SempreMare

Total agree with that and also this: Other reasons why reservations still might be preferable. 1) If you are in a party of 5 - 6 or more, AND want to eat at 7:00pm (fyi - when I ate at 7:45pm or later, I observed plenty of room for large parties every place I went.) 2) If you have a medical condition where you really should eat at a certain time, I could see where making a reservation would give me more self-discipline to eat at a certain time -------- Another reason to not make reservations in advance: To not feel World Cafe FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). ex 1: World Cafe FOMO On those occasions when I made myself use a restaurant reservation, I'd find myself wondering what I was missing at World Cafe. Then, once I experienced the World Cafe's Russian Medovik cake, I could not stop myself from sprinting to the dessert area as soon as possible to scan for it. Alas ::sniff::, it was only offered that one day during World Cafe lunch (?) I believe. Since Viking Homelands used to include Russian ports on its itinerary, maybe I will become the World Cafe Chef has kept it on the menu. So I might become reacquainted with Russian Medovik cake... ex 2: World Cafe FOMO Like others mentioned above - not wanting to miss Surf & Turf night at World Cafe The exceptional seafood I enjoyed at World Cafe was that single huge scallop, cooked in shell and seasoned really well. ----- separate question Could someone please remind me: Are World Cafe menus available - on Stateroom TV - on the onboard App - on the hallway big monitors ? This is something I wanted to email Viking about but never did A dining friction point I wish Viking would fix: It seems like to get the info I wanted to make a decision, there were times when I needed to consult all 3 screens above there was no "one-stop shopping" The same dining info should all be available in the app and on my stateroom TV And whatever key info was missing to the hallway big monitor should be added :-), even though I can't remember what I was looking for 🤠. I definitely remember thinking, "Why didn't the person who designed this include that info there too?" It was general info; not specific to me. I wanted to keep my head UP more and buried in my phone LESS than what I ended out having to do.

You must be psychic @OneSixtyToOne ! Over the weekend, I was trying to recall exactly that. There was so much I missed on my first Viking cruise that I definitely want to make room for on my upcoming second one, Viking Homelands. Do you think that those times vary from cruise to cruise? I'd guess that to optimize daily operations and improve consistently, Viking would likely try to make the time-of-day offering consistent for a while on, let's say, 15-ish day cruises, and then see how it works.

A variation of that is true for me: When on a cruise, I need to be much more aware of the clock throughout the day vs on a DIY holiday. Not having a timed restaurant reservation means 1 less clock thing to be aware of on any given day.

The topic of restaurants reservations is not being discussed much here 😉. So I thought I'd start another thread 🤠. On my Viking British Isles Explorer cruise last September, - It would have been easier to make NO advanced restaurant reservations. - Once on board, it would have saved LOTS of time and some aggravation to have not made advanced restaurant reservations I'm taking the time to write this out because this was not at all obvious to me as a first time Viking cruiser, despite researching lots here before I left. Big picture, 3 reasons why: 1) Unanticipated things (almost all good things!) seemed to happen each day that completely changed when I wanted to eat dinner vs my carefully considered and researched advanced options. . 2) Having to cancel any reservation seemed to take too much time because of - sloowwww onboard WiFi, - occasionally no one answering the phone, etc. Yes, I could have just not canceled the reservation, but then I would have felt ick / slimy for not doing that. 3) Being spontaneous and just showing up to a restaurant created a maximum wait time of... 10 minutes at worst, easily filled with interesting conversation. Examples of unanticipated things that happened, Reason 1) a) Sunset and sailaways - I wanted to watch and take pictures of the sailaway or coastline sunset before going to dinner So many interesting things to see from the ship during British Isles Explorer after sailaway before sunset. - The coastline and houses along the coastline of the country du jour - The wind farms in what seemed like the freaking middle of the ocean - The oil refineries - The pilot transfer between ship and boat. I felt compelled to watch and make sure the pilot didn't fall in as they made the leap from vessel to vessel while I silently screamed inside ;-). b) I did NOT anticipate the spa and workout room closing every night at 8:00 pm :-(. After a full day of excursions, returning to the ship late afternoon I had planned to chill, eat dinner, then relax for a couple hours workout room then spa. It became quickly obvious that the spa and workout room would be closed exactly when I would want to be there. So I permanently skipped working out during the cruise. I saw exactly 1 person from the crew in there after 8:00pm the entire time of my 15 day cruise. I did not anticipate I'd enjoy the spa so much. The facilities are excellent. The bucket thing was shocking and exhilarating. So I quickly decided to change all reservations from early to 8:30 or later. c) I would join other passengers' reservation party; people I met during an excursion. If someone said "hey join us tonight at Manfred's at X time" I would! So fun! d) near my room 7000, When I noticed the door to the opening in the wall containing the serious looking equipment had been left opened, I thought the safety person should know about it. So instead, ate at World Cafe where the officers typically eat after 8:00pm ish to give the safety officer a map of where this strange opening was. e) Classes and lectures I wanted to attend Was impressed with the quality of the Viking lecturers. One in particular on British Isles Explorer was excellent. Yet another reason I wish I had kept evening restaurant decisions completely spontaneous. - - - In hindsight, when i realize the spa 8:00pm closure times changed everything, I should have just canceled my restaurant reservations instead of rescheduling them. I rarely saw a line to get in to either Manfredi's or Chefs Table after 8:00 pm. But let's say it would have been completely full or had a wait. After a bad Day 1, I found World Cafe to be consistently good to very good, with several exceptional dishes. There is always "room" at World Cafe, no waiting!

Done! Thank you for the info @Host Kat.

Hi @CurlerRob, I also add on extra days at the end after reading that tip Why do you start coverage the day prior to departure? Follow-up: I emailed @TayanaLorna's question "if excursions are not insured in the policy, are you covered medically if injured while on an excursion?" to Steve Dasseos one of the amazing people at the Trip Insurance Store. Answer: Yes. RE: Risky excursions. I had not heard of this exclusion till after I was on a hot air balloon ride that crash landed in Holland when visiting for Keukenhof 2022. Here's what a hot air balloon crash landing looks like. I was so happy we didn't drown in a nearby BIG "canal". I somersaulted backwards out of the basket, laughed that I escaped death, and started taking pics. We landed on a beautiful random farm, complete with lush grass and adorable boys who ran across the farm screaming at us in Dutch. I knew my shoulder hurt a lot, but nothing felt broken. I did not realize I had completely tore my rotator cuff. When I couldn't lift my arm to grab the van strap to get in I thought "uh-oh..." Most painful surgical recovery I've ever experienced. (rotator cuff tendon tear repair, clavicle bone excision, acromium bone decompression, biceps tenodesis). 6 weeks immobile in that sling. Then 2 hrs / day of PT, 1 hr every 12 hrs while at home for 6 months. At least $10,000k in out of pocket expenses, not because of the risky activity exclusion, but because the surgery, 2x weekly PT, etc. occurred here in the US. Even though the injury occurred on the trip. That was the surprising part. I thought since the injury occurred on the trip, I'd be covered for costs related to that injury. Insurance companies always win. [ Yes, I am sure that is spelled out in the policy somewhere, and I should have read the policy closer in order to not be surprised.]

Edit: Day 09 is now Skagen, Denmark, not Alborg. Any advice on how to persuade CruiseCritic forum moderators to make posts continuously editable and correctable?

Great question @TayanaLorna

Maybe a too specific question, but here goes: During the Viking Homelands itinerary, what were the best dish options that you enjoyed in the World Cafe? Do you believe those meals are timed with the port? Or is it random? During British Isles Explorer, the World Cafe first night was disappointing. But surprising to me (given my first impression) many of the other nights were excellent, some outstanding. ex: the 1 single huge scallop in shell ex: the dreamy Russian Medevik cake during lunch about half way through the itinerary I saw some people making custom orders for things that looked yummy but didn't have the courage to ask. Viking Homelands 2023 itinerary Day 01 Stockholm, Sweden Day 02 Stockholm, Sweden Day 03 Mariehamn, Aland Islands Day 04 Sea Day - Sail The Swedish Coast Day 05 Gdansk, Poland Day 06 Bornholm (Ronne), Denmark Day 07 Berlin (Warnemunde), Germany Day 08 Copenhagen, Denmark Day 09 Alborg, Denmark Day 10 Oslo, Norway Day 12 Oslo, Norway Day 13 Stavanger, Norway Day 14 Eidfjord, Norway Day 15 Bergen, Norway

I have a Travel Insured trip insurance policy for upcoming Viking Homelands cruise. Since Viking Shore Excursions are refundable, I don't need to add them to my total trip insurance policy, right? Or, am I forgetting some detail that would make me want to include them even if they are refundable?

Dang. Clever! I didn't consider writing something in on the morning room service order form... :: I shall be less straight laced on Viking Homelands ::

One other big negative surprise re: Luggage Forward NO travel insurance covers your luggage if lost or damaged when shipped by a carrier service like Luggage Forward. So you either buy even more insurance from Luggage Forward, or be prepared to eat the cost if lost, damaged, delayed, etc. I believe that longer thread linked above contains this info also.

Tight connections, either due to unanticipated delays or planned tight connections, is THE reason to use Luggage Forward. I absolutely would have missed my connection in Chicago if I had to clear customs with my luggage. Mega expensive and not without flaws. 100% agree with your AirTags suggestion. Example: On the return leg, I saw that the DHL was bringing me 1 suitcase but left my second identical suitcase at Austin airport. I put a big sign on my front door: Hello DHL: I have a question - please knock before leaving suitcase. DHL carrier stopped, read the sign, left the suitcase, and quickly (much quicker than the approach) walked away. Doorbell camera notified me of a human, so I sprinted to the door and out the door, to catch up with the carrier. Carrier said she didn't know about the second suitcase. I asked if she could look for it and bring it tomorrow, and also called DHL. I eventually received the second suitcase, but at a non-trivial extra time cost to me.

@CDR2001, which excursion did you take? Did you hear of any you'd recommend for Bornholm?

To previous Viking Homelands passengers (or others experienced with this itinerary,) were there any port excursions you found especially enjoyable or memorable? Order of ports for our upcoming Viking Homelands is: 01 Stockholm - Embarkation and overnight in Stockholm. Royal Evening Cruise (embarkation day evening - only option) 02 Stockholm - 2:30pm Sailaway 03 Mariehamn, Åland Islands, Finland 04 Sea Day 05 Gdańsk, Poland 06 Bornholm (Rønne), Denmark 07 Berlin, Germany 11:00pm Sailaway (yay!) 08 Copenhagen, Denmark 09 Alborg / Skagen, Denmark 10 Oslo, Norway 12 Stavanger, Norway 13 Eidfjord, Norway 14 Bergen, Norway - Full day and overnight in port. 15 Bergen, Norway - Disembarkation early early. Ports based on a October 2021 Guest Statement. (noting the date since it just ports / timesmight have changed since...) I've copied this to a Google Doc for reference on the trip. PS: Highlighted the Tender port because: A surprise to me (a bad surprise) on the British Isles Explorer was how much time the need to "tender" deleted from the already small amount of time in any port. My first cruise, Holland America, Seward --> Alaska, had zero tender ports. Am very relieved to see only 1 tender port on this itinerary.

Thanks Andy for the cool insider detail. Plan B: I shall convince the Jupiter Captain to join me at that chic Gdansk bar that opens at 7:00pm and serves that Goldwasser polish liquor I MUST try while in Gdansk. https://goldwasser.pl/en/product-category/gift-sets/

::sniff::

Question about Viking Homelands port-to-port travel time. My statement shows the Viking Jupiter: Friday May 5, 7:00 PM departs Gdansk, Poland Saturday May 6, 12:00 PM arrives Bornholm (Ronne) Denmark Questions 1) Why would it take so long (17 hours) to go what looks like such a short distance on Google Earth? I'd love to have more time in Gdansk. From YouTubes, it seems like the type of place I'd be smitten by... like the day in Belfast on British Isles Explorer. 2) Is there a website that shows nautical travel distances between ports? I don't see a way to force Google Maps to travel by ship between those 2 ports. (,,, though when I was in Port Angeles, Washington eons ago, I thought Google Maps showed the nautical travel time to Victoria BC.)

Sounds like an excellent adventure! I'm doing Viking Homelands on Jupiter in May, Stockholm to Bergen, then staying on through Constitution Day on May 17. I can't wait! Woke up last week to a tree on my roof (another "1 in a 100 year" ice storm in Austin, Texas.) Have never seen ice this thick on trees. Just happy none of them came through my windows. Hearing big trees fall once every 30 min was bizarre. Loud crunching noise for 5 seconds then ::boom::

Hi Clay - fyi My experience with savory appetizers in phyllo dough and others from the Living Room glass case was not positive on Viking Mars British Isles Explorer last September. They all seemed several days old. 1 bite put them in the "not worth the calories" category. Maybe the Living Rooms sweets would have been better. Enjoyed many items at World Cafe, especially the Russian Medovik cake... WOW.

I've thought this about 10 times, but just to say it 'out loud' @Clay Clayton I appreciate your beautifully detailed replies complete with anticipating the likely If-Thens.

I saw that "Solo Travelers Get Together" advertised on my Viking cruise too. I showed up. Scanned the room for a solo Viking resembling the scruffy-yet-capable-looking gentleman on Viking's "Explore" magazine cover. Alas, everyone else present was a couple. ::sniff:: ::sadness:: Someone told me I was the only true "solo" traveler on that British Isles Explorer. BTW I immensely enjoyed the cruise and ~ 3-4 couples I met, one of whom I still text with at random moments since. @TwitchlyI really wish our paths had crossed - do you have any future cruises planned? @Clay Clayton dang it man, I need your mom to negotiate for me that 150% supplement with Viking! Pleeeease?

1) Planning helps the excitement and anticipation of travel start to build. 2) Time and Money. If I had infinite time left in life, and infinite money, I'd probably plan less. 3) For each vacation day, I like to have handy Option A (preferred) Option B (next best) Option C In 2 recent trips, ~ 50% of all days, a situation caused Option A to NOT work out. I saved a huge amount of time and stress by immediately simply pivoting to Option B. Traveling has never felt more spontaneous, despite all the "planning" I do.

100% agree with your wife on both.

After British Isles Explorer concluded, in Oslo I visited the Norway Resistance Museum in the Akershus Fortress based on others' recommendations here and the morning guide's as well. Totally enjoyed it. Both the Museum itself but also the Fortress grounds around the museum. A couple from England in the museum recommended I watch The Heroes of Telemark, the Kirk Douglas movie about the operation you describe. Had forgotten about that till reading what you wrote above! Just purchased it for my next plane ride. After the Resistance Museum closed at 4:30pm, I took a quick walk to the historic Engebret Cafe where I had a delicious early dinner. Followed by a walk through the pedestrian shopping streets and back to the hotel. A perfect day...