Demanding Excursion

[drbayside]

We are signed up for the “Sightseeing & Canal Boat Cruise” in Bruges for the Sept 4th Bergen to Barcelona cruise on the Neptune. 
Its listed as demanding.

We welcome input for those that have done this excursion to give us input on what makes it demanding. 
We know Vikings general definition of “Demanding” but looking for specifics on this particular excursion. 

Thanks,

Dan and Rose 

[lackcreativity]

I can't be specific about this particular tour, since we did the full day on your own tour of Bruges. That is a 7 hour tour and yours is only 5 hours, including the boat ride. Bruges is one of our favorite cities, but it was tiring in my opinion. We did take a break mid-day for a nice lunch at an outdoor cafe, but we spent the rest of the time on our feet wandering around the city. It is pretty compact and mostly flat if my memory serves me right, but lots of cobble stones which can be tiring. 

 

Hopefully, someone who took this actual tour can offer more specific information for you. If I were to do it again, I would have eaten an early lunch and then taken a second rest break for a light snack later in the day.

 

 

[drbayside]

Lackcreativity:

Thank you for your input. 7 hours is alot for just walking around the city.

We will be interested to see if those who have been on the excursion can give us insight on how long the canal tour is vs the walking portion. As well as hoping the walking portion is  more history and beautiful sites and little shopping. 
 

[lackcreativity]

drbayside, 

 

There is so much to see in Bruges, we never really do shopping on tours and we did not even go into a chocolate shop on our visit! We did happen to be there on Market Day, so we wandered through the stalls in the main square for a bit. We bought Belgian waffles from one stall and since I work in a florist shop back home I had to take a peek at flower prices too. There are at least two pretty special churches we visited. Michaelangelo's Madonna of Bruges is worth finding, and I would imagine it is included on your guided tour. Enjoy!

Edited August 10, 2023 by lackcreativity

[drbayside]

Lackcreativity:

Belgen waffles, the church’s and Michelangelo's Madonna all sound fabulous. 
We will make sure if the tour doesn’t include we will to go on our our own. 

[OneSixtyToOne]

We have visited Bruges twice with Viking, once a river pre-cruise extension and once with VO. I would not consider it demanding. It’s all flat albeit some cobblestones. It is a long day of walking but that is about it. 
Bruges is a fabulous experience. On our river cruise we took the tour of the only brewery in the old city. Because vehicles are prohibited or severely limited in the old town, they built a pipeline to transport their beer outside the old city walls. Be sure to buy a Bruges Zot shirt at the brewery.

 

Edited August 11, 2023 by OneSixtyToOne

[CILCIANRQTS]

17 hours ago, drbayside said:

We are signed up for the “Sightseeing & Canal Boat Cruise” in Bruges for the Sept 4th Bergen to Barcelona cruise on the Neptune. 
Its listed as demanding.

We welcome input for those that have done this excursion to give us input on what makes it demanding. 
We know Vikings general definition of “Demanding” but looking for specifics on this particular excursion. 

Thanks,

Dan and Rose 

The bus parking area is a 15-20 minute walk to the center.

It’s flat but could be an issue for the mobility impaired.

Viking walking tour did include a lot of walking, so I think the rating reflects distance rather than difficulty.

[drbayside]

OneSixtyToOne:

Beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing and for your input.
In addition to the Bruges Zot shirt, we may even buy a beer 😜
BTW, OneSixtyToOne and lackcreativity are both creative and unique user names. 
 

 

[drbayside]

CILCIANRQTS:

Great, thanks for letting us know. We are looking forward to the tour. 
 

[CILCIANRQTS]

11 minutes ago, drbayside said:

OneSixtyToOne:

Beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing and for your input.
In addition to the Bruges Zot shirt, we may even buy a beer 😜
BTW, OneSixtyToOne and lackcreativity are both creative and unique user names. 
 

 

Definitely visit 2be! 🍺
Hundreds of beers, nice canal-side setting, although it can get very crowded. 

Edited August 11, 2023 by CILCIANRQTS

[BlairsvilleCruiseGirl]

On 8/10/2023 at 7:52 PM, lackcreativity said:

drbayside, 

 

There is so much to see in Bruges, we never really do shopping on tours and we did not even go into a chocolate shop on our visit! 

You didn't go into a chocolate shop???  How could you not, they're everywhere in Bruges!  We went into several as we brought back Belgian Chocolates as gifts.  My husband had to do the "sniff" test of the shop before we would buy - if it smelled heavenly, that was the shop!  Then I had to hide the chocolate from him just to get it home!

[TJ042018]

On 8/10/2023 at 1:38 PM, drbayside said:

We are signed up for the “Sightseeing & Canal Boat Cruise” in Bruges for the Sept 4th Bergen to Barcelona cruise on the Neptune. 
Its listed as demanding.

We welcome input for those that have done this excursion to give us input on what makes it demanding. 
We know Vikings general definition of “Demanding” but looking for specifics on this particular excursion. 

Thanks,

Dan and Rose 

Hi Dan and Rose,

I hope you enjoyed your cruise! I was wondering if you did this excursion? We are going to Bruges on our VO cruise in May, 2024 and are trying to decide between the included 4 hr. Bruges On Your Own or the 5 hr. Bruges Sightseeing & Canal Boat Cruise.

I really like the idea of the canal cruise part, but we could possibly do the canal cruise on our own for $10/person during the included tour. I would appreciate your insight on this. Did you enjoy it and did you think it was worth the cost? Any input would be much appreciated! Thank you

 

 

[drbayside]

Hi Tj042018 we did the Bruges Sightseeing & Canal Boat Tour and throughly enjoyed it.
Full disclosure we had a 125% voucher credit from canceled cruise during Covid so our Trip including all our tours we picked were covered. 
However, we highly recommend it.
It was a beautiful and memorable day and our guide was fantastic! 

 

[TJ042018]

Thank you so much for your quick reply. That's wonderful! How much time did you have on your own?

We actually are using a 125% voucher as well, for Trade Routes of the Middle Ages. We have $77/ person left on OBC, that we could put towards paying part of this tour($109/person) or towards our gratuities, which we have not yet paid. Everything else is covered. 

[drbayside]

We were so happy with the 125% credit and made sure we used it all because you loose it if you don’t use it. As far as how much time on our own, that was more than 5 minutes ago so we can’t remember exactly 🤣, but we do remember we had time to order lunch and walk around. Our next trip is Italian Sojourn April 2025. Have you done that yet? 

1 hour ago, TJ042018 said:

Hi Dan and Rose,

I hope you enjoyed your cruise! I was wondering if you did this excursion? We are going to Bruges on our VO cruise in May, 2024 and are trying to decide between the included 4 hr. Bruges On Your Own or the 5 hr. Bruges Sightseeing & Canal Boat Cruise.

I really like the idea of the canal cruise part, but we could possibly do the canal cruise on our own for $10/person during the included tour. I would appreciate your insight on this. Did you enjoy it and did you think it was worth the cost? Any input would be much appreciated! Thank you

 

 

 

10 minutes ago, TJ042018 said:

Thank you so much for your quick reply. That's wonderful! How much time did you have on your own?

We actually are using a 125% voucher as well, for Trade Routes of the Middle Ages. We have $77/ person left on OBC, that we could put towards paying part of this tour($109/person) or towards our gratuities, which we have not yet paid. Everything else is covered. 

five minutes ago, so we don’t remember 🤣, but it was plenty of time. 

[OneSixtyToOne]

27 minutes ago, TJ042018 said:

Thank you so much for your quick reply. That's wonderful! How much time did you have on your own?

We actually are using a 125% voucher as well, for Trade Routes of the Middle Ages. We have $77/ person left on OBC, that we could put towards paying part of this tour($109/person) or towards our gratuities, which we have not yet paid. Everything else is covered. 

I seem to recall you have about 2+ hours of free time in Bruges.

 

Here is a tip for Portsmouth. If you take the included tour, you can ask to be let off at the Historic Dockyards. IMO the Mary Rose exhibit is a must see, as is the tour of Nelson’s flagship Victory. The shuttle stop back to the ship is a short walk from the entrance.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 17 by OneSixtyToOne

[drbayside]

43 minutes ago, TJ042018 said:

Thank you so much for your quick reply. That's wonderful! How much time did you have on your own?

We actually are using a 125% voucher as well, for Trade Routes of the Middle Ages. We have $77/ person left on OBC, that we could put towards paying part of this tour($109/person) or towards our gratuities, which we have not yet paid. Everything else is covered. 

The trip said demanding but we didn’t think it was demanding at all. However, that said, it wasn’t easy for some with mobility issues, walkers, kneeboards etc. 

[TJ042018]

1 hour ago, drbayside said:

Hi Tj042018 we did the Bruges Sightseeing & Canal Boat Tour and throughly enjoyed it.
Full disclosure we had a 125% voucher credit from canceled cruise during Covid so our Trip including all our tours we picked were covered. 
However, we highly recommend it.
It was a beautiful and memorable day and our guide was fantastic! 

 

 

37 minutes ago, drbayside said:

We were so happy with the 125% credit and made sure we used it all because you loose it if you don’t use it. As far as how much time on our own, that was more than 5 minutes ago so we can’t remember exactly 🤣, but we do remember we had time to order lunch and walk around. Our next trip is Italian Sojourn April 2025. Have you done that yet? 

 

five minutes ago, so we don’t remember 🤣, but it was plenty of time. 

Thank you drbayside. No we have not done that cruise. This will actually be our first cruise on Viking. We cruised on Carnival, Royal and Norwegian. Least to favorite in order. Our NCL was a 7 night Mediterranean, which we loved.

 

[TJ042018]

33 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

I seem to recall you have about 2+ hours of free time in Bruges.

 

Here is a tip for Portsmouth. If you take the included tour, you can ask to be let off at the Historic Dockyards. IMO the Mary Rose exhibit is a must see, as is the tour of Nelson’s flagship Victory. The shuttle stop back to the ship is a short walk from the entrance.

 

 

 

 

Thank you OneSixtyToOne, for this information and great pictures! I really appreciate all the advice I can get.

[Famsw]

We were just in Bruges (Trade Routes cruise) for the 1/2 day included excursion in Bruges.  I think the demanding is the long walk (both from the bus and city) on cobblestones with challenging (though fairly flat) walking throughout the city.  We did 15k steps in 3 hours.  You can possibly do the boat tour on your own, but the lines were very long as Bruges was extremely crowded.  Yes, we enjoyed chocolate and beer and the churches as well as fries.  Have fun!

[CDNPolar]

6 hours ago, Famsw said:

We were just in Bruges (Trade Routes cruise) for the 1/2 day included excursion in Bruges.  I think the demanding is the long walk (both from the bus and city) on cobblestones with challenging (though fairly flat) walking throughout the city.  We did 15k steps in 3 hours.  You can possibly do the boat tour on your own, but the lines were very long as Bruges was extremely crowded.  Yes, we enjoyed chocolate and beer and the churches as well as fries.  Have fun!

 

I think that 15K steps in 3 hours even on flat surface would be a lot for many people and a real workout.

 

It would be interesting if Viking would consider putting "Step Counts" into their excursions.  This might help many folks to understand the demand from a walking perspective.

 

That is a fair workout for 3 hours.

[drbayside]

CDNPolar That’s an excellent idea. I’d be curious to know the average steps for each excursion or the guides average steps as a comparison. 
We too had lots of steps but, we love to walk. We walked a lot  on our free time during excursions, except for stopping for lunch. The number of steps would be quite different for everyone, we aren’t big shoppers so that contributed to us having lots of steps since we didn’t go in many stores.. Same on the ship, we used the stairs often and walked around the ship to get our goal of 10k + steps each day. 

[TJ042018]

9 hours ago, Famsw said:

We were just in Bruges (Trade Routes cruise) for the 1/2 day included excursion in Bruges.  I think the demanding is the long walk (both from the bus and city) on cobblestones with challenging (though fairly flat) walking throughout the city.  We did 15k steps in 3 hours.  You can possibly do the boat tour on your own, but the lines were very long as Bruges was extremely crowded.  Yes, we enjoyed chocolate and beer and the churches as well as fries.  Have fun!

Thank you so much for the information.  You confirmed what my husband was thinking. The lines might be long for the canal cruise. I canceled the included half day tour, which I  originally picked, because we like roaming on our own and booked the walking and canal boat excursion. This way we will get a little of everything. 

Did you all enjoy your cruise? We are doing the same cruise in the same direction in May.

Did you have to skip any ports? My sister is on the British Isle Explorer from Bergen to London, and disembarks tomorrow. She has had cold, rainy and windy weather. They had to skip 3 ports due to high winds and rough seas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CCWineLover]

3 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

I think that 15K steps in 3 hours even on flat surface would be a lot for many people and a real workout.

 

It would be interesting if Viking would consider putting "Step Counts" into their excursions.  This might help many folks to understand the demand from a walking perspective.

 

That is a fair workout for 3 hours.

Just last month we had an Excursion Manager come on board in the middle of our B2B cruise.  He was easily the most informative (and understandable) speaker at Port Talk/Excursion Talks.  He really laid it out for people in detail on the amount of effort required on excursions.  Telling us roughly how many steps to get to a bus, or to downtown, how many steps in the tour, what kind of grade we'd face, estimate of total steps on the tour, total time walking, total time standing, bathroom break times, minutes for shopping and when, and so much more.  He also gave good limitation examples - for instance, if you cannot use the stairs to go from deck 4 to 5, then you shouldn't do this tour as their are no lifts, or if you cannot walk 1/4 mile on your own over cobblestones, you should consider other alternatives, or if you cannot make that first 2 foot step up into a bus, then bypass...  and more like that.  Very practical.

 

Wish this was put into the Excursion descriptions when you purchase them however.

Edited April 18 by CCWineLover

[Zippeedee]

31 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Just last month we had an Excursion Manager come on board in the middle of our B2B cruise.  He was easily the most informative (and understandable) speaker at Port Talk/Excursion Talks.  He really laid it out for people in detail on the amount of effort required on excursions.  Telling us roughly how many steps to get to a bus, or to downtown, how many steps in the tour, what kind of grade we'd face, estimate of total steps on the tour, total time walking, total time standing, bathroom break times, minutes for shopping and when, and so much more.  He also gave good limitation examples - for instance, if you cannot use the stairs to go from deck 4 to 5, then you shouldn't do this tour as their are no lifts, or if you cannot walk 1/4 mile on your own over cobblestones, you should consider other alternatives, or if you cannot make that first 2 foot step up into a bus, then bypass...  and more like that.  Very practical.

 

Wish this was put into the Excursion descriptions when you purchase them however.

The excursions manager on the Star in November was exceedingly thorough like that. He helped me so much. I wish they would let him train every excursion manager to do the same, or let him print out a version for every sailing.