Questions about the Journey into the Midnight Sun excursions

Has anyone done VIking Cruise's Journey into the Midnight Sun "Sail in Viking Replica Ship" excursion out of Molde, and if so, do you recommend it as worth doing for the $174?

Are there other excursions on the trip that you highly recommend -- or ones that weren't as interesting as you'd hoped?

Also, how easy were shuttles into town if one explored on one's own?

Thanks! (This is my first time on a cruise.)

Viking has not yet called at Molde so no one has had a chance to take the Viking Ship excursion yet. I'm not sure which cruise you are booked on but that excursion sold out for the 6/3 sailing rather quickly.

The good news about the itinerary for this year's Midnight Sun cruise is that in almost all of the ports the ship docks right in town so no shuttle is needed (Bergen, Geiranger, Molde, Tromso, Honnigsvag, Leknes, Lerwick). In Kirkwall there is a short shuttle ride. The port in Edinburgh is quite a distance from town and it is yet to be determined if Viking will offer shuttle service into town. I certainly hope so but this is the first time they have docked out at Rosyth so we will have to wait and see. In London we will be docked in the heart of Greenwich so there is easy access to public transport into London.

Even though no one on a Viking cruise has done this particular excursion, Viking contracts with local tour providers for its tours in each port. Therefore, you can check in either one of two places to see what others are saying about the tours in Molde. One place would be in the Ports of Call section of these boards and the other would be on Trip Advisor.

 

Also, how easy were shuttles into town if one explored on one's own?

 

Thanks! (This is my first time on a cruise.)

WOW!! You are starting your cruising life with a bang. We did this cruise last year and loved it. They have made some changes for this year but it should be equally as exciting. We had a fairly active roll call last year and you might get some helpful information from it. The hard information starts around page 21 or June 1st.

Don't forget to join the roll call for your sailing and to sign up for the Meet and Mingle party that will be held on board the ship for all Cruise Critic members and their traveling companions.

I'm on one of the Midnight Sun cruises. I read that the walk with husky excursion in Tromso is a little bit difficult in some respects, as huskies are very strong and can be a little hard to handle. One of the Cruise Critic hosts reviewed the excursion (although the host was not on Viking's excursion, so it's possible Viking's will be different) and mentioned it was not exactly as expected. In addition to having a bit of a struggle with the dog, the area of the walk was a little rough, so the experience was not exactly a nice, calm, relaxing walk with a handsome dog! She/he suggested NOT wearing your best clothes, although they DO provide you with "wellies" (mud shoes or rubbers?) While the walk is only part of the excursion, and the reviewer was only one person and someone else's opinion might be different, I thought I'd at least mention this. I'm sure the huskies are lovable, but we used to own one, and as my husband used to say, "Huskies only know one direction -- away!"

As for Leknes, on our cruise, which is likely the same for others on this itinerary, the cruise port is actually a bit far from the town of Leknes, and from what I've read, it's best to take a shore excursion or perhaps a cab ride somewhere. Here are my notes from others who visited Leknes (but not on Viking): From pier 15€ shuttle to Ballstad active fishingvillage, picturesque about 30 mins. away. Canalso walk to Leknes 3 km 30-45 mins., marked with sign to E10/town, but not muchthere. Souvenirs & post cards/stamps at little shops by tender pier;internet 3.50€ for 20m. Taxis.

As for Kirkwall, yes, we dock a bit away from the city. However, according to the port site for the city, they provide buses to center city. Here are my notes for my upcoming cruise: Port provides 2 “bendy buses” each holding 135, 8 – 5:15 or 45mpre-departure. Usually taken to Tourist Info center &close by are taxis, public trans. & TI rep.

I've traveled independently very often on ocean cruises. Some ports are easier than others. Many cruise lines or ports offer a shuttle - either for a charge, for example Princess charges 10 euros, or free. In some places you dock center city; others far away. On this cruise, Rosyth/Edinburgh might be a challenge due to the dock's distance to the city; however, once in the city you can do a Hop On Hop Off bus if you want. From Greenwich you can take a DLR train or Thames Clipper if you want to go into London on your own. In Kirkwall there's much to see outside the city and some inside the city. I'm most interested in the "stone" sights, but everyone's different, of course. In Lerwick, we're renting a car, but Viking is offering some great excursions, I notice. In Leknes, we're there only half a day; I'm taking one of the optional excursions. Leknes is small and is a tough port to do on your own, from what I can tell. Honningsvag is like Leknes. We're just taking the included excursion. Tromso - we're assigned to dock center city on June 17 cruise; hope you are too. However, unless attractions in Tromso appear to be rather spread out, so unless you simply want to get off and wander, I think you'll need some kind of excursion, or at least a plan as to where you might want to go. Of course, Viking is great for beginning cruisers like you, since they provide an included excursion in each port. In Molde the only dock location is center city. However, most of the attractions are out of town. We're interested in the Atlantic Road. Geiranger is easy to do on your own, as it's not far of a walk to where you can sign up for an excursion - see geirangerfjord.no. Bergen - we're assigned to best dock, but most of them seem pretty good, so not a problem to do Bergen on your own. See Tom's Port Guide online for Bergen info.

Cruise Critic does have some excursion reviews, but I think I'd go to Trip Advisor before I searched for the CC reviews.

Hope that helps, and enjoy your first cruise. We are hooked now on cruising.....

Some responses to roothy.

Yes, I read the same about the huskies and had the same reaction-- "Ugh. Walk over rough ground in a pair of boots that may or may not be comfortable. "

In Kirkwall and in Lerwick, the port handles the shuttle buses and they are free. In Kirkwall the terminus is the parking lot of the TI building (corner Junction Rd and W. Castle). Runs on a regular basis all day long (I don't remember what kind of bus it was). In Lerwick, the terminus was along the Esplanade at Charlotte Pl. Again, runs all day long.

Edinburgh: Excellent information about transportation services at Rosyth is here: http://www.cruiseforth.com/content/getting-around-rosyth/ With any luck, Viking will be running a shuttle bus from the ship to the center of town--but this is just a guess based on prior experience traveling with them. (In 2016 we docked at Newhaven and the tender experience was not great, especially on the return to the ship. It was more convenient for getting into the city but with complete hindsight, I think that I would have gladly dealt with the hassle of getting into the city from Rosyth over the tender experience).

Honnigsvag is an outpost in the back of beyond. Although they get a lot of cruise ship traffic (two ships the day we were in port), they do not have much to see in the town itself--we didn't see much shopping there (the souvenir shop on the dock was the best in the town). We did the included tour here and it is just what we wanted to do. Our guide talked to us the whole way up and the whole way back, so we learned a lot and then at the visitor center we were on our own. For us it was enough the realization that this was as far north as we would ever travel in our lifetime and we just took it all in--that and the fact that it was still another thousand or so miles to the North Pole. This was one of the reasons we had chosen this itinerary!! TIP: You can send postcards from here. Bring a sheet of preprinted labels( get 2x4 big labels and you can print a message on the left half and addresses on the other half). Then, you can buy postcards and stamps in the giftshop. We didn't know this was possible and so we went looking for the post office in town (it's INSIDE the supermarket!!!). Don't forget to send one to yourself!!

Tromso was very walkable except for the couple of sights on the other side of the bay (the Arctic Church and the cable car). We sprung for the tour that included both but in retrospect we realized that there was the distinct possibility that the cable car would be socked in and that the cable car ride would have been canceled. With some research, you can figure out how to get to with in walking distance of the cable cars by bus. The view is gorgeous and the cable only runs if the view is clear --which you can easily determine from the ship. IMHO, the best view of the Arctic Church is from the distance. There is nothing particularly special about the interior. The Polar Museum was marvelous but best done on your own; trying to do it with a tour group means you do a lot of listening but not much seeing. We left our group and went through at our own pace. Tromso is a beautiful city for walking around (especially when the weather is clear) and the ship docks right in the center of town. Loved Tromso; could have happily done an overnight there. (Friends were there in March to see the Northern Lights; it was a winter wonderland and they went dogsledding with huskies--much easier than taking them for a walk).

Thank you so very, very much for all the information you shared. Really helpful! (Re near Tromso, I would be doing just the hike, no huskies, but good to know they provide wallies or whatever as that was one concern I had!) I'll be on the June 3 cruise so I think you'll be on the next one -- have a great one!

Some responses to roothy.

 

Yes, I read the same about the huskies and had the same reaction-- "Ugh. Walk over rough ground in a pair of boots that may or may not be comfortable. "

 

In Kirkwall and in Lerwick, the port handles the shuttle buses and they are free. In Kirkwall the terminus is the parking lot of the TI building (corner Junction Rd and W. Castle). Runs on a regular basis all day long (I don't remember what kind of bus it was). In Lerwick, the terminus was along the Esplanade at Charlotte Pl. Again, runs all day long.

 

Edinburgh: Excellent information about transportation services at Rosyth is here: http://www.cruiseforth.com/content/getting-around-rosyth/ With any luck, Viking will be running a shuttle bus from the ship to the center of town--but this is just a guess based on prior experience traveling with them. (In 2016 we docked at Newhaven and the tender experience was not great, especially on the return to the ship. It was more convenient for getting into the city but with complete hindsight, I think that I would have gladly dealt with the hassle of getting into the city from Rosyth over the tender experience).

 

Honnigsvag is an outpost in the back of beyond. Although they get a lot of cruise ship traffic (two ships the day we were in port), they do not have much to see in the town itself--we didn't see much shopping there (the souvenir shop on the dock was the best in the town). We did the included tour here and it is just what we wanted to do. Our guide talked to us the whole way up and the whole way back, so we learned a lot and then at the visitor center we were on our own. For us it was enough the realization that this was as far north as we would ever travel in our lifetime and we just took it all in--that and the fact that it was still another thousand or so miles to the North Pole. This was one of the reasons we had chosen this itinerary!! TIP: You can send postcards from here. Bring a sheet of preprinted labels( get 2x4 big labels and you can print a message on the left half and addresses on the other half). Then, you can buy postcards and stamps in the giftshop. We didn't know this was possible and so we went looking for the post office in town (it's INSIDE the supermarket!!!). Don't forget to send one to yourself!!

 

Tromso was very walkable except for the couple of sights on the other side of the bay (the Arctic Church and the cable car). We sprung for the tour that included both but in retrospect we realized that there was the distinct possibility that the cable car would be socked in and that the cable car ride would have been canceled. With some research, you can figure out how to get to with in walking distance of the cable cars by bus. The view is gorgeous and the cable only runs if the view is clear --which you can easily determine from the ship. IMHO, the best view of the Arctic Church is from the distance. There is nothing particularly special about the interior. The Polar Museum was marvelous but best done on your own; trying to do it with a tour group means you do a lot of listening but not much seeing. We left our group and went through at our own pace. Tromso is a beautiful city for walking around (especially when the weather is clear) and the ship docks right in the center of town. Loved Tromso; could have happily done an overnight there. (Friends were there in March to see the Northern Lights; it was a winter wonderland and they went dogsledding with huskies--much easier than taking them for a walk).

Thank you, too! And great tip about the postcards!