15-Night Viking Homelands itinerary on Viking Mars

Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 8/17/22 Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 8/17/22

Viking Mars Cruise Review

Below is our video review of Viking Mars Part One:

Below is Part Two of our Viking Mars review:

Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 8/4/22 Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 8/4/22

Day 13 - Eidfjord, Norway and our 5th Day of Quarantine

Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 8/4/22 Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 8/4/22

Day 8 - We Are Covid Positive

Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 7/27/22 Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 7/27/22

Day 5 - Gdansk, Poland, on Viking Mars

We enjoy an included excursion on our very first visit to Gdansk. An excellent dinner at Chef’s Table.

Today, Viking Mars is docked in the city of Gdansk, Poland. This is our first ever visit to Gdansk and our first visit to the country of Poland! We pre-booked the City of Gdansk On Foot excursion. This is one of Viking’s included excursions (no additional charge).

A quick walk around the top deck reveals that we are docked within view of the Westerplatte Monument. This war memorial commemorates the Polish defenders of the Military Transit Depot, one of the first battles in Germany’s invasion of Poland at the start of WWII.

It is clear, cool and windy when guests begin disembarking for the morning’s excursions.

Viking also offers guests a complimentary shuttle bus that goes from the pier into the city center for those who wish to explore on their own.

*Viking offers complimentary shuttle from pier into town*

Our excursion today requires the use of the QuietVox communicator. These listening devices allow us to hear our local tour guide easily, even if we are up to 75 yards away.

All Viking excursions are identified by numbers. Our tour group is number 11. This makes it easy to find the correct motor coach when returning to the ship.

Our tour group was unusually large with 50 guests! I suspect that one of the local guides did not show up making it necessary to combine two groups into a single group. The larger group did make for some logistical challenges along the way.

We stopped on the bridge into town for a view of the canal and the architecture of Gdansk.

One of those “logistical challenges” was evident when everyone tried to pack into a local amber shop for the amber demonstration and bathroom break.

The Town Hall clock tower looms large over the large pedestrian street that was filled with tourists this morning.

No visit to Gdansk is complete without a visit to the iconic Neptune’s Fountain.

Our tour lasted about 3 hours and, once we were back on board, we rested most of the afternoon. We enjoyed a nice sail-away cocktail in Explorer’s Bar before our evening dinner at The Chef’s Table.

The Chef’s Table is an alternate dining venue on Viking Ocean ships featuring a fixed tasting menu that changes every three days. Tonight’s menu is Xiang and is one that we have never tried before. We were not disappointed. We have reservations for another meal here to try the California Cuisine menu in a few days. Of course, we will do a full review video of Chef’s Table once we return.

Tomorrow we will be in Bornholme, Denmark.

Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 7/26/22 Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 7/26/22

Day 4 - A Day at Sea Aboard Viking Mars

A relaxing day at sea aboard Viking Mars.

Today we enjoyed a relaxing day at sea as Viking Mars sails towards Gdansk, Poland. This morning, we did something we have never done on Viking before: we ordered room service breakfast! Actually, we placed our order last night by filling out the order form and placing it on our door knob. Our breakfast was delivered at the requested time.

I ordered a ham and cheese omelette and Rickee ordered the pancake with extra syrup. My omelette was cooked nicely and Rickee’s pancake was huge. All of the food was served warm and overall was very good. The coffee was especially good.

After breakfast, I was able to shoot and edit a video for our YouTube channel. You can follow us on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

Even though I am able to shoot and edit video, unfortunately the WiFi on Viking Mars will not allow streaming video. In fact, I am not even able to get my YouTube page to load. Perhaps they have YouTube blocked? I will have to wait until we are docked in Gdansk tomorrow so that I can use the data service on my iPhone to upload the video to YouTube. I am testing a new data eSim service from Airalo on this trip. Airalo offers international eSim data services at very reasonable prices. If you would like more information*, click here.

I am able to wrap up my video editing in time for Team Trivia which was held in Star Theater and hosted by Rosanna Yeo, the Assistant Cruise Director. Rickee and I formed our own two-person team and were able to get 13 of 15 questions correct.

After our breakfast, we were not that hungry so we skipped lunch today but could not resist another visit to Afternoon Tea at Wintergarden.

The Afternoon Tea is so filling that dinner this evening will be another light meal at World Cafe. Seems like we are spending a lot of time in World Cafe, doesn’t it? They have fresh made sushi here every evening and it is very good!

After dinner, we head to Explorer’s Bar where we get a front row seat to an amazing ocean view as we sail towards Gdansk.

*Ocean views at Explorer’s Bar Deck 7 forward*

We attend this evening’s show in Star Theater, a Musical Variety Performance featuring all 18 of the performers onboard Viking Mars.

The vocalists on this cruise are some of the best we have enjoyed on any cruise. While there are no dancers on this sailing, the vocals make up for it.

It has been a very enjoyable day at sea aboard Viking Mars. We are looking forward to our first time visiting the city of Gdansk tomorrow.

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Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 7/26/22 Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 7/26/22

Day 3 - Mariehamn, Äland Islands on Viking Mars

Today, Viking Mars is docked in Mariehamn, Äland Islands. Mariehamn is the capital of the Äland Islands, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Even though this is a Swedish-speaking city, technically you could say we have visited Finland on this cruise. This is our first visit to the Äland Islands.

As we disembark Viking Mars, we find the weather to be cool, cloudy and windy, but tolerable enough to do some exploring on our own. We did not book a ship’s excursion for today.

It is quite easy to walk into the city center by just following the markers along the sidewalks.

If you are mobility challenged, or just lazy like us, you can take the free shuttle train into town. We decided to ride the train into town, then walk back to the ship to get some exercise.

The city center reveals a large pedestrian street lined with shops and cafes. Locals speak Swedish, but everyone we encountered also spoke very good English. The currency here is the Euro. We bought some souvenirs and enjoyed a walk through town.

*Pedestrian shopping street in Mariehamn*

The walk back to the ship takes about 15 minutes and the route is clearly marked all along the way.

We decided to go back to Viking Mars for lunch before heading back out to explore the Pommern, an early 20th century sailing ship moored behind Viking Mars. The best place for a quick lunch is World Cafe on Deck 7. Today, I had the Stir Fried Chicken Breast which was very good.

After lunch, we head back out for the short walk to the Pommern. The iron-hulled, 4-mast Finnish sailing ship was built in 1903 to haul grain. The ship is now on permanent display as a museum in Mariehamn. Viking guests can show their cruise card (stateroom key) to get free access to the Pommern.

Visitors are allowed to tour throughout the ship on their own. Below, you can see the ship’s galley. With a gross registered tonnage of 2,376 the Pommern carried a crew of 26. An audio guide is offered to visitors that tells the story of the Pommern and its crew as you walk through the various parts of the ship.

It began to rain as we were finishing up our tour of the Pommern. If you find yourself in Mariehamn, it is likely that your cruise ship will be docked near the Pommern and it is well worth a visit.

This evening, we visited The Atrium again for a cocktail and some classical piano music during Munch Moments. Munch Moments is held every evening at 6:00pm in The Atrium. Guests can enjoy classical music as Munch’s works of art are displayed on the huge LED screen.

For dinner this evening, we had reservations at Manfredi’s Italian Restaurant. This is one of our favorite restaurants on any cruise ship. I started off my meal with the Antipasti plate below. Later, we will be doing a complete review video of Manfredi’s and all of the dining on Viking Mars. I can tell you that I did notice a few subtle changes since my Viking Orion cruise last year. So, make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel to get notified of my dining review video.

After dinner we head to Star Theater where we enjoyed an excellent performance by Virtuoso Pianist, Adam Johnson.

Tomorrow Viking Mars will be docked in Gdansk, Poland.

Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 7/24/22 Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 7/24/22

Day 2 - Stockholm, Sweden, on Viking Mars

This morning Viking Mars remains in Stockholm and offers guests a wide variety of shore excursions. Stockholm is also one of those cities where you can easily explore on your own. However, the ship docks pretty far from the city center, so if you choose to go on your own, you may need an Uber or a taxi to get you into town.

While Rickee is in the stateroom getting ready for our excursion, I head to World Cafe to go over my photos and write my daily cruise blog. Sitting in the aft area of World Cafe, just forward of Aquavit Bar, is my favorite spot since it remains uncrowded.

Before our scheduled excursion, Rickee and I have time to enjoy a walk around Deck 8. It is a beautiful, sunny 75º (F) day in Stockholm, the perfect day for exploring.

We pre-booked our shore excursions through the MyVikingJourney.com website weeks ago and received all of our tickets when we boarded the ship. Viking offers guests an included (no extra charge) excursion in every port along with a variety of optional excursions at an additional cost.

The Panoramic Stockholm excursion is an included excursion and we were instructed to meet shoreside where we were assigned to coach #16. Our local guide for the day, Helena, greeted us as we boarded the coach.

*HELENA, Our local tour guide for today*

The coach tour lasted about two hours and took us through many interesting areas in Stockholm. Our guide did an excellent job of narrating along the way, pointing out various locations of interest. We did make one stop at Stockholm City Hall where we were able to walk around the grounds and take some photos.

We were back on board by 1:45 and I was a little hungry so I decided to grab a Classic Burger and fries at the Pool Grill (Deck 7). The burger patty and bun were good, and the fries would have been great, but they were cold.

*The Classic Burger served at Pool Grill*

After editing and posting the daily blog from our stateroom, we decided to enjoy Afternoon Tea at Wintergarden as Viking Mars sailed away from Stockholm. We snagged a great table next to a window on starboard side. Viking’s Afternoon Tea service is one of the best in the cruise industry.

In addition to a three-tiered tray of sweets and finger sandwiches, guests are offered fresh baked scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream. These are my favorite. The tea menu is extensive. Peppermint tea for Rickee, strawberry/mango for me.

*Scone with strawberry jam and clotted cream*

The Afternoon Tea has left us with little appetite for dinner, so instead, we skipped the evening meal tonight and enjoyed some quiet time in The Atrium before going to the show.

Tonight’s show was ABBA Songbook in Stars Theater. The theater was packed for this evening’s performance, an indication that the ship is sailing almost full. Another guest informed us that he overheard there are 800+ guests on this sailing. Capacity for Viking Ocean ships is around 930, so this is a pretty full sailing if that guest’s information is accurate.

Normally there are two male and two female Viking Singers, but one of the male singers was out with a sore throat. Nevertheless, the three remaining performers did an excellent job of delivering some of ABBA’s most famous songs. The great vocals were backed up with live music from the Viking Band.

At the end of the show, Cruise Director, Aaron Syfert, took the stage and informed guests all about tomorrow’s planned activities.

Tomorrow, Viking Mars will be docked in Mariehamn, Äland Islands.

Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 7/23/22 Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 7/23/22

Day 1 - Viking Mars Embarkation in Stockholm, Sweden

After a restful pre-cruise night’s stay at Hotel Rival in Stockholm, we ordered an Uber to pick us up at our hotel and take us to the pier which was located only about a ten-minute drive from the hotel. Embarkation was scheduled to begin at 11am and several guests were already in line at the tent set up next to Viking Mars.

*Rickee enters the tent to check-in for the cruise*

Checking in for the cruise was simple. Basically, you just present your passport and you are handed your stateroom keys.

Check-in was much easier and quicker than last year when I sailed on Viking Orion. There are no more pre-cruise Covid tests required and nobody even checked our Covid vaccination records. No temperature checks were done and Viking is no longer using the contact tracing medallions that were required last year. It would appear that cruising is back to “normal” on Viking!

After receiving our stateroom keys, we were invited to board the ship using the gangway.

Once on board, we were greeted with a glass of sparkling wine and invited to Deck 2 for the safety demonstration. The safety demonstration was held in the Stars Theater and was basically a demonstration of how to put on a life vest. The remainder of the safety drill information, which every guest is required to watch, is viewed on your stateroom television.

Our stateroom was not scheduled to be ready until 1pm; however, we decided to stop by and check just to make sure, and if nothing else, drop off our carry-on luggage. We were greeted in the hallway by our stateroom attendant who informed us that our room was, in fact, ready. We dropped off our luggage and headed up to World Cafe for a light lunch.

World Cafe is Viking Ocean’s buffet restaurant located on Deck 7 aft. A quick walk up one flight of stairs and we are there! Even though we are not typically fans of buffet cuisine, World Cafe is one of our favorite cruise ship buffets.

Rickee wanted a slice of pizza and I could not pass up the BBQ pork ribs.

On the way out of World Cafe, Rickee decides she must try a scoop of Salted Caramel Ice Cream in a cone.

We will do a much more thorough review of World Cafe at the end of this trip. Make sure to watch for our video review series on our YouTube channel (@cruisereport). Also, we post photos and video clips throughout each day on Instagram and Facebook, so make sure to follow us on those social media platforms as well.

After lunch, we head back down to our stateroom where we find our two large pieces of luggage have been delivered. We shipped our luggage from our home in Texas to Stockholm using Luggage Forward delivery service. We did not want to have to worry about our luggage being lost by the airlines on this trip. Luggage Forward came through for us once again. This is a service we highly recommend.

We are still suffering from a bit of jet lag, so after unpacking all of our luggage, we settle in for a nice nap. It is a cloudy, rainy day in Stockholm, so we leave the drapes to our balcony window open and enjoy some much needed rest.

This evening, we visit Explorer’s Lounge where we enjoy a cocktail and excellent guitar music by Paolo.

We purchased the Silver Spirits package for this cruise so we can enjoy as many drinks as we like and not have to worry about signing tickets. Viking’s Silver Spirits package is one of the best values in the cruise industry as drink packages are concerned.

Still pretty full from our lunch in World Cafe, we did not really feel up to a large dinner tonight, so we decided to head back to World Cafe for some light fare. They have fresh sushi, cocktail shrimp and crab legs every evening here.

Newer Viking Ocean ships also have the Asian Stir Fry station at the aft section of World Cafe, facing Aquavit Terrace. This was one of my favorite spots on Viking Orion and I am glad they included it on Viking Mars. I decided to try the pork noodle dish, which was very good.

There is no show in the theater this evening, but Viking Mars’ resident pianist, Sofia, is entertaining in The Atrium on Deck 1.

*Sofia entertains during Munch Moments in The Atrium*

There is a movie playing tonight in the Stars Theater, but it is one we have already seen so we decide to stay in The Atrium and enjoy more music from the Classical Duo.

Viking Mars overnights in Stockholm and tomorrow we will be joining the Panoramic Stockholm excursion.

Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 7/22/22 Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 7/22/22

Pre-Cruise Stay at Hotel Rival in Stockholm

*Hotel Rival, Stockholm (hotel website*)

We have made it a habit to always spend one or two nights in the city of embarkation prior to a cruise. This is especially important in 2022, when airlines are as unreliable as they have ever been. Selecting a good pre-cruise hotel is also important. I like to find a luxury property that is as close to the port as possible. After researching on Tripadvisor, I came across Hotel Rival. Hotel Rival is the #2 rated hotel* in all of Stockholm. We also prefer boutique, local properties over international “chain” hotel brands whenever possible. Hotel Rival checked all of the boxes.

When we arrived in Stockholm’s Arlanda International airport, we were having trouble getting our cell phones to work to order an Uber. We could have taken a taxi to the hotel but, instead, decided to take the Arlanda Express train from the airport to Central Station, which would put us about 1.5 miles from the hotel.

The train is clean, quiet and fast. Getting to the Central Station only takes about 15 minutes and, at only $19 per person, is much less expensive than a taxi or even an Uber. When we arrived at Central Station, I was able to get my cell phone working and Apple Maps showed the hotel to only be 1.5 miles away, so we decided to walk. I should mention that we each had a roll-aboard and backpacks. If we had large checked bags, we would have been forced to get a taxi. And, as it turned out, we probably should have taken a taxi anyway!

The route laid out by Apple Maps did not take into consideration some roads that were under construction. We had to make several detours and it ended up taking us more than an hour to get to Hotel Rival. Still, we enjoyed the exhilarating walk.

When we arrived at Hotel Rival, we were greeted by the clerk at the front desk and check-in was a breeze. We walked through the lobby to Watson’s Bar, one of the largest hotel bars we have seen anywhere. It spans three levels and looks like a fun place to hang out in the evenings.

After an all-night flight, we are only interested in getting to our room and checking out the bad for some much needed rest. We were assigned to room 606. The room was large and beautifully appointed. Even though the property appears to be older, the furnishings, bedding and bathroom look recently updated.

There is a large window looking out over the front of the hotel, two chairs and a nice-sized desk across from the bed. A flat screen television is mounted above the desk and there is even a DVD player and a selection of DVDs in the room. The closets are very large and include an ironing board, electronic safe, bathrobes and slippers.

The bathroom is very large and looks brand new. There is a huge walk in shower and a separate bath tub.

*The walk-in shower has a rain shower head and wand*

Molton Brown amenities are always an indication of a top-notch property.

After spending a few minutes exploring the room, we enjoyed a three-hour nap on the very comfortable bed. We awoke rested and ready to do more exploring. Across the street from Hotel Rival is a beautiful park that is well worth a stroll.

We made dinner reservations at Taverna, the hotel’s restaurant/bar. Before dinner, we sat at the bar and I enjoyed a glass of Cabernet while Rickee had a Limoncello/sparkling wine cocktail. After enjoying our drinks, we were seated at a small table for dinner. For dinner, I ordered the Minute Steak with Frites and Rickee ordered a pasta dish.

Of the two dishes, my steak dish was the better. Not so much for the steak, which was good, but the tomato salad was one of the best salads I have ever tasted. And, the bowl of French Fries were so hot you could barely eat them, very crisp and salted perfectly. Rickee’s pasta dish was just okay. There was a spice used in the sauce that gave a floral flavor that just did not live up to the rest of the dish. However, the fried kale accompanying the pasta dish was excellent.

Taverna is open for lunch and dinner and they also offer outdoor sidewalk seating.

After a very restful night’s sleep on the comfortable bed, we enjoyed the hotel’s complimentary breakfast before checking out. I now wish we had planned two nights in Stockholm as we would have enjoyed more exploring with Hotel Rival as our home base. This is a beautiful property and one that we can highly recommend to anyone cruising in or out of Stockholm.

Hotel Rival is only 10-12 minutes from the cruise port. An Uber ride cost us about $15.

*Tripadvisor.com rating.

Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 7/21/22 Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 7/21/22

Getting To Stockholm

Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 7/16/22 Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 7/16/22

The Cruise Before The Cruise

We are less than a week away from departing the U.S. for our 15-night sailing aboard Viking Ocean’s newest ship, Viking Mars. The past couple of weeks have been filled with stress as we have watched our scheduled flights repeatedly be cancelled or delayed. The airlines’ inability to fulfill their obligation is making cruise travel less than pleasant right now. In addition to cancelled and delayed flights, airlines are losing more luggage than ever before: more than 220,000 pieces of luggage in April, 2022 alone! So, not only do we have to worry about making it to Stockholm to board the ship, there is a good chance that we will arrive with no luggage for 15 days!

We were able to eliminate one point of stress by having Luggage Forward ship our two “checked” bags from our home in Dallas directly to the ship in Stockholm*. We have used Luggage Forward in the past to ship our luggage and have always been pleased with their service.

*We wrap our luggage in plastic before shipping.*

DHL picked up our two duffel bags on Tuesday, and by Thursday afternoon we were notified that they were already in Stockholm where they will be stored safely until they are delivered to the ship. What a great service!

*DHL picked up our two bags and had them in Stockholm in two days!*

With our luggage concerns dealt with, we can now turn our attention to our flights. Fortunately, we booked our flights with Viking’s air department. Unfortunately, Viking has us booked on SAS from Newark to Stockholm, Sweden, and on SAS returning from Bergen to Cophenhagen where we connect to another SAS flight to Chicago, then on United back to Dallas. As luck would have it, just a few day after these flights were booked, SAS fell victim to a pilot strike and they have just filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. Every flight on which we are booked has been cancelled for the past week, so our odds of making it to Stockholm on SAS are slim-to-none.

After reaching out to my contact at Viking, I learned that the air department is in the process of re-booking guests onto other partner airlines. They have presented us with an alternative itinerary which we much prefer to the original. If everything works out, we will be flying from DFW to Helsinki on Finnair, then from Helsinki to Stockholm. The return flights will be on Iberia from Bergen to Madrid where we will have to spend the night before picking up a morning flight on Iberia (operated by American Airlines) to JFK, then our final flight on American to DFW. However, as of the writing of this blog, we have not received new PNRs from Viking, so hopefully they will be able to maintain our Business Class seat reservations.

*Finnair offers daily flights from DFW to Helsinki on the new Airbus A-350*

I should mention that we scheduled a one-day pre-cruise stay in Stockhom prior to embarkation. This has just become our standard operating procedure after having experienced so many flight delays and cancellations. Typically, on sailings departing from a US port, we will plan an extra day on the front-end of a cruise and two days prior to cruises that require international travel. However, on this sailing, Viking Mars will overnight in Stockholm on the day of embarkation, so we only needed a single night prior to embarkation.

We have been invited to spend one night at the beautiful Hotel Rival in Stockholm, Sweden. We are very excited to see this property and will update our blog with details about our stay. The Rival is the #2 rated Stockholm hotel on Tripadvisor.com.

As for all of our other pre-cruise arrangements, we used the MyVikingJourney.com website to pre-book all of our excursions in advance as well as dinner reservations for The Chef’s Table and Manfredi’s. We have also prepaid for Viking’s Silver Spirits beverage package. So, if Viking’s air department can provide us with reliable air transportation, this is shaping up to be a very nice cruise.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for video updates throughout the cruise and we will be posting updates daily on Instagram and Facebook.

*Disclaimer: Luggage Forward is a CruiseReport sponsor and has provided one-way shipping of luggage as compensation for sponsorship. For more information, click here.

Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 7/12/22 Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 7/12/22

The Stress Of Cruise Travel In 2022

We made it through the worst of the pandemic, or at least this pandemic, and have all been excited to get our cruising life back to normal. But, for those of us who love cruising, the journey back to normal is anything but smooth sailing.

Confusing Covid Regulations

The rules and regulations around “vaccines” and Covid testing and masks are more confusing than ever. On our upcoming Viking Ocean cruise in Scandinavia, we are not required to be tested prior to boarding, but on Viking sailings originating out of North America (and a few other countries), pre-cruise testing is still required. There is no longer any universal rule regarding pre-cruise testing. And, every cruise line has its own individual policy regarding “vaccines”, testing and masks.

The entire world has not yet accepted that Covid-19 in its current form is basically a flu virus. There is still a lot of fear about a virus that develops no symptoms at all in most of whom are infected. Nevertheless, if you test positive, false or otherwise, two days before your cruise, you will be denied boarding. Your vacation gone, perhaps with the money you spent on airfare and other travel expenses.

Airline Delays and Cancellations

Scandinavian Airlines has recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US and is in the middle of a pilot strike/walkout. Unfortunately, our air travel to our Viking cruise is booked on SAS. Our scheduled flight from Newark to Stockhom, as well as our return flight from Copenhagen to Chicago, has been cancelled every day for the past week and appears to be cancelled into the future. We are hopeful that Viking’s air department will sort this out and re-book us on other airlines, but SAS is not the only airline with problems. There is a worldwide shortage of pilots, flight attendants, ground crew, etc, so It is not uncommon to show up at an airport to find 50% or more of the flights cancelled or delayed.

We are 9 days away from our departure and this is the time where we would normally be filled with excitement and anticipation for the adventure that lies ahead. Instead, we are filled with stress and worry about whether or not we will even make it to Stockholm to board the ship. Of course, we planned to spend an extra day in Stockholm prior to embarkation. We have been taking that precaution on international travel for years. But now we wonder if one day was enough? Maybe we now have to plan a two or three-day advance stay prior to embarking a cruise?

Lost or Delayed Luggage

In April of this year alone, more than 220,000 checked bags were lost by the airlines. Airport storage facilities have turned into mountains of luggage. Our flight itinerary has us flying from DFW to Newark, then on to Stockhom, Sweden. Even on a good day, pre-pandemic, American Airlines would be late departing DFW which means a late arrival in Newark. The odds of us making our connection are questionable and the odds of our luggage getting transferred to the SAS flight are slim to none. Can you imagine spending 15 days in Europe with only the clothes on your back, or in your carry-on luggage?

We have been able to mitigate this stress by using Luggage Forward (https://luggageforward.com) to have our checked bags shipped ahead of time directly to the ship in Stockholm. It costs nearly $1,000 to ship both of our large duffel bags to the ship, one way, but at least we don’t have to worry about showing up with no clothes.

We are also now using Air Tags inside all of our luggage so that we can track where the bags are at any given time using our iPhones. We will be checking the bags with the airline on the return flights at the end of the cruise, so it will be nice to at least know where they end up!

Inflation

In case you had not noticed, everything is more expensive than it was just a year ago. The cost of travel has increased dramatically. The cost of air travel is insanely expensive, as is the cost for hotels, ground transportation and food. Unless you live in or near a cruise embarkation port, the cost to get to the ship could easily be more than the cruise itself.

The Impact On The Cruise Industry

I don’t think the impact of these negative forces have begun to show up on the bottom line of cruise companies just yet. But, they will eventually. If enough people realize that the cruise vacation is causing more stress than it is relieving, they will find other ways to spend their vacations. Cruise line executives need to recognize that their industry is largely dependent upon the airlines. And, in the United States at least, the airline industry is not a consumer-focused business. European carriers are only slightly better. An airline passenger is nothing more than freight to an airline, not a “customer”. It is the only business I can think of that can sell you a product at a very high price, completely fail to deliver the product, and you have no recourse. They can cancel your flight, hand you a worthless voucher for future travel credit to be applied to an airline ticket that will be twice the price of the voucher, and they can get away with it. So much for government consumer protection.

I debated whether or not to make this post part of our Viking Mars blog, but I think it reflects the state-of-mind going into this cruise. To be clear, none of this apprehension is the fault of Viking Cruises. It is just the state of the world in which we live right now.

*Disclaimer: Luggage Forward is a CruiseReport sponsor and has provided one-way shipping of luggage as compensation for sponsorship. For more information, click here.