Lemondrops

Oh no! I'm so sorry you experienced all that and appreciate your response. Sounds just awful!!!

Thank you for this. You make an excellent point regarding location. The excursion we were unable to book was in Naples, so maybe we could book another vendor without too much worry. I hadn't even considered that. Thank you for your response.

Unfortunately, we weren't fast enough to get the ONE excursion we really wanted for our upcoming trip in July 2024. (Not to mention that we were both online, on time, on separate computers and the excursion WAS available but we learned quickly that only one person can sign up for excursions. This, of course, ended slowing us down and then we missed out!) C'est la vie! Has anyone here had any success getting added onto a sold out excursion? Might there be a wait list on the ship once we board? After the recent news stories about people booking outside excursions and then missing their ships departure, I don't want to risk it. I'd rather go with Viking. Thanks in advance.

Sadly, the one day we have in Rome will be a Sunday. I was so hoping to see the Sistine Chapel but it will be closed. Our trip is in the middle of July. Will it be crazy to go to the Trevi Fountain? Although all excursions are currently posted for my trip on MVJ, Rome remains empty. I'm assuming we will get options for Rome once we arrive onboard. Is this how it works?

To each his own. This particular shop had so many amazing clocks and special, made in Germany, trinkets. It was jam packed with people admiring all the hand made items. I was really disappointed that we didn't have more time there! Definitely not your typical souvenir shop but more of an artisans paradise.

I think I said earlier the trip to Berlin was a long day. We boarded in Warnemunde and as I remember it was a 2 - 3 hour ride. It felt very long and uncomfortable -not your typical cushy seats. Not sure if the trains have been upgraded since I went in 2018 but I was siting on a hard, bench-type seat. Once we arrived in Berlin we transferred to a bus and most of the tour was by bus with various short stops along the way. (The seats on the bus were much more comfortable.) We stopped for lunch at a typical German restaurant and the meal was very meat heavy - with lots of Bratwurst, potatoes and sauerkraut. Various bus stops included The Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Victims of War and Tyranny, Brandenburg Gate, we drove past the Adlon Hotel (made famous by Michael Jackson when he dangled his baby over the balcony), The Allierten Museum (The Allied Museum) - which was interesting and maybe one the best things about the trip, a very quick drive by of Checkpoint Charlie but you can see the original at the Allied Museum, and the Berlin Wall Memorial where we did have a chance to get off the bus for a photo op. There was one last stop where we had about 45 minutes to do some shopping but it wasn't nearly enough time as most of the stores were crowded. I would have liked to have purchased something at a cuckoo clock shop but we were so rushed there was no time. It was a lot to pack into one day. There was also a lot of construction happening in the city which impacted traffic. Photo of lunch, Allied Museum and a couple of photos I was able to take from the bus as we drove through the city - Beige building is the German Parliament and the white building is the Presidents residence. (PS - sorry Phil, didnt mean to send this to you as I dont think you were the person that asked for Berlin info!)

Of course! If you have any additional questions I'm happy to share my experience and I do have some photos!

We did the Copenhagen Canal cruise on our own and also walked to see The Little Mermaid. It was a longish walk along the main boardwalk that aligns with the ocean. Pretty easy if you are in decent shape. Walking around Copenhagen was relatively easy to navigate for us. Bergen is also very easy to walk around on your own. Be sure to walk over to the Funicular (Just ask anyone for directions) and ride to the top, walk around, take pictures and then ride back down). This might have been one of the highlights of our trip! We walked around Stavanger old town on our own or perhaps it was a free included tour. Loved old town. In Oslo we went to the Frogner Park and saw the Vigeland Sculpture Installation, then went to the National Museum to see many of the Munch paintings. Many of the ports on this trip were an easy walk into town. In Stockholm you must go to the Vasa Museum. I had little interest in going but got talked into it. It was fantastic. It looks like they have a Vasa Museum and Stockholm by boat tour - that would be my first choice! Old Town in Stockholm is also worth seeing. We did take the train into Berlin (Iconic Sights of Berlin) but it was an exhausting day filled with maybe too much for one day. We saw the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlies, etc, but preferred the colorful and charming Scandinavian countries. Trip of a lifetime. Bring a raincoat. We went in June and it was very cold and rainy but we still loved every minute of it and hope we can one day go back.

Another vote for the Vasa Museum! The Abba Museum is also nearby and that was fun if you like Abba - but the Vasa Museum was really fantastic. It's been 5 years and I still think about it. In Bergen be sure to take the Floibanen Funicular to the top of the mountain. It's not that high up but you'll get an amazing view of Bergen and there are goats up there! The ride down is one of the best parts so don't elect to walk. We really enjoyed walking around Bergen and you can walk to the Funicular entrance pretty easily. Oh, I loved our trip to Sweden and Norway - time of my life and I want to go back!!!

Now that's funny and probably my luck!

Hate to break it to you but FlyTalker actually doesn't know his stuff as well has he would like us all to believe. A Delta supervisor called me today and told me exactly how I can upgrade my seats with them. KLM is only the operating airline so as the KLM person told me yesterday, I do need to do this through Delta even though I will be flying on KLM. KLM was correct after all. FlyTalker, not so much. Meanwhile, my original post still stands. Don't book your air through Viking unless you really don't care about your flights or seating. They are of little help. And for the record, the average consumer shouldn't have to "study" airline policies and rules or hire an attorney to figure out the best way to book a flight and use airline miles. We use travel agents for that. In this case, my travel agent, Viking Cruises, failed miserably. I asked the right questions in advance and was given an inaccurate answer. I certainly could have managed this myself by calling the airline directly and telling them exactly what I wanted to do. I've done this successfully for years with American and have always been able to use my miles to fly from Los Angeles to the Caribbean in first class. It's really not rocket science but in this case, it certainly felt like it. Again, lesson learned. Viking excels in the water but still needs some lessons in flying. Take care everyone and happy travels!

Thank you for your response and may I just say I want your life! Love your upcoming and past trips!!!

Yes, I did plan to use that many. Actually more since I planned to upgrade my partners ticket as well. But thanks for sharing "the facts". Personally, I think the tone of your response was a bit condescending. I'm sure you didn't mean it that way but when you make a statement like "your post has a number of inaccuracies" it certainly sounds that way. Of course I asked questions before booking but unfortunately I was given inaccurate information from Viking - thus the whole reason for my post. Again, live and learn and I hope my post will help someone else, maybe not you since you seem to already know it all.

Just to be clear: Viking booked my tickets with Delta. Delta is using a KLM plane for both legs of my trip. (Delta is the managing airline and KLM is the operating airline) and I'm trying to use my Sky Miles with Delta. Delta first told me to call KLM since KLM was the operating airline. KLM told me to call back Delta, and they WOULD honor an upgrade made via SkyMiles but Delta would have to manage the transfer of miles because Delta was the managing airline. (I'm just telling you what they told me today - maybe they also gave me bad information?) I called back Delta and then they changed their reason for not allowing me to upgrade and blamed the decision on Viking's bulk purchasing deal. Viking's response: we have no control over the airlines. My issue with Viking is that before I even booked this trip I specifically asked if I would have any control over the flight booking and upgrading and they said YES - IF I PAID FOR AIR PLUS, which I did. Jokes on me and yes, I learned my lesson but by posting here I hope I can save even 1 person from sitting on the phone all day with Viking, Delta and KLM! It was a total waste of my day and frustrating beyond belief but thanks for your response.