Disembarking in Hong Kong

[Hockeyump]

We will be doing this in April 2024 and as most flights back to the UK, direct or with one stop, leave around 23:00 to 24.00 we are looking at the possibility of leaving  the ship the previous evening. I know we could arrange a private tour that day, still looking at that option, and of course we have no idea what Viking will do with their departing guests who leave at around 8:00am and have a night flight.  Two questions - has anyone left the ship the night before and what is the taxi situation at the cruise terminal?

 

 

[Clay Clayton]

Can’t answer your question as we always like to get the full value of our cruise 😂 so can’t imagine disembarking early. But when we had “free” viking air and a flight home to the US from Hong Kong that left at 23:40, we were transported from the ship about 9:30 and taken to the hotel connected to the airport.  
 

Those with flights that left before 17:00 or 18:00 had access to a conference room with tables and chairs. Beverages and snacks were also provided.  Those of us with later flights were given a day room.  

 

We used the room to relax, nap, and shower prior to our flight. Since the flight was going to land in Seattle at 20:00 Pacific Time, we didn’t want to sleep on the flight.  Instead we stayed awake and were therefore more than ready to go to sleep (at the right time) when we landed.  
 

If we had of not had the day room, I would have preferred to do a tour or something rather than spending it at the airport hotel conference room. 
 

Have a great cruise!

Edited April 7, 2023 by Clay Clayton

[shipboy]

Taxis in HK are plentiful and getting one at the cruise terminal will not be an issue. It’s not a quick journey to the airport, so another option would be a taxi to Kowloon Airport Express and then a train/MTR to the airport. Plenty of room on the train for luggage and it’s a quicker journey

 

P.S. You can leave your luggage at the Airport Express station, you can even check in there, which would leave free time to explore

Edited April 7, 2023 by shipboy
To add an additional comment

[CDNPolar]

As Clayton mentioned, we also had a very late flight with the disembarkation at 8:30am.  This was in Tokyo.  We were transported to a hotel and given a space to rest and leave our luggage.  We were provided food and drink.  We chose to leave our luggage in the secure storage and take a walking tour of Tokyo.  We came back later and were transported to the airport for our flights.

 

I would call Viking and have them comment on what they plan to offer you.

 

I personally would not leave the ship one night early and pay for a hotel when Viking typically takes care of you.

[Clay Clayton]

Regarding calling Viking and asking what they will do with you, we didn’t have much luck.  All they would tell us was that we would be taken to the airport hotel where we would have a place to relax.  We didn’t know until we were aboard ship that we would be booked into an actual hotel room since our flight left so late.  

[CDNPolar]

4 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Regarding calling Viking and asking what they will do with you, we didn’t have much luck.  All they would tell us was that we would be taken to the airport hotel where we would have a place to relax.  We didn’t know until we were aboard ship that we would be booked into an actual hotel room since our flight left so late.  

 

Based on what Clay is saying it would be worth boarding the ship, making the inquiry, and you would still have lots of time to book a hotel room for yourself if you wanted to... 

 

I would however hate to see you spend the money and then find out that Viking would take care of you.

 

 

(Sorry Clay - called you Clayton by mistake.)

Edited April 8, 2023 by CDNPolar

[Clay Clayton]

51 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Based on what Clay is saying it would be worth boarding the ship, making the inquiry, and you would still have lots of time to book a hotel room for yourself if you wanted to... 

 

I would however hate to see you spend the money and then find out that Viking would take care of you.

 

 

(Sorry Clay - called you Clayton by mistake.)

No biggie….I’ve been called MUCH worse!😂

[Ray4Fun]

Biggest "challenge" is your luggage. What to do with it the day of your flight. My Q to you is why do you have to leave the ship the day earlier? They used to dock in town, has that changed? We loved HK, alas that was 9 years ago so my info is now out dated. 

[Peregrina651]

On 4/8/2023 at 6:21 AM, CDNPolar said:

I would call Viking and have them comment on what they plan to offer you.

 

If you are going to contact Viking, skip chat and the call center. Instead, e-mail tellus@vikingcruises.com.  They do better at these kinds of questions.

 

 

On 4/7/2023 at 1:39 PM, Hockeyump said:

We will be doing this in April 2024

 

The 2023 sailings are underway. Wouldn't it be nice if someone on board each of the segments would start a live thread so that those of us who are sailing in 2024 and 2025 could ask these kinds of questions???

Edited April 9, 2023 by Peregrina651

[Jim Avery]

We also regret not docking "in town".  The Kai-Tak Cruise Terminal is a long cab ride from where you want togo.

[Heidi13]

11 hours ago, Ray4Fun said:

Biggest "challenge" is your luggage. What to do with it the day of your flight. My Q to you is why do you have to leave the ship the day earlier? They used to dock in town, has that changed? We loved HK, alas that was 9 years ago so my info is now out dated. 

 

The Viking ships are small enough to dock at Ocean Terminal, the berth assignment is made by the Harbourmaster and can be checked on the port website.

[YWW]

On 4/7/2023 at 12:39 PM, Hockeyump said:

We will be doing this in April 2024 and as most flights back to the UK, direct or with one stop, leave around 23:00 to 24.00 we are looking at the possibility of leaving  the ship the previous evening. I know we could arrange a private tour that day, still looking at that option, and of course we have no idea what Viking will do with their departing guests who leave at around 8:00am and have a night flight.  Two questions - has anyone left the ship the night before and what is the taxi situation at the cruise terminal?

 

 

There are two cruise terminals in Hong Kong ... Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon which is at the heart of everything and the Kai Tak cruise terminal at the former Kai Tak airport. You should be able to tell from your ship's itinerary which terminal it docks in. The Kai Tak cruise terminal is quite remote so picking up taxi there is very difficult to almost impossible. However it does provide a shuttle service to take passengers to the nearest subway station. Since the area is quite remote from everything, it's impossible to even walk around the area since there's nothing to see. The cruise ship may provide a free shuttle to town. Just keep in mind the HK Airport is quite far from these terminals. So do plan your day carefully especially if you plan to catch a flight later on.