formernuke

Just off the Venus and MDR noise wasn’t an issue the several times we ate there. May depend on the time of day and itinerary. We eat most dinners at the WC for the reasons mentioned above, but the dining room often will provide a slightly better quality on some dishes prepared to order vs sitting under heat lamps. We’re not big on being served and don’t like spending the 1.25-15 hours for dinner, but sometimes we choose it if there are particular dishes we think will be better prepared there.

The cancellations policy is 48 hour period so only excursions in the first two days are at risk before boarding. Also the daily will list what excursions ( port) must be finalized by the next day.

Bon voyage! Hope the weather cooperates for you as much as it did for us!

You will be fine with those. In this case the suggestion to ask Viking will be fruitless as the shore establishment answering have no clue about actual on board activities.

Yes,it has been a great trip. Sorry for the problems with many of the photos but it was quite a hassle trying to edit on my iPhone. Pictures worked fine on other apps…

Sorry!🥴

Forgot to mention two things:we docked at Victoria Pier, right in town. Also the weather is spectacular (low 70’s)!

Final day of the cruise didn’t start off that well. The captain came on in the morning to report there had been a problem with one of the engines and we were going to arrive in Bergen about 3 hours late, with a tug alongside just in case. They were able to rearrange the tours Unfortunately for us, we had Norway in a Nutshell booked that we would miss Hopefully trip insurance will eventually cover the cost. So we just decided to go into town and walked around. We took the funicular to mount Floien, which gave spectacular views.

The weather improved for a great day in the Shetland Islands(Lerwick). Due to expected winds and currents the captain made the choice of tendering instead of the planned docking. This turned out to be a great decision as we ended up with a short 5 minute tender into Victoria Pier, right in town. This eliminated the need for a shuttle bus. This was also the first time we had to share a port with another ship (Rotterdam). We chose the Ancient Civilizations of Shetland excursion. This took us to an amazing site on the coast called Jarlshof that spans 5000 years of history. There are Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Viking and 17th century ruins all right next to each other. Highly recommend this site! 🥴☘️🥴🥴 in the sure did the included Panorama and Ponies. Got to see the Shetland Ponies! 😀

A great day in Invergordon yesterday. Ship arrived about 35 minutes late again due to heavy seas/currents overnight. Tours were rescheduled and on board time moved to 5pm . Unfortunately some afternoon tours had to be cancelled due to a traffic accident that shut down a major bridge. Docked in town. No shutt The good weather returned! we had wanted to take the Ultimate Outlander Experience, but it was sold out when we were able book, so we booked a comparable private tour that worked out well. Included Urquhart and Cawdor castles, Clava Cairns, Culloden battlefield as well as a pano of Inverness. Our local guide was able to navigate the back roads to get us around the traffic snarls.

Edinburgh (Newhaven)yesterday. Tender port. Ship anchored about 25 minutes late due to heavy seas the previous night. Excursions team responded quickly and moved everything out a bit. Good news was Captain was able to extend our time in port so our all onboard time moved from 4 to 5. Ship provided a shuttle to town. Went from 9-3:30 continuously. We did not take it, but was planned to drop off at Charlotte Square, outside West Register House. Tender took about 20 min. We were independent today but still got off promptly, second tender left about 8:48. Just a couple of minutes late for our private tour pickup. We did private today as we were interested in both Sterling Castle and Rosslyn Chapel and there was no combo of Viking tours that could do that. Loved both places, and we were able to sneak in short visits to the Kelpies and to the Falkirk Wheel. A great day. The streak of great weather we had been having fell down a little, with intermittent drizzle/light rain. Nothing to put a damper on anything.

When we used that code to book a month ago, the text specifically said you had to call for the offer. I’m not sure what your documentation said in the small print.

Spectacular day in Orkney! Smooth sail in to pier in Kirkwall this morning. Once again the weather has cooperated! Cool(upper 40’s) and windy, but partly sunny and no rain until literally we got back to the pier at 3:15. For those interested, the port provides complimentary shuttle bus into town. We didn’t take it, but was scheduled to run every 30 min from 8:30 until 3:45 (all onboard time of 4pm). Drop off point was at the Visitor Information Centre. We chose to do a private tour today, as no combination of Viking offered tours got us to all the different places we wanted to see. As it is unlikely we’ll end up here again, we wanted to see as much as practical. It was a good choice. We had almost a perfect day, seeing most of the key sites including the Churchill Barriers, the Italian Chapel, standing stones on Steness, Yesnaby, Ring of Brodgar, Skara Brea and Skail House, a small burial mound you can climb through, as well as quick pano tours of both Kirkwall and Stromness. Highly recommend Dave’s Malcolm! (We booked via Viator, but he also works independently).

Will do

Re: sticky toffee pudding I agree one of my favorites. Yes, they served it but it was just ok. We did have it on the pre-extension and it was great.

Our luck continued today in Ullapool. Bright skies, calm seas and mild temps as we sailed in this morning. Tender port. Tender fakes only about 5 min and you are in the center of town (such as it is). Cute little town. We took the included walk about, that lasted a little over an hour. Ended with tea, coffee and biscuits at a local restaurant. Then short walk around before back to the ship. A very light rain started just as we were queuing up for the tender.

Belfast today. A little drizzle first thing this morning then pleasant but a little cool for the rest of the day. Viking provided a shuttle to town from 8:30-4:30. Drops off at Donegal Square North by the Belfast welcome center. We did the City drive, Crumlin Jail and Titanic excursion. Includes a pretty thorough pano city tour en route with a couple of photo stops. The jail has a self guided tour showing the history of the jail from mid19th century to the 1980s. Multimedia presentation including videos holograms and some artifacts along the way. Very informative. Then a good lunch at the jail restaurant. Then on to the Titanic experience. Again a self guided multimedia presentation covering Belfast, building the Titanic, the disaster and post event history. Includes a short ‘ride’ taking you through the construction in the shipyard. Well done. Two hours to go through, which was about right.

We’ve been in this cabin twice (one on Jupiter one on Star). Absolutely no issues. Not in it now only because it wasn’t available.

Very nice day yesterday in Holyhead. Docked in very large industrial/ferry port. As such, you are not allowed to walk to town. Instead there is a port provided shuttle from the ship to port entrance. Seems to be short walk to town from there. Buses are able to (barely) make it down the narrow causeway. We did the Viking Castles of Wales excursion. Two very different castle experiences! The first, Caernarfon is a large 13th century ‘proper’ military-style castle that has seen battle. It’s pretty much what you imagine when you think of when you say ‘castle’. Lunch in a restaurant just steps from the castle. The second, Penrhyn, is a 19th century immense ‘party estate’ built by the money from the slate quarries. Incredibly ornate and lavishly decorated. Both castles well worth the visit. Port security on return is a bit weird. The guide says it is kind of random what they ask for. Today, with 31 on the bus they asked for 3 males and 3 females to search. I was one of the volunteers. Full bag search and full body pat down, then we were on the way.

Certainly the maritime museum you could easily do on your own. It wasn’t very crowded, but that maul be a function of when we were there(close to closing) and the time of year. The western approaches museum is small and you only go through (ut appears) via guided tour. I don’t know how hard it would be to schedule that when you need to. I suspect it is possible with some research. Certainly it is an easy walk back to the ship (this was a walking tour).

Had what turned out to be a lovely day in Liverpool. Didn’t start out that way. Noticed about 7am we were dead in the water and no where near the pier; unusual since we were supposed to moored by 8. Expected an announcement at 8 and that’s what happened. Captain reported there was a “technical issue “ with the propulsion system that occurred after we picked up the pilot and prevented us from entering port. He reported the issue was now resolved and we’d be mooring at 9:45. Luckily the team was able to reschedule all the excursions and delay our departure time. Great recovery. Our luck with the weather continued. Mostly sunny but a bit cool in the low 50’s. According to locals this has been the first sun in some time. Docking location is close to town. A bit of a walk down the pier and through the terminal. Floating pier that rises and falls with the tide(up to 10m). As a result, there can be some very steep ramps that could be problem for some. There is a small cart service for those who need it. We did the Viking Beatles tour in the am. Very knowledgeable guide. I’m not a big Beatles fan (DW is), so I wasn’t expecting much. To my surprise I really enjoyed. Would definitely recommend it. Afternoon tour was western approaches and maritime museum. Good tour with great WWII history.

First tender day at Dun Laoghaire (for .Dublin). Tender only took about 15 min to the pier. Loaded tender at 8:20 for 8:45 tour. Note that those wanting to explore independently in the morning were staged and added to tenders once ship excursions were loaded. We did the included tour. Not very good, in part because we did not use the quiet box which was completely unworkable with a group of 43! Crazy in St Patrick’s cathedral. We left at the end of the tour. Had a very good lunch at Kennedy’s pub. Chose to go to the Jeanie Johnston replica potato famine ship. Very interesting. Took the Viking provided shuttle back to the ship. Shuttles ran from 9am hourly until 6pm. Shuttle drop off point was Merrion Square West, which is a decent location. About 45min to the pier. Tenders ran about every 30 min until 7 pm.

Sea day today. Mostly usual stuff. Key exception was Q&A with the captain. He is outstanding! Personable, honest and very funny. Very enjoyable session. Also attached list of officers since I know some are interested.

We’ve had pretty decent luck with the weather. It’s been cool (low 50s mostly), with winds from moderate to heavy. Mostly avoided any significant precipitation, at least when we’ve been out and about. Some heavy rain while in the bus that miraculously cleared when we got off. A few sprinkles here and there for a few minutes. I would recommend a warm inner layer with a rain resistant outer layer. Consider carrying a small umbrella just in case.

Brilliant sail in past the white cliffs of Dover! We did the Leeds Castle and Canterbury Cathedral excursion. About a 40 min drive to Leeds. Castle is nice (not spectacular in our opinion) due to the number of major revisions that have happened over the years. Interesting history of course. The grounds are beautiful and it would be a great place to bring young kids as they’ve gone out of their way to provide a number of family friendly activities. After that, about a 30 min drive to Canterbury. Nice lunch at the cathedral reception center. Then a couple of hours to go through the cathedral and the town as desired. Cathedral is gorgeous! Well worth a visit. For those interested, the port provides a shuttle to Church Street in Dover and to Dover castle. We didn’t take it, but apparently runs about every 30-40 min in a loop.