Viking Sea Update - engine issues - and general info

I am on the Viking Sea getting ready to depart St Petersburg and the captain just announced that engine problems in one engine will slow our pace. As a result, we will be skipping Gdansk, Poland and stopping over at Renne, Bornholm instead. Just thought I would let you know. As far as I am concerned, it will be an adventure either way. I haven't been to Poland but I haven't been to Bornholm either.

I have a few other general info bits for future cruisers.

- I had heard that there is a lack of drawer space for clothes etc. I found them totally adequate.

- The closet is bigger than the River Longboats and the shelf above the hanging clothes is very reachable.

-As reported by others, reservations at the Specialty restaurants are easy to get.

-As with the river cruises, you can bring your own bottle of hard liquor and they will store it at the bar to make you mixed drinks with it (at no charge). A generous tip for the bartender would be in order at the end of the cruise.

-When you leave your cabin and remove your key card from the slot all power goes off in the cabin so your electronics plugged into a charger will not charge. You can slip a business card into the slot and the power will stay on.

- If you open your sliding glass door or even not close the latch all the way, your A/C - Heat will not work.

-The bathroom floor gets quite warm but will turn off whenever you are not in the room (key card out of slot) so the only time it really heats up is overnight and it is a nice foot warmer first thing in the morning.

That's about it.

Nice info bits.

As my 1st wife brings so many clothes on river cruises that the closet is too small, the bigger ocean closet is good news.

I am holding YOU personally responsible for fixing the engine ASAP as I embark 28 May on the Viking Homies cruise.

OK philw1776, I will get right on it!

And- the closets are not Huge but we have 50!! Hangers in ours (we asked for extra).

-The other helpful hint is since there is no clock in the room, I downloaded the app (free) "The Clocks"by Meanterm onto my iPad and use that as the room clock. It stays on all the time, you can darkern it by turning down your screen brightness.

Nice info bits.

As my 1st wife brings so many clothes on river cruises that the closet is too small, the bigger ocean closet is good news.

On my very first ocean cruise I met an English couple who had bought a second cabin just to accommodate the wife's clothes.

Whenever I went for a walk through a town or city centre I would see them in a dress shop buying more clothes.

Hope you have a great trip!

We have been on the Star twice and LOVE it. I hope you do too.

A couple of bits to be aware of, the small switch on the headboard (one is smaller than the other) is for the VERY convenient night light to help you find the bathroom in the middle of the night.

The other is to be very careful coming out of the bathroom wearing socks. The bathroom floor is elevated just a few inches from the main cabin floor and stepping down might cause a slip. Not that I did, but came close to slipping more than once.

have a great time. We took the same trip you are on a couple of years ago and loved it. IMO missing the port in Poland is not a great loss. The alternate port will be an adventure, you have a wonderful attitude. We elected to go this same direction so that we would end our last few cruise days in Norway. Very glad we did.

On my very first ocean cruise I met an English couple who had bought a second cabin just to accommodate the wife's clothes.

 

Whenever I went for a walk through a town or city centre I would see them in a dress shop buying more clothes.

Would you please delete this post in case my wife sees it some day?

Well, you're making me nervous having read there's been a problem with the engine! We were on the Sea in December when the transformer blew up and the cruise was cancelled. Thinking lightning won't strike twice in the same place, we are booked on the Sea for the Sept. 3 Homelands cruise. I may make full use of that Silver Spirits package. :eek:

Let's hope it is not 3 strikes you're Out !

I am on the Viking Sea getting ready to depart St Petersburg and the captain just announced that engine problems in one engine will slow our pace. As a result, we will be skipping Gdansk, Poland and stopping over at Renne, Bornholm instead. Just thought I would let you know. As far as I am concerned, it will be an adventure either way. I haven't been to Poland but I haven't been to Bornholm either.

 

I have a few other general info bits for future cruisers.

- I had heard that there is a lack of drawer space for clothes etc. I found them totally adequate.

- The closet is bigger than the River Longboats and the shelf above the hanging clothes is very reachable.

-As reported by others, reservations at the Specialty restaurants are easy to get.

-As with the river cruises, you can bring your own bottle of hard liquor and they will store it at the bar to make you mixed drinks with it (at no charge). A generous tip for the bartender would be in order at the end of the cruise.

-When you leave your cabin and remove your key card from the slot all power goes off in the cabin so your electronics plugged into a charger will not charge. You can slip a business card into the slot and the power will stay on.

- If you open your sliding glass door or even not close the latch all the way, your A/C - Heat will not work.

-The bathroom floor gets quite warm but will turn off whenever you are not in the room (key card out of slot) so the only time it really heats up is overnight and it is a nice foot warmer first thing in the morning.

 

That's about it.

Could you share any suggestions/info. about any of the excursions you have taken? I will be there in a few weeks.

We went in early into Stockholm and checked out all the sites.

Helsinki we did the included tour. It was a nice overview albeit somewhat boring guide. I call him a Wikipedia guide all facts no personal insights into the life of the people.

St Petersburg was awesome! We did the Viking 2 day. (I can hear the masses convincing you that you need to go with a private tour.). I can only say that we got into Catherine's palace before it opened to the public for the day. We had the place to ourselves. We got into the Hermitage between shifts so we had each room to our group only - pretty much. The ballet that night was great. Such talent! Day 2 we dealt with more crowds here and there but I would do it again.

Tallinn we just did today and the included tour was good. Cute town.

They cancelled Gdansk - bummer.

Sorry I don't have more info for you.

Happy Planning!

Celiac Cruiser,

Have you had any feedback from fellow passengers who went to the evening Folk Show in St. Petersburg?

We went in early into Stockholm and checked out all the sites.

Helsinki we did the included tour. It was a nice overview albeit somewhat boring guide. I call him a Wikipedia guide all facts no personal insights into the life of the people.

St Petersburg was awesome! We did the Viking 2 day. (I can hear the masses convincing you that you need to go with a private tour.). I can only say that we got into Catherine's palace before it opened to the public for the day. We had the place to ourselves. We got into the Hermitage between shifts so we had each room to our group only - pretty much. The ballet that night was great. Such talent! Day 2 we dealt with more crowds here and there but I would do it again.

Tallinn we just did today and the included tour was good. Cute town.

 

They cancelled Gdansk - bummer.

 

Sorry I don't have more info for you.

 

Happy Planning!

Thank you for resounding! Are you going to Berlin or another excursion? We went to Berlin with Viking last year so we'll do some excursion near Warnemunde. Very curious about your Eidfjord excursion!

Celiac Cruiser,

 

Have you had any feedback from fellow passengers who went to the evening Folk Show in St. Petersburg?

I'm curious to hear this answer as well as the Faberge museum!

Sorry to hear this, however, I wanted to say that I absolutely LOVED Ronne, Denmark when we were there on an Oceania cruise. We rented a car and drove around the island, looking at round churches, lighthouses, etc. We thought it was a wonderful place, despite not being very well known.

not sure you wanted information about the Folk Show or Faberge Museum. we spent about 1.5 hours at the museum with our guide and it was great. Remember there are only 9 eggs but the museum is full of beautiful other objects and the museum itself is lovely. If the ship offers a lecture on Faberge make sure you attend or listen to it later on TV! Our lecturer was excellent.

not sure you wanted information about the Folk Show or Faberge Museum. we spent about 1.5 hours at the museum with our guide and it was great. Remember there are only 9 eggs but the museum is full of beautiful other objects and the museum itself is lovely. If the ship offers a lecture on Faberge make sure you attend or listen to it later on TV! Our lecturer was excellent.

Good to hear the Faberge Museum is good--plan to go there. Thinking about the Folklore show so wondered if anyone said anything about it. Did Viking have Russian dancers to entertain on the ship? You were at the ballet but wondered if brought in for others.

Did Viking have Russian dancers to entertain on the ship?

On our cruise, opera singers were brought on board at night. Nice voices--yes. Accents--yes. Music choice beside opera--Porgy and Bess, with Russian accent trying to produce Old south Negro dialect? Outcome--Smorgasbord of sound. They probably should have stuck to something where there accent might have worked.

Does anyone know if it is necessary to bring a Sport Jacket for the men? We are so bad when it comes to figuring out what we need. See you all on the 28th!

Thanks...Alice

Does anyone know if it is necessary to bring a Sport Jacket for the men? We are so bad when it comes to figuring out what we need. See you all on the 28th!

Thanks...Alice

It can be done but 'necessary'...............No.

Thank you!

I did not hear from anyone who went to the folk dancing in Russia. Since we were out that evening, I didn't look at Viking Daily program. Sorry.

I remember on our river cruise, they would often bring on local performers to entertain, I have not noticed that here on Viking Ocean. It is mostly lectures about the area. The lectures are recorded and available the next day on the television.

A gentlemen's jacket would not be out of place but not required either. For the ladies, keep in mind that they aircondition heavily and even in warm weather (it was 75 yesterday in Tallinn), you will want a sweater or a wrap for the indoor restaurants.

Dress code of no jeans is not enforced. I did see a young couple in exercise clothing turned away at the Chef's Table.

A note about St Petersburg, the immigration folks actually said good morning (in Russian) and smiled! I was shocked. She was very thorough though and spent several minutes looking at her computer ?database. I started to wonder if my name was on a list.

Another word about the Viking 2 day shore excursion, our group was agile and punctual. I didn't feel like I was traveling with a bus load. We moved around quickly. The evening for ballet at The Hermitage had the extra bonus of seeing the city lights over the river at night. Lots of large historic buildings right at the waters edge. Reminded me of Budapest.

2 more ship notes:

I was confused and would often walk down the long corridors the wrong way when going for a meal. Keep in mind that most dining areas are at the Back of the ship. The Restaurant, World Cafe, Manfreddi's & Chef's Table- all at the back. It was explained that way the cooking smells wouldn't travel throughout the ship when we are underway.

A good trick is to take a photo (on a smartphone) of the floor options once inside the elevator and then you will have a list of where everything is on your phone.

I bring one that can go with his choice of pants, that way for speciality restaurants or for the restaurant, he looks a little nicer. Lol, he'll take it off anyhow after dinner.

Does anyone know if it is necessary to bring a Sport Jacket for the men? We are so bad when it comes to figuring out what we need. See you all on the 28th!

Thanks...Alice

No

You are on Viking, not Silversea where I needed a sports jacket, which was not a big deal for me although I will not bring one on Viking. Us males do, as Viking says, need slacks and collared shirts for evening dining.

See you on the 28th if Viking can get their engines working. Where's Scotty when you need him?

I did not hear from anyone who went to the folk dancing in Russia. Since we were out that evening, I didn't look at Viking Daily program. Sorry.

 

I remember on our river cruise, they would often bring on local performers to entertain, I have not noticed that here on Viking Ocean. It is mostly lectures about the area. The lectures are recorded and available the next day on the television.

 

A gentlemen's jacket would not be out of place but not required either. For the ladies, keep in mind that they aircondition heavily and even in warm weather (it was 75 yesterday in Tallinn), you will want a sweater or a wrap for the indoor restaurants.

 

 

 

Dress code of no jeans is not enforced. I did see a young couple in exercise clothing turned away at the Chef's Table.

 

A note about St Petersburg, the immigration folks actually said good morning (in Russian) and smiled! I was shocked. She was very thorough though and spent several minutes looking at her computer ?database. I started to wonder if my name was on a list.

 

Another word about the Viking 2 day shore excursion, our group was agile and punctual. I didn't feel like I was traveling with a bus load. We moved around quickly. The evening for ballet at The Hermitage had the extra bonus of seeing the city lights over the river at night. Lots of large historic buildings right at the waters edge. Reminded me of Budapest.

 

2 more ship notes:

I was confused and would often walk down the long corridors the wrong way when going for a meal. Keep in mind that most dining areas are at the Back of the ship. The Restaurant, World Cafe, Manfreddi's & Chef's Table- all at the back. It was explained that way the cooking smells wouldn't travel throughout the ship when we are underway.

 

 

A good trick is to take a photo (on a smartphone) of the floor options once inside the elevator and then you will have a list of where everything is on your phone.

Wow!! Great tips! Thank you for all the information and ideas! Have fun and post your thoughts and experiences any time! 😀