IWantToLiveOverTheSea

As for tours, we enjoyed our "Side Car" tour with Daniel of "Bike My Side." It wasn't cheap, but it was certainly fun, informative, and certainly different! My spouse loved his surprise birthday present that year (the tour). Of the many sights in Lisbon, I especially enjoyed the Bica elevador, the sail in and sail out, Belem attractions, Palacia Fronteira's garden/water, visiting various miradouros, and looking at graffiti plus artwork in some of the Metro stations. (Is the grafitti still there? I read it may have been made illegal!)

If you haven't found a place, or left for Lisbon yet: We're going to be staying in one of the On/Set Cinema Apartments in Alfama. It's about 140 euros a night in early May and looks very nice. They have a website, and are also on a couple hotel booking sites like Booking.com. I was also looking at Tempo FLH in the Baixa area near the Santa Justa Elevator. It's reasonable. But I haven't actually stayed at these places. We DID stay in 2014 at The Lisbonaire - good location, etc. and reasonable.

Another Fronteira Palace photo.

If anyone wants to go to a somewhat unknown but beautiful place in Lisbon, I found this when I was in Lisbon in 2014: Palacio Fronteira near the Parque Florestal de Monsanto. It was built as a manor house’s hunting pavilion for 1st Marques de Fronteira 1640. I was one of only two people there when I went to the gardens. It was quite beautiful. For my visit this spring to Lisbon after a cruise, I'm trying out the On/Set Cinema Apartments in Alfama. In Porto, I'm hoping to ride the Gundais Funicular from the Ribeira waterfront up to the top part of Porto. I'm really excited about visiting Lisbon again, and maybe even more excited about visiting Porto (with a day in Portimao, too, Algrave).

There's also Agoda. They seem to list a lot of apartments if you specify that's what you want. But you need to specify you need 2 rooms, not just 4 people. And everything is likely to be quoted in euros, since I don't think it's a U.S. booking site. I saw at least one place (called Cosmos Apartments) that looked possible/reasonable, though a few more reviews would have helped me feel more confident if I were booking. But it could be new. And the kitchen is painted orange - fine for me, but your kids might like that more than you! I agree that as long as you're near a Metro stop (usually red M on google maps) you'll be in good shape.

I don't know what prices are like for later in the year, especially for 4 people. However, I found decent prices at Hotel Granvia near Catalunya Metro (149 euros for superior room 2 people with breakfast, can cancel) for a late April one night stay. I also considered Casa Mathilda, 166 USD. For each, you'll be charged the city tax, something like 2 euros per night per person. There's also Hotel Jazz. And booking.com has places that are apartment rentals. We're using one in Lisbon. It may be worthwhile to check that site, especially with the "apartment" block checked. Good luck. Barcelona gets a lot of money from tourism. Beware the high charges to enter any Gaudi buildings! But you can look at the outside for free, of course.

I'm trying Hotel Granvia in late April, near Catalunya Metro, 149 euros for a superior room, OK to cancel rate, includes breakfast. Looks interesting from an architectural point of view. City tax is extra, but that's true for all Barcelona hotels.

I'm curious about that too. I'd prefer something concrete, but I know that's not always possible, especially when you're going to be the only ship in port, and it's a small one like those of Oceania, Azamara, etc.

I think Viking is a little more expensive than Oceania. But it's hard to say, as I don't know how to quantify in dollars what Viking's free wine and beer at dinner, use of spa, and free excursions are worth. But if you don't drink (or don't drink wine or beer), aren't a big spa user, or don't take many short, free excursions, I think you may find Viking is more expensive. And if you are big on port visits, not sea days, you may find that you get more for your money on Oceania, as they tend to spend more days in ports than most cruise lines. But I love both lines, and pick a cruise mostly by itinerary, which seems to work well for me.

Sorry, I meant that if I don't find an earlier reservation for a particular day, I keep the reservation but may go to the Terrace for one or two appetizers if I'm hungry early on! Or else I might order a shrimp cocktail from room service......

I didn't read all the preceding comments, so hopefully I won't say something I don't mean, or that's incorrect. However, here's my usual routine for shortish cruises: The day before my reservation window opens (almost always third/last group; date is listed on Guest Statement) I pick out good days and bad days. If it's a late day in port, or anticipated exhausting/long day in port, I'm aware of a lighthouse coming up at dinner time, or it's the first or last cruise night or a sea day, those are considered bad days. Then I go in right after midnight (EST) on the day before my invoice says my booking period opens, which I believe is when Oceania's computer program allows me to book. I just ask for shared tables, and look at what I think is the least popular restaurant (in the case of Sirena, I believe that to be Tuscan Steak, but who knows?) I look for 7 to 7:30 slots on a good day and book one. Then I look for something at least a few days before/after that and book it. Usually I get pretty good slots, but my upcoming cruise is QUITE full, so I may not be able to get quite what I like. But if I have to eat late, I periodically check online to see if any slots have opened up. (People do occasionally change, either pre cruise or during). If not, when onboard, I go to the onboard Dining Reservation person and ask about vacant slots. (Cosara on Sirena last May was very helpful, but she may have gotten married and left Sirena or Oceania.) If I still can't get anything I love, I eat a late lunch, have scones at tea time, or go to the Terrace for an appetizer. It all works out in the end!

In Valencia, if you're a photographer, you'll have fun in the Ciudad de las Artes Y de las Ciencias, see this: Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias / Valencia (Overview) - Santiago Calatrava – Architects & Engineers I just took a public bus to it, but I imagine a taxi could take you there as well. Then I took a bus to the old town area of Valencia. Our cruise line ported in another place closer to Granada (Alhambra) so I didn't take an excursion from Malaga to there. But Malaga is a nice city; I just walked around. I went up to the bullring (I believe by bus, located near beautiful park not far from the port. I think I just walked out into the city from the port and just explored the city. Sometimes I have more fun doing that than going on an excursion.

I don't know if this company does transport between Galataport and a close-by hotel, but we used them to meet us at the airport and take them to our hotel in Sultanahmet. You pre-pay. Going from the hotel to Galataport, we just had the hotel call for a taxi. I believe Istanbul taxis are allowed to charge a little for luggage, or perhaps that's just from the airport to/from a destination. And some hotels offer to arrange a taxi to pick you up at the airport and bring them to your hotel. Ours also gave instructions to print out and give a taxi driver, as our small hotel was a little off the beaten path on a one-way street. The price the hotel offered was about the same as Efendi Travel. Airport to Sultanahmet —Efendi Travel, Owner Fatih Seyahat ve Turizm Ltd, Cankurtaran Mah, Yeni Akbiyik Cad. No: 30 34122 Sultanahmet Fatih. +90 (212) 638 63 43, fax: +90 (212) 638 39 22. ER Mobile : +90 (505) 436 26 32 + 90 (554) 371 03 48 E-mail: info@efenditravel.com On a different subject, I'm attaching a photo of the back of the Galataport building.

Here's back of building at Galataport.

I agree with Hlitner that if you're embarking, it's best to just get a taxi to be delivered into the basement. The tram's ok for going to/from the historic area, but I wouldn't try it with luggage. But as I may have mentioned in a previous post, I'd be careful about where in the basement you're dropped. I still haven't figured out if there are elevators near where WE were dropped, and if we were simply dropped at the wrong entrance (with no porters available), or not offered elevator use, or what. Struggling with luggage on the escalators, combined with the language barrier, wasn't easy. But basically, I think the idea at Galataport is that all vehicles arrive/depart from the basement rather than clog up the street outside the building. When I walked back into the building after some sightseeing, I simply walked to the address given for the building at Galataport, on the same level as the street, and it wasn't problematic. I think there were some rudimentary signs back in May, a turnstile where I inserted my ship card (which didn't work; had to get someone's attention), and a bank of escalators. The hardest part was not finding the building entrance itself, but finding the building after going through the maze of shops/restaurants around it. (If you go out after embarking, look at it before you leave it! It just looks like an ordinary office building, about half a block from a major street.) Once you check in, you may want to go light on carryons. You go up two ramps like this to actually get onto the ship.

Thank you for the information. I have a half day to explore Bilbao before going to the airport and while my spouse and I do a lot on our own, I have been looking a little for a tour that would take us from the port (not right in Bilbao - in Gexto (spelling?) to the places in Bilbao I want to see, even if just briefly. Those places include at least the outside of the Guggenheim, the Vizcaya Bridge (pretty unusual!), a little of Old Town Bilbao, probably the cable car to the park atop the city (or maybe drive?) and the footbridge designed by Calatrava. We'll see what I come up with.... And the Sintra visit might have to wait until after the cruise, when we're doing a stopover in Lisbon and will have a little more time. Spain Day Tours and other vendors go there, but everyone wants to leave at 8:00 or 8:30, and that's iffy for me to make on our cruise day in Lisbon. But I understand why an early start is needed, given what I've heard about the crowds in Sintra. Anyway, thanks for the information.

Coral, thanks for the detailed info and photos. We'll be in Lisbon, Santiago, Cadiz, and Bilbao in April on Oceania, so I'm loving the photos. And while I wasn't planning to actually enter the Guggenheim, maybe I SHOULD. And maybe I'll let Spain Day Tours do the driving in several of these places. Our cruise line doesn't offer an excursion that actually visits Pena Palace in Sintra, just time in the town of Sintra plus a view of Pena. So I'm left with a choice of going there on my own (which is a little complicated) or using SDT. Did you find any cost changes on your excursions STD? My cruise isn't until April, and I hope the cost doesn't change by then.

Thanks for the photos. Looks wonderful. I'll be in Vilagarcia, Spain in April, and Santiago de Compostela is not far from there, so I hope to get there. I knew nothing about it before I booked my cruise.

Hi. Just wanted to ask you: Do you remember about how much time you had at Pena Palace? That's the primary thing I want to see in/around Sintra. But I want to go up to it for pictures, not just stay in the garden. And someone mentioned that in one Sintra tour, the guide convinced the group to tour the gardens due to crowds inside the palace. I don't know whose excursion that was, but just wanted to make sure that if Spain Day Tours says we'll enter the palace, we will. I do understand that there's an extra cost for the tram and palace, which is OK. Thanks for any info you can give me. And by chance, you didn't see any lighthouses in Estoril, did you? And did you have time for drive throughs in Lisbon when you got back to the city?

yep

I don't know what "tips" have already been offered on this thread, and how current they still are. However, after reading posts on a Facebook page for Viking cruisers, I'd suggest these things: Skim all the information on Viking's website and half of your questions will be probably be answered. (I'm guilty of NOT doing this, however, so I know it's often easier/faster to just post on social media. But there really is good stuff on the website.) Fly to cruise destination at least a day pre-cruise. For now, due to airline challenges, stick with connecting flights that give you at least 2 hours to connect. Pack 2 days' worth of clothes and meds in a small bag that can be removed from your carryon just in case you have to check the carryon at the least minute. And have an extra supply (more than 2 days' worth) of important meds in case you are delayed gettting home, quarantined, etc. If you plan to buy travel insurance and have pre-existing conditions that might flare up, be aware that you'll usually be required to buy the insurance within a certain amount of time after FIRST payment on cruise (or flights or whatever is purchased first). Don't be upset if the Captain of the ship has to cancel a planned stop. Safety first. For me, it's just an opportunity to plan another cruise that goes to that place. Don't miss booking or going to the Chef's Table, even if the particular menu in rotation doesn't sound to your liking. It's still a fun, educational experience, and you may find you LOVE most courses despite how they sound. If you want information on what excursions are "the best" or "worthwhile" for your ocean cruise, tell us what ports you go to. Viking does not run the same ocean itineraries back and forth, back and forth. Many of us would like to help you, but only if you give us a little help. And for Cruise Critic, search the Ports of Call section to get ideas on what to do in each port. And keep in mind that while the included excursions are a great (and no extra cost) introduction to a port, you may not get back to a particular port, so paying extra for an optional excursion may be your best bet in many places. Don't expect ocean cruising to be exactly the same as river cruising. And don't expect it to be exactly the same as pther lines you've used. Go with an open mind. I hope I haven't repeated what's been said before, and this info is helpful to at least some Viking cruisers.

Yes, you definitely have to like sun in Bali. Dress lightly but modestly, take water, and don't over plan your days. But sand is easily avoided if that's your choice. We spent our first night in a hotel very close to a beach (Sanur). But the rest of the time we were in the area of Ubud, toward the center of the island, and places on the way down to the port in Benoa. To me Bali is so much more than sand and sun.

We stop in Gijon. Anyone have any suggestions on what to do there? I'm pretty adventuresome and love just exploring. I'm not into museums or beaches. I'm thinking of renting a car and driving around to see some lighthouses like Cabo de Torres. But I'd love to hear about other choices, especially any with great options for photography or architecture. I don't know a thing about Leon, Aviles, Oviedo, or the part of Gijon called Cimavilla. Is Santillana within reach of Gijon? Worthwhile? We're in port rather unusual hours - noon to 10 PM. Are there any places recommended for a nice dinner, though it would have to be before 8:00, which may be impossible in Spain)? How about something to photograph for sunset? Also, the port looks to be a little way from center city, if there is such a thing in Gijon. Does anyone know if a shuttle is available from the port? Taxis? Public transportation? And how can I get to the huge concrete art installation I've seen pictures of? Any and all info would be appreciated!

Lisbon is fabulous, but many parts are very hilly, making things a bit challenging. But I hear that electric "tuk tuks" are now widely available there for tours. That's a new thing since I was in Lisbon, so can't really say more about them. But I believe price, unless you haggle, is 60-75 euros for an hour for 2 (or possibly more) people. It's hard to recommend what to do in Lisbon, because there are so many things I loved - miradouros (viewpoints), elevadors (not elevators, but too hard to explain - Bica's my favorite), the whole Belem waterfront area, Rossio area, the Se cathedral and the yellow trams running by, narrow streets in Alfama, graffiti, etc. If you are a little adventuresome you may love what we did to celebrate my spouse's birthday: I booked BikeMySide, Daniel with his antique sidecar motorcycle, to take us on a 3 hour tour. It was great, but if you or your spouse don't want to be riding behind Daniel with only a long bar to hold onto, you may not want to do it. But I rode there and felt comfortable and safe. You don't go fast, and you do get out at a couple places so it's not a full 90 minutes of riding that way. We got a kick just out of watching people stare and wave at us. So google Bike My Side and have a wonderful tour. You'll still have time to do what you want before or after in Lisbon. If you want something unusual and very non-touristy, take a cab to grounds/gardens of the Palacio Fronteira at Largo Sao (so zjah) Domingos de Benfica 1, near Parque Florestal de Monsanto. It's up a ways in Lisbon and very scenic. I was the only person there. You don't need tickets unless you want to go into the manor house. And for Cadiz, if you're adventuresome you can walk a few blocks (or take taxi) to the train station and go to Seville in less than 2 hours. But Cadiz is nice as well. I took a bus around the outside of the older part, just looking at passing things, and also walked down to the "Caleta" area where there's a beach, fort, lighthouse, etc. Gibraltar we just took a cab up the rock to see monkeys, see airport below, tunnels, etc. Then I took a bus to see a beautiful lighthouse at the tip of the peninsula; also over the airport runway. Barcelona has a lot of Gaudi buildings (besides the obvious Sagrada, which of course is amazing, inside or out) to look at or go in if you're willing to spend the money. To help navigate, I use maps.me, downloaded from home so I don't need wifi once I get to a city. As long as GPS is in your phone, you don't need the wifi. There are shuttles in some ports. Barcelona has one and Lisbon is reported to have one too. But I'm never sure if the shuttles are arranged by the port, the city, or the cruise line. So I hesitate to say more about those. I'm definitely a wanderer......I could write a book.