Viking Sea Update - engine issues - and general info

[Travelingnonni99]

Fortunately, I am an electrical engineer. And a Scot.

Just get me into the engine room next week and I'll be getin' more power outa the Impulse engines.

 

Loved your Scotty philw1776 great sense of humor :')

[Celiac Cruiser]

OK - I just spoke with guest relations on board the Sea. They say they have a technician on board now and the problem is fixed. There should be no deviations on the following cruise.

So there you have it! Happy Cruising.

[Texastraveler555]

Could you share any suggestions/info. about any of the excursions you have taken? I will be there in a few weeks.

We are taking this trip in reverse Aug 20. I am trying to select excursions. Can you tell me what you did in Stockholm? Did you do the included and would there be anyway for us to go to the Noble Museum? It is not offered. Any quick notes you have of the excursions would be helpful.

Texascrusier555

[Dauntless]

We are taking this trip in reverse Aug 20. I am trying to select excursions. Can you tell me what you did in Stockholm? Did you do the included and would there be anyway for us to go to the Noble Museum? It is not offered. Any quick notes you have of the excursions would be helpful.

Texascrusier555

 

In Stockholm, we did the included tour that ended in the square where the Nobel is located so it would be easy with that and it is close(a few blocks) to the shuttle pick up or it can be walked to the ship from there. We started in Stockholm and the included were all done on a day when we cast of at 2:00. You mentioned reverse order but I don't know what it is the reverse of but this should help.

[Texastraveler555]

In Stockholm, we did the included tour that ended in the square where the Nobel is located so it would be easy with that and it is close(a few blocks) to the shuttle pick up or it can be walked to the ship from there. We started in Stockholm and the included were all done on a day when we cast of at 2:00. You mentioned reverse order but I don't know what it is the reverse of but this should help.

OK thanks

I am new to this site so I'm not sure exactly what I am doing but we are on the Viking Homelands Aug 20 starting in Bergen and going to Stockholm. I think the fellow that started this thread with the "engine trouble" is on the cruise now and started in Stockholm.

We arrive in Stockholm at 9:00 am and it is the last day...we leave very early the following day. The included tour is two hours. One option is to do the Vasa museum and City hall which is four hours in the afternoon. Did you see this? but the Nobel museum looks very interesting. This is our first ocean cruise. We have done several viking river cruises. There wasn't so much to decide and pay for ahead of time. Is there a decent opportunity to book excursions after we get going?

Any info you can share is greatly appreciated. Our window for booking starts tomorrow. (I know from your posts that you do a lot on your own. Terry and I are not so adventuresome.

[English Voyager]

It would be a huge wasted opportunity to have been in Stockholm and not have visited the Vasa Museum.

 

To do it justice one really needs to spend the maximum amount of time available.

 

 

 

The tour 'Vasa Museum & Stockholm by Boat' states that free time is available in the museum.

 

The tour appears to be in the morning, and, if so, may allow time to visit the Nobel Museum in the afternoon.

 

[Peregrina651]

OK thanks

I am new to this site so I'm not sure exactly what I am doing but we are on the Viking Homelands Aug 20 starting in Bergen and going to Stockholm. I think the fellow that started this thread with the "engine trouble" is on the cruise now and started in Stockholm.

We arrive in Stockholm at 9:00 am and it is the last day...we leave very early the following day. The included tour is two hours. One option is to do the Vasa museum and City hall which is four hours in the afternoon. Did you see this? but the Nobel museum looks very interesting. This is our first ocean cruise. We have done several viking river cruises. There wasn't so much to decide and pay for ahead of time. Is there a decent opportunity to book excursions after we get going?

Any info you can share is greatly appreciated. Our window for booking starts tomorrow. (I know from your posts that you do a lot on your own. Terry and I are not so adventuresome.

 

I haven't done this itinerary so I don't have any specific answers for you but I do know that there has been a lot chat here over the past few months about the Homelands itinerary and it is spread out over a number of different threads. While you are waiting for replies here, you might find helpful information in any of the threads in this forum that mention Homelands or any of the ports of call in the title of the thread. Also, check out the thread Excursions - do they sell out? which you will find full of helpful hints for booking your excursions.

 

 

 

Do not wait until you get on board this ship to book tours on this itinerary; they are popular and sell out quickly. If you are sold out of a particular tour, keep checking back every day to see if slots have opened up. Also, except for the first couple of days worth of tours which cannot be cancelled once you board the ship, there may be some opportunity for changing your plans once you board (but don't depend on it for this itinerary).

[philw1776]

Going this weekend. Bergen to Stockholm. My choice was this because I wanted to see Vasa and people say the best way to see Stockholm is by boat.

 

 

Vasa Museum & Stockholm by Boat 4 HR 9:30-1:30PM$189Visit Vasa Museum, historic warship that sank in Stockholm Harbor in 1628, raised 300 years later. Free time to explore. After lunch at Villa Godthem, home of a former opera singer, embark your exclusive chartered motor vessel and set sail channels, canals and quays that unite this incomparable city. Skimming the Baltic Sea, pass medieval Gamla Stan, Old Town, its old guild houses and narrow streets spread across the city's original three islands. Stockholm Palace, perched on the shore like a fortress

Walk around Gamla Stan Old Town late afternoon?

[Vikingfan#1]

We will be taking the Homelands cruise from Bergen to Stockholm in July. Excursions that we wanted sold out before we were given an opportunity to sign up. If you booked a higher price cabin, you shouldn't have a problem getting the excursions you want. We, the poor people, booked Verandas and Deluxe Verandas which left us with the least popular excursions and the less preferable included excursion times. Sorry to be a (truthful) downer--we'll be happy just to be there on the ship!

[philw1776]

Keep looking. Most excursions on the Homies cruise this weekend were NOT sold out just 10 days ago.

[60andhappy]

OK thanks

I am new to this site so I'm not sure exactly what I am doing but we are on the Viking Homelands Aug 20 starting in Bergen and going to Stockholm. I think the fellow that started this thread with the "engine trouble" is on the cruise now and started in Stockholm.

We arrive in Stockholm at 9:00 am and it is the last day...we leave very early the following day. The included tour is two hours. One option is to do the Vasa museum and City hall which is four hours in the afternoon. Did you see this? but the Nobel museum looks very interesting. This is our first ocean cruise. We have done several viking river cruises. There wasn't so much to decide and pay for ahead of time. Is there a decent opportunity to book excursions after we get going?

Any info you can share is greatly appreciated. Our window for booking starts tomorrow. (I know from your posts that you do a lot on your own. Terry and I are not so adventuresome.

 

 

We are in Homelands in Aug in the oposite directions. I've researched Stockholm a fair bit but have not been there. We are there several days prior to boarding. Vasa museum as others have said should be a priority. City Hall is where the Nobel prizes are presented and had more positive reviews then the actual museum. So l'd go for that tour for sure:)

It will be easy to visit the Nobel museum on your own. If you want a cruise on a small boat there are several which the tour guides can help your with. Also Viking usually docks near the city ferris so you could do a loop on onew of those easily.

 

Are you sure you are only in port one night? Viking usually is in port 2 nights at each end.

 

Enjoy

[deec]

our cruise ended in Stockholm...the included tour was DREADFUL....we never got OFF the bus. Fortunately we had extended our stay and thoroughly enjoyed some of what Stockholm offers. The Vasa museum was a highlight and should not be missed. You can can take a canal tour on your own with little effort.

[60andhappy]

Keep looking. Most excursions on the Homies cruise this weekend were NOT sold out just 10 days ago.

 

 

I'm on the Aug 6 cruise, we can't book for another week-DV cabin. Three excursions are sold out at this point.

[philw1776]

So roughly 3% of excursions sold out as of now. If there's demand AND it's logistically possible, an excursion MAY re-open.

[Dauntless]

OK thanks

I am new to this site so I'm not sure exactly what I am doing but we are on the Viking Homelands Aug 20 starting in Bergen and going to Stockholm. I think the fellow that started this thread with the "engine trouble" is on the cruise now and started in Stockholm.

We arrive in Stockholm at 9:00 am and it is the last day...we leave very early the following day. The included tour is two hours. One option is to do the Vasa museum and City hall which is four hours in the afternoon. Did you see this? but the Nobel museum looks very interesting. This is our first ocean cruise. We have done several viking river cruises. There wasn't so much to decide and pay for ahead of time. Is there a decent opportunity to book excursions after we get going?

Any info you can share is greatly appreciated. Our window for booking starts tomorrow. (I know from your posts that you do a lot on your own. Terry and I are not so adventuresome.

 

OK, the shore excursion desk is always open on the ship so there is an opportunity to sign up one on board. They can help you with any questions there. You are around 90 days out so I'm assuming you are in a DV cabin or higher as I was in V and my sign up was 60 days out. If you are higher than DV then you still have sometime to adjust. This was my first cruise but so worth it. The advantage to Viking is the included tours and the good news is they are offered several times in each port so you want to take advantage of them. In Stockholm, you say the tour is 2 hours. If you can do that in the morning great. We had 4 groups in the morning with the last leaving at 9:45. Though ours was a 3 hour tour, yours, being 2 should be through by 11:45 if you get the last slot. Now that time would be back on the ship but if you leave the tour before they return to ship you will get an earlier start on Nobel and can catch shuttle back to ship for your afternoon tour. We did both of these attractions on our own before the ship docked, as we started in Stockholm and I think they are very good choices and certainly different from what we have in Texas. Since they are on islands on each side of Gamla Stan and this is really your only day, it is nice to have the ship provide transportation. If the last stop on the afternoon tour is City Hall, it's not far for a stroll back to Gamla Stan. I did see something about mobility in a Helsinki post of yours so that will be your call but the shuttles will operate into the evening from town.

 

I would strongly suggest another option than Viking for SP, and skip the included excursion there. You'll see more for less money and this was easy to do. The real urgency, since you can sign up tomorrow is to get the Viking tours in place. My priority was the Malbork castle in Gdansk so I checked to see if that was available when I got online. In our case, with our time in port, if we did that, there was no time for included. It was so that decision was made and had other choices lined up to set up for the included and most of those were at the times I wanted when we were able to commit.

 

I don't know what your other options are but if there are paid excursions through Viking that you don't get, most are still available at this time elsewhere, so don't throw in the towel for those excursions you really want. If you stay with Viking, it is easier but certainly more expensive but that choice is yours. I figured, as much as the cruise was, if I could save a buck here and there without sacrificing quality, it's a good thing.

 

Anymore questions?

[Texastraveler555]

OK, the shore excursion desk is always open on the ship so there is an opportunity to sign up one on board. They can help you with any questions there. You are around 90 days out so I'm assuming you are in a DV cabin or higher as I was in V and my sign up was 60 days out. If you are higher than DV then you still have sometime to adjust. This was my first cruise but so worth it. The advantage to Viking is the included tours and the good news is they are offered several times in each port so you want to take advantage of them. In Stockholm, you say the tour is 2 hours. If you can do that in the morning great. We had 4 groups in the morning with the last leaving at 9:45. Though ours was a 3 hour tour, yours, being 2 should be through by 11:45 if you get the last slot. Now that time would be back on the ship but if you leave the tour before they return to ship you will get an earlier start on Nobel and can catch shuttle back to ship for your afternoon tour. We did both of these attractions on our own before the ship docked, as we started in Stockholm and I think they are very good choices and certainly different from what we have in Texas. Since they are on islands on each side of Gamla Stan and this is really your only day, it is nice to have the ship provide transportation. If the last stop on the afternoon tour is City Hall, it's not far for a stroll back to Gamla Stan. I did see something about mobility in a Helsinki post of yours so that will be your call but the shuttles will operate into the evening from town.

 

I would strongly suggest another option than Viking for SP, and skip the included excursion there. You'll see more for less money and this was easy to do. The real urgency, since you can sign up tomorrow is to get the Viking tours in place. My priority was the Malbork castle in Gdansk so I checked to see if that was available when I got online. In our case, with our time in port, if we did that, there was no time for included. It was so that decision was made and had other choices lined up to set up for the included and most of those were at the times I wanted when we were able to commit.

 

I don't know what your other options are but if there are paid excursions through Viking that you don't get, most are still available at this time elsewhere, so don't throw in the towel for those excursions you really want. If you stay with Viking, it is easier but certainly more expensive but that choice is yours. I figured, as much as the cruise was, if I could save a buck here and there without sacrificing quality, it's a good thing.

 

Anymore questions?

Thanks again for the info. I am going to try for the Vasa and City hall and then the included in the morning. I will try to get to the Nobel on our own as you mentioned. This is also our first ocean cruise and I agree it is quite pricey. We are having to be selective on the excursions. Since I don't know exactly how my knee will be each day, I am looking to make sure it is not too demanding. I guess we can sign up for the included and see how it goes. We have been to SP before so we won't be trying to get everything in again. Do you remember what you did in Bergen besides the included?

[Dauntless]

This is also our first ocean cruise and I agree it is quite pricey. We are having to be selective on the excursions. Since I don't know exactly how my knee will be each day, I am looking to make sure it is not too demanding. I guess we can sign up for the included and see how it goes. We have been to SP before so we won't be trying to get everything in again. Do you remember what you did in Bergen besides the included?

 

Definitely sign up for included in each port. They're included!

 

In SP, since you are there 2 days you might do an Viking evening and optional one day and an included the next.

 

In Bergen, the included and changed and is now a panoramic bus tour I believe. We left the walking tour as they took us to a museum that was too overcrowded(museum or Viking fault) and it was September and 80 F with too little air conditioning. Aside from the included you want to do the Funicular as it is close and maybe the Castle tour or Hanseatic museum tour while going through Brygen close to ship. We stayed a couple of nights in Bergen after the cruise and did a Norway in a Nutshell type tour on one of those days.

[stretchcruz]

DON'T do the included in Stockholm!! I agree with Dee...it was a WASTE of time!! 2 hours sitting on a bus with no stops staring out of the window. That time could have been spent doing something interesting and that we wanted to do. It was HORRID!! That was my one regret on our Barcelona the Baltics and Beyond. It is very easy to get off of the ship and go to the harbor where the ferry to take you to the Vasa is. Fascinating (and it is my last name!). We got there around 10 or 10:30 AM and there was no line. English tours are on the half hour. There are also canal cruises right there. Don't do the 2 and a half hour canal cruise...too long and it backtracks. But the 50 minute should be very nice.

I am the queen of the included tours....I did every single one as I thought that they were part of the value, but the Stockholm one was worthless and if I were you I would skip it and do something else.

In St Petersburg we did Alla Tours and it was exceptional. Small private group, cheaper than putting a bunch of Viking individual tours together. We did not do the included tour in St Petersburg as we did not want to just drive around.

[Texastraveler555]

Definitely sign up for included in each port. They're included!

 

In SP, since you are there 2 days you might do an Viking evening and optional one day and an included the next.

 

In Bergen, the included and changed and is now a panoramic bus tour I believe. We left the walking tour as they took us to a museum that was too overcrowded(museum or Viking fault) and it was September and 80 F with too little air conditioning. Aside from the included you want to do the Funicular as it is close and maybe the Castle tour or Hanseatic museum tour while going through Brygen close to ship. We stayed a couple of nights in Bergen after the cruise and did a Norway in a Nutshell type tour on one of those days.

Okay so we start our trip in Bergen so we have from 8:00 to 6:00 a full day. They offer something called Best of Bergen and Mt Floien it is 4 hours and includes the funicular. Would you recommend this? Thanks for the heads up on the included Stockholm.

[CharTrav]

That's sad. We did a mini version of the "included tour" of Stockholm as we were being transferred from the ship to our 2 night extension. Our guide was a fellow called Magnus who had been our guide on the paid "Village in the Swedish Countryside" excursion the day before. We so liked him that many of us (independently too) specifically asked to be on his bus as we disembarked. For me, I simply Ignored what the poor Viking person was trying to tell us to do and said "Where's Magnus? Which bus? That's where we're going." And was insistent I'd have no other. He was quite impressed and pleased when he saw how many familiar faces were with him (doubt Viking was any too pleased).

 

Anyway, he took us over to the City Hall a few blocks away from our hotel, the Radisson Blu Waterfront, where we spent a good chunk of time, enough to kill the rest of the morning and have us not arrive at the hotel too early. Now you may think "What's so great about a stupid City Hall"? And usually you'd be right to be skeptical. But this City Hall is where the Nobel Prize banquet is held. And for Magnus, was especially significant because in his college days, he was one of the select group of students (250) who are invited to attend.

 

What I would recommend, unless Magnus only does the paid excursions, is to be on whatever bus he's on. Cuz he's the best!

 

 

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[Texastraveler555]

That's sad. We did a mini version of the "included tour" of Stockholm as we were being transferred from the ship to our 2 night extension. Our guide was a fellow called Magnus who had been our guide on the paid "Village in the Swedish Countryside" excursion the day before. We so liked him that many of us (independently too) specifically asked to be on his bus as we disembarked. For me, I simply Ignored what the poor Viking person was trying to tell us to do and said "Where's Magnus? Which bus? That's where we're going." And was insistent I'd have no other. He was quite impressed and pleased when he saw how many familiar faces were with him (doubt Viking was any too pleased).

 

Anyway, he took us over to the City Hall a few blocks away from our hotel, the Radisson Blu Waterfront, where we spent a good chunk of time, enough to kill the rest of the morning and have us not arrive at the hotel too early. Now you may think "What's so great about a stupid City Hall"? And usually you'd be right to be skeptical. But this City Hall is where the Nobel Prize banquet is held. And for Magnus, was especially significant because in his college days, he was one of the select group of students (250) who are invited to attend.

 

What I would recommend, unless Magnus only does the paid excursions, is to be on whatever bus he's on. Cuz he's the best!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I will look for Magnus!

[Dauntless]

Okay so we start our trip in Bergen so we have from 8:00 to 6:00 a full day. They offer something called Best of Bergen and Mt Floien it is 4 hours and includes the funicular. Would you recommend this? Thanks for the heads up on the included Stockholm.

 

If this is the tour that includes Brygen and Mt Floien, we had one on our cruise that was 3 hours and the charge was $89. This is throwing money away. That area is right outside the ship and easily accessible and open later than some of the other tours so could be done after other things. There is a charge for funicular but unless it is including caslte entrance and tour an Hanseatik Museum you are wasting money. IMO

 

I imagine the first day, you board and if you used Viking to get there you are arriving that day. We started in Stockholm and no tours were offered that day. Now there were excursions in Bergen to Grieg's or Ol' Bull's house(composers from the area) and Grieg includes a short performance on location. These would get you out in the countryside. Those might be interesting to you if you have the included on this day too. As I remember, our first night on board offered no real entertainment after the port talk you might go to the area of the city to the right after Brygen to the walking area with the plazas and some nightlife and soak up atmosphere. If you go to the left after Brygen you are 2 blocks from the funicular and the sunset is around 10:00 pm.

[Celiac Cruiser]

FYI- The Stockholm Hop-On-Hop-Off bus and boat tours stop at the cruise terminal area. They will take you to all the sites including the Vasa. Go early to the Vasa to avoid a LONG line for buying tickets.

[Dauntless]

FYI- The Stockholm Hop-On-Hop-Off bus and boat tours stop at the cruise terminal area. They will take you to all the sites including the Vasa. Go early to the Vasa to avoid a LONG line for buying tickets.

 

This is true but if you are going with a ship tour, that won't really be a factor. We went before the cruise started and were there when it opened. We were able to see that the ship had docked and ran into some of the Viking groups in the museum.

[English Voyager]

With regard to the Vasa Museum it is worth noting that from the 1 June to the 31 August the opening hours are 08.30- 18.00.

 

Also English guided tours are every half hour from 09.30- 16.30.

 

http://www.vasamuseet.se/en

 

 

I would be inclined to be there at opening time to avoid crowds later in the day.