ColonyGirl2

Has anyone had a happy experience with getting a credit card booked excursion, rebooked (and refunded) once on board and replacing it with OBC? I realize if the excursion is sold out by boarding time it would not work, but does HAL have a policy in place that allows you to rebook with OBC? We are on a Med cruise this fall and have a lot of OBC plus $300 excursion credit (already used) from Have it All, plus stock credit. We will need to use some of it for excursions, but I worry about the interesting ones being sold out, if we wait. I really don't want to spend the OBC on store stuff.

I have wondered why so few of Holland's excursions have reviews from past cruisers. Now I think I know. We usually prefer to take independent excursions for the lower price, smaller group, and the ability to research then. But when we took a 7 day Caribbean cruise over Christmas, we booked 3 of the HAL excursions. The first one was suppose to be a catamaran with snorkeling from Amber Cove. That was cancelled, so we took an all inclusive to a beach. It was as expected with a nice beach and mediocre food and drink. The second one was kayaking on a bioluminescent lake in Puerto Rico. The kayak vendor was fine and we did see the lights, but the transport was terrible. An escort (not a guide) and a driver, who, when we stopped for a "comfort break," locked the bus and went to have dinner. We waited in the rain for the bus to be unlocked. We took 2.5 hours to travel what should have taken 90 minutes. When we arrived, the kayak vendor said we were "early" and he wasn't quite ready for us. So the timing was really off on scheduling. Our transport in St Thomas was also poor. The sound system was garbled and we couldn't understand anything he said, and the breaks were smoking the whole time. So I did want to review these excursions, thinking I would receive an email...but no. On the last day of the cruise, I was using the chat feature in Navigator and saw that I had 3 messages. These were asking for reviews of the excursions and apparently were sent upon the return from each. I tried to access them, but they must be time sensitive and all I could get was an error message for each. So if you want to review an excursion, check Navigator messages right after you return from it. I did state my woes in my final review to HAL, but I don't expect them to follow up, and that doesn't help unsuspecting cruisers in the future.

NA is in the move.

Releasing NA lines.

In aft cabin on NA. Apex is pulling in its lines. First toots.

When we were on the Eurodam last year, we had a metallic bang in the wall behind our bed. I reported it to our room steward and he asked us to try to grab him when we heard it. We did and he listened, and said it was from the infrastructure and couldn't be addressed. My husband noticed if he pressed on part of the wall it stopped. We were able to "fix" it by stuffing cardboard "shims" in the crack where the wall meets the ceiling. Wasn't pretty and it sounds weird, but it solved the issue for our trip. We were in the popular 4166 with the double balcony. There was a stairwell for the crew behind our wall.

Here is the link to the other Viking Ocean -British Isles thread- page 4 And here is the link to the TripAdvisor travel forum for Flam https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g230076-i1516-k13819075-Bergen_to_Flam_travel-Flam_Aurland_Municipality_Sogn_og_Fjordane_Western_Norway.html

The bus is #950 and it is with Skyss, We were very concerned that we did not have bus tickets but it turned out to be a nonissue . Some people had bought tickets in advance at the Tourist Info Center in Bergen, but when they check tickets on the train, they apparently count how many are getting off in Voss and have the correct number of buses. We just paid the driver (with a card) as we entered. We did book the ferry in advance with Norway's Best ( https://www.norwaysbest.com/things-to-do/fjords/fjord-cruise-naeroyfjord/), but only by about a month. As I said we were able to get senior discounts on the train, ferry, and bus. If you are doing it in reverse, they probably have enough buses at Gudvangen for everyone on the ferry. I used TripAdvisor travel forum to ask all my questions and they quickly answered.

I ask that you read my post on the British Isles thread. I just wrote about our DIY "Norway in a Nutshell" with an overnight in Flam. I included some photos from the bus, ferry and Flamsbama train.

We just finished our BI trip on September 1, after spending 6 additional days in Norway. For those interested in taking the train, I recommend doing it yourself. Our 6 nights, and our DIY-" Norway in a Nutshell" trip cost less than Viking's excursion for one person. I recommend NOT booking with Rail Ninja as it is more expensive and there is a lot of bad press on-line. Book with Vy, the national rail line. I booked the train from Bergen to Voss, about 90 days in advance with no problems. At Voss, you then take a scenic bus ride to Gudvangen where you board a ferry to Flam. You travel through 2 fjords and the views are dramatic. We spent the night in Flam and then took the Flamsbana train to Myrdal, where we changed to the Oslo train. We then spent 3 nights in Oslo. Book the trains at around 90 days and if you stay in Flam, book that hotel because the options are limited. The bus does not need to be precooked as they will determine how many buses they need based on how many train passengers are getting off in Voss. There were 4 buses on our day. Google "Norway in a Nutshell" and just follow their timing. You can book through them, but you pay about 50% more for that convenience. Also you can get senior discounts and pick your seats when you book on your own. I am including some pictures from the bus, ferry and Flamsbana train.

We were on the Viking Venus last month and took this tour with Odyssey bus tours. We were actually in a small van with about 15 others. I didn't even notice how long the drive was because the scenery was so beautiful. We had 90 minutes at the Causeway and were warned by our driver not to go into the Visitors Center due to cost and nothing much there. When we left there, we took a scenic drive along the coast and had a wonderful lunch in the town of Ballycastle. Before returning to the ship, our driver, took us to see the mural about the "Troubles" and gave us a history lesson. Wonderful excursion for us!

I did a dummy booking for a river cruise a few weeks ago using this "Early Booking Discount" code. The web site accepted the code, but it made no difference in the final price. Same price without any code.

Did you forget your emoji? 😉

Any thoughts on when Viking may resume sponsoring Meet & Mingle get togethers? We went to one on our Baltic cruise in 2019 and it was well attended by both Cruisers and Viking officers. Very enjoyable. I sent an email to tellus asking, but haven't heard anything yet. I am afraid it could be come another cost cutting move as Viking provided the refreshments. Our cruise is in August and I am hoping to arrange an informal get together for our Roll Call if Viking doesn't. Thoughts?

I listened to the podcast and thought it was fair. This is just his opinion. and he is allowed to share it. He gets into trouble when he uses absolute terms like "Everyone." Which of course is "never" true. (pun intended) The audience here is mostly HUGE Viking fans, and that is okay too. I have cruised Holland more than Viking and I like both, for different reasons. Yes Viking includes things like one excursion per port, specialty dining, and some alcohol at meals, but you pay twice as much up front for those perks. We are booked on a 14 day Australian/New Zealand cruise next February where the similar Viking cruise costs more than 2X as much. The Hal cruise has a better itinerary with 3 additional ports, and our promotion includes a drink package, 2 excursions of our choice, gratuities and 2 specialty dinners. So a real bargain compared to Viking on a HAL ship with less than 2000 passengers. I have never felt crowded on a HAL ship and so far, have not needed an escort at the airport. I like Viking for their no children and no casino policy. So my point is variety and choices are important to most people and different cruise lines offer different experiences. Everyone shares their opinions on Cruise Critic. Gary has just found a way to make some money with his. Good for him.

We did this in 2014 on our first cruise. Expensive but definitely worth it! I don't remember it taking a long time to get there but maybe because of the beauty of the place.