Brief review of our Into the Midnight Sun cruise

[slewis7]

My wife and I are just off the lovely Viking Venus, having completed our Into the Midnight Sun cruise.  We have had a few prior post-Covid cruises with Viking and I found them to be disappointing to what we experienced with them before Covid.  This disappointment was greatly due to numerous missed ports and dealing with the daily testing (which I found uncomfortable) but I also felt like the food and service onboard was not nearly as good as our earlier Viking cruises.  I am happy to report that this cruise was totally back to form for Viking!  It was one of our favorite cruises ever!

 

What we liked:

• Food was good and often very good, at all of the dining venues
• Service was fantastic
• The ship never seemed crowded
• Our cabin stewards were exceptional
• Ship’s captain handled weather related issues well and made frequent and informative announcements
• Port intensive itinerary but with a nice mix of sea days interspersed.  All the ports were good and we did not miss any ports.
• Favorite Ports: Shetlands, Lofoten, Geiranger
• They had Surf and Turf (filet and lobster) one night on the Aquavit Terrace.  It was delicious!
• Easy embarkation and disembarkation 

 

What we disliked:

• We had an argumentative waiter in Manfredi’s.  That’s it.

 

Ports:

Greenwich: There is plenty to do here.  The included walking tour gave a nice overview. We visited the Maritime Museum, Queen’s House and Greenwich Observatory on our own.  The Greenwich Market was also worth a visit.

 

Edinburgh: Our weather was was rainy.  The Included panoramic tour was of minimal value but it got us into town.  We enjoyed walking along the Royal Mile, but even with bad weather it was very crowded.  We had a nice fish and chips lunch at Bertie’s.

 

Orkney Islands: We enjoyed the Viking included tour of Stromness and the Ring of Brodgar.  We saw nothing that interested us in Kirkwall.

 

Shetland Island: We loved our private tour with Shetland Minibus (Grant is the owner and guide and he was great).  An absolutely beautiful and interesting place to visit we would happily return to.

 

Lofoten Islands: We had a fantastic private tour of the southern areas with Lofoten Lights (our guide was the wonderful Eliza).  We stopped for delicious fish burgers at Anita’s Seafood.  On the drive back to the ship we went through Leknes and we were glad we skipped going into town.  Lofoten islands is an absolutely beautiful place.

 

Honnigsvag: it was a cold and rainy day but the Viking King Crab Safari tour was great.  Thankfully the clothing provided for the RIB boat ride kept us warm and comfortable.  The crab lunch was incredible and we all got plenty to eat.  We also enjoyed going on the Viking included excursion to the North Cape.

 

Tromso: A nice town to walk around.  We had been there before, so this time we did an optional Viking kayak excursion and we had lovely weather and calm waters.

 

Geiranger:  An absolutely gorgeous place and the Viking panoramic tour was a very scenic ride with some great photo stops.  It was also interesting to see the skillful handling of the bus around the many hairpin road curves.  We also enjoyed a Viking helicopter excursion which was pricey but amazing!  Be sure to be in the Explorer’s Lounge for great views during either the sail-in or the sail-out.

 

Bergen: A great port with plenty to do and we were happy to overnight here.  We took Viking’s option Ascent to Mt Ulriken excursion and thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of it.

 

My wife and I are currently at the Reykjavik Airport.  We are on Viking’s “Iceland and the Golden Circle” extension.  It is not off to a good start as Viking has dumped us here over 5 and a half hours prior to our flights to Iceland.  I would certainly have expected better from Viking given the prices they get for extensions (perhaps a city tour to kill some time or putting us up for a few hours somewhere more comfortable than the airport).  I certainly hope the rest of the extension goes better, but it is unlikely Imwill book an extension through Viking again.

[slewis7]

I should add, the internet was pretty slow the entire cruise.  Good enough for emails and most web sites though.

[Hobson1754]

Thanks for this review.  Good to know that you enjoyed it & you feel Viking is back up to pre-covid standard. Bodes well for our September cruise😀

[THR]

Good summary. This was our first Viking cruise and I thought all of the food was excellent, with the exception of the Chefs Table (we went there on the first night, so it might have just been first night issues).

 

(Unsure why they count the amuse bouche and the palate cleanser as a course, nor who makes a palate cleanser out of shaved ice and chilli.) 

 

We went to Manfredi’s three times and it was excellent each time (except for the desserts). 

We enjoyed all of the food at the restaurant, world cafe and pool grill. 
 

Found the service excellent throughout. 
 

We mostly did the included excursions, except for Honningsvag, where we did a great tour via separate company Blue Puffin (will review that on Google/Trip Advisor separately and might repost here once done). 
 

Didn’t participate in the shows much; thought the magic show was average at best. Viking band was quite repetitive. But the onboard singer, Cheryl-Maria was excellent. 
 

Ship was impeccably clean, always. 
 

Support all of the comments stated above re the ports. We particularly enjoyed Norway, especially Lofoten and Geiranger. Tromso and Bergen also enjoyable. 
 

One rather rough day/night travelling to Honningsvag but glad we made it and that port wasn’t cancelled. 
 

We were also delayed out of London due to winds, departing the next morning instead of the planned night departure, but that didn’t have any major impact. 
 

Also good news for those that attended the captain Q&A, the passenger that was evacuated (with his spouse) by helicopter has made a good recovery. 

Internet was indeed patchy and not generally usable except for the basics, with patience. Fortunately when in port or close to shore I generally had mobile coverage. 
 

I don’t have pre or during COVID experiences to compare to but given some of the negative comments, can also confirm it was an enjoyable cruise with overall good food and service. 

 

Edited July 8, 2023 by THR
Typo

[TayanaLorna]

4 hours ago, slewis7 said:

My wife and I are just off the lovely Viking Venus, having completed our Into the Midnight Sun cruise.  We have had a few prior post-Covid cruises with Viking and I found them to be disappointing to what we experienced with them before Covid.  This disappointment was greatly due to numerous missed ports and dealing with the daily testing (which I found uncomfortable) but I also felt like the food and service onboard was not nearly as good as our earlier Viking cruises.  I am happy to report that this cruise was totally back to form for Viking!  It was one of our favorite cruises ever!

 

What we liked:

• Food was good and often very good, at all of the dining venues
• Service was fantastic
• The ship never seemed crowded
• Our cabin stewards were exceptional
• Ship’s captain handled weather related issues well and made frequent and informative announcements
• Port intensive itinerary but with a nice mix of sea days interspersed.  All the ports were good and we did not miss any ports.
• Favorite Ports: Shetlands, Lofoten, Geiranger
• They had Surf and Turf (filet and lobster) one night on the Aquavit Terrace.  It was delicious!
• Easy embarkation and disembarkation 

 

What we disliked:

• We had an argumentative waiter in Manfredi’s.  That’s it.

 

Ports:

Greenwich: There is plenty to do here.  The included walking tour gave a nice overview. We visited the Maritime Museum, Queen’s House and Greenwich Observatory on our own.  The Greenwich Market was also worth a visit.

 

Edinburgh: Our weather was was rainy.  The Included panoramic tour was of minimal value but it got us into town.  We enjoyed walking along the Royal Mile, but even with bad weather it was very crowded.  We had a nice fish and chips lunch at Bertie’s.

 

Orkney Islands: We enjoyed the Viking included tour of Stromness and the Ring of Brodgar.  We saw nothing that interested us in Kirkwall.

 

Shetland Island: We loved our private tour with Shetland Minibus (Grant is the owner and guide and he was great).  An absolutely beautiful and interesting place to visit we would happily return to.

 

Lofoten Islands: We had a fantastic private tour of the southern areas with Lofoten Lights (our guide was the wonderful Eliza).  We stopped for delicious fish burgers at Anita’s Seafood.  On the drive back to the ship we went through Leknes and we were glad we skipped going into town.  Lofoten islands is an absolutely beautiful place.

 

Honnigsvag: it was a cold and rainy day but the Viking King Crab Safari tour was great.  Thankfully the clothing provided for the RIB boat ride kept us warm and comfortable.  The crab lunch was incredible and we all got plenty to eat.  We also enjoyed going on the Viking included excursion to the North Cape.

 

Tromso: A nice town to walk around.  We had been there before, so this time we did an optional Viking kayak excursion and we had lovely weather and calm waters.

 

Geiranger:  An absolutely gorgeous place and the Viking panoramic tour was a very scenic ride with some great photo stops.  It was also interesting to see the skillful handling of the bus around the many hairpin road curves.  We also enjoyed a Viking helicopter excursion which was pricey but amazing!  Be sure to be in the Explorer’s Lounge for great views during either the sail-in or the sail-out.

 

Bergen: A great port with plenty to do and we were happy to overnight here.  We took Viking’s option Ascent to Mt Ulriken excursion and thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of it.

 

My wife and I are currently at the Reykjavik Airport.  We are on Viking’s “Iceland and the Golden Circle” extension.  It is not off to a good start as Viking has dumped us here over 5 and a half hours prior to our flights to Iceland.  I would certainly have expected better from Viking given the prices they get for extensions (perhaps a city tour to kill some time or putting us up for a few hours somewhere more comfortable than the airport).  I certainly hope the rest of the extension goes better, but it is unlikely Imwill book an extension through Viking again.

Five and a half hours at airport is a bit much.  However we got to that airport 3  hours before our flight and it was so packed and loooong lines for check in and security that we barely made our flight - and our flight was delayed by a half hour.

[slewis7]

1 minute ago, TayanaLorna said:

Five and a half hours at airport is a bit much.  However we got to that airport 3  hours before our flight and it was so packed and loooong lines for check in and security that we barely made our flight - and our flight was delayed by a half hour.

That was not the case today.  With about 3 hours or so to go, we were able to check into our flight at a kiosk and got through security within minutes.  An hour left until we board now.  
 

Crowds at the airport seem to have picked up quite a bit since we first arrived.

[Azulann]

Thank you so much  for your review of your cruise. Very helpful  description of your excursions .

I totally agree that Viking is back to their pre covid standards and the service is outstanding on the ship! 

 I just returned from a cruise on  the Viking  Jupiter a few weeks ago.  

 

[Redtravel]

Great review.  Doing same cruise soon.  

[Peregrina651]

11 hours ago, THR said:

Internet was indeed patchy and not generally usable except for the basics, with patience. Fortunately when in port or close to shore I generally had mobile coverage. 

 

Don't blame the ship or the equipment. That is the way it that far north. The satellites are over the equator and need an unobstructed straight line to the receiver in order to function. That far north, hills and mountains can block the signal.

[ericosmith]

4 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

Don't blame the ship or the equipment. That is the way it that far north. The satellites are over the equator and need an unobstructed straight line to the receiver in order to function. That far north, hills and mountains can block the signal.

I was under the impression that Viking has moved to Starlink.  That would make the equator moot.  Even so, there are very few Starlink satellites in this area:

 

https://satellitemap.space/?constellation=starlink#

 

[THR]

11 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Don't blame the ship or the equipment. That is the way it that far north. The satellites are over the equator and need an unobstructed straight line to the receiver in order to function. That far north, hills and mountains can block the signal.

I didn’t but it was patchy everywhere, including in London and Bergen. I wasn’t complaining, just noting; it was as I expected and used my own coverage whenever possible. 

Edited July 9, 2023 by THR

[philw1776]

I was aboard Venus on this same cruise. Good crew. Good service.

Will add my review with our different excursion choices once I have time this week.

[philw1776]

Stayed in London pre cruise at Royal Horseguards in Westminster. Wonderful time viewing the many WWII historical monuments along the river.  Churchills War Room which Viking advertises for this cruise and a major expectation for us was mysteriously “not available” for this sailing. So thankful we were able to see it on our own. 
Enjoyed Thames river boat tour from Westminster to Greenwich & back.

 

SUN  JUN 25  London                                                                              5:30PM Sail out          

TOWER OF LONDON   4H   9AM-1PM  

This tour was ok at best. Also guide was unclear where to meat up after self-tour. Instead of traffic limited bus rides to & from Viking should use an UBER boat to take us to the dock there & back saving time and adding tour value.

 

Missed the afternoon’s excellent Greenwich walking tour because we were exhausted.
Winds kept Venus in port missing the 5:30 PM sail out and even rising at 6:30AM we missed the very early AM sail out start. What we did see was very nice.

 

 

D4: TUE  JUN 27    Edinburgh, Scotland   

EDINBURGH HIGHLIGHTS  3H  

Typical panoramic bus tour. Unfortunately somewhat rainy. Fun time limited walk along Top of Royal Mile. Good guide with interesting information.

ROYAL YACHT BRITANNIA  

Did this very pricey Viking tour on our own. Despite fairly long walk to & fro in moderate rain the self-guided tour was excellent. Seems like there were bars everywhere on the ship. Good times.

 

D5: WED  JUN 28   Orkney Islands, Scotland            

ORKNEY’S STONE AGE  4H

Outstanding tour with great archaeologist guide.   Only complaint was way too little time at Ring of Brodgar stones. Skara Brae oceanside site was excellent and had enough time. Gorgeous Orkney countryside. Learned much on bus ride as well. Highly recommended.

 

D6: THUR  JUN 29  Shetland Islands, Scotland   

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS OF THE SHETLANDS  4H  

Another outstanding tour with an outstanding guide. 5000 year old Jarlshof site was fascinating with surprising opportunities to crawl inside the stone structures by the beautiful seaside. Inhabited for centuries by different cultures through Iron Age and then Viking Longhouse remains. Learned about, saw and went inside remains of multistory Broch towers. Scenic countryside drive to & fro but not as pretty as Orkney. Not to be missed.

 

D7 & D8 : FRI & SAT  JUN 30 & JUL 1   SEA DAYS   

 

Some of the roughest sailing I’ve ever experienced on 1^st day but settled down the next day. Love hanging out and eating too much on Viking ships. Lectures continued to be excellent especially those by the ship’s resident historian. She was entertaining and informative.

 

 

D9: SUN JULY 2     Honningsvag, Norway

DRIVE TO NORTH CAPE  3.5HR   8:45AM-12:15PM

Short but scenic bus ride to North Cape monument & museum. I was dressed for the cold and had good weather with some blue sky for picture taking. Great views. Museum was decent, not great, but very comfortable. As we left for the ride back to the ship it clouded over ruining this picturesque tour for the afternoon folks.

HONNINGSVAG BY FOOT & PLAY  2HR   

Punted on this planned tour as it was pouring rain and guest services said it was an over 20 minute walk to the play. Enjoyed reading in Explorers Lounge instead.

 

D10: MON  JULY 3  TromsØ, Norway    

PORTALS TO THE ARCTIC   3.5HR  

Outstanding tour this morning.  Good weather & good guide.  Started with visit to the A frame Church, then onto the Excellent Arctic Museum with plenty of time to tour. Then off to the cable car ride to the mountaintop with fantastic vistas. Again, plenty of time.

WALKING TOUR OF TROMSØ   1.5HR   

Afternoon  included tour was informative.  Young lady resident was a good guide.

 

D11: TUE  JULY 4   Lofoten, Norway                                                                           

LOFOTEN VIKING EXPERIENCE   3.5H   

Informative fun tour of a Viking longhouse replica.  Large. Enjoyed a typical Viking snack with mead while the re-enactment host told us how women ruled the roost while raiders were away. Many actors doing crafts etc. and stuff you could touch. Then the on-site museum was OK but very comfortable. Funny, entertaining 6’8” guide.

 

PANORAMIC LOFOTEN   2.5HR   2:45PM-5:15PM

Others rightly rate this tour highly but our guide was way below par. Could not put 2 sentences together and drifted off topic. Then long silences. The overlook site views at stops were gorgeous but at the end she insisted on stopping the bus so she could stand up face us and deliver a long uninteresting monologue which I forget and which made us late getting back by 20 minutes. 

Received back at the ship by crew singing & dancing which deeply offends some on cruise critic.

 

D13: THUR  JULY 6  Geiranger, Norway                                             

KYAKING GEIRANGERFJORD   3H   9AM-12PM

We cancelled this at deadline 3 days before because of rain forecasts. 3 HRS rained on in a kyak did not sound fun. Of course the real weather that morning was excellent.

EAGLE’S BEND OVERLOOK & PANORAMIC DRIVE  3H

Switched to an early morning tour but arrival of a 4,000 passenger tour ship delayed our tender departure by half an hour. Bus ride up the fjord along exciting switchbacks with outstanding vistas. First stop also included a waterfall where we could stand in the spray for photos. Luckily not killed by traffic.  Multiple stops ending with a lake back in the hills and a lake side Inn. Got great photos, a tour not to be missed. By that time weather had turned overcast. Good guide.

 

Gorgeous sail out by the Seven Sisters and numerous other photographic waterfalls even in the rain. Watched from our veranda. Geiranger is a gem.

 

 

D14: FRI JULY 7   Bergen, Norway

Been to Bergen twice before. Toured on our own again and went up the funicular for city and harbor overviews which were good despite overcast skies. Checked out the fish market, etc.  After lunch the dreaded packing task began.

 

Viking Venus crew was excellent without exception. Food was good with good service. We were unable to get any Chef’s Table reservations even while onboard. We don’t dine at 8 or 9PM.  But no big deal. As previously stated, the lectures were excellent, a great feature on Viking.  Wife enjoyed a massage and I was too lazy to visit the spa pool as I have done on previous cruises. Internet was poor. Could not send even one photo.

 

Nearly 2 hour hellhole in line waiting for Amsterdam passport control in extreme heat and humidity. Stressful. Missed our early boarding flight perk. Otherwise flight back was great.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 9, 2023 by philw1776

[Meander Ingwa]

KIrkwall / Orkney Island  is one place I would prioritize a tour, either provided or with a local guide. to  See Skara Brae, the standing stones and the Ring of Brodgar and the Italian Chapel all of them unique and wonderful testaments to history.

[formernuke]

Thanks for the review. How was the Royal Horseguards? Staying there next April with Viking BIE Churchill pre-extension 

[slewis7]

Great review Phil, especially for all the details on the shore excursions!

 

We continue our Viking extension in Reykjavik.  Things have definitely improved since the overly long airport stay in Bergen.  We have had absolutely stunning weather and of special interest is the possibility that the volcano not far from town may erupt at any moment.  We have had some very small tremors since we arrived.

 

Viking has us staying at the Hilton Reykjavik Nordica.  It is not a particularly great hotel as it is about a mile and a half from the interesting part of town and our room is very small (much smaller then the cabin we had on the ship) with no dresser drawers; we are living out of our suitcases.  On the positive side, the breakfast buffet is outstanding and the WiFi is very good.  A bunch of tour companies are using it (including Tauck, which is a great land tour company), so it may be this is the best facility in town for larger tour groups.  The Viking contingent is 18 guests.

 

Viking has provided a wonderful guide and a very comfortable and modern bus.  Today we had a fantastic morning at the Blue Lagoon and a nice tour of the city in the afternoon.  
 

In the morning, before the lagoon, we visited the residence of the Iceland President.  You can park right there and walk around the buildings with almost no security in sight.  As we were driving up to the residence, the President himself jogged right by our bus and waved (I so wish I had my camera ready).  He was totally unescorted!  Amazing!

 

We are really enjoying ourselves.  Reykjavik is a great place to visit.  Tomorrow is the full day Golden Circle tour.

[Fieldofdreams]

2 hours ago, philw1776 said:

Stayed in London pre cruise at Royal Horseguards in Westminster. Wonderful time viewing the many WWII historical monuments along the river.  Churchills War Room which Viking advertises for this cruise and a major expectation for us was mysteriously “not available” for this sailing. So thankful we were able to see it on our own. 
Enjoyed Thames river boat tour from Westminster to Greenwich & back.

 

SUN  JUN 25  London                                                                              5:30PM Sail out          

TOWER OF LONDON   4H   9AM-1PM  

This tour was ok at best. Also guide was unclear where to meat up after self-tour. Instead of traffic limited bus rides to & from Viking should use an UBER boat to take us to the dock there & back saving time and adding tour value.

 

Missed the afternoon’s excellent Greenwich walking tour because we were exhausted.
Winds kept Venus in port missing the 5:30 PM sail out and even rising at 6:30AM we missed the very early AM sail out start. What we did see was very nice.

 

 

D4: TUE  JUN 27    Edinburgh, Scotland   

EDINBURGH HIGHLIGHTS  3H  

Typical panoramic bus tour. Unfortunately somewhat rainy. Fun time limited walk along Top of Royal Mile. Good guide with interesting information.

ROYAL YACHT BRITANNIA  

Did this very pricey Viking tour on our own. Despite fairly long walk to & fro in moderate rain the self-guided tour was excellent. Seems like there were bars everywhere on the ship. Good times.

 

D5: WED  JUN 28   Orkney Islands, Scotland            

ORKNEY’S STONE AGE  4H

Outstanding tour with great archaeologist guide.   Only complaint was way too little time at Ring of Brodgar stones. Skara Brae oceanside site was excellent and had enough time. Gorgeous Orkney countryside. Learned much on bus ride as well. Highly recommended.

 

D6: THUR  JUN 29  Shetland Islands, Scotland   

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS OF THE SHETLANDS  4H  

Another outstanding tour with an outstanding guide. 5000 year old Jarlshof site was fascinating with surprising opportunities to crawl inside the stone structures by the beautiful seaside. Inhabited for centuries by different cultures through Iron Age and then Viking Longhouse remains. Learned about, saw and went inside remains of multistory Broch towers. Scenic countryside drive to & fro but not as pretty as Orkney. Not to be missed.

 

D7 & D8 : FRI & SAT  JUN 30 & JUL 1   SEA DAYS   

 

Some of the roughest sailing I’ve ever experienced on 1^st day but settled down the next day. Love hanging out and eating too much on Viking ships. Lectures continued to be excellent especially those by the ship’s resident historian. She was entertaining and informative.

 

 

D9: SUN JULY 2     Honningsvag, Norway

DRIVE TO NORTH CAPE  3.5HR   8:45AM-12:15PM

Short but scenic bus ride to North Cape monument & museum. I was dressed for the cold and had good weather with some blue sky for picture taking. Great views. Museum was decent, not great, but very comfortable. As we left for the ride back to the ship it clouded over ruining this picturesque tour for the afternoon folks.

HONNINGSVAG BY FOOT & PLAY  2HR   

Punted on this planned tour as it was pouring rain and guest services said it was an over 20 minute walk to the play. Enjoyed reading in Explorers Lounge instead.

 

D10: MON  JULY 3  TromsØ, Norway    

PORTALS TO THE ARCTIC   3.5HR  

Outstanding tour this morning.  Good weather & good guide.  Started with visit to the A frame Church, then onto the Excellent Arctic Museum with plenty of time to tour. Then off to the cable car ride to the mountaintop with fantastic vistas. Again, plenty of time.

WALKING TOUR OF TROMSØ   1.5HR   

Afternoon  included tour was informative.  Young lady resident was a good guide.

 

D11: TUE  JULY 4   Lofoten, Norway                                                                           

LOFOTEN VIKING EXPERIENCE   3.5H   

Informative fun tour of a Viking longhouse replica.  Large. Enjoyed a typical Viking snack with mead while the re-enactment host told us how women ruled the roost while raiders were away. Many actors doing crafts etc. and stuff you could touch. Then the on-site museum was OK but very comfortable. Funny, entertaining 6’8” guide.

 

PANORAMIC LOFOTEN   2.5HR   2:45PM-5:15PM

Others rightly rate this tour highly but our guide was way below par. Could not put 2 sentences together and drifted off topic. Then long silences. The overlook site views at stops were gorgeous but at the end she insisted on stopping the bus so she could stand up face us and deliver a long uninteresting monologue which I forget and which made us late getting back by 20 minutes. 

Received back at the ship by crew singing & dancing which deeply offends some on cruise critic.

 

D13: THUR  JULY 6  Geiranger, Norway                                             

KYAKING GEIRANGERFJORD   3H   9AM-12PM

We cancelled this at deadline 3 days before because of rain forecasts. 3 HRS rained on in a kyak did not sound fun. Of course the real weather that morning was excellent.

EAGLE’S BEND OVERLOOK & PANORAMIC DRIVE  3H

Switched to an early morning tour but arrival of a 4,000 passenger tour ship delayed our tender departure by half an hour. Bus ride up the fjord along exciting switchbacks with outstanding vistas. First stop also included a waterfall where we could stand in the spray for photos. Luckily not killed by traffic.  Multiple stops ending with a lake back in the hills and a lake side Inn. Got great photos, a tour not to be missed. By that time weather had turned overcast. Good guide.

 

Gorgeous sail out by the Seven Sisters and numerous other photographic waterfalls even in the rain. Watched from our veranda. Geiranger is a gem.

 

 

D14: FRI JULY 7   Bergen, Norway

Been to Bergen twice before. Toured on our own again and went up the funicular for city and harbor overviews which were good despite overcast skies. Checked out the fish market, etc.  After lunch the dreaded packing task began.

 

Viking Venus crew was excellent without exception. Food was good with good service. We were unable to get any Chef’s Table reservations even while onboard. We don’t dine at 8 or 9PM.  But no big deal. As previously stated, the lectures were excellent, a great feature on Viking.  Wife enjoyed a massage and I was too lazy to visit the spa pool as I have done on previous cruises. Internet was poor. Could not send even one photo.

 

Nearly 2 hour hellhole in line waiting for Amsterdam passport control in extreme heat and humidity. Stressful. Missed our early boarding flight perk. Otherwise flight back was great.

 

 

 

 

Phil - 

Really enjoyed reading your summary review. By chance have you ever completed a Viking cruise of Italy, the Adriatic and Mediterranean (including Greece). This is our trip coming up at the end of September on Viking Jupiter and would like to hear your thoughts/opinions on any excursions that you may have taken if you have been on such a trip.

Thanks

Don

[philw1776]

16 hours ago, Fieldofdreams said:

Phil - 

Really enjoyed reading your summary review. By chance have you ever completed a Viking cruise of Italy, the Adriatic and Mediterranean (including Greece). This is our trip coming up at the end of September on Viking Jupiter and would like to hear your thoughts/opinions on any excursions that you may have taken if you have been on such a trip.

Thanks

Don

Thank you. Going on that cruise 8 September. 

[philw1776]

16 hours ago, formernuke said:

Thanks for the review. How was the Royal Horseguards? Staying there next April with Viking BIE Churchill pre-extension 

RH was once a 5 star. It has declined from its glory days but is still a fine hotel. Our double bed room was small but it faced the river and the London eye. We loved it there. Location is superb. Enjoy the gardens on the river facing side of the hotel and be sure to walk along the embankment to view the monuments to the RAF pilots and the defense of London. Everything is within walking distance; cradle robbing wife is 80. The nearby river boat excursions are not expensive and worth the money. You view the dock where the Mayflower left. Recreated Shakespeare's theater, Tower of London and Helen Mirren's home plus many other sites along the river.

Edited July 10, 2023 by philw1776

[formernuke]

1 hour ago, philw1776 said:

RH was once a 5 star. It has declined from its glory days but is still a fine hotel. Our double bed room was small but it faced the river and the London eye. We loved it there. Location is superb. Enjoy the gardens on the river facing side of the hotel and be sure to walk along the embankment to view the monuments to the RAF pilots and the defense of London. Everything is within walking distance; cradle robbing wife is 80. The nearby river boat excursions are not expensive and worth the money. You view the dock where the Mayflower left. Recreated Shakespeare's theater, Tower of London and Helen Mirren's home plus many other sites along the river.

Thanks for the info! Yes, we've been to London before and love the waterfront attractions and views. Did you by any chance try their afternoon tea service?

[janetcbl]

18 hours ago, slewis7 said:

Great review Phil, especially for all the details on the shore excursions!

 

We continue our Viking extension in Reykjavik.  Things have definitely improved since the overly long airport stay in Bergen.  We have had absolutely stunning weather and of special interest is the possibility that the volcano not far from town may erupt at any moment.  We have had some very small tremors since we arrived.

 

Viking has us staying at the Hilton Reykjavik Nordica.  It is not a particularly great hotel as it is about a mile and a half from the interesting part of town and our room is very small (much smaller then the cabin we had on the ship) with no dresser drawers; we are living out of our suitcases.  On the positive side, the breakfast buffet is outstanding and the WiFi is very good.  A bunch of tour companies are using it (including Tauck, which is a great land tour company), so it may be this is the best facility in town for larger tour groups.  The Viking contingent is 18 guests.

 

Viking has provided a wonderful guide and a very comfortable and modern bus.  Today we had a fantastic morning at the Blue Lagoon and a nice tour of the city in the afternoon.  
 

In the morning, before the lagoon, we visited the residence of the Iceland President.  You can park right there and walk around the buildings with almost no security in sight.  As we were driving up to the residence, the President himself jogged right by our bus and waved (I so wish I had my camera ready).  He was totally unescorted!  Amazing!

 

We are really enjoying ourselves.  Reykjavik is a great place to visit.  Tomorrow is the full day Golden Circle tour.

If you are a Hilton Diamond Member, the Executive lounge in the Reykjavik Hilton is great!

Edited July 10, 2023 by janetcbl

[philw1776]

52 minutes ago, formernuke said:

Thanks for the info! Yes, we've been to London before and love the waterfront attractions and views. Did you by any chance try their afternoon tea service?

No we did not. Cabbie told me it is not what it once was. Bet we would have still enjoyed it though.

[slewis7]

Just to tie up comments on our Iceland extension, yesterday we did the lovely Golden Circle.  It consists on a long bus ride with numerous stops at beautifully scenic locations.  We were blessed with both perfect weather and a wonderful guide and it was a delightful day.  Viking provided an outstanding buffet lunch at the Geyser Restaurant.  We ended up really enjoying the Iceland extension despite the long wait at the Bergen Airport and the postage-stamp sized hotel room Viking provided.

 

By the way, the volcano here erupted yesterday afternoon, but nothing is visible to us from Reykjavik.  We hope maybe to see something on our transfer to the airport.  
 

Also, we decided we will come back to Reykjavik for several nights on our own, after our Viking Iconic Iceland, Greenland and Canada cruise next year.  We will pick a more centrally located hotel in the vibrant downtown area.

 

All in all, it was a glorious trip!  Thanks for reading and commenting on this thread.  I may post some photos here when I return home, if anyone is interested.

[Azulann]

Please post some picture.

As an arm chair cruiser at the moment, I love  seeing where others are cruising. I  would love to go to Iceland as a pre or post extension . thank you for taking us along. 

[DRJVH]

On 7/8/2023 at 1:44 PM, TayanaLorna said:

Five and a half hours at airport is a bit much.  However we got to that airport 3  hours before our flight and it was so packed and loooong lines for check in and security that we barely made our flight - and our flight was delayed by a half hour.

Straight off the ship at 5:30am with our luggage. Monday 10 July we got to the airport in 35 mins. Check in took 20 minutes. Security 5 minutes. Passport control less than 2 minutes  our flight was at 9:00;am. Flight left on time.