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@new2cruise Here is link to a comment in which I linked to both my reviews. This comment also has some additional thoughts (sorry if that’s confusing).

We did this cruise last year. We are not big drinkers, so we didn’t do any wine tours, although I know the area around Napier is generally considered the best wine-producing region in New Zealand. As for other tours, we were disappointed in the three included we took (Sydney, Melbourne, and Dunedin), so much so that we cancelled the rest. Sydney was the worst. Our primary complaint was they were all “panoramic” bus tours which is not our style at all. However, this was partially my fault as they’re listed as such; but it was our first VO cruise after a wonderful river cruise so I thought the included tours would be more similar. But the Viking optional excursions were excellent and more active. I did a write up here on CC back in March 2023 of our excursions. I would also encourage a trip to Hobbiton. I am not a Lord of the Rings fan (although my husband is) and I found it well-organized, beautiful, and charming. Hobbiton is closer to Rotorua than Auckland. However, if you have a week to kill in Auckland and you have other sights to see in Rotorua, it might be worth the extra drive.

There were hot chocolate packets in the world cafe on our cruise on Mars in March 2023. They were with the tea bags/coffee machine, so you could get hot water there. There were both ceramic mugs and disposable cups with lids.

You can also search this particular forum (upper right of your screen in landscape mode). I posted my reviews about a year ago and I’ve seen others.

Hubby and I enjoyed watching the industrial ports for a while, too, before or after our day out (there are several on this cruise). It’s fascinating and humbling to see how much stuff is moved around the world, for better or worse. In Auckland (not an industrial port per se), a commercial container-size ship was docked next to us but it was full of only cars. We watched in morning and evening and even the next morning as they moved all the cars off the ship and onto car trailers. Thousands and thousands of brand new cars! Mind-blowing for a small country. But I personally wouldn’t want that to be my only view for an entire day. Also, on Christmas, I doubt the port is operational.

We did this cruise earlier this year, so here are my thoughts, which are just opinions, of course. First of all, I’m truly sorry that your itinerary has changed without a readily apparent reason. It’s very disappointing when you’ve paid that much money and will be spending so much time to get to a place you may never visit again. At least a last minute change due to weather (as happened to us and the after effects of Cyclone Gabrielle) is understandable. Re: Auckland. Honestly, we found Auckland the least interesting port on this entire cruise. The city itself is a basic large nondescript city. We had booked a private tour to Piha beach but it was canceled three days prior due to mud slides from the cyclone, so we did the HOHO bus at the last minute. Even the “top” sights as included on that were not interesting to us. We also have friends who live in New Zealand (we met up with them earlier on this cruise), and they warned us Auckland was only good for major shopping. However, having said all that, there is a large sailboating community in Auckland, so I imagine if that’s your thing, you could probably find something fun to do. On the positive side, if you’re disembarking in Auckland with a Viking transfer, you will likely have several hours that day to do something in the city. New Zealand required an empty ship by a certain time early in the morning (9:00?), so Viking took us all to hotel downtown and we had 4-5 hours to explore before we had to return for our bus to the airport. As others have said, you could use your day in Tauranga to travel to Auckland, but I wouldn’t recommend it. There is so much more to see in Tauranga; we weren’t even able to see everything we wanted on our day there. Plus it is several hours of driving each way. Again, that’s just my opinion. If Auckland is essential to you, I feel booking a day or two on your own is the best option. Re: Dunedin on Christmas. The ship doesn’t actually dock at Dunedin, which was about a 30 minutes shuttle bus ride away. The dock here is a very small town and the port is an industrial port that required a bus to even leave the port area. In addition, the port is in a narrow (but beautiful) harbor that requires a pilot boat to travel through a very narrow dredged lane (we saw the dredger and learned about it on our excursion). I would imagine that since it will be Christmas, Viking may not be able to obtain a pilot for the boat and/or drivers for the shuttle buses. The port itself may be closed for the holiday. Even if you docked, this is not a port in which you may walk off the ship by yourself. In my opinion, a relaxing coastal day at sea would be the better option in this case. You’ll actually see more beautiful scenery than the containers and industrial cranes, etc, at the dock. I wish you both a lovely time on your cruises, whatever you decide about these ports.

My husband and I are in our forties and we’re definitely in the minority on our cruise. We saw one other couple that might have our age. Everyone else was definitely older. We’re quiet people who like to read on vacation, so it was perfect. And we knew that going in. Everyone we met was kind and, yes, usually spry. Yes, three separate times our age was commented on as a joke, so that’s a little grating, but we just smiled and rolled with it.

I would say the product pictures are very accurate, at least on my feet. I have no trouble wearing these with loafers and slip on sneakers. Ballet flats may be iffy; it would depend on the shoe I think. The silicone goes all the way around the edge, which allows one small amounts of “adjustments” by pushing it slightly down in one spot if needed. It's also helpful because they are truly nude on my skin, but of course that varies.

These sound like what you’re looking for. I love them so much I bought them twice! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QKY1S1D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I wrote two posts, although the second one is more specifically about the excursions: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2922947-first-viking-ocean-cruise-review-was-it-worth-the-money/#comment-65000491 To be clear, we did have a good time and have booked another Viking cruise. However, my greatest wish would be far greater transparency in all excursion details. In retrospect, I should have studied anywhere I could for any details for these Viking excursions that I could before going, but even then the language is often vague. I made the mistake of just assuming the included tours would be more like our excellent river cruise which was almost entirely walking tours. For our upcoming cruise, I’m also going to research a “back up” do it ourself walking tour if needed in each port (with a lot of help from Rick Steves). As a ye little whipper snapper on a Viking cruise (age 44 now), my second wish would be the aforementioned more active walking tours as an included option. I appreciate the knowledge and history provided by a guide, so going 100% on our own all the time isn’t my ideal, either. My ideal port day would be a 2-3 hour walking tour in the morning that ends with a clear method for those who wish to return to the ship on their own (and I feel Viking *is* good at that) so that we can then see more on our own.

I don't know. I'm personally neutral on digital versus paper reviews. While saving paper is always a good idea, if I want to write something, I prefer to write it out long hand rather then try to type it on my phone (the only keyboard I have available on vacation). Perhaps a longer digital review sent to one's email after the cruise would be beneficial; it would give one time to reflect and more time to respond fully using the device/computer of their choice. Note these app reviews were only ranking-style without room for comment. I suspect I only received the follow up due to my very poor ranking. It would be interesting to know if a mediocre review would have triggered this (I don’t think so based on my Melbourne review). But surely Viking could have learned something, if they truly wanted to know, by asking me why I ranked it mediocre. However, I did like that the app was asking about a specific excursion, and not just all excursions in general.

On our Australia & New Zealand cruise earlier this year, I could and did review shore excursions using the Viking app, but it was a pretty simple “click the bubble 1-5” review. When I gave the first shore excursion a poor rating (Sydney panoramic included), I then received a paper form in my state room that asked me for more information. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Let me add my agreement with @uktog and @rbslos18. We've only done one Viking cruise so far, but the lectures were one of my favorite parts. I was so impressed with how all the lecturers on our cruise struck an excellent balance of making the topic easy to grasp if one perhaps knew nothing while also imparting a great deal of information beyond the basic level while ALSO keeping things lively and engaging. At least on our cruise, some were titled “an introduction to” and some were titled something like “a deeper look.” This might have been that particular lecturer's idea, though, as I only remember it for the history lectures. (There was a two-part Introduction to Australian History and then A Deeper Look at the Australian Penal System as I recall, although those exact titles may be wrong.)

I was very impressed with the lectures on our Australia and New Zealand cruise, although I wouldn’t say they were college level (maybe high school). However, they were lively speakers and I always learned something, especially as this area of history was not one I knew a great deal about. We had 3 lecturers: history, wildlife, and art. They all gave at least one lecture a day and on sea days there were more. There were so many lectures we couldn't watch them all unless we wanted to spend all day doing it. The wildlife lecturer also led a gathering at sunrise every morning on deck for spotting and photography, although we never attended. We watched them all on demand in the TV in our stateroom, usually after dinner; we never did any live. There were also lectures on demand on topics not related to our cruise, such as a weapons of the Vikings or something like that my husband watched. My husband also did the Bayeux Tapestry tour on board; I’m not sure who led that. The only disappointment we had was a star-gazing event, which turned out to just be a single telescope set up on deck but no leader/lecturer.

There was always a short line at 5:55 on the Mars during our AZ & NZ in February. Back to the small “Viking” exhibit. As others said, it moved very quickly when the restaurant opened. As a plus: DH and I took turns getting out of line to read the exhibit placards/look at the artifacts, so we saw the whole thing by the end of the cruise.

Thank you for your review as we are doing this cruise in April 2025. I just want to add my 100% agreement about the photos. After seeing so many “place” photographs thrown away when family members died, I decided to take more people photos our our last two vacations (often forcing my DH into it), despite the fact I may not look the way I did when I was 20. Why did I wait so long? All of those are my favorites now! I can Google a professional picture of a monument and it will be astronomically better than anything I’d ever take. I can't Google a photo of my husband hanging onto his hat for dear life onboard the small ship of our Dunedin excursion or my jumping “to get my kicks” in the middle of Route 66 in New Mexico. They're not just pictures, they are stories. If you want the best of both worlds, I can’t recommend Flytographer enough. We had photos taken in Paris and then I bought my parents photos in Alaska for their 50th anniversary, and they were all wonderful. https://www.flytographer.com/

Thank you for this detailed post/video as we're considering this option for an upcoming cruise. I have a couple of questions: 1) Did you purchase your tickets for the Palace ahead of time? 2) When you arrived at the Palace, were there any sort of English walking maps to help you navigate the site?

@SteelCity Cruiser You’re so fortunate that you were able to see more of Australia! I knew before we went that we would be barely scratching the surface of such a large country. Viking has a new cruise that circumnavigates Australia but it is over a month long, which is just not an option for us at this point in our lives. We did have an excellent time on this cruise and found New Zealand to be just as wonderful as everyone says that it is. I would love to return sometime and see it in more detail. You are the second person after the fact that has mentioned the Vivitor Sydney Opera House tour. Oh well, you live and you learn. Although some things were canceled due to the cyclone and I would have done some things differently in retrospect, I don’t regret taking this cruise.

@PasadenaDave We didn’t do any extensions due to time constraints, but I think you could easily do either Sydney or Auckland on your own for much less money than Viking. Auckland is much smaller than Sydney, though, as you point out. IMO, Kiwi English is more similar to NA English than British English. There is zero language barrier. In official signage, Māori is first but English is right underneath. There are many Kiwi tour providers that will get you out of town for day trips. We had booked both with Zealandier and Bush & Beach (or Beach & Bush??) although the latter was canceled. You would have no trouble getting to the cruise terminal in Auckland as it’s right downtown. For navigating in the city, I highly recommend the app Citymapper. We've used it in many cities very successfully.

Despite my previously posted concerns about the value of Viking included excursions, we just booked another Viking cruise (Ancient Mediterranean Treasures for 2025). We looked at other cruise lines, but none had an itinerary we liked better. In addition, many of the included excursions for AMT sound like walking tours which we prefer. My research made me realize how helpful a detailed post about the excursions of various cruises would be, so I am posting the following for our Australia and New Zealand cruise in February/March 2023. Obviously, that was over two months ago, so I've forgotten some details. But here's what I remember: Sydney Australia Port location: White Bay Terminal, which is far away from downtown Sydney in an industrial port that was undergoing extensive construction while were there. Nice terminal for embarkation but nothing to see here and no public transportation available. Shuttle Bus: One stop on Lime Street in the Kings Wharf Darling Harbour area. Several restaurants along the waterfront here and probably a few shops, although I didn’t pay that much attention. Thirty-minute drive from port. Five-minute walk to the Barangaroo Wharf station for Sydney’s excellent public ferry system. Public transport: None from the port, but, as mentioned above, there is easy access to the ferry system from the shuttle bus stop. You can see the routes and plan your trip online. No advance tickets for the ferry were required; just tap your credit card on and off. Covered wharves with open sides. Plenty of seating. Electronic sign boards. Ferries themselves were large with primarily enclosed seating, but there were a few outdoor seats in the rear. Activities/excursions: Title/Location: Sydney Harbour/Opera House/Bridge Style: on our own The included Viking airport transport takes you to a hotel about a block from the Harbour, so it was very easy to walk out to see the Opera House and Bridge on one’s own while waiting to be taken to the ship for embarkation Also an easy walk from under the Bridge through The Rocks area of the city. However, once you are on board the Viking ship, there is no direct shuttle bus to this location. But there is a public ferry from Barangaroo Wharf that will take you here. Title/Location: Cockatoo Island Style: on our own We took the shuttle bus to Lime Street and then the public ferry to Cockatoo Island. Thirty minutes shuttle ride, five-minute walk to the ferry, and about a 10-15 minute ride on the ferry. Cost about $4US each way per person. Cockatoo Island itself is free but the audio guide has a fee. However, the employee refused to give us an audio guide even though we arrived at opening because “there’s a cruise ship coming later.” We didn’t argue or point out we were from that exact cruise ship, we just took the free map. Cockatoo Island has a large hill that you must walk up and later back down, although it is paved. Also several areas of uneven pavement. The original convict area is in poor shape, ruins really. The shipworks are in better condition. We didn’t miss the audio guide as the map had descriptions and it’s mostly ruins or empty buildings. Not the best convict sight on this cruise; that would be Port Arthur in Tasmania, but we had other plans for that day. However, it was fun to use the public ferry and we enjoyed it. If your interested in this sight, I recommend going on your own instead of the optional Viking tour as it is far cheaper. Title/Location: Sydney Panorama Style: Viking included Downright awful. Sydney, other than the Harbour area, is just a standard big city. The tour was just weaving drive through mostly residential sections of the city with the driver telling us what that particular cluster of pharmacies/Asian take-outs/coffee shops was called and how much the homes in the area cost. There was one photo stop at a view of the Opera House and Harbor Bridge, but it wasn’t even the best view in my opinion. Then we stopped for an hour at Bondi Beach in the middle of a rainstorm with high winds. No one was out swimming or surfing, and there was very little else to do in the area. I know Viking cannot control the weather, but there should be a Plan B in place. Everyone from the bus returned by the 30-minute mark except one couple who were trying to find the street of shops the guide claimed was there; they could only find one shop, they said, that only sold tee shirts. They were disappointed and soaking wet. I wouldn’t recommend this tour unless one has an interest in watching surfing and the weather is nice. Melbourne, Australia Port location: I don’t remember the name, but right on the beach. You can easily walk to the beach or the edge of the city, but it is mostly high-end residential here. There was a fish and chips restaurant near the end of the wharf, but we did not visit it. We walked along the beach for exercise and to get a lovely photo of our ship. Several groups swimming/sunbathing but not too crowded on a weekday. This was the only time I regretted not packing a swimsuit. Shuttle Bus: There is one to downtown but I missed the location name. Not at a sight, just a street. Public transport: There is a tram that runs from the port into downtown, but we did not take it or look for it. Activities/excursions: Title/Location: Melbourne Highlights Style: Viking included Mediocre. About a half-hour drive into downtown. One stop of about 45-60 minutes at the botanical gardens. It was extremely hot and humid that day so Viking had rented an ice cream truck to give out free ice cream to guests; I’m not not sure if they do that 100% of the time or not. Then another stop of about 45 minutes at the Shrine of Remembrance, which is a war memorial with a nice free war museum on the lower level. Good panoramic view of downtown if you climb the step of the memorial. The stops were fine but I would have preferred more “local” sights such as the Victorian Market. By the way, it would be easy to become bored with botanical gardens on this cruise. Every city had one and they were all very similar. I like the occasional botanical garden, but if you’ve seen one . . . Excursion ended at the shuttle bus stop if you wanted to get off. We were too hot and sweaty to do so, although now I regret we didn’t have a plan. Instead of this tour, I would recommend taking the Viking shuttle or the tram downtown and then taking the free Circle City tram to the Melbourne sights you wish to see. Hobart, Tasmania Port location: I don’t remember the name but right downtown in this small city. Shuttle Bus: I don’t think there was one because you could easily walk off the ship into town. Public transport: I don’t think there was any. Activities/excursions: Title/Location: Richmond & Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary Style: Viking optional The highlight of our trip! The drive to Richmond was about 30 minutes. Richmond is a small town (population about 1000) with a pretty historical bridge that the bus parks very close to. You do have to walk down a dirt path to the water's edge for the best view and photos. The stop in Richmond was about an hour. There are a few historical buildings (including a goal that one could pay to see), a charming little downtown street with a few restaurants and shops including the cutest lolly and ice cream store; we bought some homemade candy here. Then a drive of about 20 minutes to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary to see Tasmanian devils, wombats, etc. No koalas were in residence when we were there, but the kangaroos roam freely. You can easily feed them, pet them, and take selfies with them. The paths were mostly dirt with some inclines but not steep. There is a small gift shop and restrooms. You have about 60-90 minutes here, which is plenty. Dunedin (Port Chalmers), New Zealand Port location: In Port Chalmers but I don’t remember the name. An industrial port. Shuttle Bus: Because the port was industrial, you had to take a shuttle bus out of the port. I do not remember if it stopped in Port Chalmers or not, but it went into Dunedin and parked in The Octagon, a central “square” with shops, restaurants, the visitors center, a large church, some statues, and a very nice merino wool store. Public transport: I don’t remember. Activities/excursions: Title/Location: Otago Peninsula and Taiaroa Head Wildlife Cruise Style: Viking optional Very enjoyable! The Viking bus drives less than 5 minutes (you could see it from the ship) out of the industrial port to a smaller marina where you board a smaller ship, The Monarch. About half the seating is uncovered (in the front) and half is covered (in the back). The captain gives commentary from the wheelhouse and two employees circulate to point out wildlife and otherwise assist. We saw sea lions, an albatross colony, several small blue penguins, and many other birds. The landscape was gorgeous. Good quality binoculars and heavy raincoats with fleece lining are provided. Hot tea with cookies is served as you make your way back to the marina. The day we were there was a lovely day at port, but it was extremely windy, wet, and cold on this cruise. Without a water-proof jacket one would get soaked (several did). If you are prone to motion sickness, this is not for you. Even with my bracelets and patches, I was getting a little queasy at times. However, it was extremely windy that day (18 knots/hour) with huge swells, so much so that the afternoon cruise was canceled. Perhaps on calmer days this would not an issue. Title/Location: Dunedin City Tour Style: Viking included Another poor included tour. About a half-hour drive into Dunedin. One 15-20 minute stop at the famous Dunedin Railway Station. Two other brief photo stops, one of the clock tower at the university there and one at the steepest street in the world. Then about a half-hour stop at The Octagon which is where the shuttle bus is parked (see above). One could walk to the Railway Station from here, so I think it would have been better to take the shuttle bus and just walk around on one’s own. I saw signs for some self-guided walks, which I assume one can get from the visitors' center. Dunedin Christchurch, New Zealand Port location: An industrial port whose name I don’t recall. A small town was there. Shuttle Bus: Because the port was industrial, you had to take a shuttle bus out of the port. I do not remember where it stopped. Public transport: I don’t remember. Activities/excursions: Title/Location: Canterbury Sheep Farm Style: Viking optional Excellent! About a 45 minutes drive inland to Little River, New Zealand. This was the most beautiful drive of the entire cruise, just stunning. There was a brief stop at a community center in Little River to use the restroom and there were a few local craft sellers. Then onto Manderlay Farm where Russ explained how he trained his sheepdogs, then he had the dogs demonstrate various herding tasks. This portion was outdoors in a flat pasture-like area. Then into a large shed where Russ demonstrated how to shear a sheep. This shed was very hot and smelled strongly of animals. Not surprising or concerning to me, but I’m mentioning it for the sake of full disclosure. There was no seating and there were a few steps up into the shed. After that, Russ’s wife invited us into their home for a tour before serving homemade lamb sausage rolls, cookies, and drinks on their beautiful terrace. We had about 15 minutes to look around the yard on our own; it was beautifully landscaped with several large shade trees. After the farm, we drove about 30 minutes into Christchurch for a 45-60 minute panoramic-style tour. There weren’t any stops that I recall. To me, this part was a complete waste of time, but the actual sheep farm was good enough I'd still recommend this tour. Then another half-hour drive or so to return to the ship. Napier, New Zealand Sadly, this port was cancelled for us due to Cyclone Gabrielle. Wellington, New Zealand Port location: An industrial port in Wellington. I don’t recall if you could walk off the ship or not, but there was nothing to do at the port. Shuttle Bus: The shuttle bus was supposed to make one stop at the bottom of the cable car. However, on the day of, it was changed (due to a climate change rally) to one stop at the top of the cable car and then a second stop downtown about two blocks from the Te Papa museum. It was about a 20-30 drive. Note: The provided tourist map listed two shuttle bus stops (bottom of cable car & downtown) as the norm, so I’m not sure why Viking originally told us there would only be one stop. Is that only for Viking? Public transport: The cable car and bus system but I don't know the details. Activities/excursions: Title/Location: Cable Car Museum, Botanical Gardens, Bolton Street Cemetery, and Te Papa Style: on our own Very nice day on our own. The tourist map was excellent and Wellington was very walkable. We had planned to ride the cable car up, but when the shuttle bus stop was changed, we just watched it come up. (In retrospect, I wish we’d paid to ride it down and back up). We toured the small free cable car museum at the top. There were restrooms and a small gift shop, and outside was a shuttle bus stop to Zealandia. The downhill walk through the botanical gardens starts here. It was about a 60-90 minute walk downhill that meanders through several different gardens. The path was well marked. It is all paved, but, even though it is downhill, it was not always easy. It is very steep in places, such that even our generally healthy knees were complaining. There are several sets of stairs. I wondered if the path would be slick if wet. After the gardens, the path is marked through a historic cemetery, and ends downtown at “The Beehive.” We walked about 3 blocks from The Beehive to the waterfront, where there is a level pedestrian walking area with a few shops and restaurants along it. At the end, behind the Te Papa, is one of those large Wellington signs in which a person stands to form the letter I. After lunch (Mãori hangi at Karaka Cafe), we toured part of the Te Papa, which is a free museum. The Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War exhibit was outstanding! Probably the single best museum exhibit I’ve ever seen. We also toured the Mãori exhibit here, which included ocean canoes, at least one house, and a spiritual building along with other artifacts. Being a large museum, of course, there were restrooms, a gift shop, and a cafe here. We then walked the two blocks to the shuttle bus (the second “added” stop) to return to the ship. I highly recommend doing Wellington on your own. Rotorua (Tauranga), New Zealand Port location: A very nice dock in the center of the town of Tauranga. No terminal building, you just walk off and into town. There was a cart or two selling excursions. The town itself had two beaches and a small mountain one could walk to and either walk around the base or up to the top. Shuttle Bus: No shuttle bus as you could walk into town. Public transport: None that I remember Activities/excursions: Title/Location: Lord of the Rings Hobbiton tour Style: private excursion through Zealandier tours Excellent! There were six guests in our minivan (four Viking passengers and two Viking crew). It was about a 45-60 minute drive to Hobbiton. Once there, there is a holding area that has a cafe and gift shop. We had about a half hour until our tour time. You then get on a separate Hobbiton bus with a Hobbiton guide. It’s about a ten-minute drive to the actual village, and then about an hour or so walk through it with the guide. The path is dirt and you walk up a moderate hill before descending back down. There are about 50 Hobbit holes and they are all unique with props like mailboxes, clothes on the line, etc, outside each. Bag End is included. You cannot enter any of the Hobbit holes. You cannot walk around on your own. But it’s very well organized and I never felt rushed. Plenty of opportunities for photographs, including the guide lining you up to take photos with your camera/phone at the one Hobbit hole with an open door. You may pose with a couple of props here if you like. After all the Hobbit holes, you proceed on a dirt path over a couple of bridges (one uneven stone) to the Green Dragon, where you are given a complimentary cold beverage of beer or cider. There are restrooms here but no gift shop. You may drink inside the inn or outdoors. This is where we reconnected with our Zealandier guide who drove us out in the minivan. On the way back to Tauranga, we stopped at McLaren Falls, a local council park. We got out and walked about 15-20 on a trail of native New Zealand bush to the waterfall and back. It was mostly level but it was a hike in the woods so it was uneven, etc. We then stopped briefly for some complimentary Hokey Pokey ice cream, which is a traditional flavor in New Zealand. One last photo stop to see the bushes/vines that kiwis grow on before returning to the ship. Auckland, New Zealand Port location: Terminal in the center of downtown. The ferry station is next door and there is a maritime museum a few buildings down. Shuttle Bus: No shuttle bus as you can walk downtown. Public transport: Public bus and tram system with stops close to the terminal. Activities/excursions: Title/Location: Auckland Explorer bus, Domain Wintergardens, and Auckland War Memorial Museum Style: on our own Our private excursion to Arataki Waitākere Ranges Regional Park and Piha Black Sand Beach was canceled due to mudslides from Cyclone Gabrielle, so we were at loose ends. We purchased tickets for the Auckland Explorer hop-on hop-off bus at the ferry station and walked about two blocks to the first stop. The bus offered about 5-6 stops when we were there, as a few had been canceled due to flooding. Note: The couple in front of us at the ferry building as for the “hop-on hop-off” bus and were told it didn’t run on that day of the week. But I had looked it up the previous night and knew that it did. So I asked for the Auckland Explorer Bus and was promptly sold tickets. I cannot explain this. It was a typical double-decker HOHO bus with canned English commentary. We got off at the Wintergardens and War Memorial Museum stop. Both were disappointing. The Wintergardens were two small greenhouses, one of which was closed for repairs. There was a separate New Zealand fern house. The museum was about $30/person and we didn’t care for it. We found a strange hodgepodge of items related to New Zealand. Dinosaur bones, taxidermied animals, WWII planes, household items, some Mãori items, an Earthquake shake house, etc. However, it did have an excellent gift shop with many local products. We then took the HOHO bus back to the stop a couple of blocks from the ship as none of the other stops interested us. My overall impression of Auckland is that is just a large city with no unique features. In retrospect, we should have looked for any last minutes excursion that would have taken us anywhere out of the city. Title/Location: Weta Workshop Unleashed Style: on our own We booked this close to sailing when I learned we would have several hours to kill the morning of our flight. The included Viking airport transport took us to a hotel downtown (about a block from the ship) and we walked about ten minutes from there to the building where this experience was. The All Blacks experience is in the same building. It was a 90-minute guided tour of fictitious/recreated Weta movie-making workshops. It was cheesy and canned, but it was better than sitting in a crowded hotel conference room. I would have preferred a tour of the actual working studios, which is an option in Wellington although I do not regret what we did in Wellington instead. This was booked primarily because of its location and because of the length of time it took, and it fulfilled our needs.

We'd like to plan a cruise for spring 2025 that starts in Istanbul. However, the first available date would include Sunday, April 20th which is Easter. Would that be a mistake because everything will be closed and/or too crowded? Would it affect our ability to book a private guide? We'd prefer to go earlier in the spring to reduce the heat and crowds, but in this case would it be better to wait until May?

I should have been more clear. I realize the package is not free. It is bundled pricing for things that Viking considers free or all-inclusive. I suspect that even with that extra fee, the cruise would still be significantly less expensive than Viking. (Of course, price isn’t everything; the perceived value is.) I, too, imagine we would get it for convenience if we were to cruise HAL again as we like knowing what we'll spend in advance and not worry about it onboard.

I should have clearly stated that we DID have a very good time overall. We enjoyed New Zealand more than Australia which may be because of the mentioned canceling of included tours and doing our own thing instead. (We also had more time in New Zealand.) But we have no regrets about traveling this way to see this part of the world. Also, I realize my questions are rhetorical. Honestly, I’m still undecided. It will probably come down to itineraries, estimates of shore excursion vs. shuttle bus costs, number of sea days, and whether or not airfare is free. I wish that all cruise lines would list an estimated cost for their shore excursions on their websites as that would help greatly. Of note, I notice HAL now has a “package” that offers many of the Viking perks: gratuity, free room service, free Wi-Fi, upgraded beverages, etc. So we'll have to consider that, too.

Cruise: Australia & New Zealand, Viking Mars, Feb 21-March 8, Sydney to Auckland Background: My husband and I are in our forties, so we understand we’re younger than the typical Viking guest. We have done two Holland America cruises in the past (although in 2010 and 2015, so several years ago) and enjoyed them. We did a Viking River cruise in 2019 and loved it, which was our primary motivator for booking with Viking Ocean. We’re avid readers and generally quiet people, so the appeal of 1) no children, 2) no formal nights, and 3) included excursions were key to us. The included excursions were probably the biggest draw as we loved our included walking tours on the river cruise. We’re not big drinkers or wine snobs, so we did not see the need to purchase the beverage package. We are content with a glass of house wine at dinner. We also wanted a smaller ship experience. My understanding is HAL ships have only gotten bigger since our first cruise in 2010 (which was about 800-900 pax). We booked this cruise in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, because it was such a good deal. The cruise itself was “on sale,” there was some sort of no-risk guarantee, and free airfare. All of this means it we did not pay the price currently listed on Viking’s website, although it was still our most expensive vacation ever. Our review: State Room: Great. We booked a DV on deck 4 and were very pleased with it. Comfortable with plenty of storage. We requested firmer pillows and those were quickly supplied. We especially appreciated the free laundry room, as that enabled us to pack even lighter than we typically do. (I took the CC suggestion of doing laundry at dinner time one evening, and that was excellent advice - no waiting!) Service: Generally excellent. I was a little queasy on our first sea day, so I immediately requested ginger ale at breakfast in the restaurant by and was also brought green apples by the maitre d’ (before the server even arrived) without asking. Twice when we returned to the restaurant after, the same maitre d’ asked how I was feeling. One evening, I left my sweater in the restaurant and it was returned to my room before I even realized it was missing. The only slight downfall may have been our fault as we were confused by the servers in the World Cafe. Are we supposed to self-serve our drinks or not? We seemed to get either no attention at all or were swarmed by multiple servers who wouldn’t even let me get my own latte from the machine. Food: Good and plentiful but not outstanding. We mostly ate in the World Cafe as my husband, especially, did not want to go through the hassle of changing for dinner (this is contentious, but I wish that casual dress was allowed in the restaurant at dinner like it was on the river cruise; I never saw a “casual” day outfit that would have appalled me in the restaurant). Having said that, I did think the food was better in the restaurant. The best items always seemed to be the seafood and gelato. There was 3-4 special “taste of” lunches and I thought those were high points, as well. Room service breakfast was so-so, but we ordered dinner one night and it was better. We ate at Manfredi’s once and felt it, too, was good but not outstanding. We had no trouble getting reservations on the app while on the ship for the day and time we wanted; I did not book ahead. Afternoon tea was fun, but, again, not outstanding. The house wine was fine, as expected. Public spaces: Outstanding. This was a highlight for us. As I mentioned, we’re avid readers so we want a light, airy, quiet place preferably with a sea view to read in peace and there was plenty to choose from. We had to make an effort to try them all! My memories of HAL were of darker interiors with few public spaces. We also read outside on deck whenever the weather permitted. Entertainment: We’re not big on musical reviews nor are we night owls (and were also too young for the target decades), so the only show we went to was the Maori culture show. It was excellent! We also did one of the movies on the pool deck, and that was fun, too. Enrichment: Good. We enjoyed the lectures from the historian, the wildlife expert, and the art expert. There were so many that we couldn’t even watch them all (we watched them later in our stateroom, not live). I did a craft class and my husband did the Bayeux tapestry tour, which we both enjoyed. My husband went up to do stargazing one night, but he was very disappointed there was no guide/speaker nor any telescopes, etc. He came back after about five minutes. Port talks: Poor. On HAL, the talks were very specific: “The shuttle bus will be located here (map on screen), you can take the local bus #whatever to see ABC or you can walk to XYZ within ten minutes (map on screen). The closest ATM is here, free wi-fi in the cruise terminal, the closest public restroom is here, taxis are here, here’s how much or if you should tip someone, etc.” None of this was in the port talk on Viking. On this cruise, even Guest Services refused to give me the location of the shuttle bus stop the night before a port “because it might change.” Unlikely, as all the shuttle bus stops were the same locations listed by one of the excellent World Cruise blogs I’m reading (I got more information from that blog than from Viking). And, if it does change, please just announce such. Optional Excursions: Great. We booked 3 with Viking, and they were all great. Not outstanding, but we enjoyed them and felt they were well organized and fair in price. We would do them again. Included Excursions: Poor. The first one in Sydney was downright awful. It was a weaving drive through mostly residential sections of the city with the driver telling us what that particular cluster of pharmacies/Asian take-outs/coffee shops was called and how much the homes in the area cost. There was one stop at a view of the Opera House and Harbor Bridge, but it wasn’t even the best view IMO (we had gone on our own to better view the first morning). Then we stopped for an hour at Bondi Beach in the middle of a rainstorm with high winds. No one was out swimming or surfing, and there was very little else to do in the area. I know Viking cannot control the weather, but there should be a Plan B in place. Everyone from the bus returned by the 30-minute mark except one couple who were trying to find the street of shops the guide claimed was there; they could only find one shop, they said, that only sold tee shirts. They were disappointed and soaking wet. The next excursions we did, in Melbourne and Dunedin, were better but still not good. I know they were all listed as panoramic, but I didn’t think the stops on each tour were the best representation of the cities. There were also fewer stops than I imagined: two in Melbourne and one in Dunedin. The included excursions were so poor that we canceled all our other included tours and just got out and did our own thing. (We also booked one private excursion through Zealandier and that was excellent.) App: Good but not being utilized enough. The app always worked well and I loved the idea, but I was disappointed that some things couldn’t be done on it. My biggest peeve was that dining times were not listed. If you can change the menu daily, why not the times? Why could I book a restaurant reservation but not a craft class reservation? Why could I book a shore excursion but not cancel one? One could only do these things by going down to the desk on Deck 1, which was always crowded. If Viking wants to attract younger guests, they need to update their technology. Transfers: The tale of two transfers! As we had free Viking Air, we got free airport transfers. Arrival in Sydney was outstanding. Prompt, well-organized, housed in a large beautiful hotel space with a full brunch buffet and barista for hours. When we arrived, there were plenty of people to check you off a list and give you a sticker that clearly indicated your bus number and time for transfer to the ship. Carry-on luggage was carefully stacked securely behind the desk, they walked around to confirm we had down our RAT test and would assist if one needed it, etc. However, the departure in Auckland was a complete shambles. The hotel space was not large enough to hold everyone (literally people standing or sitting on the floor everywhere including the hallway), there was only coffee and water even through lunch time, there was initially only one person at a table with an extremely long line to check in for your bus departure time (this was ridiculous and should have included in your documents the night before), and there was no system in place to make sure everyone got on the correct bus. This ended up being an issue because the buses failed (we heard drivers were sick, we heard one broke down, we heard they were stuck in traffic, etc - not sure of the true story), and our group ended up waiting over an hour and a half standing on a busy sidewalk in downtown Auckland to finally be put in transport vans. You couldn’t hear the Viking rep out there, they had no way to monitor if those with earlier flight times were leaving first so made little effort to do so, etc. When our group finally got to the airport, we were dropped off and told a Viking rep would be inside the doors to direct us to our checked luggage. No representative at all and no luggage! Our group walked around for about 20 minutes until I finally called the Viking emergency travel number. Murphy’s law, while I was on the phone, a Viking rep came running up to us telling us we’d been dropped off at the wrong door and the van was being called back to take us to our luggage. Back on the van we went. Finally, we got our luggage and were directed to the correct door. This experience was so poor (including other issues I didn’t list here) that I plan on writing to Viking about it. Bottom line: Was it worth the cost? I’m not sure. The shipboard experience probably was, and, as we had several sea days, we spent a lot of time enjoying the ship. However, as our primary draw was the included excursions, I would say they weren’t; they added no value to our cruise and instead felt like a waste of time to varying degrees. Since I’ve returned, I’ve looked up another Viking Ocean cruise we were considering and most of those included excursions are listed as walking tours. Perhaps that would make all the difference, but I’m understandably a little wary now. On the other hand, the Viking shuttle bus service was good and included, as were the bottles of water; we were (over)charged for both on HAL. Can we justify spending twice as much, though, to save some money on shuttle buses? Especially if we’ll have to pay for optional excursions anyway in places where we don’t speak the language or don’t feel comfortable walking on our own? And how will we feel about walking on our own with no information provided before the day of, especially if we don’t speak the language? We wouldn’t be able to study maps to determine the best routes/public transport options from the shuttle bus stops, for example, so it would difficult to plan our day. We were fortunate in New Zealand that we felt 100% safe and comfortable flying by the seat of our pants because as there was no language barrier. I would like to add I read this board religiously before our cruise for information and I found everything to be helpful and kind. Thank you so much!

I think we'll have this situation for our upcoming cruise because our flight time is in the evening. Just to clarify: Are pax able to leave bags with a Viking representative at the airport and leave for part of the day, returning an hour to two before departure to the airport? If so, does this include “carry on” luggage? Basically, could we leave the hotel carrying just our daybag, like any other day in port, walk around, sightsee, etc? OR does Viking ever offer a tour for these pax that you can sign up for once onboard? We had a HAL cruise do this once. There was an tour that ended by driving you to the airport.