CCWineLover

1 hour ago, Piyley said:

I also have a quick question about taking public transit from the cruise port to get to the city center (Nyhavn).  From the port, I believe we have to take a bus to the metro station, and then take the metro to the city center.  Can we purchase bus tickets on the bus without dkk? If not, can we pre-purchase bus tickets at the airport for use in 2 weeks? Also, can the same ticket for the bus be used for the metro? As in do I need to get 2 tickets?

We had bought the Copenhagen Card, which also includes most transportation.  On the bus the driver just examined our cards.  In earlier posts someone talked about how you could use a mobile app to or purchase a ride if you did not want or have DKK.  Search for “Mobilbilletter DOT” in AppleStore.

AryMay - you are a wealth of information and we so liked your blog!

We are doing a Santiago to Buenos Aires cruise in Dec/Jan this year and were thinking of going to Iguazu Falls at the end of the cruise.  Reading your blog made us really want to do this, even if it was hot!   What a spectacular sight!   Question for you though - did you have to get any vaccinations for Iguazu (or Argentina) ahead of time?  There seems to be a number of sites that recommend especially Yellow Fever vaccine.   Did you have many issues with mosquitos?   Did you ever find out when buying tickets to the Park at that ticket counter if you could have used a credit card?   We also have the Schwab card so not that big an issue I suppose, except for finding an ATM.  Thank you again for all the insights!

59 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

I'm not Krisval , but we paid $50 pp extra for custom air and I gave our TA a list of preferred flights- 1st, 2nd, & 3rd choices in both directions and got our first choice for both.  We also paid $100 for deviation as we flew in a day early and stayed eight days after and left from Rome rather than Barcelona where we disembarked. We didn't have issue with the extra charges since are flights were fre...ahem, "included". 

 

As as others have reported the cost of biz varies, for us to change our included flights to biz was going to be the same cost as booking biz on our own, so we stayed with the included Econ flights but hot lucky and were able to upgrade with the airline using points and miles. 

Thank you for the insights. Very helpful.

Thank you so much.  My sincere mistake. Appreciate the note.

14 hours ago, Jammy Bun said:

We're just back from the final segment (4 weeks, Durban - Greenwich) of the World Cruise.  I wouldn't say that we felt "left out" but we were very aware that there was a difference in the way that the crew interacted with us - and most of the time we were more or less ignored by those passengers who had made the ship their home for the previous 3+months.  For example, I have never previously noticed so much hugging and chatting between crew and guests.  And, for the first time on a Viking cruise, the waiters didn't seem to learn our names and cabin numbers like previously - we put it down to their already having learnt so many!  Close friendship groups had also formed amongst the passengers ('lifers' as some segmenters called them) but you have to accept that this is only natural when you are living together for so long. Not a problem. The cruise director (Heather Clancy - what a star) knew world cruise passengers by name -  not so for the segmenters, but she was always friendly and cheerful to us, as were ALL the staff.

 

Yes, some of the excursions for our segment had sold out before we got the opportunity to book, but we expected that and it didn't bother us.  Those doing the full worldie had paid a lot of money for the privilege, and I do think they have every right to be at the front of the queue for trips and dining arrangements.  Talking of dining arrangements, do NOT stress about booking in advance for Chef's Table and Manfredis.  Once onboard, we were able to dine in each of them as often as we wished  - ate at least 8 times in Manfredis and 4 in the Chef's Table.

 

We made lots of new friends who also joined in Durban, and will stay in touch with some of them.  Some were contacts we had made through the CC Roll Call, and met at Meet & Mingle, others were as a result of my attending the onboard knitting group on sea days. (Fantastic!)  I would recommend either doing the daily Trivia Quiz, or joining Bridge/Knitting/cards/choir/fitness classes as a way to meet those on your segment with similar interests.

Do not worry about it being a segment.  We had the most wonderful time, one of our best cruises so far (and we've done quite a few!)

Janet

Thank you so much for your very candid and honest observations.  I ready this with great interest as we are going to be a "Segmenter" on a cruise in the future and wondered about this.  Again - it is only human nature.   Nice to hear of ways one might blend in and meet some people, who have not already formed their own groups.   Did you have a Meet & Mingle just for the newcomers on your segment?  That might help as well.

2 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

This what we use.

 

http://m.cruisett.com/p/

Just tried this for our upcoming cruise and it doesn't show any of the Viking Ships in any of the ports.

Perhaps they don't get the information until closer to sailing time (December).

I usually just do what the other post said, that is to google the port city's web sites for ship arrivals and seem to find things there just fine.

One of the areas that has so impressed us with Viking Ocean Cruises is the set of Enrichment Lecturers and Resident Historians that we've experienced so far.  They have been quite good, educational, and even entertaining at times.  And they are filmed so you can watch them on the room TV as well.  Usually they are given in the Star Theatre and sometimes lecturers hold small Q&A discussions in the Explorer's Lounge.  

I would be very interested to hear other's experiences (and opinions) as well.

For example, on our very recent (May) cruise on the Viking Jupiter from Barcelona to Copenhagen, we had 4 quite diverse Lecturers - each with their own style and personality 🙂

A Resident Historian - who had many lectures on history, including Spain, France, the Netherlands, the Bayeux Tapestry (as featured on the ship's stairwell walls), the Vikings

A Resident Astronomer - whose topics were Existence of Intelligent Life on Other Planets, Future of Space Travel,

A guest Lecture who focused on naval history and battles, such as Thomas Cochrane, U-Boat Life in WWII, German WWII Battleships-The Channel Dash, the Battle of Britain, the Social & Cultural Impact of the American GI in Britain.

...and finally the best of all:

Guest Lecturer Russell Lee (a fellow Californian!).
Russell was in our opinion by far the most interesting and best presenter we've had in our 3 Viking Ocean Cruises - this is due not only to the quite interes

ting and diverse topics he spoke on, but in his method of delivery in his presentations.  He has quite a background and is so entertaining, involves his audience (sometimes with his wife Gail), and can make even the subjects that sound not so fun (like wool) so very interesting!  We certainly hope we can see Russell on a future Viking Cruise!

His topics were:

- How Wool Transformed Medieval Europe   (believe me, we learned some amazing things in this one!)

- Fascinating Facts About the Mona Lisa

- The Story of Anne Frank  (quite moving!)

- Tulipomaina - The Bulb that Sprouted the First Stock Market Bubble

I'm sure that many of you had some similar experiences.

12 hours ago, stretchcruz said:

Paulchili we were on the Orion Auckland to Bali. On occasion we got the "no signal". I forget what we did, I think we hit the Home button and reset? Can't remember, but we called the front desk, they sent someone (who turned out to be our room steward!) and he showed us how to fix it. We had assumed for a day that the whole ship signal was down. Nope, it was our TV and there was an easy fix.

Good to know this, Stretchcruz!   We will be on the Orion to Bali in the future.  Wonder if it is the Orion that has more issues?  We have been on the Sky, Sea, and Jupiter in Europe and Carribean and never had any problems with internet.   We'll connect, I see, on the Rome to Miami Viking Sky next year!

5 hours ago, leahsdad said:

How far is it from the bus stop to Oceankaj  terminal 3 ?   From the pictures it looked as if the stop was near terminal one.

Thanks Paul

Paul - yes, we were at Terminal 1.  Putting in Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 into Google Maps, it comes up with a distance of 650 meters between them and projects 8 minute walk.

3 hours ago, Frenchberet said:

I'd wait to purchase until the day of your visit.  We were in Bergen twice last year.  In July the line was a mile long so we decided not to wait.  We returned in February and there was no line so we went up.  We enjoyed our visit and the view.  If it's cloudy or foggy, I wouldn't do it.  

I would echo what has been said.  We took the furnicular in late May and waited to see if the weather was going to be good, and then bought a few days ahead of time.  When we arrived in the morning there was a huge line, mostly cruise ship tour buses, and perhaps a couple hundred people.  Glad we booked ahead.  Fortunately when you arrive at the top, there is a lot of room to roam so it doesn't feel too crowded.

We were on the Jupiter from Barcelona to Copenhagen just this April/May.  For Barcelona, I can heartily recommend the folks that we used for an amazing day tour to Montserrat and also Barcelona/Park Guell/La Grada Familia.  They are "Barcelona Day Tours"   Excellent guide and small group in a van.  There were actually 4 others from the Jupiter who were finishing their trip from Rome to Barcelona.    https://barcelonadaytours.com/

50 minutes ago, stretchcruz said:

We were on Auckland to Bali in March, we booked a future cruise Rome to Miami, actually 2 back to backs. Got $400 shipboard credit for the cruise we were on and I think $800 off the future cruise but I'd have to look. Plus final payment 6 months prior to cruise. I know my TA gave me $1600 shipboard credit...$500 for one cruise, $300 for the next per person, which is the maximum Viking allows TAs to give (not quite the 15% we used to get, but $1,600 is nothing to sneeze at).

 

Hi Stretchcruz - we also booked the same Rome to Miami cruise (Oct 2020) on our Viking Sea Cruise last February.  Quite a nice deal with your credits.  Our travel agent, in Scottsdale, says the Viking limits the OBC's that can be given to just a few hundred max -so this is new news to us.  For the back to back cruises Viking did give us $200 pp credits on our Viking Sea Cruise itself and that was it.  Perhaps we should look into your TA for the future.  :)

8 hours ago, Danish viking said:

Btw, was the elevator on the bus side of the bridge at Østerport open yet?

Funny you should ask.  We had a bit of a hiccup, as the bus driver had thought we were headed to NØrreport station and we went speeding past Østerport.  It all worked out though at that station.  So I didn't get to notice the Østerport details. 

First - many thanks to DanishViking for all the help and insights!  We just completed our cruise on Viking Jupiter and spent 3 extra days in and around Copenhagen - thoroughly enjoyed the city and environs (including Rothskilde, Fredericksborg, and Kronborg).

I wanted to share our surprisingly easy and simple experience of disembarking our cruise ship at Oceankaj and getting into town.  I was a little nervous, but it was quite simple actually.  We exited the ship on a somewhat drizzly/rainy day.  The line for taxi's must have been at least 60-70 people so we just walked a very short distance (a couple hundred yards) along the sidewalk to the covered bus stop for bus 25/27.  That morning they departed quite often (every 15 minutes or so?).  It was quite an easy ride on bus 25 to Østerpor and took only 15-20 minutes.  I took some pictures that help show how close the ship was to the bus stop.  Hoping this helps people who might want to do the same thing.

I had the Viking Rep send me the detailed Itinerary for the Iguazu Falls 48 hour Overnight Excursion.  It pretty much lays out in detail the schedule - for those that might be interested in this.   She wouldn't give me a price, saying we wouldn't know that until about September.   I hope this information helps those that might need it to decide.

Iguazu Falls 48 Hours-Viking Tour.pdf

On 4/27/2019 at 6:43 AM, TayanaLorna said:

The Viking pre or post excursion to Iguazu Falls and Rio de Janeiro four nights is $3,599 per person.

 

Which South America cruise are you taking?  We are on the January 24, 2020 Santiago to Buenas Aires one.

 

Already booked Patrick Watts Volunteer Point excursion because the Viking Sun World Cruise one sold out really early.

For those looking into Iguazu Falls . . .   I spoke with Viking today and have some new information.  In addition to the 13 hour Iguazu Tour, they are also offering an overnight tour to just Iguazu Falls (not the 4 day combination with Rio), but it is only available on the Santiago to Buenos Aires direction.  "Iguazu Falls Overnight - 48 hours"  .

It sounded promising, but there is a big catch.  The Santiago-Buenos Aires cruises (Dec 21-which we are on, Jan 24, and Feb 27) get into Buenos Aires in the morning, and spend a full day there and also that night, before passengers have to disembark the following day.   The catch is that this Iguazu Falls excursion is requiring passengers to disembark immediately when the ship arrives in Buenos Aires and miss the last day and night there.  Iguazu tour people will not ever be back to the ship and have to pack up a day early. That's like paying twice for that day and night.  The agent was also surprised.  So keep that in mind!

On 5/16/2019 at 6:45 AM, deec said:

Our experience has been a few couples MAYBE in line...wait was minimal

We just got off the Jupiter - and as one of the previous posters said, every cruise is different in terms of demand for the restaurants - we can certainly verify that!  

Manfredi's seemed overly popular with long lines all the time, whereas the Chef's Table was not at all popular and quite easy to eat there.  We wound up eating at CT three different times (to try 3 different menu's) and loved them all.  Also, the popular eating times seemed to be about 7:00 to 8:30 PM and from 6 to 7 seemed to be pretty wide open.

This is contrast to 2 other VOC's we took where we couldn't get into the Chef's Table beyond our original 1 reservation and Manfredi's was open a lot.

So - it just all depends!!

On 5/10/2019 at 5:20 PM, peterhenry said:

OK, just booked. According to MVJ, my trip is in 293 days. Best I could do was a PV #GTY. Wanted a PV3, appears they are currently all booked. Absolute worst case... I get a PV3. There are only 16 of them, and I've booked them twice before. Best case, I get upgraded to PV2 or higher. 

As I see it, either way I'm fine. I don't think that there are any "bad" staterooms on the entire ship, and especially not PV or higher. Just have to wait it out for the next 9 months. 

Hello Peterhenry:  Your logic is impeccable!  We had the exact same thoughts when recently booking a Viking cruise - also a long ways out.   Same thing with PV GTY as well.  Also thought - worst case is PV3 (which we've been in and it's just fine!) and best case maybe get upgraded - so a win/win situation as far as I'm concerned.

1 hour ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Deck 1, hiding under the Grand Staircase.

The Jupiter had 5 maybe 6 computers and a printer.  Be aware that on morning of departure there was quite a lineup of people printing boarding passes.  There was a Viking person helping the many passengers who were newbies at how to print a boarding pass, which was nice.

5 minutes ago, zitsky said:

On NCL we bought the package but both of us (mostly me) thought we were drinking more than usual, just to get the benefit of the package.  Since I have a credit from our TA, I will buy drinks ala carte.

We had a similar experience on Viking Sea.  We had bought a future cruise a few days after we got on board and so got unexpected credits applied.  It seemed at the time like a good idea to get the Silver Spirits package to try it out, especially since it was a shorter cruise (as it is $40/day - $20 each in a cabin-both have to have it).   No doubt the wines were often better, but perhaps that was because there were many choices.  We were particularly enamored with the Penfolds Shiraz.  Some of the California wines, which I know well, really were not premium wines and just OK (like Gnarly Head).  We also wound up drinking more just to take advantage of the package.  However, from our observations, it appeared most onboard who had the package were more hard liquor drinkers, not wine drinkers - and several said that is where it really pays off (Vodka, Scotch, Bourbon, fancy drinks, etc).  Since we just drink wine (and beer), it probably didn't pay for us to get it, and on our recent cruise, we did not.  Particularly when you can bring a bottle of wine onto the ship and no corkage fees in the restaurants or World Cafe.   When we wanted something else (like an after dinner drink), we just ordered a la carte.   Especially nice is that they now have Sparkling Wine free at meal times (which pleased my wife no end!).  And they have upped the selection of beers available (used to be just Carlsberg draft).

17 hours ago, Krisval said:

I neglected to make it clear that our travel agent did work with us on the flights we are booking and she is handling the booking for us. We have a good working relationship and she is able to come up with good recommendations.

Thanks for your insights, Krisval.   It helps to have a good travel agent.  May I ask who the travel agent is that you use?

Were they able to request specific flights (since our experience is Viking Air picks some strange flights and connections) that you wanted?  Did you factor in the extra costs to Viking for being able to get what you wanted?

23 minutes ago, moatenote said:

When can you get tickets to the various shows in the planetarium??  And I think I read you can also get them at the Excursion desk or on the Viking App, is that correct??

You can get tickets at the Excursion desk, subject to availability.  We got ours when we got onboard.  The app purchase had a bug and did not work so you had to get tickets in person.  Note that there is no assigned seating.  I’d suggest you get up to the outside of the dome at least 15-20 minutes ahead of time.  Entrance is just behind the telescope on deck 8.

Planetarium Shows - 3 Films.  One in 3-D using the 3-D glasses.   We saw the Universe (45 minutes) and the Aurora (30 minutes in 2D), but did not see the Explorer.

New updated washer/dryers on the Jupiter - so easy to understand and use now!

On 5/3/2019 at 1:26 PM, Little Monty said:

 

 

We have been on Star in 2017 and Orion in Dec 2018 / Jan 2019.

 

We board Sky in Bergen May and Star in Venice in June and will do the comparisons as well and will report back. Star is still a 'new' ship in our eyes so we hope there won't be any signs of wear and tear.

 

I don't think we will notice much change - we will just be happy to be on-board 😀

 

 

I agree - all the Viking ships are great (and even the Star is relatively new).  Interesting note - our Captain told us about the various ship schedules in general.  He mentioned that the Star will be going to drydock in 2020 for the mandatory 5 year inspection and possible updates.  We also heard that the Venus is planned to sale in the the Mediterranean in 2021 with some new itineraries involving Turkey, the Holy Land, and Eastern Mediterranean.

You will enjoy the Sky as well.  Let us know if they have retrofitted the drawers in the closets (which were not there when we were on the Sky in Bergen-Stockholm last May)