Which 2 week(ish) itinerary have you enjoyed most?

[daleybread]

My mom and I have been cruising on Viking for the last couple of years. We are looking for recommendations for 2025. Which itineraries have you all experienced Viking travelers liked most?

 

We started with Mediterranean Odyssey in June 2022. We were lucky enough to be in Monaco during the F1 race! That made up for having to do PCR tests every single day and see people get sent to Deck 3 for isolation.. lol Overall was a great itinerary! 

 

This year we did British Isles Explorer in June 2023. We loved this one as well. I did a lot of research and we did some amazing excursions on our own, including visiting Isle of Noss, going inside the Beatles childhood homes, and a black cab tour in Belfast. Amazing.

 

Next March 2024 we are doing a less port focused tour, Chilean Fjords & Patagonia Explorer on Viking Polaris. This sounds like it will be more site seeing from the ship and boats/kayaks. Should be interesting.

 

Let me know if you have any suggestions for our next trip! Open to your ideas. Thanks all!

 

 

[Mich3554]

We have done South America and Chilean Fjords….twice.  I’d do it again too.  It is just so enthralling to see areas of the world that few get to.  It was weird seeing land on both sides of the ship, but absolutely no lights at all.  
 

[daleybread]

Sounds wonderful. This one looks pretty similar to the Expedition one we are going on in March. Your comments makes feel confident we picked a good one. Thanks!

[OneSixtyToOne]

1 hour ago, daleybread said:

Next March 2024 we are doing a less port focused tour, Chilean Fjords & Patagonia Explorer on Viking Polaris. This sounds like it will be more site seeing from the ship and boats/kayaks. Should be interesting.

We took a variant of Trade Route of the Middle Ages (ended in Copenhagen instead of Bergen) and for sheer variety of ports, it was one of our favorite cruises. Spain, Portugal, UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands, and Norway, what an experience.

 

BTW We JUST took the Chilean Fjords expedition cruise in October and it was tremendous. Here is my writeup:

 

Edited December 29, 2023 by OneSixtyToOne

[Kountess]

I don't think you can go wrong with almost any itinerary, but we absolutely loved Viking Homelands.  The Scandinavian ports were so interesting, and I fell in love with Norway.  This was our first Viking cruise, and we followed that with British Isles Explorer, also wonderful as you discovered.

[wine-wine-wine]

I found our recent transatlantic cruise to be the most relaxing vacation of my life. At least an hour a day in the Nordic spa. That said, you do have to be good with keeping yourself occupied. 

[BlairsvilleCruiseGirl]

It's only 10 days, but we absolutely loved the Empires of the Mediterranean.  The Adriatic port calls (Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro) and Greek ports (Corfu, Olympia, Santorini and Athens) were all so gorgeous and with fascinating natural and cultural beauty.  Spend a couple of days in Venice first and you'll have your two weeks!

[CCWineLover]

The real question is:  What types of itineraries do YOU and your MOM like to do?

It is sort of like asking what's a good food dish at a restaurant.

We all have our likes and dislikes so you have to take that into account.

Style:

Are you the port intensive adventurous type?   Mediterranean cruise - most have a port a day

Love the days at sea?   A TA like San Juan to Barcelona,  or Hawaiian Sojourn

Like a mix of both?   South America and any of the Iceland itineraries and Midnight Sun

Time of year:

Do you get seasick?  Do you need flat seas ?

Do you wish to avoid crowds?

Are you fine with cooler temps (like Europe in Winter)?

Is good weather more important than crowds?

 

Best of luck!  I hope you know what strikes your own personal fancy!

We've done just about every one of these styles.

[LindaS272]

My favorite was In the Wake of the Vikings—Bergen to Montreal. Next favorite was Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile, to Buenos Ares. Haven’t been on a port intensive one yet. We tend to prefer ones that take us to far flung places that we wouldn’t go to on our own as a destination (Faroes, Falkland, Chilean fjords, throw in Svalbard, too.)

[daleybread]

5 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

We took a variant of Trade Route of the Middle Ages (ended in Copenhagen instead of Bergen) and for sheer variety of ports, it was one of our favorite cruises. Spain, Portugal, UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands, and Norway, what an experience.

 

BTW We JUST took the Chilean Fjords expedition cruise in October and it was tremendous. Here is my writeup:

 

 

Thank you for the recommendation!

 

Thanks also for the link. You are one of the few that have documented that trip. Glad you did! Looks fantastic.

[daleybread]

@Kountess

We started British Isle Explorer in Bergen of course and loved that city a lot so we may want to check this one out. Thank you!

Edited December 29, 2023 by daleybread
Missed the quote button...

[daleybread]

@BlairsvilleCruiseGirl

We did some of these on Mediterranean Odyssey. Wasn't Dubrovnik amazing and memorable?

 

Ancient Mediterranean Antiquities also looks interesting.

Edited December 29, 2023 by daleybread
missed the edit button

[daleybread]

@LindaS272

What a trip! Not offered in 2025 but will add it to the short list. Thanks

 

Edited December 29, 2023 by daleybread
missed the quote button

[bookbabe]

15 hours ago, daleybread said:

@LindaS272

What a trip! Not offered in 2025 but will add it to the short list. Thanks

 

We just did this itinerary in Sept 2023 and were somewhat disappointed.  Missed Shetland Islands and got a sea day.   Had a day before (but other cruise lines switched weeks ahead) change and stopped at a neighboring port instead of actually visiting L’Anse Aux Meadows so had to scramble for a private excursion since all the ship excursions were cancelled with limited replacements offered.  Faroe and Iceland were great stops, but I’m happy never visiting Greenland again.  It’s a one and done for us.  And if you are at all prone to seasickness, be warned that the route and timing means really rough seas in spots, so choose your cabin carefully.  And don’t expect a lot of Norse history and culture opportunities, it’s just the name of the itinerary and the onboard speakers and excursions won’t have any special focus, it’s just the usual random mixed bag of specialties.

 

[LindaS272]

1 hour ago, bookbabe said:

We just did this itinerary in Sept 2023 and were somewhat disappointed.  Missed Shetland Islands and got a sea day.   Had a day before (but other cruise lines switched weeks ahead) change and stopped at a neighboring port instead of actually visiting L’Anse Aux Meadows so had to scramble for a private excursion since all the ship excursions were cancelled with limited replacements offered.  Faroe and Iceland were great stops, but I’m happy never visiting Greenland again.  It’s a one and done for us.  And if you are at all prone to seasickness, be warned that the route and timing means really rough seas in spots, so choose your cabin carefully.  And don’t expect a lot of Norse history and culture opportunities, it’s just the name of the itinerary and the onboard speakers and excursions won’t have any special focus, it’s just the usual random mixed bag of specialties.

 

Sorry to hear that was your experience. It was not ours. The OP asked about favorite two week cruises and this was one of mine, with a totally different outlook.

[bookbabe]

55 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

Sorry to hear that was your experience. It was not ours. The OP asked about favorite two week cruises and this was one of mine, with a totally different outlook.

This year or a previous year?  Maybe we just had bad luck?

 

Just pointing out that the itinerary pre-cruise is not necessarily what you get, and people’s experiences can vary greatly from one cruise to the next, so the OP should take all the recommendations with a grain of salt…

[LindaS272]

On 12/29/2023 at 7:41 AM, daleybread said:

My mom and I have been cruising on Viking for the last couple of years. We are looking for recommendations for 2025. Which itineraries have you all experienced Viking travelers liked most?

Can’t edit this properly. @bookbabe what are your favorite itineraries?

1 hour ago, bookbabe said:

Just pointing out that the itinerary pre-cruise is not necessarily what you get, and people’s experiences can vary greatly from one cruise to the next, so the OP should take all the recommendations with a grain of salt…

Edited December 30, 2023 by LindaS272

[bookbabe]

18 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

. @bookbabe what are your favorite itineraries?

We’ve only done two Viking cruises to date, the Caribbean one out of San Juan and the Wake of the Vikings one.  The first was just to try out the line and not for the itinerary, since we’ve cruised extensively on NCL and done a few on other lines, but had heard good things about Viking.  
 

I think Wake was so disappointing for us because it was a cruise we’d actually picked for the itinerary rather than using our usual method (see below) and it was a letdown that it really had nothing to do with Norse culture or history and they didn’t really make an effort to get you to the relevant ports.  L’Anse was an annoying miss because the other line scheduled to be there that day did their rescheduling weeks ahead of time, and took up pretty much all the tour availability at the replacement port.  We ended up joining someone else’s slightly chaotic last minute private tour to be able to get to the historic site, and it wasn’t really the way we would have preferred to do things.
 

We always pick a random Caribbean itinerary with lots of port days as our test cruise when trying a new line, since they usually have easy departure ports for us to get to and if we end up hating the line we don’t have any/many sea days to tolerate.

 

Our next Viking cruise is a B2B of Iconic Mediterranean Treasures and Trade Routes, Istanbul to Bergen, 46 days including the pre-stay.  We’ve also got the Egypt river cruise, the Grand European river cruise, and British Isles Explorer booked with Viking over the next few years.  Plus Hawaii and Alaska with NCL and the 2026 world cruise with Regent.  
 

We like to cruise, and every line we’ve tried has things we like and don’t like about it.  We tend to figure out first what region we want to visit and when, then look at what the various lines have to offer in that area at that time, and then pick from there.

[tobique33040]

Have only done three ocean cruises and loved all. BUT Into the Midnight Sun was fantastic. I want to do it again. Tromso, the Lofoten Islands, Fjords, North Cape…And after ending in Bergen, we took the train to Oslo, which was a magnificent ride. And Oslo is delightful. I agree with others that it depends on what your interests are. Midnight Sun was special because it really was light at Midnight. And other than Bergen, which isn’t really a large city, and London where we began, there were mainly smaller towns and many opportunities for hikes and being in the beautiful countryside. Norway is so very scenic. The only places which I found similar were in the South Island New Zealand in Fjordland. 

[Azulann]

Love all my Viking cruises, TA from San Juan to Barcelona, Bermuda, Western Med, Scenic Scandinavia.   The embarkation  ports of Malta and Stockholm are the best. Sailing out of Stockholm through the archipelago to the Baltic Sea was fabulous. Also waking up at the pier on Malta and watching a huge cruise ship  come into the harbor was so special sitting on  our aft cabin balcony.

[SoDakPirate]

My favorite was Southeast Asia which began in Bangkok and proceeded to Cambodia, Vietnam and ended in Hong Kong. We experienced so many new things that are so very different from the European cities and ports we commonly visit. 

[Myrtle Ave. Mayhem]

As a person who lives for sea days, the repositioning trans-Atlantic crossings are a match made in Heaven. The beautiful & glorious Viking ship becomes the destination. Absolutely relaxing, if that appeals to you. My next, in March with 10 sea days!

Edited December 30, 2023 by Myrtle Ave. Mayhem

[Clay Clayton]

I second (or is it third?) the a transatlantic! This is especially true if you’re still working-so relaxing!

[millybess]

20 hours ago, bookbabe said:

And if you are at all prone to seasickness, be warned that the route and timing means really rough seas in spots, so choose your cabin carefully. 

 

@bookbabe If I recall correctly, you had an aft cabin. Was that a good choice for you?

[bookbabe]

1 hour ago, millybess said:

@bookbabe If I recall correctly, you had an aft cabin. Was that a good choice for you?

For us?  Yes, absolutely.  Aft cabins, especially ones like the ES2 on Viking with a huge wraparound balcony, are our absolute favorite, and what we’d pick first given the option.  Then again, we aren’t prone to seasickness.  But we did have to ask for stuff like the water bottles and some other breakables to be removed, as things kept sliding off the table a few of the days.  It was very rough at times.  It was definitely a “hold onto things as you walk” kind of trip for much of the journey.