Twitchly

Given the average age on a Viking cruise, this presents an unfortunately indelible image.

Not very effective as a sunscreen, though. Well, maybe if you had enough of them and some adhesive …

That’s what I’d love to do! I enjoy cruising, but wow, what a drive.

Thanks for posting that. It’s interesting that they stop a couple of places on the east coast and at an island off the southern coast, but nowhere else along the south. Maybe they offer excursions from those spots that would take you to the glacier lagoon or black beach, both very worth seeing.

I wonder why Viking doesn’t include the southern shore in their itinerary? We drove it a few years ago, and it was spectacular. Maybe the seas are too rough there? They were a bit wild during our visit.

We took this cruise from Barcelona to Bergen; our cabin was on the land-facing side. The only time I remember sitting on our balcony and watching the coastal scenery (aside from arrivals and departures) was when we came up the Norwegian coast in the early dawn. It was beautiful and, to me with my Norwegian roots, moving. (It was my first glimpse of Norway.) You will be seeing the same coast in reverse, and I don’t know what time of day you’ll be leaving Bergen. If you’ve still got daylight, I do recommend getting out and seeing it.

Heartening to hear the beds may have improved. I didn’t find them painful exactly, but we both felt achey after sleeping on them. I remember the relief when we slept in our hotel in Bergen afterward. Requesting a topper ahead of time sounds like a great idea. You can always remove it if it’s not needed after all. We will definitely do this next time.

Good to know, thanks! We don’t have cable; I’ll see if I can find it on the internet somewhere.

Ooooh, lucky you! I’d love to hear more about this. We missed Shetland due to weather but loved Orkney. I’d love to have more time in both places. I did rail travel around the Highlands many years ago. Would love to spend more time there, too.

I would love to watch a documentary about the behind-the-scenes life on a Viking Ocean ship.

Interesting thread. We skew a bit younger than average on Viking Ocean with several possible decades ahead of us (God willing), but I would loathe a rock ‘n roll show. We like Viking because it’s not the glitz ‘n party experience of so many other cruise lines. If the newly public Viking does decide to go that route, I sincerely hope it’s easy to avoid without having to hide in one’s stateroom. That said, we quickly decided the evening shows of covers and show tunes weren’t for us, either. Loved the local musicians when they came aboard on a couple of stops, but aside from those we stayed out of the theater. And I’d have to say we weren’t wowed by the performers scattered around the ship on our last cruise. The guitarist in the Explorer Lounge (playing the inevitable James Taylor and Jim Croce covers) was indeed too loud, and the classical duo in the Living Room was just plain bad. As in, wrong-notes-and-screechy-violin bad. I don’t recall the music being this amateurish previously. Which is a shame, because I’d enjoy some competent classical music or some lovely jazz piano or acoustic guitar, especially at a more moderate (background) volume. Barring that, I’m fine with silence. I actually like silence in public spaces and frankly miss it these days. But I know I’m in a small and vanishing minority there.

Less to schlep around if you do any traveling pre- or post-cruise, too, which is mainly why we go this route. If we were just going straight to the ship and then straight home, I’d probably be more likely to check a bag. But we never do that.

It’s horrifying to imagine how much weight I could gain after four months on a Viking ship.

I was not charged for the Tylenol the nurse gave me when I sprained my knee. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t allow me to have more than 6 Tylenol total. Since the ship’s store had none in stock, I gritted my teeth for a few days and did without until my husband was able to find some onshore. Moral of the story: bring whatever you think you might need.

These days we just take carryons. If you don’t mind wearing the same few outfits for a couple weeks, it’s not that hard to do. On our last cruise I didn’t bother to bring jeans — just a couple pairs of black pants I could wear on excursions and in the no-jeans dining venues. Our carryons were adequate for our 3-week trip (we spent an extra week onshore beforehand). The biggest tradeoff is having to do laundry more often when you have fewer clothes. We packed enough to go a week between laundering, which meant washing underthings in the sink or shower in between times. Or you could pay a bit extra and have Viking do your laundry.

This is a fascinating thread. I spent much of my career as a contractor/consultant. I never worked in a situation where the entire staff was made up of contractors. Is that the case on a Viking ship? I would be surprised if there were’t at least some number of actual Viking employees on a ship in order to ensure that Viking’s cultural and quality standards are met. While I’ve seen contractors take on those duties to some extent, I’ve never seen a company hand them over completely to outside staffing.

Thanks for bringing us along virtually with you. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. What a wonderful adventure!

Likewise! Our last cruise (on Viking) was to Britain in 2022. We tend to do more land trips (the Holy Land and Jordan last spring; Nova Scotia and PEI this June) but enjoy both.

Note to anyone who feels like they’re losing this competition: hang out with us. We’ve taken a total of 3 cruises. You’ll feel great about yourself!

A footnote to your excellent list: there’s a considerable amount of walking on uneven surfaces. Nothing like what we encountered on our (non-Viking) trip to the Holy Land, but we had a couple people who couldn’t do it. They spent some time in a garden area instead, as I recall. Our guides were terrific (we had a separate guide for the long bus trip, and she was interesting), and I highly recommend the excursion. But oh, the crowds. Finally, I recommend Washington Irving’s “Tales of the Alhambra” for a glimpse into what it was like a couple hundred years ago. On my bucket list: to stay overnight at the hotel inside the Alhambra and see the place when the mobs are gone.

Thanks for that. I will never again see those tubular water slides without thinking of a colonoscopy.

I really want to hear about yours. It sold out very quickly for our ‘22 cruise, so I’d love to live vicariously!

I can’t imagine. I get whiney doing dishes again after just 2 weeks.

I’ll be curious to hear what you think of Gorée. I was there many years ago and found it fascinating. It was nearly empty at the time. No idea what it’s like now.

Probably because Carnival sees it as competition to their casinos. Which thankfully don’t exist on Viking.