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Viking describes their Alhambra excursion as “demanding.” Other companies describe theirs as “easy” or at most “moderate.” Is there something about Viking’s tour? Do they zoom through it like the Tour de France or make you climb walls or what?

We’ll be at the Alhambra with Viking in a couple weeks and I’m wondering if I should bring crampons or something.

Any non complimentary excursions ........ no prices available.

On our European cruise, most optional excursions range from $69 to $199 per person, unless you’d like to do a spot of diamond polishing in Amsterdam. That one runs over $1K! (You get to keep your diamond, though.) We’re doing a mix of included and optional excursions, including a couple from other companies.

The drinks package doesn’t make sense for us, either.

Any reason why you won't use a taxi? We found this worked great for us.

We’re cheap! [emoji1] We’ll use a taxi to get from the hotel to the ship with our luggage but we’re hoping to take advantage of the shuttle after that.

Lovely! I’m jealous that you all get to eat outdoors. I imagine it will be too cold on our cruise to do that.

Looking forward to everyone’s thoughts on India. I spent a month there long ago. There’s no place on earth quite like it.

I did the same crossing but on the other direction. Barcelona-Mallorca-Cartagena (Murcia)-Canary Islands-Puerto Rico, which is the same route my great-grandfather and his brothers took when they moved from Jaén to Puerto Rico in the 1890s. A rite of passage for me. I also gazed at the ocean all the time, mesmerized by its enormity and the challenge it must have been for our ancestors, almost always a one way trip.

 

How wonderful!

This makes me want to sail from Bergen to New York like my Norwegian great-grandfather did at around the same time.

I saw no signs on our very recent Viking Sea cruise. There may have been some but not in our section. Someone asked me to test if the doors were magnetic. They are not [emoji16]. I bring magnetic clips for thing like excursion tickets, so I tried one on the door and it promptly fell to the floor.

The cabin walls are magnetic, however.

See, this is what I love about this site. Everybody helps each other out by checking out things and reporting back with answers to all our questions, big and small.

I love that we can ask little questions like whether the doors are magnetic, and not only do people here not dismiss you but they actually try to find out for you! How great is that??

Eek. Not sure I want tea that badly. Wonder why it’s so chaotic? Or what they could do to improve it?

There are cruise lines that offer computer classes? That’s fascinating. I would never have guessed that people would enjoy learning about computers on vacation. I wonder how common this is?

We were disappointed in our post stay. When we first booked we thought we would have more time in Oslo. We did find out differently before we left so we were prepared but it still left us disappointed. It was a 7 hour train journey which was beautiful. Our guide that we had in Bergen for our first day of the post stay stayed with us on the train where we were handed over to a different guide at the train station in Oslo. We arrived around 3 or 3:30 and then had a bus tour around the City, visited the Viking Ship museum (which was fantastic) and Statue Park. We were to see a Ski jump area but the low clouds prohibited it so we went to Statue Park which everyone loved. We arrived at our hotel at 6pm. It left us pretty much no time to explore on our own. We ate dinner and then went back to the room to prepare for our flight home the following morning.

 

Viking was EXTREMELY organized on our pre and post stays. We were impressed.

Thanks for posting this, jiminyC_fan. This is the first review I've seen of the post-cruise excursion we'll be taking. I didn't know what was involved aside from the train trip. Good to know we get a nice overview of Oslo en route to the hotel. Your review also makes me glad we booked an extra night in Oslo on our own. The hotel said it would be no problem to keep our same room. So we'll have some time to explore on our own.

Do you remember which side of the train had the best views going from Bergen to Oslo? Or doesn't it really matter?

I understand that afternoon tea in the Wintergarden tends to fill up quickly. I would imagine that’s especially true on sea days, which would be the only time we could go.

What do you recommend one do in order to be sure to get a seat?

Only 2 more weeks! I can hardly stand it.

Depending on what level cabin you get, there may be mini-bottles of alcohol in your room fridge (no extra charge). My understanding is that you have some leeway regarding which bottles they stock. All soft drinks are free regardless of cabin level.

My friend prefers these big boats. But then he is somewhat ADD...always has to be doing something. A game, a movie, a show, the wave machine, the wall, etc....he just can't sit still and enjoy a nice drink with friends over a nice violinist.

That makes sense. I have friends like that, too, who love to be in the thick of a ginormous crowd wherever the action is.

I think there’s a stimulation continuum with your friend at one end and me at the other. Judging by the preponderance of huge ships (and by our culture at large), I think your friend’s side of the continuum is by far the more crowded, though maybe most aren’t as extreme as he is.

I wonder if one’s desire (or lack thereof) for external stimulation is one of those things you’re hard-wired with to some degree.

Fevertree Indian Premium Tonic and Hendricks gin with extra lime. You'll never go back!:D

Or Hendricks gin with mix-your-own tonic using Jack Ruby tonic syrup and sparkling water. I love it because I can control the sweetness by using less syrup.

Try it with cucumber instead of lime!

Whoops, I posted this question in the old thread by mistake.

We will be staying at the Radisson Blu for one night after our cruise next month. What interesting restaurants would you recommend around there? Where do locals like to eat?

Also, we will be taking the train to Oslo. If you have taken this route, which side of the train do you prefer to sit on?

Thanks in advance!

Hello! Any restaurant recommendations? We’re staying at the Radisson Blu for a night post-cruise next month prior to taking the train to Oslo. Just wondering what restaurants might be interesting and popular with locals?

The trip insurance through Viking is very expensive. Check with your credit card company. I have a Chase Sapphire Reserve and it covers up to $10,000 per person /$20,000 per incident. If something happens and we miss the ship or the trip gets interrupted for some reason we will be covered. Doesn't cost me anything, just had to book part of the trip with the card.

Wow. That’s a great deal. Trip insurance isn’t cheap.

I see that the shuttle bus that runs between the port terminal and town does not run on a set schedule but on demand, depending on ships arriving and leaving. https://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/faq/cruise-ship-terminals/shuttle-bus-barcelona-cruise-terminal.html

We will be embarking in Barcelona and then spending a night there before sailing out the next day. We’d like to spend much of that embarkation day in town and head back to the ship later in the evening. We’ll also be doing our own thing in town the day of departure and want to make sure we leave enough time to get back.

Does anyone know roughly what to expect from the shuttle in terms of hours and frequency? Does it run in the evenings? If no ship is departing or arriving, how often does it run? We’re going next month, which I assume is not peak season, docking in terminal D.

I don’t know where you’re bound, but $800 for first class sounds like a steal!

Interesting question about whether pickpockets are everywhere. I think here in the US they skip your pocket and go straight for mugging you instead.

Really enjoyed the cultural insights about Malaysia, Gnoelj!

I wouldn't call them production shows, which makes me think of glitzy Las Vegas shows, but more like a night club act or cabaret. With just a half dozen performers, I find the shows a bit more intimate than I found the last time I sailed Celebrity.

 

 

 

In any case, the show starts nightly at 9:15 and features mostly music from the 50s (Rat Pack), 60s (Beatles) and 70s (ABBA).

Oh my. Well, there’s always the televised opera by the pool. We didn’t pick Viking for its evening entertainment anyway.

When are the lectures usually done?

Yikes! A bit harsh. I don't think anyone here or myself was feeling smug and superior. I believe it is all personal preference. I prefer fewer passengers without bells and whistles. If you prefer a mega ship, that's terrific. No judging from me.

Whereas I, with a virtually complete lack of experience, find it that much easier to be smug and superior. [emoji12] Boo, mega-ships! Go, Viking!

Singles cabins sound like such a good idea to me. I have a few single friends who enjoy traveling on their own and would seriously consider a Viking cruise if it offered them a more reasonable option. And it would be especially nice to offer a single room to longtime cruisers who have lost their spouse but not their love for cruising and meeting new friends. Just doesn’t seem right to penalize people for traveling alone.

Timely thread! Like KentuckyKat, we too are starting our first cruise shortly (3 weeks from today!) and I can hardly think about anything else. (But you all knew that already from my many posts here ... thanks for your patience, everyone!)

Love reading the tips here, and glad to hear that specialty coffees without booze are free. Can’t quite imagine having pea soup as a bedtime snack, but who knows? I’m up for anything!

What Viking is Not from the Viking website "Why Viking" section. Sorry I can't post it here instead of making you go to the website to see it but blame it on Viking that does not share the URL for its images (so we can't post them on other websites). I don't know if this is a new graphic on the website, but I would like to think that they got the idea from our answers on this thread.

 

 

 

And, I would like to suggest, as a matter of truth in advertising, that they remove the item "NO lines." No one can promise no lines and the truth is that lines do form -- in the dining rooms, to disembark with a tour, to board a tender. You just can't avoid them no matter how small the ship. So, lets not make it an issue.

Here’s their list for those who don’t want to follow the link:

No casinos

No children under 18

No umbrella drinks

No photographers

No art auctions

No charge for beer & wine at lunch & dinner

No charge for alternative restaurants

No charge for unlimited Wi-Fi

No charge for use of launderettes

No entrance fee for The Spa

No sales pressure for spa services

No inside staterooms

No smoking

No lines

No formal nights, butlers or white gloves

No nickel and diming

A lot of people must love huge ships. I wonder what the attraction is?