Review: Viking Sky, Trade Routes of the Middle Ages

[HHHawkeye]

lackcreativity:  Thanks for your responses.  We've done the Honfleur tour on a Viking River boat years ago.....agree its a quaint place worth seeing  We'll do Bruges on our own, too.  Been there but not long enough for either of us.  We are looking forward to re-visiting and exploring new places

 

Nasty weather can really dampen the experiences!  On our Barcelona to Venice cruise, it poured rain every day after Rome...Venice had snow flurries on our way to airport!  March 2018 

[JJean]

Enjoyed your review.  We are doing this cruise in April.

[Cyber Kat]

Thanks so much for the reviews.  We recently booked this cruise for Sept of 2020 - so I have a long wait.  I'm beginning my research of the ports and the possible excursions.

We are doing the reverse - Bergen to Barcelona with the Viking extension in Oslo.  We usually do extensions on our own, but with the train and all, we figured it would be more relaxing to just let Viking handle it all.

I'm surprised at the reactions to Amsterdam - it's one of our favorite cities.  I don't know what area you were in but we pretty much walked all over except for the Red Light district and didn't encounter anything like that.  We have been there 3 times now - twice recently and once a long time ago.  The last 2 times we stayed at The Toren near the Anne Frank House and the Westerkirk once pre and once post a Viking River cruise.  We just loved it.  I don't know where Viking goes on their walking tour, but I'm sure we will just hop the tram near the port and go off on our own.

I'm torn about Paris.  I've never been and I'd hate to be that close and not go - but Monet's Gardens are also on my list of places to see before I die   The photos look so lovely!  I have a lot of time to decide.

We saw an optional excursion in Portsmouth that includes a steam train ride.  We are both train buffs so we want to do that one.  I hope it's offered.  I also want to go to Cornwall.  For some reason it fascinates me.  It seems like such a magical place.

So thanks again!  I have awhile to plan my cruise, so this helps!

[HHHawkeye]

After Bergen (Viking into the Midnight sun 2016) we did the rail trip and spent 4 days touring on our own in Oslo  Loved it.  I arranged all our (Oslo) transportation with Viator and never had a problem,  We joked we did "planes, trains, and boats" to get around.  It's a wonderful city to explore!  We stayed in the Thron Hotel just across from the opera house and very close to the rail station so we easily dragged suitcases to and from hotel.  The train goes to the airport from the hotel.

 

Monet's Gardens are incredible,  not crowded early (Viking does get their groups out before the crowds!)  Our day was a little overcase, but every picture came out beautifully.  Well worth the tour.....Enjoy!

[Posey2453]

Thanks very much for the review and comments.  We are contemplating this cruise on October 6.  We have 24 hours to confirm, and your reviews have helped make up our minds.

Side note:  I believe we will be on Viking Jupiter which is the same ship we will be on from Santiago to Buenos Aires in December.  We were on Viking Star in October and again in December.  It was wonderful to see many of the same staff.  We were lucky enough to even be in the same cabin, 8019, with the same steward, Ang!  It felt like a family reunion - in a good way!  

[Cienfuegos]

Great reviews, thanks for sharing.

[HockeyMom44]

On 1/9/2019 at 11:38 AM, Cyber Kat said:

Thanks so much for the reviews.  We recently booked this cruise for Sept of 2020 - so I have a long wait.  I'm beginning my research of the ports and the possible excursions.

We are doing the reverse - Bergen to Barcelona with the Viking extension in Oslo.  We usually do extensions on our own, but with the train and all, we figured it would be more relaxing to just let Viking handle it all.

I'm surprised at the reactions to Amsterdam - it's one of our favorite cities.  I don't know what area you were in but we pretty much walked all over except for the Red Light district and didn't encounter anything like that.  We have been there 3 times now - twice recently and once a long time ago.  The last 2 times we stayed at The Toren near the Anne Frank House and the Westerkirk once pre and once post a Viking River cruise.  We just loved it.  I don't know where Viking goes on their walking tour, but I'm sure we will just hop the tram near the port and go off on our own.

I'm torn about Paris.  I've never been and I'd hate to be that close and not go - but Monet's Gardens are also on my list of places to see before I die   The photos look so lovely!  I have a lot of time to decide.

We saw an optional excursion in Portsmouth that includes a steam train ride.  We are both train buffs so we want to do that one.  I hope it's offered.  I also want to go to Cornwall.  For some reason it fascinates me.  It seems like such a magical place.

So thanks again!  I have awhile to plan my cruise, so this helps!

We sail on the Jupiter in April... That excursion was shown for us also.When it came time to book it was NOT on the available excursions to book. Have a back-up just in case.

[Cyber Kat]

13 hours ago, HockeyMom44 said:

We sail on the Jupiter in April... That excursion was shown for us also.When it came time to book it was NOT on the available excursions to book. Have a back-up just in case.

 

Which excursion wasn’t available - the train in Portsmouth, the one to Cornwall or Monet’s Gardens?

[OneSixtyToOne]

4 hours ago, Cyber Kat said:

 

Which excursion wasn’t available - the train in Portsmouth, the one to Cornwall or Monet’s Gardens?

 

On April's  "Along Europe's Western Coast" cruise, there is no train to Cornwall excursion offered in Portsmouth. The Monet's Gardens excursion is available in "Paris."

 

The offered Portsmouth excursions are a follows:

• Panoramic Portsmouth
• Bombay Sapphire & Laverstoke Mill
• Historic Winchester & Its Glorious Cathedral
• Mystic Stonehenge
• Beaulieu, National Motor Museum & New Forest
• Arundel Castle
• Panoramic London
• Kayaking on the Beaulieu River
• Windsor Castle & Eton
• Exbury Gardens & Lyndhurst
• Salisbury & Stonehenge

[Cyber Kat]

18 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

 

On April's  "Along Europe's Western Coast" cruise, there is no train to Cornwall excursion offered in Portsmouth. The Monet's Gardens excursion is available in "Paris."

 

The offered Portsmouth excursions are a follows:

• Panoramic Portsmouth
• Bombay Sapphire & Laverstoke Mill
• Historic Winchester & Its Glorious Cathedral
• Mystic Stonehenge
• Beaulieu, National Motor Museum & New Forest
• Arundel Castle
• Panoramic London
• Kayaking on the Beaulieu River
• Windsor Castle & Eton
• Exbury Gardens & Lyndhurst
• Salisbury & Stonehenge

 

Thanks, but the train and Cornwall were separate. It wasn’t a train to Cornwall.  The train ride I saw was in Portsmouth and the trip to Cornwall was from Portsmouth. Our cruise is still a long way off so I will play it by ear. Who knows what they will come up with. The Windsor excursion sounds like a possibility. We enjoyed it the last time we were there. Or maybe we will just do the Victory and have some fish and chips along the waterfront. 

 

Glad to hear Monet’s Gardens was available from Le Havre. 

[lackcreativity]

4 hours ago, Cyber Kat said:

 

Thanks, but the train and Cornwall were separate. It wasn’t a train to Cornwall.  The train ride I saw was in Portsmouth and the trip to Cornwall was from Portsmouth. Our cruise is still a long way off so I will play it by ear. Who knows what they will come up with. The Windsor excursion sounds like a possibility. We enjoyed it the last time we were there. Or maybe we will just do the Victory and have some fish and chips along the waterfront. 

 

Glad to hear Monet’s Gardens was available from Le Havre. 

We sailed the Trade Routes of the Middle Ages in October, and it seems the shore excursions do change over time. Our included excursion in Portsmouth was a visit to the Naval Dockyards, which we found very interesting, but now it is a Panoramic tour of the city. When we booked the trip, Bruges was the included tour from Zeebruges, but within days of booking it was replaced with a visit to Knokke. I do recall seeing a steam train from Portsmouth, but it doesn't appear now.

 

LeHavre is a difficult choice. We did Honfleur, and loved it,  but were also very tempted by Monet's Garden. We passed on Paris because we have been before, but probably would have gone otherwise. It's not an ideal way to see such a beautiful city, but since you never know what the future may hold I would have not wanted to pass up the chance.

 

Falmouth was a port I was looking forward to very much, with the chance to see Cornwall (and maybe catch a glimpse of Ross Poldark 😉), but alas bad weather closed the port and we missed that stop. It pays to be flexible when travelling, because glitches do occur, but even with the bad weather it was still a great trip. Bruges lived up to our expectations, and Malaga was an unexpected delight.

 

Have fun planning, followed by a great cruise!

[OneSixtyToOne]

22 minutes ago, lackcreativity said:

Falmouth was a port I was looking forward to very much, with the chance to see Cornwall (and maybe catch a glimpse of Ross Poldark 😉), but alas bad weather closed the port and we missed that stop.

 

They are now offering a Picturesque Poldark Tour:

Follow in Winston Graham's footsteps, and experience the St. Agnes landscape that inspired his 13 Poldark novels. A brooding drama set in 18th-century Cornwall, Poldark is a popular television series based on the novels by Winston Graham. You will have the opportunity to visit the places that inspired the author, and locations where the Poldark TV series was filmed. Much of the action in Poldark takes place against the backdrop of Cornwall’s breathtaking and rocky coastline. You will visit Portreath, which was once a busy port, importing coal and exporting copper. Then, you will travel to St. Agnes Beacon, where Ross Poldark famously galloped across the cliffs on his horse, and to St. Agnes Head, which was used to represent Nampara Valley—part of the Poldark family estate. You will then continue on to visit the seaside town of Perranporth, where author Winston Graham lived and the Poldark story began.

[Cyber Kat]

20 hours ago, lackcreativity said:

We sailed the Trade Routes of the Middle Ages in October, and it seems the shore excursions do change over time. Our included excursion in Portsmouth was a visit to the Naval Dockyards, which we found very interesting, but now it is a Panoramic tour of the city. When we booked the trip, Bruges was the included tour from Zeebruges, but within days of booking it was replaced with a visit to Knokke. I do recall seeing a steam train from Portsmouth, but it doesn't appear now.

 

LeHavre is a difficult choice. We did Honfleur, and loved it,  but were also very tempted by Monet's Garden. We passed on Paris because we have been before, but probably would have gone otherwise. It's not an ideal way to see such a beautiful city, but since you never know what the future may hold I would have not wanted to pass up the chance.

 

Falmouth was a port I was looking forward to very much, with the chance to see Cornwall (and maybe catch a glimpse of Ross Poldark 😉), but alas bad weather closed the port and we missed that stop. It pays to be flexible when travelling, because glitches do occur, but even with the bad weather it was still a great trip. Bruges lived up to our expectations, and Malaga was an unexpected delight.

 

Have fun planning, followed by a great cruise!

 

True about flexible. It’s a long way off, and I’m mostly speculating at this point. We had a tour I had booked disappear from our river cruise. When I called Viking, they couldn’t explain. It wasn’t sold out and they assured me I was still booked. It was fine when we got there and we had a wonderful time. 

 

I’m tempted by Paris and the “you never know factor,”. But Monet’s Gardens is also on my bucket list. As is the Paris to the Swiss Alps river cruise, so I guess I will just see what the future brings. 

 

I’ve heard that Falmouth is an often missed port because of weather issues, so I guess I’ll see about that as well. 15 days on the Viking Sky works for me. I would do London out of Portsmouth if there was time to ride the Eye, or I could just contact all my English cousins and have a family reunion at a pub. They all live in southern England.  

 

No matter what happens I plan to have a wonderful trip. We have 3 other cruises booked, so I consider myself very fortunate!

[lackcreativity]

Cyber Kat,

We have Paris to the Swiss Alps booked for next spring, and I am already debating whether to go to Versailles or Monet's Gardens.  But first, Russia and the Baltic Sea next month. In between I am contemplating what to do in 2021: South of France by river? new Greek Odyssey by ocean? Italian Sojourn?

 

We are indeed lucky to have these opportunities, and I never forget that.

 

 

[OneSixtyToOne]

6 hours ago, Cyber Kat said:

I’m tempted by Paris and the “you never know factor,”. But Monet’s Gardens is also on my bucket list. As is the Paris to the Swiss Alps river cruise, so I guess I will just see what the future brings. 

 

We took the the Paris to the Swiss Alps VRC (reverse direction) last June and it was marvelous. Make sure you take the Switzerland extension. Zermatt is beautiful, as is the ride on the Glacier Express, not to mention wine tasting on the banks of Lake Geneva. 

 

Photo taken from the Glacier Express:

Edited March 10, 2019 by OneSixtyToOne

[Cyber Kat]

17 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

 

We took the the Paris to the Swiss Alps VRC (reverse direction) last June and it was marvelous. Make sure you take the Switzerland extension. Zermatt is beautiful, as is the ride on the Glacier Express, not to mention wine tasting on the banks of Lake Geneva. 

 

Photo taken from the Glacier Express:

 

Thanks!  We did the Lucerne extension on our Rhine Getaway and we loved Switzerland, so I would love to go back.  Everyone raves about Zermatt and the Glacier Express. 

[CCruiser1234]

On 1/8/2019 at 7:16 PM, JJean said:

Enjoyed your review.  We are doing this cruise in April.

So are we!  Looks like no one has started a thread for that sailing yet, so I just did.

Head over here as you please:

Cheers,

Bob

[CCruiser1234]

On 5/15/2018 at 1:37 PM, Twitchly said:

Warning: wordy post follows. Will attach photos later.

 

 

Thank you very much for this review.  Appreciate it!

 

Cheers,

Bob

[Twitchly]

Glad folks are finding that horribly long review useful! It was fun to re-read it today (nearly a year later!) and remember our wonderful trip.

 

For those considering Monet’s Gardens, I would suggest checking out what will be blooming during the time you visit. I imagine it can look quite different depending on the time of year, which might help you make your decision. 

 

Our next overseas trip is coming up in about 6 weeks — Israel! Not a cruise this time, more’s the pity. Those cruise vacations really spoil you, don’t they?

 

Happy travels!

[Hazel52]

On 5/15/2018 at 3:37 PM, Twitchly said:

Warning: wordy post follows. Will attach photos later.

 

Traveled in April 2018

 

ABOUT US (for context)

 

We’re in our 50s, and this was our first cruise together. (I went on a cruise once long ago for work, which was a very different sort of experience.) We did it in honor of our 25th anniversary. We’re somewhat introverted. We enjoy meeting new people and chatting, but we’re also quite content to read a good book or do our own thing. We had put off cruising until now because the stereotypical image of cruising – casinos, Vegas-style shows, parties and games, glitzy shopping, crowds, constant socializing – didn’t appeal to us at all. I’d also traveled extensively throughout my 20s, living overseas and spending as much as 6 months at a time backpacking around the world on my own, and the whole packaged tour thing didn’t really appeal. But the more we learned about Viking Ocean, the more it seemed a different sort of animal altogether, and we finally decided to give it a try. We’re so glad we did! It was a world away from the kind of travel I’d done in the past, and I did find it hard to spend such a short time in each place we visited. But we both enjoyed the pampering and the ease involved in this kind of trip, and we definitely hope to do it again.

 

ABOUT THE SHIP (VIKING SKY)

 

The Room

 

We had a penthouse veranda (PV) room on the 4th level (4019), which was actually a bit larger than I thought it would be based on the photos.

 

Pros:

The room was pretty quiet. We only occasionally heard our neighbors.

The couch was full size, not a loveseat, and quite comfortable.

There was plenty of storage for our stuff, with room to spare. (We brought two carry-ons and one regular suitcase, all of which fit easily under the bed.)

The room has a thermostat, though it’s a little cryptic. We turned ours all the way down at night and found it comfortable.

The bathroom is roomy for a cruise ship, roughly the size of a regular hotel bathroom. The heated floors and anti-fog mirror are very nice. With drawers and shelves, there was loads of storage here, too.

The décor is understated and reflects the ocean vibe throughout the ship. We liked it very much.

 

Cons:

The bed was not quite as comfortable as we would have liked. It seemed to barrel in the center, so we rolled toward each other somewhat. The mattress and pillows were quite firm. We slept fine, however.

The shower was possessed. It would swing from scalding to freezing with no intervention on our part and very little notice. A plumber came and worked on it (Viking is very responsive to complaints!) and there was some improvement initially, but within a couple days it reverted to its original state. The plumber came again but was unable to fix it. Fortunately, the shower is large enough that we were able to jump out of the stream of water when needed and wait until the temperature swung back to bearable. A couple of crew members mentioned that their showers did the same thing.

There are two configurations of the Penthouse Veranda, and we had the one with the sliding glass door. The other configuration, with the hinged door and separate window (as appears in the marketing materials) looks like it would allow you to sit on the couch and look outside. Ours did not. I minded that more than I thought I would. Next time, I would try to get that other configuration.

 

Public spaces on the ship

 

As everyone says, it’s a lovely ship. In fact, it grew on us as the cruise went on. We loved the openness to the sea throughout much of the ship, with the exception of the Living Room with its atrium (ostensibly the heart of the ship). While the Living Room is quite lovely, it has sheers covering all the windows, which means it doesn’t offer any view. We much preferred to see outside during daylight hours, which extended until late evening on our cruise, so we ended up hardly using the Living Room at all.

 

Our favorite indoor spot was probably the Explorer’s Lounge, a glass-fronted area in the front of the ship, which turned out to be an excellent place for a view when the ship entered and exited ports. The lounge is split into two levels, with a bar on the first floor and live music in the evening (which varied between a pianist, a guitarist, and a classical trio, all excellent) Like much of the rest of the ship, it featured lots of interesting books along the walls. One section had wonderfully comfortable chairs and couches alongside a very authentic-looking “fire” (there are no real fires on the ship due to safety concerns).

 

We also liked the seating areas by the windows alongside the Wintergarden (very quiet most of the time) and the chaise loungers along the windows on both sides of the pool (piped-in music). The latter seats were very popular and difficult to get.

 

The Wintergarden is the quietest interior public space on the ship when not hosting afternoon tea or other events. No piped-in music! The space is gorgeous, with bright skylight ceiling and intricate Nordic touches. (Look for the ravens.) But again, we used it less than we thought we would because it lacked those close-up sea views. It does offer views through other seating areas that flank it.

 

The artwork throughout is interesting and engaging. I kept meaning to do the audio art tour and never got around to it, one of my regrets.

 

And yes, the public bathrooms are delightful with their Scandinavian decor and piped-in birdsong. The elevator shaft near the Living Room is also fun, with its glass wall allowing you to glimpse trolls hidden among birch trees as you ascend to your room.

 

Onboard activities and entertainment

 

As I mentioned, we’re not the most social creatures on the planet, and planned activities aren’t really our thing. That said, we inadvertently ended up in the middle of a trivia game in the Explorer Lounge that ended up being a lot of fun. While DH didn’t care to repeat the experience, I did participate in another one later on. I also went to a scarf-tying “class,” which was really a way to get you into the Nordic shop but was both fun and informative.

 

DH made good use of the spa and enjoyed its hot/cold Nordic routine. He also swam in the infinity pool and main pool using a tether, which gave him a good workout, and he used the gym as well. He says the massage he got was excellent (though expensive).

 

We both used the walking track on sea days, which was enjoyable. There’s a sitting area off the track that was practically unused during our trip, probably because of the cool weather. It was the perfect spot to bundle up and ponder the world as you watch the sea go by.

 

As for the entertainment, we absolutely loved the two local shows we saw at the beginning and end of the trip. In Barcelona, a gypsy musical group gave a wonderfully energetic performance with some mild humor thrown in, and in Bergen we got to listen to a very stirring violinist. We also attended a “sampler” performance at the beginning of the cruise, which featured numbers by the in-house entertainment crew, and we quickly realized this really wouldn’t be our cup of tea so didn’t attend any of the other shows. We also didn’t go to hear the band in Torshavn, the ship’s night club and can’t comment on the dancing there.

 

In the evenings, various musicians played instrumental music in different public spaces on the ship (guitarist, pianist, classical trio) and they were very good.

 

A real highlight for us were the enrichment lectures. We had three British historians on board, all professors who obviously loved their subjects (roughly, the natural world, nautical history, and art) and loved to teach. It showed. They were a wonderful combination of enlightening and entertaining. I’m not sure I could pick a favorite. The naturalist gave nighttime stargazing talks up on the top deck; two lecturers gave a wonderful historical tour of the port at Portsmouth from within the Explorer’s Lounge as we left the port. One of the gentlemen had a delivery that put me to sleep every single time, in spite of how interesting he was. Something about that soothing Scots voice just conked me out. In the end, I only watched his lectures later on the TV in our stateroom so I wouldn’t embarrass myself.

 

The port talks, which we also primarily watched in our stateroom, were also reasonably well done and informative, a nice intro to where we were docking the next day.

 

The food

 

We ate twice at the two specialty restaurants, Manfredi’s and the Chef’s Table, and I’d have to say we ended up preferring the Chef’s Table. It really depends on the menu. We changed one of our reservations there to a day with a menu that looked more interesting to us and were glad we did. We tend to like creative dishes, and that’s what they had. Manfredi’s was fine, no complaints, but it didn’t feel as memorable to us as the Chef’s Table.

 

The main dining room was also fine, and we ate there several times. It’s the spot where we were most likely to chat with other diners. Viking has cleverly set things up so that you can have your table for 2, but they’re close enough together that it’s easy to engage with folks around you.

 

We had waffles twice at Mamsen’s, the Norwegian restaurant in the Explorer’s Lounge, and they were outstanding. Who would’ve thought of putting coriander in waffles?? The Norwegians did, obviously, and what a great thing it is. This was our farewell meal on disembarkment day. We also had open-face sandwiches there once, which were good, and “success cake,” which was outstanding. The only negative about Mamsen’s was the difficulty we had finding someone to serve us, especially in the evenings. The counter was frequently unmanned during open hours, and we would wait around for a while to see if someone would show up. Several times we just gave up.

 

By far, we ate most of our meals in the World Cafe. The food changed daily and was far better than we expected for what’s basically a buffet. We took our meals outside when possible, which was lovely. We liked the casual atmosphere and the ability to see everything that was on offer. Dressing up and being served in a more formal atmosphere is fun once in a while but not, for us, something we’d want to do every day.

 

The crew

 

After the lovely aesthetics, I’d say the best part about the ship was the crew. They were friendly without being obsequious, and they were on top of everything. Our room stewards were helpful and excellent without ever intruding, though we did learn to put a “do not disturb” sign on our door if we didn’t want people knocking and walking in. (That was startling the first couple of times.) We usually got room service for breakfast due to our early morning excursions, and it always — every single time — arrived a few minutes earlier than we requested, and piping hot. The bartenders were great fun, and one of them up in the Explorer’s Lounge made the best Negronis I’ve ever had. He added a little soda to them, he said, and an extra twist of orange peel. We probably had our best discussions with them. Basically, everything was beautifully run. They simply do an excellent job.

 

ABOUT THE PORTS

 

Itinerary: Trade Routes of the Middle Ages

 

Day 0: Pre-cruise private extension: An extra day in Barcelona

Day 1-2: Barcelona, Spain

Day 3: Cartagena, Spain

Day 4: Malaga (Granada), Spain

Day 5: Sea

Day 6: Porto, Portugal

Day 7: Sea

Day 8: Falmouth (Cornwall), UK

Day 9: Portsmouth, UK

Day 10: LeHavre, France

Day 11: Bruges, Belgium

Day 12: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Day 13: Sea

Day 14-15: Bergen, Norway

 

Day 16-17: Bergen to Oslo train ride extension and our own extra day in Oslo

Day 18: Fly home

 

Barcelona: We did the included tour, which was somewhat truncated because of a Catalan demonstration going on. (We hit demonstrations both days in Barcelona.) It was just OK. We ended up leaving the tour and going off on our own in the Gothic Quarter. Prior to the official start of the cruise, we bought tickets ourselves for the magnificent Palau de la Musica Catalana, which I highly recommend. We also walked the Barcelonetta, the local city beach, and had lunch there at one of the beachside cafes.

 

Cartagena: We did the Wine and Tapas walking tour, which was probably our least favorite of the optional excursions on this cruise. Cartagena is a lovely town with pastel buildings and marble pedestrian streets, but our (sweet) Finnish guide was far too taciturn; we had to pull information out of her. And the 3 places we stopped for tapas weren’t that great. It’s very easy to walk off the ship and into town; I’d do this place on our own next time.

 

Malaga (Granada): We took the optional excursion to the Alhambra, which was excellent. We had two guides, a fascinating German woman for the (long) bus ride and an equally fascinating Dutch man for the Alhambra itself. From the bus guide, a longtime resident of that area, we learned about the region and what it’s like to live there. The Alhambra guide directed our attention to details I would’ve certainly missed as he told us about the history of the place and herded us through the other hundreds of tourists in the place. I would love to go back and stay overnight or something when the place is less crowded. (This excursion was listed by Viking as the most demanding, probably because of the amount of walking and the uneven ground. I was a little apprehensive beforehand because I’m just an average walker, but it turned out I had no difficulty. I did hold my DH’s arm a few times on the rougher spots.) The included lunch at the Alhambra Hotel was easily the best Spanish food we’ve had, a touristy buffet that still managed to be excellent.

 

Porto: A somewhat gritty city that looks like it has struggled economically. DH loved it and wants to return. We took the included tour, which included a nice amount of walking and left us free time in the historic district along the river. We stopped at a sidewalk cafe and had a fabulous drink made of white sherry and soda as we watched the Douro float past the famous sherry houses across the way.

 

Falmouth (Cornwall): We took the optional tour of Cornwall that included Land’s End and the surreally picturesque artist town of St. Ives. When you think “British seaside holiday,” this is the place you picture. The tour featured probably our favorite guide (very fun as well as informative) and included the best fish and chips lunch I’ve ever had (massive pieces of perfectly fried cod, not greasy, very flavorful) at a cute little restaurant. It also allowed us plenty of free time in St. Ives, which we made good use of by wandering the windy streets and having an outstanding cream tea (tea with scones slathered with Cornwall cream) at an unassuming little place.

 

Portsmouth: This is one of those ports most people get out of to view other areas. Unless you’re a big fan of British nautical history, you’ll probably want to take an optional excursion. London is the usual tour people take, but a marathon made it off limits during our trip. We took the tour of Stonehenge and Salisbury, which was reasonably good, though I think I’d have preferred more time in Salisbury and less at Stonehenge. The cathedral was interesting enough, and we were lucky to get to hear the choir rehearse. The tour also featured another wonderful lunch at the lovely White Hart Inn.

 

LeHavre: If you don’t mind a long bus ride and a “panoramic” tour that doesn’t let you get out of the bus much, you can go to Paris from this port, but most people who did seemed to regret it. We took the optional tour to Giverny to see Monet’s Gardens, which were in spectacular bloom in late April and were a major highlight of our trip. Just wow. After the gardens we ate at an extremely picturesque restaurant in the countryside that used to be a mill; the meal was probably the best of our cruise. Another wow. Then we went on to the medieval city of Rouen, which was more interesting than I thought it would be. I broke off while the others went to see a cathedral, and I very much enjoyed wandering around the main square area. There are some nice perfume shops here, so I did some sniffing, which is something I enjoy.

 

Bruges: What a city! We decided to do our own thing here. You have to take some sort of transportation to get from the ship into Bruges (about 30 minutes), so we booked a seat on a shuttle ahead of time. But it turns out you don’t need to do that; you can just show up and get a seat. Basically, you take a free shuttle from the ship to the gate of the port. Then you walk out the gates of the port, turn right, walk about 3 minutes, and you’ll see a place to get tickets for Bruges. The shuttle ran every half hour and was perfectly fine. Bruges itself is simply splendid. It has retained its historic architecture due to benign commercial neglect (it was once a port town but the coastline silted up) and a blind eye from the ****s, and it’s like walking around in a storybook. We had the famous Belgian fries for lunch in one of the main squares, did a little shopping (chocolates and soap), and just walked around. We definitely want to return to this beautiful city.

 

Amsterdam: And now for our least favorite port on this trip. We did the included tour, which was fine and included a canal ride (though our fellow cruisers became inexplicably rude and talked right over the tour guide the entire time, something that thankfully didn’t happen anywhere else on our trip). Then we spent the rest of the day wandering around Amsterdam and continually stumbling into pot shops, tacky tourist stores, and women stripping in windows. We checked our map and no, we weren’t in the red light district, but it appears the zeitgeist of that district has spread a bit in central Amsterdam. We found it depressing, especially seeing all the stoned kids outside the head shops and all these women from Eastern Europe and various developing countries having to make a living like this. I suspect there are much more pleasant places in Amsterdam, but after walking about 5 miles we finally gave up and returned to the ship. If we were to return to Amsterdam, we would focus on the museums and probably find a way to get out of the coarse and gritty center. I especially wish we had gotten out into the Dutch countryside.

 

Bergen: We were surprised by how much we loved Bergen. I think we were expecting another Reykjavik, which we had visited the previous fall and enjoyed but wouldn’t necessarily revisit. Bergen has a much more established and historic feel — and, frankly, more money. Both Bergen and Oslo felt rich to us, and not just because of the high prices of everything. We did two back-to-back optional tours here: in the morning we visited a tiny Norwegian farm, and in the afternoon we visited Grieg’s house and the (remade) Stave church. Both were good tours. I wanted to see the farm because my great-grandparents grew up on farms in Norway. The gentleman who owns this farm is really what made this excursion special: he’s an entertaining speaker and guide, and he creates a lovely experience for you, which includes a glass of excellent juice in his cellar, some wonderful pastries (he’s also a baker) in a quaint farmhouse, and a song or two on the piano. He also talks about what it’s like to farm in Norway, which I found very interesting. In the afternoon, the visit to Grieg’s house was fine but what I really enjoyed was the piano concert in the small, beautiful concert hall next door. Absolutely marvelous. The Stave church was a bit of a letdown; it was off season so we weren’t allowed inside. And it’s not original. But it was nice to see.

 

Bergen to Oslo post-cruise: We also did this post-cruise excursion, which included a tour of Bergen itself; a highlight for me was a visit to the open-air folk museum, much like our Colonial Williamsburg. There was another marathon happening, which turned out to be more fun than problematic. At one point I saw a male runner in wearing nothing but some tattoos and a neon green G-string that didn’t actually do much toward hiding the family jewels. Hello, Norway! The hotel selected by Viking (Radisson Blu) was unremarkable and somewhat dark, but it’s in a fantastic location right on the wharf. We had an internal-facing room, which was a bummer; not sure how one gets an external room, but I would try to find out next time. The next day we took the 7-hour train trip to Oslo, which is nothing short of spectacular. While views are excellent on both sides, I would suggest sitting on the left if you want to take pictures out the window. We were on the right, and the sun created reflections that made picture-taking difficult. Also, I think there were more views out the right side, but the views out of the left side were more stunning, especially early on. You really can’t go wrong on either side, frankly. The extension included a quick tour of Oslo after the train ride followed by dinner along the harbor. We had a wonderful guide on the train (Viking rents out an entire car for its cruisers) and another guide once we got to Oslo.

 

I highly recommend adding another day to Oslo if you can. We did, and it made everything more relaxing. Oslo is also a lovely city, and the hotel that Viking picked for us — the Hotel Bristol — is a wonderfully atmospheric historic place with loads of books and dark wood. (Though we once again had an internal room.) We had a nice dinner there.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS (because this isn’t long enough already!)

 

So that’s our first cruise. Would we do another? Yes, we’d like to. We both still work, and these trips aren’t cheap, so I don’t think we’ll become serial cruisers at this point like so many people we met. We also did find it a bit unsatisfying to spend so little time at so many places. I think we’d ideally like to mix it up a bit between doing whiplash tourism like cruising and following the more sedate approach of renting a place for a week or two to really get to know it and doing day trips. Both have their attractions. But as far as ocean cruising goes, with very few exceptions I don’t know how you’d improve on our Viking experience.

This is a great read. Thank you! I’m curious if anyone did a private tour to the Isle of Wight when you were in Portsmouth. Thanks for any advice on this idea of mine.