BIE Cruise Questions - Ports, London extension

[Traveler456]

Are ports skipped frequently on BIE?  Is Dublin ever skipped?  Does the ship dock in Dublin?

What hotel is used for the London pre or post extension?

Is it better to travel from London to Bergen or from Bergen to London?

Thank you.

[Peregrina651]

It doesn't matter which direction you travel.

 

I know that the May 9, 2024 sailing will not be docking in Dublin from my invoice: MON MAY 13, 2024 Dublin (Dun Laoghaire), Ireland 08:00 AM 11:00 PM. There may be other sailings that also dock there, rather than in Dublin. Even then, docking locations are never set in stone. With a call to Viking, you should be able to find our which sailings are scheduled to dock in Dun Laoghaire.

 

According to the Viking website, these are the London accommodations. Note the fine print.

 

Your Accommodations

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Conrad London St. James

Conveniently located in the heart of the city, the hotel is just minutes away from some of London’s most renowned landmarks. Savor traditional British fare in the Blue Boar restaurant or relax with a themed afternoon tea in Emmeline’s Lounge. Contemporary guest rooms are spacious and reflect the hotel’s sleek design.

 

ALL THIS IS INCLUDED:

• 2 hotel nights in London (as shown or similar)
• 2 meals: 2 breakfasts
• Services of a Viking Host
• All transfers

Fine print: Extension is not available on all departure dates; confirm availability & seasonal pricing when booking. Pricing may vary by departure or activity date. Activity order may vary. Accommodations are subject to change depending on availability; if advertised hotel is not available, a similar hotel will be confirmed.

 

 

If you haven't found them yet, here are links to a couple of threads here that may be of help:

 

Random thoughts about our British Isles cruise

British Isles Explorer Cruise excursions 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2862566-viking-british-isles-cruise-tips-for-others-going-on-this-cruise/page/6/#comment-64571383

British Isles Explorer Past Cruisers - Questions

British Isles Explorer Cruise

Favorite British Isles Explorer port souvenirs

Live thread: Onboard Neptune now - British Isles Explorer

See especially posts #132 and 136

[Traveler456]

Thank you!  Very helpful information.

[lkear]

We did the May 2023 BIE on Neptune from London to Bergen.  We decided to spend 3 days on our own in London, staying near Piccadilly.  It was great as we went to play, booked some great tours in London along with surrounding areas, plus some great meals (happy to give you any recommendation of restaurants or tours as London is one of my favorite cities in the world). The cab to Greenwich was super easy; you do have to tender to the ship. As for Pre with Viking, we talked to a couple that did Churchill’s Britain, and I was very jealous that we didn’t do it, but it is always a trade-off.
 

We did not dock in Dublin, but Dun Laoghaire, which is just outside of Dublin, also had to tender.  We did have a fog issue and could tender into port till 10 AM, so Dublin was cut short by 2 hours.  

We did not have to skip any ports.

We prefer to fly into London and out of Bergen for couple of reasons.  First, I like to spend time in London before the cruise, second I would rather get to Greenwich early and tender on the ship, fixing any dinner reservations or SPA appointments, then spend the afternoon walking around the charming town of Greenwich and the Maritime Museum while our cabin is getting ready then try to tender off ship early in the morning to get to the plane, and third sometimes because of weather getting in and out of Bergen isn’t as easy and I would rather have at the end then causing me to miss part of cruise or vacation.  We have been delayed twice in and out of Bergen.

If you want any more info regarding our cruise or copies of Viking Daily please let me know.
 

[formernuke]

For Churchills Britain pre-cruise for BIE next April we’re scheduled to stay at the Royal Horseguards hotel. 

[Traveler456]

Thank you!  Questions for Ikear

when you tendered in to Dun Laoghaire, did Viking provide a shuttle to / from Dublin?  If not, how did you get to and from Dublin?  If you take the Viking included tour, can you stay in Dublin when it is over and take a Viking shuttle or find another way to get back to the ship on your own?

 

London is also one of my favorite cities.  I would be interested in your restaurant recommendations.

 

[lkear]

10 minutes ago, Traveler456 said:

Thank you!  Questions for Ikear

when you tendered in to Dun Laoghaire, did Viking provide a shuttle to / from Dublin?  If not, how did you get to and from Dublin?  If you take the Viking included tour, can you stay in Dublin when it is over and take a Viking shuttle or find another way to get back to the ship on your own?

 

London is also one of my favorite cities.  I would be interested in your restaurant recommendations.

 

Yes, Viking provides a shuttle from Dun Laoghaire to  Dublin and back.  Yes, you can stay in Dublin after your tour, we were not able to because of fog our tour started late and we only had less than an hour before the final shuttle back so we decided against it.

 

We had a great Italian meal at Fumo

https://sancarlofumo.co.uk/restaurants/fumo-london/

 

We also had a great French meal at Palm Court Brasserie

https://www.palmcourtbrasserie.co.uk/

[SantaFe1]

17 minutes ago, Traveler456 said:

London is also one of my favorite cities.  I would be interested in your restaurant recommendations.

 

17 minutes ago, Traveler456 said:

London is also one of my favorite cities.  I would be interested in your restaurant recommendations.

I found and saved this link.  
https://apple.news/A1wIE2KAyTxiqAWWWA857cA

[Traveler456]

Thank you everybody for all of the wonderful ideas.

[LindaS272]

If you like Indian food check out Dishoom—several locations in London:

https://www.dishoom.com.

[SantaFe1]

6 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

If you like Indian food check out Dishoom—several locations in London:

https://www.dishoom.com.

Thanks Linda. We LOVE Indian food. And the good restaurants seem to be changing since the pandemic. 

[LindaS272]

4 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

Thanks Linda. We LOVE Indian food. And the good restaurants seem to be changing since the pandemic. 

Dishoom was going strong when we were in London in early April 2022–so they seemed to have come out of Covid successfully. You’ll want to book in advance since they are very popular!

Edited August 29, 2023 by LindaS272

[molymoo]

We have done the BIE twice ... once starting in London and the last we started in Bergen.  No difference really.  We enjoyed both and did extensions on front and back both times.  On our first BIE (2018) Liverpool was not on the itinerary ("operational issues" we went to Glasgow instead) and we were not able to go into Ullapool due to weather.  On the second (2022) we missed Orkney (Kirkwall) again because of weather.  On our last trip we anchored in Dun Laoghaire for the Dublin stop.  Viking had a shuttle that went back and forth all day between the ship and Merrion Square in town.  We did the walking tour on our first trip and stayed in town beyond the tour and enjoyed some fish and chips and a Guinness (a Dublin requirement).  The second trip we took the shuttle into town and did our own thing ... a visit to "The Little Museum of Dublin" (fabulous!) and Oysters and a Guinness (required) at Matt the Thresher.  It was a lovely day! 

It is a wonderful cruise and I dare say I might be tempted to go again!

 

[WanderingBrit]

One consideration on where to start might be availability of flights. London is a very easy destination to fly non-stop to from much of the US, but there are no non-stop flights from the US to Bergen (or vice versa)

 

Our last cruise ended in Bergen, and I'd pick that as an airport to start the homeward journey from  over Heathrow any day. Bergen airport was very quiet, calm, and easy to navigate. I also have the sense that it rains even more in Bergen than London, so if I was to pick a place to spend a day or two pre-cruise it would be London for me.

[Squawkman]

3 hours ago, WanderingBrit said:

One consideration on where to start might be availability of flights. London is a very easy destination to fly non-stop to from much of the US, but there are no non-stop flights from the US to Bergen (or vice versa)

This past June we flew non-stop from Bergen to Newark on SAS. Flight was arranged through Viking Air+.

[formernuke]

11 minutes ago, Squawkman said:

This past June we flew non-stop from Bergen to Newark on SAS. Flight was arranged through Viking Air+.

Interesting; as I search now, I don't see any non-stops from Bergen to NY area (searching for next May). Perhaps they discontinued this route?

[Squawkman]

12 minutes ago, formernuke said:

Interesting; as I search now, I don't see any non-stops from Bergen to NY area (searching for next May). Perhaps they discontinued this route?

My bad - I forgot we added the Oslo extension so flight back to EWR was from Oslo.

[SantaFe1]

26 minutes ago, Squawkman said:

This past June we flew non-stop from Bergen to Newark on SAS. Flight was arranged through Viking Air+.

I am also interested in this.  But I, too, just searched for next May and found no nonstop flights from BGO-EWR.  

[SantaFe1]

1 minute ago, Squawkman said:

My bad - I forgot we added the Oslo extension so flight back to EWR was from Oslo.

Oh, good, I thought I was missing something.  When we flew back from Oslo, it was much easier than from Bergen.  We will just have to keep our flight at 6 am from BGO to AMS on KLM, and then onward.  I bet we won’t be the only ones on that flight!

[formernuke]

12 minutes ago, Squawkman said:

My bad - I forgot we added the Oslo extension so flight back to EWR was from Oslo.

That makes more sense! Yes, several options from Oslo. Thanks for clarifying.

[Squawkman]

When we flew home from Bergen in April, 2022, we opted for the layover in Frankfurt rather than Amsterdam so we would be able to leave later and have breakfast (I’m diabetic). Amsterdam would have been faster overall

[JollyJacqTar]

On 8/29/2023 at 4:23 AM, LindaS272 said:

Dishoom was going strong when we were in London in early April 2022–so they seemed to have come out of Covid successfully. You’ll want to book in advance since they are very popular!

Agree with this wholeheartedly, Dishoom is fabulous but definitely book. They do do walk ins but around peak meal times there’s invariably a longish queue. 

[Nanagranny]

If anyone has done the Churchill’s Britain London extension, I’m wondering how much free time there is for scheduling other activities.  I read the itinerary and it looks like there might be three afternoons and one evening?  Sailing in May.

[Newdaytrippers]

We are wrapping up the Churchill extension in two days.  The days are full.  It takes about a couple of hours each way in traffic to get to Chartwell, Blenheim, and Bletchley.  We have theater tickets for two of the five nights.  We can make the 7:30 shows but it makes for a very long day.  We’ve been leaving the Strand Palace Hotel around 7:30 or 8:00am and returning around 5:00 pm.  We’ve had an included sit-down lunch most days around 1:30 or 2:00.  The champagne private dinner in the War Rooms the first night was fabulous.  We were the only ones there.  Had a fascinating lecture and tour and time to peruse the empty(!) museum before a lovely catered dinner.  Highly recommend this extension if you like history and Churchill.  Two days to go with no free afternoons yet.  I had to forfeit tickets today to a special exhibit at a gallery thinking we had free afternoons.  We tour Bletchley Park tomorrow and it will be a highlight of this trip for us. There are 28 of us on this extension.

 

[OneSixtyToOne]

3 minutes ago, Newdaytrippers said:

We tour Bletchley Park tomorrow and it will be a highlight of this trip for us. There are 28 of us on this extension.

Went to Benchley on our last independent London trip last May. It was a great experience.