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lackcreativity

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About Me

  • Location
    Nottingham, MD
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Viking
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Mediterranean

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Cool Cruiser (2/15)

  1. Are you talking about my husband or our friends?😁
  2. We will actually be on a Viking river cruise, but this thread is where I spend most of my time on Cruise Critic. I find this cohort of people to be the most helpful. At least we won't have to worry about coordinating dinner reservations! I expect we will enjoy our Lyon & Provence cruise, since we did enjoy the first Viking river cruise we took. However, all our cruises since then have been ocean cruises, so that might take some adjustment. It shouldn't be too hard, since we accepted an offer made when the previously scheduled cruise was overbooked. They have moved us from our planned "aquarium class" cabin to the Explorer's Suite and our friends have the other one. Should be quite the experienced!
  3. We will be travelling with friends on a Viking cruise this summer. We have often made friends on board, but this will be the first time we will be going with a couple we have known for many years. I anticipate the value of acknowledging up front that we don't have to do everything together, but any other advice?
  4. We passed in the wee hours, but my husband got up at the expected time and stood on our balcony for quite some time. Nothing! Come to find out they no longer light the cliff over night because it disturbs the monkeys' sleep. Oh well.
  5. Since the new Malta & Morocco itinerary has yet to sail, I assume this was an alternate itinerary. With four sea days on this new 16 day cruise, I am already leery about port cancellations (especially Tunis and Algiers). Can you recall why Casablanca was canceled on your cruise? In spite of my initial enthusiasm regarding this new cruise, we have yet to book it. The mostly winter time frame and the price in comparison to similar cruises on another line have left me unable to make a decision. Still, it is our favored Viking and I love the overnight in Valetta. Not sure what we will eventually decide.
  6. Peregrina, We have been to Sagrada Familia three times and I never knew there are colorful tiles at the top of the spires. Given Gaudi's other work, I guess I should have thought to look harder!
  7. Potential new Oceania cruiser here with a question about excursions. The lists of port excursions seem quite varied for most stops in my area of interest (the Mediterranean). Will the list of excursions for an actual booking usually match what you see beforehand? I want to have realistic expectations when making a decision on itinerary.
  8. We traveled with Globus on our first trips to Europe in our fifties (now 70's), and we selected that company because our in-laws had traveled with them years before that. Globus has been doing this a long time, and they know what they are doing. I know that escorted bus tours are a major turn off for some people, but we enjoyed every one we took. As of our last one ten years ago, the group size was usually around 30/35. I don't remember the large coach busses ever being completely full.
  9. One extra hint about the included tours: in many ports, Viking provides free shuttle bus service to and from a designated spot throughout the day. We often have taken the included tour and notified the guide we would return on our own (so they aren't waiting for you to get back to the bus). Then we wandered on our own or had a local meal before taking the shuttle back to the ship.
  10. In our younger years we travelled by land, and thoroughly enjoyed it. That is how we saw England, Ireland, and Scotland. When we got older, we began ocean cruising as it seems much easier than moving from place to place. The experiences are quite different, and we enjoy them both. For England, I would recommend touring by land. London of course takes several days at least, then a Cotswold village or two, and Bath. Edinburgh is a must for me, and Dublin should give you plenty to cover in one trip. Of course, your choices may differ. Finally, I really don't know anything about the smaller ports you mentioned. However, over the years, we have gone to many places we didn't know anything about prior to selecting a trip, and some of those were truly a delight. Still, for a first visit, I would go by land.
  11. Claranda, Your comparison was just what I was hoping to find here. It seems very even handed, and the things you liked about Viking are some of the same things that have kept us cruising with them. Like Vineyard View, we have become very familiar with the Viking Mediterranean itineraries and are in search of some variety. Viking did introduce one new itinerary that at first seemed appealing (with Malta and Morocco) but the time of year, the number of sea days, and yes the price caused me to look elsewhere. I acknowledge that losses during the pandemic require changes, but I still have to watch our personal bottom line too! Oceania and now Seabourn are of interest. Thanks for your input.
  12. This thread is a good illustration that even reasonable people can misinterpret what they read, that sometimes what gets posted in one part of a thread gets clarified later on, and that sadly, Viking agents on the phone still do not always have the right answer!
  13. We also had a stop at La Sagrada Familia (outside only) as part of the included tour, even though it wasn't listed in the description. Our guide took us to a small park area on a different side of the church, which gave a different view entirely. The bus had dropped us off, we spent some time outside the church, walked to a little gift shop (bathrooms available) and then walked back to the bus pick-up spot. From there we rode to the Gothic Quarter to continue a walking tour. Our guide that day was spectacular, so we had a great tour, but then we had been inside Sagrada Familia twice before so we were okay with just an outside visit.
  14. Viking Homelands - Dates & Pricing - Stockholm to Bergen | Viking® (vikingcruises.com) You can just check the itinerary for each individual sailing of that cruise. I only checked a sampling, but the ones in 2025 seem to show Tallinn . ( go to Dates and Pricing. Select a date in 2025 and then click More Info on the right and then Itinerary on the left.)
  15. Thank you so much for doing this! I am still impressed by the considerable number of really helpful people here on the Viking thread. I have been considering trying another line, predominantly related to more varied Mediterranean itineraries, but my ties here remain strong!
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