Viking Cruise Excursions Update – November 7, 2022 – Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale Transatlantic Cruise

A couple of weeks ago, the Viking Cruise Excursions opened up for reservations. Also, on a slightly different schedule, dinner reservations for the specialty restaurants also opened up.

The timing of the opening of these reservations is based on cabin classification. The higher the class of cabin you reserve, the sooner you have access to reserve excursions. This allows people that are paying more to have first dibs on selection the excursions and the scheduled for their choices.

We were not at the bottom of the cabin classifications, but only a couple of steps up from the bottom, which was perfectly fine with us. We were only planning to sign up for the included excursions for each of the three ports, Barcelona, Funchal and Saint Marteen.

The information we will list below is the Viking Cruises Description of each of the excursions we are doing. Again, these are “included” in our cruise fare. Of course, there are other paid excursions that were available, but we want to experience what it is like to do the included excursions as part of our overall Viking Cruises evaluation. Also, we have been to all of these ports before, so there was nothing that we say for additional expense that we wanted to do. This is especially true for Barcelona since we will be there for a few days before the cruise begins, allowing us to do many of the more popular sights on our own, which are not available in the included excursions for Barcelona.

Barcelona, Spain

Duration: 4 Hours Time: 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM

See the Highlights of This Beautiful City

Discover Barcelona’s most iconic landmarks on a relaxing drive and a leisurely walk around this impressive city. You will pass the Columbus Monument and Port Vell, the seaside cultural and shopping complex. Admire the Arc de Triomf, a stately remnant from the 1888 World’s Fair. Take in the breathtaking Parc de la Ciutadella, once home to the garrison that protected the city. Next, you will alight from your motor coach and walk into the historic center, stopping to view the stunning neo-Gothic Barcelona Cathedral. The façade of this 14th-century marvel is adorned with many sculptures, including a wide range of animals and mythical gargoyles on its roof. After enjoying free time and an opportunity to take a short walk through the Gothic Quarter, you will return to the ship.

Funchal, Madeira

Duration: 3 Hours Time: 8:00 AM to 11:45 AM

Prized Elixir and Staggering Landscapes

Witness Madeira’s dramatic mountainous terrain and sample legendary beverages produced in its subtropical climate. Drive with your guide into the coastal hills from Funchal, passing the village of Câmara de Lobos, “the sea wolves’ lair,” a picturesque fishing village once painted by Sir Winston Churchill. You will stop at a local bar to sample poncha, a local drink made with rum and honey. Continue into the steep mountains and valleys then traverse the fragrant pine and eucalyptus forest to Cabo Girão, the world’s second highest sea cliff and the highest in Europe. It emerges sheer from the sea and provides breathtaking panoramas. Step onto its glass platform overhanding the cliff top if you dare, and browse the gift shop for handicrafts. Enroute back to your ship, stop in historic Funchal and enjoy free time to explore what is thought to be one of Europe’s most hidden gems.

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

Duration: 2.5 Hours Time: 8:30 AM to 11:00 AM

Island Drive & Gelato Tasting

Discover an island straddled by two nations and the charms of Marigot, the capital of the French St. Martin. This Caribbean gem—the world’s smallest inhabited island with two sovereigns—is shared by France and The Netherlands. Drive through the colorful port city of Philipsburg, passing island landmarks such as the Great Salt Pond and Hope Hill, en route to Marigot. Just four streets wide, it exudes the quaint, romantic character of a small village. Enjoy free time to explore independently; visit the island’s epicenter, Simpson Bay, or stroll through a tropical garden. Stop at Lucas Bay and marvel at the views over the stunning beach, a favorite spot for free divers. Continue your drive past Grand Case, a quaint fishing village, and see Cole Bay as you stop at the famed Rotary Lookout Point for sweeping views of the glimmering sea and neighboring islands.

As a side note, we may elect to be dropped off in the city center in Funchal at the end of the Viking Excursion, and then take the cable car to the top of an area called Monte. Monte is the start of the wicker basket ride down the mountain, which we did the first time we visited Funchal many years ago. If we have enough time, we may try and ride down in the wicker baskets again. The only downside is that it is sometimes very difficult to get a bus back into the city center after the basket ride ends. There are taxi’s available, but they charge many times to “normal” fare for the distance back into town, it is a “special” tourist rate, knowing they have an advantage. We split a taxi with another couple we just met at the bus stop last time we did the baskets after several buses passed by the bus stop without stopping to pick us up. At that time, it seemed like a planned way to make money off of tourists and apparently, may still be the case today, a conspiracy to make money between the bus and taxi drivers.

The cable car and wicker basket ride is a paid excursion on Viking, but it is about four times the cost to do it on your own, even with a high priced taxi ride included.

The last part of this update is about dinner reservations in the specialty restaurants on the Viking Neptune. Again, dinner reservation access is based on cabin class, and we were given a specific date and time the reservations would be open to us. Unfortunately, the reservations through the Viking website opened up earlier than scheduled for some reason and by the time we looked at what we thought was the designated time, we were not able to get reservations until 8:30 PM for both The Chef’s Table and for Manfredi’s Italian Restaurant. We have reservations on December 10 for the Chef’s Table, which is the first night after we leave Barcelona, and on December13 for Manfredi’s Italian Restaurant, which is the night after we leave Madeira.

We have read on Cruise Critic that there may be other times available at these restaurants once we are on the ship. We were a little surprised that we could only make one reservation per restaurant ahead of time, again, this may be due to our cabin type. I am sure people staying in suites and penthouses get more reservation options.

That is all for now, we are just 27 days out from leaving to fly to Barcelona, it is approaching fast.

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