendations for London (or perhaps even Greenwich) hotels for our 3 night stay.

We stayed at The Doubletree by Hilton in Greenwich. Wonderful hotel, very charming furnishings, good restaurant. We would certainly stay there again. Not your usual Doubletree “cookie cutter” hotel. Also, lots to do/see in Greenwich.

[babanous]

With regard to Shetland TV series, we were able to borrow them from our local library.  Very much looking forward to visiting the archeological sites both on Shetland and Orkney.  We'll be on Viking Mars on the July 18 cruise from Bergen.

[philw1776]

15 hours ago, babanous said:

With regard to Shetland TV series, we were able to borrow them from our local library.  Very much looking forward to visiting the archeological sites both on Shetland and Orkney.  We'll be on Viking Mars on the July 18 cruise from Bergen.

Suggest adding a $1M violent death rider to your life insurance pre cruise in case you're murdered on Shetland.

[babanous]

Gee, thanks!  I think we are more likely to step in a "dig" hole.  Lerwick looks like a lovely, rambling type city.

[dmoser]

We did London(Greenwich) to Bergen, embarked 6.24.23, Viking Venus.  Our 4th Viking Ocean cruise, we love the ships, the facilities and food are excellent.  On this sailing, the excursions and excursions staff was really the weak link.  We usually like Viking's included excursion.  Here, though, two of the 9 were truly terrible.  The Edinburgh included excursion was basically a minimally informative bus transfer into town (if you dock at Newhaven like we did, take the efficient above-ground light rail tram, way faster as it avoids car traffic, and super easy) in heavy traffic, that dumps you off near the castle (which was sold out of tickets) for 45 min of on-your-own touristy shopping before returning.  No walking tour component, very little info about Edinburgh.  In Leknes (Lofoten), the included tour was totally different than (and way way worse than) the tour described pre-cruise on the My Viking Journey site, and described on-board on the Viking Voyager app.  One of the 3 stops on the tour was literally a highway rest stop where the only activity was using the toilets, for 30 minutes.  It was just to kill time.  Moreover, the Viking excursion staff was clueless, they had no idea that the excursion provided bore zero resemblance to the tour they advertised.  (Indeed, the excursion staff was terrible overall - they gave us completely wrong information several times, couldn't answer basic questions about some of their excursions, and seemed totally unfamiliar with the cruise locations or offerings, and were generally totally disorganized.) That's a big problem in Leknes, as you dock in the industrial port (nothing there), the town is a short shuttle bus drive away, but there's nothing in town worth seeing.  My advice for Leknes - pay for one of the farther ranging excursions where you can see and do something, or arrange in advance to rent your own car for the day, lots of spectacular places that can easily be explored by car.  Note that many of the ports on this cruise are tiny, these aren't big cities with well known key sights - so I recommend that you do your homework well in advance, and figure out what you want to see and do, and figure out how to accomplish that, whether through the ship's excursions or independent activities.  The other included excursions were quite good.  The other frustration on this cruise was that the Guest Services/Explorers Desk staff (essentially the ship's "front desk") was often unfriendly, often not helpful, and it might take 3 or 4 requests of them to get one straight forward thing done.  They were quite a contrast to literally all the other crew on the ship who were super friendly, helpful, cheerful, etc. 

 

Overall we really liked this itinerary.  A rare chance to cruise well above the arctic circle during the midnight sun where the sun never set for several of the cruise nights.  Some stunning scenery and spectacular landscapes.   We did the Viking Homelands cruise in 2018, and wanted to return to Norway ever since.  This Into the Midnight Sun cruise did not disappoint.

[CCWineLover]

21 minutes ago, dmoser said:

We did London(Greenwich) to Bergen, embarked 6.24.23, Viking Venus.  Our 4th Viking Ocean cruise, we love the ships, the facilities and food are excellent.  On this sailing, the excursions and excursions staff was really the weak link.  We usually like Viking's included excursion.  Here, though, two of the 9 were truly terrible.  The Edinburgh included excursion was basically a minimally informative bus transfer into town (if you dock at Newhaven like we did, take the efficient above-ground light rail tram, way faster as it avoids car traffic, and super easy) in heavy traffic, that dumps you off near the castle (which was sold out of tickets) for 45 min of on-your-own touristy shopping before returning.  No walking tour component, very little info about Edinburgh.  In Leknes (Lofoten), the included tour was totally different than (and way way worse than) the tour described pre-cruise on the My Viking Journey site, and described on-board on the Viking Voyager app.  One of the 3 stops on the tour was literally a highway rest stop where the only activity was using the toilets, for 30 minutes.  It was just to kill time.  Moreover, the Viking excursion staff was clueless, they had no idea that the excursion provided bore zero resemblance to the tour they advertised.  (Indeed, the excursion staff was terrible overall - they gave us completely wrong information several times, couldn't answer basic questions about some of their excursions, and seemed totally unfamiliar with the cruise locations or offerings, and were generally totally disorganized.) That's a big problem in Leknes, as you dock in the industrial port (nothing there), the town is a short shuttle bus drive away, but there's nothing in town worth seeing.  My advice for Leknes - pay for one of the farther ranging excursions where you can see and do something, or arrange in advance to rent your own car for the day, lots of spectacular places that can easily be explored by car.  Note that many of the ports on this cruise are tiny, these aren't big cities with well known key sights - so I recommend that you do your homework well in advance, and figure out what you want to see and do, and figure out how to accomplish that, whether through the ship's excursions or independent activities.  The other included excursions were quite good.  The other frustration on this cruise was that the Guest Services/Explorers Desk staff (essentially the ship's "front desk") was often unfriendly, often not helpful, and it might take 3 or 4 requests of them to get one straight forward thing done.  They were quite a contrast to literally all the other crew on the ship who were super friendly, helpful, cheerful, etc. 

 

Overall we really liked this itinerary.  A rare chance to cruise well above the arctic circle during the midnight sun where the sun never set for several of the cruise nights.  Some stunning scenery and spectacular landscapes.   We did the Viking Homelands cruise in 2018, and wanted to return to Norway ever since.  This Into the Midnight Sun cruise did not disappoint.

Wow - that was a long read.  Got lost in the middle of it.

We did Midnight Sun in July 2022 and had just the opposite experience.  An incredible trip and the staff was easily the best and most helpful on any of our many Viking cruises.  And we loved ALL the excursions - expecially the included one to North Cape.  In Leknes, we had an outstanding included tour in the morning, involving some hikes and gorgeous vistas, followed by an outstanding (long and difficult!) hike into the hills as an optional tour - wonderful scenery.  About the only disappointing excursion for us was Tromso included.  We also used the included tour in Edinburgh to basically get us to downtown where we walked til we dropped and took the shuttle back to the tender port.

It shows that every person has different experiences on the exact same itineraries, depending on the staff they have and the tours they take, and of course on their own personal opinions and expectations.

Don't give up!  Hoping you find a nice cruise in the future.

[philw1776]

dmoser  "The Edinburgh included excursion was basically a minimally informative bus transfer into town... in heavy traffic, that dumps you off near the castle (which was sold out of tickets) for 45 min of on-your-own touristy shopping before returning.  No walking tour component, very little info about Edinburgh.  In Leknes (Lofoten), the included tour was totally different than (and way way worse than) the tour described pre-cruise on the My Viking Journey site, and described on-board on the Viking Voyager app.  One of the 3 stops on the tour was literally a highway rest stop where the only activity was using the toilets, for 30 minutes.  It was just to kill time."

 

Agree with both criticisms of these included tours. Good recommendation on the tram. Worse yet our Lofoten tour guide was one of the worst ever. Could not finish a thought. At tour's end, we were running late she decided to stop the bus, stand up and face us delivering a 15 minute monolog that was instantly forgettable.

Otherwise we enjoyed our 24 June cruise very much.

[janetcbl]

For the Leknes stop on this cruise, I recommend strongly the “Maritime History of Norway”, even if your interest in military stuff is minor. Your bus ride is through some of the best scenery in the Lofotens and Svolvaer (where the museum is located) is a center for North Norwegian artists. I skipped the museum and spent my time in the art gallery’s, wandered the town (really interesting) and had a great cup of coffee at a cafe by the water. (I had lived in this area many years ago and my return visit did not disappoint.)

[CCWineLover]

2 hours ago, janetcbl said:

For the Leknes stop on this cruise, I recommend strongly the “Maritime History of Norway”, even if your interest in military stuff is minor. Your bus ride is through some of the best scenery in the Lofotens and Svolvaer (where the museum is located) is a center for North Norwegian artists. I skipped the museum and spent my time in the art gallery’s, wandered the town (really interesting) and had a great cup of coffee at a cafe by the water. (I had lived in this area many years ago and my return visit did not disappoint.)

Thank you Janet!  We also had a great time in Lofoten hiking last summer.  We visit again next year on Viking Mars and will take a look at this excursion.

[MW4AU]

18 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

We did Midnight Sun in July 2022 and had just the opposite experience.  An incredible trip and the staff was easily the best and most helpful on any of our many Viking cruises.  And we loved ALL the excursions - expecially the included one to North Cape.  In Leknes, we had an outstanding included tour in the morning, involving some hikes and gorgeous vistas...

We had a wonderful experience on Midnight Sun in June 2022! We took the "included" tour in the morning, and while it does not match the current description on the Viking site, we had a wonderful drive through the mountains and islands with amazing vistas. We had a couple stops, one of which was at a Cod fisheries area where the fish heads were hanging on racks to dry. The smell was a bit much, but it was interesting to learn about the fishing industry in Norway. In the afternoon, we went on separate excursions. When we first booked the cruise for 2020 my husband was so excited to learn there would be horse back riding offered. And two years later he did it, first time since his teens! He had a blast! (Lofoten on Horseback) On the other hand, I know that horses would know they intimidate me, so I joined our friends on the Lofoten Viking Experience excursion. It was so much fun! We took a scenic drive to the Lofotr Viking Museum, site of a replica Longhouse. The foundation of the original Longhouse was discovered when a farmer was plowing his fields.The living museum longhouse with "live vikings" was very informative, taking you back to a different time and culture. We were entertained with folks songs and pan flute music by the resident Vikings. They re-enacted the ceremonies, sang, and depicted daily life as Vikings, while we were served a plate of dried meat, fish and carrot sticks. You will certainly feel your inner Viking! Our only true disappointment on the cruise was the selection of excursions in Edinburgh. All four of us had visited there before, and really wanted to visit Stirling Castle. Unfortunately, many of the excursions were not being offered in June 2022 (likely Covid related). So we opted to do the "Included" tour, walk the Royal Mile and return to the ship. In London, we did the Tower of London Excursion, followed by the Privileged Access Ceremony of the Keys at the London Tower, which I HIGHLY recommend. The Chief Yeoman Warder was our guide and he was quite a storyteller! 

[SJD117]

1 hour ago, CCWineLover said:

Thank you Janet!  We also had a great time in Lofoten hiking last summer.  We visit again next year on Viking Mars and will take a look at this excursion.

Kent — You may want to consider a semi-private trip to the south Lofoten islands, offered by Heart of Lofoten (also by Lofoten Lights I believe). The 12 of us had an outstanding guide who highlighted some outstanding sights in the most scenic part of the Lofotens. Highly recommended.

[CCWineLover]

30 minutes ago, SJD117 said:

Kent — You may want to consider a semi-private trip to the south Lofoten islands, offered by Heart of Lofoten (also by Lofoten Lights I believe). The 12 of us had an outstanding guide who highlighted some outstanding sights in the most scenic part of the Lofotens. Highly recommended.

Thanks, Dave.  Will catch up with via email on the details of this when you get back to Washington.

[TiiiSailor]

We, two couples, were on the same cruise. I agree with your description of those stouts. But all of us had great, friendly service from the guest services desk personnel. Every time they had to research a question we received a call to our rooms with an answer that day or the next morning.