margu1241

10 hours ago, Moonlion said:

Since there's been some interest on this forum for information about British Isles Explorer excursions, I thought I would share the excursions that Viking is offering on our BIE cruise (May 9, 2023 - London to Bergen).  In My Viking Journey, shore excursions for our cruise were posted yesterday much to my surprise (almost 5 months in advance!).  I've attached a spreadsheet with the excursions being offered, times and prices. Of course, no guarantees that the same excursions and times will be available on the other BIE cruises, especially those traveling from Bergen to London. 

 

I also included (in the far right column) the 2022 prices when available.  On average, prices increased about $20 per excursion (usually between $10 to $30) in 2023 compared to 2022. 

 

For future BIE cruisers, hope this helps with your planning!

  

Viking BIE ShoreEx May-9-2023.pdf 115.57 kB · 32 downloads

Moonlion,  when were your excursions originally set to post?   Want to keep an eye out for my cruise in July

thanks,

Patty

34 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

So....a one-connection itinerary through EWR was OK, but a one-connection routing through Copenhagen or Frankfurt wasn't?  Especially because routing through CPH would give you more options if your flight had mechanical issues.

 

But to each their own.  (And FWIW, CPH is a much easier airport for connections than Newark.  And much more appealing, too.)

🤣 I guess everyone has their personal preferences for travel. Can’t argue with you on EWR not being the best option. I’ve always preferred flying from west coast to somewhere in Europe first so it was a bit out of my comfort zone to connect on the east coast, but I liked the idea of waking up in Bergen. Doesn’t matter now anyway, happy to have found out so early and found a flight itinerary that works for us

3 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

You do know that you could use those same UA Mileage Plus points for flights on partner airlines.  This includes year round service to Bergen by Lufthansa and SAS, along with seasonal service on Swiss from Zurich.

 

Plus, you can often get better redemption values on partners than on UA.

 

 

Yes, we knew that but we weren’t excited about the flight options from the west coast. We’d only considered the United Newark to Bergen because it was non stop into Bergen. Knowing that we have another international trip planned we decided to save our miles for that. 

Very disappointing, we had that booked for next summer, got the cancellation notice yesterday and have now switched to KLM. Had United points I wanted to use but will have another opportunity in 2024

6 hours ago, oskidunker said:

Coach or Business? On United? 

Business on United. 

1 hour ago, oskidunker said:

Anyone booked viking air from San Francisco to Bergen? What routing were you given? I am going to try it in Business. Just dont want to have to cross the US then fly to Bergen from east coast. Thats the route we are most afraid. We are paying $150 each extra so maybe we will get something decent. 
 

The flight i like is withSAS  leaving sfo at 9 pm but does not get to Bergen until 6 pm next day. Ship overnights in Bergen 

We didn’t book through Viking this time as we were using miles. We just booked San Francisco to Newark to Bergen.  We would prefer to fly from SFO to Europe and connect there, but this seems like the most efficient way. Leaving SFO early with a 3+ layover in Newark, but can’t beat the overnight flight getting into Bergen by noon. 

Kinderdjik Bicycle tour was excellent this past June.  Not very demanding, mostly flat and beautiful scenery.  My only complaint was that I am used to riding a Schwinn cruiser with pedal brakes and contacted Viking ahead of time and they assured me that the bikes would have pedal brakes, which was not the case.  I was a little worried when I first saw the bikes, but a few circles through the parking lot and I was fine.  It was such a fun way to see the windmills and included a stop and tour of a working windmill.

Recently got off Einar in Basel and stayed on our own in Lucerne. My advice is to be flexible with the weather. We had planned to go one day, but turns out our arrival day was best in the forecast. Really wanted to go to Mt Pilates so did the tour backwards, bus to cable cars, cog wheel train down and train back to Lucerne to be as efficient as possible due to incoming bad weather. Not ideal, but rain started midway on the train down so we at least had decent views from the top. 

We found a small group tour in a minivan that will work for us. Thanks for all the advice!

9 hours ago, mommamd said:

https://www.tours-tickets.com/en/holland-tours/giethoorn-tour/

 

We just returned from our Tulip Cruise on Ama! We used this company to see Keukenhof for a 5 hour tour and they were great - the buses leave from Centraal Station so they are close to the riverboats should you choose to go on embarkation or debarkation day and leave your luggage on your riverboat. We did not see Giethoorn, but saw other bus trips leave at the same time and they seem to be a well run operation. We had a double decker bus to Keukenhof, a guide who spoke 4 languages, and a close parking spot/meeting place. We had to change the day of our tour and they were very easy to deal with.

It looks like they offer a 9 hour day trip to Giethoorn.

Thanks for the tip mommamd!  I feel better booking with an agency that comes recommended.

Greetings!  Getting ready for my June cruise from Amsterdam.  We will be spending a few days before in the city.  It is not our first visit, so we are looking to spend a day outside the city.  We are interested in visiting Giethoorn, but have found there is not really an easy way to get there independently (train, transfer to bus).  Would love to hear from someone who has gone on a group tour leaving from Amsterdam.

Thanks!  

Patty

1 hour ago, scottca075 said:

 

I would be cautious using an app for a site like HotelTonight for someone who doesn't know the City. There are hotels that say "Union Square" that I'd call The Tenderloin.

What I like about hotel tonight, as opposed to bidding on Priceline is that you know exactly what hotel you are looking at and can do due diligence and research it before booking. Totally agree that there are many areas in SF that I would recommend avoiding, the Tenderloin being one of them. 

Check out an app like Hotel Tonight, we are in the south bay and use it often for hotels in SF for a night out.  Used to be that you could only book day of, but for the past few years they let you book 100 days in advance.

On 3/16/2019 at 12:34 PM, lil_miss_mimi said:

My favorite optional excursion was The Top of Cologne! It was an amazing tour of the rooftops and attics of the cathedral. Beware if you are afraid of heights! It has very limited availability, 16 people, I think? It did not show up right away in the list of options but I kept checking back and it finally popped up and I booked it right away! One of the best tours I have ever done any where on any trip!

So glad to hear that you enjoyed the Top of Cologne.  It was the excursion I was most interested, and it also was not listed when excursions first were posted for my cruise this June.  I randomly checked one day and it appeared-excited to have snagged it.  

Thanks also for the review of the Black Forest.  We will cancel that and spend the morning having coffee in Breisach and wandering around and then doing the optional Colmar tour in the afternoon.

I guess there's no set answer to this, we booked with a TA, got onboard credit and was able to use it booking our shore excursions last month for our Rhine 2019 cruise.  Was expecting to have to use it once on the ship, it was a pleasant surprise!

We are also sailing next summer from Amsterdam to Basel on June 12 and have already booked our flights with air plus. We are flying non-stop from San Francisco to Amsterdam and back non stop from Zurich on United. Others on this board have recommended researching to find the flight/airline you want and then calling Viking and let them know what you want. We are working with a travel agent, and she made the call for us.

When are you sailing?

Heard back from Viking today, and for those that are considering this excursion, they do use pedal brakes, and you will be biking about 3.5 miles of flatland. sounds totally doable to me

Thanks, I will. I was actually hoping for the opinion of someone who may have been on the excursion themselves, but will check with Viking.

Thanks, I will. I was actually hoping for the opinion of someone who may have been on the excursion themselves, but will check with Viking.

Try emailing

TellUs@vikingcruises.com

 

Or email the ship ATTN Cruise Director

viking.lofn@vikingcruises.com

Has anyone taken the bike tour in Kinderdijk? I am curious what kind of bikes they use. I ride an old school Schwinn, with pedal brakes. I could ride a bike with hand brakes, but am most comfortable with pedal brakes.

Thanks!

Patty

We were in 337 last year and have booked the same cabin (on a different Longship/itinerary) for next year. Noise from above was never an issue as it's aft of the walking track and the seating area so without significant traffic overhead during the day, and we didn't hear anything at all from below, e.g. banging/engine noises as mentioned in post 3.

 

When you think about it, Viking would have been mad to have put the most expensive suites above the engines if there was any danger of their premium customers being seriously disturbed by mechanical noise.

Thanks! That was my thought, but I found it odd that on nearly every sailing that had a veranda available, it was 339. The Viking rep told me he thought it was because it was the farthest away from the dining room, which may be true, but it seemed funny to me. He assured me it was quiet, but I wouldn't expect him to tell me that it was noisy, even if that was true. Good to hear that you had a good experience!

Don’t worry, just bring some good ear plugs and you’ll sleep like a baby. The noise by no means affected our love for Viking. We’ve since taken another cruise and are booked for Provence next October.

Thanks for the fast response! I hesitate to change to a different cabin as there are no other veranda cabins available this week. I could save a little money and go to French Balcony (we are not getting any better deal on this room than any other balcony cabin would be), but we really wanted to treat ourselves to a veranda. Did you hear much noise from the public area above?

Patty

We were in cabin 339 on one cruise and you could definitely hear engine noise (or some other loud banging noises) at night in our cabin. We got a great deal on that cruise and it was the last cabin available so I didn’t stress about it too much.

Anyone else have problems in cabin 339? I just booked that room as it was the last balcony left and have been having misgiving ever since.

I would recommend booking your own trip before/after the cruise and spending one night in Aquas Calienties and another in the Sacred Valley. We went on a land based trip for 3 weeks and I really think if you try to see it all in one day you will regret it. I am sure you can find an agency to arrange things for you. The agency we went through made all arrangements for us, with people to pick us up at airports and take us to hotels. Pictures can't do justice to the beauty of the area. If you are fit, you might hike Huyana (sp?) Picchu at the far end of Machu. My son and husband did the hike, and while it was strenuous (and a little frightening) the views were incredible.

Patty