Random thoughts about our British Isles cruise

[Twitchly]

A few random thoughts before I forget them as we conclude our September 2022 British Isles Explorer cruise on Viking Mars …

 

The passing of Queen Elizabeth II. The floral tributes. The processions and funeral. The end of an era. And now, the new King. Like the rest of Britain, we watched it all unfold, wrapt and honored to be here for it. Unforgettable.

 

Overall, we have been very lucky with the weather, given this was the British Isles. Rain in Liverpool/Chester for our walking tour (which is where I fell on those slick cobblestones and sprained my knee) and two port cancellations. Other than that, we had a mix of sun and clouds everywhere (except, of course, Norway, where we arrived in rain). Temps have run in the 70s (London), 60s (rest of Britain/Ireland), and 50s (Orkneys, Norway). We even got to eat outside on deck a few times, which was a welcome surprise. 

 

Our tour guides were uniformly excellent. Not a dud in the bunch. The buses were not terribly comfortable, some better than others but none that I enjoyed riding in. 

 

Staff have also been outstanding. Mostly from Philippines or Bali, with a scattering from Zimbabwe, Peru, India, South Africa, and Eastern Europe. Friendly, personable, helpful, and capable. Again, not a dud in the bunch. They really are the strength of Viking Ocean cruises.

 

The food is better than I remembered it. They had a number of slightly spicier options, including many dishes from India that were quite good. (I still don’t think they have figured out Thai food, however.) Lots of salads. We ate more often at the main restaurant and at Manfredi’s than last time, both of which were better than we remembered.

 

No pistachio raisin buns available anywhere on the ship. No one knew what we were talking about. Sorry, Clay.

 

I cannot imagine how much weight I’ve gained on this trip. Good heavens.

 

Bringing just a carryon turned out to work just fine. We did laundry twice in a 3-week trip. We’ll definitely do that again. 

 

This cruise had a lot of groups traveling together. The average age appears to be mid-70s. We have met exactly one other passenger who, like DH, is not retired. I’m sure there must be more, but we haven’t come across them. Nearly everyone is American. More Brits on our previous cruise, but then I suppose you wouldn’t expect many of them on a cruise of their own country. 

 

The Explorer Lounge ran pretty cold most days, and I say that as someone who prefers a cooler room. We discovered the warm delights of those beautiful reindeer pelts that I thought were fake but aren’t. (They’re also for sale in the shop; if I’d brought a bigger suitcase I would’ve been sorely tempted.)

 

I still prefer the Explorer’s Lounge to the Living Room. Even after dark.

 

The piped-in music has VASTLY improved from our 2018 cruise, so much so that I sent a note to Viking about it. No more banal pop cover tunes (that’s saved for the evening entertainment 😉). Now they play interesting, atmospheric instrumental music by people like Max Richter. Lovely. 

 

Do not miss Norwegian violinist Tor Jaran Apold if he plays a concert for you when the ship is docked in Bergen. Glorious. 

 

The Silver Spirits package turned out to be more fun than I thought it would be. We mostly used it on various wines for lunch and dinner, and occasionally for a cocktail in the evening. I tried all 3 grappa options in one memorable night at Manfredi’s. Also enjoyed an informative single malt tasting. Neither of us drink much at home, and that won’t change. I don’t need this much alcohol, and I don’t feel that great when I drink it! I doubt we’ll purchase it in the future unless we end up in a similar voucher spend-it-or-lose-it situation. But it sure has been fun trying different things, especially with the unwanted sea days after I sprained my knee.

 

The sprained knee opened my eyes to a few other things as well:

• * We had a PV room with the door/window combination, and I was grateful for the ability to see outside easily while propping my leg up on the couch, something the slider configuration would not have been quite as good for. I was also very grateful for that couch!
• * I love being on the ship when everyone else is gone.
• * I now see the attraction of the included “panoramic” bus tours. On our previous cruise — and on this one until I sprained my knee — we felt like we had to run around and do as much as possible in order to take full advantage of the situation. After I fell, we really appreciated having the overview tours. Otherwise I would’ve just been stuck seeing the closest things to the ship. Also, they’re more relaxing, and because they tend to be short you get more time on the ship or just wandering on your own, something we enjoy. We’ll definitely consider doing more included tours if we cruise again.
• * People have been extremely kind, and we’ve met more folks (and heard more stories about similar disasters) than we otherwise would have. Various people told us about a woman who fell on the first day and dislocated her shoulder. Eventually we ended up sitting next to her and her son at dinner and had a great time comparing notes about the care we received from the medical staff (her, excellent; me, minimal to nonexistent).

 

The only thing we won’t miss: the bed. Our stateroom bed was on the hard side of firm. Woke up sore each morning. Oh, and the pillows. We probably should’ve asked our steward for some alternatives but I guess we weren’t miserable enough.  

 

Well, we have just disembarked this morning and and have made our way to our hotel in Bergen. Of note: Uber is apparently new here, and they were short on drivers this morning. We were unable to get one. One of the helpful port staff (a charming high school senior named Hedda) called a taxi for us. 

 

We’ll spend a couple of days here before flying home and facing some sobering realities. This has been a welcome escape and we will treasure its memory in the months to come. Thanks, Viking.

 

 

Edited September 27, 2022 by Twitchly

[keokukjoe]

 

33 minutes ago, Twitchly said:

A few random thoughts before I forget them as we conclude our September 2022 British Isles Explorer cruise on Viking Mars …

 

The passing of Queen Elizabeth II. The floral tributes. The processions and funeral. The end of an era. And now, the new King. Like the rest of Britain, we watched it all unfold, wrapt and honored to be here for it. Unforgettable.

 

Overall, we have been very lucky with the weather, given this was the British Isles. Rain in Liverpool/Chester for our walking tour (which is where I fell on those slick cobblestones and sprained my knee) and two port cancellations. Other than that, we had a mix of sun and clouds everywhere (except, of course, Norway, where we arrived in rain). Temps have run in the 70s (London), 60s (rest of Britain/Ireland), and 50s (Orkneys, Norway). We even got to eat outside on deck a few times, which was a welcome surprise. 

 

Our tour guides were uniformly excellent. Not a dud in the bunch. The buses were not terribly comfortable, some better than others but none that I enjoyed riding in. 

 

Staff have also been outstanding. Mostly from Philippines or Bali, with a scattering from Zimbabwe, Peru, India, South Africa, and Eastern Europe. Friendly, personable, helpful, and capable. Again, not a dud in the bunch. They really are the strength of Viking Ocean cruises.

 

The food is better than I remembered it. They had a number of slightly spicier options, including many dishes from India that were quite good. (I still don’t think they have figured out Thai food, however.) Lots of salads. We ate more often at the main restaurant and at Manfredi’s than last time, both of which were better than we remembered.

 

No pistachio raisin buns available anywhere on the ship. No one knew what we were talking about. Sorry, Clay.

 

I cannot imagine how much weight I’ve gained on this trip. Good heavens.

 

Bringing just a carryon turned out to work just fine. We did laundry twice in a 3-week trip. We’ll definitely do that again. 

 

This cruise had a lot of groups traveling together. The average age appears to be mid-70s. We have met exactly one other passenger who, like DH, is not retired. I’m sure there must be more, but we haven’t come across them. Nearly everyone is American. More Brits on our previous cruise, but then I suppose you wouldn’t expect many of them on a cruise of their own country. 

 

The Explorer Lounge ran pretty cold most days, and I say that as someone who prefers a cooler room. We discovered the warm delights of those beautiful reindeer pelts that I thought were fake but aren’t. (They’re also for sale in the shop; if I’d brought a bigger suitcase I would’ve been sorely tempted.)

 

I still prefer the Explorer’s Lounge to the Living Room. Even after dark.

 

The piped-in music has VASTLY improved from our 2018 cruise, so much so that I sent a note to Viking about it. No more banal pop cover tunes (that’s saved for the evening entertainment 😉). Now they play interesting, atmospheric instrumental music by people like Max Richter. Lovely. 

 

Do not miss Norwegian violinist Tor Jaran Apold if he plays a concert for you when the ship is docked in Bergen. Glorious. 

 

The Silver Spirits package turned out to be more fun than I thought it would be. We mostly used it on various wines for lunch and dinner, and occasionally for a cocktail in the evening. I tried all 3 grappa options in one memorable night at Manfredi’s. Also enjoyed an informative single malt tasting. Neither of us drink much at home, and that won’t change. I don’t need this much alcohol, and I don’t feel that great when I drink it! I doubt we’ll purchase it in the future unless we end up in a similar voucher spend-it-or-lose-it situation. But it sure has been fun trying different things, especially with the unwanted sea days after I sprained my knee.

 

The sprained knee opened my eyes to a few other things as well:

• * We had a PV room with the door/window combination, and I was grateful for the ability to see outside easily while propping my leg up on the couch, something the slider configuration would not have been quite as good for. I was also very grateful for that couch!
• * I love being on the ship when everyone else is gone.
• * I now see the attraction of the included “panoramic” bus tours. On our previous cruise — and on this one until I sprained my knee — we felt like we had to run around and do as much as possible in order to take full advantage of the situation. After I fell, we really appreciated having the overview tours. Otherwise I would’ve just been stuck seeing the closest things to the ship. Also, they’re more relaxing, and because they tend to be short you get more time on the ship or just wandering on your own, something we enjoy. We’ll definitely consider doing more included tours if we cruise again.
• * People have been extremely kind, and we’ve met more folks (and heard more stories about similar disasters) than we otherwise would have. Various people told us about a woman who fell on the first day and dislocated her shoulder. Eventually we ended up sitting next to her and her son at dinner and had a great time comparing notes about the care we received from the medical staff (her, excellent; me, minimal to nonexistent).

 

The only thing we won’t miss: the bed. Our stateroom bed was on the hard side of firm. Woke up sore each morning. Oh, and the pillows. We probably should’ve asked our steward for some alternatives but I guess we weren’t miserable enough.  

 

Well, we have just disembarked this morning and and have made our way to our hotel in Bergen. Of note: Uber is apparently new here, and they were short on drivers this morning. We were unable to get one. One of the helpful port staff (a charming high school senior named Hedda) called a taxi for us. 

 

We’ll spend a couple of days here before flying home and facing some sobering realities. This has been a welcome escape and we will treasure its memory in the months to come. Thanks, Viking.

 

 

Thanks for your great summary. One question,  did the Silver Spirits package cover the cost of the whiskey tasting? Wishing you safe travels home.

[RJMAROB]

Thanks for your trip summary. We sailed on this British Isles cruise in July and enjoyed it. The pistachio buns are amazing. We had seen Tor Jaren Apold on a previous Viking cruise ending in Bergen and enjoyed the performance. The July cruise had a singer named Paul Emmanuel covering Nat King Cole and other standards. He was excellent.  I am curious which ports were missed on your cruise?

[Sleep7]

👋Hi Twitchly!

Thanks for your overview/review of your British Isles cruise.. I really enjoyed reading it.

I thought your observations were happy, positive and balanced.

Sounds like you had a great time despite hurting your knee.

Hope you had an easy trip home.. welcome back!😊

 

[Squawkman]

Enjoy Bergen - hope you don’t get too much rain. We were Covid asymptomatic and quarantined there in April with no restrictions for 5 days to meet US reentry requirements. The visitor’s center in fishtown was very helpful.

[BrendaEDH]

Hi Twitchly!

Thanks for your review!  We were on the previous BIE cruise disembarking in Greenwich on September 13.  We also had spectacular weather from Oslo to Bergen and the entire cruise, only used my raincoat one day in Orkney.  

The ship was at full capacity, but only seemed crowded during breakfast in the World Cafe on port days.  We tend to enjoy The Restaurant and Manfredi's for dinner and agree the menu selections included more spicy options! 😃

 

The lectures were better than I remembered from previous cruises, especially with the pertinent information provided around the passing and funeral for Queen Elizabeth II.  All so helpful, as we spent four days post-cruise in London.

 

We had a few changes to the itinerary with no stop at Invergordon and instead an overnight stop in Edinburgh (Roslyn) and missed Ullapool due to high winds.  The sail up the Thames was wonderful, especially with the added narration provided by a retired Thames pilot. 

 

We took a combination of included tours, optional tours and private tours.  I do wish Viking would provide more details in the excursion descriptions in MVJ, so passengers are not surprised at the amount of walking vs bus ride.  

[Twitchly]

3 hours ago, keokukjoe said:

 

Thanks for your great summary. One question,  did the Silver Spirits package cover the cost of the whiskey tasting? Wishing you safe travels home.

Yes, the package covered the whiskey-tasting. We learned a few things and had a great time.

[Twitchly]

2 hours ago, RJMAROB said:

Thanks for your trip summary. We sailed on this British Isles cruise in July and enjoyed it. The pistachio buns are amazing. We had seen Tor Jaren Apold on a previous Viking cruise ending in Bergen and enjoyed the performance. The July cruise had a singer named Paul Emmanuel covering Nat King Cole and other standards. He was excellent.  I am curious which ports were missed on your cruise?

You had the pistachio raisin buns?? What ship were you on? There were none to be had on Mars, and nobody had heard of them. 
 

I would’ve enjoyed the Nat King Cole covers. We had a talented guy named Paolo doing James Taylor and Jim Croce covers in the Explorer’s Lounge. He was fine, but I would’ve preferred something jazzier or Nat King Cole stuff. The classical performers in the Living Room were mixed; some were fine, others seemed weak. The evening shows were Abba, the Beatles, and show tunes. We skipped those. In general, we felt the music to be a bit of a weak spot for Viking. But I realize this is highly subjective.

 

We missed Ullapool (nearly everybody misses Ullapool, apparently) and the Shetlands. For the latter, Viking substituted Stavanger in Norway. I admit, I was pretty crushed; the Shetlands were a major draw for us. But we were grateful to have at least seen the Orkneys. They were a big highlight.

 

 

Edited September 27, 2022 by Twitchly

[BigBee51]

We were on the Mars in late June and had the pistachio buns regularly at the Living Room bar in the mornings.

[longterm]

We're scheduled to do the BIE in July 2024, unless we decide to forego next year's Grand European river cruise for the BIE (river water levels don't look promising). I certainly hope we don't miss out on the Shetland Islands, which we would love to see--big fans of the show "Shetland."

We'll probably extend our cruise to take the train trip from Bergen to Oslo...

[duquephart]

Also on Jupiter in June.

[LindaS272]

5 hours ago, Twitchly said:

We discovered the warm delights of those beautiful reindeer pelts that I thought were fake but aren’t

Great summary of your trip. Sorry for your injury but sounds like you made the most of your time.

 

Are those pelts reindeer? I always thought they were wolf!

Edited September 27, 2022 by LindaS272

[Moonlion]

Thank you @Twitchly and @BrendaEDH for sharing your experiences on this cruise - very much appreciated!!  We are on the May 9, 2023 BIE cruise and starting to look at excursions.  Can you please share your thoughts on excursions you took (Viking included, Viking optional or private excursions) and which ones you would recommend and which ones you didn't think were worthwhile?

Thanks!

[RJMAROB]

We were on the Venus 07/01/22 cruise. The pistachio buns were a hit and available every day. Paul Emmanuel had 2 shows on our cruise with one titled "Unforgettable" a Nat King Cole tribute. It was one of the best shows we have seen on a Viking Ocean cruise. The other shows have been around for several years and are a bit repetitive. Our cruise missed the Orkneys which was a disappointment. The ship was within one quarter mile of the dock and had to turn away due to wind gusts. The Shetlands were great and Ullapool was a small town but we had a good visit. There was a beautiful forest and fast moving stream at the top of the town which provided a great hike. Viking had a local restaurant in town provide tea and biscuits with local entertainment to guests which was a nice touch. All in all a great cruise.

[Mitina]

1 hour ago, RJMAROB said:

The ship was within one quarter mile of the dock and had to turn away due to wind gusts.

We were on the same trip.  Watched from our balcony and we were a lot closer than that.  The dock workers were waiting to toss ropes as the captain struggled to get close. Only missed port on an otherwise great trip.

[BrendaEDH]

@Moonlion - Lots of great excursions, so it was hard to decide for certain ports.  First, it all depends how much walking and/or length of excursion you would like.  Second, if tours appear sold out at booking time, once on board talk to guest services and get added to the waitlist.  This worked for us in Holyhead & Dover.

 

As for private tours, we originally booked one for Invergordon, but the port was cancelled a few weeks prior to sailing and were fortunate to receive a refund.  The other private tour was in Shetland, as we wanted a full day tour.

 

Edinburgh - we took the included tour and it was probably our least favorite.  The guide was fine, but the tour group was too large for a walking tour in and around Edinburgh Castle.  Regardless, well worth taking the tour for an overview of the city.  

 

We also took the included tour in Belfast, Dublin, Liverpool and Greenwich.  In all except Greenwich, we stayed in town and took the provided shuttle back to the ship.  In Belfast after the included tour did the Titanic Museum.  Interesting museum about more than just the Titanic.

 

Optional excursions:

We selected Orkney Wartime Legacy, as the Orkney Stone Age was sold out.  We thought about a private guide, but most required a non-refundable deposit.   The Orkney Wartime Legacy was small mini bus (24 passengers) tour. Wonderful guide who was a naval historian, but also provided some information about the Ring of Brodgar.  

Holyhead - Ffestiniog Railway Tour.  It was a long day, but well worth it!  Our guide kept us on time and even added an additional stop at Conwy Castle before returning to the ship.  Lunch included at Betws-y-Coed.

Dover - Canterbury Cathedral and LeedsCastle.  Another full day excursion, but well worth.  We went to Leeds Castle first with guided tour and then to Canterbury for DIY lunch and then tour with guide inside the Cathedral.  

 

Enjoy your cruise next year!

[molymoo]

We did the BIE on Venus in early July.  We did the Oslo pre-extension and took the train to Bergen.  We enjoyed cooler weather early in the cruise but by the time we got to Holyhead it was hot ... and apparently unusually so.  We missed the Orkney stop due to high winds but after the cold drenching we got in the Shetlands (although it was still one of my favorite excursions!)we were happy enough to stay on a warm, dry ship.  This was our second BIE cruise (we did one in 2018 ... London to Bergen) but we enjoyed it so much we really wanted to do it again.  We did our own thing in Edinburgh and enjoyed Dublin on our own as well ... the Little Museum of Dublin was a wonderful hidden gem and we enjoyed an iconic lunch of oysters and Guiness at Matt the Thresher restaurant.  

We, too were able to enjoy the renowned pistachio buns and based on the accolades I had to try one ... it was tasty for sure but won't replace the (Mamsen's) waffle as first in my heart.

[Azulann]

Thank you for  your trip review. 😍So sorry you sprained your knee on this cruise. I appreciate your thoughts about overview bus excursions.  I am not as spry as   12 years ago when I could walk all over cobblestone streets and up stairs with no problem for hours on walking tours.  

Hope you are planning your next cruise.  

Edited September 27, 2022 by Azulann

[traveljkkk]

6 hours ago, BrendaEDH said:

Hi Twitchly!

Thanks for your review!  We were on the previous BIE cruise disembarking in Greenwich on September 13.  We also had spectacular weather from Oslo to Bergen and the entire cruise, only used my raincoat one day in Orkney.  

The ship was at full capacity, but only seemed crowded during breakfast in the World Cafe on port days.  We tend to enjoy The Restaurant and Manfredi's for dinner and agree the menu selections included more spicy options! 😃

 

The lectures were better than I remembered from previous cruises, especially with the pertinent information provided around the passing and funeral for Queen Elizabeth II.  All so helpful, as we spent four days post-cruise in London.

 

We had a few changes to the itinerary with no stop at Invergordon and instead an overnight stop in Edinburgh (Roslyn) and missed Ullapool due to high winds.  The sail up the Thames was wonderful, especially with the added narration provided by a retired Thames pilot. 

 

We took a combination of included tours, optional tours and private tours.  I do wish Viking would provide more details in the excursion descriptions in MVJ, so passengers are not surprised at the amount of walking vs bus ride.  

We were on this cruise.  You are right, while the weather forecasts were mostly bad, the weather was great.  The staff on board were good. The guitar player was particularly good. We were disappointed in the changes they made, however.  The cancelled port Invergordon, the change in location of the dock farther away and on the opposite shore at Edinburg, the cancellation of opportunities to go to St. Andrews and Loch Ness, the less than stellar food (versus that of the Jupiter which we were on a week before), the total lack of tender coordination at Greenwich the day of arrival and a combination of other cruise differences made this the worst of 4 Viking Ocean cruises for us.

 

To top it off, it was an incredibly stressful disembarkation in Greenwich for many.  We were on our own once off the ship.  Viking just dumped us out on the docks from the tender.  We found our bags with the others leaving the ship about one hundred yards away outside on the dock area, all night it appeared.  After securing our luggage with the help of a friendly porter we found a lone Viking representative and asked where the cabs were.  She directed us "over there".  This happened another time as we continued to walk around the "terminal" (just a restaurant and gift shop) toward the Cutty Sark exhibition where we could now see several more Viking staff.  There, the non-specific pointing changed to "over there, past those buses, across the street and to the right about a block".  It was another block and a half on two 9am-busy streets.  With our helpful porter it was up curb and down, avoid this and that, avoid cars, adjust the bags, cross cracked sidewalks and construction, cross the final intersection where we joined a group of people at an empty two-position cab stand.  We "thanked" the porter, marshaled our bags into a pile and then said, "Now what?"  "Just flag one down" we were told by the group standing there with more combined luggage than at my local airport on a quiet morning.  We observed the lack of process for a few minutes as others continued to join and few left, so we phoned Uber. They cancelled on us twice after about 10 minutes each time - too far from London.  Finally, my wife flagged a cab, fought another woman for our deserved spot (it was our turn) and we were out of there.  A stressful hour plus.  Not an effective way to "dump" passengers after 2 weeks.  Viking should be ashamed.

 

AND .... How could they call this a Bergen to London cruise? We were nowhere near London; the included tour, while informative, was in Greenwich just off the dock area. We arrived in Greenwich late in the afternoon and had to send out luggage by 10PM - 6 hours.  Some passengers had to leave the ship at 1:30 AM for the airport.  They were in Greenwich for less than 12 hours. This cruise should be labeled "Bergen to Greenwich".  A post cruise inclusion is essential to being able to call this a Bergen to London cruise.

[Moonlion]

3 hours ago, BrendaEDH said:

@Moonlion - Lots of great excursions, so it was hard to decide for certain ports.  First, it all depends how much walking and/or length of excursion you would like.  Second, if tours appear sold out at booking time, once on board talk to guest services and get added to the waitlist.  This worked for us in Holyhead & Dover.

 

As for private tours, we originally booked one for Invergordon, but the port was cancelled a few weeks prior to sailing and were fortunate to receive a refund.  The other private tour was in Shetland, as we wanted a full day tour.

 

Edinburgh - we took the included tour and it was probably our least favorite.  The guide was fine, but the tour group was too large for a walking tour in and around Edinburgh Castle.  Regardless, well worth taking the tour for an overview of the city.  

 

We also took the included tour in Belfast, Dublin, Liverpool and Greenwich.  In all except Greenwich, we stayed in town and took the provided shuttle back to the ship.  In Belfast after the included tour did the Titanic Museum.  Interesting museum about more than just the Titanic.

 

Optional excursions:

We selected Orkney Wartime Legacy, as the Orkney Stone Age was sold out.  We thought about a private guide, but most required a non-refundable deposit.   The Orkney Wartime Legacy was small mini bus (24 passengers) tour. Wonderful guide who was a naval historian, but also provided some information about the Ring of Brodgar.  

Holyhead - Ffestiniog Railway Tour.  It was a long day, but well worth it!  Our guide kept us on time and even added an additional stop at Conwy Castle before returning to the ship.  Lunch included at Betws-y-Coed.

Dover - Canterbury Cathedral and LeedsCastle.  Another full day excursion, but well worth.  We went to Leeds Castle first with guided tour and then to Canterbury for DIY lunch and then tour with guide inside the Cathedral.  

 

Enjoy your cruise next year!

Wow, thank you for your detailed post - very informative!  We're pretty active so mobility shouldn't be an issue.  We're still in the planning stages but we'll probably do a combination of included tours, DIY in some towns, and private tours.  Based on our cabin class, I'm not counting on the Viking optional tours we want being available so will look into private tours for some ports.  Right now, for private excursions, we're looking into doing a Beatles tour in Liverpool (never been to Liverpool before and we're music fans), a Scottish Highlands tour of castles, Loch Ness and/or scenery, and maybe the Giant's Causeway in Belfast. I'm looking into doing Dublin and Edinburgh on our own, maybe following an included tour if we can book it in the morning.  Any/all suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks again! 

[duquephart]

4 hours ago, BrendaEDH said:

@Moonlion - Lots of great excursions, so it was hard to decide for certain ports.  First, it all depends how much walking and/or length of excursion you would like.  Second, if tours appear sold out at booking time, once on board talk to guest services and get added to the waitlist.  This worked for us in Holyhead & Dover.

 

As for private tours, we originally booked one for Invergordon, but the port was cancelled a few weeks prior to sailing and were fortunate to receive a refund.  The other private tour was in Shetland, as we wanted a full day tour.

 

Edinburgh - we took the included tour and it was probably our least favorite.  The guide was fine, but the tour group was too large for a walking tour in and around Edinburgh Castle.  Regardless, well worth taking the tour for an overview of the city.  

 

We also took the included tour in Belfast, Dublin, Liverpool and Greenwich.  In all except Greenwich, we stayed in town and took the provided shuttle back to the ship.  In Belfast after the included tour did the Titanic Museum.  Interesting museum about more than just the Titanic.

 

Optional excursions:

We selected Orkney Wartime Legacy, as the Orkney Stone Age was sold out.  We thought about a private guide, but most required a non-refundable deposit.   The Orkney Wartime Legacy was small mini bus (24 passengers) tour. Wonderful guide who was a naval historian, but also provided some information about the Ring of Brodgar.  

Holyhead - Ffestiniog Railway Tour.  It was a long day, but well worth it!  Our guide kept us on time and even added an additional stop at Conwy Castle before returning to the ship.  Lunch included at Betws-y-Coed.

Dover - Canterbury Cathedral and LeedsCastle.  Another full day excursion, but well worth.  We went to Leeds Castle first with guided tour and then to Canterbury for DIY lunch and then tour with guide inside the Cathedral.  

 

Enjoy your cruise next year!

 

Do they not offer a tour to Tantallon? Magnificent!

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, traveljkkk said:

We were on this cruise.  You are right, while the weather forecasts were mostly bad, the weather was great.  The staff on board were good. The guitar player was particularly good. We were disappointed in the changes they made, however.  The cancelled port Invergordon, the change in location of the dock farther away and on the opposite shore at Edinburg, the cancellation of opportunities to go to St. Andrews and Loch Ness, the less than stellar food (versus that of the Jupiter which we were on a week before), the total lack of tender coordination at Greenwich the day of arrival and a combination of other cruise differences made this the worst of 4 Viking Ocean cruises for us.

 

To top it off, it was an incredibly stressful disembarkation in Greenwich for many.  We were on our own once off the ship.  Viking just dumped us out on the docks from the tender.  We found our bags with the others leaving the ship about one hundred yards away outside on the dock area, all night it appeared.  After securing our luggage with the help of a friendly porter we found a lone Viking representative and asked where the cabs were.  She directed us "over there".  This happened another time as we continued to walk around the "terminal" (just a restaurant and gift shop) toward the Cutty Sark exhibition where we could now see several more Viking staff.  There, the non-specific pointing changed to "over there, past those buses, across the street and to the right about a block".  It was another block and a half on two 9am-busy streets.  With our helpful porter it was up curb and down, avoid this and that, avoid cars, adjust the bags, cross cracked sidewalks and construction, cross the final intersection where we joined a group of people at an empty two-position cab stand.  We "thanked" the porter, marshaled our bags into a pile and then said, "Now what?"  "Just flag one down" we were told by the group standing there with more combined luggage than at my local airport on a quiet morning.  We observed the lack of process for a few minutes as others continued to join and few left, so we phoned Uber. They cancelled on us twice after about 10 minutes each time - too far from London.  Finally, my wife flagged a cab, fought another woman for our deserved spot (it was our turn) and we were out of there.  A stressful hour plus.  Not an effective way to "dump" passengers after 2 weeks.  Viking should be ashamed.

 

AND .... How could they call this a Bergen to London cruise? We were nowhere near London; the included tour, while informative, was in Greenwich just off the dock area. We arrived in Greenwich late in the afternoon and had to send out luggage by 10PM - 6 hours.  Some passengers had to leave the ship at 1:30 AM for the airport.  They were in Greenwich for less than 12 hours. This cruise should be labeled "Bergen to Greenwich".  A post cruise inclusion is essential to being able to call this a Bergen to London cruise.

This confirms our decisions are the right ones - we always try to stay a day or two when we finish a cruise.  Too much hectic and everyone trying to get out of town.

We've always used the extra day(s) to unwind, lessen the stress, see some sights since usually the arrival port is not seen unless you do stay on.   Of course we do not do Viking Air.  And we have the time to stay a few nights.  For others out there, you might consider this option if you have the means and time to do so - it makes it much nicer.  (Still no excuse for Viking to do this however, we've seen it before which is why we never leave town directly when the cruise is over).  We were told that usually only about 15 to 20 % of passengers do what we do, so with that large a mob leaving, they probably ought to fix things or communicate better.

[Twitchly]

8 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

This confirms our decisions are the right ones - we always try to stay a day or two when we finish a cruise. 

Same here. And we added days at the beginning, too, which let us see some of London. We’re still in Bergen until tomorrow, enjoying wandering (hobbling) around and seeing more of this lovely town at our own (pathetic) pace.

[Twitchly]

17 hours ago, Moonlion said:

Can you please share your thoughts on excursions you took (Viking included, Viking optional or private excursions) and which ones you would recommend and which ones you didn't think were worthwhile?

We took an assortment, and we had to make some changes after I sprained my knee. In general, we prefer walking tours and time off the bus. But that was no longer an option for me after Liverpool. Our tours:

Included:

-Greenwich walking tour (fine, allowed free time)

-Canterbury walking tour (fine, allowed free time)

-Highlights of Historic Orkney (very good, allowed free time) Visited two towns and walked up to the standing stones circle.

-Edinburgh Highlights (very good, according to DH) We had booked a full day tour that included Royal Britannia, but Viking had to cancel it due to the period of mourning for the Queen.
-Inverness Scenic Drive (fine, allowed free time) We had booked a Viator tour to get us out of Inverness and into the Highlands proper, but we sadly had to cancel. This tour was OK but I would try to get out and see the countryside.

 

Optional:

-Holyhead: Ffestiniog Railway (great; you get to see spectacular scenery in Snowdonia Park and enjoy a good fish and chips meal in Betys y Coed) This one was sold out before we could nab it so we got on a waiting list as soon as we boarded, and Viking ended up adding a second group.

-Dublin: Historic Dublin on Foot (good; had a great guide) The Trinity College library is a must-see. Wish we could’ve seen some Irish countryside, though. Viking didn’t offer any excursions for that.

-Liverpool: Roman City of Chester (very good, until I fell) Quaint town. Nearly everything was closed for the Queen’s funeral. 
-Belfast: A Day in St. Patrick’s County (great, according to DH)

-Bergen: Dale of Norway (good) Mostly a shopping trip, but we enjoyed seeing the beautiful scenery outside Bergen.

 

Did our own thing:

Stavanger: This stop was added last minute when Shetland was canceled. Viking offered an included walking tour, but I would’ve just held everybody up. You can just walk off the ship into town, so that’s what we did.

[Moonlion]

4 hours ago, Twitchly said:

We took an assortment, and we had to make some changes after I sprained my knee. In general, we prefer walking tours and time off the bus. But that was no longer an option for me after Liverpool. Our tours:

Included:

-Greenwich walking tour (fine, allowed free time)

-Canterbury walking tour (fine, allowed free time)

-Highlights of Historic Orkney (very good, allowed free time) Visited two towns and walked up to the standing stones circle.

-Edinburgh Highlights (very good, according to DH) We had booked a full day tour that included Royal Britannia, but Viking had to cancel it due to the period of mourning for the Queen.
-Inverness Scenic Drive (fine, allowed free time) We had booked a Viator tour to get us out of Inverness and into the Highlands proper, but we sadly had to cancel. This tour was OK but I would try to get out and see the countryside.

 

Optional:

-Holyhead: Ffestiniog Railway (great; you get to see spectacular scenery in Snowdonia Park and enjoy a good fish and chips meal in Betys y Coed) This one was sold out before we could nab it so we got on a waiting list as soon as we boarded, and Viking ended up adding a second group.

-Dublin: Historic Dublin on Foot (good; had a great guide) The Trinity College library is a must-see. Wish we could’ve seen some Irish countryside, though. Viking didn’t offer any excursions for that.

-Liverpool: Roman City of Chester (very good, until I fell) Quaint town. Nearly everything was closed for the Queen’s funeral. 
-Belfast: A Day in St. Patrick’s County (great, according to DH)

-Bergen: Dale of Norway (good) Mostly a shopping trip, but we enjoyed seeing the beautiful scenery outside Bergen.

 

Did our own thing:

Stavanger: This stop was added last minute when Shetland was canceled. Viking offered an included walking tour, but I would’ve just held everybody up. You can just walk off the ship into town, so that’s what we did.

Thank you!  This is great information which will be very helpful in our planning.