Elizabetho55

On 4/17/2018 at 11:37 AM, moatenote said:

We did this cruise in July 2017 and the stations were not the same. That was one reason we decided to splurge and get the optional Historic Berlin tour--it was well worth it.

Did the Berlin optional excursion include the Berlin Wall Memorial and Documentation Center?  That is one place we would really like to see.  Thank you!

@pinotlover  We are considering a trip to China and are searching for the company we will use. We have done Viking Europe and Russia in the past and have been very impressed with Viking. However, we want to make the best choice for this trip. Thank you for your review. I do have 1 question. Do you share the ship with non- Uniworld passengers?  It sounds like there were separate areas for different people on the ship. Can you explain further on this subject?  Thank you!

Elizabeth

It’s interesting to read different experiences of the same cruise. When we were in Edinburgh in 2018 Viking provided a free shuttle from the ship to Edinburgh and back on a regular schedule. We went into the city using it and walked around on our own. It’s hard to see anything in just a day. We thought of it as an intro to see if we wanted to go back. 

We came away with mixed reviews about the included tours. The city walk in Bergen was a great introduction to the layout of the city with some great stops and a couple of really lame ones. The included excursion in Geiranger was very good. We added an optional that went to the top of Dalsnibba (which was amazing!). 

In Molde we opted for the optional Trollstigen and Trollsveggen tour. Very expensive, very long bus ride with some beautiful waterfalls and scenery but IMO not with the time and money. The included lunch was awful. 

In Tromso we did the included tour (bus tour to some tourist sites) and then stayed in town on our own and wandered over to Ølhallen pub. Maybe we missed something but there wasn’t a lot to do here. 

Honningsvåg - we did the included tour. We felt the whole reason in going here was to reach the furthest (well almost furthest) point in Europe and therefore the included tour had what we wanted. 

In Lerwick we did Ancient civilizations of the Shetlands (which we liked a lot) and the included tour in the afternoon. The morning tour included almost everything the included tour had with an additional stop to see and pet ponies in a fenced in area - humans being outside the fence and ponies inside.  In hindsight we would have just done the optional tour. We did see Shetland ponies at one of the stops on the optional tour. They were wandering around in a field. 

In Orkney we signed up for the Orkeny’s Stone Age optional excursion. I was really looking forward to that one!  I heard it was great too. Unfortunately, I was in my cabin very sick. A 24 hour something. 🤢😔

Edinburgh- see above. 

London-we had never been to London and with such a short timeframe we decided to do the optional Classic London Monuments tour. It was a bus tour (which we knew) with some stops and some free time for lunch. We considered it an intro to a city we will definitely go back to on our own. 

We extended in Oslo and Bergen before the trip. We were very glad we did this!  The included tour in Oslo was excellent. We went to the Viking Museum, the famous ski jump (can’t remember the name),  Vigeland  Sculpture Park (amazing!) and a couple of other places. The train ride was great (sit on the left side for a good view of the sites). Get your lunch as soon as the dining car opens. The line gets long fast!  In Bergen we opted to walk up Mount Floien and we took the tram down.  It’s a climb so if you have mobility issues you should take the tram both ways. I believe you can buy tickets online rather than stand in line for them. Viking offers an optional excursion with this site. 

There were a lot of people who arranged tours outside of Viking and they enjoyed them and I believe they were less expensive. They were reliable and got people back to the ship in time. I’ve planned many, many trips and decided that on this trip I didn’t want to plan and coordinate things so we decided to go with all Viking options. On the”panoramic city tours” we knew what we were getting. They are bus tours with a lot of drive bys and some stops with limited free time. 

Overall, we loved the cruise. The ship is beautiful and the crew was wonderful. I get sea sick and I never had a problem. The sickness I had wasn’t due to seasickness. 

We had gorgeous weather the entire trip which is very unusual. Sunshine and clear skies everyday. Keep in mind that it rains a lot in Norway and fog can inhibit some viewing. 

One last piece of advice. Get up early for the sail into Geiranger. There were maybe 10 of us on deck that morning and all of the people who slept in missed some amazing sites!  Bring your binoculars with you. 

If you have any questions feel free to ask. I’ll answer as best I can. Enjoy your cruise! 

P.S. Pics below are of our trip up to Dalsnibba in Geiranger. 

When you choose your excursions on Mytrip it will show the times for all excursions. There were normally lots of time slots to choose from on the included excursions so that you could both. The exception would be an all day excursion. This was a wonderful cruise!  Enjoy!  

There are 6 DV aft cabins on the Star. We were in 3096 and we loved it! We sat on our balcony often to watch the wake. There was no wind as the balcony was protected on 3 sides. We never had a problem with engine noise or exhaust. As far as feeling the motion of ship we never noticed it was more pronounced aft and had no issues at all. I am prone to motion sickness and was fine although I will add that we had very smooth seas for the entire cruise. I would book any of the 6 again in a heartbeat! We thought it was a great choice.

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Hi All,

 

I thought about starting a new thread for this but I am interested in the opinion of my fellow passengers on this Star cruise. DW and I have been debating the quality of food on this cruise. It was our first Viking cruise. We have cruised extensively mainly on Regent, Seabourn and Oceania. We are not foodies but we do like an outstanding meal once in awhile. I don't want a special dinner every night because I get jaded if I do this. However, our general opinion is that Viking fell short on food and food service. I'm not saying it was bad just not great and not up to the standards of our other cruises. I didn't think the Chef's Table delivered anything special. It was like an experiment that had some good parts and some bad parts. It was the only venue where I ate dessert because I hadn't really enjoyed the dinner. The World Cafe was OK but we found the selections repetitious and somewhat limited. On other ships we have enjoyed a variey of cuisines at lunchtime. Manfredi's was our favorite as we loved the Osso Buco, the pork bellies, and the antipasto. It also had some ambiance which the other venues very much lacked. The pool grill was not good. Everything we had was overcooked. Then the buns which they tried to warm never made it to warm. Mamsen's was OK and had good quality for the limited choices. We also found the service to be spotty as there seemed to be little flexibility in the kitchen,e.g., I ordered a baked potato instead of fries and the meal came with both. Another time I ordered 3 courses, DW ordered 2 and I didn't get my third until I asked for it after the entree was served. Small things but these weren't the only instances. Again, the food was OK but that's all. I'm posting this because DW has ruled out Viking because of the food and I don't want to rule out Viking. I'm wondering if folks who have cruised Viking before can comment on the relative food quality on the Star on this trip. Thanks in advance!

 

Stan

We have done 4 Viking river cruises. This was our first Viking ocean cruise. We feel the food on the river cruises was better. There was nothing wrong with the food on the ocean cruise and IMO compared to other cruise lines it was outstanding. We were disappointed in the bread choices for breakfast. On the river cruises they have hardy, whole wheat bread selections. We wondered if the ocean cruises are catering to the SAD (the Standard American diet). We didn’t find a lot of healthy choices. We were also unimpressed with The Chef’s Table but we really liked Manfredi’s and ate there twice. Except for one night we never ate dinner at the buffet. It appeared as though they offered a variety of seafood each night (sushi, crab legs, shrimp, etc.) as well as the same entrees offered in the MDR. We thought the MDR was good. Not outstanding but very good. The only miss for me was the night I ordered scallops. They were delicious but that’s all I got - 5 small scallops. No sides, no rice, potatoes. Just 5 scallops. It was an appetizer not a main in my opinion. Other than that the rest of our dinners were very good and we enjoyed them. I agree that the lunches at the buffet were somewhat repetitive although the main entree and soup varied each day. The soups were excellent. The pool buffet was basic hot dogs and hamburgs which is what we expected.

Overall, I would give the food an A-. Any other ocean cruise we’ve been on the food gets maybe a C. The river cruises get an A+. I just hope they continue to offer healthy choices on the river cruises and do not start to cater to an American diet as they seem to be doing on the ocean cruises.

I think it’s a mistake to rule out Viking based on food as it is so much better than other cruise lines. Not sure how many ocean cruises you’ve been on but IMO Viking’s food outshines any other ocean cruise we’ve ever done.

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Our first ever ocean cruise was Empires of the Mediterranean in April 2017. We absolutely loved this cruise. Only a few ports were walk off the ship right in to the town: Kotor, Montenegro, Zadar, Croatia, and Koper, Slovenia.

 

As a novice cruiser, I am not certain of this, but I think that is relatively rare on ocean cruises. Some popular stops for ocean cruises have long bus rides of an hour or two, like Civitavecchia for Rome and LeHavre for Paris. All of the bus rides on Empires of the Mediterranean were much shorter, maybe 20 to 30 minutes.

That’s more than I would have expected. Thank you!

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https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=620462

 

 

 

Hi, we did this in May and loved every minute of it. I hope the link above to my review works.

What a great review! Thank you!

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Venice - the ship will dock at the cruise terminal. Last time we were in Venice the ship had water shuttles down to St Marks Sq

 

 

 

Dubrovnik - The ships dock in an adjacent bay, which requires a bus to the walled city

 

 

 

Santorini - Tender port, which requires a cable car or donkey up the hill to reach town

 

 

 

Athens - Ships dock in Pireaus, which is the port for Athens. Requires a bus into Athens.

Thank you! I’m still thinking about what riding a donkey up the hill would be like [emoji23] One would just HAVE to do it.

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Has anyone done the Empires of the Mediterranean - Venice to Athens 10 day cruise? I’m wondering if the ports on this cruise are places where you can walk off the ship right into the destination. Tendering would be acceptable if it was still directly into the port. We are trying to avoid a lot of long bus rides in order to get to the destination.

Also, overall, how did you like the cruise?

Thank you!

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We were sorry not to meet you while on board. Screen-gem and I talked about how we should have thought ahead and planned a second get together. By the time we did, it was that last sea day and it was really too late to get a message out to everyone. Had we been thinking about it sooner, Viking might have been willing to put the notice out to everyone on the list... something to think about for other cruisers. We met so many great people on this cruise. I think that the format of Viking Ocean really encourages this. Note - Many of us were wondering about you elizabetho55! You now have that mystery woman quality. :D

WOW! Mystery woman. I like it! 🤣🤣. I am betting we met on the sun deck during the sail in to Geiranger. There were so few people and pretty much everyone said hi to each other while taking pictures. I am short so I was standing on that covered up, elevated “thing-a-mabob” taking pictures.

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Nice, now I feel like I didn't miss the sail in! Thanks for the great review.

We watched a lot of it from the explorer’s lounge balcony but finished up in our cabin which was directly aft - right on the back of the ship for all non-sailors, like me[emoji6]. There was a 2nd tug guiding in the rear. It was really an amazing thing to watch! I didn’t make it to very end but enough to see what a feat it was for them to accomplish docking. Thank you for letting us know about that green spot light. I wondered what it was!

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I was addressing the question about tipping the guides and bus drivers on Viking tours not general guidelines for tipping in restaurants etc. We always follow the cultural guidelines when tipping in a foreign country. But those individual customs or rules do not apply to the guides or bus drivers that Viking hires for tours. Tipping is always suggested for them.

 

 

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Hit reply too soon [emoji5] - tipping is always suggested for the guides and driver if they provided the expected service. Those who go above and beyond (as most do) get more from us. If we had a guide who spent all their time on the phone and didn’t provide a service we would not tip them.

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Perhaps you should actually read the information provided by Host Jazzbeau. As an obviously savvy and considerate traveler they suggested researching the tipping culture of countries visited and abiding by those standards.

 

 

 

Your statement of "Just tip. It's the decent thing to do" is actually considered insulting in a number of countries. Having spent almost 40 years at sea and circumnavigated the globe a number of times, I learned many years ago of the need to research the cultures of other countries and not just with respect to tipping. Of the countries I have visited - China, Japan and South Korea quickly come to mind as ones that considered it insulting to tip. Personally in these countries, I have no desire to insult the staff.

 

 

 

Last year we completed a Baltic Cruise on another line and received diametrically opposed service from guides in 2 ports. In many Baltic countries, tipping, while not expected, it is appreciated. In St Petersburg, our Alla guide was spectacular over the entire 2 days. She went well above and beyond what we expect, including spending time with each individual couple. She received a tip almost double what Alla suggest.

 

 

 

However in Nynashamn our ship's tour guide was hopeless. On departure, she provided a quick few facts about Sweden then turned the mic off and sat with her phone until Stockholm, when she pointed out some sights. At the Vassa Museum, she provided less information than the info boards. I lasted 10 mins and like many others toured on our own. Departing Stockholm she never provided any more info. Is this guide worthy of a tip?

 

 

 

In this situation, is providing a tip the decent thing to do?

I was addressing the question about tipping the guides and bus drivers on Viking tours not general guidelines for tipping in restaurants etc. We always follow the cultural guidelines when tipping in a foreign country. But those individual customs or rules do not apply to the guides or bus drivers that Viking hires for tours. Tipping is always suggested for them.

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You must be aware that not every passenger on the ship is from the U.S. The citizens of many other countries have practices and cultures that are diametrically opposed to the U.S. practice. The reason they don't tip has probably nothing to do with wealth, they are simply following their own practices and customs.

 

 

 

I was brought up in a culture (UK) where tipping is personal and is commensurate with our perception of how far the guide went above and beyond. I certainly do not find it necessary to complain, or comment about others who don't tip at all, or even those that tip considerably more than me.

Heidi13, you are correct that some passengers are not from the USA but I believe a majority of them are. Also, the Viking literature is pretty clear with suggestions for acceptable tipping procedures and amounts. So, I think that most people who walk by and don’t tip are well aware of what they are doing - or not doing. Just my opinion.

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(Geiranger) We got up for sail in to Geiranger Fiord and it did not disappoint... spectacular. Finally got to try the famous Mamsens waffles with brown cheese. The waffles were very sweet so the rich cheese really was a great accompaniment. I was pleasantly surprised. We did the inclided bus tour which drove up the hairpin switchback roads up to a beautiful mountain lake, and the down town and up again to a different viewpoint of the fiord and town. I'm glad that we did it. If i had known that our weather would be so calm and bright, I would've tried kayaking; the morning fiord water was like glass (WOW). After a round trip back on the tender for lunch, we explored more on foot. There is a stairway that follows a long waterfall from town up to a museum. We wandered up a different route and then took the stairway down. Nice day. Sail away was different as the sky had become overcast. The fiord has different looks with the weather and lighting so more nice photo ops!

We also were up on deck for sail into Geiranger. We were surprised at how few people were there! It was absolutely stunning and I was able to get a picture of the waterfalls with a rainbow [emoji3]. I’m sure we must have seen each other. We missed the meet and mingle. It pays to look at all the cards placed on the desk. We put them into the desk and never looked until 1/2 way through the cruise. So we were never able to meet the others but I’m sure we met without realizing it as all the passengers were so friendly and warm. What an amazing cruise it was and we are now enjoying the memories.

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We did the SS and cost-wise it probably came out as a wash for us. But it was totally worth it as we liked to choose our wines based on what we were ordering. And with the package, red wine was served in nicer red wine glasses.

 

We were not show-goers but were awake later than most of the ship so the Explorers bar became our regular locale... except on the two nights everyone else stayed up late. The bartenders and servers there were great and got to know our preferences.

 

Only downside was that the ship ran out of our two favorite reds by the time we hit Scotland.

 

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Yes, I agree! The red wine glasses for purchased wines were much nicer! [emoji485]

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There have been a lot of conversations on this board concerning the SSP. We just returned from the Into The Midnight Sun cruise (which was AMAZING) and here is my opinion.

We considered getting it with our OBC but decided against it upon boarding. We looked at the wine list and tasted that day’s house wines and decided that the included wines were pretty much equal to what was offered on the wine list. IMO there was nothing wrong with the wine list but there was nothing offered that would justify the $279 PP cost of the SSP.

We were very satisfied with the included wines at the meals. We never hesitated to order a drink when wanted one outside of meal time. Generally, we would have a before dinner drink, 2 drinks after dinner and on a sea day maybe one after lunch but before the ‘before dinner drink’. Much more than we ever normally drink but hey - we were on vacation! In the end we spent about $250 on our drinks. There were 2 days when we had nothing to drink outside of meals as we were off somewhere enjoying the destination. For example, my husband would drink Armagac after dinner and I varied - Bailey’s on the rocks, martini or port. Before dinner we normally ordered a wine from the wine list, or I’d have a martini and my husband a beer. We never looked at prices (which turned out to be VERY reasonable) and always ordered what we wanted.

So, according to my calculations, we saved about $300 NOT getting the SSP. If you drink a lot more than we did and you always purchase wine at dinner than it may be worth the price for you.. But for us it wasn’t worth it.

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Is it really July 14th? It was just yesterday we boarded! [emoji6]. To all those boarding today in London in the Star - say hello to Rei in the dining room from Mr. Mike and Mrs. Elizabeth. He is a sweetheart!!!

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Since this thread seems to have a following I will join in here. So far this cruise has been wonderful. We agree completely concerning the luggage situation in Oslo. We were fine bringing our luggage up to the room but some people definitely struggled. And 8PM was a rush to get settlered and figure out what was needed the next day. The included tour in Oslo was very good and we enjoyed it. We knew to sit on the left side of the train from Oslo to Bergen and we were rewarded with beautiful scenery.

The weather has been beyond amazing and we feel so fortunate! We did the Breathtaking Fjords tour in Geiranger and it was outstanding! The troll road tour in Molde we weren’t happy about. It was very expensive and a very long drive to see the what we admit were gorgeous waterfalls but we felt the long drive was not really with it. The lunch was almost inedible and it was a really late stop. I think 3:30 or so. We had to cancel our reservation at Manfredi’s because we weren’t hungry. I wish we hadn’t eaten it. [emoji853]

But one hiccup hasn’t made a difference to us. This has been an amazing time so far. We are relaxing on deck, enjoying the sun and looking at the beautiful scenery here in Tromso. Who could ever want more!

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Some feedback on excursions for the Into The Midnight Sun cruise.

1. Breathtaking Fjords in Geiranger was outstanding! So very glad we booked this. That being said - we have had unbelievable weather. Sunny, hot with not a cloud in the sky. Our views were amazing.

2. The Troll road (can’t remember the exact name but it was the $279 one out of Molde.) BIG disappointment. The waterfalls were beautiful but not worth an 8 hour bus drive or the cost. The included lunch was almost inedible. We had had a very clear day so our views were great. Can’t imagine spending 8 hours on a bus without the at least seeing some of the views. We would not recommend this excursion but I am interested to see what others thought.

That is are all we’ve done so far. Sea day tomorrow. The ship is wonderful and we are thoroughly enjoying this cruise even with a dud excursion. [emoji3]

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Actually Gnoelj - no-one advised anyone NOT to go into Edinburgh. I always find a careful reading of posts is always useful before commenting. In fact I stated several times that if this is your only chance to go, you must go.

 

 

 

I and others were also simply making people aware that it is very very busy at this time of year in Edinburgh - as some people may seriously not like crowds whilst others are happy to be part of the madding crowd. And qualifying it with the fact that all tourist destinations in Scotland are seriously busy right now - thanks to shows like Outlander etc.

 

 

 

I was offering up alternative suggestions to someone who may have been to Edinburgh before and would like an alternative (eg from the comments that excursions are "sold out"). This is the situation we found ourselves in when we called at Rosyth last year - what to do, we live in Scotland, been to Edinburgh many many times and other than having a day on the ship, which in itself would not have been a hardship :D, I researched what else we could do within a reasonable distance from Rosyth. So simply passing that information on. In fact we enjoyed the area so much, we returned recently for a short break and still didn't get to everywhere we wanted to visit. So little time ...... anyway off to sit in the garden we are having a heatwave this week - its a rare occurrence here so to everyone visiting Scotland this week, enjoy our beautiful country, whichever part you are visiting.:D

 

 

 

But I leave you with this little story - many, many years ago I was returning from Edinburgh to Glasgow after attending a high level tourist body lunch and sitting next to me on the way back was the then Provost of Glasgow who asked me in all seriousness "what my dear is the best thing to come out of Edinburgh?" I replied "no idea, please tell me". "The Glasgow Train" was the reply with a twinkle in the eye and I swear a wee wink too! ;):D

I did see you suggested going if we’d never been and we definitely took that into consideration when deciding we would venture forth into the city. Thank you so much for all your input. It’s always great to have the opinion of a local! We can’t wait to see Edinburgh.

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Agree, if you've never been before and this is your only chance to see Edinburgh and her sights, don't miss it. I'm sure I said that already in a previous post.

Yes. We have decided that we will head into Edinburgh. Thank you for all the wonderful tips!

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To answer your questions:

 

1) Yes, UBER is widely used.

 

2) If your ship is anchored on the Firth of Forth, and your tender takes you to North Queensferry or South Queensferry, then going to Linlithgow is not far away. But if you have NOT been to downtown Edinburgh before, then, whoever advised you to skip Edinburgh and go to Linlithgow instead is in our view, has given you the WRONG ADVICE. Linlithgow is nice, but there is lot less to see compared to Edinburgh.

 

However, you might even dock at Leith, which is really a part of Edinburgh, (not far to downtown Edinburgh by Ube taxi, or bus). Or in Rosyth . You need to check with Viking.

 

Edinburgh is such a charming city, with its architecture quite unique to Scotland. Some of the buildings might even remind you of those found in Harry Potter! (J K Rowling lives in Edinburgh, by the way). Key attractions are the Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile leading up to the Castle, and the Royal Yacht Britannia (the Queen's decommissioned ship, which is now a floating museum). Go up Carlton Hill (from the end of Princess Street in Edinburgh downtown) and you will get a breathtaking PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE CITY. And of course, if your ship is anchored on the Firth of Forth, you will see the 3 bridges spanning side-by-side across the Firth of Forth (Queensferry Crossing, Forth Road Bridge, and the Forth Rail Bridge).

 

Edinburgh is the second most visited city in the UK, after London. And it OOZES with CHARACTER.

 

By the way, doesn't VIKING have a free city tour of Edinburgh? Would be very surprised if they haven't.

 

It would have been great if Viking were to have an overnight stoppover in Edinburgh, like they do some other ports, eg Barcelona and Civitavecchia, etc. You need more than just one day (or in the case of many cruise lines, a few hours) to really see and experience the city.

 

 

PS: One thing in case you are taking buses in Edinburgh. Make sure you have the CORRECT FARE. They do NOT give change!

Thank you so much for all the great information. We have decided to head into Edinburgh and if there are crowds we will be part of them. Seems silly to go and not get into the city. We will go back on our own at some point and see the rest of your beautiful country!

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Edinburgh is very, very busy during the peak summer (tourist) months and just busy the rest of the time! As are lots of other places in Scotland - we are very happy to see you all and your tourist money! But please tip your guides in Pounds Sterling - I noted that the guides someplace were happy to accept Euros - but not all will be happy to do so! ;)

 

If we attempted to tip someone in Miami or New York with Scottish pounds - can you just imagine how that would go down!!!

 

 

 

Which reminds me of another story - years ago in Zanzibar, DH goes fishing, the fishermen find out he's from Scotland and ask very nicely if he would mind exchanging a very crumpled Scottish £10 pound note that some fool had given them as a tip a couple of years back which they could not exchange, so was totally useless to them. They were so thrilled to finally find someone who could help them and DH gave them a very good exchange rate in their favour! We still have our Scottish pound notes but they are not even really accepted in England (but we happily take English bank notes!), and are refused often in shops etc down south, so what this fool was thinking giving these poor lads, in Zanzibar of all places, a tip in Scottish pounds. Even the overseas banks will not exchange Scottish pounds, so if do you get any, spend them before you leave us or swap them with the next Scot you meet on a cruise!:D

Thank you for the wonderful advice. We always tip in the local currency for all the reasons you stated above. We have Scottish pounds in our pockets and we are ready to spend them [emoji3].

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