General Viking excursion comparison question

[DCSM]

We've taken a few cruises (2 on Royal Caribbean and 3 on Celebrity).  We generally like to get private drivers for the different ports.  I'm also a big fan of DIY and exploring on our own when we haven't had drivers.  We've done one or two ships tours before and just aren't a fan of being on a large tour bus and the time that inherently takes away from being able to see things, waiting for stragglers, tour operator not really being personable just going through the motions of moving people along, etc.

 

We are booked on a Viking Baltic cruise next summer and with it being our first Viking cruise I had a couple of questions.  There are a couple of ports like Berlin and St. Petersburg that I know we will get a private driver for.  And I know I am not interested at all in the included excursions that are basically just a panoramic drive.  There are one or two included excursions, however, that I've put on my list because they are walking tours of small towns and figure that wouldn't be bad - especially for the couple of towns where I was just interested in doing a DIY walking tour anyway.

 

But, for other ports where some of their excursions look interesting, and for those maybe who have done ships excursions with other cruise lines could answer better, do their excursions generally have the same feel as other lines i.e. packed into a bus with 100 people, don't really get to spend any time at places along the way (unless it's shops which excursions always seem to find the time for)?  Are the excursions generally grouped in smaller groups?  Any other differences or comparisons you would make with other lines?  Thanks!

[Peregrina651]

Well, not a 100 people packed on a bus.

 

Viking works with contractors in each port. These are the same contractors who handle the other cruise ships so there is going to be a certain sameness regardless which ship you arrive on. On the other hand, Viking sets the parameters for its tours. They don't want 50 seater buses with 50 pax to a bus. Groups are about 30 people each on the included tour (and there is one tour in each port that is the included tour). Except for the really popular optional tours in each port, the # of people tends to be less on the optionals. Some of them have a very low maximum number of people just because the capacity of the places being visited .

 

The key is learning to read between the lines on the description of the tour and using a map to chart the places that  will be covered. The included tours are short (2-4 hours) and do not usually fill the whole time you are in port; they are designed to give you a taste of the city. Many of them end with time on your own and the ability to leave the tour at the point and go off on your own or to take the bus back to the ship (to meet up with an optional tour that you may have booked for the afternoon). I want to say that they aim for about 30 people per bus and perhaps fewer for the walking tours, but I have never done a head count.

 

Just keep in mind that because Viking uses third party contractors to provide the tours, the best they can offer is limited to the best that the contractors can give -- and this will differ from port to port. It is very hard to make blanket statements about the quality of the tours offered quite simply because there are so many variables.

 

Most definitely in Russia book a 3 day independent tour. Whether you book a car and driver (be sure to do it through a tour company that will provide you with the needed visas) or a small group 4-6 people or even one of the pre-packaged tours offered by the tour companies (I suggest Alla Tours but there are others). Read up on visiting St.P. You will need a visa in order to get off the ship and you will have to go through immigration each time you get off the ship.

[DCSM]

Thank you for your response!  That makes complete sense that they are dealing with the same contractors but good to have input that viking tries to make the experience better by keeping groups smaller!  And good tip about using a map to chart the places to see how rushed they will be.

[molymoo]

We have done the Baltic cruise and done many of the tours.  It would be helpful to know which ones look interesting to you so we can comment ... if they were offered on previous very cruises.  We particularly enjoyed the walking tour in Tallin.  The tour was relatively brief but gave us some orientation to the city and its layout.  They had a shuttle to and from the ship so we were able to spend a few hours on our own after the tour.  The other one was the "beer tour" in Alborg ... it was a general walking tour but included stops at some of the cities favorite pubs where we were able to learn about and sample some wonderful brews!  Yes, it was 8:30 in the morning but come on ... it's vacation.  The guide was wonderful ... very funny and the fact that our tour meant that many of the establishments were opening early brought out some of the locals who were wonderful additions to the experience!

[DCSM]

The Tallin walking tour is one of the included excursions I was looking at.  Was thinking of doing the Soviet flashback and figured I would do the walking tour before if I could get the early one.  Other optional ones I've looked at were kayaking or RIB tour in Eidfjord, pulpit rock cruise or iron age farm and utstein abbey in stavanger. Vasa museum and stockholm by boat in Stockholm.  That's as far as i've gotten with looking at ports outside of berlin and st. petersburg.

[Heidi13]

If you can attain the minimum numbers, Alla also offers tours in all the other Baltic ports. In Tallin we had 5 of us in a mini van with a Guide and a driver. We toured the city for about 3 hours, then headed to Old Town for the guided walk. It was an exceptional tour.

 

I also arranged Alla Tours in the other ports, but unfortunately we couldn't attain the minimum numbers.

[SantaFe1]

33 minutes ago, DCSM said:

The Tallin walking tour is one of the included excursions I was looking at.  Was thinking of doing the Soviet flashback and figured I would do the walking tour before if I could get the early one.  Other optional ones I've looked at were kayaking or RIB tour in Eidfjord, pulpit rock cruise or iron age farm and utstein abbey in stavanger. Vasa museum and stockholm by boat in Stockholm.  That's as far as i've gotten with looking at ports outside of berlin and st. petersburg.

I didn’t enjoy the included Tallin walking tour and wish we had just done it on our own.  We were sort of walked up to the top of the town where there were nice views and dropped off in an amber store for 30 minutes.  We just went out and had coffee.  But I didn’t get a feel for Tallinn, and wish I had.  I must say, though, the the guide makes the tour.  Even a wonderful place can seem dull with the wrong guide, and vice versa.  We took the Rodne boat tour to Pulpit Rock and loved it.  Right next to where the Viking tour leaves from, and less than half the cost.  We got the hop on hop off boat and bus in Stockholm and did Vasa and Gamla Stan on our own, which was great fun!  We also got together a group of ten from our Roll Call and did a great two-day tour in St. Petersburg, including the Faberge museum, lunch and visas provided.  But we also did some enjoyable Viking tours on our Homelands trip.  As someone else has said, you sort of have to read between the lines to figure out what you will get on a Viking tour.  

[DCSM]

Thanks for the suggestions. We are definitely looking at Alla and will check out the Rodne boat tour.  She that’s what worries me about any of these tours - that the guide makes or breaks it. We’ve had such wonderful guides / drivers on every private tour we’ve done that even if it’s free I wonder if I’d be happier just doing a DIY waking tour with a plan from rick Steve’s or gps my city or similar that have worked well for us in the past.  
it’s good to know that Viking groups are smaller but still at the mercy of these contractors which can be hit or miss. 

[CCWineLover]

2 hours ago, molymoo said:

We have done the Baltic cruise and done many of the tours.  It would be helpful to know which ones look interesting to you so we can comment ... if they were offered on previous very cruises.  We particularly enjoyed the walking tour in Tallin.  The tour was relatively brief but gave us some orientation to the city and its layout.  They had a shuttle to and from the ship so we were able to spend a few hours on our own after the tour.  The other one was the "beer tour" in Alborg ... it was a general walking tour but included stops at some of the cities favorite pubs where we were able to learn about and sample some wonderful brews!  Yes, it was 8:30 in the morning but come on ... it's vacation.  The guide was wonderful ... very funny and the fact that our tour meant that many of the establishments were opening early brought out some of the locals who were wonderful additions to the experience!

 

We did the included tour in Tallin - and unlike the previous responder - we felt it was one of the best included tours we've ever had on Viking (3 VOC's).   This just supports the notion that - not all tours are created equal - and that, like the food in the restaurants, every person has different tastes, expectations, and more.   Just read the various ship reviews that describe the exact same ship cruise & date - they vary all over the board.

 

But for us, Tallin was special - we love the full exercise walking tours and we saw a lot with an excellent guide.  We even took the bus back to the ship for lunch and then the shuttle back into town to explore even further on our own.  So we wound up getting the best of both worlds.   A nice walk and education the AM, and then a vigorous walk and exploration on our own in the PM.  And we had fantastic weather!

 

In the end - you have to decide for yourselves - what are the aspects of excursions or self-guided tours/walks that you like best?  and least?  and focus on that (and not necessarily on other's viewpoints, who may have different needs/interests/expectations than you).

[DCSM]

Thank you for the different perspective on that walking tour.  I will probably go ahead and do that - especially as it's not that long and can always explore on my own after if we don't do another optional tour.

[Krisval]

2 hours ago, DCSM said:

The Tallin walking tour is one of the included excursions I was looking at.  Was thinking of doing the Soviet flashback and figured I would do the walking tour before if I could get the early one.  Other optional ones I've looked at were kayaking or RIB tour in Eidfjord, pulpit rock cruise or iron age farm and utstein abbey in stavanger. Vasa museum and stockholm by boat in Stockholm.  That's as far as i've gotten with looking at ports outside of berlin and st. petersburg.

We did the Tallin walking tour and thought it was very good. Soviet Flashback was one of the best tours we’ve had- really eye-opening. Pulpit Rock is good; you can book the same tour with a private company for less. The boats are docked pretty much next to each other. The two Stockholm tours you listed we did on our own as we were in Stockholm a few days before the cruise. The Vasa museum is very good. We also did a boat tour in Stockholm before the cruise and had a great time. We did the Grieg House and concert in Bergen and enjoyed it. The evening jazz tour in Copenhagen was fantastic- the Scandinavian Rhythm Boys played and they were a hoot. Plus, we were served snacks and Prosecco! Enjoy!

[Cienfuegos]

I noticed that Viking Ocean seemed haphazard with its tour feedback forms for our latest cruise (VO Sky, Norway to Barcelona).  With an earler Cuba trip, every excursion had a feedback form.  With this trip, fewer than half offered a form.

 

When I asked about it, an excursion staff member said the evaluation form isn't used all the time.  Based on conversations with other passengers, the quality of guides on sections of the same tour can vary widely

[lextrvlr]

If in St. Petersburg you are interested in a truly private tour over 2 or 3 days (just you and your spouse with a driver and a knowledgeable guide) I would suggest contacting Dancing Bear Tours. We were extremely pleased with these folks and they will work with you in planing every aspect of the tour, replete with suggested reading.

[geffric]

I'll chime in too..

 

Tallin walking tour was great really enjoyed it and it left us a lot of time to explore on our own. 

I used TJ Travel in St Petersburg..wonderful tour 12 people max .. they have the Visa included in the price. The tour was equal to Viking but 1/2 the price. 

In Stavenger we did a pulpit rock tour with Norled and had time for the included walking tour too..

[Krisval]

We had Alla in St. Petersburg- guide had lived in Texas and was superb. Able to see so much for much less than Viking.

[Peregrina651]

59 minutes ago, Krisval said:

We had Alla in St. Petersburg- guide had lived in Texas and was superb. Able to see so much for much less than Viking.

 

 

And the smaller the group, the faster you can get around from place to place. We had 12 on the tour we had organized and in retrospect, 6 would have been a better number.

[DCSM]

We'll be doing a truly private tour in SP and Berlin.  There are actually 5 of us in our group.  I have Alla on our list to check out but will add TJ Travel for SP and Norled for Stavanger

Thanks!

 

[knoxclone]

Agree - purchase the the Rodne Pulpit rock cruise separately - half the cost, same exact trip. Pack a snack, bottled water, because refreshments are limited and very expensive ( even for Scandinavia!)

 

The included Helsinki included tour was a total disappointment, basically a windshield driving tour and then the tour guide  did a 10 minute canned spiel, walked us to the Market and then told us to meet back at the bus in an 90 minutes. 

 

Also, be aware for the smaller optional excursions, Viking can and will cancel them if they don't have a "minimum" - especially the more active ones. On our Homelands Tour this past summer, they cancelled 2 of the 3 canoeing/kayaking excursions due to low numbers.  Both were cancelled the night before, which then was a scramble to find something else to replace the excursions last minute.

 

Overall a great trip though!

[DCSM]

Thank you so much!  Will definitely be looking into the Rodne tour.  And will take a look for someone else doing kayaking or not set my expectations too high!

Good to know you enjoyed the trip.  I'm looking forward to it!

 

[Cyber Kat]

I can’t speak for the Homelands itinerary, but we just finished the Eastern Seaboard Explorer, and we enjoyed all of our tours included and optional. I filled out all the feedback forms that we received and for those we didn’t, I sent them an email. 
 

Oddly enough the tours we enjoyed the most were conducted by newbie tour guides who had been teachers. We had 3 of these and they were great!  Perhaps the enthusiasm was a factor and it wears off after awhile. 
 

I did want to mention the included tour in NYC. This was our last port and also our home port. We didn’t sign up for any tours. - we planned to do something on our own. My husband said he wasn’t riding around NYC in a bus for 4 hours 😆

As it turned out, he was feeling a bit under the weather that morning and all he wanted was to take a nap and a shower. I could have just hung around, but the internet wasn’t working well the last day or so and at that point it wasn’t working at all. 
 

I figured I’d rather ride the bus 😆. I called down to Guest Services and they had room on the 2:00 pm bus.  I had a great time. The guide was excellent - informative with a good sense of humor. We had stops at Battery Park for the harbor views and a longer one at the 9/11 Memorial (which I’d not been to).  It was a very nice way to spend an afternoon. Who knew.

 

So even if tour sounds cliche or pedestrian, you never know.  Viking does seem to find a way to elevate things. Perhaps they request guides that get good feedback and the tour companies comply where they can. 
 

With 4 Viking cruises under our belts (2 river, 2 ocean) and 2 more booked we feel very comfortable with the Viking tours. I know we can probably do better on our own as far as costs and smaller groups (although many of our Viking tours have not been crowded), I like not having to research every port and worry if the tour company will live up to their reputation. 
 

Been there done that, and now I’m ready to sit back and let someone else do the work - especially since they seem to do a bang up job!  The Greyhound bus company used to have a slogan Relax and leave the driving to us. I’m relaxed and leaving the “driving” to Viking!

[philw1776]

Our Baltic Cruise Favs..
 

1 Did tram up the hill in Bergen by ourselves. Cheaper & easy. I walked the 2.5 Km back down into town. Fun downhill walk.

2 Pulpit Rock excursion is pricey. Just walk past the bow of the ship and take the local Pulpit Rock RODNE cruises. Book it online. Be sure to check Viking ship departure times.

3 At Eidfjord (a beautiful spot) the Flamsbana train trip thru the mountains is expensive but totally worth it. Waterfalls galore. Tunnels thru the mountains have huge roundabouts inside! Alternatively, folks who just hiked the area on their own had a better time than the local Viking tours offered.

4 In Alborg Denmark, A Day in the Life of a Viking was good

5 In Copenhagen I loved the excursion to the Roskilde Viking Ship Museum. Terrific. Saw old ships museum  & saw new replicas being built using the old tools & ways

6 Rostok Germany we opted out of long Berlin trip taking the included local walking tour which was OK and afternoon took fun trip along the coast via the steam engine Molli Railway.  Would want more time in Berlin vs long day on train.

7 Gdansk Poland wife went to Malbork castle & loved it.

8 Tallinn: Palmse Manor Tour plus a great country lunch & seaside walk in National Park. This tour included an Upper Town Walk in Tallinn. Excellent!

9 St Pete we joined others on a private TJ Travel 2 day tour. Less $$$ than Viking. Your email response from them serves as your Visa.  Saw more sites than possible taking ship tours & with very personal guide service. Young, accent free PhD at The Hermitage. Wife added evening ballet alone and had a TJ personal escort. Got back close to midnight. Was very well taken care of. 

10 Helsinki:  Porvoo tour was OK at best.

11 Vasa Museum & Stockholm by Boat was pricey with nice lunch.

EASY to do on your own without advance reservations. Save the $$$ and do it yourself.

 

GREAT cruise no matter what options taken.

[tsakishuman]

When we did Viking Homeland last year some highlights were kayaking in Eidfjord, cycling in Tallinn, jazz cruise in Copenhagen. We like to do active excursions and try to avoid sitting on buses.

[DCSM]

Thank you all so much! I've gotten some great ideas!