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lackcreativity

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  1. We are scheduled there this October. Were scheduled there in April 2022, but last minute change to Ravenna.
  2. Barcelona is one of our favorite cities of the world. Even though I have no desire to redecorate my home in the Gaudi style, I still find the Sagrada Familia and the Parc Guell glorious and joyful experiences. Even after three short visits to Barcelona, I still want to see more. Our one visit to Madrid was disappointing, but to be honest that was mostly due to bad planning on our part. I have recently been wanting to plan a return there, especially to see the Sorolla Museum, which we missed on our first visit. Liberty Bella, I will second your opinion regarding so many places we have also visited in Spain. Toledo, Granada, Seville, Cordoba were places we really loved, and there are so many other places we hope to visit in the future.
  3. Walking the walls of Dubrovnik is a remarkable experience, but it can be very strenuous, with lots of steps up and down along the way. Be aware that there are two main sets of stairs that provide access to the walls, so it is possible to walk halfway around the city and then come back down if your energy lags. I will confess to doing that, but gave my camera to my husband to finish the walk. We then met up and went to lunch, for a really excellent day in not so very hot April.
  4. We are looking at booking a cruise with an 8:00 AM until 11:00 PM stay in Valletta. That is one of my bucket list ports, so short of an overnight (or a land visit), that seems tempting. Hope our energy level can make the most of it! I was disappointed that none of the ship's excursions offered what I had hoped to see, so now I am looking for private tour options or DIY. Good to know that cabs were helpful.
  5. I think we had the same tour guide on the included excursion, and he was really excellent. Did he show you the one special piece in the museum that he in particular uncovered?
  6. Trade Routes was one of our favorite cruises too. I hadn't heard about the change to Honfleur port. We took an excursion to go there so that would be really convenient. Admiral Nelson's HMS Victory was really interesting to me; what a shock to compare the way those sailors traveled with sailing on a Viking ship! Bruges was a highlight on that cruise for us, and would like to have spent more time in Porto. Am I talking myself into a repeat cruise also?
  7. I wish I could remember all of the options, but I can only remember the one we took. Rome is one of my favorite cities, and we have been there by land more than once. For that reason, we did not consider any of the optional excursions. We did take the include excursion which is a panoramic bus ride with a few photo stops and maybe 90 minutes on our own in Vatican City. Since it happened to be Easter Saturday, the atmosphere at the Vatican was extra special. We also had enough time to stop in a local pizza place we had visited on our first trip to Rome. Given our background, we were satisfied with our visit. For a first visit to Rome, I think it would be disappointing. Our included excursion was just six hours, and about two hours of that is travel time. The optional excursions run about 10 hours, which gives you time to see more. I believe they only offered a limited selection compared to an overnight in Rome, but we were in port from 5:00 AM until 11:00 PM, so I am pretty sure there were at least a few of the optional ones. Watch for the paper from Viking in your stateroom which offers these choices early in the trip. We didn't find it right away, and were glad we didn't miss it!
  8. If I had gone to BA first, I would still have gone to MVJ to confirm the accuracy of the information there. Since we booked the air through Viking, I guess I am the one who cares that both entities have the same information.
  9. Thanks everyone! I knew I could count on getting good advice here. As recommended, I think I will schedule the included excursion to the NAM, and find our own way to the New Acropolis Museum. On our first visit to Athens with Viking, we stayed in the Plaka district after our tour for a meal, and used the shuttle bus to return to the ship. Should not have trouble doing that again.
  10. For me, at least as of today, I made the seat change on MVJ and shortly afterwards checked on British Airways. The change was confirmed on the airline website. We still have two months until our trip, and I will continue to check, as I have done since we selected our flights through Viking Air months ago. It was Viking Air that emailed me this morning to report the change.
  11. We have taken a Barcelona to Venice back to back cruise with the turnover in Rome, but that was not an overnight in Rome. At the start of that cruise we were offered a choice of a few excursions in Rome for those of us who were continuing the cruise. I wonder if that will be the same now as we continue the rest of that trip, from Venice to Istanbul. This time there will be an overnight in Athens, and there are scheduled excursions for the second day. Does anyone know if there will still be excursions offered on the turnover day, or at least shuttles? Selecting shore excursions is imminent (like tomorrow!), and I am trying to decide what to choose for the second day. This will be our second visit to Athens, so we have already climbed to the Acropolis. I am considering the National Archaeological Museum (included excursion) and/or the New Acropolis Museum (optional excursion). If there are shuttles, is one of those easier to DIY ? As always, thanks in advance!
  12. Is it safe to assume that the seat map used for my flights on MVJ (or British Airways) actually represents the plane on which we will fly? If I change my seat assignment in either place am I working in the real world?
  13. Just this morning I received an email notice of a flight change for our trip in October. When I glanced at the attachment, I didn't notice any difference. When I went to MVJ I realized our seat assignments had been changed from aisle and middle to window and middle on all four flights! These had been set for months. I was able to fix them all, but what purpose does that serve? I can't imagine Viking Air did it, but I can't think of a reason the airlines would either.
  14. We were redirected to Ravenna at the very last moment during the Barcelona to Venice cruise when Fusina closed unexpectedly for an environmental study. Lucky to have visited Venice by land several times before, so we weren't too distressed. Ravenna really was nice to visit, and we were glad we had the opportunity. Not terribly happy with the 4:00 AM departure for the airport that resulted from the change in plans, but Viking did offer compensation for the trouble.
  15. drbayside, There is so much to see in Bruges, we never really do shopping on tours and we did not even go into a chocolate shop on our visit! We did happen to be there on Market Day, so we wandered through the stalls in the main square for a bit. We bought Belgian waffles from one stall and since I work in a florist shop back home I had to take a peek at flower prices too. There are at least two pretty special churches we visited. Michaelangelo's Madonna of Bruges is worth finding, and I would imagine it is included on your guided tour. Enjoy!
  16. I can't be specific about this particular tour, since we did the full day on your own tour of Bruges. That is a 7 hour tour and yours is only 5 hours, including the boat ride. Bruges is one of our favorite cities, but it was tiring in my opinion. We did take a break mid-day for a nice lunch at an outdoor cafe, but we spent the rest of the time on our feet wandering around the city. It is pretty compact and mostly flat if my memory serves me right, but lots of cobble stones which can be tiring. Hopefully, someone who took this actual tour can offer more specific information for you. If I were to do it again, I would have eaten an early lunch and then taken a second rest break for a light snack later in the day.
  17. I am intrigued, and will hope to encounter Russell Lee on a future cruise. Does he sail in a certain region with Viking?
  18. I would say the same about our included tour of Dubrovnik (very good guide, really memorable setting). And Barcelona (our best guide ever in one of the world's great cities). And Santorini (guide was easily forgettable, but the Star was the only ship in port, and Santorini itself took my breath away!) I think excursions are influenced by a myriad of factors: the location itself, the guide, the administrative details, your companions, and even the weather. In my opinion, based on four cruises, most of our Viking excursions (both included and optional) have been good to great, with a few satisfactory and two real clunkers.
  19. Hope you are right about that. I will admit my knowledge about insurance is not what it should be. Even if I read the Terms and Conditions, then 5 minutes later it is all jumbled up in my head again. 😬
  20. I would agree that no is the most likely answer, but sometimes might be correct. We have actually done it, moving to a longer version of the initial booking on a different date. Viking rolled the insurance forward and we paid the increase on the premium since the cruise was more expensive. While our personal reason would have been a Cancel for Any Reason (expected birth of our first grandchild), I cannot remember if the first cruise was one with the special provisions that were linked to Covid bookings. Thus, the ability to move insurance forward to a different booking may have been due to circumstances that no longer apply. In your case, requesting a change for a medical condition may be considered actually using the insurance, and thus you case may not quality at all. Best of luck in finding a suitable solutions.
  21. We ended up in Ravenna by accident on a recent Viking cruise. When booked, we thought we were ending in Venice. Then Venice put the end to that ( I know, I do understand), so we were planning on ending in Fusina. While on the cruise, perhaps two days from the end, Viking announced that they had received notice that Fusina was closing the port for an environmental impact study and we would dock in Ravenna! To their credit, Viking did a remarkable job in arranging last minute tours that included Ravenna as an option. Having been to Venice several times before, we were thrilled with the visit to Ravenna, even in the pouring down rain. The mosaics were spectacular (sadly the photo doesn't really do them justice), and the town was very enjoyable.
  22. On one of our early trips, my husband started a collection of paperback books on each of the cities we visited. They are usually fairly easy to find in the souvenir shops and we both have enjoyed them. However, that doesn't stop me from taking hundreds of photos, and I enjoy that too!
  23. My explanation for why we have done so mirrors some opinions already expressed. We paid maybe 18 months in advance for our first ocean cruise, and we were so new that we didn't know that was not standard. After that, we have pretty much always used the one cruise already booked policy to get six months final pay for the next one. In the early days, as mentioned, interest rates were practically negligible, so it didn't matter anyway. In addition, we are budget luxury travelers, so the standard cabins for our typical 10 to 15 day cruises do not seem like such a hit to our financial worth. Since we do like those least expensive cabins, we saw that if we waited to book, those cabins would already be sold. Our self imposed rule that we only have one cruise and a spare booked at a time has sometimes caused us to miss out, as with the new Malta, Morocco and the Mediterranean itinerary that excited me. That is now completely sold out through 2025. That is another reason why some Viking cruisers are willing to pay on Viking's terms.
  24. As a confirmed introvert, singing (or even worse, dancing) in public would make me squeamish. As a spectator sport, I love both. Fortunately, there are plenty of people who do enjoy performing. On the two times we have observed it, everyone seemed to be having a good time, both passengers and crew. If anyone was miserable, they were employing some fine acting skills as well!
  25. On our first ocean cruise we selected a late April - early May sail date. We ended up in Santorini on May 1, 2017. Upon arrival in port, our guide explained that the season hadn't really started yet and that some places were not open. However, our Viking ship was the only ship docked there that day. We saw some shop owners painting and setting up their stores, but there were some shops and restaurants that were open. We rarely shop when traveling, but we did take time to have lunch at a nice place with a view that was priceless. Even as a cruise newbie, I knew at the time that we were experiencing something very rare. What a great memory!
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