Vikingfan#1

I will check with my sister she is away this week but will see what she says about the experience

Thank you! Did your sister go recently? I'm going this summer.

sounds like they have private shower rooms

 

http://www.bluelagoon.com/plan-your-visit/changing-rooms/

 

I am sure my sister would not have gone in if she was being inspected :eek:

Thank you!! Someone posted that they were watched as they showered and this concerned me! Thanks for posting the link!

We were there in July 2016, booking a private car for 6 days of sightseeing.

 

We booked the car with Nordic Visitor. I can recommend them as they provided extensive maps, a GPS, and more.

 

What I would NEVER do again is drive around Iceland on my own as the roads are well paved, but narrow, with little in the way of paved shoulders or breakdown lanes. Traffic is not heavy but certainly includes trucks, tour buses galore, and occasionally sheep.

 

This from someone who thought the Blue Lagoon was a well designed tourist trap, vastly overpriced, and not convenient to anything but an ATM.

Tell me about the Blue Lagoon. Is it true that you have to shower (without bathingsuit) in a large room with others and someone watching to be sure you cleaned yourself appropriately? ?

On my Tauck river cruise, the included evening excursion in Vienna was to a privately owned Palace and comprised dinner accompanied by a string quartet who then played for an excellent tenor, and soprano, and a male, and female, ballet dancer.

 

A memorable evening.

Wow! Sounds wonderful!

With regard to excursions to the ballet in St. Petersburg are the dancers from the Mariinsky?

 

 

I appreciate it is a matter of personal preference, but I cannot visit Russia without attending a performance of Folk Songs, and Dance.

Good to know that you liked the Folk Dancing show. So many choices!

There are so many tourist shows that it is hard to tell who is performing where and what venues Viking might be choosing. If it is Mariinsky, you want, unless you are getting tickets to a regular performance, don't expect to see the lead dancers or even members of the corps, especially during the summer months.

The reason I questioned the ballet is because I did the Viking Danube cruise last year. Paid to see an opera with symphony in vienna and it was a 3 piece group in an auditorium--set up just for Viking. The performers were good but I had expected a theater with an orchestra. Wondered if the ballet would be the same set up.

We have sailed Azamara, Celebrity, Paul Gauguin plus the big ships of Princess and RCL. It has been a while since we did the huge ships but I can speak to food and compare Azamara, Celebrity and Viking river because we have done all of them in 2016.

 

All the food was perfectly fine. Paul Gauguin could not be beat for food and the beautiful Tahitian islands.

 

Azamara and Celebrity are similar except Azamara has a back bar to watch sail aways and we personally liked that there was no formal night on Azamara. Celebrity's Japanese Restaurant was our favorite of any ship so we (and a whole lot of others) went to the Asian restaurant on formal nigh

 

Viking river was unique in that they use local, fresh food products and offer local food options so you get an extra feel of the places you visit. The wait staff on Viking is unbelievable. They are so accommodating. You can ask for extras or can ask for substitutions etc. We had the best food on Viking, not because they serve filet mignon or lobster each night, but because they had fresh, authentic food and a wait staff that is fabulous. We did try to see if we could get the same server each night. Food was very good and no one had any complaints and we travel with picky "foodies".

 

We are fortunate to live in an area that if we want to dress formally, see an opera or Broadway-type show, we can do it easily. We take these kind of trips for the places we visit and to get a feel for an area, it helps to also see and try foods of different countries. That isn't to say they just have authentic food but we appreciate that it is offered.

 

First time to try Viking ocean. We leave June 3 Viking Homelands and we will see if the river cruise philosophy transfers to the ocean cruises.

Trav25, I'm scheduled for Viking Homeland Cruise in July. Please share any advice/suggestions with me after your trip!:cool: What excursion are you taking in Russia--local company or Viking?

Peregrina, We will take Viking Homelands cruise in July - this is our first cruise with Viking. I love this post - if we were not already booked, we would probably do so because of your thoughts. I have followed threads for months, and you are a wonderful source of information.

Luvnps, we are taking the Viking Homelands on July 15 with the Iceland pre-cruise add-on. By chance, are you on our cruise? How are you touring St. Petersburg --local tour company or Viking?

I too believe port excursions are more of a personal 'taste'. My wife and I have cruise on the Star twice (once on the Homelands and once on the West Indies) and both times we mixed both the included and non-included excursions. For example on our Homelands cruise we elected not to take the included tour into Berlin primarily because of the large time commitment, including long stretches on a bus both going and returning. But again, that's us. Most all excursions we've taken, both included and not, have been wonderful.

Etexvrc, did you tour St. Petersburg with Viking excursion or hire a local Russian tour company? I'm scheduled for Homelands cruise in July on the Viking Sky. Did you see a ballet?