Shore excursions, included versus optional

[wine-wine-wine]

2 hours ago, dlh015 said:

That is interesting. On our Egypt river cruise, a couple ports have two 'included' excursions and we've been able to reserve both. They are, of course, at different times and don't cancel each other out.

 

I shall keep this in mind when our VO cruise excursions open up...

I think river and ocean cruises are very different in this regard. We don’t care too much if it is only one on ocean but would be very disappointed if only one per day on the Nile. 

[CDNPolar]

6 hours ago, wine-wine-wine said:

I think river and ocean cruises are very different in this regard. We don’t care too much if it is only one on ocean but would be very disappointed if only one per day on the Nile. 

We went on multiple on River with Viking.

 

When we booked in advance we chose one or two per day depending on what times were available, but when we boarded we were on more...  more meaning that they just put us on additional excursions without advance notice.  We just received the tickets.

 

Not sure if they were additional included, or what they were.  We did not investigate, we just went. 

[BlairsvilleCruiseGirl]

On the May 31, 2024 Into the  Midnight Sun, there are three ports with 2 included excursions:

Bergen: Panoramic Bergen (bus), and Bergen on Foot (walking)

Lofoten: Panoramic Lofoten by Land & Sea (boat tour and bus), and Panoramic Lofoten (bus)

Tromso: Panoramic Tromso (bus), and Tromso on Foot (walking)

 

[2cruisecats]

18 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

The day before at the Port Talk, speak with the Shore Excursions manager right after the talk - don't wait until the day of.

 

If there is room, the port talks generally foster some interest and you may lose a spot if you wait.  They will sign you up immediately and charge your stateroom account.

Thankfully, all our Iceland excursions are booked. I was just surprised when there were two included tours in Heimaey & they would only allow one to be booked on MVJ.  When talking with our Viking TA, she said that this is common & may change as we get closer to sail date.  (We did have an early booking slot).  She also suggested checking with the shore excursions desk once onboard if I wanted to do both. (In reality, it might become a spa afternoon.)

Edited May 12 by 2cruisecats

[2cruisecats]

23 minutes ago, BlairsvilleCruiseGirl said:

On the May 31, 2024 Into the  Midnight Sun, there are three ports with 2 included excursions:

Bergen: Panoramic Bergen (bus), and Bergen on Foot (walking)

Lofoten: Panoramic Lofoten by Land & Sea (boat tour and bus), and Panoramic Lofoten (bus)

Tromso: Panoramic Tromso (bus), and Tromso on Foot (walking)

 

Yes, we had the same excursion options on our Midnight Sun cruise. It was nice as it allowed those with limited mobility to enjoy those ports with the panoramic option, v little walking. I was still recovering from a broken ankle when we did that cruise & switched to the Panoramic Lofoten to give my ankle a rest -- it was a great excursion, nothing "lame" about it!