In Search of the Northern Lights

Item: Viking Venus
Rating: 4.4
Author: ddme

Viking Venus Cruise Review

ddme

Contributor Level: Second Mate

57 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Reviews: 3

Helpful Votes: 59

Overall rating:

4.4 out of 5

12 Night In Search Of The Northern Lights (London To Bergen)

Sail date: February 05, 2022

Ship: Viking Venus

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

It was definitely an adventure. The North and Norwegian seas can be rough. We had 25 to 30 waves first couple of days in the North Sea. Once we were in the fyjords, sailing was smoother. Our experience is you probably will not make every scheduled port. The most important ports to see the lights is Tromso and Alta. Both of these are in protected waters. The added issue for us was the Covid restrictions but we knew this in going on this cruise. All eight of our party went and very much enjoyed this cruise. A lot of guest did cancel prior to this cruise. I would do this cruise again. Magical!

Embarkation

3 out of 5

This cruise was taking right after the big surge in omicron version of Covid in Europe. There was a lot of protocols in place that made embarkation much more complicated. We had already taken two Covid test prior to getting on the ship. We had to take another test to get on the ship and was confined to our stateroom until the results came back (about 5 hours). We also had to test every morning. We were aware of this prior to the cruise.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

This was our second Viking Ocean Cruise and the food was great!

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Mask policy was in place for Covid as also social distancing. Not a lot of activities. The night club was pretty much closed during this trip.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Pretty low keyed for this trip. We did go to every show and most of the port talks.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Thae staff was 100% great. There was 430 guest and 450 staff members. We were spoiled and had so much fun with the staff.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

This cruise was in the Winter in Norway. A lot of snow and ice on the outside areas of the ship. The deck crew had their hands full in keeping the deck safe.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Our stewards were excellent!

Ship tip

If you are doing the In Search of the Northern Lights cruise, just be aware of the cold, harse conditions you may encounter. Dress in layers, have foot, toe, hand warmers available. Have good warm boots, hats and gloves. Roads and paths off the ship WILL be snowy and icy! We were fortunate and did see the elusive lights 5 nights in a row. Enjoy this adventure!

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Tilbury (London), England

3 out of 5

An industrial port. Not much to see or do.

Thumbs Up 0

Tromso, Norway

5 out of 5

The Viking Bubble. We did see the Northern lights off the ship.

Thumbs Up 1

Alta, Norway

5 out of 5

This was the farthest north that we went and we saw the lights on and off the ship. Spectacular, especially on the Mt Paestuan tour.

Thumbs Up 0

Narvik

5 out of 5

Saw the lights off the ship. Went to a Sami Camp. Interesting!

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

Traveler Photos

Rocky (the mountain goat) had to wear his mask around the ship.

A small mountain of snow on deck 8 forward

It was actually relatively warm inside with the fire.

The fire pit. There was quite of bit of smoke in case anyone has breathing issues.

7 Comments

Gwbigdog 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing

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passportready 1 year ago

Thanks for all the pictures and great information I am booked for next year.

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ScubaDaveHash 1 year ago

Thanks for your review

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AuntPinkie 1 year ago

Appreciate your detailed review. It’s hard to imagine that much snow on cruise ship. The lights seem worth the rough seas. Glad you thoroughly enjoyed your cruise.

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Ship2Shora 1 year ago

Whoa, those were some rocky waters

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windy2day 1 year ago

Thanks for your detailed review and pictures! Wow! Glad you got to see the Northern Lights numerous times!

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javawoody 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing your experience

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Other reviews of this sailing

love the cruise but many problems.