Jupiter / Midnight Sun Review

[molymoo]

We’re just back from Into the Midnight Sun on Viking’s Jupiter and despite a series of ups, downs, highs and lows we managed to have a very nice time. 

 

Bad news First … the “Lows”

·       One day into our trip as we sailed out of Greenwich the ship experienced an electrical problem that forced us to Tilbury where we sat for about 36 hours.  They made the repairs and passed inspections and we were on our way eventually but as a result we missed Lerwick (Orkney Islands) and Kirkwall (Shetland Islands) and had to abbreviate our stops in Edinburgh and Honningsvag.  Missing the Islands was a big disappointment and the changes in schedule at the other stops required a lot of adjustments to shore excursions, dining plans, etc.  We had to drop two shore excursions which we would have enjoyed but the new schedule just wasn’t going to work. 

·       We “lost” two of our dining reservations … they just disappeared from My Viking Journey while we were in Tilbury.  An inquiry at guest services was frustrating.  The representative there showed us that we had reservations at the Restaurant on those dates and at those times.  She showed us on her “master” screen and sure enough there were reservations at the restaurant … same dates and times as we had made for Manfredi’s and the Chef’s Table.  Arguing with her was useless as she was quite insistent this was obviously a mistake we had made since the original reservations.  Perhaps we had done it on the “app”.   After she suggested that we should have come down to the desk the first night as then we would have lots more times to choose from I thanked her for her time and ended the conversation before my frustration became anger … which is seldom productive.  We were able to eventually find other times for the two dinners and all was well … for the most part anyway.

·       My daughter sprained her ankle on a shore excursion in Tromso.  It was the Husky Trek Through Arctic Hills.  They were quite clear as to the demands of the experience but we were not ready at all for the intensity!  The dogs are very strong and they are racers.  They do not walk, they do not “trot” … they run.  They do not run in a straight line, there is no path, trail, or cleared land … it is wilderness!  It was hilly, wet and “mucky” (one other participant referred to it as a “husky bog slog”).  We “shared” a dog but I lasted about ten minutes and had to turn “Donald” over to my younger, stronger daughter.  She managed to stay on her feet but rolled her ankle on a hillock when Donald took a sudden right turn.   The initial pain eased enough for her to finish the walk but later in the afternoon she was in a great deal of pain and there was a fair amount of swelling.  We had our first opportunity to visit the medical center that afternoon!

 

 That wasn’t too bad … Now the “Highs”:

·       We visited the (non-services part) spa for the first time this cruise.  I know that’s crazy but true!  We loved it!  It was a great way to relax on a sea day afternoon (and we had lots of those!) and not nearly as crowded as we thought it might be!  Will be regulars on our next cruise!

·       Manfredi’s has updated their menu and we loved it!  It was NOT our favorite before but the changes have certainly improved the dining experience for us!  And the new Mexican menu at the Chef’s Table was marvelous!  We will be keeping our fingers crossed that that one is in rotation on our December cruise!

·       Despite the perils of the “husky bog slog” we actually enjoyed this excursion.  We love dogs and will forgive them just about anything so Donald is forgiven but after the “hike” we got to meet and hold and cuddle the puppies … come on who doesn’t love puppies?  We also had a chance to tour the facility and interact with the dogs who, when not in race mode, were affectionate and engaging.  It was fascinating to learn about their training and the races each had run … many have done the Iditarod … and their life after “retirement.  It is a nice facility and if I had it to do over again I would opt for the hike without a dog … which was an option some of the smarter passengers took!

·       The visit to the medical center was interesting and quite nice … all things considered.  They were professional, compassionate and took very good care of my daughter; three x rays, a compression “sock”, some pain killers and a shot that she described as “a miracle” for the pain.  When we got back to our room we discovered that they had ordered a large bag of crushed ice … ready and waiting!  And all at no charge as it was an injury that occurred on a Viking shore excursion!

·       There were many enrichment/educational presentations on this cruise and they were very good!  We watched most of them from our room as many were during afternoons and we were either tasting wine, enjoying the spa, or on an excursion, but they were great!  Especially Russell Lee; a guest lecturer who provided us with several very interesting history “lessons” that we thoroughly enjoyed.

·       The entertainment was a high on this cruise … still a lot of the same thing but there was some “new” material this time.  Most of the performances were full … standing room only which was really nice for the performers.  The cruise director was one of the nicest we have experienced.  She was friendly, approachable, and had a great sense of humor.

·       The port talks were organized differently this trip … they had them two or three day out rather than the night before arriving in the port.  They were very honest about the shore excursions; which I appreciated, and it was nice to have this important information early enough to cancel or make changes if, after hearing the descriptions you decided it wasn’t for you.    

·       The crew on this cruise was fabulous!  They did a great job organizing some very nice excursions (free) while we were in Tilbury and never missed a beat in the great customer service we have come to know and love with Viking.  Our housekeeping team was fabulous … as efficient as we have ever seen and always smiling and friendly. 

 

All in all it was a very nice cruise.  The missed ports were disappointing but they immediately issued everyone an OBC and followed up with reasonable compensation once we were home.  We thoroughly enjoyed Norway … which really was the star of the “show” and look forward to returning some day!  The “highs” far outweighed the “lows” and the awesome Viking onboard experience was as great as ever!

 

 

[Hanoj]

Thanks @molymoo.

 

Were there any tenders on this cruise? I ask because we just booked the Jupiter for next May and there are four tender ports. From reading other comments, there seems to be some hiccoughs tendering with the new ships, which is likely a training issue.

[molymoo]

We tendered in Greenwich, Edinburgh, and Geiranger and all went very smoothly.  We have tendered on the older ships (Star and Sky) and saw no difference whatsoever on the Jupiter.  

[cocopico]

5 hours ago, molymoo said:

 

     The port talks were organized differently this trip … they had them two or three day out rather than the night before arriving in the port.  They were very honest about the shore excursions; which I appreciated, and it was nice to have this important information early enough to cancel or make changes if, after hearing the descriptions you decided it wasn’t for you.    

·     

 

 

Thanks for your review. I was particularly happy to read the comment quoted above. I have raised this issue in previous reviews and to the good folks at “Tellus” that the port talks, which contain the most detailed information regarding excursions, come too late to be able to cancel existing excursions or swap them for another.  This change definitely addresses that issue, and I applaud Viking for making the change.   Great news indeed. 

[just_dont]

We tendered in Greenwich, Edinburgh, and Geiranger and all went very smoothly.  We have tendered on the older ships (Star and Sky) and saw no difference whatsoever on the Jupiter.  

We were on the reverse Midnight Sun cruise on Jupiter right before yours, and were sad to hear about her "technical difficulties" leaving Greenwich, as our trip had none. Glad to hear your predominantly positive attitude in spite of the setbacks you experienced.

If you had made it to Kirkwall (Orkneys), you would have tendered there, too. When we stopped in Lerwick (Shetlands), we were supposed to dock. However, it was a bit windy (apparently it's often windy in the Shetlands), and we were concerned about having the port canceled. Fortunately the captain decided to anchor in the harbor and tender.
Interestingly, Edinburgh wasn't identified as a tender port on our docs, but we knew we would be at New Haven, and we knew that was a tender port, so instead of the 4 expected tenders, we had 5, but none was really a problem. Edinburgh was actually the most problematic tender port, as the ship anchored quite far offshore, which made for a quite long tender ride. We were scheduled to depart at 18:00, so we were expecting a last tender time of 17:30 or maybe 17:15, but found out the night before (when the Daily came out) that the last tender would be 16:45! We'd arranged a private tour that was planned to return to the port at 17:00, and fortunately we were able to rush the end of the tour and get to the port at 16:45. Unfortunately there were a whole bunch of Viking excursions that were also returning at the same time, so that tender was REALLY full. And disappointingly, it turned out to not be the last tender. There was one more tender for pax, plus the final tender for crew. The crew coordinating getting pax with non-Viking excursions onto tenders were great and got us onto the first tender in the morning, which definitely helped. They always say Viking excursions go first, but our experiences in Edinburgh and Geiranger were that if you talk to the crew, and you're ready to go near the Lobby bar, they'll accommodate you. There wasn't a single tender we were on that was truly full. There were always seats at the far front or back that no one ever seemed to want to use.

Sorry for going on so long. Just don't want anyone to fear the tender ports on this cruise, but be sure to plan accordingly for Edinburgh.

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[SrCruizer]

Really appreciate you taking the time to write a well thought out review with pros and cons since we will be on this cruise next year. Liked hearing that ports talks were not the day before. You were fortunate to have Russell Lee as one of the guest lecturers. We had him on our Barcelona to Copenhagen cruise this year and he was excellent. He, along with his wife Gail, were always friendly and very approachable the times we ran into them on the ship. Also, glad to hear that Manfredi’s menu has been tweaked. We haven’t been a fan of Manfredi’s but will give it another go. Our favorite is the Chef’s Table. 

[Peregrina651]

On 7/25/2019 at 12:00 AM, just_dont said:

If you had made it to Kirkwall (Orkneys), you would have tendered there, too.

 

I think the answer for these two ports is that it depends and you won't always know in advance. We docked in the Orkneys and were shuttled into town, about 10 minutes drive. Same in the Shetlands.

 

In Geiranger, we were the lucky ship that got to use floating dock bridge thing (so we didn't tender). I don't know if that was an inaugural year special (or just because I was on the ship and they were pulling out all the stops--blue skies, calm seas, docking wherever possible, the whole nine yards).

[just_dont]

 
I think the answer for these two ports is that it depends and you won't always know in advance. We docked in the Orkneys and were shuttled into town, about 10 minutes drive. Same in the Shetlands.
 
In Geiranger, we were the lucky ship that got to use floating dock bridge thing (so we didn't tender). I don't know if that was an inaugural year special (or just because I was on the ship and they were pulling out all the stops--blue skies, calm seas, docking wherever possible, the whole nine yards).

Usually, except for last-minute changes (due to something like weather), you can find out in advance if/where your ship will be docking by checking the port's website. Before our June cruise I did this for all of our ports. While doing so, I looked farther down the calendar for other Viking ships, and as far as I saw, all Viking ships this summer were listed as "Kirkwall anchorage". Not a big deal either way. Personally, if being shuttled between the ship and town, I'd prefer the shuttle to be a tender, rather than "another bus."
Like your experience, our expected port for Lerwick was supposed to be outside of town, so we too would have had to shuttle. After the captain decided to anchor, we were told the tender ride was going to be shorter than the shuttle bus would have been.
As for the SeaWalk in Geiranger, I'm pretty sure your experience was a one-off special, as the port charges the ship upwards of 100k NOK for its use.

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[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, just_dont said:

As for the SeaWalk in Geiranger, I'm pretty sure your experience was a one-off special, as the port charges the ship upwards of 100k NOK for its use.

 

SWEEET!!!  The joys of the inaugural season, then--all two sailings worth that year. We had the VP of Operations on board for our sailing along with a full camera crew that was filming all sorts of stock footage for the company. 

 

I'll be back in Geiranger next June and I will get to experience the joys of tendering.