Need advice on Viking "Into the Midnight Sun" port activities

My husband and I are on the Viking Sea "Into the Midnight Sun" cruise, departing London 7/9. Even though I went on the web site to book excursions as soon as they were available to us, many of the optional ones were sold out. We signed up for all the included tours, but they only last a few hours. If you've taken this itinerary, how did you spend the remainder of the day in port once the included tour was finished? Private tour company, cab, rental car? Any advice/recommendation would be most appreciated.

We leave next week for the Midnight Sun cruise. We are doing most of the included excursions plus somethings on our own in each port. London and Edinburgh are easy. Just take the included tour into town and then hop off near places of interest and then return to ship on your own. Just make sure you let your tour guide know you are leaving so they don't make everyone wait while they look for you. In Bergen, Geiranger, Tromso and Molde we booked things on our own in addition to the included tours. If you look on the roll calls for the Midnight Sun cruises on 6/3, and 6/17 I know quite a few of us have left links to alternate tours in almost every port. Some with private guides, some group tours. Rental cars at several of our ports are hard to come by and not very convenient to the location where the ship docks so that has not been a great option at least for our group.

Advice:

Go back to MyVikingJourney.com and see if any of the tours that you had wanted have perhaps opened up. Keep checking until you sail.

Read the roll call from last year starting on the last page and working your way back no further than June 1, 2016. (remember that the itinerary in 2016 is different from 2017 but there is still plenty of overlap).

Read the roll calls from this year. June 3 on the Star is particularly active. Do a lot of skimming (and again, read backwords).

Check the roll call for you sailing to see if anyone is looking to share a private tour.

In Bergen and Tromso there is plenty to see in walking distance from the ship. I particularly liked the Polar Museum in Tromso and thought that the best views of the Arctic Church were from the ship. It is possible to do the tram on your own using a taxi (probably expensive) or public transportation; if you can't see to the top of the tram from the ship, don't bother going up at all since all you will see will be the clouds. However, if the day is clear, the view from the tram is absolutely magnificent.

In Geiranger, unless the tours have already sold out because multiple ships are due in town that day, it is very easy to book tours on line with Geirangerfjordservices (just google it). We did the combo tour boat ride on the fjord and bus ride up to Mt. Dalsnibba (another one to avoid if it is very cloudy that day; the money shot is the view from the summit back down the valley to the fjord).

Bergen: At least two museums are in walking distance from the pier where Viking docks. There is a public tour at lunch time to the Grieg house for the daily concert (again, easily found on google).

We leave next week for the Midnight Sun cruise. We are doing most of the included excursions plus somethings on our own in each port. London and Edinburgh are easy. Just take the included tour into town and then hop off near places of interest and then return to ship on your own. Just make sure you let your tour guide know you are leaving so they don't make everyone wait while they look for you. In Bergen, Geiranger, Tromso and Molde we booked things on our own in addition to the included tours. If you look on the roll calls for the Midnight Sun cruises on 6/3, and 6/17 I know quite a few of us have left links to alternate tours in almost every port. Some with private guides, some group tours. Rental cars at several of our ports are hard to come by and not very convenient to the location where the ship docks so that has not been a great option at least for our group.

Thanks for the advice. Bon voyage!

Advice:

 

Go back to MyVikingJourney.com and see if any of the tours that you had wanted have perhaps opened up. Keep checking until you sail.

 

Read the roll call from last year starting on the last page and working your way back no further than June 1, 2016. (remember that the itinerary in 2016 is different from 2017 but there is still plenty of overlap).

 

Read the roll calls from this year. June 3 on the Star is particularly active. Do a lot of skimming (and again, read backwords).

 

Check the roll call for you sailing to see if anyone is looking to share a private tour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Bergen and Tromso there is plenty to see in walking distance from the ship. I particularly liked the Polar Museum in Tromso and thought that the best views of the Arctic Church were from the ship. It is possible to do the tram on your own using a taxi (probably expensive) or public transportation; if you can't see to the top of the tram from the ship, don't bother going up at all since all you will see will be the clouds. However, if the day is clear, the view from the tram is absolutely magnificent.

 

In Geiranger, unless the tours have already sold out because multiple ships are due in town that day, it is very easy to book tours on line with Geirangerfjordservices (just google it). We did the combo tour boat ride on the fjord and bus ride up to Mt. Dalsnibba (another one to avoid if it is very cloudy that day; the money shot is the view from the summit back down the valley to the fjord).

 

Bergen: At least two museums are in walking distance from the pier where Viking docks. There is a public tour at lunch time to the Grieg house for the daily concert (again, easily found on google).

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate your input.