Moonlion

As far as I know, you are not able to board the ship a day early or disembark a day late. You can arrive in the port city a day or more early (or depart the port city later) but, if doing independently, you will need to arrange your own hotel and travel arrangements. Viking offers pre- and post-cruise extensions in most embarking/disembarking cities. Search through the forum for the advantages/disadvantages of doing pre- or post-cruise extensions with Viking versus independently on your own.

We booked the following independent excursions which not were not organized by Viking but by outside vendors (e.g., Viator, Tours by Locals). Some of our independent tours were private which included just the 6 of us and some were small group tours. In Montevideo, we booked Tours by Locals with Gonzalo Mara: Montevideo City Tour + Winery Visit & Tasting (https://www.toursbylocals.com/private-montevideo-city-tour-and-winery-visit). This was a private tour ($750 total for all 6 of us). Gonzalo was an outstanding guide and we really enjoyed the tour and wine tasting. In Puerto Madryn, we booked booked a private tour with Sentir Patagonia (their Peninsula Valdes tour): https://sentir-patagonia.com.ar/. Total cost for all 6 of us came to $870 ($145 per person) which included entry fees and a box lunch. It's a long ride to Peninsula Valdes and back but was an excellent tour. In Port Stanley (Falkland Islands), we booked an all day tour to Volunteer Point with Shaun Jaffray (https://adventurefalklands.com/). Price was $200 per person which included entry fees and a packed lunch. As mentioned above, it's a long, bumpy ride to Volunteer Point in 4x4 jeeps but a lot of fun. This was a highlight of our trip and highly recommend Shaun Jaffray! In Ushuaia, we booked a private tour with Calaio Tours (Option 3: National Park w/ Hiking; 5.5 hours): https://www.tourguideushuaia.net/nat-park-w-hiking-5-hs/. Price was $170 per person which included park entry fees. Our guide, Gaby, was outstanding and took us on 5 brief (20-40 minutes each), easy to medium-difficult hikes in the Tierra del Fuego National Park. If you are mobile and reasonably fit, we can highly recommend this excursion. In Puerto Montt, we booked a private tour with Chile Dream Tours (LAND OF VOLCANOS: LAKES REGION): https://chiledreamtours.com/en/shore-excursion-puerto-montt-volcanoes/. Price was $945 for all 6 of us ($157 per person) and included park entry fees and a fabulous picnic lunch with 2 or 3 excellent local wines. This was another outstanding guide and tour. In Santiago (Valparaiso), we booked a private 2-day Tours by Locals excursion with Caroline O. On our first day in Valparaiso, we toured Valparaiso and Vina del mar; on our day of disembarkation, we stopped at a Casablanca winery and then toured Santiago with drop-off at the airport. The price was $200 per person for both days. Caroline was an outstanding guide and we really enjoyed the 2-day tour.

We traveled with 2 other couples (6 of us total) and mostly did private tours which were all excellent to outstanding. With 6 of us, private tours were very affordable since they usually charge by tour and not per person. We didn't do any included (free) tours since they seemed too limited. We did the following optional (paid) Viking excursions: Artistic Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires): four of us went on this tour and it was excellent - loved it! Birdwatching at the Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve (Buenos Aires): one couple went on this tour and said they really enjoyed the experience, tour guide and photo opportunities. Hike Magellan’s Strait Park (Punta Arenas): DH and I went on this one and really enjoyed the hike and views; however, need good mobility for the hike. Our guide was excellent. Strait of Magellan Park (Punta Arenas): the other two couples went on this one and said it was OK but not great. Happy to answer any other questions.

We were on this cruise in February 2024 and absolutely loved it! We really lucked out with weather and didn't miss a port. Attached are the shore excursions for our cruise. Hope this helps. ShoreEx South America & Chilean Fjords 12 Feb 2024.pdf

On our last VOC (February 2024), we booked Viking's North Pacific Passage (22 nights) while onboard. We received the following onboard booking discounts: $400 pp past guest discount, $400 pp onboard booking discount, $100 pp onboard credit for the cruise we were on. Total discount came to $1800 per couple plus the 6-month final payment. Of note, we had booked this same cruise (different dates) in December 2023 using Viking's future cruise discount promotion. The onboard discounts were significantly better than the previous discounts we had received plus there was a price drop between Dec '23 and Feb '24. Once onboard, we could not cancel and then rebook the same dates and get the onboard booking discounts. We had to book different dates (which ended up working out better for us) to get the onboard discounts, and then cancel the original dates through out TA.

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.

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."

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

We had the Osso Bucco on the Neptune on our May 2023 BIE cruise. Hopefully, Viking hasn't phased it out across all ships.

No more Osso Bucco??? That was my favorite main dish at Manfredis.

Ha ha, I clip grocery coupons for $1 😜

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!

Another genuine question for those in the know: is there a licensing agency in the US or elsewhere that certifies that a dog has received the necessary training and is a "registered service animal," and ideally a way that establishments can verify (e.g., a QR code or something)? I ask because we know a couple with a pet dog (which I know for a fact is not a trained service animal) who were able to purchase a vest and certificates claiming the dog is a service animal. They use it so the dog can go to restaurants or stay in hotels with them. I'm guessing the restaurants and hotels have to accommodate this couple's pet if there isn't some real certification or licensing available for them to verify.

They look pretty similar across ships at least in same year. I posted the wine list on the Neptune for our May 2023 British Isles Explorer cruise - copied here:

Ya sure it was just the Beatles tour 😆? (sorry, couldn't help myself)

We did it on our own. Mad Day Out with Ian Doyle. Great tour.

Unfortunately, not on the Neptune British Isles Explorer cruise this May. I even asked the Living Room bartender but no luck.