White Egret

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!

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!

Thank you so much for sharing about your trip.

I was wondering about the Viking ship replica trip to Halome, which is one of the more expensive ones offered on our itinerary -- but it sounds like you recommend it as worth it?

Thanks

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.)

Thank you both for your responses

Has anyone done VIking Cruise's Journey into the MIdnight Sun "Sail in Viking Replica Ship" excursion out of Molde? Is it worth doing for the $174?

Thanks