Lucky Granny

I suggest that you go back to the Board Forums and look for the Ports of Call section. Go to Europe>Northern Europe & Baltics, and then search for Oslo, etc. If I were you, I would definitely look into doing the entire Norway in a Nutshell. We did the Viking excursion portion of it and loved it, but the Viking dock time isn't long enough for the whole thing. If you are there ahead of time, you could do it on your own. There is lots of info about it on that other thread.

There are no "sloppy seconds" on a Viking cruise. Once you get on the ship, there is no reference to where your cabin is.....everyone seems equal. We booked included and paid excursions and did not suffer at all because of our lowly DV booking. Both specialty restaurants were available for booking onboard, even though DV can only book one of each ahead of time.

Dear Lucky Granny,

 

We’ve enjoyed following along with your posts and reading about your recent cruise aboard Viking Sea! While we are delighted that you enjoyed your overall experience, we have also made note of your disappointments, including the cancelled tour in Stockholm.

 

Your feedback is important us and, should you wish to review your experience with a Viking representative, we would be happy to hear from you at TellUs@vikingcruises.com.

 

Lucky Granny, thank you for the opportunity to respond and for your loyalty to Viking Cruises. We look forward to seeing you again soon!

 

Kind regards,

Viking Cruises

Thank you, Viking. I did not have many disappointments and have already reported them somewhere or another. And I am sure you are well aware of the problems with the shore excursion booking website. But, if the need arises, I will contact your email.

We had success with re-scheduling once we got on the ship, including fixing the conflict caused by Viking changing our booked included tour to the same time as a booked paid tour. Don't bother calling. We made several calls to no avail and saw eye-rolls when we reported the information we got to the shorex desk onboard.

Our cruise ended in Stockholm and we had booked a Viking paid excursion that was a tour of Stockholm's waterways by boat. It was, unfortunately, cancelled by, according to Viking, their provider. When we got there and saw the islands that make up Stockholm, we were more disappointed to have missed that tour. There are boats sitting in the water near the Viking dock waiting to be booked for a water tour of the city's islands. I would recommend doing that if you can, but can't supply a name. Perhaps the tour will be offered by Viking by the time you arrive.

You will have shorex tickets waiting for you in your cabin when you board, but there will be no time printed on it. Instead, you will have a group number and you will see in the Viking Daily the night before your excursion what time your group should expect to gather. There were four of us in two different cabins, with four different last names, and Viking had us linked somehow so all our excursions were at the same time. You just have to check this with the Shore Excursion people as soon as possible after you board. You will find that they can't believe some of the information you were given by phone before your cruise. And your My Viking calendar is available on the tv in your cabin.

I don't know if I'm off or on the subject, it seems to have changed a couple of times. But I have been to those Caribbean islands with another cruise line and noticed a similarity. If you do not want to spend your time on any of the islands doing water things (swimming, snorkeling, scubaing, vegging, etc.) or the zipline type thing, there is not a lot else to do other than ride around in/on some type of transportation and just look at the beautiful place. Most excursions will take you to the highest point on the island so you can look down at how beautiful it is. They will take you to the fort, or seaport, or garden, or whatever is considered the grandest thing they have to show. Unlike some European ports, they don't have intensive museums, or monuments, or Eiffel Tower or London Bridge type sights. So I kind of anticipate the included excursions with Viking will include a ride to see everywhere and will great.

Only two questions I can answer:

You can bring alcohol on the ship. I was told they ask that you not drink your own in public places....but who can tell where a glass of wine came from?

You can do vegetarian at Manfredi's, but the menu at Chef's Table is fixed. Your friend could just skip some courses and fill up at the buffet later. 10 flavors of gelato!!

Vana Tallin is a liqueur that, from what I understand, is blended in Tallinn (yes, I finally got it right...Tallinn has two l's and two n's). It contains rum among other ingredients. The shop at the pier was giving samples when we were there at the end of the day in port. If you Google it, you find many people trying to find some in the US to no avail. I enjoyed trying something new, including Aquavit. I got these ideas from the Viking videos that are available online before your trip and on the TV in your stateroom while you are there. The info-talk about Tallinn before we arrived said to be sure to try VanaTallinn but did not say where to find it. I had to walk quite a distance to get to a liquor store to buy some, and then found it at the pier.

Be sure to try the Vana Tallin in Estonia. I don't think you can buy it in the US. Small plastic bottles are available at the shop on the pier.

I was on the Sea in May and did the Viking Berlin excursion. We went by train, about 2 1/2 hours each way. We were seated in little rooms on long seats facing each other, so we just visited like we would have sitting around on the ship. Viking was very attentive, as someone was frequently coming to check on us, bring water and snacks, and keep us posted about where we were. The Berlin tour was by bus, the guide was very good, and took us all over the city to see the important tourist places. We ate a very local German lunch of Dom Curry at an outdoor stand in a park.....I can't say it was my favorite, but it was what the locals eat so was a very good experience. Toward the end of our time in town, the bus parked on a city street and the guide directed us to a few shops close by for those who wanted to shop. Then we went back to the train and back to the ship. The ride back included beer and wine as well as snacks. When we arrived back to the ship, a number of the ships officers and crew were lined up on either side of the walkway and applauded our arrival. We also were served champagne but had to drink it before boarding the ship, so most got left on the dock, but it was a nice gesture. We do not anticipate ever getting back to that part of Germany, so we were glad to have an opportunity to see the Berlin Wall, etc. while we were so close.

I think you may have limited replies by asking only about the Star. From what I understand, the Sea is identical. I was on the Sea and can answer a couple questions from that angle: The shops had a variety of items. One shop had costume jewelry, cosmetics, small purses....typical cruise ship items. Another had all the items with the Viking name on them: jackets, shirts, etc. Also in that shop were local souvenirs. For instance, if you didn't find the wool sweater you wanted in Norway, they were for sale on the ship. Or if you forgot someone you should have bough a Russian nested doll set for, there are a few in the shop. Items are limited in number, however, so buy if when you see it if it's what you want. This shop also sold small jewelry-type Faberge eggs, some more valuable than others. Prices ranged from $28 to $300 or so. There was a third shop that sold the really good stuff. The only brand name jewelry I remember was Trollbeads. They were priced higher than ordering online. This third shop was where the expert on Russia who was on board and who lectured about Russia, Faberge, amber, Russian painted boxes and nested dolls, displayed the museum- quality items he had for sale. These items were expensive but many were sold along the way. The expert himself was often in the shop to talk to customers about the items and show you how to avoid buying fakes, etc. Very interesting. The items in all the shops change, I am sure, with the itinerary, but you get the idea. There was also a small shop selling toiletries, etc. that you might have forgotten to bring. The snacks in the cabin were replaced daily, but not in unlimited supply. Each day we had two candy bars and one bag of chips. If we ate them, more were left the next day, but a price list is supplied if you want to request more than the allotted amount. I don't know if they have peanuts. And about the alcohol, I was told that Viking does not mind if you bring yours onboard, but they request that you do not drink it in public areas. But, if you get a glass and pour in your cabin, no one can tell where you got it. I guess they discourage bringing an ice chest of your own beer to the pool. lol I recommend the Vana Tallin in Estonia. Best place to buy small plastic bottles is from the shops at the dock. I don't think you can get it in the US.

Sorry, I don't know specifically about the Cruise Director. I assumed he is either included or well paid. He did a great job. He was not on any of our excursions, but could have been on others.

Viking automatically adds tips to your onboard credit to be charged to your credit card. You would have to change this at Guiest Services if you do not want to tip that way. We left extra for our room stewards who did such a great job. They may or may not have shared that with the rest of the crew. I did not personally tip anyone else onboard. For the Vikings Homelands cruise, $196 was added to my account. We tipped the guides and bus drivers additionally, regardless of the cost of the excursion. We were more generous with the guides who excelled and, of course, with the two-day excursion to St. Pettersburg guide who was fantastic. I personally tipped more than the $1 and $2 guideline, but sometimes, if using a foreign currency, I was not exactly sure how much I tipped. lol We tipped in local currency, Euros, and USD, sometimes in combination.

I think Viking is working through maiden voyage problems. On our Viking Homelands cruise, a paid excursion was cancelled after we were on board because the provider backed out. This will probably continue to happen until Viking and their many providers/guides/etc. finalize their agreements and prove satisfactory for both parties. We received a refund to our onboard account. We also received a partial refund when we expressed our disappointment with another paid excursion. Viking has no doubt booked other passengers on that same excursion during future cruises, and will now need to either redesign with the provider or find another provider for that excursion, or cancel those also.

LuckyGranny--Thank you for your explanation. I think one of the problems with the Gdansk stop is that, going to Bergen, we get there on a Sunday and though it is a 7 hour stop, so much of that time is lost because of things are not up and running the full time while we are in port. It's all a trade off. The time it takes to travel to the castle would probably have been lost roaming the empty streets of Gdansk, due to the early hour. The Gulf of Mexico is about the same amount of time from where I live and I certainly would not think of making the trip there for such a short amount of time as the castle trip, unless it was going to be my only chance to see a large body of water and I wanted to do that. I would have like to have seen some of it but I think muck of it a slight difference on other ports we will be visiting and the shipyard story I heard enough about for my interest when it was happening. The picture in the Viking ad peaked my interest in the castle and after watching the 20 min video on YouTube, it seemed like the only choice for me. The change for next year's version of Homelands has been brought to my attention by another CC member making that trip then. The map appears to be the same but the Flam substitution is on another fjord completely. The picture of Flam is justified because like the castle, they do offer a paid excursion there that takes you 'over the mountains and through the woods'. This cruising thing is an education in the making--I just hope I'm passing.

We were in Dansk on a Sunday also, from 1-12 pm. You are right, not much to see. If you go to Marlbork, I want to point out something you might miss as the three people I was with did not notice it, as it is kind of hidden in all the destruction. You will visit the church at Malbork which has not been restored to its original. Our guide has a passion for the castle and was dismayed when safety precautions and avoiding further deterioration recently forced more restoration. But a large crucifix remains high on one wall as it was when the war ended, with Jesus' body partially blown away. It sort of drives home the cruelty and ferocity that was attacking parts of the world at that time. I hope you enjoy your cruise and end up feeling like you passed your cruise course....it's all in the perception. By the way, I live thirty minutes from the Gulf of Mexico and would rather drive to Malbork.

I just returned from the Viking Sea and did not see a cocktail dress at all. I didn't go to the captains's reception, however....there may have been some there. If you want to wear dressier shoes, you can but not necessary. We ate in the buffet area most nights and wore flats or sandals. Most people appeared not to have changed from whatever they wore all day. Those eating in the specialty restaurants appeared to have cleaned up a bit but not dressed to cocktail level. Carribean cruises are generally more informal than others because of the warm weather....just avoid beach and/or pool attire in the dining rooms. If you want to look more dressed, scarves and jewelry can upgrade for you.

Dauntless, we did enjoy the Malbork excursion. The trip was a considerable distance (hour and a half) through the Polish countyside, but our guide was great....she talked the whole way about the country and culture and changes in each over the course of war-related world events. We saw the stork nests and heard about the Mennonites who lived there for a while. The castle (it's really a more of a monastery) is beautiful and has been amazingly restored (the different colors of the bricks shows which portions remained after the war and which were replaced). We were just a little disappointed that, because the castle excursion took so long, we did not see the town of Gdansk and hardly felt like we had been there. You will have to decide which you will prefer. And about the ice bar....the one in Las Vegas wouldn't have wasted our time in Europe. lol I guess the sled dog description made us think we would be going into a snowy area and somewhere a photo of an ice hotel appeared on a Viking site that was not the ice hotel we saw. Viking is a little lost with the fact-checking sometimes....I just received a cruise booklet wherein a future Viking Homelands cruise is described without the stop in Flam, Norway. Another town is on the intinerary instead. And yet on the next page is the same description of Flam that appeared when there was a Flam stop. This should have been changed to the new port but wasn't.

travelbug246... with your Deluxe, you will also get a coffee maker which is an adventure itself, and a very small pair of binoculars. With our Deluxe, we made our one reservation at each of the specialty restaurants, but were able to make more once onboard. Don't miss the ribeye steak at Manifredi's, lasagna is great also. Chefs Table is an adventure....keep in mind that, if you book early enough, you can go to the buffet later if you didn't care for what was offered. I enjoyed it all. Ten varying flavors of gelato at every meal!!!

Zonian1972...we also had a complimentary tour changed to the same time as a paid tour and it was promptly changed back when we got on board. If your paid tour is with Viking, I sure you will have the same success. The paid tours are in large buses but only partially full as the groups are not large. They can easily add a few more to the group than they planned.

We tried to tip local guides and bus drivers in local currency, but if we had spent all our local currency, we used Euros and/or USD. Euros and USD seemed to be acceptable everywhere. If you have local currency for shopping, you can just pay the price as marked. If you don't, you can pay in Euros or USD almost everywhere, but you will have to pay the conversion amount the seller arrived at by head calculations. A few used a phone converion app, but most did it in their heads, and who knows how correct they were. But for tips, they will take what you give them.

travelbug....About the direction of your cruise....we did Bergen to Stockholm. Stockholm was so amazing that I think I would have liked more time there instead of Bergen. About the excursions: we very much enjoyed every included tour. Guides were great and we were happy to be able to see important parts of the towns. The best paid tours we did were the Railway to Voss from Flam, Historic Berlin, and the two-day Ultimate St. Petersburg. In Gdansk we did the Malbork Castle Tour which meant we missed a tour of the town, which we think we might have preferred. In Helsinki, we did the Ice Bar paid excursion. It was a commercial and touristy affair that was fun, but we were sorry we didn't do a better tour of the city than that excursion included. One of us did the Tallin Chocolate Factory excursion and loved it. The rest of us enjoyed the complimentary Old Town Walking Tour. The only problem with the complimentary excursions is that they are guaranteed, so there has to be multiple excursion times as everyone cannot go at once. If you happen to be put on a tour in the middle of the day, this means you probably don't have time either before or after your excursion to do do something else, like walk around on your own, etc. I don't see how this can change, since everyone is guaranteed a tour and there has to be a limited number of guides and buses available, so everyone cannot go at one time. Every excursion we went on except one was in a large bus, but always only about half full. I seem to be running on here, but am happy to answer questions.

I just returned from Viking Homelands on the Sea. Great trip! We did have problems with included tours being changed. The Excursion Desk on the ship tried very hard to accomodate our requests to change them back but sometimes could not. It was obvious there is no communication between the folks who answer the phones and email for Viking and those actually on the ships. Plenty of eye rolls when we described all the changes we encountered during the weeks before our trip. I would not encourage anyone who has called or emailed for a time change to be confident it will actually happen as expected. Our main complaint was with being assigned to tours in the middle of the day, which left insufficient time either before or after the tour for us to do anything additional. In Stockholm, however, this turned out to be a good thing, as we docked close to town and walked around alone shopping in the morning and early afternoon and then got to ride a while and rest during the bus portion of our 3:30 pm city tour. Then we were ready for the walking portion of the tour. By the way, we found all the guides to be extremely competent, included or paid. And many of the tours included a little added treat that was not described or expected.....such as the Viking Fair in Allborg, which was locals hired to man four or five booths where Viking activities were described and acted out. Even included a Viking snack and a taste of mead. One the one tour we were unhappy with (helicopter in Stavanger), we were given a partial refund. Our Waterways excursion in Stockholm was cancelled because the provider backed out and we got a complete refund promptly. You can check your shipboard account on the tv in your stateroom.

We have had three excursion times changed without notice. I called and was able to get one changed back to the original time slot, no explanation for the change. Another excursion we booked had been cancelled because there was little interest in the early hour. Had to leave that one at the later hour. The third was discussed with customer service but no change was made in spite of an agreement to call me back with answers to my questions. In that third destination, the switch actually freed us up to book a paid excursion in the vacated time slot, so now we have two. We couldn't do that originally because all the excursions were at the same time when we booked them. Hope they don't change any more. The three reps I discussed all this with sounded like they didn't have a clue that all these changes were being made. We are checking every day.

I was able to get the Copenhagen excursion changed back to morning but no explanation of why it was switched. Another morning one had been cancelled because not enough people wanted to go at 8:30am. Personally, I don't mind. It's my companions who want to be roosters.