CCWineLover

On 1/23/2019 at 9:31 AM, OneSixtyToOne said:

We looked at this cruise but decided to take the longer Along Europe's Western Coast. I believe both are re-positioning cruises, which is why they are only offered in the Spring.

We also looked at it and did like OneSixtyToOne did - taking the longer cruise.  These are indeed one of a kind cruises.

I hope that you enjoy it!  I'm sure that it will be great - I have heard nothing but good things about going through the Kiel Canal with Viking.  You can find several people have posted videos of the Viking ships transiting the canal on YouTube if you just search.

17 hours ago, Azulann said:

An overnight at St. Maartin  sounds like a good alternative. 

BTW,   let us know how the hurricane recovery has gone after one year+.

Hi Azulan - yes we agree that the overnight in St. Maarten was fantastic, given the situation.  Certainly there were grumpy people (not many) who don't understand ships, sea, wind, and docking.  I had been a ship officer in the service and knew exactly what the Captain was facing and was very glad that he chose the "unpopular" decision to abandon Antigua and move on to nicer weather in San Martin.  These things happen and safety is the most important thing.

We just finished touring St. Maarten/St. Martin - took the tour all around the island - on a gorgeous sunny day in the 80's (sorry to the snow people!).  The island still has damage from the hurricane of Sept 2017 but not as much as I had anticipated.  They have built a new housing project for those whose homes were destroyed.  There are still many boats (20's, 30's ?) that are damaged.  On the lush side, the greenery has grown back quite well.  As expected the poorer areas have been the slowest to come back.

29 minutes ago, Jazmyn49 said:

Bad news:  One major problem we have seen is passengers coughing into their hands, then touching everything in sight.  At times we have moved away when eating or in the theater because of sick people nearby. 

 

Good news:  We were seated near the World Cafe entrance on the Sun yesterday and saw every single person use the sanitizer or sink(s).  Incidentally all the officers use the sink.

We agree with just about everything that has been stated so far.  We are on the Viking SEA right now and have observed it all.  In the end no matter what Viking does, there will always be people who disregard others and theirs/others health.  The only way to prevent it would be for Viking to prevent people from entering an eating area without sanitizing or washing hands.  But then you have all the other venues as well (like the Star Theatre, the bathrooms, doors throughout the ship, etc.  Thus, that is not practical.

For us, it is a matter of looking out for yourself and continuting to be diligent in using Prell, washing hands, etc. - just like you are on an airplane.

We are seeing many people totally disregard the hand washing as they enter the World Cafe.  An we have seen several people either sick or coughing in their hands just before they use the buffet.  It is a fact of life and could occur in a restaurant back home.  Our advice - just take precautions  (and knock on wood).   Viking is doing the best they can with this touchy subject.

2 hours ago, Sue4LSU said:

Looking forw@rd to hearing about your experience on the Jupiter!  We’re booked for the Western European trip on the Jupiter April 25!

Likewise, we are on Jupiter Arpil 25 as well.  We are also on Jupiter for South America in December.

Will be interested to hear from people who have been on the other Viking Ocean ships as to what any of the differences are between the Jupiter and the others.

The Viking Sea was scheduled to dock at St. John's, Antigua, in the Caribbean today Feb. 24.   The winds were up to 40 knots this morning and the Captain let us all know they were going to see if the winds died down.  The Captain and Viking were both quite good in informing the passengers the status on-going and after multiple 360 degree turns outside the channel that is the harbor, the Captain let us all know the we would be skipping Antigua and sailing on to the next port, St. Martin.

I have to say, I was very impressed with the way Viking handled this situation.  The Captain was quite detailed in letting us know his options and what the issues were.  For example, even if he were able to make it into the channel and dock - he had to consider whether he would be able to turn around and leave in the afternoon - and with more cruise to go, that was a large factor.  Also a factor was the wind direction, which would have made it difficult, he said, to dock.  (One thinks about the recent Jupiter experience in high winds trying to dock into them in Greece recently).

All the passengers seemed to understand.  A great example of good information flow!  The cruise director and staff made a quick change in all the ship's activites and put out another Viking daily in just minutes.  Kudos!   So we'll dock in St. Martin at 5 PM and get to spend the night there and the next day.

Another reason to go with Viking - they are looking at safety first.

3 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

And, depending where you are going, any needed visas.

 

The booklet is for your convenience and your edification. You do need to make sure that the dates, the cabin number and any flights are correct and you should read all the information in there (because it does talk about gratuities and has other helpful information). Beyond that, you don't even need to take the booklet with you.

 

 

That may depend on where you arrive to embark.   We boarded the Viking SEA just a couple hours ago and San Juan Puerto Rico wanted us to have not only our credit card and Passport, but the Viking Booklet.  So that confirms what Broker1217 just said.  And they want both wife and myself to have our own booklets.  We had packed them in the suitcase.  Good news is, after several minutes of explaining, they took us aside and spent several minutes trying to verify us, even with our passports.  Not an issue, only wish Viking had told us.  We weren't the only ones this happened to.

So - probably best to confirm with Viking if you need to bring those extra booklets of paper!

On 2/14/2019 at 3:47 PM, powerdog said:

I think I read somewhere that the ship and Skansen are visible from each other.

We were on the Viking SKY Homelands last May.  We took the Djurgarden Ferry over to the island that had the VASA Museum (as well as many other museums).  It was a very short walk from the ferry dock to the Vasa Museum.   We just caught the ferry in the SE side of Gamla Stan.  It was running quite frequently in May.   Not a far walk from the ship or take the shuttle. 

And yes indeed it provided a rather spectacular view of the Viking SKY from the ferry!  Coming AND going.  Very impressive.

Here are some shots I took.

1 hour ago, stretchcruz said:

There's a story saying Viking Jupiter crashed into the pier at Piraeus and sustained some damage while being assisted by 3 tugs?

Check the discussion topics which go into detail.

8 hours ago, CretaMed88 said:

VIKING OCEAN ' VIKING JUPITER arriving for maiden time at Piraeus during her maiden trip

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuyrvQDEQY0

Thank you for posting this video!  We are going on two cruises in 2019 on the Jupiter so we are keenly interested in how it goes!  (Mediterranean and South America)   And of course, any minor differences that may exist from its predecessors. :)

7 hours ago, Cyber Kat said:

 

We have a roll call for the Canada cruise if your friends want to join us 

 

The photographer/guide, Ronnie Carrington was excellent.  Very knowledgeable about his home Island and he gave us great tips.  We went to some really nice places with great views and no other people or just a few. We learned a lot about the culture, and finished up at a small old hotel on the coast with rum drinks and another lovely view. 

 

This and the St Lucia Catamaran were the highlights of our fantastic trip. 

 

Thanks, Cyber Kat!  They signed up last week for 9/26 Meet&Mingle.

Regarding the Barbados Photography tour - that's fantastic!  Really makes me glad to have signed up.  Should be fun!  And a view with rum drinks can't be beat!

48 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

Where we ended our walking tour at Hellemann Tower & Town Wall entrance, it is about a 1 mile walk to the dock gates. This is the lower Old Town & as Clay noted, your walking tour is then up hill.

 

We started our walk in the Upper Old Town at the Alexander Nevski Cathedral, which is about 2 miles from the dock gates. The 3 - 4 mile walk around the Old Town was then large downhill.

We also took the included walking tour in the morning, which started at the top (the upper town) and finished at the bottom.  You could stay and wander around or head back to the ship on the shuttle.  It was a beautiful day and a good walk on the tour, but the crowds were thick with tourists!   We decided to take a short break, and then in the afternoon, went back to walk the town on our own.  We took the shuttle back, which indeed drops you out front of the Tower and & Town Wall entrance.  It is not that far from the ship (see the pictures I attached that show the town from the Viking at the Pier), but it is not the prettiest of walks.  In any case, it was a totally different atmosphere in Tallin in the afternoon.  Nearly all the cruise ship tourists had gone, and it was so pleasant, we walked all around the upper and lower town again - and got a much better feel than in the morning.  We wound up catching one of the last shuttles back to the ship.  Wonderful day of exercise and education!

On 2/9/2019 at 7:33 PM, VJMAZZ said:

We are booked for the HL cruise in June. Does anyone know where Viking Ocean docks in Stockholm?

Hello VJMAZZ:

Here's hoping you have a great Homelands Cruise!

We went in May of 2018 as our first VOC from Stockholm to Bergen - and it was spectacular!  Of course, we had great weather as well.  We spent a couple days ahead of time in Stockholm to see the city and the environs.

Regarding where we docked, we were at Stadsgarden, which was quite close to the Old City Gamla Stan.

I highly recommend if you have the time, to take the tour of City Hall and even to pay a bit extra a go up the tower - such a great view.  In fact, I have attached a picture I took from the tower that shows quite well Gamla Stan and where the ships dock.  The Viking SKY is the 2nd ship from town in the picture.  Hope this helps give you a feel.

I already posted my thoughts on tours - but I want to emphasize how great (even if expensive) the Flag/Train excursion was out of Eidifjord.  Well well worth it!

4 minutes ago, Little Monty said:

 

Thanks RtS. We lived in Sydney in the past (more than 20 years ago now) but we do go back regularly. The harbour area is wonderful.

 

I'm glad you were able to stay up to see the Orion go under the harbour bridge and I hope you get to visit one day. Regards, LM

We plan to go on the Sydney to Bali portion sometime in 2020 or 2021. 

I had gone onto the various Sydney webcams to see what the harbor looked like (this was back in December) and to my surprise and luck, got to see the Orion sailing in (from Bali).   I took a few screenshots so thought I would post them here.

13 hours ago, Cyber Kat said:

 

We loved the St Kitts Railway!  I should mention that we are rail fans so the train itself probably interested us more than others. The tour itself covered a lot of the island and our guide was great. The local a capela group was quite good and we just enjoyed the whole trip. 

 

If you still feel you might not like it, stop by the shore excursion desks when you board.  Many people were exchanging excursions when we went last year. 

 

We did mostly optional excursions and enjoyed every one,but the one in Guadeloupe. It was the Jacques Cousteau one and there were a lot of things that we weren’t happy about. The guide kept lapsing Into French for long stretches for one. 

 

All the other ones we did were fabulous. We did mostly tours that included or consisted of Catamaran sails. St Lucia was the best, then Antigua and St Thomas. We also did the Photography Tour in Barbados and that was also great!  Small group in a van and we went to off the beaten path spots. 

 

We did included tours in San Juan, St Croix, St Kitts and St Martin and enjoyed them. Our excursion in Antigua had the included tour as the first part, then that group went back to the ship while we continued on to the Catamaran.  

 

The only line I encountered on our cruise was the gelato bar 😁. Sometimes there were a few people ahead of me. 

 

We ate dinner in the Restaurant, but breakfast and lunch in the World Cafe. We never had a problem finding a table. We never waited at the Restaurant except for the last night. We wanted a particular serving team and they were very popular. 

 

Enjoy your cruise!  We are doing the Canada cruise in the fall on the Viking Sea - same PV cabin. We loved it!

Thank you Cyber Kat!  That is good news.  We love trains too so we should enjoy the St. Kitts Railway.

Thank you also for your other comments.  We may try to do a Catamaran Sail then if they are available when we get on board in a few days.   And, wonderful to hear about the Photography Tour in Barbados.  I love photography and it sounded so good, but hadn't heard anyone comment on it.  Good to know - now I'll really look forward to it!

Our neighbors and good friends just booked the Canada cruise for Sept 26 Montreal to NYC so perhaps you are on the same ship.  They are Viking newbies so I showed them how to sign up on Cruise Critic and they did also sign up for the Meet & Mingle.

2 hours ago, MJAdventures said:

Hi All, We have stayed in both PV slider and window/door rooms.  We also preferred the PV slider room.  While onboard last cruise, I was booking a cruise for 2020 and asked the onboard consultant which PV rooms were sliders, so I could book the right room.  He gave me a list of the PV slider rooms - i''m attaching the list.  Even rooms on port side/Odd rooms on starboard side.

 

Of course, we just got an upgrade DV4 to PV1 for Jupiter cruise next Saturday Feb 16 and the PV room is window/door - but it's an upgrade so I'll take it!

 

Viking PV slider rooms.pdf

Yes - thank you for this pertinent information.  We are in a slider PV for our upcoming cruise and will be interested to see how it works out.  It seems to appear that most posters prefer those to the doors (so far)

On 2/2/2019 at 12:19 PM, Little Monty said:

Thank you Segmentersfloatttheboat from me as well. 

 

We are doing BA - Santiago next year and your reports are really helpful / interesting / enjoyable to read. 

Another thank you Segmentersfloatttheboat !  Love your reports and pictures - and love your moniker, given all the posts on "Segmenters"!   

We are taking the South America Chilean Fjords cruise next December and enjoy learning about the different ports, as well as your experiences sailing through the various straights and fjords!  Keep it going!  We have 10 months to go, but it helps us live vicariously in the meantime!  What a great trip you are on.

🙂

On 2/6/2019 at 1:41 PM, TayanaLorna said:

Thank you all so much for your stories, photos, and inquiring posts with responses.  I am truly enjoying all segments of this World Cruise.  Very interested in the BA to Santiago segment and would to hear more about the different excursions you took.  You are all so lucky to join a Viking ship on their first rounding of Cape Horn.  More firsts to come also.  Again thanks.  We armchair sailors are truly blessed whenever you take the time share your adventures.

We are also quite interested in Buenos Aires to Santiago, as we are taking that itinerary in December.

I have been following your SUN's progress each day on the Marine Traffic web site.  Looks fascinating as you travel through the various straights and fjords.

Since you are all explorers and first "Vikings" to go around the Horn, we'd would be very interested in your thoughts on the Viking tours and also any non-Viking tours/excursions from BA to Santiago.

5 hours ago, Aviator of the Seas said:

Hi, I am a local in San Juan and am very familiar with the scene at the docks.  There's no renewed talk of another work stoppage.  The December union action was not a strike per-se.  More like a one-day walkout, in which management took over operations.  That walkout only affected operations momentarily at the PanAm pier.  Viking's operations never were affected, and we do not expect that they will be affected for the rest of the season.

 

Leave your worries behind and enjoy your cruise.

Thank you so much for your local knowledge!  We are boarding the Viking SEA in San Juan on Feb 17.  Nice to know that we can rest easy.   As to location, I just found this today on Marine Traffic web site, showing how close the Viking SEA is docked right today Feb 8th, ahead of its next cruise.  We look to be very close to the Old Town.   As a local, do you know if the Fort will be closed?  I heard it might due to Government shutdown Feb 15 (anticipated). 

4 hours ago, Ragnar Danneskjold said:

Coming out of lurking mode momentarily to say not to skip the shopping on the dutch side if you are looking for high-end watches, etc.  DW knew prices in California for such things and found that they were MUCH cheaper on Sint Maarten.  The $$$ we saved on a few items more than paid for our entire Regent cruise, even after patriotically paying the US import duties....

 

In particular, I can recommend the store on Front St named after an early James Bond movie, where gold was the main subject 🙂  Not only were the prices good, a couple of years later on a return visit they helped out of a jam (lost day-pack that was eventually found with all contents in place).  They remembered us from our first visit, since we single-handedly markedly increased the GDP of the Netherlands 

 

 

Perfect information for us, Ragnar.  We are specifically going to be shopping on our West Indies Explorer cruise for high-end watches - so this is great to know!     I won't wait for St. Thomas then.  Good recommendation on James Bond store 🙂

2 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Just keep in mind that SOLD OUT does not always mean SOLD OUT, especially if you see it before booking opens. Sometimes it means that the tour is not being offered at all and sometimes it means that the contract with the vendor has not been finalized. Therefore, if you see something you want is sold out even before booking opens or very early on, contact Viking (via TellUs@vikingcruises.com).

Excellent point as well, Peregrina651.

In this specific case (10 days before sailing), SOLD OUT may just mean that Viking had anticipated x number for this and there are many more who would want it.  I have in fact requested to be on a wait list and have confidence it will clear.  My experience is that they adjust and add new boats/buses/guides if the demand is there beyond what they had anticipated.  I even saw this happen during a cruise.  We asked to get on a wait list on the cruise itself and were about #4.  They said that if we got to 20 or more they would add another one.  Have to admit, I sort of recruited people I met to sign up on the wait list.  It did indeed clear a couple days before and we all had a great time!  FYI - it was the Eidifjord Train/Flam popular tour on Viking Homelands.

2 hours ago, BruceB NYC said:

    Glad to be of help. In addition to the email

 address I posted before, there is another that has gotten positive responses from Viking.

Try, 

Tellus@vikingcruises.com 

Thanks everyone for your ideas on this as well.  Very good points to keep in mind - especially checking MVJ quite often.  For our cruise coming up, I have seen excursions go to SOLD OUT and then suddenly open up again.

I was indeed surprised though about how many people on our Homelands cruise cancelled both included and optional excursions while on board - mostly ones for the 2nd half of the trip.   No doubt some of the tours were indeed very demanding, but in our experience Viking was quite good in explaining that.  For example: "This tour will involve 3-4 hours walking over rough, cobblestone streets for 2.5 to 3 miles with little chance to sit down".    Unfortunately some people did not always understand that and possibly after experiencing that in the first part of the trip, they then cancelled the more demanding excursions later on.

4 hours ago, travelpanther said:

We are booked for the Viking Homelands cruise (Stockholm to Bergen) this summer.  The list of excursions just became available.  As I am now compiling our 'Wish List' before actually being able to book, I was wondering if any previous Viking Homelands travelers have recommendations for favorite added excursions (or if there any we should avoid)?  I thought the following looked interesting:  

Helsinki - Reideer feeding

Tallinn - Chocolate workshop

Gdansk - Culinary and precious treasures

Alborg - Day in the life of a Viking

Stavanger - Traditional fishing trip

 

Any thoughts?  Your advice and experience would be most appreciated!  Thank you!

   

Hello Travelpanther:

We also took the Homelands Cruise - last May.  One of the best vacations we had!

Certainly which tours you take depend upon what you enjoy, what kind of pace (demanding/moderate/easy) you like, and such, but here is what we did:

Stockholm - Fantastic City!  We spent a couple days on our own ahead of time.  Vasa Museum was a huge highlight.  Easy to get to from Gamla Stan (Old City) by ferry.  Get there when they open though as crowds can be large.  Also took the boat to Drottingham Palace - another spectacular place and wonderful boat ride.  Lastly we toured the City Hall where they do the Nobel Prize dinner.  Beautiful place and worth the tour and climb to the top of the tower.

Helsinki - took included bus tour.  Least favorite place.

St. Petersburg - fabulous Hermitage Tour - well worth it.  Peterhof palace was another great tour.  Did the included tour which was so-so - bus went through bad St. Pete traffic though.

Tallin - one of the best included walking tours we had.  Nice paced, saw a lot, learned a lot, great guide (which we learned makes all the difference)

Gdansk - same as Tallin.  Great guide, great included walking tour.  Loved the included tours that had 3 or 4 miles of walking.  Didn't like the ones that were mostly bus rides.

Rostok - we'd been to Berlin so did the included tour to Rostok.  Very good - learned a lot, walked a lot.

Copenhagen - another great included walking tour and guide.  Walked about 4 miles on the tour.  saw a lot.

So took the canal cruise in the afternoon which was quite pleasant!

Aahlborg - another walking included tour.  Good exercise.  Guide not as good though.  But pleasant.

Stavanger - the best guided included walking tour yet.  Great guide.  Lots to see.  Good exercise!

Eidifjord- took the optional Train/Flam all day tour - wonderful even if expensive.  Wouldn't miss it!

Bergen - included tour was a bus ride - disappointing.  We stayed several days afterwards and can recommend taking the finicular train up the mountain for incredible views.  Short walk from the ship and easy to do!  You can even walk down if you want to.  Also Bergen is an easy city to just wander around on your own.

Hope this helps!

5 hours ago, Pushka said:

With excursions, as a DV person, can you see which excursions have been sold out during the period when suites can book and DVs are still waiting? So you get a pre warning of what might be left? 

. 

Pushka:

Not sure which cruise you are on, but we were on the Homelands last year with a DV and didn't really have an issue with getting excursions.  We are headed on the West Indies Explorer in 10 days.  When you book excursions at any time after they are open to you, you will see the list that shows, by port, the status of them.  I just did a quick screen print from MyVikingJourney.com for our cruise of a partial list of excusions offered in St.Kitts, to use as an example so you can see what it looks like.  It DOES show ones that are SOLD OUT.  If still interested in them, you could contact Viking ahead of time or immediately on board go to the excursion desk and ask to be put on a wait list for the "Sold Out" excursion you are interested in.   Hoping this helps!

On 1/22/2019 at 10:18 AM, Jim Avery said:

Hi Dee,

Viking website, click on Oceans top left. Then the last minute specials are a bit down on the home page.  A tab on the lower right marked "best deals" opens a page where you sign up for email notifications.  Have had several really good deals but sadly was not able to jump.🍸

Thanks, Jim, for your insights on last minute deals, and also insights into the Transatlantic cruises!  We are thinking of doing one westbound to Miami in 2020.   Of course the other alternative is to go ahead and book it, and then if a good deal comes along ahead of the extra cancel fee date, it is only $100 pp to cancel and then rebook.

One thing not mentioned is if the room type and location is important to you, you might consider booking ahead of time to get what you want.  If any room is fine, then wait it out and see.  Personally I have been tracking room prices on a number of cruises we are considering and there seems to be a large rise in interest in Viking Ocean cruises this year versus last year.  Our TA said January was a huge month.  More people retiring every day and then hearing from their friends our great Viking Ocean is!

On 1/22/2019 at 10:19 AM, deec said:

ours  consultant in December said probably no to Mississippi and maybe/probably  to Antarctica

Our travel agent told us about the Expedition Ships....

And that the goal was to go to 2 specific places, not only Antarctica, but also Galapagos Islands - to compete with the ships there like Lindblad.

We have planned (not booked) to use Linblad for Galapagos and will hold off until we learn more about Viking's intent.