Any news of cost of excursions Stockholm to Bergen?

[OBX Cruisers]

I know we can't book ship excursions until 90 days out from our cruise - sailing July 25, 2015 on Viking Star, Stockholm to Bergen. Would really love to know cost of their excursions though. We often like to book our own private excursions and this would help with planning. Has anyone heard when this info might be available?

[loum140]

I know we can't book ship excursions until 90 days out from our cruise - sailing July 25, 2015 on Viking Star, Stockholm to Bergen. Would really love to know cost of their excursions though. We often like to book our own private excursions and this would help with planning. Has anyone heard when this info might be available?

 

We feel the same as you about pre-planning, so I had asked my T/A if she could get a ballpark figure for the excursions for our Istanbul/Barcelona cruise on the Viking Star. She said they would not give her any info. I guess we'll just have to wait until 90 days out! :(

[kathy9]

When I emailed Viking a few months ago (on April 11, 2015 sailing) I was also told the information would be available 90 before sailing. I think everyone should send Viking an email so they get the idea that ocean cruise passengers like to plan.....

I had also asked about port arrival times and was referred to the websites that lists the ports but not times or ports etc.

[sitraveler]

I guess this is another cost of taking their first ocean voyage. We just have to wait as they have no history for almost every port.

[amyr]

I'd just be happy with port times as there's two ports on our maiden cruise I'd like to do myself.

 

I'm not sure they consider publishing times necessary since on the river cruises they never post them. The ship arrives when it arrives, at some point after breakfast, and everyone follows the lollipop into town. Different story with 900 passengers clamoring to get off :D

 

I suspect at some point we'll be able to look at one of those port calendars and check the times? I haven't done that in a while, but our cruise is less than a year now, so maybe?

Edited July 8, 2014 by amyr

[sitraveler]

I've checked several port calenders, no listing for the Star.

[Muffin001]

We are looking for the same info. as we will be on the July 25 Viking Star from Stockholm to Bergen but have not been able to find any info. Our TA says Viking has not yet published. We too like to schedule ahead!!!

 

Mike & Evelyn

Tempe, AZ

[TERRIER1]

When I emailed Viking a few months ago (on April 11, 2015 sailing) I was also told the information would be available 90 before sailing. I think everyone should send Viking an email so they get the idea that ocean cruise passengers like to plan.....

I had also asked about port arrival times and was referred to the websites that lists the ports but not times or ports etc.

 

When I booked I was given a document for our cruise on July 25 Stockholm to Bergen. I tried to attach but it is too big for the forum. I cut and pasted but it is messy.

 

Location Country Arrival Departure Included Shorex Duration

Stockholm Sweden Embark Overnight Turnaround Day

Stockholm Sweden 14:00 Stockholm City Tour 2 hours

Helsinki Finland 08:30 17:00 Helsinki City Tour 3 hours

Saint Petersburg Russian Federation 07:00 Overnight St. Petersburg Panoramic 3½ hours

Saint Petersburg Russian Federation 18:00

Tallinn Estonia 08:00 23:59 Old Town Walking Tour 4 hours

At Sea At Sea

Gdynia (Gdansk) Poland 06:00 13:00 Gdansk City Tour 4½ hours

Warnemünde (Berlin) Germany 07:30 23:00 Berlin – on your own 12 hours

Copenhagen Denmark 07:30 22:00 Copenhagen City Tour 3 hours

Aalborg Denmark 08:00 13:30 Aalborg Walking Tour 3 hours

Stavanger Norway 10:00 18:00 Gamle Stavanger Walking Tour 1½ hours

Flåm Norway 09:00 18:00 Panoramic Flåm and Mtn Lodge 3 hours

Bergen Norway 07:00 Overnight Bergen Walking Tour 2½ hours

Bergen Norway Disembark Turnaround Day

[TERRIER1]

I know we can't book ship excursions until 90 days out from our cruise - sailing July 25, 2015 on Viking Star, Stockholm to Bergen. Would really love to know cost of their excursions though. We often like to book our own private excursions and this would help with planning. Has anyone heard when this info might be available?

 

We are also on this cruise and will be doing St Petersburg with a private guise. The ones that get excellent reviews are SPB, Alla and Guide Guru. Have you heard of these? Thanks.

[JJean]

We did a 2 day tour with Alla in St. Petersburg and thought they were

great. I think we had a 10 passenger van and it was great. We signed up

online with them and they put us with 8 others. We didn't pay until the

end of the second day. We were very pleased with them and covered a lot

of sights.

[id4elizabeth]

Am I understanding correctly that you got this schedule from Viking directly? This certainly would help if we had it for the other segments we're taking. Thanks so much for sharing!

[TERRIER1]

Am I understanding correctly that you got this schedule from Viking directly? This certainly would help if we had it for the other segments we're taking. Thanks so much for sharing!

 

Yes. They emailed it to me when I booked a long time ago. I have no idea why the schedule is not posted to the site and if any changes have been made. We are listed as arriving in Bergen on August 7th at 7:00 and the ship departs on August 8 at 18:00. The terminal is called Festningskai 3.

Edited September 19, 2014 by TERRIER1

[bepsf]

"Viking Inclusive Cruising

• Complimentary enriching shore excursions in each port of call, led by knowledgeable local guides"
  

http://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/why-viking/viking-value/index.html

Edited September 19, 2014 by bepsf

[sitraveler]

Only basic excursions are included. All the other options have a charge and that charge is not yet published.

[bepsf]

Only basic excursions are included. All the other options have a charge and that charge is not yet published.

 

Thank you for that - I had no idea.

I'm researching a river cruise w/ Viking, and it certainly isn't clear from the marketing!

[kathy9]

To plan private excursions on an ocean cruise you need to know the port information and the docking times, arrival and departure, in advance so you can make plans.

I am really just going to enjoy the cruise (04/11/15), and hopefully do the Viking excursions. I hope has Viking gets more experience in ocean cruising they will be able to have web access for guests to view port information and available excursions!

[Vineyard View]

We board in Barcelona 5/2/14 and sail to Stockholm. On river cruises we more often explored on our own. At the ports you needed transportation to the key area, we rode along - sometimes joining their excursions and some not. It worked really well for us - that said those longships are less than 200 passengers! Viking was very organized - and the basic tours were really well done. So as Kathy9' said, we also are going to just enjoy this cruise - and when more details come we will decide if we want to book private. I realize that is not the norm with CC members, and we have booked private tours on our upcoming Holland America cruise next month- I am hoping Viking will be a step above and not make us feel that we are in such a need to book so many privates.

Maybe that is naive of me.

[juliesaddiction]

My mom and I are on the May 16 2015 cruise and have the Iceland extention before. We also have a listing of the tours available at each port...which I cant find at the moment. No costs are listed for the additional excursions available other than the free one. We have cruised the rivers with Viking in the past and the extra extentions were never given a cost till we were on board, it would seem strange to do an ocean cruise with 900 passengers and and have that happen.

[OBX Cruisers]

Have you all seen the August 2013 book by Rick Steve's - "Northern European Cruise Ports"? Some ports he recommends not taking an excursion at all! Very practical information with advice on several ports where a ship's tour could be important. Viking - we really need port times and your excursion times and costs so we can plan! Are you listening?

 

Thanks for the info re private guides in St. Petersburg. We'll be taking a look for our July 25 Viking Homelnds cruise. I'm a big believer in the value and benefits of private tours, but am a bit concerned about obtaining our own visa for Russia particularly since U.S. / Russia relations aren't the best right now. I'll take a look at Trip Advisor for the the article re myths of obtaining Visas.

 

Looking forward to meeting other CC members on the July 25 sailing. Wonder if they'll have a special get together for CC like on other ships? Couldn't sail without it!

[sitraveler]

Viking has turned a deaf ear for requests about port times and excursion costs. Remember that your cruise does include basic tours in all cities. Except for those ending or starting in Turkey, no visas are required on any of these cruises. Specifically for St Petersburg a visa is required for independent touring, but most private tour companies there can arrange for your excursion without an individual visa. Red October, Alla or several others come to mind. Since this is their first attempt at ocean cruising I guess we have to cut them some slack. We'll see, I'm on the initial cruise and expect lots of surprises.

[OBX Cruisers]

From the info available on the Viking site, it looks like the free ship's tours will be very basic overviews - no more than 3 hours long. There will probably be many other guests that take advantage of the freebie, but I don't think it's a very good use of our time waiting for hundreds of passengers to board buses. We've sailed with Viking for Egypt and China but I'm sure these were not experiences that can be compared to the upcoming Viking Homelands ocean cruise. Has anyone been on a Viking river cruise where you were offered a choice of excursions in each "port"? How were they arranged? What was the quality?

[loum140]

From the info available on the Viking site, it looks like the free ship's tours will be very basic overviews - no more than 3 hours long. There will probably be many other guests that take advantage of the freebie, but I don't think it's a very good use of our time waiting for hundreds of passengers to board buses. We've sailed with Viking for Egypt and China but I'm sure these were not experiences that can be compared to the upcoming Viking Homelands ocean cruise. Has anyone been on a Viking river cruise where you were offered a choice of excursions in each "port"? How were they arranged? What was the quality?

 

On a Viking River Cruise a few years ago there were several ports where more than one basic free tourwas offered. At the evening briefing they were described and it was "first come first served" with a sign-up sheet. It worked very well and we were pleased with the ones we took, especially in Budapest. Of course there were also the optional excursions for a fee. These would have to be booked in advance using an order form in your stateroom.

[kathy9]

On a Viking River Cruise a few years ago there were several ports where more than one basic free tourwas offered. At the evening briefing they were described and it was "first come first served" with a sign-up sheet. It worked very well and we were pleased with the ones we took, especially in Budapest. Of course there were also the optional excursions for a fee. These would have to be booked in advance using an order form in your stateroom.

How many people were on your river cruise?

[loum140]

How many people were on your river cruise?

 

About 200 people.

 

Please note that the question from OBX Cruisers was about included tours on Viking River cruises.

 

Viking Star will offer only one included tour in each port. At this point it's hard to know how many of the 900 passengers will be taking the included tours and how many will want the optionals. I assue they will have factored this into their planning. As we plan to take optional and/or private tours in a few of the cities on our April 2015 cruise, we are anxiously awaiting Viking's posting of full information re: cost.