Does Viking provide water on day tours? (thinking about Day bag contents while on Viking tours)

[SempreMare]

With my healing shoulder (rotator cuff surgery), I need to carefully plan my day bag contents for upcoming British Isles Explorer cruise. 

 

Questions that might help shed backpack weight: 

1) Does Viking provide bottled water on Viking tours?  ... so I don't need to pack it myself?

2) If a bus is involved, are USB ports available?   I'd guess that would be hit or miss...

 

Biggest everyday challenges by far I've had on trips relates to when I've run low / out of phone power.

 

During both DIY land trips in past year( Dubai Expo / "World Fair",  and Tulip season in Holland ), keeping my iPhone powered was a constant challenge.  Both experiences were amazing and I took tons of photos.   Never had enough battery packs.  Could not find a USB port when needed.   

Maintaining 100% charge while in transit to the location really helped. 

One other thing that helped:   Bringing a 10' USB-A --> Lightning cable (a 10 ft. Anker or Monoprice braided cable)  PLUS a 12-volt adapter with 2 ports was a life saver.   

Result: No matter where I sat in vans, I could simply ask the driver to plug in my 12 volt adapter.  Driver could stay charged, and I could stay charged.  

 

However, thinking about British Isles Explorer cruise &  Viking Tours, it seems I could plan on being away from power LESS than on DIY land vacations where I could be out and about the entire day and night.      But I'll probably still need to pack battery power banks, which are heavy. 

 

Current fave lightweight backpack.  Dec 2021, Grosvenor House Hotel, Dubai Marina.  

Edited July 9, 2022 by SempreMare

[CDNPolar]

Viking has water at disembarkation that is included in your fare.  There is no extra charge for the water.  Sometimes the bus has water too, but not always.  Always get the water on the ship before you tap off the ship.

 

Regarding the USB chargers, I have seen new busses with this but generally no.  You will have to count on your charge and a battery backup.

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, SempreMare said:

With my healing shoulder (rotator cuff surgery), I need to carefully plan my day bag contents for upcoming British Isles Explorer cruise. 

 

Questions that might help shed backpack weight: 

1) Does Viking provide bottled water on Viking tours?  ... so I don't need to pack it myself?

2) If a bus is involved, are USB ports available?   I'd guess that would be hit or miss...

 

Biggest everyday challenges by far I've had on trips relates to when I've run low / out of phone power.

 

During both DIY land trips in past year( Dubai Expo / "World Fair",  and Tulip season in Holland ), keeping my iPhone powered was a constant challenge.  Both experiences were amazing and I took tons of photos.   Never had enough battery packs.  Could not find a USB port when needed.   

Maintaining 100% charge while in transit to the location really helped. 

One other thing that helped:   Bringing a 10' USB-A --> Lightning cable (a 10 ft. Anker or Monoprice braided cable)  PLUS a 12-volt adapter with 2 ports was a life saver.   

Result: No matter where I sat in vans, I could simply ask the driver to plug in my 12 volt adapter.  Driver could stay charged, and I could stay charged.  

 

However, thinking about British Isles Explorer cruise &  Viking Tours, it seems I could plan on being away from power LESS than on DIY land vacations where I could be out and about the entire day and night.      But I'll probably still need to pack battery power banks, which are heavy. 

 

Current fave lightweight backpack.  Dec 2021, Grosvenor House Hotel, Dubai Marina.  

Have you checked your iPhone’s battery health recently?  We both tend to take entirely too many photos while traveling and only rarely have had to use a battery backup. We do take a small lipstick sized one (similar to the one in the photo below) for emergencies but it weighs next to nothing and we just carry it in our pocket. 
 

If your phone won’t charge above 80% you might consider getting the battery changed. I think it’s about $65 at an apple store.
 

Other possibilities and things to consider:

-are you disconnecting from wifi when off the ship?  If not, you’re burning through battery life

 

-do you have low power mode turned on? If not, you will find this will save you lots of battery life 

 

-do you have the screen lock set to a pretty short window?  If not, change it to 30 seconds or so and save your screen

 

-verify you have closed all unused apps

[CDNPolar]

The above comments re battery life are good advice.

 

I have found that turning off the WiFi when leaving the ship helps, and also some folks will go into camera mode and leave it on as you are walking around.  This eats through battery too as the screen and camera remain ON while you are walking around.

 

With the iPhone, because you have the little camera icon at the bottom of the screen that you can access without keying your password, the camera is always readily available. 

[Let Me Travel!]

I found out half way through our last cruise that I did not turn off the Wi-Fi when I left the ship…once I did that, I didn’t even need the battery backup…my battery lasted for more than 20 hours.  I also use the lipstick size backup…it weighs nothing and could easily be backed in your backpack.

[longterm]

I've had DSLRs for years, but on our last 2 trips I relied solely on my iPhone 12. The only thing I missed a few times was the high-end zoom on my Nikon, but on balance, I really enjoy carrying the lightweight iPhone as opposed to lugging my Nikon and an extra lens. My photos almost always came out better on my iPhone; granted, this has everything to do with my skills (or lack thereof) with my Nikon, but the iPhone lens technology does an amazing job in all sorts of lighting situations.

 

I found this excellent iPhone case on Amazon; it has a strong strap, which I found indispensable for carrying my iPhone while walking, or for leaning on the railing on the ship and taking photos. I had this fear of dropping my iPhone in the ocean; I doubt they'd have turned the ship around had I done that. 🙂

 

Here's a link to the case (I bought the black one); the strap is excellent: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08HV9R822/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

Turning off wifi when leaving the ship is a must; otherwise, your iPhone will constantly search for a wifi connection, and this quickly drains the battery.

 

Other things you can do:

 

1. Reduce screen brightness; it makes a huge difference in battery life;

2. If you're not using it, turn off bluetooth (you can use airplane mode if you want, which will also turn off wifi and cellular at the same time); the only downside of this is that you won't get location information on your photos, and I really like having that;

3. Anker makes lots of excellent backup batteries; I always go on excursions with a battery and lightning cable in my day pack;

4. I have a set of lenses for my iPhone 12 that I got from Sandmarc (Moment makes them as well); the zoom doubles the zoom offered by the lens on the iPhone 12, so it was useful at times, although I didn't find myself using it as much as I expected.

I've never seen USB ports on excursion buses, but I'm guessing that newer ones might have them these days. 

 

Edited July 10, 2022 by longterm

[Doglovertoo]

Following.  Good info.