In Search of the Northern Lights Jan 10, 2020 - Daily Viking

[Phoenix cruiser]

Sorry you missed Bergen but now you have a reason to go back in the summer. 
 

In a few months we will start looking at travel arrangements since we are doing our own flights. A few questions:

 

Did you fly Heathrow and stay near there, in London or in Tilbury? Or did you arrive the day of embarkation? If you stayed in Tilbury where did you stay?

 

Getting home efficiently from Bergen to the US is not the easiest. We are considering a flight to Amsterdam then staying overnight near Schipol to catch a nonstop to Philly the next day. Any suggestions on what your research determined?

 

Thanks again for your posts, they have been enjoyable and informative.

[Peregrina651]

7 minutes ago, Phoenix cruiser said:

Did you fly Heathrow and stay near there, in London or in Tilbury? Or did you arrive the day of embarkation? If you stayed in Tilbury where did you stay?

 

We were just on the repositioning cruise that brought the Star to Tilbury and extended our stay in London. If you travel light, you may be interested what we did. We would not have done things this way had we more than just a carry-on and a back pack each.

 

I learned that there is a train that runs from London (Fenchurch Street Station) to TILBURY TOWN (under $20 for 2 available at the station). It is then a 15-20 minute walk to the cruise terminal. OR take the 99 bus OR take a cab. We walked from the ship because we figured that by the time we found where the bus stop was we would be halfway there already.

 

In researching hotels, I found that staying in the Earls Court section of London was very convenient and inexpensive --and that the Earls Court tube station was on both on the line that connects with Fenchurch St (District line) and the line that runs directly to Terminal 5 at Heathrow (Picadilly line). (At 7am, our trip from hotel to Heathrow to just through security was one hour and 15 minutes and cost us $3.36pp). Our primary objective in London was to see the Tate Museums, neither of which we had done before, and Earls Court was also an easy tube ride, getting us close to each museum. 

 

The Earls Court neighborhood has a number of small hotels reasonably priced. I eventually settled on the 20 Nevern Square Hotel and after reading all of the reviews chose the second best room in the hotel (and still paying a very reasonable price for three nights with breakfast in a spacious room that was also warm, clean and quiet and located in a neighbor that felt safe). It was a five minute walk to the tube station.

 

 

[Phoenix cruiser]

Thanks but for a winter cruise to Norway where the wind chill may be sub-zero we will have lots of parkas, long johns plus our clothes for almost 2 weeks so no chance for traveling light. Our thought is to take the Heathrow Express to Paddington and get a hotel there. The next day use our trusted car service to the Tilbury port. The alternative would be to get direct transfer to Tilbury but it appears there isn’t anything to do in the area. We never travel internationally where we arrive the same day the cruise departs, much too risky.

[Phoenix cruiser]

By the way, I see you are headed to Iceland. If you haven’t been, you are in for an amazing journey!

[Peregrina651]

2 hours ago, Phoenix cruiser said:

By the way, I see you are headed to Iceland. If you haven’t been, you are in for an amazing journey!

 

That is exactly what I am hoping for, an amazing journey!

 

[bearsfolks]

Phoenix Cruiser:

 

We are on the Feb 3-15 cruise from Tilbury to Bergen. We are taking a bit of a chance flying into Heathrow that morning, and taking a car service to Tilbury.

 

On the way back, rather than flying from Bergen, we are taking the scenic Bergen to Oslo train, and then connecting with the airport train in Oslo, spending overnight at the airport, and flying out the next day. We had done the railroad in the summer, and it was very pretty, and the winter journey should be completely different. Depending on your travel dates, reservations may not be open yet for you. The site I used was https://www.vy.no/en

 

Too bad you are missing out on so many stops.

 

BTW, we were on the Sky from Rome to Lisbon in December, and we did not have the dress code police out. I did not eat in any of the special restaurants, but there were people wandering around the ship and the cafe in jeans as well as shorts after 6pm. Personally, I find it weird that I am required to wear what amounts to business casual on a vacation--always preferred the scene in LA (and now, apparently, even on parts of the east coast), where everything from tuxes to shorts was acceptable in almost any event or restaurant (and made for greatly varied people-watching).

Edited January 21, 2020 by bearsfolks
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[Phoenix cruiser]

Thanks bearsfolks. Ever since a slowdown by union aircraft cleaners in Philly caused us to miss our connections in Paris and a snowstorm caused a missed vacation in Florida due to flight cancellations years ago, we are always conservative flying in early. Especially since missing the boarding in Tilsbury means making our way to Stavanger. I have heard other folks do the train to Oslo, but it still means an overnight there. Not sure if there is an Oslo to Philly nonstop.

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, bearsfolks said:

but there were people wandering around the ship and the cafe in jeans as well as shorts after 6pm.

 

that is permitted under the dress code. Only the MDR and two specialty restaurants are subject to the restrictions of the dress code -- trousers and collared shirts for men and no jeans or shorts.

[lovetotravel555]

We are on the February 3 sailing of this cruise.  It has been wonderful to see all of these posts.  Thank you so much for taking the time!

 

Do all of the ports have complementary shuttles?

Thanks again!

John and Sue Lenarz

[Peregrina651]

3 hours ago, lovetotravel555 said:

Do all of the ports have complementary shuttles?

 

In general, when shuttles are necessary, they are free, but they are not necessary or helpful in every port.  Example. Bergen does not provide a shuttle because the normal terminal is right by the Bryggen. However, if they are shunted off to one of the other Bergen terminals, then they will run shuttles to the center (but this is rare).

 

If you read the dailies that have been provided in earlier posts, you can see in which ports they did use shuttles-- and maybe even where the stops were for those shuttles.

[twotexans123]

Can someone give me insight into tipping the tour guides?  Should I take Norwegian currency?

[Peregrina651]

12 minutes ago, twotexans123 said:

Can someone give me insight into tipping the tour guides?  Should I take Norwegian currency?

 

The suggested amounts will be covered in the cruise docs.

 

Some people say it doesn't matter what currency you tip, it will be accepted.

 

Personally, I feel that it is polite and respectful that one tip in the currency of the country one is traveling in, unless you have been told in advance that the provider would prefer payment in another currency (there are some countries where foreign currencies are more stable than the local currency making foreign currencies preferable). But that is just me.

 

ATMs are all over the place and are an easy way of getting local currency at a good exchange rate.

 

 

[lovetotravel555]

22 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

In general, when shuttles are necessary, they are free, but they are not necessary or helpful in every port.  Example. Bergen does not provide a shuttle because the normal terminal is right by the Bryggen. However, if they are shunted off to one of the other Bergen terminals, then they will run shuttles to the center (but this is rare).

 

If you read the dailies that have been provided in earlier posts, you can see in which ports they did use shuttles-- and maybe even where the stops were for those shuttles.

Thanks!  We are most interested in Tromso. By any chance do you know if Tromso requires a shuttle?  Thanks again.

Sue

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, lovetotravel555 said:

Thanks!  We are most interested in Tromso. By any chance do you know if Tromso requires a shuttle?  Thanks again.

Sue

 

Depends where they are told to park the boat.  If they get a mooring at the center of town, no shuttle needed.  

[OnTheJourney]

On 1/17/2020 at 3:46 PM, Mibele said:

Alta - WE SAW THE NORTHERN LIGHTS!!  Off the bow of the ship 🙂 I’m doing an excursion to see the lights (hopefully) so I’ll post any of that tomorrow.  

 

So glad you got to see the lights!  Pretty amazing. I also used an iPhone app when we went last year. Trickiest part was to hold the phone steady till the shutter engages. Out on the deck the one evening we had a pretty good display, I steadied it on a tarp that was covering a stack of deck chairs. Then, during the GLØD excursion, I did the same only steadying the phone on my trekking pole! Was hoping my video cam would have gotten something, but didn't work. Safe travels...

[bk travels]

My husband and I were also on the wonderful Jan. 10th cruise.  Sorry I'm a little late in posting, but at least it allows me to respond to several comments.  First, as far as missing ports, most passengers seemed very happy to substitute Sognefjord for the planned stop in Bodo.  It was a beautiful day with wonderful scenery and probably a highlight of the trip.  I think it should be a regular part of the itinerary. 

For those who missed Bergen, though, it would have been very disappointing.  It's a great port with interesting museums and sightseeing.  We easily walked directly from the ship -- with a lot of luggage -- to our lovely hotel, the Clarion Havnekontoret.  Location was fantastic, hotel was lovely, and breakfast was incredible. We stayed a couple of nights and really enjoyed the city.  It's in the southern part of Norway, so warmer than much of the trip.  Stay a day or two if you can. Flying home was a long journey because of a great deal we had on BA,. We took the airport bus from the front of the hotel and flew from Bergen to Edinbugh.  From there we flew to Heathrow and had an overnight layover.  We stayed in a room at the lovely Sofitel right in Terminal 5 and  grabbed some light food for dinner from the M&S in the terminal.  It was so convenient boarding our flight to JFK the next morning. 

Someone also asked about London/Tilbury.  We wanted to spend a few days in London at the start of the trip, and had the great pleasure of seeing Hamilton (affordably) while we were there.  We took the Express Train from Heathrow which was convenient, fast, and easy.  Our connection on to the hotel was more difficult, and I would get a cab from Paddington station to the hotel next time.  The issue was that we had a fair amount of luggage and there were multiple long flights of stairs to make the connection.  Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers!

We stayed at St. Ermin's which is a Marriott boutique hotel.  The location was superb and I would stay there again in a heartbeat. We took an Express Direct car to the cruise ship -- highly recommend it.  I had been struggling with decisions about cost and arrangements for various options, but this was just so easy, relatively affordable, and reliable.  I booked it several weeks ahead of time online. The ship was not very close to town in Tilbury itself.  It wouldn't be a pleasant walk especially in the winter with luggage if you followed some of the alternate online suggestions.

We did book two independent excursions and both were great.  In Tromso we booked a dinner and reindeer sleigh ride at a Sami camp.  It was a fun adventure and the best part was listening to the Sami owner talk about his life and culture.  It was a quick walk from the ship to the pickup point at the Radisson Blu.  We also booked a hunt for the Northern Lights with Glod in Alta and they were really terrific.  They picked up about 12 of us right near the ship at a heated port building, gave us a wonderful seafood chowder at their HQ, then took us in vans to two different sites for the best viewing.  We did see the lights, but there was quite a bit of cloudiness too.  We spent several hours with them and they did provide polar suits and boots, but it was still cold!  I should have used the foot warmers that I had left on board the ship.

In Tromso we were docked almost in the center of town which was really convenient.  There was an International Film Festival at the time (celebrating its 30th anniversary) part of which was held outside!  In the middle of the afternoon! It was a fun experience.  This was  a really great port.  There was considerably less to see in Alta other than the tours, but the ship did provide a shuttle.  The included ship excursions in all ports were quite good.

We also saw the aurora a couple of nights from the ship.  One really lovely thing was that Viking turned off a lot of the exterior lights to give us a good view of the sky, and then sent waiters up to the top deck with cups of hot chocolate.  It was such a nice touch.  We had a lot of cloud cover most nights, so the stars were not as dense and spectacular as we had hoped.  

 

In terms of packing, we found temperatures throughout the ship to be very inconsistent.  There were public areas that were absolutely freezing and other areas that were quite warm.  There are two rooms in the Chef's Table, for example, and the first room was very comfortable. Unfortunately, we were seated in the back room which was dramatically colder at least that night.  My only other disappointment on the ship itself was that the magnificent multi-story video screen in the atrium was broken for almost the entire trip.  By the way, we were extremely impressed with the number and quality of the lecturers on board.  They were really interesting and we made a special effort to attend as many as possible.

This was a lovely cruise on a great ship and I hope those who are still looking forward to their journeys enjoy it as much as we did.

[Phoenix cruiser]

Thanks for the feedback and tips. 

[BoloMK34]

I apologize in advance, this question is likely a tad off-topic.

 

My wife and I live in California and we're in the early stages of searching for a cruise vendor that can take us someplace to see the northern lights. We have sailed Viking in the past (and we are ticketed for a Rhine cruise to the Christmas markets in December 2020)...we've never sailed on Viking Ocean.  

 

What are your thoughts / impressions of Viking Ocean (vs Royal Caribbean or another that operates in these waters)?

 

If you sailed on one of these cruises...did you see the northern lights?  Did they try to allow viewing of the northern lights?

 

OK...I thank you in advance.

 

Scott Wallace 

[Phoenix cruiser]

I can answer most of your questions.

 

1. Viking is a small ship all inclusive experience. The ships are 1/4 to 1/5 the size of Royal Caribbean and thus a much more personalized experience. Of course there isn’t all the fancy add ons of the Royal Caribbean ships but in exchange you get included WiFi, Adult beverages at meals, all cabins with balconies, and more.

 

2. While there is no guarantee, the most recent voyages where folks have reported their experiences all saw the Northern lights multiple times, both from the ship and on excursions. You can sign up to be notified when there is a sighting and I understand the captain has reduced the ship’s exterior lighting to provide a better view.

 

Hope this helps.

[bearsfolks]

Hi BoloMK34:

Just as you apologized for a "tad off-topic question", let me apologize for a tad off-topic answer. In fact, let me apologize to everyone who reads this--I am not trying to stir things up, but have thought about this some, and these are my experience and conclusions.

I was on a recent Viking NL cruise, one of those where we could claim that we saw lights both from the ship and on an expedition. And yes, you could see them with your naked eye, and there was actually color in them. 

However, I have spent several weeks (cumulatively almost two months) in the past, searching for the lights on land in Iceland (did not see any), Alaska (saw pretty good lights), and Northern Norway and Sweden (saw absolutely jaw-dropping auroras), and what we saw was not what I would call a display of lights.

The question you need to answer is whether you want to see the lights, or you want to go on a cruise to see lights. If your objective is to see lights, and you are capable of doing a land trip, go on land. Now, obviously there are lots of benefits of going on a cruise that you won't get on land, but if your primary aim is to see the lights, go to one of the places I mentioned (or Canada), pick the most propitious time to see them, and hope you get lucky.

The reasons I say this is because one of the key deterrents to seeing the lights is clouds. First, although I am not a scientist, I understand that clouds are more likely to form over water than over land.

Further, when your ship docks, you would probably take an excursion where you will be driven to places where there are clear skies, or where there is a higher probability of activity. In other words, you try to be as flexible as possible regarding your physical location. You cannot do this if the ship is on the seas-your route is set! So, if you are on a ship, you have to be lucky in terms of both auroral activity AND cloud conditions, as the ship cannot head for clear skies. Over the length of our cruise, there were only 2 nights when we were in port and could do something actively to improve our chances of seeing the aurorae.

The reason I went on the cruise is because my wife likes to cruise, and, as I said, there are other inherent plusses to being on a cruise. We had a great time, but it was because of the other excursions that we did. But I am going to plan a land-based trip either later this year or next year to go chase some more aurora. One can never see enough Northern Lights in a lifetime.

I am not suggesting that you not go on a cruise. I am saying that the answer to your question depends on your objective.

 

[Phoenix cruiser]

I can’t disagree with one key message of your post, no matter what you do it is a matter of luck. Like you we were in Iceland and never saw anything. In search of the ideal star viewing we took a transatlantic cruise with a noted astronomer and were socked in fog the entire way. On the plus side we had clear skies at the GrandCanyon and the Australian Outback for magnificent sky watching. We also were among the 10% of Alaska visitors who saw Denali on miraculously cloudless days for three days straight. Bottom line is you can take shore excursions on multiple nights into the interior and get lucky and you can be on land for a week and see nothing but rain, or Vice versa. So to all, best of luck! 

[OnTheJourney]

On 2/23/2020 at 9:33 PM, BoloMK34 said:

 

 

If you sailed on one of these cruises...did you see the northern lights?  Did they try to allow viewing of the northern lights?

 

 

 

Yes...saw them on Sky (March 14 sailing). Don't understand the second question....

[OnTheJourney]

On 2/22/2020 at 12:43 PM, bk travels said:

 

Someone also asked about London/Tilbury.  We wanted to spend a few days in London at the start of the trip,

 

We had the ship's London extension booked for the end of the March cruise, but as everyone here probably knows by now, we never made it that far. Hopefully next year at the conclusion of the Iberian Explorer cruise. 

Edited February 27, 2020 by OnTheJourney

[bruce45069]

On 2/22/2020 at 12:43 PM, bk travels said:

My husband and I were also on the wonderful Jan. 10th cruise.  Sorry I'm a little late in posting, but at least it allows me to respond to several comments.  First, as far as missing ports, most passengers seemed very happy to substitute Sognefjord for the planned stop in Bodo.  It was a beautiful day with wonderful scenery and probably a highlight of the trip.  I think it should be a regular part of the itinerary. 

For those who missed Bergen, though, it would have been very disappointing.  It's a great port with interesting museums and sightseeing.  We easily walked directly from the ship -- with a lot of luggage -- to our lovely hotel, the Clarion Havnekontoret.  Location was fantastic, hotel was lovely, and breakfast was incredible. We stayed a couple of nights and really enjoyed the city.  It's in the southern part of Norway, so warmer than much of the trip.  Stay a day or two if you can. Flying home was a long journey because of a great deal we had on BA,. We took the airport bus from the front of the hotel and flew from Bergen to Edinbugh.  From there we flew to Heathrow and had an overnight layover.  We stayed in a room at the lovely Sofitel right in Terminal 5 and  grabbed some light food for dinner from the M&S in the terminal.  It was so convenient boarding our flight to JFK the next morning. 

Someone also asked about London/Tilbury.  We wanted to spend a few days in London at the start of the trip, and had the great pleasure of seeing Hamilton (affordably) while we were there.  We took the Express Train from Heathrow which was convenient, fast, and easy.  Our connection on to the hotel was more difficult, and I would get a cab from Paddington station to the hotel next time.  The issue was that we had a fair amount of luggage and there were multiple long flights of stairs to make the connection.  Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers!

We stayed at St. Ermin's which is a Marriott boutique hotel.  The location was superb and I would stay there again in a heartbeat. We took an Express Direct car to the cruise ship -- highly recommend it.  I had been struggling with decisions about cost and arrangements for various options, but this was just so easy, relatively affordable, and reliable.  I booked it several weeks ahead of time online. The ship was not very close to town in Tilbury itself.  It wouldn't be a pleasant walk especially in the winter with luggage if you followed some of the alternate online suggestions.

We did book two independent excursions and both were great.  In Tromso we booked a dinner and reindeer sleigh ride at a Sami camp.  It was a fun adventure and the best part was listening to the Sami owner talk about his life and culture.  It was a quick walk from the ship to the pickup point at the Radisson Blu.  We also booked a hunt for the Northern Lights with Glod in Alta and they were really terrific.  They picked up about 12 of us right near the ship at a heated port building, gave us a wonderful seafood chowder at their HQ, then took us in vans to two different sites for the best viewing.  We did see the lights, but there was quite a bit of cloudiness too.  We spent several hours with them and they did provide polar suits and boots, but it was still cold!  I should have used the foot warmers that I had left on board the ship.

In Tromso we were docked almost in the center of town which was really convenient.  There was an International Film Festival at the time (celebrating its 30th anniversary) part of which was held outside!  In the middle of the afternoon! It was a fun experience.  This was  a really great port.  There was considerably less to see in Alta other than the tours, but the ship did provide a shuttle.  The included ship excursions in all ports were quite good.

We also saw the aurora a couple of nights from the ship.  One really lovely thing was that Viking turned off a lot of the exterior lights to give us a good view of the sky, and then sent waiters up to the top deck with cups of hot chocolate.  It was such a nice touch.  We had a lot of cloud cover most nights, so the stars were not as dense and spectacular as we had hoped.  

 

In terms of packing, we found temperatures throughout the ship to be very inconsistent.  There were public areas that were absolutely freezing and other areas that were quite warm.  There are two rooms in the Chef's Table, for example, and the first room was very comfortable. Unfortunately, we were seated in the back room which was dramatically colder at least that night.  My only other disappointment on the ship itself was that the magnificent multi-story video screen in the atrium was broken for almost the entire trip.  By the way, we were extremely impressed with the number and quality of the lecturers on board.  They were really interesting and we made a special effort to attend as many as possible.

This was a lovely cruise on a great ship and I hope those who are still looking forward to their journeys enjoy it as much as we did.

Could you provide a bit more detail on the "Direct Express car" you used in transferring to the cruise ship.  Tried to Google it and could not locate a company by that name...

 

TIA

 

Bruce

[bk travels]

Hi, Bruce --

I'm so sorry for misquoting the name.  The company is  ShuttleDirect.com.  It is based in Spain and as I mentioned the service was excellent.