Excursions!

Well, having read on here about excursion issues, I was panicking about making my bookings. Reservations opened here at 8 am and I set to in trepidation. I was sure we'd be stuck with the earliest starts or, worse, no spaces left.

I was wrong. It was easy peasy. I got all the excursions at all the timings we wanted. Phew!

Am feeling much more relaxed about it all now. Roll on embarkation.

When we did the Empires of the Mediterranean last year, even from our last-to-book Veranda cabin and without getting up in the middle of the night, we were perfectly satisfied with our excursion booking.

We were not able to book the optional excursion in Dubrovnik we thought we wanted, but the included excursion at an early time slot was really very good and gave us as much time in the walled city as we wanted. Our other choices were a mix of included tours and optional excursions, and we were overall very pleased. We made use of the free shuttle service Viking offers to extend our time in several ports.

Good for you, Nippy! It's nice to have that hurdle cleared, isn't it? These last weeks will fly by!

[quote name=lackcreativity;5567734. we were perfectly satisfied with our excursion booking.

We were not able to book the optional excursion in Dubrovnik we thought we wanted' date=' but the included excursion at an early time slot was really very good and gave us as much time in the walled city as we wanted. Our other choices were a mix of included tours and optional excursions, and we were overall very pleased. We made use of the free shuttle service Viking offers to extend our time in several ports.[/quote]

We had the same problem in booking what we wanted in Dubrovnik on our upcoming cruise. Thought we could make it happen on our own but about 10 days later we saw that they had added another time for that exclusion in the afternoon. It was during the time we booked the included but we were able to switch that to the morning and not conflict with Viking's policy for booking. This is a long time in port for our cruise and we still have about 4.5 hours when we finish before we leave.

We had the same problem in booking what we wanted in Dubrovnik on our upcoming cruise. Thought we could make it happen on our own but about 10 days later we saw that they had added another time for that exclusion in the afternoon. It was during the time we booked the included but we were able to switch that to the morning and not conflict with Viking's policy for booking. This is a long time in port for our cruise and we still have about 4.5 hours when we finish before we leave.

We also had one excursion that we altered after our initial selection when an additional time slot showed up. It pays to be flexible in your advance planning, but it also pays to check in after your first booking because sometimes a better plan becomes available.

Nippy you are lucky you are in Scotland! 8 AM! I got up at 1 AM to do mine...but did get the included times I wanted. Didn't book any extra charge ones (this was last year).

What category are you in? Just wondering if later, lower categories have problems.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We're in a DV cabin.

We're in a DV cabin.

Great! I have hope we will get some that we want. [emoji3]

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Nippy you are lucky you are in Scotland! 8 AM! I got up at 1 AM to do mine...but did get the included times I wanted. Didn't book any extra charge ones (this was last year).

A point of clarification please, our first Viking trip. Are the times for the “included” excursions staggered with a friendly competition for more coveted start times? Or, are the bookings you are discussing for additional excursions?

Yes you pick times for included excursions. We did not do any extras as they were way more costly than doing it on our own.

There are usually 4-6 different start times so I was keen not to be too rushed in the mornings. We're on holiday and always enjoy a leisurely breakfast.

I booked a couple of extra things because they looked intriguing and one is a birthday present for DH - the Panzer excursion - not for me though!!

A point of clarification please, our first Viking trip. Are the times for the “included” excursions staggered with a friendly competition for more coveted start times? Or, are the bookings you are discussing for additional excursions?

Even included excursions have to be selected and booked, and some time slots can fill up. Be flexible, and you won't be disappointed. We tried for early time slots most of the time, as we like to use the free shuttles to extend our time in port at the end of a tour. However, in one port, we could only get a later time slot, and it was nice to not have to rush in the morning.

A point of clarification please, our first Viking trip. Are the times for the “included” excursions staggered with a friendly competition for more coveted start times? Or, are the bookings you are discussing for additional excursions?

Both. Both the included and optional excursions all become available at the same time. On our cruise, each included excursion has more than one start time, and the coveted times book up.

Is the ship virtually empty during the day? I noticed that many of the excursions on the Iconic Western Med run until 5 or 6 pm. Do they serve lunch or these or are you on your own?

Is the ship virtually empty during the day? I noticed that many of the excursions on the Iconic Western Med run until 5 or 6 pm. Do they serve lunch or these or are you on your own?

The ship was pretty empty during the day. None of the included excursions were longer than 3-4 hours, and could all be scheduled to allow for lunch onboard if one wanted to. The full day excursions were all optional ones, the tour descriptions both on the Viking website and on MVJ will let you know if a snack or a meal are included. Where there are no meals, the tour guide will allocate time for lunch on your own and will likely make suggestions; for the "on your own tours" you would be responsible for planning when and where you were stopping for a snack/meal.

When you arrive on the ship to start your cruise, be sure to carefully check the start times for all your included excursions to make sure they match what you reserved. Viking frequently changes your times without consulting/notifying you. This happened on our first cruise last July (Viking Homelands).

Well - today was my day to book excursions - and as I expected - not many choices. Almost all sold out on a busy Homeland cruise including some included tours. You would think that they could have figured this one out by now. I know that they will add some of the included back - so they say but if I wanted to chose an optional - I would not have much choice. Times that were left in some cases were horrible - afternoon or early morning.

I will plan my own excursions - half way there already but I will think twice before booking Viking again. This itinerary is exactly what I wanted and I have no regrets. That said, this is a complicated itinerary and paying for and having the cruise line help with excursions is lacking.

Well - today was my day to book excursions - and as I expected - not many choices. Almost all sold out on a busy Homeland cruise including some included tours. You would think that they could have figured this one out by now. I know that they will add some of the included back - so they say but if I wanted to chose an optional - I would not have much choice. Times that were left in some cases were horrible - afternoon or early morning.

 

I will plan my own excursions - half way there already but I will think twice before booking Viking again. This itinerary is exactly what I wanted and I have no regrets. That said, this is a complicated itinerary and paying for and having the cruise line help with excursions is lacking.

Sorry to hear that as we took mostly optional tours on our terrific Viking Homelands. Suggest a private tour in St Pete. We used TJ travel. Less $ and more access than with Viking. Your problem may turn out to be a blessing. TJ does other Baltic ports as well. Seemless, easy, pay after the tour with credit card.

It confounds me that Viking has such access problems in their tours. You'd think a 900 passenger smaller ship than the 3,000 passenger ships would have more tour access & opportunities. Not so. Silversea does not seem to have this problem in their 600 passenger ships.

Well - today was my day to book excursions - and as I expected - not many choices. Almost all sold out on a busy Homeland cruise including some included tours. You would think that they could have figured this one out by now. I know that they will add some of the included back - so they say but if I wanted to chose an optional - I would not have much choice. Times that were left in some cases were horrible - afternoon or early morning.

 

I will plan my own excursions - half way there already but I will think twice before booking Viking again. This itinerary is exactly what I wanted and I have no regrets. That said, this is a complicated itinerary and paying for and having the cruise line help with excursions is lacking.

May I ask what cabin level you have? We’re in the DV level and wondering about our chances when our booking window opens on another cruise soon.

We're DV on the Homelands cruise. As I posted at the beginning I was lucky to get pretty much exactly what we wanted. A few days later the restaurant bookings opened and there seemed fewer spaces but we still got booked in. Will probably change once we're on board but did feel panicked into making these reservations.

Well - today was my day to book excursions - and as I expected - not many choices. Almost all sold out on a busy Homeland cruise including some included tours. You would think that they could have figured this one out by now. I know that they will add some of the included back - so they say but if I wanted to chose an optional - I would not have much choice. Times that were left in some cases were horrible - afternoon or early morning.

 

I will plan my own excursions - half way there already but I will think twice before booking Viking again. This itinerary is exactly what I wanted and I have no regrets. That said, this is a complicated itinerary and paying for and having the cruise line help with excursions is lacking.

Sorry to hear this. You might go back and check availability every day plus to check it when on board. People could cancel their excursions for one reason or another. I know that this suggestion didn’t make you feel better but it’s good to keep the possibility in mind.

You will love Homelands. It is a fantastic itinerary! Good luck!

We are in a V Cabin and so I would think that DV would have much better chances if you get up early. As DV is the majority, the V categories just get the remains. I am hoping that they will open up some decent spots on a couple of the included ones. We are travelling with another couple and it makes it more difficult. I was surprised that there were not more options today as one included one has been sold out for days.

We have already booked St. Petersburg and Berlin privately so I am thrilled with those bookings. The older I get, the less I want to walk and read a quidebook at the same time. :) I will have to find some other tours in the cities that we are unable to book. I am pretty well prepared. Thanks for all of the concern.

What time do the excursions open up and are they posted earlier so that one can get an idea of the offerings before they open? Thanks.

We are in a V Cabin and so I would think that DV would have much better chances if you get up early. As DV is the majority, the V categories just get the remains. I am hoping that they will open up some decent spots on a couple of the included ones. We are travelling with another couple and it makes it more difficult. I was surprised that there were not more options today as one included one has been sold out for days.

 

We have already booked St. Petersburg and Berlin privately so I am thrilled with those bookings. The older I get, the less I want to walk and read a quidebook at the same time. :) I will have to find some other tours in the cities that we are unable to book. I am pretty well prepared. Thanks for all of the concern.

You probably already know this, but on both the ports of call section of CC and forums/tours of each port city on Trip Advisor you can find some wonderful private small group tours in the places you do not want to DIY.