Viking Shore Excursions

[Travel 25]

We are in a DV1-Deluxe Veranda and have been told that the top shore excursions in many of the ports will be sold out by the time we get to book them, since people in higher category cabins are able to book before us?  This is our first Viking Ocean cruise and are concerned we will be locked out many of the in-demand excursions. We plan on booking our excursions on the first day they open. Should we be concerned?

[OneSixtyToOne]

I suggest you read the following post about booking excursions. It will address many of your concerns as well as give you tips on efficiently booking excursions.

 

[Travel 25]

Based on what I have read and the difficulty of getting in demand shore excursions this will be our first and last Viking Ocean Cruise.   Have never had a problem on Regent, Silver Sea or any of the other top end cruise lines with shore excursions.

[OneSixtyToOne]

4 minutes ago, Travel 25 said:

Based on what I have read and the difficulty of getting in demand shore excursions this will be our first and last Viking Ocean Cruise.   Have never had a problem on Regent, Silver Sea or any of the other top end cruise lines with shore excursions.

What you have read might not be your experience. We’ve always been able to book everything we wanted. You just need to be organized about it and book as soon as your window opens. Available is highly dependent a number of factors such as itinerary, season, and ship occupancy. 

[CDNPolar]

4 hours ago, Travel 25 said:

Based on what I have read and the difficulty of getting in demand shore excursions this will be our first and last Viking Ocean Cruise.   Have never had a problem on Regent, Silver Sea or any of the other top end cruise lines with shore excursions.

 

With respect, if you have not gotten to the point of booking excursions, how can you say that this will be your first and last Viking cruise?  You don't know what your experience will be and you may get all the excursions you want.

 

We book the lowest category of cabin - always - and every category above us gets to book before us.  

 

We have never had an issue getting what we want in shore excursions.

 

Everyone seems to have different stories here on booking excursions and dining reservations.  Same with dining reservations, we have never booked in advance, we book on ship and we get the reservations we want.

 

I personally wish that Viking would end these dates and times for booking because it seems to create a lot of stress.

[CDR2001]

There are about 150 cabins that book before DV category. That leaves over 272 cabins booking when excursions open for DV, with the V category going last. As you can see, plenty of excursions will be left for you to choose from. Use the tips in the previous post, and good luck! 

[kctwinmommy]

@OneSixtyToOne - thanks for sharing that! Hopefully it helps new people.

 

@Travel 25 - I was also worried, and turned out it was for no reason. There was hardly anything sold out when we booked. I honestly can't remember if there was anything, but at least none of what we wanted to book was sold out. And we were even battling against Veranda cabins because we were on a cruise with multiple segments. So the Veranda cabin people booking date for those getting on a week before us, was the same as ours. Things also change once on board. Now, we didn't have much success with changing to things we wanted on board (just tried for 2 different things), but it can happen for plenty of people. I would say read my post, I think I put it in a concise manner to hopefully help a little bit. 😃 

[Travel 25]

Thanks for helping me relax before our date arrives to book our excursions.  When we read one of the posts, it said that your excursion is not even safe in your cart until it is paid for.  Others said you should pay for each day separately to make sure you get what you want. It just seems like a lot of extra work.  Usually, we put all of our excursions in our cart and then check out.  It just appeared that Viking is trying to force people into more expensive cabins just so they can get the excursions they want.  If an excursion is very popular, they should just add another bus to accommodate the demand.  Most other cruise lines offer even the quests in the least expensive cabins a chance to get their desired excursions. Booking 100 days before your cruise gives them plenty of time to add another bus, if needed.  Viking makes a lot of money on these excursions, and we should not be forced to use private venders, when we book more than 3 months before the cruise.  Cruise ships that carry 2-3 thousand people have no problem, if they book well in advance, so Viking with smaller ships should follow their lead. 

[OneSixtyToOne]

59 minutes ago, Travel 25 said:

Thanks for helping me relax before our date arrives to book our excursions.  When we read one of the posts, it said that your excursion is not even safe in your cart until it is paid for.  Others said you should pay for each day separately to make sure you get what you want. It just seems like a lot of extra work.  Usually, we put all of our excursions in our cart and then check out.  It just appeared that Viking is trying to force people into more expensive cabins just so they can get the excursions they want.  If an excursion is very popular, they should just add another bus to accommodate the demand.  Most other cruise lines offer even the quests in the least expensive cabins a chance to get their desired excursions. Booking 100 days before your cruise gives them plenty of time to add another bus, if needed.  Viking makes a lot of money on these excursions, and we should not be forced to use private venders, when we book more than 3 months before the cruise.  Cruise ships that carry 2-3 thousand people have no problem, if they book well in advance, so Viking with smaller ships should follow their lead. 

On some itineraries Viking offers “Privileged Access” excursions. These offer perks like early access, behind the scenes tours, after hours access, special dinners at the venue, etc. By their nature, they are in high demand and have very limited space. These are the types of excursions that may require additional effort on your part if you really, really want to do something special. Paying immediately after booking increases your odds of getting exactly what you want. Make a plan and don’t waste time when booking. ACH is fast and easy.

 

Other excursions may be limited in space by the venue. For example, The Alhambra only allows one bus load of pax from each cruise line each day.

 

Viking may be able to add additional resources for other excursions so if something sells out, keep checking back. More tours may be added or pax may cancel. This happened recently on our next cruise and we were able to book a sold out excursion one week later.

 

Included excursions are always available which is why you should book those last. If there is a particular time you desire then factor that into your priorities. Remember the included excursions must also be reserved. Viking needs this information in advance to allocate adequate resources to accommodate everyone.

 

On our last visit to Barcelona we booked the Privileged Access tour of Gaudi’s Houses of Modernism. We arrived before opening at Casa Vincens and had a private reception with coffee and a snack on the terrace. We entered the house before the general public and that offered a unique opportunity to take photos without crowds. This was our number one choice for excursions and I booked and paid immediately at excursion opening time. It sold out within 30 minutes.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 2 by OneSixtyToOne

[kctwinmommy]

51 minutes ago, Travel 25 said:

Thanks for helping me relax before our date arrives to book our excursions.  When we read one of the posts, it said that your excursion is not even safe in your cart until it is paid for.  Others said you should pay for each day separately to make sure you get what you want. It just seems like a lot of extra work.  Usually, we put all of our excursions in our cart and then check out.  It just appeared that Viking is trying to force people into more expensive cabins just so they can get the excursions they want.  If an excursion is very popular, they should just add another bus to accommodate the demand.  Most other cruise lines offer even the quests in the least expensive cabins a chance to get their desired excursions. Booking 100 days before your cruise gives them plenty of time to add another bus, if needed.  Viking makes a lot of money on these excursions, and we should not be forced to use private venders, when we book more than 3 months before the cruise.  Cruise ships that carry 2-3 thousand people have no problem, if they book well in advance, so Viking with smaller ships should follow their lead. 

Read my post that @OneSixtyToOne shared. I broke it down step by step. But yes, I would recommend purchasing each one as you put it in your cart. I get your concerns/complaints, but obviously Viking is in high demand, so there's no reason for them to change anything. Plus, they can only offer so many of each cabin, so it won't matter anyway. We did a 22 day cruise and it took me no more than 20 minutes to book all of our excursions, so hardly extra work. But yes, I did have my ducks in a row before the time opened too, so I was ready. We spent time reading over the excursions, I had a PDF printed so we could read them on paper (I work better that way).

 

By the way, which cruise are you taking? I'm currently writing my review (day by day) for our cruise we did last month. And like I said, one thing I didn't know when I booked ours, was that we were taking 3 of a 4 leg cruise, which added a few more issues, and we still got all of our excursions booked on the day it opened.

 

I truly think you'll be fine when the time comes. I wouldn't stress too much about it.

[Travel 25]

We are taking the Southern Atlantic Crossing cruise in October and are not interested in the “Privileged Access” excursions or the included excursions.  The Alhambra excursion is one we are interested in so we will probably be out of luck on that based on what we have read.  Looks like we have to book with private venders instead of  Viking.

[ReaderGirl57]

We were in a DV6 last summer on a cruise that went to Norway, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland. I followed the advice here on CC, got onto the website the minute excursions opened, and booked each excursion separately, beginning with the one I wanted the most. We only missed out on one, and I was able to book that one with a private vendor. But I agree, it is stressful. We have another cruise booked with Viking in 2026 and I’m already dreading “the day”. But we did book another cruise shortly after our last one because we were so happy with our on board experience. Just wish there was an easier way to book excursions without spending a fortune on a cabin.

[deec]

what were your favorite Iceland tours?

[kctwinmommy]

2 hours ago, Travel 25 said:

We are taking the Southern Atlantic Crossing cruise in October and are not interested in the “Privileged Access” excursions or the included excursions.  The Alhambra excursion is one we are interested in so we will probably be out of luck on that based on what we have read.  Looks like we have to book with private venders instead of  Viking.

Yeah, I saw someone post on FB that particular excursion booked up pretty quickly. Make sure you're in the roll call group for your sailing too. I know this person said that there's a company who does those tours, but they require a minimum, so they were looking for people to join them.

 

Just as a thought though, you might want to sign up for the included ones, if an optional one doesn't appeal to you, so you have something. You can always change/cancel on board up to a certain point. And you do need to pick a time for those too.

[OneSixtyToOne]

2 hours ago, Travel 25 said:

We are taking the Southern Atlantic Crossing cruise in October and are not interested in the “Privileged Access” excursions or the included excursions.  The Alhambra excursion is one we are interested in so we will probably be out of luck on that based on what we have read.  Looks like we have to book with private venders instead of  Viking.

 

The Alhambra is especially tricky since they require your name printed on the ticket and you must have your passport with you because they do random checks at security checkpoints to make sure they match. Because of this, even if passengers cancel at the last minute, their place cannot be resold. There is no waiting list onboard for this excursion. We managed to book the excursion even though we were in a DV. It sold out within minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 2 by OneSixtyToOne

[ReaderGirl57]

3 hours ago, deec said:

what were your favorite Iceland tours?

We loved the Vigur Island tour in Isafjordur and the Skalanes Nature Center in Seydisfjordur. Both are nature tours and great opportunities to see puffins in the wild at the right time of year. We were there in mid July. Vigur Island is the one that sells out quickly, so I booked it first. We missed out on the Viking tour of Northern Iceland’s Natural Treasures from Akureyri but booked a similar minibus tour through Saga Travel which was excellent. We did the included tour in Reykjavik but felt it was pretty lame. A panoramic bus tour with a stop at a viewpoint (nice but we were there too long) and a whale museum which could have been anywhere. In retrospect, we would have been better off wandering the city ourselves - and thankfully we had time the next day to do that. The puffin pictures below are taken at Vigur and Skalanes with an iPhone - that’s how close we were.

Edited June 2 by ReaderGirl57
To add pictures

[OneSixtyToOne]

13 minutes ago, ReaderGirl57 said:

We loved the Vigur Island tour in Isafjordur and the Skalanes Nature Center in Seydisfjordur. Both are nature tours and great opportunities to see puffins in the wild at the right time of year. We were there in mid July. Vigur Island is the one that sells out quickly, so I booked it first. We missed out on the Viking tour of Northern Iceland’s Natural Treasures from Akureyri but booked a similar minibus tour through Saga Travel which was excellent. We did the included tour in Reykjavik but felt it was pretty lame. A panoramic bus tour with a stop at a viewpoint (nice but we were there too long) and a whale museum which could have been anywhere. In retrospect, we would have been better off wandering the city ourselves - and thankfully we had time the next day to do that.

Good to hear. We have Vigur Island booked on our upcoming trip in August. We were also able to book Northern Iceland’s Natural Treasures. It did fill up fast. As for Reykjavik, we’re on the pre-extension and have to Golden Circle booked independently on our free day. When on the ship we’re doing the full day trip to the southern coast. 
 

I will do a “Live From” post for the cruise (Iceland’s Majestic Landscapes)  so stay tuned for more information.

 

Edited June 2 by OneSixtyToOne

[deec]

thanks so much for your thoughts about the excursions...I really want to see some Puffins we are going next year late  June...fingers crossed.  We really enjoy the nature focused cruises.

[FetaCheese]

33 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Good to hear. We have Vigur Island booked on our upcoming trip in August. We were also able to book Northern Iceland’s Natural Treasures. It did fill up fast. As for Reykjavik, we’re on the pre-extension and have to Golden Circle booked independently on our free day. When on the ship we’re doing the full day trip to the southern coast. 
 

I will do a “Live From” post for the cruise (Iceland’s Majestic Landscapes)  so stay tuned for more information.

 

Looking forward to reading your upcoming Live from.  Thanks 

[janetcbl]

8 hours ago, deec said:

thanks so much for your thoughts about the excursions...I really want to see some Puffins we are going next year late  June...fingers crossed.  We really enjoy the nature focused cruises.

Check dates when Vigur Island is off limits to tours due to eider ducks nesting. We are on Viking now and the excursion is not offered due to the nesting ducks. By late June you should be okay. You can Google the approximate dates to check.

[CCWineLover]

On 6/2/2024 at 11:38 PM, OneSixtyToOne said:

Good to hear. We have Vigur Island booked on our upcoming trip in August. We were also able to book Northern Iceland’s Natural Treasures. It did fill up fast. As for Reykjavik, we’re on the pre-extension and have to Golden Circle booked independently on our free day. When on the ship we’re doing the full day trip to the southern coast. 
 

I will do a “Live From” post for the cruise (Iceland’s Majestic Landscapes)  so stay tuned for more information.

 

Joe - you'll enjoy the Vigur Island tour - we did that last year.  Hope the weather is good for you.  Also the Natrual Treasures tour.    We also did an independent Golden Circle tour in Reykjavik (Saga Tours), which was outstanding, as well as using Saga for a Southern coast independent tour.    People can look at the many Live from threads on Iceland cruises from the past couple years that contain a lot of good information as well.

[OneSixtyToOne]

2 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Joe - you'll enjoy the Vigur Island tour - we did that last year.  Hope the weather is good for you.  Also the Natrual Treasures tour.    We also did an independent Golden Circle tour in Reykjavik (Saga Tours), which was outstanding, as well as using Saga for a Southern coast independent tour.    People can look at the many Live from threads on Iceland cruises from the past couple years that contain a lot of good information as well.

We’re really looking forward to this cruise. BTW we still have Danish Krones leftover from our 2019 Copenhagen extension. Bridget is planning a shopping spree in the Faroe Islands. 

[bookbabe]

On 6/2/2024 at 11:26 AM, Travel 25 said:

We are taking the Southern Atlantic Crossing cruise in October and are not interested in the “Privileged Access” excursions or the included excursions.  The Alhambra excursion is one we are interested in so we will probably be out of luck on that based on what we have read.  Looks like we have to book with private venders instead of  Viking.

I’ll throw a different opinion of the Alhambra out there…don’t stress about getting that excursion, we felt it was a waste of our time and money.  We did the Viking excursion there on our March/April 2024 cruise, and it was definitely a one and done for us.  Do some reading about the site.  It’s got an extensive amount of 15th century reproduction in the Islamic style, and even then it wasn’t a wow for us.  Probably one of our most disappointing excursions on that cruise.  Long bus ride to get there, very crowded, rushed tour due to the distance and ticket timings, only okay architecture, mediocre lunch at a local restaurant.  The gardens were the nicest part.  Wish we’d done something else that day instead.

 

Editing to add that we didn’t like the Sagrada Familia either, so your mileage may vary.  Then again, our cruise excursions included Ephesus, Pompeii, the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, the Colosseum, the Parthenon, Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral, among other stops, so we were pretty spoiled for epic architecture.

Edited June 4 by bookbabe

[Travel 25]

Thanks, bookbabe you made me remember that we are blessed and should be grateful for whatever experiences in life we get to enjoy.  God willing, we will get the choices we want but if not, maybe we were meant to do something else.  Like you said, sometimes we have done things and find out it is not as good as we thought it would be.  The opposite is also true.  We have met life-long friends in places we never expected to be at.  Thanks again, it made me realize how fortunate we are to be traveling at all.

 

PS: Toronto to Rum Point Cayman.  Thats a big time move, No more snow for you.

 

Steve

 

[Islander500]

I really appreciated all of the information everyone shared on this thread. 

As a new booked (future) Viking cruiser, I would like to ask your thoughts about the quality, size (# of passengers) and prices on typical Viking shore excursions. I'm specifically interested in the additional paid excursions, but happy to read your experiences on any of them. 

On some cruise lines, I have stopped doing ship-sponsored excursions due to many bad experiences. More often than not, it appeared that the lines contracted transportation companies who then hired just about anyone to do the actual "tour" part. I can even remember one "guide" telling us at a stop that it wasn't really worth getting off the bus there. (I guess she had a date that evening and needed to get home.) Another guide on a full-day tour, had 5 or 6 handwritten pages of notes and repeated the same information at least 6 or 7 times. By late afternoon, I could have guided the tour (equally badly) myself. 

Wondered what to expect on Viking...and how actively I should research private companies in most ports where we don't want to do DYI. 

Thanks in advance.