Viking 'Footsteps of the Cossacks' (Ukraine)

Welcome Silkismom. If there is anything we can help you with, please don't hesitate to ask.

I'm posting again a link to an article about Bakhchisaray, the Palace of the Crimean Khanate. I'm also posting a link to the Pushkin poem that made this palace famous and perhaps saved it from destruction.

I am posting links to a museum of Lesya Ukrainka (a famous Ukrainian

female writer 1871 – 1913) in Yalta, who lived there and wrote a series of poems, called "Crimean echo" and the drama poem “Iphigenia in Tauris" (using the story of an ancient Greek dramatists Euripides), which helped to preserve Ukrainian Crimea and

all the sights and monuments, Bakhchysarai palace included, on this peninsula from destruction by Russian occupants (who, after they failed to blow up and bulldoze everything, tried to console themselves, by spreading the lies that some ancient Russian scribes "saved" the historical monuments).

http://www.ukrainaviaggi.it/en/crimea/lesya-ukrainka-in-yalta

http://cdcrimea.virtual.crimea.ua/en/sightscrimea/details/124.html

We just booked this cruise for 22 Sept. 2013, I've put this thread in favorites so I can find it again closer to the cruise. Thank you everyone, I'm starting to get excited already.

Hi Silkismon, we'll be shipmates on this cruise. I'm looking forward to it so much, I can't believe it's still over a year away! How will I manage to wait??? :)

Hi Silkismon, we'll be shipmates on this cruise. I'm looking forward to it so much, I can't believe it's still over a year away! How will I manage to wait??? :)

It is nice that you will already know another couple when you board next October. There is so little traffic on this thread (not complaining; it is just the nature of the beast), that it is exciting to see it happen.

A word about visas for Ukraine. Citizens of some countries need them while others don't. Check with the Ukrainian consulate nearest you to confirm. "But they told me Cruise Critic" won't get you past the customs official when you don't have the right paperwork

Also, make sure that your passport will expire at least 6 months after your trip and that you have enough pages for visas and entry and exit stamps.

I just noticed that DH passport will expire 3 months after we get back from our cruise--guess we'll have to plan trips in the US during the summer so there will be plenty of time to get it back by Sept. (next year) So many people say that we should do the Kiev extention, $499 pp seems awful high, but I doubt if we'd ever get back to that area again.

If you check out the hotel prices for Kiev, you may find that this price is actually reasonable. I looked at booking my own hotel for a couple of nights and gave up after trying to find something centrally located in my normal price range. Good, centrally located hotels in Kiev are not cheap. We walked everywhere from the Radisson Blu. Check out the reviews on Trip Advisor.

I just noticed that DH passport will expire 3 months after we get back from our cruise--guess we'll have to plan trips in the US during the summer so there will be plenty of time to get it back by Sept. (next year) So many people say that we should do the Kiev extention, $499 pp seems awful high, but I doubt if we'd ever get back to that area again.

I was thinking of doing the extension as well. But, if $499 is high pp for a couple, I hate to think what they'd charge me for the single supplement. The extension seems a little unstructured - what does it include besides the hotel?, but would give me a few days to adjust to the time change before the cruise starts. If I do it, I may try to hire a car/driver to visit to the town where my mother's family is from, which is either an hour away - or 100 miles - from Kiev, depending on which of my family members I believe.

I'll be posting a list of the optional excursions I want to take and asking people who've taken the cruise already how much they cost. I definitely want to see the ballet in Odessa and Chekov's home on the day the ship is in that port vs. the other optional excursion that day.

I should really start a trip countdown clock...if I could find one for this trip!

Also - I didn't get the insurance when I booked my trip - do you think this is worth getting, even though at this point it won't cover any pre-existing conditions I have? I don't think I have any, but I don't know how rigid this is. I remember back in the '80s when I moved back to the US and first got health insurance, they wouldn't cover my son's URI because he had had one 3 months before the insurance started!

I guess I should call Viking and inquire about the extension, the insurance and the custom air.

Silkismom - I sent you a friend request, I don't know if you received it, or what it would mean if you did and accepted. I was hoping that we could exchange email addresses without having to post them on this board. I think you or your husband could renew your passport at any US consulate or embassy and not have to come back to the US, unless you wanted to do that.

I was thinking of doing the extension as well. But, if $499 is high pp for a couple, I hate to think what they'd charge me for the single supplement. The extension seems a little unstructured - what does it include besides the hotel?, but would give me a few days to adjust to the time change before the cruise starts. If I do it, I may try to hire a car/driver to visit to the town where my mother's family is from, which is either an hour away - or 100 miles - from Kiev, depending on which of my family members I believe.

Except for a walking tour, the Kiev extension, is, as you say, unstructured. However, everything you want to see is walking distance from the hotel and we felt very safe everywhere we walked near the hotel, so I wouldn't worry about being on your own.

Even if you were to stay in a hotel on your own, you would not pay half price for the room. So, find out how much Viking wants to charge for the SS and then go price some hotels. You may find that doing the Viking extension makes sense. (I just checked on the Radisson Blu rates for a room with breakfast and they are currently quoting an average of $307 per night for two randomly chosen nights in September, 2013).

If you are planning on driving out of the city, you should probably start working on it now.

I'll be posting a list of the optional excursions I want to take and asking people who've taken the cruise already how much they cost. I definitely want to see the ballet in Odessa and Chekov's home on the day the ship is in that port vs. the other optional excursion that day.

I thought that I saw that someone had already posted the prices for the 2012 optional tours.

Keep on mind that regardless of this year's prices, they will be different next year--because of inflation and fluctuating currencies. I wish that Viking would quote these prices on their pre-cruise literature in UAH rather than euros, which fluctuates against UAH. 2013 prices should be available next spring right before the first cruise of the season.

I should really start a trip countdown clock...if I could find one for this trip!

There is probably not one specifically for this trip but the Cruise Critic clocks are one size fits all and customizable or you can use an outside company. I just deleted the one from my sig file and I can't remember where I got it from. Maybe it was ticker.com--and if CC deletes this address, then contact me via e-mail and I will send it to you.

Also - I didn't get the insurance when I booked my trip - do you think this is worth getting, even though at this point it won't cover any pre-existing conditions I have? I don't think I have any, but I don't know how rigid this is. I remember back in the '80s when I moved back to the US and first got health insurance, they wouldn't cover my son's URI because he had had one 3 months before the insurance started!

I guess I should call Viking and inquire about the extension, the insurance and the custom air.

You can buy insurance anytime before you leave (but it won't cover pre-existing conditions for sure). There are a couple of different sources and you don't have to limit yourself to the plan Viking offers. Again, shop around, taking careful note of the cancellation provisions and how much you will get back should you need to cancel. Also, look at the medical coverage, since should you have to evacuated for whatever reason, it won't be cheap--and that is mostly what you want this insurance for at this point.

[bTW, Sorry if I am stating the obvious on some of this but when I write, I always assume that more people are reading this than the person who asked the question and maybe there is someone out there who is just learning the ropes, who will benefit from some basic information.]

For the extention in Kiev, it is $499 PER PERSON for 2 nights, thus $499 per night.

For the extention in Kiev, it is $499 PER PERSON for 2 nights, thus $499 per night.

Plus a guided tour, transfers to the hotel and access to a local Viking rep during your stay (not at the hotel full-time but available if needed). There is also, for me at least, the convenience factor of just letting an expert handle the details. Also, the price has gone up for 2013. The 2012 extension price was cheaper and hence more of a deal.

But don't go on the prices that I found on the website for the hotel because that was just two random days and an average price for the two nights. Do your own price check based on the dates you will actually be there. Your results may differ.

Also include in the math any savings on airfare if you have booked through Viking at one of their sale prices because if you book your own hotel, you won't be able to get the discounted air price (even if you continue to use Viking to book flights with what they call 'air deviation'. The discounted air price is not an open-ended offer but on flights of Viking's choosing). There is more information about flights and airfares on the Viking website.

Bottom-line is that there's a bit more to the comparison than just the price of the hotel room and I should have given it more thought when I first posted, for which I apologize.

"Grand" I friended you, not sure what that means, but anyhow, my email is lovetocruzataoldotcom.

I'm really not thinking about this cruise very much now, since its so far off. I'm just starting to plan the Azamara one in late Oct. 2012. I spent so much time planning the Alaska trip before the Island Princess cruise for us & my brother & wife--(down to the time we had to get up and pack the car each day) that my poor brain is on slooowwww. I just want to watch the Olympics and relax.

"Grand" I friended you, not sure what that means,

Basically it means that if you have a contact address in your profile, you can share that info with someone without having to post it in the public forum. Some people prefer that option. Others will post an address the way you have using 'at' and 'dot' instead of the symbols.

Another option is to include a mail link in your signature file, as I have done. Mine links to a disposable address which I can delete at any time (haven't had to do so yet) and allows any reader to contact me without having to friend me.

We can each choose the level of sharing we are most comfortable with.

I'm still trying to decide whether to take the pre-cruise extension. I've decided that if I do, I'd like to see Chernobyl, which now allows some tourism.

I've found 2 tour companies that do day trips from Kiev to Chernobyl and back. They pick you up at about 9 AM, then it's about a 2 hour drive, lunch is provided and they have you back at the hotel at 6.

Has anyone done this, and if so, could you recommend one or the other tour company - the names of which I can't remember off the top of my head.

Each charges about $150 for the trip. I would have to apply to visit the Chernobyl site and then be approved (or not).

This is not a place I would take children, but I don't think there would be much danger going there for someone in their 60s, would there? I mean, there are people who've gone back to living there, after having been forcibly removed in 1986 and they're going to just live out the rest of their lives there. The food I'd be eating for lunch is brought in from outside the 30 KM exclusion zone.

Any ideas or suggestions?

GCV, a couple from our cruise were planning to visit Chernobyl after the cruise. He works in the power plant industry and he is forever checking out the local grid. Unfortunately, I did not keep in contact with this couple. However, I do remember that even though they had booked the tour, it was not a guarantee that they would actually be permitted to go and that they would not know until the last minute. I think it had to do with last minute closures of the area.

We lived in Denmark during that time and didn't really know what was going on until the BBC told us several days later.

Still wondering if we'll have problems in later life from it, yes we were outside that day, later found out that they were giving pills to all the military in Germany--we were the "lost cousins" based with NATO.

Just booked a cabin for "Footsteps of the Cossacks" (Odessa-Kiev) and have a couple of questions:

My plane will arrive in Odessa (hopefully!) on July 6 at 9:00 p.m. This means I will need a transfer from airport to hotel, hotel for one night and transfer to dock on the morning of the 7th. Can anyone recommend a private driver or transport service? A hotel? A 2** is fine with me since all I'll be doing is crashing to reset my body-clock and recover from the four flights I need to get to Odessa!

Would also like to connect with others doing this departure since, in all probability, I will be traveling alone.

Just booked a cabin for "Footsteps of the Cossacks" (Odessa-Kiev) and have a couple of questions:

 

My plane will arrive in Odessa (hopefully!) on July 6 at 9:00 p.m. This means I will need a transfer from airport to hotel, hotel for one night and transfer to dock on the morning of the 7th. Can anyone recommend a private driver or transport service? A hotel? A 2** is fine with me since all I'll be doing is crashing to reset my body-clock and recover from the four flights I need to get to Odessa!

 

Would also like to connect with others doing this departure since, in all probability, I will be traveling alone.

For now, I want to suggest that you might have more luck on Trip Advisor looking for hotels and drivers. So far, there has been little conversation here about either topic--not that that can't change over the next few months.

There were a couple of people traveling alone on our cruise but everyone was so friendly that it didn't matter.

We're going in Sept '13. Started looking at possible flt options--of course for several months earlier since for those dates aren't out yet. OMG, looks like we have to change planes at least 4 times--arggghhhh!!! Gee, wonder what the chances are that our bags get there when we do! I'm thinking more & more about "biting the bullet" and springing for the 2 extra nights in Kiev for $499 per person. The trip home from Odessa sounds even worse.

For now, I want to suggest that you might have more luck on Trip Advisor looking for hotels and drivers. So far, there has been little conversation here about either topic--not that that can't change over the next few months.

 

There were a couple of people traveling alone on our cruise but everyone was so friendly that it didn't matter.

Thanks for quick reply, Peregrin651, I have looked (not in depth) at Trip Advisor, but just hoped a former cruiser would have a name at hand. I've got lots of time to work this out. If I were younger and more of a risk-taker I would fly in on departure day, but I have had too many missed connections to go that route, especially when booking my own.

We're going in Sept '13. Started looking at possible flt options--of course for several months earlier since for those dates aren't out yet. OMG, looks like we have to change planes at least 4 times--arggghhhh!!! Gee, wonder what the chances are that our bags get there when we do! I'm thinking more & more about "biting the bullet" and springing for the 2 extra nights in Kiev for $499 per person. The trip home from Odessa sounds even worse.

500 per person for two nights?? That's a lot. What are they charging for?

Pre-Extension: Kiev

2-night pre-extension - $499 per person

Day 1

Arrive in Kiev, then transfer to the superior first-class Radisson Blu (or similar).* The rest of your day is free to begin exploring the city and perhaps sample some of its distinctive cuisine, like borscht with pampushki (soft rolls).

Day 2

This morning, take a tour to some of Kiev’s most famous landmarks, including buildings, squares, monuments and parks, as well as the enormous Saint Sophia Cathedral. The rest of your day is at leisure; visit one of the city’s historical or art museums, relax in a café or take a riverside stroll. An optional tour to Babi Yar is available. Try some more Ukraine cuisine this evening, or perhaps sample one of the many other styles of cuisine available in this multicultural city. (B)

Day 3

After breakfast, check out of your hotel and we take you to join other cruise guests aboard your ship. Dinner will be served aboard as part of your regular cruise itinerary. (B)

THEY SAY that if we just want to fly in a day early and get our own hotel, the air credit isn't any good--at least that's how I understand it.

 

 

THEY SAY that if we just want to fly in a day early and get our own hotel, the air credit isn't any good--at least that's how I understand it.

That's right. If you want to take advantage of the Viking airfare offer, then the only way you can get extra nights pre- o post- is with a Viking extension.

Do the math before you make up your mind. Look at airfare deal + extension times two (includes all transfers) VS your own flights + your own hotels + transfers to airport and ship. Everybody's results will be different so it is very hard to make a blanket statement whether the extension is a good deal or not. Standing on its own, it may seem expensive but looking at it with the airfare deal included may give an entirely different picture (especially if you have a really great price on the airfare).

I'll be in Ukraine, about to start my cruise.

I booked my cruise in January or February, in order to get one of the 2 remaining (out of 4 total) single rooms.

I got the Viking air - which really wasn't a bad deal, I think it was $1,047 r.t. I expect 3 flights - one from my mid-Atlantic City to New York, then probably 1 to Frankfurt or Vienna, then 1 more to Kiev, although I could get lucky and get a non-stop flight from my home airport to Frankfurt and then have only one more flight to Kiev.

With the Viking air, the forced overnight on the way back - probably in Vienna - is paid by Viking (the way I understand it). Getting to or from Kiev isn't a problem, from the quick checks I did before booking the Viking air, it's getting to/from Odessa that's difficult.

Now that I've paid for the cruise and airfare, today I'm going to call and add the pre-cruise extension in Kiev and also get the trip insurance from Viking. I was going to get that from American Express, but it's only about $100 cheaper and I think everything will work out better if it's all from Viking. In Kiev, I'm going to try to visit Chernobyl, which is a short day-trip and have found two companies to contact when it gets closer to my departure date.

So, possibly single travel, traveling in July, I hear your concerns about cost and I have them as well. But, in the end, I asked myself how many times I'm going to visit Ukraine, the land my grandparents - all 4 - left 100 years ago - and the answer is - this will probably be the only time. One set of grandparents left in 1913, the other set in 1914 and out of the two sets' 9 children, 12 grandchildren and I don't even know how many great-grandchildren - and now great, great grandchildren, no one has been back, so I'll be taking pictures for the entire family, and so, I'm going to do it right - do the extension and rest up in Kiev before the actual cruise starts.

If you can still get the flight from Viking, I'd suggest doing that, even if you don't do the post-trip (for you) extension in Kiev.