SoBaycruiser

I understand the above suggestions and have done the same on previous cruises with other lines. However, this time we will have to arrange our own transportation to the port because we are flying into the UK the day before departure. We plan to use a car service and I assume they will want to keep in contact with us by phone upon arrival. We have ATT and I know I can activate international usage for the day for $10 but can I then turn it off for the rest of the trip?

That is what I was hoping to do but they will only let you use their transfer to the ship if you fly in the day of departure or are part of their pre extension. Flying from California, we can’t take the chance of arriving the day of departure and making all the connections. I even asked if we stayed in a hotel nearby and returned to the airport on the day of departure could I take their transport and they said no.

We are flying in the day before our March NL cruise and we are thinking of getting a car service to take us to the Premiere Inn in East Thurrock and then a taxi to the port the next day. In the past we’ve been spoiled. We would fly in a few days early and stay with a friend who would deliver us to our port when cruising. Otherwise we traveled by rental car. Unfortunately COVID took our friend last year and so this is all new territory for us. Our flight is long from California so we basically want to get near the port and start adjusting to the 8 time zones difference. We have stayed in Premiere Inns around the UK before and found them clean and not too expensive. We have never taken a taxi in the UK. Is payment by cash or credit card? Does the taxi have to be prearranged or will the hotel call one for us when needed? Sorry if I sound so naive. This is all new to us and we do not want to take the train. Does this sound doable? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

I just want to add that the northern lights itinerary changed from the 2022 cruises to 2023. Last year a number of ports were missed due to the winter weather. The new itinerary takes a southern route stopping at Amsterdam to avoid crossing the North Sea from the UK to Norway or reverse. They also took a route through the Inland Passage which should have calmer waters. We are booked on the March cruise. We missed seeing the lights on our Alaska land base trip because of rain. They saw the lights in Juneau and we were in Denali! So there are no guarantees either way.

Apparently, according to the stateroom descriptions, “Nordic Balcony are French Balcony staterooms with a retractable glass (down-sliding / opening) window. ”.

Thanks!

Thank you! Until you said they will substitute for something such as the seared tuna, I was scratching it off the list. But I’m willing to take a chance now. And I do LOVE lamb! BTW, were any or your trips to Norway? We are planning a Northern Lights trip and I wondered if that means a lot of fish on the menu. If so my husband will be in Heaven.

First time Viking cruiser here. I’ve read about the chefs table and how the menu (theme) changes every three days. However, when we finally are allowed to book, will we know the theme of the food that day? If one is on a 12 day cruise, should they expect 4 different themes? I doubt I might even have much choice of theme or timing by the time bookings are open to us, but it is still nice to be prepared. Are the menus posted anywhere? I’m not a real picky eater but raw or almost raw (seared) fish is not my thing. Any words of wisdom about the chefs table?

Anyone want to share how people typically dressed for dinner and lounges during the Northern Lights cruises? Any differences? Is the ship kept cooler or warmer than you expected? Just curious… thinking about after dinner, sitting in the Explorers Lounge with the hopes that the Aurora might appear… possibly having to go outside. Any comments about cold weather cruises?

I have been looking at the private chasing NL tours for this coming March and they almost all say 6-9 hours in Tromso whereas the ship’s chasing lights tour is 5 hours. The small mini van sounds appealing and cheaper… but 9 hours!! Do they really stay out that long? We are in our mid 70’s and I don’t think we are up to staying out in the cold til 5 am. I want to book something as I don’t think there will be any spots on the ship’s tour… but I am concerned about 9 hrs.

Thank you. It appears we are the unlucky cruise. I haven’t heard from anyone else that tendered.

Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions. Looking at the port schedule it looks like we are the unlucky Viking cruise that has to anchor instead of being dockside…March being a popular Aurora month for cruise ships. I have emailed Viking as suggested and will be interested as to what they will say. I am wondering if anyone has thought of the problem it presents… even for Viking’s own excursions. They just removed two Norwegian ports from the NL itinerary and if now there will be problems with getting to and from shore for Aurora excursions in Alta there will many unhappy passengers. But I’ll first wait to see what they say before getting too worked up,

@Frenchberet Did you tender in Alta? If so, how late did the tenders run? I posted the question in another thread in this folder because we have a private excursion booked an we will be out late.

Unfortunately I have to know sooner because if we can’t get back on the ship, we’ll have to cancel the excursion before getting the schedule. Hopefully someone from last winter can shed some light.

We will overnight in Alta, Norway on our March NL cruise. I just realized that the itinerary shows Alta is a tender port. We have already booked an independent chasing northern lights excursion and I assume we might be out quite late. Will the tender still operate into the early hours of the morning due to the unique excursions hours there?

Since we are flying into to LHR from the West Coast USA, we are arriving (after an overnight flight) the day before our cruise on a Tuesday. Assuming no delays, we will have 24 hrs before boarding Viking Venus. Because we are NOT arriving on sail day, we can NOT purchase Viking’s transfers to Tilbury. ( our original thought was to stay at/near the airport and catch the transfer the next day at LHR… but that is not allowed). We were wondering what other independent travelers have done. We are looking for an easy (more than cheap) transportation as we are in our 70s and are no longer up to schlepping our luggage through train/tube stations. It seems a car service would be the easiest, any recommendations? Then the question is at which end do we spend the night .. the airport or the port? We have used the Premier Inn on Bath Rd multiple times in the past (for early morning flights), but will the car service pick us up there? We will be terribly jet lagged when we arrive (8hrs difference) and it sounds good to just go directly to a hotel, take a nap and then try to stay up to a GMT bedtime. On the other hand, would it be better to have the car service take us to Tilbury the day we arrive? If so does anyone have a hotel to recommend near the port? What time is boarding usually for 5 pm departures? Lots of questions… we appreciate the help. We’ve sailed out of Dover multiple times and know how to do that. Tilbury is totally new to us. Thanks in advance.

We went with a private company. GLØD Explorer which was rated well on TripAdvisor. We are new to Viking and I wasn’t sure if returning guests got to book first and what would be left for us. We don’t get to book excursions until New Years Eve. Also we have always had good luck with private tour companies.

We went with GLØD Explorer. I read some good reviews about them from people last winter. Groups of 8 and the guide is a photographer who helps you set up your camera for the good pix. They provide extra warm clothing. Which cruise will you be on? We’ll be on the 8th of Mar.

Thanks @johneb2 , @LadyL1 and @janetcbl! That’s great information. I am so happy to hear they will dim the ship’s lights and the Aurora can possibly be seen from the ship. Did the pictures turn out on a moving ship? I was curious about dressing for dinner if people were a bit more casual on a trip like this. If the lights became visible during dinner, I’d hate to have return to my cabin and change all my clothes vs maybe just putting on the jacket, gloves, boots, and wind/water proof pants over what I was wearing. Or do passengers have an idea when the lights might be possible and just time their dinner time and locale around that? It occurs to me the apps usually give you an idea when they might appear. Because we are from So Cal we don’t get the cold weather we will experience. However, we did go on a NE Greenland expedition one year and have a lot of cold weather gear. However it wasn’t winter and I wasn’t sure what to expect in March until your posts. I appreciate the comments. I do have warm gloves with liners for when I need to take them off for picture taking. I have Marino wool sock liners for my heavier Marino wool outer socks. I didn’t experience any sweating from the double layer in Greenland so I hope not to on this trip. I bought some flexible crampons recently. I have a hat that covers my ears and a Gater to pull up over my lower face. Boots are the most difficult thing to bring. I’ve decided to wear mine onto the plane and then slip into something more comfortable as I store them under my seat. I’m bring a lot of hand warmer and toe warmer packets. We have booked a private NL chasing tour in Alta and so will come prepared for the lack of toilet facilities. It’s all quite daunting but I know it will be worth it. Thank you all again.

Thanks for the tips. I’ve been hoping someone who had been there in March would respond. Do you have any other tips for a March NL trip?

I’ve read that waterproof pants are really needed.

Our NL trip is in early March 2023 and I’m wondering if anyone can speak to the temperature/clothing situation then. I followed the comments from trips last year and it sounded VERY cold in January and February but I didn’t see any comments from the March trips. I have all the layers of clothing from an expedition trip on another line but they provided the use of Muck boots. I’m at a loss as I live in So Cal and don’t have a lot of need for warm boots. Should I expect more slush in March …so do I need waterproof boots?. How did you all pack heavy winter boots? Any suggestion are appreciated.

i agree it’s related to the cruise line. This will be our first Viking cruise. Most of our previous cruising has been on R-ships on various cruise lines over the years. They only hold about 690 passengers and yet many people participate in the roll calls. If people start talking about private excursions, the traffic picks up. I wonder because Viking publishes their excursions and prices so much closer to the cruise, if more people hold off on booking private tours. Rita.