notjaded Posted July 21 Author #26 Share Posted July 21 9 hours ago, ctrous said: Can anyone give me a general idea of the costs for the evening excursions to hunt for the northern lights on the Viking cruise and what time they generally leave the ship and return. I can't get this information until my booking time opens. Also approximate costs of the sledding with huskies or raindeer. The ones we were on left around 6:30 and return about 4 hours or so later. Cost probably averaged $250-$350 pp. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcGma Posted July 26 #27 Share Posted July 26 We did this cruise March 2024 and I feel we were very very fortunate in the weather. North Sea not rough and saw the lights twice from the ship (missed first time which I think was more fleeting) and once from a private excursion from Tromso. Each time the aurora was quite stunning vibrant green with the naked eye and as mentioned shifting eery shapes to coronas with rays. We asked for a phone call to the cabin and were awoken around midnight. Be ready with your clothes and boots hats mittens tripod etc at bedside. The other highlights were cruising the Norwegian coast with majestic views, excursion to Sami village for sleigh ride and reindeer feeding, seeing the Norwegian equivalent of the Iditarod, and the Ice Hotel. We booked most of the excursions privately and had no problems with any ot them. I’m happy we did as the one place I couldn’t, Narvik, the Viking excursion to the Sami Village for the event was booked when our window opened, so we went in the afternoon. It seems that most of the Viking northern lights or excursions out from Tromso,or Alta at night were full when our window opened (DV2). It was still quite interesting, beautiful countryside but the evening excursion saw the aurora at the village. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mich3554 Posted July 26 #28 Share Posted July 26 On 8/5/2023 at 8:50 AM, frickwg said: One thing to remember! Seeing Northern Lights is like gambling or two roulette wheels: The Lights and then the Weather. Even if you will a million bucks on one wheel you can lose it all on the second. Both must hit to see anything. We had a great time on a similar Viking cruise, but saw nothing! Yep. We were on the trip earlier this year that got stranded in Tromso due to weather. Apparently, some did see the lights briefly but we did not. For us, seeing lights was a bust on this trip. As usual, Viking hospitality compensated for not seeing the lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gynyphurr Posted July 28 #29 Share Posted July 28 For those who did private tours to find the lights -- were there any restrictions on when you had to be back to the ship? Thinking specifically of the overnight stays. I read somewhere that they sometimes have to tender from ship to shore and that the tender doesn't run all night. Would love feedback from folks who actually experienced it. My fear of course with doing the private tour is being stuck on shore in the middle of the night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notjaded Posted July 31 Author #30 Share Posted July 31 On 7/28/2024 at 3:02 AM, gynyphurr said: For those who did private tours to find the lights -- were there any restrictions on when you had to be back to the ship? Thinking specifically of the overnight stays. I read somewhere that they sometimes have to tender from ship to shore and that the tender doesn't run all night. Would love feedback from folks who actually experienced it. My fear of course with doing the private tour is being stuck on shore in the middle of the night! On 7/28/2024 at 3:02 AM, gynyphurr said: For those who did private tours to find the lights -- were there any restrictions on when you had to be back to the ship? Thinking specifically of the overnight stays. I read somewhere that they sometimes have to tender from ship to shore and that the tender doesn't run all night. Would love feedback from folks who actually experienced it. My fear of course with doing the private tour is being stuck on shore in the middle of the night! No tendering on our NL cruise. We did ship’s excursions, so can’t help you with other concerns. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcGma Posted August 18 #31 Share Posted August 18 Did private excursion with Northern Horizons in Tromso. Ship was docked and arrived back around 1:30 am. Picked up and dropped off near the ship dock right at foot of town. Ship was docked on arrival and overnight in Alta though said tendered on original itinerary. However, the next day at mid day the ship moved to anchor off Alta and on return to the ship, there were tenders. We had arranged a taxi to and from Sorrisniva on our own to visit the Ice Hotel after watching the start of the dogsledding race (Norway’s Iditarod). The taxi returned us to the tender dock and there was minimal wait for the tender back to the ship at 5:30pm. The ship left Alta that night at midnight. If you are planning any late excursions, you would probably need to book one with Viking to be assured of getting back to the ship. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now