Viking Venus - Search for Northern Lights (Feb 24 - Mar 8, 2023)

Item: Viking Venus
Rating: 4.3
Author: gncruisers

Viking Venus Cruise Review to Europe - Northern Europe

gncruisers

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 28

Overall rating:

4.3 out of 5

Verified Review

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

Sail date: March 20, 2023

Ship: Viking Venus

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 4026

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Travelers and their travel agents should know the Viking rules about Air Plus. Disappointing to learn as we went through processes. Avoid flying United domestic and Lufthansa domestic- too chaotic. Cruise overall a big disappointment due to cancelling the heart of the cruise at Alta and Tromso; substitute ports of call did not measure up. Work with TA ahead of trip to nail down reservations for specialty restaurants. Our advice is to avoid this cruise in winter - the weather is just too much of a factor, as evidenced by the number of sail dates for this cruise having serious problems.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Excellent; very efficient.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Food was ok.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Destination speakers and lecturers really good. Fitness center and spa suite really nice.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Children's Programs

No children with us.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

People can always make a difference; the Viking crew competent and deliver very good service.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Very clean and maintainted.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Good size; very comfortable; kept tidy and clean. Well done.

Ship tip

Avoid sailing to northern Norway in winter. Weather impacted at least 4 cruises that we are aware of this season, including this one that had Alta and Tromso cancelled..

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Bergen, Norway

5 out of 5

We enjoyed Bergen. Having been there before, we did not go on a ship excursion.

Thumbs Up 0

Narvik

3 out of 5

The only reason to stop here is for the excursions; however, bad weather cancelled our northern lights excursion.

Thumbs Up 0

Alta, Norway Did not visit port

Alta cancelled due to bad weather in northern Norway.

Thumbs Up 0

Tromso, Norway Did not visit port

Tromso also cancelled due to bad weather in northern Norway. Cancellations a big disappointment.,

Thumbs Up 0

Bodo Did not visit port

Was not on initerary.

Thumbs Up 0

Stavanger, Norway

3 out of 5

In port on a Sunday; not much open at the port. Did not try the excursions as they did not appeal to us.

Thumbs Up 0

Tilbury (London), England

4 out of 5

Went from ship to airport.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

Very efficient and smooth.

3 Comments

Gwbigdog 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise

Thumbs Up 0

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javawoody 1 year ago

Thanks for the review

Thumbs Up 0

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ddme 1 year ago

Thanks for your detailed review. We did this February, 2022 and had weather related issues. Sorry to hear you didn't make Tomso and Alta due to weather up there. I know that was dissapointing. We had Trondheim added to our ports and we did enjoy that along with Narvik. It was a great adventure for the 8 of us. Safe travels.

Thumbs Up 1

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