CatGirl922

We were on this May 2019.  Awesome adventures await you.

We went in the opposite direction.  Did Bergen on our own.  MUST DO: Get the Flam Railroad Trip via Viking.  That was worth every penny.  Did Pulpit Rock with Rodne Tour (get rez ahead), less expensive and virtually the same tour as Viking, Aalborg we did on our own, Germany we opted to do the Schwerin Castle Tour from Viking (good), St. Petersburg we used Alla for their Ultimate Tour and got a group together here.  We had The Best Guide of our lives.  Amazing two days.  Helsinki did included.  It was fine.  Stockholm we did a private OurWay Tour around the Vasa.  Great guide.

So many memories and photos!

Boarding Passes on departure - Will they print them on the ship or do you just use your phone app to check in and wait until you get to the airport?

7 minutes ago, LABARNETT said:

My sister & I have done one Viking River cruise & liked it, so we're going Viking Ocean next - all the way to Australia/New Zealand (12/27/19 on the Orion). A few questions: Is tipping the norm on Australia-based cruises? If so, given the favorable US$ to AUD exchange rate, would it be better to tip on-board in local currency, or to pre-pay tips? Also, any thoughts on Travel Insurance? My sister & I are early 70's, in good health & with no pre-existing conditions. On the other hand, this is a big, expensive trip for us? Thanks to all who respond.

Personally, I wouldn't consider going on such a big vacation WITHOUT trip insurance.  While I've never had to use mine, I do know people who have.  I think it's worth the investment in peace of mind.

5 minutes ago, Scootoir said:

Thanks so much for the responses.  I found Rodne charges $63 for the 3-hour tour.  It's too early for me to see the cost of the excursion from Viking for comparison.   Does anyone know what Viking charges?

I think that the Rodne cruise (last I checked) was for 2 hours and Viking was longer with a waffle.  Much better deal to go with Rodne.

Another question about signing up for the excursions:  When it's the right time/day, do you just go to each city and pick or is there one place where you can do it all at once?  AND, I know that we can't get into our stateroom until 1 PM, can you board the ship before then to get lunch??

31 minutes ago, moatenote said:

You are very welcome!  If your schedule says you can book on April 28, that means you can book as of 12:01 a.m. on April 28

Thank you, once again.  Having that information makes it a lot easier.  Anything to take a bit of anxiety away. 🙂

If you booked through a TA (we did), just ask them to forward your paperwork in email.  You can find it there.  So much easier than counting ahead on a calendar!

Thanks to moatenote I now have the exact day the excursions open for me.  Does that mean it opens at midnight (I'm a US West Coast person) on that day??  Or is it midnight the night before??

1 hour ago, moatenote said:

I just noticed something regarding knowing when you will be able to book shore excursions.  After several cruises, I just noticed that on the Viking invoice/Guest Statement, usually page 3, at the bottom of the page listing the daily itinerary, the last item is Shore Excursions on the bottom left of the page and it clearly says the date that shore excursions open for your cabin.  Duh on me.

OMG.  You are wonderful!  I missed that too.  No more trying to count on my calendar.  Thank you!!

1 hour ago, ropomo said:

Actually there are occasions where there are multiple included tours in a port as is the case in my upcoming Viking Homelands.  There are some listed as a normal excursion and others listed as "leisurely" which appear to be paced for those that may have mobility issues.

1 hour ago, ropomo said:

 

We are also going to be on an upcoming Viking Homelands that sails on May 25th from Bergen.  The tours just posted the other day at about Day 110 out.  If you'll be on that cruise, there is a group page for us.

35 minutes ago, vnb2003 said:

Yes. In the tour screen you will have your name and your husbands name. You check both before clicking on the book button. If either of you don’t want to take the tour just leave that name unchecked

Thank you so much for the detailed response.

16 minutes ago, newcruiser1956 said:

 

Thank you!

Question about signing up for tours.  Can I sign up for both my husband and myself with just one log in?

1 hour ago, Squigmond said:

Might I suggest you look into a private tour for your day in Northern Germany.......specifically Friends Of Dave.   Check out the tour on the website and look at tripadvisor reviews.  We had a great day on this small group tour 2 years ago.  

That was the tour (Friends of Dave) that we wanted to do.  Unfortunately owing to our times in port, they can't do it with us.  Trying to find an alternative other than Viking.  Haven't had any success yet.

3 hours ago, JenRonn1104 said:

The best way to answer this is to copy from my blog I did of our Viking Homeland's Cruise:

 

"Explore two former Hanseatic powers.  Visit two of Germany’s most beautiful seaside cities, each a powerful part of the medieval Hanseatic League.  [Lubeck] today is one of the best preserved medieval tows in northern Germany and a UNSESCO World Heritage Site…

Unfortunately, not to spoil this post for you, the description of “most beautiful seaside cities” was not accurate.  In addition, we ran into some problems.  But overall, it was a nice day, and if not for the issues we had, we probably would have an even better feeling about this excursion."

 

" Unfortunately, the stress of the earlier situation put a damper on the day and definitely impacted how we felt about this tour and about Wismar.  In hindsight, we learned a lot about these towns and they were very interesting.  But they weren’t what we were expecting.  We were expecting quaint German seaside villages.  At no time on the tour did we see the sea and the cities were not quaint but a little depressing.  Depressing because they aren’t being well maintained.  As the young people and families continue to move to the big cities, these small towns are declining in population and therefore money to maintain them.  Most of the churches are not used as churches anymore but music venues, bars, etc.  It was a bit sad. "

 

As you can see we had some issues...not to bore you with all the details in short our tour guide miscounted and lost two people.  And we were 2 hours from the ship.  We eventually caught up with the lost couple but it was very stressful day which has probably tainted our view of the excursion.  I hope this helps.

 

Thank you so much for explaining what happened. Even without the two missing people, it sounds like the towns themselves weren't that special to you.  I never thought that those towns were "seaside" but more countryside.  I can understand why you felt misled.  Were you on a full size bus?  Was the trip there through the country worth seeing?  Still trying to figure out the best tour to do.  Thanks.

13 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

We enjoyed our trip to Schwerin castle very much this past June.  It’s a bit of a drive out there, but then a boat trip around the castle and its island and a brief tour inside.  It just beautiful!  The tour of Schwerin town was a bit slow for us so we broke off and did it on our own and stopped for coffee.  After we got back to the ship, we spent the late afternoon in Warnemünde having a beer and a snack on a glorious, warm afternoon.  We were so happy not to do the marathon Berlin trip!

Thanks for your feedback.  We'll be there at the very end of May.  Hope for lovely weather as well. 

13 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

I think this question is worthy of its own thread. It is a good question, one that deserves the largest audience possible-- its name in lights, you might even say. I hope you will start one.

Thank you.  Done.

Looking for feedback on the paid excursions to Schwerin Castle and Lubeck/Wismar.  I doubt if anyone has done both, but opinions please on either.  Definitely not going to Berlin and looking for the best way to see the most of that area of Germany.

Viking Homelands Excursions in Berlin port: Has anyone had experience with either the Schwerin Castle or the Lubeck/Wismar tours?  Opinions?

Is their softener in the dispensers?  I am super sensitive to it.

Thank you for your help.

What time on the West Coast do they open?  Midnight?

2CruiseCats: Thank you so much for your input. It's appreciated. We are comfortable getting around on our own so knowing that's not challenging is good news.

Thank you all. Lots of great feedback. Was already planning to use an outside company for SPB.

Planning on outside company for Pulpit Rock thanks to so many people sharing their advice.

Will not go to Berlin. Instead we're using Friends of Dave to see towns closer to the ship.

We want to take the Flam RR trip if we get it.

We start in Bergen and will be there a day early and do Mt. Floyen on our own.

We were thinking in Aalborg of going on our own to see Lindholm Hoje since we are active Viking re-enactors.

Still not sure about Copenhagen. We are comfortable making our own way around, but advice would be welcome.

Thinking about just doing the included walking in Gdansk and then going on our own.

I hear the Tallinn choco factory/walk is good.

Still not decided on Helsinki either. Is it easily walkable?

Truly appreciate all the helpful people on this site/board!

Thank you, Port Hope. That's a great suggestion.