Viking Star: At anchor or berthed? How to tell?

On our itinerary for the Viking Star "Viking Homelands" (embark: May 30, 2015), it shows an "anchor" symbol below the itinerary as a key to when the ship will be anchored--and therefore passengers would need to board a tender (at least that's what I'm assuming).

Our itinerary from Viking with our receipt shows *no* anchor symbols so I assumed all ports on this itinerary were at a pier. Yet, looking at the Aurland (Flam) harbor report for 2015 (http://aurlandhavn.no/cruise-2/ship-arrivals-2015/) it definitely indicates the Star's June 11 stay there as being at anchor.

Can anyone with this itinerary share with me which *theirs* shows at anchor for the various ports? Maybe our copy of the itinerary just dropped the anchor symbols for some reason...or maybe the Aurland harbor report is incorrect?

http://www.bergenhavn.no/event/dolink/famid/356122.

Viking Star 15.05.2015 08:00 17.05.2015 23:00 SKOLTEN SYD 3

Sorry, added info to the wrong thread.

That's all right--I was trying to figure it out and thought I was really missing something ;)

Still looking for some onsite about my original question, though...

Hi. We're not going to that port, so I have no clue. Hopefully someone else can answer your question. However, someone on our cruise shared the information he had on his invoice and there was an anchor symbol next to Athens but NOT Santorini. I have never heard of a cruise ship, big or small, docking at Santorini, and I've never heard of a ship tendering at Athens (Piraeus). I can't find a port site for Santorini, but I doubt very, very seriously that we'll dock there. I found the Piraeus port site, and it does show us there, but I can't figure out if it shows an actual location for us or not (don't think so). My guess is that maybe early on when invoices were created, the anchor symbol was printed on the wrong line, since Athens is the port (and line) right after Santorini.

I've never seen a mismatch between anchoring and docking (although I'm sure it happens, especially in cases where a dock can only hold smaller ships, or when too many ships are in port for docking capacity) but I've seen several mismatches in port locations between the cruise line and the port web sites. I rely on the information from a port's website as being correct. In Copenhagen the cruise line (not Viking) told us we were scheduled to dock at one location and the port website listed us at another (both in the city, but completely different locations). It turned out the port website was correct. In Roatan there are also two fairly distant dock locations and a website for each. We were listed as docking at BOTH ports! Crazy! I didn't know which was correct until we approached the dock.

If nobody on here can help you, I suppose you could post in the Europe section of Cruise Critic to see if ships ever anchor at Aurland/Flam, or perhaps email the port. However, I'm guessing the port info is correct. Then again, keep in mind that if Aurland is an either/or port depending upon number and size of ships there, the assignment could be changed up until a day or so before the ship gets there.

This is what a current invoice should look like; this one's for Istanbul to Barcelona. You can see the 4 anchored days. Why this isn't readily available on the website I have no idea.

Thanks for that invoice copy. I see that anchor next to Santorini and not Athens, which is the way I think it should be for my particular cruise in September. However, there are some ports in which both anchoring/tendering and docking are done, and until the port assigns one or the other, that info isn't known. Perhaps Viking didn't know the assignment when the invoices were created - and maybe they still don't!

I hear Kotor is one port in which many ships anchor, and while they don't have a lot of docking space, assignment to the dock is not based entirely on the size of the ship. In 2015 Azamara ships (700 or fewer passengers) are showing up as docking on some visits, and anchoring on other visits. It's up to the port, and some are better than others when it comes to assigning and posting information. Oh well, in ocean cruising you have to flexible.

ukalady, do you go to Kotor, Montenegro? If so, port website is http://www.portofkotor.co.me/

Having been to Flam three years ago on Queen Victoria I can confirm that there is space for one ship at the Pier and then any other ships stay in the Fjord and tender passengers ashore. I see that the published Port schedule has already allocated a Costa ship to the pier that day, so it does look as if it will be a tender port. This should not really be a problem for most people as the ship is not very far away and the water should be smooth, although I accept for those with more limited mobility this could be an issue.

I know from my own invoice that Viking still seem to have some confusion about tender ports as only yesterday I received an updated invoice from them showing Athens as a tender port whilst Santorini is alongside a dock. I am pretty certain this will not be how it will be in reality.

Flam is a great place to visit, make sure you get up early to make the most of the transit up the fjord and then do take the railroad, even if all you do is get off and return straight back down again. Watch out for the maids in the mist!

Neil

Having been to Flam three years ago on Queen Victoria I can confirm that there is space for one ship at the Pier and then any other ships stay in the Fjord and tender passengers ashore. I see that the published Port schedule has already allocated a Costa ship to the pier that day, so it does look as if it will be a tender port. This should not really be a problem for most people as the ship is not very far away and the water should be smooth, although I accept for those with more limited mobility this could be an issue.

 

I know from my own invoice that Viking still seem to have some confusion about tender ports as only yesterday I received an updated invoice from them showing Athens as a tender port whilst Santorini is alongside a dock. I am pretty certain this will not be how it will be in reality.

 

Flam is a great place to visit, make sure you get up early to make the most of the transit up the fjord and then do take the railroad, even if all you do is get off and return straight back down again. Watch out for the maids in the mist!

 

Neil

Since you have visited the port of Flam would you suggest signing up with the ship excursion or purchasing online?

Would appreciate some feedback.

Thanks

When I visited there was not an on-line option but I made sure I was off the ship first and made my way to the ticket office at a brisk pace ad purchased the tickets I needed and was booked on the next train to leave Flam. There is nothing much to do at the top (it joins with a main Norwegian railway line) so we then got back on the train to return to Flam.

Looking at the on-line option today, I would book this and select the time I would wish to travel and then i see it only offers you a return that leaves the station at the top about 11 mins later. I would not worry about that as I said there is not much to see there.

I do not have the price of the Viking excursion that includes the railway but I guess they will add something to the cost and possibly make a visit somewhere else as well. Whilst the pricing on the website is in NOK and the Viking will be in dollars it should be straightforward to compare and I would guess direct is best.

We were back at the ship for Lunch and had a leisurely afternoon on board ship in a magnificent location, soaking up the wonderful surroundings.

A couple of tips for the train journey - a) If you can sit on the right on the way up and left on the way back. b) if you are mobile consider departing the train on the way back ay Old Flam station and it is then a pleasant walk back to ship (all downhill of course)

Neil

When I visited there was not an on-line option but I made sure I was off the ship first and made my way to the ticket office at a brisk pace ad purchased the tickets I needed and was booked on the next train to leave Flam. There is nothing much to do at the top (it joins with a main Norwegian railway line) so we then got back on the train to return to Flam.

 

Looking at the on-line option today, I would book this and select the time I would wish to travel and then i see it only offers you a return that leaves the station at the top about 11 mins later. I would not worry about that as I said there is not much to see there.

 

I do not have the price of the Viking excursion that includes the railway but I guess they will add something to the cost and possibly make a visit somewhere else as well. Whilst the pricing on the website is in NOK and the Viking will be in dollars it should be straightforward to compare and I would guess direct is besy

 

 

We were back at the ship for Lunch and had a leisurely afternoon on board ship in a magnificent location, soaking up the wonderful surroundings.

 

A couple of tips for the train journey - a) If you can sit on the right on the way up and left on the way back. b) if you are mobile consider departing the train on the way back ay Old Flam station and it is then a pleasant walk back to ship (all downhill of course)

 

Neil

Thank you very much for the tips. Viking cost for the Flam trip is $129 and online it is $110 so not much difference unless Viking changes the pricing before we book. It appears that Viking Star is the only ship in port on our arrival day but not sure if other ships are anchored how that would appear on the schedules. Flam sounds like a lovely stop and we are looking forward to it.

Janice