Viking British Isles Cruise - Tips for others going on this cruise

[happyyaya]

Okay - using Vy to reserve train tickets from Bergen to Oslo. Thanks for all your assistance!

 

Next question: we disembark the morning of May 13, Saturday, in Bergen from Viking Venus. We have our Bergen hotel reservation at Hotel 13. Can anyone tell me where the ship docks in Bergen? Does the dock provide a shuttle in to the center of town? Are there taxis? I think we have to be off the ship by 8 AM? 
We'll leave our luggage at hotel and then enjoy Bergen....but trying to figure out how we'll get from ship to hotel. We'll travel light with two rollerboards. Anyone done this before or have suggestions?

[LindaS272]

Looks like about a 15-20 minute walk from the dock to your hotel. Viking docks at the north end of the Port of Bergen (check out a map). They may have taxis there but we’ve always walked to our hotels. You should have no trouble if all you have rollerboards, as you say. TripAdvisor will show you where your hotel is relative to the port.

[CurlerRob]

43 minutes ago, happyyaya said:

Okay - using Vy to reserve train tickets from Bergen to Oslo. Thanks for all your assistance!

 

Next question: we disembark the morning of May 13, Saturday, in Bergen from Viking Venus. We have our Bergen hotel reservation at Hotel 13. Can anyone tell me where the ship docks in Bergen? Does the dock provide a shuttle in to the center of town? Are there taxis? I think we have to be off the ship by 8 AM? 
We'll leave our luggage at hotel and then enjoy Bergen....but trying to figure out how we'll get from ship to hotel. We'll travel light with two rollerboards. Anyone done this before or have suggestions?

 

As @LindaS272 says, about a 20-minute walk (ignore the longer one on the pic, it needs the ferry as well). There are taxis at the dock (no shuttle that I've ever experienced) in case you experience the most common weather in Bergen (rain 😈).  🍺🥌

 

[CCWineLover]

We have left the ship at Bergen dock several times and walked.  Once to the Bergen Bors, which is a little closer than Hotel 13, in May.  The other time to Hotel Rosenkrantz, which was closer, in July.

If you are dragging luggage, it will be a decent walk for you - but if it is a nice morning, it is actually a pretty walk.   Only you can determine if you are up to it!   (or if you have too much luggage to shlep!)

There were NO shuttle buses at the pier/dock.  There were plenty of taxi's so that wouldn't be a problem for you.

[Twitchly]

18 hours ago, happyyaya said:

We'll leave our luggage at hotel and then enjoy Bergen....but trying to figure out how we'll get from ship to hotel. We'll travel light with two rollerboards. Anyone done this before or have suggestions?

Our hotel was in roughly the same area as yours. If I hadn’t sprained my knee, we would have walked there. It’s a lovely walk. However, between the knee and the rain (it rains a lot in Bergen), we needed a taxi. There was a long wait, since everyone else wanted a taxi, too. If you’re up for the walk, I’d recommend it.

[Peregrina651]

On 2/7/2023 at 3:57 PM, CurlerRob said:

 

As @LindaS272 says, about a 20-minute walk (ignore the longer one on the pic, it needs the ferry as well). There are taxis at the dock (no shuttle that I've ever experienced) in case you experience the most common weather in Bergen (rain 😈).  🍺🥌

 

 

That is provided Viking is docking at Skolten, its usual pier. Occasionally, they do end up at other piers in Bergen, sometimes announced in advance and other times a last minute change.

[JerryInIL]

Approximately when do shore excursions appear in MVJ?

[Peregrina651]

It used to be around 120 days prior to sailing but since the pandemic restart it has been all over the place and doesn't seem to have settled into a reliable pattern yet.

 

Also, when you go to check if they have been loaded in yet, just checking Day 1 is not reliable. Check  randomly another day or two, just to be sure.

[SteelCity Cruiser]

We're going to be on this cruise in June going from Bergen to Greenwich. I'm looking at possibly setting up some independent tours in a few locations since we've been to most of those places previously and the published excursions are OK, but think we can find something of more interest to us independently.  However, I'll need to know the approximate docking and departure times in certain points.  Can those of you who have done this route in the past share those approximate times with me (I realize they can change from cruise to cruise) and whether Viking provides a shuttle from the docking/tender dock location to the town/city center?  The ports are:

 

Edinburgh

Belfast

Liverpool

Dublin (I know there is a shuttle here)

 

Also, for London - is there easy Tube service from the docking location to the city center?

Thanks!

[OneSixtyToOne]

43 minutes ago, SteelCity Cruiser said:

Also, for London - is there easy Tube service from the docking location to the city center?

Thanks!

If you actually dock in Greenwich, it is serviced by the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) which easily connects with the underground. However, the most enjoyable way to get to London is to take the Thames River cruise. It a marvelous cruise up the river passing many famous landmarks and will leave you in Westminster right at Parliament.

Edited March 2, 2023 by OneSixtyToOne

[Sunflower & The Scientist]

27 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

If you actually dock in Greenwich, it is serviced by the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) which easily connects with the underground. However, the most enjoyable way to get to London is to take the Thames River cruise. It a marvelous cruise up the river passing many famous landmarks and will leave you in Westminster right at Parliament.

Thanks for this information....excellent idea. 

[fruitmachine]

1 hour ago, SteelCity Cruiser said:

We're going to be on this cruise in June going from Bergen to Greenwich. I'm looking at possibly setting up some independent tours in a few locations since we've been to most of those places previously and the published excursions are OK, but think we can find something of more interest to us independently.  However, I'll need to know the approximate docking and departure times in certain points.  Can those of you who have done this route in the past share those approximate times with me (I realize they can change from cruise to cruise) and whether Viking provides a shuttle from the docking/tender dock location to the town/city center?  The ports are:

 

Edinburgh

Belfast

Liverpool

Dublin (I know there is a shuttle here)

 

Also, for London - is there easy Tube service from the docking location to the city center?

Thanks!

I can answer for Edinburgh as I volunteer there.

 

Viking almost exclusively tender to Newhaven Harbour, and recent experience is that they provide an every 30 minutes shuttle to Charlotte Square.  It takes about 15-20 minutes.  Charlotte Sq is pretty central; anything closer to the Old Town would result in a (much) longer transfer due to traffic.

 

They occasionally dock in Rosyth.  I have no personal experience, but read elsewhere that there was no shuttle when that happened last year, but that may have been because of a last minute change of date/port.

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, SteelCity Cruiser said:

However, I'll need to know the approximate docking and departure times in certain points. 

 

You will find that information for your sailing on your Viking invoice. Different sailings may have different times -- and this information is subject to change.  Consult the most recent version of your invoice, most likely the one issued when you made your final payment. If you don't have a copy, ask your Travel Agent to send it to you. If you don't have a TA, you can download on MVJ (but someone else will have to tell you how to do  it; for some reason, I am blocked from downloading it myself).

 

The information can also be found under the Calendar tab on MVJ, once it has been loaded in. If shorex have been loaded to MVJ for your sailing, then you should be able to see the port arrival and departure times on the calendar.

 

It takes about an hour to clear the ship after arrival in port and back on board time is usually 30 minutes prior to departure (except in tender ports where they will announce the time of the last tender in the daily schedule).

[geffric]

On 2/4/2023 at 5:50 PM, jkreitz said:

Question for the group - What are the advantages of using an oyster card vs. simply using a credit card with "tap and pay"?

I too an wondering this..as far as  I can tell I won 't need to buy an oyster card as long as I have a no foreign transaction fee tap card or I can use Apple pay

Edited March 3, 2023 by geffric

[SailorPaulH]

24 minutes ago, geffric said:

I too an wondering this..as far as  I can tell I won 't need to buy an oyster card as long as I have a no foreign transaction fee tap card or I can use Apple pay

One reason I can recall is that the Oyster card has a capping system so that once a certain level of charges incurred in Zones 1 & 2 is reached, any more transport that is used that day is free. I think there is a daily and a weekly cap. 

[SailorPaulH]

4 minutes ago, SailorPaulH said:

One reason I can recall is that the Oyster card has a capping system so that once a certain level of charges incurred in Zones 1 & 2 is reached, any more transport that is used that day is free. I think there is a daily and a weekly cap. 

Here are some links that may be more up-to-date than my memory:

https://independenttravelcats.com/tips-for-buying-using-the-oyster-card-in-london/

https://www.findingtheuniverse.com/pay-public-transport-london-oyster-contactless-best/

[fruitmachine]

24 minutes ago, SailorPaulH said:

One reason I can recall is that the Oyster card has a capping system so that once a certain level of charges incurred in Zones 1 & 2 is reached, any more transport that is used that day is free. I think there is a daily and a weekly cap. 

Contactless credit & debit cards (and their phone equivalents) are all on an identical capping system to Oyster.

 

The only advantage of Oyster that I can see is that you move the risk of loosing a credit card to the Oyster card.  Perhaps a bigger issue if you don't have a backup and are not in your home country.

A disadvantage of Oyster is that you have to go to a bit of trouble to get a refund of any remaining balance.

Personally, I just use my contactless credit card.  I have a couple of old Oyster cards sitting in my desk drawer.

Edited March 3, 2023 by fruitmachine

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, geffric said:

I too an wondering this..as far as  I can tell I won 't need to buy an oyster card as long as I have a no foreign transaction fee tap card or I can use Apple pay

 

Provided you have a contactless/tap card with no FX fee, I'll suggest it is personal preference.

 

Personally, my preference is to purchase an Oyster card, upon arrival. Last time in London, we did this at LHR, paying the deposit and loading it with money. When we departed LHR, I went to the office, handed in both Oyster Cards and received an immediate refund in cash for the balance and cost to purchase the card.

 

When using the Oyster card, I don't need to remove my Visa from the protective aluminium lined cover, opening it up to potential scanners in the vicinity of the turnstiles. While we do carry a back-up Visa, we normally travel for extended periods, so want to reduce the risk of the primary Visa being compromised.

[LindaS272]

Last time we turned in our Oyster cards at LHR it was at a machine soon after entering airport from the tube. Easy peasy.

[OneSixtyToOne]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

Personally, my preference is to purchase an Oyster card, upon arrival.

You can also order a pre-loaded Visitor Oyster Card  and it will be mailed to you.

[Peregrina651]

3 hours ago, SailorPaulH said:

One reason I can recall is that the Oyster card has a capping system so that once a certain level of charges incurred in Zones 1 & 2 is reached, any more transport that is used that day is free. I think there is a daily and a weekly cap. 

 

Three years ago we just used a credit card and our daily expenditures were capped.  They even knew that two of us were using the same card.  But no senior discount.  We were only there a few nights.  

 

We'll do the same when we do BIE in 2024.  

[Auntmamie11]

Docking in Tilbury, what is your recommendation of things to do in the morning of our full day there.  We are taking the included tour into London but not until the afternoon, as it was the only time left to choose.  Should we skip the tour and just spend the day on our own in the city?

[OneSixtyToOne]

27 minutes ago, Auntmamie11 said:

Docking in Tilbury, what is your recommendation of things to do in the morning of our full day there.  We are taking the included tour into London but not until the afternoon, as it was the only time left to choose.  Should we skip the tour and just spend the day on our own in the city?

I've been to London many times and instead of a drive-by on a bus, I suggest doing it on your own.

I highly recommend London Walks. Pick one or two that interest you. Their Changing of the Guard tour is fascinating. Instead of standing in front of the palace, they will whisk you around St. James Park and you'll see several different perspectives and regiments, from the band leaving the barracks to getting up close to the changing of the Horse Guard. 

 

I also loved their British Museum Tour.

Edited March 3, 2023 by OneSixtyToOne

[Squawkman]

This will be our first time in the British Isles (not counting when I was in London in 1974). Two currency related questions:  Do we need change for toilets in the UK and Ireland? If so, which coins? (I assume Euros in Ireland). And should we tip UK tour guides in GBP or are USD ok? TIA

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

You can also order a pre-loaded Visitor Oyster Card  and it will be mailed to you.

 

Affirmative, but the last time we used them, the pre-ordered ones that were posted, could not be returned for a refund of the cost of the card.