Frenchberet

Sorry, I read this as you had already booked the cruise.

I used the same email last week with a question about a river cruise. They responded two days later. Good luck! tellus@vikingcruises.com

We did a cruise Aug 2023 that ended in Reykjavik. We left after breakfast and spent a few days on our own. Not a problem to carry your luggage off the ship and disembark. Fyi, we did a very nice full-day tour of the Golden Circle, Blue Lagoon & Kerid Volcano with Nice Travel, highly recommend.

We did this cruise on Octantis in Feb 2023. When we signed up for the excursions, we were only able to “express interest” but not actually schedule anything. Once onboard everything fell into place and we were able to do everything we wanted to do. On some days we did multiple activities, such as landing and special ops boat. We spoke to one couple who got dressed, went downstairs, and waited to fill the spots for people who didn’t show up for their assigned time. Great idea. We didn’t kayak but it appeared that things ran smoothly. The entire excursion process worked very well and we were busy every day. Loved the expedition ship and everything about the trip. It was a wonderful experience!

We did the NL cruise in Feb 2019. Nice itinerary but we didn’t see the lights ☹️. We did an optional excursion with Viking (Alta) but there were several busses filled with too many people going to one location. If we were to do it again, we’d absolutely arrange to do one or more small private tours. Loved “Lifestyle of the Sami” and “Arctic Landscapes by Husky” excursions.

We were booked on the Arctic Adventure expedition on Polaris in August 2022. The itinerary began and ended in Tromso and spent 8 nights exploring Svalbard and the Jan Mayen Islands. As discussed above, Polaris wasn’t ready to sail so the cruise was cancelled. We visited Antarctica on Octantis in February 2023, and finally got to Svalbard as part of Iceland and Norway’s Arctic Explorer on Saturn in August 2023. I don’t think the expedition ships ever made it to Svalbard.

We’ve talked about doing another Viking expedition cruise to Antarctica… loved it so much the first time (Feb 23) but wonder if doing the same trip again would measure up! We also enjoyed In Search of the Northern Lights but didn’t see the lights (so disappointing). No guarantees we’d see them on a second cruise (that would be really disappointing!).

Sign in to My Viking Journey and the date and time for booking reservations should pop up.

Totally agree! We sailed Octantis to Antarctica in 2023 and decided it was just about the perfect ship. Loved the expanded WC and Grill. We’re on Octantis again in 2025 to do “Into the Northwest Passage”.

Absolutely! We are not “foodies” by any means but we love the Chef’s Table. It is such a nice experience. Our upcoming cruises are river and expedition where there’s no Chef’s Table. We’ll miss it!

Agreed. We had reindeer stew several times in Norway and it was very good. Best was the meal on the optional excursion Lifestyle of the Sami on the Northern Lights cruise.

We haven’t seen wandering in or table saving in ANY Viking restaurant. In my opinion, bizarre behavior for a Viking cruise. Hope it’s not the new norm.

2025?

We did a tour of the Golden Circle, Blue Lagoon & Kerid Volcano with NiceTravel. Our guide was a geologist and shared a lot of interesting information. Highly recommend.

Redtravel, you need to be more specific in order to get better responses. Which cruise, which port, which excursion are you asking about? What time of year?

What?! A couple plunking down a wine bottle to reserve a window seat? How did they bypass the maitre d’? I’ve never seen this happen but if it was an issue for me, I’d report it to the Restaurant Manager and/or Guest Services.

It sounds like a specific form and medical information is required. Rather than just making something up, I’d email Viking to inquire. Tellus@vikingcruises.com

We did this cruise (Rome to Istanbul) in February. In Bari, we did the option excursion “Puglia’s White Cities”; in Kotor, the optional “Highlights of Montenegro”; and in Corfu, the included “Panoramic Corfu & Old Town Walking Tour”. We did the Krka Waterfalls from Split (shorter bus ride). We enjoyed all of the excursions in this very beautiful part of the world. Great cruise! Enjoy your trip!

We’ve learned to order half portions at Manfredi’s. This gives us the opportunity to sample different menu items and no food wasted.

We've used Viking Air several times and haven't encountered any problems. We did the Antarctica cruise on Octantis in February 2023. Octantis and Polaris are sister ships and (in my opinion) the most beautiful ships in Viking's fleet. We rated the Antarctica cruise at 5 stars - it was a wonderful experience from start to finish. Viking met us at the airport in Buenos Aires and transported us to the hotel. The next morning they bussed us to the airport for the charter flight to Ushuaia. The cruise was terrific. Following the cruise we did the Patagonia extension and again Viking arranged all the transportation. Can't say enough good things about Viking or about the cruise to Antarctica. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

We’ve seen this too. Check with Guest Services when you board.

I’ve found the temps to be comfortable on board but I always pack a sweater just in case.

Ponant advertises Antarctica cruises with kids.

We did the Viking Antarctic Explorer cruise in Feb 2023. I guess we were lucky as we had a decent Drake crossing and landed 4 times in Antarctica. Another day the seas were too choppy to land but we were able to take the zodiacs out to get up close and personal with a pod of whales. It was a wonderful, transformational trip. Do it.

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