Viking Homelands 2022 Season

[MamaFej]

I, too, would love to see the excursions. I went to my MVJ shore excursions page, and it still shows excursions as unavailable. I do have a calendar reminder for the day they are supposed to be available to us. It would be nice to have an idea of what we want to do in each port when that day comes. It might reduce the chance something would sell out while we are comparing and contrasting offers, then selecting.                            

 

Thank you so very much to the kind folks here! You are making me even more excited about our first Viking cruise. 

[lkear]

Screen prints of Shore Excursions for May 6 Homelands. 

 

Edited February 18, 2022 by jrkear

[lkear]

Ok let see if this works

day_1.pdf day_2.pdf day_3.pdf day_4.pdf day_5.pdf day_6.pdf day_7.pdf day_8.pdf day_10.pdf day_11.pdf day_12.pdf day_13.pdf day_14.pdf

[NeilP57]

They certainly do work. This is much appreciated and whilst I am sure many would like to see all the details of each excursion, there is plenty of content to get our excursion juices flowing.

 

Once again, many thanks.

[MamaFej]

Thank you so much, @jrkear! That was a very kind thing to do.

 

If I understand correctly, there are one or two included excursions at each port, and options for paid excursions? We are also free to do our own thing or book independent tours?

 

It looks like the included things are along the lines of introductions/overviews, or bus transportation into or around cities?

 

Viking is one of three new lines we are trying this spring and summer, and I'm trying to keep it all straight. The other two are Ama Waterways and Azamara, on the off chance that anyone was wondering. 

[lkear]

This is my first cruise, so I not sure how everything works.  I was thinking of booking outside tours but with Covid decide to stay with Viking tours only,

[dwlmg]

3 hours ago, jrkear said:

Screen prints of Shore Excursions for May 6 Homelands. 

 

It is amazing that the Flam railroad excursion is not included for Day three - Eidfjord. Hopefully Viking will correct this. 

[CDNPolar]

13 hours ago, MamaFej said:

Thank you so much, @jrkear! That was a very kind thing to do.

 

If I understand correctly, there are one or two included excursions at each port, and options for paid excursions? We are also free to do our own thing or book independent tours?

 

It looks like the included things are along the lines of introductions/overviews, or bus transportation into or around cities?

 

Viking is one of three new lines we are trying this spring and summer, and I'm trying to keep it all straight. The other two are Ama Waterways and Azamara, on the off chance that anyone was wondering. 

Yes, Viking always offers at least one included tour in each port.  In some cases where you might be in one port overnight, there may or may not be an included tour both days.

 

You can book an included and optional in the same day as long as there is sufficient time in between to return to the ship and begin the next excursion.

 

Many of the included tours are more of what you say "overviews/introductions" but we have been on many very comprehensive included tours and they can range in length from short (90 minutes) to 5 or 6 hours.  We are often not attracted by many of the optional tours but that is down to personal taste.

 

We typically block all the included tours immediately, because sometimes they can book out.  Then we go through and decide the optional tours we want and book those - sometimes having to cancel the included if they conflict in time.

 

Don't spend too much time in making decisions on the optional tours - they can book out fast sometimes and Viking typically do not add capacity to these tours.  Once it shows sold out, it is gone.

[CDNPolar]

13 hours ago, jrkear said:

This is my first cruise, so I not sure how everything works.  I was thinking of booking outside tours but with Covid decide to stay with Viking tours only,

We have decided with Covid to stick only with Viking on this cruise.  There is potentially too much risk depending on cancellation policies of outside tour operators especially if tours end up as bubble tours, then you cannot use the outside companies.

 

Ensure that if you are using an outside company that you know the last call time to be back on board the ship as Viking will not wait for anyone that is late unless you are on a Viking organized tour.

[dwlmg]

3 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

We have decided with Covid to stick only with Viking on this cruise.  There is potentially too much risk depending on cancellation policies of outside tour operators especially if tours end up as bubble tours, then you cannot use the outside companies.

 

Ensure that if you are using an outside company that you know the last call time to be back on board the ship as Viking will not wait for anyone that is late unless you are on a Viking organized tour.

I am sure that all the tour operators will get you back to the ship on time. They certainly do not want social media posts saying one of their groups missed the boat. I also believe the operators are running on schedules that ensure you are back on time. The schedule for our Alla tour has us back onboard fully an hour before sailing. That said, you should always be aware of the time you need to be back on board.

 

As an aside, based on the MVJ material above, you could save some significant money taking something other than the  big Viking tour in St. Petersburg.

[janetcbl]

If I am spending $$$$$ on a cruise, a few extra hundred dollar differences is a small price to pay for peace of mind and knowledge that the guide is probably experienced, and  the bus reliable (or not my problem if it breaks down; the ship will wait). Russia might be different, due to lines and traffic, but I will be surprised if Viking stops in Russia this Spring/Summer.

[duquephart]

35 minutes ago, janetcbl said:

If I am spending $$$$$ on a cruise, a few extra hundred dollar differences is a small price to pay for peace of mind and knowledge that the guide is probably experienced, and  the bus reliable (or not my problem if it breaks down; the ship will wait). Russia might be different, due to lines and traffic, but I will be surprised if Viking stops in Russia this Spring/Summer.

 

Hence the dilemma for those of us who are booked. For many, I believe, the St. Petersburg experience is a huge part of the cruise and may well be a determining factor in a "go-no go" decision. I wonder what Viking's position will be.

[CDNPolar]

On 2/18/2022 at 12:35 PM, MamaFej said:

I, too, would love to see the excursions. I went to my MVJ shore excursions page, and it still shows excursions as unavailable. I do have a calendar reminder for the day they are supposed to be available to us. It would be nice to have an idea of what we want to do in each port when that day comes. It might reduce the chance something would sell out while we are comparing and contrasting offers, then selecting.                            

 

Thank you so very much to the kind folks here! You are making me even more excited about our first Viking cruise. 

You can view the full explanation of the excursions on the Viking Cruise website before they are posted in MyVikingJourney.   Go to the Viking site, find your cruise, go to the itinerary tab and then day-by-day click through the itinerary and you will find all the excursions.  This listing does not have pricing, but it does give you a full explanation of the excursions.  This is available on all cruises so that you can see when you are booking what excursions you may be interested in. 

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

You can view the full explanation of the excursions on the Viking Cruise website before they are posted in MyVikingJourney.   Go to the Viking site, find your cruise, go to the itinerary tab and then day-by-day click through the itinerary and you will find all the excursions.  This listing does not have pricing, but it does give you a full explanation of the excursions.  This is available on all cruises so that you can see when you are booking what excursions you may be interested in. 

 

The listed shore-ex are samples of what could be available in each port. However, depending on the ship's arrival and departure times, not all are definitely available on each cruise. At least pre-COVID, we found the final shore-ex listing normally had many additional shore-ex options available.

[CDNPolar]

20 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

The listed shore-ex are samples of what could be available in each port. However, depending on the ship's arrival and departure times, not all are definitely available on each cruise. At least pre-COVID, we found the final shore-ex listing normally had many additional shore-ex options available.

Agreed, but this was a response to an earlier question about excursions available and the responder provided pdf's of the excursions on MyVikingJourney but did not provide the descriptions.  This was intended to provide a place for person to go to find a description.

[2cruisecats]

On 2/12/2022 at 10:20 AM, CDNPolar said:

We are on this cruise in June 2022.  Our dilemma is whether to go on Viking excursions in Russia or go with a private tour operator.  For us (Canadian) we will have to get a Visa for Russia if we go private, but the Visa is not required if we stick to Viking excursions.

 

Any advice is appreciated as we have to apply for the Visa soon if we are going to do it.  

We did a 2 day private tour through TJ when we did our Homelands cruise.  We are Canadians and TJ took care of visas.  This does mean that you always have a TJ guide with you.  You cannot travel around on your own.

[Heidi13]

17 minutes ago, 2cruisecats said:

We did a 2 day private tour through TJ when we did our Homelands cruise.  We are Canadians and TJ took care of visas.  This does mean that you always have a TJ guide with you.  You cannot travel around on your own.

 

When you book with one of the approved vendors in SPB your daily tour ticket doubles as your Visa. Using this arrangement, you cannot depart the tour group and tour independently, and must also return to the ship for the night.

 

If you wish to travel on your own, stay > 72 hrs or stay ashore overnight, you must apply for a Russian Visa.

[salemdave]

On 2/19/2022 at 7:16 AM, dwlmg said:

As an aside, based on the MVJ material above, you could save some significant money taking something other than the  big Viking tour in St. Petersburg.

I am leading a group of 15 people on the Viking Homelands trip from Bergen to Stockholm departing May 6. We have arranged for a private tour with TJ Travel in St. Petersburg for our group, taking their most expensive two-day tour. It looks like it will be about half the price of Viking's two-day excursion.

 

I've been super-impressed with TJ Travel. Email communication with them has been great. Their payment policy is simple: we pay on the day of the tour. So if Viking cancels the port, we won't be out any money. 

 

I have arranged for private tours for our group with Nordic Experience in Copenhagen, Gdansk, Helsinki, Tallinn, and Stockholm, plus a pre-cruise tour in Oslo. Nordic Experience is based in Tallinn and they too have been great to work with. We will have to pre-pay with them but I am more confident about our chances of getting off the ship in those cities. 

 

This is my first post on this board - I am glad you are all here! It's a great resource.

[salemdave]

I am interested in the Viking excursion "Stavanger by Helicopter." It's really expensive, and I've never been in a helicopter before, but I'm thinking that it might be a worthy splurge.

 

Has anyone ever heard anything about this excursion? Is it wonderful? Thanks in advance.

 

Sorry if I posted this in the wrong place - I'm not sure about how this works.

[MamaFej]

1 minute ago, salemdave said:

I am interested in the Viking excursion "Stavanger by Helicopter." It's really expensive, and I've never been in a helicopter before, but I'm thinking that it might be a worthy splurge.

 

Has anyone ever heard anything about this excursion? Is it wonderful? Thanks in advance.

 

Sorry if I posted this in the wrong place - I'm not sure about how this works.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Your question is apropos to this thread. I don't know anything about the tour you mention, but I have done scenic helicopter tours in Hawaii. It is a wonderful (yet rather expensive) way to get views you really can't get otherwise.

[CurlerRob]

3 hours ago, salemdave said:

I am interested in the Viking excursion "Stavanger by Helicopter." It's really expensive, and I've never been in a helicopter before, but I'm thinking that it might be a worthy splurge.

 

Has anyone ever heard anything about this excursion? Is it wonderful? Thanks in advance.

 

Sorry if I posted this in the wrong place - I'm not sure about how this works.

I had flown hundreds of thousands of miles in all types of fixed-wing aircraft prior to my first helicopter tour - and I still remember how awestruck I was when we first lifted off  ("it floats!").

 

If you can foot the bill, it's a wonderful way to see sights of all sorts. Our two flights were in Hawaii (Kauai and the Big Island) and were worth every penny for the totally different perspective.

 

I presume the Viking tour flies over Preikestolen - I'd sign up for that bird's eye view in a heartbeat. Also a lot easier than the hike in 😈

 

That said, be aware that helicopters are much more sensitive to adverse weather conditions than planes. We have lost two attempts at helicopter tours in Iceland due to wind and rain (zeri problem with refunds, just the disappointment involved). While Stavanger is not as wet as Bergen, you may still have weather issues, so it's wise to be prepared to be flexible and perhaps look at a backup plan as well.

 

Hope you get to do the flight - cheers! 🍺🥌

[oldgeez]

20 hours ago, salemdave said:

 

 

I've been super-impressed with TJ Travel. Email communication with them has been great. Their payment policy is simple: we pay on the day of the tour. So if Viking cancels the port, we won't be out any money. 

 

We've used Alla in the past and our friends have used SPB. Both great, but I think we'll give TJ a try. The payment policy tips the scales.

 

[KarenTK]

We are on a June Homelands cruise.  Given the current situation in Ukraine, seems St Petersburg may be dropped.  Time will tell, I guess.  
 

[CDNPolar]

Here is the email we received yesterday...

Dear Viking Guest,

I hope this finds you healthy and well. At Viking, our family of loyal guests, dedicated employees and valued partners is at the center of every decision we make. This dedication to our Viking family and our mission—to create meaningful experiences that are destination focused, allowing you to explore the world in comfort—has never wavered.

 

Your safety and the safety of our crew is always our top priority. Rest assured, our team is actively monitoring the developing conflict between Russia and Ukraine—and we are in close contact with our field offices in the region.

 

At this time, we will operate your Viking Homelands voyage with modifications to the itinerary. We will notify you directly as soon as details are finalized in the coming days.

 

We look forward to welcoming you on board; in the meantime, we are grateful for your patience as we evaluate necessary changes for your sailing.

 

Thank you for your loyalty and support.

 

Sincerely yours,

Richard Marnell
Executive Vice President, Marketing

[oldgeez]

On 2/25/2022 at 5:19 AM, CDNPolar said:

 

 

At this time, we will operate your Viking Homelands voyage with modifications to the itinerary. We will notify you directly as soon as details are finalized in the coming days.

 

I guess we don't have to worry about which tour company to use in Petrograd.