LilaC123

My sister and I did a HA cruise from Amsterdam up to Honningsvag Norway and back to Amsterdam.  Loved every port we stopped at.  In Honningvag, we rented a car and drove to the small fishing villages in the area.  Loved it!  We did some excursions and some walking around on our own in a couple towns.  The scenery is spectacular - we took the train from Flam, took a bus tour to Mt. Dalsnibba and a boat ride to the base of Pulpit Rock.  We walked a large portion of Bergen and Alesund.  I would really like to do that cruise again, there was so much to see.

11 hours ago, Johnymcc45 said:

Hi My wife and I travelled on the Viking Homelands cruise. May June of this year. We nearly booked the Viking Pre cruise trip. flying into Oslo then the train to Bergen. Can I suggest you did what we did try it independently . We  had 2 nights in Oslo then took the train (first Class) to Bergen with 1 night in Bergen  boarding our ship at 1100hrs on the day before embarkation. Its  worth noting that rail travel for persons older than 67 yrs is half price in Norway, this concession also extends to wife or husband of the 67 yr old even if younger. The train from the airport is fast clean and simple. Just walk out of airport into station and buy a single ticket on the Standard train no need to use the Airport special train "Flytoget". We stayed at a hotel in Oslo that was in the Station with views of the harbour. The Journey from Oslo to Bergen is spectacular with snow and ice on the mountain tops in May. The train is clean, warm and very comfortable  with space for cases. The onboard food is also good and inexpensive when compared to prices generally in Norway. On balance 1 more day than the Viking trip and get to join ht ship earlier and more to the point considerably cheaper than Viking

Have a great time in Norway so much to see in Oslo 

Thank you for the information Johnymcc45, we ended up booking everything on our own - unfortunately, neither my hubby or I are yet 67, but I do not mind paying full price for this train trip - I think it will be well worth the money.  We have booked 2 nights in Oslo at the "Scandic Victoria" and plan on doing the Hop On - Hop Off in Oslo. We are also going to purchase the "Pre-paid Museum Entry Plan" along with the bus.  My husband and I are not sure about taking the train from the Oslo Airport to the Main Terminal as our flight from Vancouver BC, Canada gets in around 9:30 pm and we think that might be too late at night to be wandering around trying to find our hotel....  I have been to Bergen before, so we decided to go straight from the Scenic Oslo - Bergen train right to the Viking ship.  We will be staying extra in Reykjavik as well - on our own!  Thank you again for the information, very helpful. I am now even more excited to be taking this pre-trip!  (My family is from Norway - still have relatives in Bergen and had family in Oslo!) 

Peregrina651, I have a few options considered for Reykjavik accommodations - all near downtown.  I always look for hotels with buffet breakfasts included, at least we can fill up in the morning and hopefully keep us going for awhile. 😄  We will be cruising in August so hopefully the weather will be fine.  I have been to Norway and know about the high prices for food and bevy's.  I will just keep on going with my plans and not worry about the Viking packages.  We have planned our own pre and post visits before - I was just thinking that the Viking pre and post packages would be easier to book and do it all with just one payment.  LOL.

I agree with you on the bathrooms - we've had our fair share of doozies, but as long as the water in the shower is hot and the toilet flushes - we are happy.  

Please let us all know all about your trip next June, I always look forward to peoples travel stories on cruise critic.

Thank you all for the suggestions.  I phoned Viking and they are definitely sold out.  We are going to book our own pre and post extensions as suggested. 🙂  I have found a hotel in Oslo that I am impressed with and will book it tomorrow.  I have not decided on Reykjavik yet, some options are very expensive! 

The lady on the Viking phone mentioned that Viatour would be a good place to look at for excursions.  I am impressed with their selections.  I'm thinking of also booking a couple excursions with Viatour instead of the Viking ship.... I just have to wait and see what Viking charges for certain excursions - like the Circle Tour and the Southern Iceland tour.

So sorry LeRenardrouge; I see now that my original post did not make sense... my husband and I were excited to think we could book a pre-cruise package before our Viking trip next August.  It is not booked yet, we jumped the gun and got excited about this Oslo and train idea BEFORE we tried to book it through our TA.  We were hoping to book the Oslo for two days, take the train and then board our ship in Bergen for our cruise - all through Viking.  Our travel agent has been getting conflicting answers to her questions when she has talked to a Viking agent on the phone about booking it for us.  A coupe of times, the Viking agent has stated the pre-extension and post-extension packages are either sold out or not yet available....

I was just hoping that the packages were not yet available for booking yet as opposed to being sold out.

As Liz Masterson mentioned, the reason we want to go through Viking with the pre-cruise package is because of the ease with luggage and transfers, as well as meeting fellow cruisers before we embark onto Viking Sky.

I hope my TA will keep up with phoning them to get an answer.  Did not occur to me that these two optional pre and post cruise packages would not be offered for our dates.... sad face.

Darling husband and I are booked on the August 8, 2020 Iceland's Majestic Landscapes Tour.  We are so excited to book the pre-extension tours offered by Viking; 2 nights in Oslo with train to Bergen and then 2 nights in Reykjavik, Iceland after the cruise.

So, our cruise is just over 300 days away.  My travel agent has tried to book these two excursions for us, but they either come up "Sold Out" or not yet available.... any body who has booked these pre and post excursions - how far in advance were you able to book them?  I think we are way, way to early, but they are advertised on the web site, so I assumed (wrongly) that they would be available for purchase.

Any help would be appreciated.  Thank yo in advance.

My husband and are also on this cruise, and will also check the roll call private tour options.  Thank you for the information. 🙂

I wonder how the cruise ship industry thinks they are going to fill all these ships?  Is there a huge waiting list now for people wanting to cruise but cannot because there is no room?   I just cannot imagine that many more people will be jumping on the band wagon to go cruising??

My sister and I were on a 14 day HAL cruise in July 2017, on their "new" Koningsdam" ship.  The high-light for me was renting a car at North Cape (Honningsvag) and driving to all the small fishing villages and up to the North Cape where we walked around.  It is beautiful scenery up there.  My husband and I will only try to do 14 day cruises because I live on the west coast of Canada and to fly to Europe takes quite a few hours, so we want to make the time on the plane worth our while 😄 By the way, every port we visited in Norway was beautiful and well worth the time exploring.  We took the train in Flam, but got off early on the way back down and walked through some gorgeous areas where we could take photos and see nice town scenes.  Bergen, Alesand and Trondheim and Stavanger were also nice stops.  So much history in Europe compared to baby Canada!

Fantastic review, photos and videos!  I anxiously await the next installments.  I was to Norway in 2017 and it is nice to see the familiar spots.

We have booked a cruise - Iceland's Majestic Landscapes for August 2020 and we are required to pay by Dec. 31, 2018.  I don't mind paying early - gives me a year and a half to put money away for the First Class flights and the excursions we hope to take.

I think I would rather pay now, than have all the bills come at the same time just before the trip. 

That being said, we have also purchased trip and health Insurance that took effect the day I booked the trip, so if Viking Ocean does per chance cease operations, my insurance will get the money back. It is in writing.

But, that is just us - and we are fine with the rules. 🙂

gailellen12, have you been to Norway before? If you have stops in Norway - Bergen and Alesund, they are beautiful cities with lots of history. I was to Norway last year and very much enjoyed the cruise. in 2019, the Northern Isles cruise also goes to Norway, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Shetland Islands and Inverness Scotland. I am very much looking forward to seeing every port along the way. I don't mind re-visiting the towns in Norway as it was all so beautiful.

Thanks Ruth, that was the type of answer I was hoping for..... I will let my husband know. I was cruising Norway last summer and we hit a terrible storm with high and rough seas. My sister was with me, thank Goodness not my hubby. We weathered it fine, and the rest of our cruise was fabulous with great weather.

I am also planning on doing this cruise - 14 nights Northern Isles cruise, but in 2019. I might be going solo if I can't convince my hubby to come along. The big question I have is; are the North Atlantic seas routinely rough between Norway to Iceland, or between Iceland and the Faroe Islands? My husband gets sea sick.....

I am fine with rough seas and I am very much looking forward to every stop on this itinerary, I would like my husband along as well. :-)

We also just got back from our South American tour and we stayed at the Pacifico del Casino in San Antonio; (the hotel that is attached to the casino and shopping mall). We were very happy with our stay there. It was very clean with large rooms to handle all the luggage. The view was amazing as it overlooks the harbour. As Lauren and John stated, you will see wildlife such as huge Sea Lions, Pelicans and other water birds. San Antonio is a "working man's" town, but they have an amazing market that sets up everyday along the walkway by the ocean. Also, there was a lovely and refreshing breeze the whole time we were there (we stayed 2 nights in San Antonio), we had heard from others who had stayed in Santiago before the cruise; they mentioned the heat and humidity. We are Canadians and do not do so well in the humidity (we are not from Toronto). The free breakfast in the hotel was more than adequate - no complaints. The hotel is also easy walking distance to downtown and we also walked to our cruise ship - which took half an hour of easy walking.

Thank you for the information "relaxatsea"...... I will look into Turbus as an option. Sounds very doable.

relaxatsea, is there room on the TurBus for large suitcases to fit comfortably while travelling? 4 of us will be doing a 14 day cruise and will be landing in Santiago. We also want to head directly to Valparaiso (we are spending our pre-cruise time in Valparaiso). Thank you in advance for any info regarding the TurBus.

xlxo - Canadians do not celebrate the same holiday as Americans do on July 4th. Canadians celebrate Canada's Birthday on July 1st. Two different holidays - we don't celebrate anything on July 4th, nor would we jump start a celebration a few days early because "we can't wait"...... Happy Independence Day to our American neighbours on July 4th.

I agree with you 100% Bonnie J, we always give ourselves 2 hours to get back on the boat. But, if one is stuck behind a car accident - or something happens beyond ones control - that is what I worry about the most. We are not the type of people (and I have seen them a few times) who are running down the pier with minutes to spare before the ship leaves.....

Take the copy and leave your passport in the safe. If you do not make it back to the ship security will check your safe and take your passport and give it to their port agent. If you need to contact the agent then their number is printed in the daily schedule, so take that with you as well. If you know you will miss the ship due to being in hospital, or road accident (or anything that might prevent you getting back), then you can contact the agent and they will inform the ship.

Thank you SwissDave. I will do this. I will be sure to take the Daily Schedules with me while visiting each port. Of course, I do not worry about this when I am on a ship excursion as I am certain they have contingency plans in place..... I only wonder when Hubby and I wander about by ourselves.

Your reply makes very good sense, thank you again.

This is one thing I am always unsure about..... take the passport or leave the passport in the safe.

If I take color photo-copies of my passport - which is better; take the copied passport with me when I leave the ship for sight-seeing, or leave the photo-copy in the safe and take the original?

I always take photo copies of my Drivers Licence and Credit cards which we leave in the safe in case a card gets lost or stolen (never has happened - thank Goodness).

I always have had a fear of having an accident of some sort, twisted ankle or something worse and missing the boat. So, in that case - is it best to have the photo copy or original passport?

(I think I over-worry about some things before I travel) :-(

I second the Duct Tape idea. Our wheel came off of the corner of one of the suitcases. My darling husband was able to duct tape the plastic corner which held the wheel. Looked tacky (we didn't care), but it worked and we were able to roll the suitcase through Venice and Airport. Much better than lugging a 50 pounder around for half the day! :-)

Try googling Alesund knitting stores (or wool stores) and see if anything comes up. That is what I have been doing for things that interest me while I am in Norway. I have found some good information with Google. I have googled all the towns that I will be visiting and I have found shops to interest me everywhere. Enjoy your cruise! :-)

I am very much looking forward to reading about your trip around the Horn!!!

Thanks all for the helpful information. We'll use the cards too, then. I think I will just get a few NOK from my Credit Union before I leave on our trip - just for small purchases like a chocolate bar or a coffee while in port :D