BluebonnetTexan

Since we were in today’s wave of cancelled cruises, we are contemplating taking the 125% FCC and doing the 15-day Galapagos/Machu Picchu trip in 2022. Thought I’d go ahead and post here to bump this topic back to the first page and see if anyone else is thinking similarly. 

Now official from Viking - canceled through August 31. Video just posted at https://www.viking.tv/index/story/tors-corner. 

Video just posted at https://www.viking.tv/index/story/tors-corner officially canceling through August 31. Guess a lot of us can finish re-planning for trips we had scheduled during that time as I suspect we all expected this. 

Guess you get to make more updates now. Video just posted at https://www.viking.tv/index/story/tors-corner officially canceling through August 31. 

My guess is that since Orion was scheduled to go to Alaska, and those cruises are looking very unlikely for this summer, that Viking hasn’t decided yet where to send her to position for the most likely next future cruise.

3 hours ago, pontac said:

@BluebonnetTexan

 

I don't know about next year but we were on this cruise last month and the river was full and had flooded its banks.

 

The Danube is Europe's second longest river and this cruise travels along the lower part. In other words, the major rivers that discharge into it are up river.

 

Flooded Danube at Belgrade, Serbia on 8 June 2019

Thanks @pontac. That's what I suspected, just had not seen any reports - which I took to be a good thing. Of course, flooding can cause issues as well. One of the risks you take with river cruising - too much water or too little water! And like you said - who knows about next year - I was just curious if it had been a problem historically.

I'm curious if there are ever periodic problems with the water levels on the Budapest to Bucharest portion of the Danube? We are doing Viking's Passage to Eastern Europe next year in late July. Seems we lucked out in July/Aug 2017 when we went Budapest to Amsterdam without experiencing any significant issues due to water levels. 

1 hour ago, JenRonn1104 said:

We did the Lubeck/Wismar tour and we were very disappointed.  The description on Viking website was not completely accurate.  We would not recommend it.

What exactly disappointed you and what was inaccurate in the description? 

Still there is a pattern. Looking at my past two VO cruises and future 2020 cruise, arrival in port tends to be between 7 and 8 although sometimes as early as 6 (Warnemünde on Viking Homelands), occasionaly around noon or 1pm (Ålborg on VH, Belize on Panama & Central America, Naples on future Med&Adriatic Sojourn). Departures anywhere between 6pm and midnight but occasionaly earlier. As Peregrina says, the place to look is on the 2nd or 3rd page of your invoice.

 

Aren't you guys glad I'm a little data packrat?[emoji16]

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I’m glad! You should start another spreadsheet with the port times. :D

Spent my career in IT with databases, so I appreciate your gathering and disseminating data! I’ll be glad to contribute our 2019 VH Stockholm to Bergen times since the itinerary has changed somewhat from the trip you did in 2016.

To make it easier .. I just gathered all the prices together in a spreadsheet . Organized by Year, Cruise, Port, ShoreEx, and Duration. https://www.dropbox.com/s/j5d3sa891mn0jox/VikingShorexCosts.xlsx?dl=0 No DropBox account required to view or download. And .. yes.. will update this as we do more Viking cruises: have two more in the can.

Thanks for sharing this. We are doing our first VO cruise June 2019 - Viking Homelands. I’ve been curious about the price ranges of the optional tours, so this helps me tremendously with my excessive advanced planning as I await the official excursion release info!

We have booked the June 6 Stockholm to Bergen route next year on Viking Sea. We will arrive a couple of days early into Stockholm and do it on our own with another couple. Then the four of us will take the train from Bergen to Oslo and spend a couple of more days in Oslo before returning. I can't wait - everyone's input makes me excited to go!

Thanks for the responses. Now I just need to convince DH that it will be ok to do a third party tour in Russia with one of the vendors so many here have recommended.

I've seen many references that booking St. Petersburg tours via local guides is cheaper than Viking. We are on this cruise next year and the detailed excursions and prices aren't available yet from Viking. I know it might be different for our tour next year, but can anyone tell me what Viking is charging this year for their two-day tour in SPG?

We are thinking about taking this cruise next year. This thread has been very informative. Thanks to JiminyC for starting it with her review and all of you who have added to it.

Looking forward to your daily blog reports. Enjoyed your posts so far. We are on the Golden SB July 7.

Thanks everyone for the input!

AuntieWW, we are also considering the Iceland add-on. I think I may start a new thread for input on that topic!

Thanks for the replies everyone. Totally agree that we'll love whichever route we select as we've never been to these locales. When traveling thru multiple time zones, I tend to want to start at the most eastern point and work my way back west (towards home). So, I'm inclined to do Stockholm to Bergen and I'm liking the input so far about ending on a high note with the scenery in Norway. Would love to hear any other thoughts on pros/cons of one direction versus the other.

Nancy

We are thinking of taking this cruise in 2019. What are the main differences between the routes? I suspect there may be a port or two with significant differences one direction versus the other, but can't tell from what I've read on Viking's website.

Nancy