Viking 'Footsteps of the Cossacks' (Ukraine)

[travelling fools]

Originally Posted by Viking River Cruises

Dear travelling fools,

Welcome back home! We are happy to hear that you had a good trip — and pleased that we were able to help you out with your flights so that it could get started on the right foot. That you enjoyed the tours, took advantage of free time, loved the outdoor Ukrainian lunch, and found the ship to be up to standards, well, all of that is just wonderful! We’d love to hear even more of your feedback: like what stops you most enjoyed, tips for others who like to explore on their own, etc.

We appreciate your comment on providing tour options based on level of activity. In fact, we do exactly that in our other destinations. Footsteps of the Cossacks has been the final itinerary for our implementation of this program and while we are slowly rolling it out (to see what works, what doesn’t, and adjust accordingly) we expect it to be a regular feature on every departure by 2013. Our Vice President of Product Marketing recently sailed on Viking Lomonosov and shares your opinion wholeheartedly. He is one of the team members who is working on this project. We realize that one size doesn’t always fit all and that increasing the options for assisted independent exploration is yet another way guests will be able to further personalize their trips. All that said, we recognize that these changes were not yet made and therefore couldn’t benefit you, and we do apologize for the frustration.

You also mention the staff, and while we’re happy to hear that you found them overall to be helpful and friendly — and that you particularly enjoyed the service of Olga, Dasha, and Liza — we are concerned with the mention of the maître d'. We’ve asked our Customer Relations team to call you next week so that we may get a few more details on this matter. In the meantime, you can always contact us again at TellUs@vikingrivercruises.com. We’ll always be happy to hear from you!

Thank you again for joining us in Ukraine. We hope to see you aboard another ship in another destination sometime very soon.

Kindest regards,
Viking River Cruises

Thank you for the opportunity to talk to your rep about our experience with our river cruise.
It is nice to know a company listens and looks into problems and concerns customers have.
Looking forward to our next river cruise.

[loum140]

We loved our Ukraine River Cruise with Viking. The tours (included and optional) were wonderful, the food was exceptional, the ship spotless, bright and airy,the staff knowledgeable and attentive.

If anyone from Viking is reading this, I would like to suggest that the enrichment lectures be broadcast on the stateroom TV and rerun for 24 hours. It is not always possible to attend a talk in person and this would provide an opportunity to everyone to listen/watch at his/her leisure. I made this suggestion on my comment card but I'm sure it takes a while for them to be processed.

Thank you Viking for a fabulous cruise. I wish it had been a longer trip (3 days more) as we were so busy with tours in most of the port cities that we did not have enough time to explore on our own.

China next.

[Peregrina651]

Originally Posted by loum140

We loved our Ukraine River Cruise with Viking. The tours (included and optional) were wonderful, the food was exceptional, the ship spotless, bright and airy,the staff knowledgeable and attentive.

If anyone from Viking is reading this, I would like to suggest that the enrichment lectures be broadcast on the stateroom TV and rerun for 24 hours. It is not always possible to attend a talk in person and this would provide an opportunity to everyone to listen/watch at his/her leisure. I made this suggestion on my comment card but I'm sure it takes a while for them to be processed.

Thank you Viking for a fabulous cruise. I wish it had been a longer trip (3 days more) as we were so busy with tours in most of the port cities that we did not have enough time to explore on our own.

China next.

While they don't have the equipment on board to do a live recording for each lecture, maybe they could record something in advance (in a studio) to show.

As for China, if you are complaining about lack of free time to explore on this itinerary, you will have even less time on the China cruise. Check out the Viking China (Part 2) thread. The most current information is in Part 2. Except to see how the itinerary has evolved over the years, there is very little reason to slog through the couple of thousand posts in Part 1. I also have links to my blog and to photos and also check out what Kohola has links to. IMHO Viking's China experience is the gold standard; I will forever measure everything against it.

[Viking River Cruises]

Originally Posted by loum140

We loved our Ukraine River Cruise with Viking. The tours (included and optional) were wonderful, the food was exceptional, the ship spotless, bright and airy,the staff knowledgeable and attentive.

If anyone from Viking is reading this, I would like to suggest that the enrichment lectures be broadcast on the stateroom TV and rerun for 24 hours. It is not always possible to attend a talk in person and this would provide an opportunity to everyone to listen/watch at his/her leisure. I made this suggestion on my comment card but I'm sure it takes a while for them to be processed.

Thank you Viking for a fabulous cruise. I wish it had been a longer trip (3 days more) as we were so busy with tours in most of the port cities that we did not have enough time to explore on our own.

China next.

Dear loum140,

Welcome back! We’re thrilled to hear that you loved our Footsteps of the Cossacks cruise. The Viking staff is dedicated to providing our guests with the best possible experience, and we appreciate that you’ve acknowledged their hard work. Additionally, we’re glad that you found the food to be “exceptional”!

Currently we are working on technology that will allow us to implement your excellent suggestions on board. So keep an eye out for them on the Viking Longships in the near future.

Thank you for choosing to sail with Viking River Cruises. We look forward to welcoming you on board again soon!

Sincerely,
Viking River Cruises

[silkismom]

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.

[Peregrina651]

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

[Peregrina651]

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.

[altiva]

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/crime...ainka-in-yalta

http://cdcrimea.virtual.crimea.ua/en...tails/124.html

[Grandcruisevirgin]

Originally Posted by silkismom

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???

[Peregrina651]

Originally Posted by Grandcruisevirgin

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.

[Peregrina651]

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.

[silkismom]

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.

[Peregrina651]

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.

[Grandcruisevirgin]

Originally Posted by silkismom

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.

[Peregrina651]

Originally Posted by Grandcruisevirgin

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.

Originally Posted by Grandcruisevirgin

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.

Originally Posted by Grandcruisevirgin

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.

Originally Posted by Grandcruisevirgin

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.]

[silkismom]

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

[Peregrina651]

Originally Posted by silkismom

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.

[silkismom]

"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.

[Peregrina651]

Originally Posted by silkismom

"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.

[Grandcruisevirgin]

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?