janetcbl

1 hour ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

Not meant as an insult, but the detergent stuff on the expedition ships... smells badly. Industrial cleaning smell. I'm almost inclined to use my own detergent. Viking may not like that, but Viking probably doesn't like my biological deposits in their toilets either. 😉  

Please don’t. Your own detergent may not be compatible with the Viking system and you could cause a problem. Having attended a presentation by the Viking Chief Engineer on the Mars  recently on the water and waste systems on the ships, I can assure you the ships can handle your “biological deposits”.

24 minutes ago, philw1776 said:

I had a PV and lost out on excursions because we were a mid 2 week leg on a 6 week cruise. A serious disadvantage IMO. Gonna check with TA on future bookings.

And now with the new earlier excursion booking dates for trips beginning  after June 1, if you are on one whose  first part starts in May (under the old rules-later excursion booking dates) you are really out of luck.

18 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Phil - nice job.

We did all of these excursions (Viking and on our own) except Tromso back in summer '22.

Concur totally with your assessments!!   Surprises:  The North Cape was breathtaking;  the Funicular on your own in Bergen had the most incredible views - you could see the ship down below!

And the walk down from the top of the Funicular is on an easy well marked path with some beautiful views. 

12 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

I saw that - we are going to be on Viking in May up to the north cape.  2nd time around.

We only had a panoramic included tour in Tromso - that was basically worthless.  I will definitely do the walking tour this time!  Nice that they added this.  The town looked particularly interested to walk around.   The great optional tour we took does not seem to be offered anymore (a visit to the island of Sommeroy with a guided walk.   I also noticed that the prices in Norway have skyrocketed for optional tours!

We did “Portals of the Arctic”  which was very good. It was a perfect day with great views from the mountain, but it was crowded. However you could take off and hike up high and get away from the crowd. The Polar Museum is also worth a visit.

For Icelandic nature and geological features, definitely #2. If the Eurovision Song Contest is your thing, #1.

11 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Janet, my sister is on your cruise all the way to NYC (which is why I am following this roll call) and in the same situation. The day after Viking announced the change, my sister tried first to make head way with Viking via email to no avail (it was a lost effort when the Viking person didn't even know that Mars was doing a butterfly), then she was on the phone with the travel agent (my agent now her agent and brother's agent as well) who was then on the phone with the owner of the agency, who called Viking, directly via his channels, going to bat for their client. Last I heard, they were making progress but I haven't heard a follow up yet.

 

In other words, Viking was made aware of the problem very early on, not just hearing from a guest but from a cruise travel agency owner as well.

 

BTW, fair is that in each category, BGN to NYC gets to book in advance of REYK to NYC.

Interesting! I couldn’t believe that I was the first person to notice the problem. Now to see if they resolve it!

My only advice is to arrive at least a day early,  planning your own flights or Viking Air (with Deviation and Air Plus). Do the math to figure out the best plan for you.

17 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Janet -

I seem to recall you are on the May 25th sailing on Mars out of Venus.  We are also.  We loved Iceland last June so much we are headed back.  I also noted that there was no Vigur trip listed yet.  We took that excursion last June and it was quite good. As someone pointed out, it appears they are severely limiting people on the island, understandably - especially early June.  We had to pick between Vigur and the waterfalls so this time we'll try to do the waterfalls.   FYI - we also had quite a good included tour in Isafjordur!

 

FYI - since June 8 is a turnaround, with some getting off and some getting on, there may be some excursions added closer to sailing for those that continue on the B2B.  If not, you likely will get a shuttle bus to Reyjkavik, or can book tours yourself.

 

As for the other ports, I totally concur with several regarding:

Heimaey boat tour in decent weather!

Seydisfjordur - the Skalanes Nature Center

Akureyri - any of the natural wonders tours

Dijupivogur - we had an amazing long informative walking tour!

 

Thanks for your update. We have also been to Iceland a few times and have had great visits each time. The first time, many years ago, the only way around the island was Icelandair bus….the roads were terrible in spots. Things have certainly changed!

Vigur is not available due to the Eider ducks nesting at that time (I think).

I spent a lot of time on the phone this am with a very competent Viking Supervisor who seemed to understand the problem with the people boarding in Bergen in May vs. those boarding under the new earlier excursion rules in June, after I pointed out the problem. She will take the matter “upstairs”, so it will be interesting to see if anything happens to make choosing excursions “fair” for both the under the “old rules” Norway (May 25)  participants and the “new rules” Iceland (June 8 participants. 

I’m not sure what the crew is putting in your drinking water, but I sure am having fun tagging along……

2 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

Which trip are you on?

“Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Beyond”, May 25, 2024-June 22, 2024. Going from Bergen to NYC. There are a number of strange things about this trip, for example no excursions listed for Reykjavik. It will be interesting to see what happens……

6 hours ago, FoggyEthan said:

Everyone who came back from Vigur Island on Isafjordur seemed very excited by it, so I add to the recommendation. There is a strict limit on the number of visitors, so book it as fast as you can.

 

I used arcticshorex.com in Seydisfjordur to book an excursion driving to the fjord lake above the town, which I enjoyed. Also there's a hot springs spa that people enjoyed.

 

In Djupivogur, if you enjoy light hiking, you can walk straight from the port to some very beautiful trails east and south. The ground is a little uneven but mostly flat and never super steep. But really pretty. You can find a trail map online. But if you don't want to hike then the glacier boat ride was popular, but be prepared because it's a decent long drive.

 

 

Just noted on our upcoming trip Vigur is not included as a possibility. That was the excursion I was most excited about (I had been there many years ago and remember it vividly. 😢

We have had two dinners at Manfredi’s on our present Mars trip….both were good, but no better than the Restaurant. Pasta has been the best choice so far. Service is superb (as always) and extra friendly! We’d love more meals there, but no more openings for the time we prefer.

Wow! I just checked our cost for Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Beyond for 5/24/2024 that we booked in 2023….cost almost $3000 more per person than now. Glad we booked when we did.

21 minutes ago, millybess said:

Very interesting!  How many people were on each tour do you think.  

We are not on the WC, but on the Mars where we had a Bridge Tour this morning (10 passengers) and there are two Kitchen tours scheduled. Today they added a Laundry Tour if enough people sign up. We have 4 sea days in a row, which probably accounts for the extra tours. The Bridge tour this am was the most inclusive we have ever had.

2 hours ago, FoggyEthan said:

 

Did you try hiking around from the top of the cable car?

Yes. It was interesting in the fog, but I wouldn’t do it again if I had a chance to experience more of Tromso. The building inside was crowded and stuffy, ‘tho the hot coffee was tasty.

I would add that if there is no view from the cable car in Tromso, it is not worth the time, or expense to go up. Other interesting things in Tromso, the North Norwegian Art Museum, and Polaria.There are many good places for coffee.

2 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

We made it to Los Angeles -boy getting up at 4 am is no fun! Uneventful flight, followed by unexpected upgrade at Hertz to the President’s Circle where we could pick our own, so since it’s a beautiful day here, a convertible it is!  “Animal style” lunch at In-n-Out, nice visit to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House, then a drive up to Griffin Observatory before checking into our free (except for parking) room at Tommy Hollywood courtesy of the annual free night amenity of Mike’s Hyatt Card. Feels good to have our shoes off and relax a bit. Planning on strolling up to Hollywood Blvd for an early dinner after having our complimentary drink at Tommy’s rooftop deck. Then suspect it will be an early bedtime.  

Look forward to boarding tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy! Viking is still terrific, but no pistachios buns, at least on the Mars ( I checked).

1 hour ago, deec said:

janetcbl...and enjoy and embrace every minute of the grand adventure that you are able to do!

 

Exactly!

We are on the Mars now. The passengers seem a bit older than the usual crowd, and there are a lot more mobility devices (walkers, poles, etc.) than usual. Dress is very casual, lots of shorts, t-shirts, but this is a Panama Canal, warm weather trip, so I would expect it. No bathrobes in the Cafe or anything really absurd like that.

Historically I believe the North Sea tends to be more problematic in Fall, often due to hurricanes. Icebergs can be a problem in late Spring.Crowds anre much larger during the summer months in these areas.  Answer: Who knows? No one can really predict, you just go when you can.

3 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Thanks, I am surprised my DW in her research missed them. If we ever do another Baltic cruise, I'll make sure I let her know about them.

 

(For our last cruise we spent over 4 hours in the British Museum on our pre-cruise day, 2 1/2 hours in the Rijksmuseum on our first port, visited several museums in Bergen, a museum in Akureyri, and a museum was included in our art deco excursion in Alesund. She rarely misses museums.)

Closer to home, we were on the Great Lakes Viking cruise last summer with a day in Cleveland,  and I took the optional excursion to the Cleveland Museum of Art….fantastic museum and a great docent for a guide!

On 12/31/2023 at 1:45 PM, ontheweb said:

I did like the Church made out of Rock, but DW was not impressed. After Tallinn and St. Petersburg, I just found everything less impressive. I don't remember there being a fine arts museum. DW is an art teacher (now retired), and I don't know how she could have missed that.

The name of the museum is Ateneum and contains Finnish Art as well as some other temporary exhibitions.  Kiiasma  is the museum for contemporary art.

8 hours ago, ontheweb said:

We've been to 3 of those ports.

 

Tallinn---easy to walk it without paying for any excursion. We had a Rick Steves Scandanavia book, and just followed his walking tour.

 

Stockholm---there was way more on our possible to do list than we could have possibly done in our time there. Our #1 attraction was the Vasa Museum.

 

Helsinki--found less to do there than any of our other Baltic ports, and cannot really recommend anything.

Helsinki: Fine art museum and modern architecture, (Kaisma). Market (outdoors and indoors) is fun and delicious. The “Rock Church” (Temppeliaukion) is amazing-go inside. The Sibelius Monument is in a lovely area. Then History Museum, if that interests you, can easily take a half day to explore. Many of these places may be closed now , check the websites closer to your journey. As you can tell, I really like this city!

13 hours ago, GerryL13 said:

Every item is tagged with your cabin number. There are three checks to make sure the number of items matches the number of items on your list. Tip: since the tags are applied thermally, you can remove them using heat. No mention was made of bags.

You can remove them as GerryL 13 suggests, but I don’t…I kind of like to remember cruises when I see the cabin number tag. They do fall off eventually.

14 hours ago, Kountess said:

My husband and I have done this twice, and it has worked well for us. Just check to see the configuration of the seat you choose. Usually, one seat angles close to the window, while the one behind angles closer to the aisle. The one closest to the window is more private but a little harder to get in and out of. You'll be spending lots of time together on the ship, so this will be your alone time!

Exactly what we do, and so far it has worked out well. My husband is hard of hearing and as I am usually served first, I mention it to the flight attendant (once is all that is needed, they have remarkable memories!).