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Moonlion

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Cool Cruiser (2/15)

  1. We got this exact same notice before our February 12, 2024 South America & Chilean Fjords cruise. The reason you can't cancel excursions "within the first two days of sailing" is because of Viking's 48 hour cancellation policy for paid excursions. We were able to cancel all booked excursions after that, and book any included or optional excursions while onboard that were not sold out. Hope this helps.
  2. We did the "Walking the Nature Trails of Mousa Island" excursion on our May '23 BIE cruise and didn't find it to be demanding (both of us in our 60s). If you are of normal mobility, you should be fine. The most challenging part of hike was not slipping on the mud and avoiding stepping in the sheep "poo."
  3. We only did the Igloo Hotel and thus can't comment on Glamping in Tromso. We felt our overnight in the Igloo Hotel was a "once in a lifetime adventure," Glad we did it (especially since our best aurora experience occurred that night) but don't feel the need to repeat if we return to Alta. The hotel itself is truly beautiful and unique, entirely made of ice including the beds. As such, there are no toilet facilities or electrical outlets in the Igloo. However, the lodge is very close, maybe 20 feet from the entrance to the Igloo. I kept my coat and boots near the ice bed when I needed to get up in the middle of the night to use the lodge facilities. The ice beds include a foam and reindeer skin padding and they provide sleeping bags. They recommend that you wear a base layer (long underwear), warm socks and cap to sleep. My husband and I shared a double sleeping bag and were quite warm despite the sub zero temperature inside the Igloo.
  4. Given the big bucks for the Viking optional excursions, it would also be nice to be able to read customer reviews of the excursions, as you can for private tours. But why would Viking promote this? Keeping clients in the dark as to the quality of the excursions is in their best interest (sorry to sound so cynical).
  5. The people at Viking who organize and contract the tours may have this information but, if you call Viking, the call reps don't know much more than the description provided on the website. We had called Viking to get more information about an optional excursion we had booked on our 2022 cruise. The call rep and supervisor couldn't provide any additional information beyond what was already published. They basically just read back to me the online description. I asked if they could contact the excursion organizers at Viking for the information, and they said that was not possible. I ended up canceling the excursion.
  6. Word of advice: wake up early! The views of the Cliffs of Dover started before 6 AM on our Greenwich to Bergen cruise. We were still jet lagged so just happened to wake up early that morning. There were no announcements from the Cruise Director or Bridge.
  7. Also, in our experience, the starboard side usually docked next to the port (go figure). When docking, we would have preferred to be on the port side of ship.
  8. On our London to Bergen BIE cruise, we were on the starboard side and had beautiful views of the Cliffs of Dover when sailing into Dover in the early morning. Perhaps the port side would give you land views when sailing in the opposite direction.
  9. On the Neptune in May '23, we found the lasagna inedible. The bechamel was thin and hard as a rock (who makes bechamel that way?), some kind of mushy, tasteless meat filling and no ricotta that I could detect. Fortunately, we ordered it as a side dish - took two bites and that was it.
  10. Dennis, you can often get an idea of when Viking thinks passengers will (reasonably) be able to disembark ship by looking at their shore excursions times. On the day we arrived in Bergen, the earliest shore excursion time was 8:30 AM including the "included" excursion.
  11. On our May '23 BIE cruise, Greenwich to Bergen, we did arrive by 8 AM, but I wasn't aware when they opened the gang plank to allow passengers to disembark that morning (e.g., the staff need to set up the card readers, metal detector, etc.). After our cruise, we stayed a night in Bergen at the Thon Orion hotel which is very close to the cruise terminal, and it took about 10 minutes by taxi to get to the train station with traffic. It could be cutting it close if Viking staff are delayed by 10-15 minutes in opening the gang plank for some reason.
  12. We had the Osso Bucco on the Neptune on our May 2023 BIE cruise. Hopefully, Viking hasn't phased it out across all ships.
  13. Ha ha, I clip grocery coupons for $1 😜
  14. We were on the Neptune in May and asked the bartenders to make "classic" margaritas for us, i.e., with tequila, triple sec or another orange liquor and fresh lime juice. They did, and the margaritas were perfect! Soon, all the bartenders learned of our preference and brought us classic margaritas. We never received a margarita with lemon juice. I think the bartenders will make pretty much any cocktail you ask for if you tell them what you want. The staff really aim to please!
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