Day-by-Day account of our recent Viking Jupiter (Viking Homelands) cruise

[SailorPaulH]

DAY 7 - 9/16/22, Berlin (Germany) - part 1

 

With a shore excursion heading for Berlin at 7:30 am, we took Room Service breakfast, but before that - with World Cafe opening earlier at 5:30 am - I scored some donuts and cookies from the buffet to put in some zip-lock bags for the day's train journeys (a good idea as these unhealthy options were superior to the unhealthy options provided as snacks on the trains!).

 

The ship is docked in Warnemunde - close to Rostock, where Viking has its European river longships built. A short walk to the train station, and we were off on an about two-hour fifteen-minute ride to Berlin Central Station, where we would meet our guide, an affable young high school teacher - he was very knowledgeable about the sights and their histories. Getting on-board our motor coach, the first part of this tour was the typical 'panoramic' fare with us passing by some sights and stopping and getting off at others, for example:

 

• Reichstag (the German Parliament building)
• Brandenburg Gate
• Tiergarten and Victory Column
• The site of the remaining largest section of the Berlin Wall - some of the nearby buildings are still pock-marked with bullet holes from WW2.
• Checkpoint Charlie
• Gendarnenmarkt - a historic square that is the site of the 17th century Franzosischer Dom, the 19th century Konzerthaus Berlin, and the 18th century Deutscher Dom.
• 

Edited October 5, 2022 by SailorPaulH

[SailorPaulH]

DAY 7 - 9/16/22, Berlin (Germany) - part 2

 

We then took a Spree river cruise - taking in more sights such as Berliner Dom and Paergamonmuseum. Meeting up with our motor coach, we were returned to the site of the Brandenburg Gate where we could walk around on the pedestrianized square to the east of the Gate.

 

We took a late lunch at Hopfingerbrau am Brandenburger Tor - a German restaurant a few steps away from the Brandenburg Gate. Of any of the lunches we had on a Viking shore excursion, this was the best - can't go wrong with meat cakes, frankfurters and sausage, potatoes/veggies, Black Forest cake .... and beer.

 

Our motor coach would return us to board our train to return to the coast - an opportunity for a post lunch calorie-induced nap.

 

Checking out our onboard account, we saw that we had been credited for the pre-paid excursion that we had lost in Bornholm - all very efficient. We were also paying attention to the weather forecasts - with rain and showers predicted for our upcoming ports in Denmark and Norway. However, so far, all prior predictions of rain had come to naught, and we had had beautiful weather thus far.

 

Dinner at The Restaurant was Beef Sauerbraten and more Black Forest Cake, and yet another gelato raid at the World Cafe. After just a week, I think I have eaten more desserts and ice cream than I would normally do in a year at home.

 

Edited October 5, 2022 by SailorPaulH

[CurlerRob]

13 minutes ago, SailorPaulH said:

DAY 7 - 9/16/22, Berlin (Germany) - part 1

 

I scored some donuts and cookies from the buffet to put in some zip-lock bags for the day's train journeys (a good idea as these unhealthy options were superior to the unhealthy options provided as snacks on the trains!).

 

Excellent pictures, thanks!

 

Just a note for new cruisers who may read this - there are numerous ports around the world where bringing food of any sort off the ship is strictly prohibited (and has severe consequences). Always be sure to check if restrictions exist - it can save you a lot of grief. 🍺🥌

[Snowcat1]

May I ask, what was the name of the excursion you took in Berlin? We are on the same cruise next May.

[SailorPaulH]

1 hour ago, Snowcat1 said:

May I ask, what was the name of the excursion you took in Berlin? We are on the same cruise next May.

"Scenic Berlin by Motor Coach & Cruise"

[DGHOC]

Thanks so much for sharing your experience SailorPaulH, I'm enjoying reading your posts and taking notes!

 

We had been repeatedly booked on Russia and Baltic cruises which eventually changed to Scenic Scandinavia and there appears to be a number of ports shared by these two cruises. I'm keen to read your experiences of some of the new ports added to our agenda. We've neither of us done Berlin or Gdansk so whilst it'll only be flying visits I feel sure it'll be worthwhile.

 

Thanks again!

 

 

 

 

[SailorPaulH]

DAY 8 - 9/17/22, Copenhagen (Denmark) - part 1

 

After some very light drizzle in the very early hours, the clouds gave way to yet another sunny day - this time in Copenhagen. For our morning excursion, we took the included "Copenhagen by Foot" which is considered "Demanding" as you will encounter many uneven and cobbled surfaces during this tour. Our guide was quite thorough as she led us through the streets of the harbor area and older part of town.

 

This tour included the following photo opportunity sites:

• Den Lille Havfrue (The Little Mermaid) - an iconic landmark in the harbor
• Gefion Fountain & St. Alban's Church
• Amalienborg Slotsplads - location of the winter residences of the Danish Royal Family (across the harbor from here you will see the Royal Danish Opera House)
• Frederik's Kirke (the "Marble Church")
• Sankt Pauls Kirke

 

As we made our way back to the ship we walked through Kastellet (a military fortress dating to the 17th century), and we also passed by the less well-known, "The Genetically Modified Little Mermaid."

After a nice lunch at World Cafe, we were ready for our afternoon excursion.
 

[SailorPaulH]

DAY 8 - 9/17/22, Copenhagen (Denmark) - part 2

 

The optional excursion we had chosen for our afternoon in Copenhagen was, "Christiansborg Palace & Tivoli Gardens". Our guide knew her stuff, giving us a comprehensive tour of the Christiansborg Palace - the seat of the Danish Parliament, with rooms and halls that are also used by the Danish monarchy. The art and architecture in this palace makes it well worth the visit.

 

After the Palace, our coach took us to Tivoli Gardens where we would spend some time left to our own devices. Tivoli is an amusement park and gardens in downtown Copenhagen and it is the oldest operating amusement park in the world. Being a Saturday, the park was very busy with many families with children present. DW released her inner 5-year old and took some of the vintage rides. Warning: the ice-cream is really good here.

 

A very enjoyable afternoon - with beautiful weather in a beautiful city. For dinner in The Restaurant, we both had the halibut which was very good.

 

Our next stop was to be Aalborg - again rain was being predicted, but so far we have dodged precipitation at every port.
 

[OneSixtyToOne]

We did a Copenhagen post cruise extension with Viking in 2019 and were put up in a corner hotel room overlooking Tivoli Gardens. It has the oldest operating roller coaster in the world and the operator stands in the middle of the cars slowing it down with a handbrake. That was an experience 😱

Edited October 6, 2022 by OneSixtyToOne

[duquephart]

1 hour ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

We did a Copenhagen post cruise extension with Viking in 2019 and were put up in a corner hotel room overlooking Tivoli Gardens. It has the oldest operating roller coaster in the world and the operator stands in the middle of the cars slowing it down with a handbrake. That was an experience 😱

 

"one of the oldest running wooden roller coasters in the world"

[SailorPaulH]

DAY 9 - 9/18/22, Aalborg (Denmark) - part 1

 

Aalborg is Denmark's fourth largest city, located along the narrowest point of Limfjord in northern Denmark. Arriving in the early morning it was already evident that our weather forecast was wrong, and we were in for another warm, sunny day - ideal for our chosen included tour, "Aalborg Walking Tour."

 

Just a note here - as included excursions go, I will venture to say that walking tours tend to be much more interesting than "panoramic" tours which seem to be largely 'stay on the bus' sightseeing drives.

 

The tour started out quietly - it being a Sunday morning with few businesses open early. Aalborg turned out to be a great place to visit: interesting history, beautiful small houses in cobblestoned streets in the old town area and possibly our best guide of the cruise. Our guide - Michal "without the e"- was in fact a teacher and trainer/supervisor of many of the local guides. He was entertaining, witty and displayed great knowledge of Aalborg and its surroundings.

 

After our tour, we had another excellent variety lunch at World Cafe: a venue that was easily becoming my favorite place to dine on Viking Jupiter.
 

[SailorPaulH]

DAY 9 - 9/18/22, Aalborg (Denmark) - part 2

 

With a 3 pm sail away from Aalborg and with beautiful weather, we were witness to many nice sights as we exited Limfjord to re-enter Kattegat and turn north to our next destination: Oslo, Norway. Sure enough, rain showers were in the forecast for Oslo.

 

After snacks and tea at Wintergarden (I like the salmon sandwiches), we freshened up and prepared for our second visit to Manfredi's. This time I fared better. I had the very good mushroom soup again and the half portions of Veal Marsala and the pasta dish I ordered were good. DW did not do so well - she ordered the signature Rib-Eye, which we felt was fairly average. We had booked Manfredi's one more time for our last night on the ship, and we decided to see if third time we would get luckier, as we could always try different items on the menu.

Edited October 7, 2022 by SailorPaulH

[duquephart]

8 hours ago, SailorPaulH said:

DAY 9 - 9/18/22, Aalborg (Denmark) - part 2

 

With a 3 pm sail away from Aalborg and with beautiful weather, we were witness to many nice sights as we exited Limfjord to re-enter Kattegat and turn north to our next destination: Oslo, Norway. Sure enough, rain showers were in the forecast for Oslo.

 

After snacks and tea at Wintergarden (I like the salmon sandwiches), we freshened up and prepared for our second visit to Manfredi's. This time I fared better. I had the very good mushroom soup again and the half portions of Veal Marsala and the pasta dish I ordered were good. DW did not do so well - she ordered the signature Rib-Eye, which we felt was fairly average. We had booked Manfredi's one more time for our last night on the ship, and we decided to see if third time we would get luckier, as we could always try different items on the menu.

 

I never quite got the popularity of the rib eye and agree with the "average " or "so-so" assessment. It is nowhere near a great steak cut & quality-wise, is too thin to cook properly and the flavor comes mostly from tenderizer, marinade and seasoning.

[Iloveketo]

3 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

I never quite got the popularity of the rib eye and agree with the "average " or "so-so" assessment. It is nowhere near a great steak cut & quality-wise, is too thin to cook properly and the flavor comes mostly from tenderizer, marinade and seasoning.

If you are a steak 🥩 lover, try a cruise on one of the Vikings Expedition ships! The steaks available on a daily basis at the World Cafe were incredible! Better than Manfredi’s!

[CCWineLover]

2 hours ago, Iloveketo said:

If you are a steak 🥩 lover, try a cruise on one of the Vikings Expedition ships! The steaks available on a daily basis at the World Cafe were incredible! Better than Manfredi’s!

I totally agree!  Are we the only ones?   This was also true for Ocean.

On our Post-COVID Ocean cruises, we kept giving Manfredi's rib-eye a try, but always disappointed.  And they would very inconsistent in size, thickness, quality, and accuracy of cooking.

However - the made to order NY Steaks at the World Cafe were always top notch!  Cooked to perfection and consistenty.  AND, you could ask them to put on the plate for you whatever sides you wanted (like vegetables, potatoes, etc) and they would deliver it all to your table - as if it wasn't a buffet!!

[SailorPaulH]

13 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

I totally agree!  Are we the only ones?   This was also true for Ocean.

On our Post-COVID Ocean cruises, we kept giving Manfredi's rib-eye a try, but always disappointed.  And they would very inconsistent in size, thickness, quality, and accuracy of cooking.

However - the made to order NY Steaks at the World Cafe were always top notch!  Cooked to perfection and consistenty.  AND, you could ask them to put on the plate for you whatever sides you wanted (like vegetables, potatoes, etc) and they would deliver it all to your table - as if it wasn't a buffet!!

I also found this to be the case - I had a steak at the World Cafe that was excellent.

[SailorPaulH]

DAY 10 - 9/19/22, Oslo (Norway) - part 1

 

I was up very early this morning, before 6 am - situating myself on Deck 8 to watch the sail in to Oslo and catch the first rays of sunrise. It turns out the weather forecast was again wrong and we were in for a beautiful sunny day again. While strolling the deck, a crew-member in overalls (engineering/technical!?) approached and asked me if I would like some coffee and snacks from the Viking Bar on Deck 1. I told him I was planning to go down myself so I was OK. Nevertheless, he told me stay put - and I don't know if he radioed the order in or something but about 15 minutes later I had a cappuccino and two chocolate chip cookies delivered to me on Deck 8 while I was taking some photos - that was impressive service!

 

As the sun came up and the Jupiter eased into Oslo harbor, I saw that we had finally caught up with Viking Venus that was berthed for an overnight at Oslo as part of its Viking Homelands cruise. Since leaving Stockholm, we had been one day behind Venus all the way. Unlike the Venus, the Jupiter would have only one day in Oslo as were scheduled to be in Gothenburg the next day (Oslo, and in our case Oslo and Gothenburg were substitute ports included in the itinerary after VOC had discontinued Helsinki, St. Petersburg, and Tallinn).

 

After breakfast - DW having got ready for the day later than me - we jumped ship to do our own thing. As we had done plenty of research on Oslo for a previously cancelled cruise, we felt we could do the day more justice on our own.

 

Making our way through the Akershus Fortress grounds, we walked to the Oslo Opera House where we walked the roof and got an even better look at the Viking Venus (we have the same cabin on her for our 2024 cruise). From there we made our way to the Oslo Visitor Center in the Central Train Station to purchase two Ruter passes for the day (unlimited metro, tram and bus usage in Oslo Zone 1 for the day) for just 117 NOK each (about $12 each).

 

We took the metro from Jernbanetorget to Majorstuen (2 stops) and then a tram (2 stops) to arrive at our next place of interest - the Vigeland Sculpture Park in Frogner Park, one of Norway's most visited sights. After a refreshing walk through the park, we hopped on another tram to eventually make our way to our next stop: the Radhuset (Oslo's City Hall, which features intricate architecture, murals, tapestries and other works of art. 

 

Just a short walk took us to the venue we had targeted for lunch - Amundsen Bryggeri & Spiseri. About 3 months before the trip, I had started learning Norwegian and was able to order us a great Fish and Chips lunch and a draft Norwegian Porter in Norwegian - to the amusement and encouragement of the wait staff.

 

After lunch, we walked to the Royal Palace just in time for the 1:30 pm Changing of the Guard, and we struck up a friendly conversation with the heavily-armed young female soldier at the entrance to the Palace. Note: if you want to see the Changing of the Guard in Oslo, you have to get the Royal palace by 1:30 pm. 
 

[SailorPaulH]

DAY 10 - 9/19/22, Oslo (Norway) - part 2

 

Now we were on the return leg of our self-excursion. Leaving the Palace grounds, we made our way down Karl Johans gate, taking in sights such as Oslo University, the National Theater, Stortinget (the Norwegian Parliament building), and Oslo Cathedral. Along this route we shopped at the Dale of Norway store and Freia (chocolate) for gifts.

 

Note: the gifts we purchased at the Dale of Norway store (sweaters, hats, headbands) have a significant amount of VAT included in the price. As our final place of exit on this trip was going to be Bergen Airport (Norway), we obtained receipts that allowed us to get a refund on the tax on departure day (very efficient, the credit reflected on my credit card within a few days of departing Norway).

 

Another hop on a tram took us to Aker Brygge (where you can find the Nobel Peace Center) - where we got some cappuccinos - and then we strolled all the way down to Tjuvholmen for gelato at Paradis Gelateria. From here, we took the walk around the harbor ferry stations back to our ship. Even with our use of public transport, we logged 12 miles of walking during the day, so were hungry for dinner which we took at The Restaurant.  

 

We will be spending more time in Oslo in 2024 and we will making the Bygdoy Peninsula museums, the Munch museum and the Akerselva area our main focus on that visit (using an Oslo Pass and directing our own activities).
 

[duquephart]

A day or two before the end of our Homelands there was a deal to get VAT back set up in the business area. All you needed was receipts and you got cash back on the spot.

[SailorPaulH]

29 minutes ago, duquephart said:

A day or two before the end of our Homelands there was a deal to get VAT back set up in the business area. All you needed was receipts and you got cash back on the spot.

Thanks - that is very useful to know!

[duquephart]

4 minutes ago, SailorPaulH said:

Thanks - that is very useful to know!

 

Couldn't get more convenient.

[Mich3554]

1 hour ago, duquephart said:

A day or two before the end of our Homelands there was a deal to get VAT back set up in the business area. All you needed was receipts and you got cash back on the spot.

This was how it worked for me too.  They had people on board before we left Norway, and I had a wad of cash before we left Bergen.  

I also did damage with Dale of Borway.

[duquephart]

Found the notice in the appropriate Viking daily. It was just Norway purchases.

[SailorPaulH]

3 hours ago, duquephart said:

Found the notice in the appropriate Viking daily. It was just Norway purchases.

Yes, I have now found the notice in our final Daily also. I forgot the old adage, "If all else fails, read the instructions."

 

As it is for Norway purchases only, I wonder if the same opportunity is provided for a cruise that starts in Norway but ends in another country? I have a cruise that ends in Iceland in the future, and I plan to shop Dale again.

[SailorPaulH]

DAY 11 - 9/20/22, Gothenburg (Sweden)

 

Arriving in Gothenburg (Sweden's second-largest city and an important commercial center for industry, manufacturing and sea trade), yet another rain forecast was swept aside by sunny and warm weather conditions. Gothenburg was a substitute (and apparently rare) port on this itinerary.

 

Our morning excursion was the included "Gothenburg Panorama". This was for the most part a "stay on the bus" tour with a few stops to stretch legs and take some photos, but all in all this was a Shore Excursion in search of a purpose. The guide was knowledgeable and engaging but the tour itself ended up being the weakest of any we took on the cruise.

 

After lunch at the World Cafe, we headed out into the nearby countryside for the optional excursion, "Gunnebo House & Gardens." The house is a mansion built by a Scottish merchant - John Hall - in the 18th century. Delicate art, architecture and historical records are on display in every room. The hostess of the house was steeped in the estate's history and many unusual stories. With some time to walk around in the gardens and the nearby shop and cafe - this was an effective tour.

 

Sail away provided some spectacular views of the port and the city skyline. I think some engineers had to temporarily take down an antenna atop Jupiter, so we could pass under the Alvsborgs Bridge.  

 

Today, The Restaurant was very good - I could not decide between the Split Pea soup of the Indin Samosa as a starter, and the waitress asked the age-old question that solved the problem, "Why not both?". Along with the Braised Beef Short Ribs this made for my favorite meal in the Restaurant thus far. Meanwhile, DW enjoyed the Wiener Schnitzel. The Restaurant continues to be good and sometimes excellent, but World Cafe is still my preference.

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by SailorPaulH