Please provide Shore excursion reviews for Homeland cruise

[Bookboss]

Would you be so kind to comment upon Vikings Homeland  shore excursions if you have taken this cruise? 

We often book private tours, but are interested in how the quality of the Viking excursions, included or upcharged.

Thanks. 

Edited February 25, 2020 by Bookboss

[geffric]

We went from  Stockholm to Bergen

 

My opinion only - in St Petersburg we took a TJ Tour. More sites then Viking at 1/2 the price and yes they get the visa..no problems ..

In Stavanger -  we did Norled to pulpit rock then the included tour..wonderful choice.

In Berlin - we did Viking Historical Berlin-  next time I will do a private tour.

Viking Included tours in Stockholm , Tallinn, Gdansk, Copenhagen, Alborg, Eidjford, Bergen

Edited February 26, 2020 by geffric

[sugarside]

6 hours ago, geffric said:

We went from  Stockholm to Bergen

 

My opinion only - in St Petersburg we took a TJ Tour. More sites then Viking at 1/2 the price and yes they get the visa..no problems ..

In Stavanger -  we did Norled to pulpit rock then the included tour..wonderful choice.

In Berlin - we did Viking Historical Berlin-  next time I will do a private tour.

Viking Included tours in Stockholm , Tallinn, Gdansk, Copenhagen, Alborg, Eidjford, Bergen

We did this tour last September and only did tours offered by Viking,a mixture of included and optional. Any disappointing aspects were due to the inexperience of a guide not the content of the excursion.

Do your research, you know what things you like and how you like to experience them and go from there.

We did not do Berlin as we knew it would be a long day so did the included Rostock tour in the morning but came back independently on the local river ferry which deposited us directly in front of the wonderful Viking Sky.

Then after lunch we did the optional trip to Bad Doberman followed by scenic tourist train along the Baltic coast,coffee break at a smart resort hotel and time to explore the sea front.

Back in time to watch all the weary Berliners stagger back on board.😀

Warnemunde ,where we were docked,far exceeded our expectations and is worth exploring but there is not really time for that unless like us who had an unscheduled overnight stop there due to arriving early as it was not possible to visit Ghadansk due to rough seas.

Edited February 26, 2020 by sugarside
to add photos

[jiminyC_fan]

We took the Historic Berlin and LOVED it.  We did our own thing in Eidfjord which ended up one of our favorite days.  We took a beautiful walk that the town has mapped out for people.   It was a great way to get away from crowds, buses and time schedules.  We would absolutely do it again.  In Stavanger, we went to Pulpit Rock on our own using Rodne or Norled.  Can't remember which one we ended up with.   It's cheaper and the only difference is that Viking goes to shore and serves a waffle.  Mighty expensive waffle, LOL.   In St Petersburg, I organized a group from here and used Alla Tours.  MUCH cheaper and smaller groups.  Highly recommend using a private company.

[Respbj]

We did TJ's 2 day St Petersburg tour, organized a group on CC, they gave us all CC discount, half the price of Viking and small mini bus of 16 people. All paper work was done online, we also did Berlin with them in a small mini bus. If I did it again I would skip Berlin, doing it with more days on Elegant Elba. We went early to Bergen and stayed at Radisson Blu by the water, walked to ship, with extra days we explored museums, food, shops and we had an unusual 4 days of sun! We did Pulpit Rock/ fjord cruise from a private boat ( same company Viking used) that was right by where our boat was docked.  Did all other included tours, we did the jazz boat a sunset last minute in Copenhagen and it was lots of fun.

[Mariners04]

What is the website for TJ's ?  How do you get a visa for St. Petersburg?  Do they do that for you? Thank you for any information you can give me. 

[Respbj]

29 minutes ago, Mariners04 said:

What is the website for TJ's ?  How do you get a visa for St. Petersburg?  Do they do that for you? Thank you for any information you can give me. 

They handle the special tourist visa for cruise ships. All paperwork was done online, sent them our vitals plus passport info and they sent us paperwork to present to the customs officials with our passport.  If you are with a cruise ship you have to take a tour with the special tourist visa if you don't apply for a regular visa. A regular visa is not necessary unless you plan on going off on your own, which is highly unlikely as the ship docks in an industrial area with nothing to see.  The 2 day tour starts very early, had to be in customs line around 6-6:30am and the tour guide met us on the other side of the customs line at the port. Lunch both days was included, my husband is picky but he ate the lunch both days. You will see a lot, even going down into the subway to see beautiful mosaic and how clean they are. We got back to the ship with plenty of time on the second day. You pay for the tour on day two, they take you to their office/ shop to settle up. We had done their Berlin tour also and didn't pay till the end of St Petersburg tour. 

[Bookboss]

Thank you so much, GEFFRIC, SUGARSIDE, JIMINYC, AND RESPBJ.

 

We appreciate the good first hand info.   We always do lots of research....on line, trip advisor,  books, check on “tours with locals” and of course cruise critic, BUT, a firsthand report  from good folks like you that take some time to share personally, weigh heavy in our planning processes.  

 

Happy Trails (and cruising) 

 

BOOKBOSS

[KathyA]

And another vote for TJ. They are SO accommodating. We had spent a fair amount of time in St Petersburg before, so wanted to see some off-the-beaten-path things. No problem at all including the Political History m

Museum which was fabulous. After we were on the ship we met some folks who recommended we see the Precious Map of Russia at the Geological Museum. I sent an email to TJ a couple of days before our tour and asked to have that added. No problem! Recommend them highly.

 

Also enjoyed Viking's Lunch at the Reichtstag excursion in Berlin.