Tips for New Viking Ocean Cruisers

Hi deec. Just saw this and was curious. Viking Daily let us know if any ID was necessary on our Med and Norway/UK cruises, but never mentioned our passports. I imagine that was because no country we visited required that we travel with our passports. With past cruise lines and cruises in different parts of the world, it has been very rare when the cruise line has stated that passports were required. We had to take them off the ship in St. Petersburg, since we all lined up to go through immigration in the port terminal rather than having immigration officials performing a check on the ship without us being present. Therefore, I'm curious if Viking RECOMMENDS taking a passport ashore. Whether that's a good idea or bad one has been debated a bit on Cruise Critic, and while I have my own opinion, I've never really heard what's considered best. SO - do you know if anyone specifically asked about whether to take a passport ashore or not and if so, what was the answer?

With regards to our Panama Central America cruise Jan 2018, I checked the US State Dept site about passport reqmts at each country we will be visiting which covered whether you have to carry it with you. Of course, if you only exit and return to the ship once, you're sorta stuck carrying your passport for the day. But some countries don't require you carry it with you if you've already gone thru passport control once. But some do.

Basically, I trust Viking has a vested interest in making sure we don't run afoul of each country's entrance reqmts and will make sure theyre in the Viking Daily and hit them again in each Port Talk. However, having done all that, they're not going to babysit you to make sure you don't screw up anyway.

For myself, I typically carry my passport with me all the time. It's in a small zippered pouch close to my body in my waist pack.

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Hi deec. Just saw this and was curious. Viking Daily let us know if any ID was necessary on our Med and Norway/UK cruises, but never mentioned our passports. I imagine that was because no country we visited required that we travel with our passports. With past cruise lines and cruises in different parts of the world, it has been very rare when the cruise line has stated that passports were required. We had to take them off the ship in St. Petersburg, since we all lined up to go through immigration in the port terminal rather than having immigration officials performing a check on the ship without us being present. Therefore, I'm curious if Viking RECOMMENDS taking a passport ashore. Whether that's a good idea or bad one has been debated a bit on Cruise Critic, and while I have my own opinion, I've never really heard what's considered best. SO - do you know if anyone specifically asked about whether to take a passport ashore or not and if so, what was the answer?

roothy123, I'm back from Homelands and can confirm that Viking Daily has a section "Things to remember" where it stated either take your stateroom keycard or keycard And passport. There is also screen in elevators that reminds you "welcome to .... You need to have a keycard and passport with you today or just a keycard". Twice I had to run out of elevator to grab our passports. Like you I thought that we would need to have a passport only in Saint Petersburg. In reality we had to have our passport more times than not

roothy123, I'm back from Homelands and can confirm that Viking Daily has a section "Things to remember" where it stated either take your stateroom keycard or keycard And passport. There is also screen in elevators that reminds you "welcome to .... You need to have a keycard and passport with you today or just a keycard". Twice I had to run out of elevator to grab our passports. Like you I thought that we would need to have a passport only in Saint Petersburg. In reality we had to have our passport more times than not

Yup - I remember last year on VH where they checked us to make sure we had our passports in hand before we even went into the Star Theater. I just don't remember now how many times that happened. More than just St Petersburg?

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I have no doubt that Viking keeps cruisers well informed about the need for taking any documents ashore, and I DO remember a note on one of the elevator boards recommending that an ID or something be taken ashore. Of course, in the UK and Norway (Midnight Sun cruise), there were NO days we needed to take our passports ashore, so it certainly depends on which country you're visiting. I don't remember even being required to take an ID, as some countries require.

Viking does a great job letting you know pertinent information. For example, I was impressed when I read what Viking said about excursions in St. Petersburg. So many cruise lines make you think you need an expensive individual Russian visa if you're touring with Alla, TJ, etc. and that is SO not true.

What I was curious about is whether it's better to take your passports with you or not when you aren't REQUIRED to do so. Some people are afraid of losing them or having them stolen; other people are afraid to go ashore without them. On a few cruises, the cruise line took our passports (I suppose to facilitate clearance in each port), which upset some people. Of course, you could ask for your passport if you wanted to keep it during the day. In any case, vnb's choice sounds like a good one, but some people are a bit careless when it comes to personal belongings, and those people might be better off leaving them on the ship!

Yup - I remember last year on VH where they checked us to make sure we had our passports in hand before we even went into the Star Theater. I just don't remember now how many times that happened. More than just St Petersburg?

 

 

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Yes, to our surprise. We didn't need passport in none of the towns in Norway for sure. My husband took a drivers license with him anyway "just in case".

BTW, Viking Daily also has a very good Info especially for people like us who like to wonder around by ourselves-Ship phone number and location (ship phone number is also on you keycard), closest US and UK embassies and their phone numbers. You never know when you might need them

On my 1st Viking cruise which was river, I blew off reading the Viking Daily. A rookie mistake.

Once more, pretty much EVERYTHING you need to know about the next day, passports, TIME ZONE, currency, revised tour times and departure points, etc. is right there in the prior evening's Viking daily.

On Homelands, Viking told us we needed passports in several countries besides Russia. Former East Germany for one. Did anyone actually ask for our passports besides Russia? No. Better safe than stranded and frantic.

My experience is that it is important to read the Cruise News (or whatever the cruise call the info they leave in your cabin at night). I rarely take my passport but some countries require it. I am (at least for the time been an EU citizen) and therefore have free access to other EU countries. The only place I have been made to feel an 'alien' is at the USA border - either disembarking from a plane or ship (QM2) or on a Greyhound bus between Vancouver and Seattle - however it did work to our advantage when waiting to board the Westerdam in Seattle as we had to go through the 'Alien' passenger line - where there was only 8 of us compared to the rest of the 2000 American and Canadians waiting to board. So in answer to your question - take it if you have to. Keep a photo copy or take a picture on your phone of your passport and keep you number. Always, always keep the number of the Ships agents so you can contact them if you have a problem getting back to the ship. Our key cards are far more than than keys to the cabin, they certify our spending and also allow us to visit many places without having to go through passport control.

Another helpful hint might be Do your laundry/ironing during dinner time or early in the morning - not on sea days! (bring a tote bag) AND:

Each day when you go off the ship, take the phone number of the ship. If you have an emergency, you'll want to have it. I also take the name and phone number of the ship's agent in each port. That info is normally printed on the daily paper that is delivered to your stateroom the night before.( take a picture of the numbers with your camera)

I added to yours

 

On Homelands, Viking told us we needed passports in several countries besides Russia. Former East Germany for one. Did anyone actually ask for our passports besides Russia? No. Better safe than stranded and frantic.

1. Amen to reading the Daily. Absolutely critical.

2. Made me go back and check our VH daily for Warnemünde (Berlin) and there it was - instructions to carry keycard and passport. I did what they said - of course - but never wondered why. Which I should have because I've been on business trips to Berlin (meeting for a week at a hotel on the old East Berlin side) twice before and was never told I needed to keep my passport on my person. I only showed it at the airport on arrival and departure. Odd.

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A number of countries require that you have your passport or other official documentation per country with you to produce if you are involved in any incident that involves the local police. It is a little known fact and for the most part ignored because passengers are not usually involved in such incidents. Often passengers are not informed by the cruise line. It may be more important in some countries but better to be safe than sorry if notified that you need your passport.

Yup - I remember last year on VH where they checked us to make sure we had our passports in hand before we even went into the Star Theater. I just don't remember now how many times that happened. More than just St Petersburg?

 

 

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CharTrav - just picking up on one part of your comment so my question is a bit off track: Is Viking having everyone who is booked on an excursion go to the theatre and wait for their tour to be called? On our 2015 Viking Star cruise we waited in the Living Room which I thought was great. You could get a coffee, use the washrooms, wander around etc. We are booked again in 2018 and are eagerly forward to another great Viking Ocean experience.

some of the excursions on our cruise met in the theatre, others in the livingroom, while others proceeded directly to the dock.

some of the excursions on our cruise met in the theatre, others in the livingroom, while others proceeded directly to the dock.

Many of the included tours met on the dock. Buses were filled as passengers arrived and departed one at a time as they were filled.

If you there are people you want to share a bus with, make sure that you all arrive at the check-in point together so that you will be assigned to the same bus.

CharTrav - just picking up on one part of your comment so my question is a bit off track: Is Viking having everyone who is booked on an excursion go to the theatre and wait for their tour to be called? On our 2015 Viking Star cruise we waited in the Living Room which I thought was great. You could get a coffee, use the washrooms, wander around etc. We are booked again in 2018 and are eagerly forward to another great Viking Ocean experience.

It seemed like we did but one time we met in the Restaurant. Which was nuts. Just not enough room. You can check out all the Viking Dailies I scanned to see what the pattern was. But I don't recall any time we started on the dock.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/i9q99w1v62dxirp/AACz5hossbTM03bELvQPCfX9a?dl=0

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Viking Homelands May-June 2017 started in Theater or on the dock. Several times each. Only Living Room gathering was us on a private St Petersburg tour. No Restaurant gathering.

It seemed like we did but one time we met in the Restaurant. Which was nuts. Just not enough room. You can check out all the Viking Dailies I scanned to see what the pattern was. But I don't recall any time we started on the dock.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/i9q99w1v62dxirp/AACz5hossbTM03bELvQPCfX9a?dl=0

 

 

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Hmmmm. Just looked at a few daily pages. And have to correct myself. We did mostly optional tours. Those seemed to always meet in the Theater. But the included tours proceeded as others have said. Sorry for the mistake!

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Thanks for the link to the Viking Dailies CharTrav. Very helpful since we will be in many of the same ports in 2018. I can see that they have changed the assembly procedure from when we were onboard on 2015. Included tours meeting on the pier probably cuts down on the congestion on the stairs down to the gangway.

Baggage Charge Information

We have just returned from a wonderful cruise on the beautiful Viking Sky. We booked the airfare and post trip to Iceland with Viking. When checking in for our SAS flight from Bergen to Reykjavik, we learned that we would have to pay to check our bags (570 NOK per bag). We also had to pay for water on our 4 hr flight...coffee and tea are free. We were quite surprised and felt somewhat betrayed by Viking. After all we had purchased an inclusive post trip and have never had to pay for checked bags on international flights. We have suggested that Viking note this possibility on their initial invoice (and any successive) so guests are aware of this possibility. Viking does note at the bottom of the page on their air information (once booked) "Additional airline imposed baggage charges may apply; click here http://www.vrc.com/luggage to learn more about luggage allowances, weight restrictions and fees."

On the June 17 Midnight Sun cruise, most included and optional tours met in the Star Theater. Some, however, met ashore - for example, all 9 of the included excursions for Lerwick were to meet on the dock. That was a good way of avoiding congestion in the theater, plus make it easier for people to explore a port on their own before an excursion.

Having people meet in different locations could easily have been a bit of a logistical nightmare, so I don't think the excursion folks wanted to do that. Besides, often the groups are too large to go anywhere other than the theater. At least having excursions meet in the theater (or ashore) keeps things simple - and easier to remember!

A number of countries require that you have your passport or other official documentation per country with you to produce if you are involved in any incident that involves the local police. It is a little known fact and for the most part ignored because passengers are not usually involved in such incidents. Often passengers are not informed by the cruise line. It may be more important in some countries but better to be safe than sorry if notified that you need your passport.

I took my passport when the Daily said take it. I took a copy of my passport all other times. Did I need a passport? I used it in St. Petersburg and I would add for all, if you are going to exchange currency in a bank (not the ATM, the bank) in port, you will need a passport. I tried without it and it was a no go. Didn't learn my lesson and tried it again in another port and had to go back to the ship to get it. Some of us are slow learners!;p

Here is a link to a post by eaglewatcher in another thread; it is full of helpful hints.

good post by Eaglewatcher!

Thanx, R.

Well done.

Ira

Can we talk coffee for a minute? :D

Usually my mother loves French Press and considers herself a coffee connoisseur. We certainly don't expect that onboard, but how does the coffee from the various venues rate? What about the in-room maker?

If I brought along an AeroPress, is there a supply of ground coffee anywhere? I don't imagine we would be able to bring ground coffee from stateside, correct?

I'll give my two cents on coffee, but I've never had French Press before, so just take my two cents with a grain of salt.

The coffee machines in the rooms (although I don't know if the "veranda" room category folks get one) seem to produce pretty strong coffee, unless I just missed something in how to make it. Even with a lot of creamer, I found it to be undrinkable. The machine uses pods, so I suppose if you really wanted to, you could punch those open and try that coffee in an Aero Press. However, my goal in packing/cruising is to pack light, so I wouldn't want to take anything like that along, even though I believe those units are pretty small. I believe European cities (if you're flying to and boarding in Europe) allow you to bring coffee into the country, although I'm not positive. Likewise, I assume a French Press machine uses hot water from another source. However, if it plugs in and you heat water from there, you may want to check with Viking to make sure it's OK to bring it. For safety reasons, many cruise lines prohibit appliances that draw a lot of power - for example, irons. I'm not sure what Viking's policy is.

In my opinion, the best coffee, and the most variety, is at the little coffee/breakfast bread/cookie/tiny sandwich area mid-ship on deck 1. I don't know what brand they use, but their regular coffee seems pretty similar to what many Americans like. They also have specialty coffees, some free, some at additional cost.

They may use the same coffee at the mid-ship place (Viking Bar?) on deck 1 as they do in the restaurants. If not, it tasted similar - not horribly strong but not weak either.