Fed up with Viking Ocean's lack of communication?

[id4elizabeth]

Loum140 - Thanks for your list. Believe it or not, we covered all that except the Aurora. We thought the inside of the Church on the Spilled Blood was magificent! And we really liked the inside of the Yusupov palace. We had seen that after Catherine's Palace, and we kind of liked it better - more of a human scale. Fortunately, we still have a couple months to figure out what to do...yikes!

 

RLevin 47 - don't know if this will apply to you or not. We get off the ship in Stockholm on May 30 (we'll wave to you). We're in St Petersburg on May 26th and 27th. As I said, all my comments are for the maiden cruise only - things could change on the next sailings. I don't think anyone has a clue about subsequent sailing dates, unfortunately. The only thing you can go on now is what Lady Vol posted as far as excursions. If I were you, I would go by that and NOT by what's on the Viking website.

[rlevin47]

Hi id4elizabeth

 

Where do I find the Lady Vol (a Tennessee fan???) posting?

 

Kind of new to cruise critic. We were able to get on the May 30th Homelands only because there was a cancel. If that did not happen it would have been a 2016 cruise. Much to far out to book for my liking.

Robert

[id4elizabeth]

RLevin - it's uner the ROLL CALL section --> All Other Cruise Lines and the thread is the Viking Maiden Voyage Istanbul to Stockholm. It's on the 7th page. She attached several PDFs. The excursion pdf is quite long as this covers the whole 50 day trip. Hope this helps.

[id4elizabeth]

Also, based on the invitation we received last night from Viking, it looks like the missing Flam port may be due to the Christening "celebration" that's taking place and our resulting delay in leaving port in Bergen. So my guess is that subsequent sailings like yours will include Flam. That's just my guess however - I have no inside information on this.

[roothy123]

We did Alla's comfort tour (2 days) a few years ago and highly recommend it. It is, however, a lot of walking, so we were both glad we did not choose the more intensive tour which would have exhausted us. We also didn't sign up for the night-time trip to the ballet, as a couple people on our tour did. As we were traveling back on the boat (forget what it's called, but it's a pretty interesting boat!) the couple told us they didn't know if they'd actually be able to stay awake for that evening performance. I only mention this as it's easy to overplan. I do it all the time...

 

The only "so so" part of the Alla Tour was the last stop (the gold-spiked church on the island - now forget it's name, but NOT the Church on Spilled Blood, which was fabulous. (Catherine's palace and gardens were also fabulous.) Also, the food was so-so, but it did its job of refueling us for more stops, so no big deal. Yes, we were kept together and not allowed to wander, but that was actually a good thing. I love to wander in other places, but St. Petersburg, no thank you, too many challenges/risks! We saw someone who got separated from her tour group at Catherine's Palace and she was in full panic mode. I would be too!

Edited January 24, 2015 by roothy123

[Vineyard View]

we are looking at Alla and TJ Tours....both have something a little different from the other. TJ offers an extra hour in the Hermitage which is attractive to us.

Alla offers the Canal cruise...which I have read to be a great experience.

Any thoughts on this?

[loum140]

we are looking at Alla and TJ Tours....both have something a little different from the other. TJ offers an extra hour in the Hermitage which is attractive to us.

Alla offers the Canal cruise...which I have read to be a great experience.

Any thoughts on this?

 

Just a thought -- the Hermitage is amazing. On our visit there I could hardly take in everything we were seeing -- especially the Impressionists. I wanted to linger in several rooms, but with a guided tour you have to keep up with the group. And there's just so much that after awhile my head was spinning. If we had more time I would have welcomed a second visit -- on another day.

 

Yes, everything you've heard about the canal cruise is true. You get wonderful views of so many of St. Petersburg's buildings, churches, Palaces, bridges, statues, etc. And we had something extra. There was a young boy - 9-10 years old - who ran along the embankment following our route, waving and turning cartwheels.

 

Whatever you choose - enjoy!

[id4elizabeth]

This is a tough choice. When we were there for 6 days in 2012, I spent 2 whole days in the Hermitage as it's an amazing experience. I had a Russian visa so was able to go on my own and visit parts of the Museum that tourists don't go to, like their Ancient Civilization area in the basement. The parts of the Museum that are the most popular were EXTREMELY crowded (we were there in late May). It's better in the early morning before the "public" is allowed in, but you are hardly there on your own. Every cruise ship has this "exclusive" access, along with most of the large tour operators. Despite the crowds though, it's an amazing place. Not seeing the Hermitage is like not seeing the Louvre in Paris.

 

We loved the canal cruise as well. When they take you through the Mikaelesky (or something like that) Gardens, it can't be beat. Floating out to the Neva river underneath parts of the Hermitage Palace was cool. When we went, it wasn't even a nice day, but we liked it so much we signed up for it again with Viking's tour.

 

Make sure your tour contains going to the INSIDE of the Church on the Spilled Blood and St Issac's - not to be missed!

 

St Petersburg is quite flat. There's a lot of walking, but it is flat and not ridden with cobblestones like a lot of European cities.

[jkerr]

Just spoke with Viking about the pre-extension tour of Oslo we paid for and their addition of Oslo to our tour. They we very accomodating and cancelled our pre-extension trip to Oslo with a full refund.

We have already paid for airline tickets to fly into Oslo early, but we will just relax, hopefully adjust to the time change and hop on the Oslo to Bergen train by ourselves.

 

 

D & J

[Vineyard View]

Well it appears that all the standard tours are missing some place or element.

I am writing to both and asking how we can add whatever it is that is missing. They will probably require a private tour - and min # of people....

Thank you for your advise!!

[Love2Sew]

The included tour of St. Petersburg has been reinstated for the maiden voyage.

[id4elizabeth]

Do you have any details - like how long it is or the times of day it will depart? Is it the standard "Panoramic" bus tour? Nice to know they put something back since they clearly advertised an included tour in every port. My cynical self tells me the timing of the included tour will preclude you from doing anything else though. Thanks for the info.

[Love2Sew]

We received an updated excursions list (pdf) from our TA after he had received the original info regarding dining, excursions, etc. I'd post here but dealing with limited capabilities in Mexico. Suggest calling Viking. I think it may have been released on the 23rd - after we made our initial reservations.

 

When you get the file, read through every excursion you booked with Viking.Although we're not doing many included tours, there are some subtle changes in some of them. We had to select an optional tour to get the same Ephesus tour as in the original included tour.

Edited January 27, 2015 by Love2Sew

[bsrkent]

Well it appears that all the standard tours are missing some place or element.

I am writing to both and asking how we can add whatever it is that is missing. They will probably require a private tour - and min # of people....

Thank you for your advise!!

Hey VV,

I can not respond (it bounces on your end) to your last private email re choices, so try to ping me again or give me a call.

[jkerr]

Yes, my emails have also been returned as undeliverable.

 

 

D & J

[huntersyaya]

Wow, really disappointed to miss Flam... We board in Bergen so we won't have the down day in port, but I feel your pain. We have booked an Oslo pre-extension with Viking, so are double disappointed to be routed back to Oslo, especially at the loss of Flam. Will they sail up through the fjords? I have emailed my Viking rep today and have requested a response. Trying not to let these changes taint my excitement for the whole trip.

We have booked a 2 day tour with Alla Tours for St Petersburg, no need for a Visa. $265.00 it is pretty inclusive. Right now we have the comfort tour, but will change to the Grand Tour option when she has others that show interest.

Their reviews on Tripadvisor have been very good and they answer back to email very quickly. Because we are in a veranda room, we can not book excursions until we board, and I was concerned about availability and options for St Petersburg.

Will post when I hear back from Viking.

 

 

 

 

D & J

For those of you who are not going to Flam, why don't you just skip the christening and take a train or boat/train combination and do Flam on your own? I think it is fairly easy to do.....

[Vineyard View]

i will look to see how practical this option is - great idea if time allows!

[applecruise]

So if you have gone on the Viking Star, please share how it was, any suggestions and any info. I would appreciate it.

Thanks,

[sitraveler]

Apple

 

Ship's 1st cruise is April 11