port lectures

Will there be maps available at the briefings/lectures?

Do they include places of interest and give directions to them as well as using local transportation.

We are doing Barcelona to Stockholm and am trying to figure out how much pre-planning I must do for our time in port before/after the included tours.

Yes, maps are available but they aren't distributed at the lectures. There will be one in your cabin the evening before but if you want it early, stop by the Explorer desks on the first level and ask. There will be a drop-off/pick-up point for the free shuttle if you want to go into the ports on your own or if you want to stay in town after an excursion and use the shuttle to return to the ship. I found them pretty basic. I did my homework on TripAdvisor before we left home and used the Rick Steve's book on ports of call to help decide what we were going to see in each port. It worked out well for us. We were on the Viking Homeland in July.

Will there be maps available at the briefings/lectures?

Do they include places of interest and give directions to them as well as using local transportation.

 

We are doing Barcelona to Stockholm and am trying to figure out how much pre-planning I must do for our time in port before/after the included tours.

My experience was that they give a nice little intro into the upcoming port. Pretty pictures and maybe 10 minutes of impromptu speaking, not giving a lot of insight into what you are seeing or if or how to see these things yourself, before turning it over to the Shore excursion head. On our cruise he read from the Viking information that is available in your cabin at the start of cruise so you can probably leave the lecture at this point because if you are interested in doing things, this is old news. Experience might vary from ship to ship and person to person but this was mine.

My experience was that they give a nice little intro into the upcoming port. Pretty pictures and maybe 10 minutes of impromptu speaking, not giving a lot of insight into what you are seeing or if or how to see these things yourself, before turning it over to the Shore excursion head. On our cruise he read from the Viking information that is available in your cabin at the start of cruise so you can probably leave the lecture at this point because if you are interested in doing things, this is old news. Experience might vary from ship to ship and person to person but this was mine.

Didn't I read somewhere that it is also broadcast on the tv in the rooms?

Didn't I read somewhere that it is also broadcast on the tv in the rooms?

Not live but soon after. Maybe by bedtime, if it's past 9:00! Certainly by morning when the Daily show is on giving a brief rundown for the day and the temps, it can be accessed. A lot could depend on CD and Excursion person. We were on the Star and it seems our CD is no longer there but may be with newer ships now. He had started with the Star, then opened the Sea and was back on the Star by the time we sailed.

Does Viking have guest lectures about more general topics of interest for particalr cruises: on history, arts, econonmy of the various areas and countries being visited?I always found these to be very informative when I cruised on Celebrity.

Does Viking have guest lectures about more general topics of interest for particalr cruises: on history, arts, econonmy of the various areas and countries being visited?I always found these to be very informative when I cruised on Celebrity.

Yes, indeed they do. We had 5 people that gave 3 or 4 45 min talks on our Viking Homelands cruise. One did a series of talks on the Romonovs, another spoke on Gems of the Baltic(covering amber, art, history legends of Russia, Folk Art), another was an Oceanographer. a British TV journalist, and a pilot. These talks are also available later in your cabin

Also, for port info, there are destination insights that run in the cinemas during the cruise and are listed in the Viking Daily. If you are a destination focused person, you might miss these as they run during the day. It would be nice if they could be viewed in your cabin but I don't think so.

That is good news.

I will be sailing in a TransAtlantic with six sea days. maybe they will do the destination insights on the sea days [emoji4]

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I just got off the Viking Sea (Southern Med itinerary), and the port talks were much better than I've seen on other lines. The cruise director showed slides of the port and discussed highlights and suggestions for independent travelers. The shore excursion person gave practical advice and warnings about bathroom facilities, etc. It wasn't a sales pitch in any way, rather a realistic view of the options available. There was no discussion of shopping other than letting us know if there would be any available on the tours. They provided a lot of useful information and were presented in an entertaining way. The talks were available on TV a few hours later.

They had brochures with maps available at the customer service area and at the bottom of the gangway.

There were a few guest lecturers on board, but we only had the chance to hear a couple of them. They also are available later on the cabin TV. We were pretty busy with our tours so didn't have enough time to attend more.