Viking Homelands Cruise

[tigger8792]

We are going on Viking Homelands cruise this summer and leave on July 1.  I have a few question and would appreciate any help.

 

1.  What is the weather like for most of the trip?  Trying to decided what to pack as far as clothes.

2. Is it somewhat like an Alaskan cruise?  As far as daylight and weather.

3. What are some must see and do on the ship?

4 What are some must see and do at each port?

 

Thanks for any help.  

[duquephart]

In Bergen it is either raining, just stopped raining, or is about to start raining.

[SailorPaulH]

5 hours ago, tigger8792 said:

We are going on Viking Homelands cruise this summer and leave on July 1.  I have a few question and would appreciate any help.

 

1.  What is the weather like for most of the trip?  Trying to decided what to pack as far as clothes.

2. Is it somewhat like an Alaskan cruise?  As far as daylight and weather.

3. What are some must see and do on the ship?

4 What are some must see and do at each port?

 

Thanks for any help.  

 

We went on this cruise in September 2022. We lucked out on the weather as we anticipated more rain for the Fall in Scandinavia. Summer in Scandinavia is always nice, but rain is always possible.

 

[CDR2001]

We did this itinerary last August. We mostly wore long travel pants, with a short or long sleeve shirt, layered with a jacket and rain jacket as needed. I also had a lighter knit jacket. A few days were warm and I wished I wore shorts..( Berlin) If I had it to do over, I’d pack zip off travel pants that convert to shorts. A few days in Norway were very cold, especially on some small boat fjord cruises. I wore under layers, a fleece jacket and rain jacket, rain pants were handy for a few days too. BTW, I only use a carryon, and the Viking launderettes! For dressier dinners, I wore my black  pants with a sweater and scarf, hubby wore a long sleeve shirt. I was always cold onboard.

[dd57]

I second the comment about cold in Norway and onboard.  We did Iceland/Norway last August.  I had to buy a wool sweater to wear on the ship and some of the excursions, even in Norway.  I wish I had just brought one, although it is a nice souvenir.

[CDNPolar]

You are going to have around 18 hours of daylight in the summer on Homelands cruise and many places are not going to be hot, with temps at a high around 70F with evenings cooler.

 

Norway experiences something like 380 days of rain a year, so prepare for rain when there.

 

Our favourite excursions / outings were:

 

Finding a restaurant in Sweden that served Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes and Lingonberry sauce (yes, like IKEA, only 500% better).

 

Finding a perogie restaurant in Gdansk which we did but were not overjoyed with.  

 

The best excursion was the 12 hour excursion to Berlin.  If you have never been to Berlin before, the day is tiring but you must do it.  It is 2.5 hours each way by train, but Viking charter a train just for Viking and it is quite an enjoyable day.  You have 5+ hours return on the train, but then 7 packed sightseeing hours in Berlin.

 

We had about 400 of our fellow guests on the excursion, and I think that there were 700 on the ship, so there were 300 that chose not to go.  I heard many say that did not go, that they did not because the day was too long... but, if you have never been to Berlin, and unless you are planning to go back to see that city one day, you are so close....

[duquephart]

"380 days of rain a year" = a lot of rain!

[tigger8792]

Thank you all for your help.  Some of your answers confirmed some of my thoughts on what to see and do and what to wear.

[sugarside]

The sun actually shining in Bergen,Viking Homelands,September 2019.

[DGHOC]

Great photos! It didn't look like that when we were there! ☔️

[janetcbl]

4 hours ago, duquephart said:

"380 days of rain a year" = a lot of rain!

And on our sailing last year we had no rain and 70 degrees at the North Cape! You can never tell, jus bring a variety of layered clothes….and a raincoat which you may/may not need.

[KDN2024]

We will be taking this cruise in the spring.  Do we need any local currency (euros etc.) for tipping of tour guides/bus drivers?

[KDN2024]

Also, anyone have any input on Mt. Ulriken vs Mt Floien in Bergen?

[duquephart]

10 minutes ago, KDN2024 said:

We will be taking this cruise in the spring.  Do we need any local currency (euros etc.) for tipping of tour guides/bus drivers?

 

They'll take anything of course - but prefer local.

[SailorPaulH]

19 minutes ago, KDN2024 said:

Also, anyone have any input on Mt. Ulriken vs Mt Floien in Bergen?

Floyen
https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2884956-day-by-day-account-of-our-recent-viking-jupiter-viking-homelands-cruise/page/3/#comment-64117529

 

Ulriken
https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2884956-day-by-day-account-of-our-recent-viking-jupiter-viking-homelands-cruise/page/3/#comment-64117539

 

I recommend booking your own tickets and do these as DIY (instead of Viking excursion prices). Also booking Floibanen online beforehand means no waiting in lines for tickets.

[moatenote]

1 hour ago, KDN2024 said:

We will be taking this cruise in the spring.  Do we need any local currency (euros etc.) for tipping of tour guides/bus drivers?

We're taking this cruise in July (can't wait!!).  I emailed Viking Guest Services and they said we can use US $ for tips.  Quite a relief since most of those countries have their own version of the krona.

[janetcbl]

1 hour ago, KDN2024 said:

Also, anyone have any input on Mt. Ulriken vs Mt Floien in Bergen?

Floyen is closer to the center in Bergen and more popular. You can ride the funicular up, hike around the top or back to town (good path). There is a restaurant on top (currently undergoing renovations). Ulriken is out of town (a bus ride or cab is probably necessary). If I remember correctly you ride a cable car up. There is a restaurant on top. It is a very long hike back to town or some very ambitious people have hiked to Floyen - I have no idea how that is done. 

[duquephart]

1 hour ago, moatenote said:

We're taking this cruise in July (can't wait!!).  I emailed Viking Guest Services and they said we can use US $ for tips.  Quite a relief since most of those countries have their own version of the krona.

 

You can use whatever you choose. The tenor of the question is in regard to what's the best choice.

Edited March 1 by duquephart

[Hockeyump]

Use local currency. How would you feel if you were a server in a US diner and were tipped in Euros or another currency?

[duquephart]

OP asking about guides & drivers.

[Hockeyump]

I know, it was just an example but I can rephrase it. If you were a guide in  America with Europeans, Thai, Chinese tourists would tourists be happy being tipped in their currency?

[CDNPolar]

One of the arguments for using the USD for tips in other countries, is that the USD is one of the most widely accepted currencies in the world today.  Banks in just about every country will exchange the USD.  

 

I am Canadian, and I know that many countries banks would not know what to do with a Canadian legal tender bill.

 

As a Canadian I do travel with $1's $5's, and $10's in US currency for the purpose of tipping drivers and tour guides.  

 

I know that there are many on CC that think this inappropriate, but it is what I have done for decades, and I have asked guides and drivers if they are offended or bothered by receiving the USD as a tip and I have never had a negative response.  In fact I have always been told that they are happy to receive it.

 

[duquephart]

Most of the tipping I saw being done on Homelands was in $$$. I believe the $$$ are easily converted to local and gladly received. I have heard that most just wait until they have enough to bother converting.