By Royal Appointment

[Ecnarps]

Does anyone have any input regarding the "By Royal Appointment" excursion associated with the Into The Midnight Sun cruise?  Have heard various conflicting estimates on the price of this optional excursion and whether it is worth it. Thanks.

[deec]

I would love to hear all comments about the optional excursions for Into the Midnight Sun.  We are going June 2020.

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, Ecnarps said:

Does anyone have any input regarding the "By Royal Appointment" excursion associated with the Into The Midnight Sun cruise?  Have heard various conflicting estimates on the price of this optional excursion and whether it is worth it. Thanks.

At the end of our World Cruise in London, this excursion is 8hrs and is priced at CAN $1,039. Ridiculous price for visiting a few shops you can access from the Tube.

[just_dont]

I would love to hear all comments about the optional excursions for Into the Midnight Sun.  We are going June 2020.

We did the Midnight Sun cruise this June. I made a spreadsheet with of all the excursions, including all times offered and their costs.
However, I can't provide any information on the Royal Appointment excursion, as we didn't take it, and didn't know anyone who did.
We did a mix of Viking and DIY excursions. Our favorite Viking excursion was a Trollfjord cruise in Lofoten, amplified by having absolutely beautiful weather.
The Shetland Pony Experience was great (DW got to spend plenty of time with the ponies).
The included excursion in Kirkwall was surprisingly good as well.

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[deec]

thank you for that information

first hand experience is often so much better than the Viking write ups/descriptions

what DIY excursions did you find worthwhile

[Cienfuegos]

4 hours ago, deec said:

thank you for that information

first hand experience is often so much better than the Viking write ups/descriptions

what DIY excursions did you find worthwhile

 

I had the same reaction to the Trade Routes of the Middle Ages excursions. The on board sales manager's presentations and sales pitches were uniformly more interesting and engaging than the packaged material on the Viking website.

 

 

[Frenchberet]

We did Into the Midnight Sun in July 2018.  We had a great time and did a number of the included and optional excursions.  We didn’t do the Royal Appointment so can’t comment on that one.

Bergen – included tour – bus ride around the city with a few photo ops.  Very good.

Geiranger – optional RIB jet boat excursion – first time on a jet boat, very exciting!  We also had time to do the included excursion which was a bus ride with a stop for the view/photos.  Worth the time but, unfortunately, it was very foggy that day and we couldn’t see much.

Lofoten – optional Sea Fishing – excellent – we caught several fish (pollack) and had a wonderful time!

Tromso – optional Husky Trek Through Arctic Hills – excellent – loved meeting the dogs. 

Honningsvåg – optional King Crab Safari – excellent – another ride on a RIB jet boat.  The staff pulled the traps on to the boats then we continued to an island where they demonstrated how to prepare the crabs.  We enjoyed a wonderful lunch of fresh crab in a tipi tent.

Shetland Islands – optional Walking the Trails of Mousa Island – fair.  Basically, a walk around the island.  We weren’t able to get close to any of the wildlife.

Orkney Islands – included Highlights of Historic Orkney – excellent.  Beautiful scenery.  Loved the time we spent at the Ring of Brodgar.

Edinburgh – optional Holyrood Palace and Edinburgh Castle – fair – the castle was super crowded; we weren’t able to see anything and left as soon as the guide’s short intro was completed. 

Greenwich – included tour – very good.  We also had time to hike up to the observatory (on our own).  Crowded but very interesting.

We loved Norway and followed up with “In Search of the Northern Lights” in February 2019.  The scenery and our experiences were a lot different in the winter!  We really enjoyed both cruises. 

[deec]

thank you!!!!

[DGHOC]

On 11/18/2019 at 10:03 PM, Heidi13 said:

At the end of our World Cruise in London, this excursion is 8hrs and is priced at CAN $1,039. Ridiculous price for visiting a few shops you can access from the Tube.

 

Just looked this up, is this really a thing?!

Yep I'd also recommend you jump on the tube and whizz round St James's and Piccadilly under your own steam, you could even pop over to Chelsea and Knightsbridge. 

Teehee, for that money I'd offer you a personal tour!

[Heidi13]

The other ridiculous price for London excursions is the 700+ year old nightly Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. The price is listed at CAN $234 pp.

 

This ceremony takes place every night and is Free. We booked it last time in London and the ceremony is free, but it did cost UKP 1.00 to complete the booking. Therefore, the only cost is transport from Greenwich to Tower Hill - river ferry & DLR are both readily available.

 

How can Viking justify charging $234 pp?? Both of us could attend the ceremony using our TFL day pass for < 20 quid. This just doesn't pass the red face test.

[just_dont]

The other ridiculous price for London excursions is the 700+ year old nightly Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. The price is listed at CAN $234 pp.
 
This ceremony takes place every night and is Free. We booked it last time in London and the ceremony is free, but it did cost UKP 1.00 to complete the booking. Therefore, the only cost is transport from Greenwich to Tower Hill - river ferry & DLR are both readily available.
 
How can Viking justify charging $234 pp?? Both of us could attend the ceremony using our TFL day pass for

I'd read that getting one of those "free" tickets was quite difficult, as it would book up many months ahead of time, especially in the summer.

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[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, just_dont said:

I'd read that getting one of those "free" tickets was quite difficult, as it would book up many months ahead of time, especially in the summer.

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Affirmative, it is booked up many months in advance, but when available it was a simple online process.

[just_dont]

Affirmative, it is booked up many months in advance, but when available it was a simple online process.

The advantage of (paying a significant premium for) the Viking excursion.

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[orchestrapal]

On 11/20/2019 at 12:34 PM, Heidi13 said:

The other ridiculous price for London excursions is the 700+ year old nightly Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. The price is listed at CAN $234 pp.

 

This ceremony takes place every night and is Free. We booked it last time in London and the ceremony is free, but it did cost UKP 1.00 to complete the booking. Therefore, the only cost is transport from Greenwich to Tower Hill - river ferry & DLR are both readily available.

 

How can Viking justify charging $234 pp?? Both of us could attend the ceremony using our TFL day pass for < 20 quid. This just doesn't pass the red face test.

You are so right and Uber round trip is under 20£ with a taxi slightly more...

[deec]

We will be in London pre-Midnigh Sun cruise in June 2020.  I wish I had done my research earlier...ALL tickets for the ceremony of the keys for the 5 days we are there are SOLD OUT.