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lackcreativity

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Everything posted by lackcreativity

  1. Excellent advice for sure, and it works both ways. Experienced ocean cruise travelers are wise to research a river cruise before making the switch. I research extensively because I enjoy it, but knowing what you are getting into is great for managing expectations. As much as we love to travel, most of the time there is something that is not perfect about the experience. I try not to let the things that go awry detract too much from my enjoyment!
  2. We always travel in the economical but very nice V2 cabins, and we have our fifth ocean and second river scheduled this year. We try to be flexible in our planning, and have had very few disappointments in our excursions over these years. We usually do a mix of included and optional excursions, and once we did a three day private tour in Saint Petersburg. If there is something that is an absolute must see for you, you might want to book a private tour for that, but then keep an open mind about your other excursions. Usually I can find at least two of interest and if one is sold out, then I pick the other. Often we will extend our time in a port after an excursion and return on the free Viking shuttle. Try not to fret about this process. In my experience, there is much to enjoy in most places we have been. Second choices can be terrific too!
  3. You beat me to it. Even with all the post-Covid issues, for Viking not to fulfill one of their prime selling points seems highly unlikely. Sometimes I have heard of glitches that required some extra effort on the client's part or intervention by Viking staff prior to sailing or once onboard, but never that someone could not get a spot on an included excursion. Maybe not one's preferred time, but still a spot would be found. Optional excursions are a different story, but even in our moderately priced and last to book Veranda cabins, we have had pretty good luck in that regard.
  4. We started with one river cruise, which we enjoyed so much that we signed up for one of the earliest Viking ocean cruises. We like both, but actually somewhat prefer the ocean cruises. It maintains the feel of the longships, but bigger and with more things to do and more places to choose to eat. It still rarely feels crowded, very few lines to wait in, and I can always find a quiet place to read when I want one. Even the least expensive cabin with its veranda feels more accommodating than the corresponding cabin on the longship. We have befriended a number of fellow travelers on both the river and the ocean cruises, and it is one of our favorite parts of the experience. We often spend so much time at dinner with our new acquaintances that we don't even go the bar, so I cannot comment on whether they are crowded or not!
  5. Thanks for the update. We are scheduled for this cruise in June, so I am very interested in the situation as it unfolds. Water levels! Pandemics! Strikes! Who knew that vacationing could be so complicated?
  6. In theory I agree, but the older I get the more those little breaks in the action are appreciated. And the sea days are spread out, so that helps.
  7. Mr. Miggins, As excited as I am to see this new itinerary, I acknowledge that it is not my perfect itinerary. Perfection, however, is only an idea to strive for, and this one fulfills many of my goals. I agree, I would prefer April or October, but I would much rather be chilly rather than sweltering. I have been most anxious to see Valetta since my daughter and son-in-law visited there several years ago, and an overnight is a real bonus. I know other cruise lines stop there also, and I had begun investigating other options. I am sure they would be fine, but we have only cruised with Viking and they remain our first choice. Casablanca and Cadiz are two more new ports of interest. Corsica is unknown to me, so I am anxious to learn more about that stop. Tunis and Algiers seem to have a challenging history of having to be dropped from planned stops, but I would still hope for a chance to learn about these places very different from our usual destinations. There are still a few other ports that I wish might have been included (Genoa, some places in Sicily that are not Taormina, and Palma de Mallorca) but 16 days with a few sea days is just about right for me. I guess I will have to hope our money and health holds out for a while longer for those!
  8. Uh-oh, maybe I should have waited to post this until we had ours booked! Our calendar is clear for 2024 and 2025, so we have flexibility. I do wish there was an overnight in Barcelona to start, but I guess we will have to come in a day or two early just to be on the safe side. I am very excited.
  9. Thank you, Viking!! I have been watching (even begging!) for this for ages. Malta, Morocco & the Mediterranean - Roundtrip Barcelona - Cruise Overview (vikingcruises.com) For my money, just a perfect mix of brand new ports and old favorites, with an overnight in Valetta. We will be there!
  10. We are booked on this itinerary departing on October 13, 2023. My invoice shows us arriving in Istanbul at 7:00 AM on October 26 and departing the ship the morning of October 27. When I booked the cruise, I asked the agent this same question, and was told there would be daytime excursions. I am not completely trusting that claim, as often the agents are not as informed as they should be. However, I am counting on the arrival time giving us a full day in Istanbul, and will book a private tour if necessary.
  11. Having followed this thread from the beginning, but having the attention span of a goldfish, has it been confirmed that this new issue of dogs onboard Viking ships is limited to ships embarking from US ports?
  12. Since we are using Viking Air, I guess I will just see where they take us when they pick us up at the airport!😉
  13. I am pretty much a rule follower, always have been. However, in my years on this thread, I have eased my standards of what distracts me about the dress of others in the dining venues. Bathrobes in the World Cafe remains my line in the sand, and unless my mental faculties desert me, that will never change!
  14. We are joining that cruise on the Sky in Venice on October 13, going on to Istanbul. According to our MVJ, I believe that we are still docking in Fusina. That would mean we have a whole different set of issues for the visit to Venice. Personally, Chioggia would be preferable for us, since we have visited Venice several times and would like a chance to see the smaller town on this visit. As you said, who knows for sure what will happen by October. When we took the Barcelona to Venice portion of this entire four leg journey last October, at the very last minute our disembarkation point was changed to Ravenna. Viking did a great job coming up with excursions there on a moment's notice, but excursions to Venice and the trip to the airport were negatively impacted.
  15. Nippy Sweetie, Thanks for thinking of this. Our first cruise of any kind was a Viking river cruise on the Danube. We enjoyed that so much that we when we learned on that cruise about the not yet sailing Viking Ocean, we decided to give that a try. We actually slightly prefer the ocean cruises, but do have another river cruise scheduled for this June in the south of France. (Hoping that French can get their retirement related issues settled before then!)
  16. Oh dear! I just left the Azamara thread where I have been browsing (along with Oceania) recently. Viking has always been the right amount of luxury for us. It is the only cruise line we have ever sailed. The only reason I have started to investigate other options is solely to find some different ports of call, particularly in the Mediterranean. Not surprisingly, I have seen some familiar names from our Viking threads showing up there too. This is not the first time I have brought this up here at Viking, but I am running out of cruise options of interest that we have not already sailed. At the resumption of cruising right after Covid restrictions eased, Viking did a great job creating new cruises out of Valetta. Since then, with so many different ports in the Mediterranean, the itineraries are all the same ones we have seen for years. I realize there are likely expenses involved in creating new cruises, and minimizing expenses after the Covid era is a reasonable goal. However, at some point I imagine that Viking will be losing perfectly happy customers in pursuit of new sights to see.
  17. Azulann, I am here from the Viking threads, for the same reason. Love Viking, but need some new itineraries in Europe, especially the Mediterranean. Brazilgirl, Your review has been very helpful. I will continue investigating Azamara.
  18. I understand that sometimes first impressions are hard to get over. From my experience with Viking, and from what I have read on other cruise lines threads, I think that judging any line in these first years after the covid shutdown is perhaps a harsh judgement. Maybe Viking was never going to be a good fit for you, but we enjoy Viking cruises very much and are willing to make some allowances for unusual circumstances right now. Perhaps you might check back again in the future. Wishing you happy sailings!
  19. Sorry to report that Frankfurt is our "never again" connection point. Two hours may work, as our successful but by the skin of our teeth experience was at 90 minutes. The failed before we began experience was a 55 minute connection which we accepted as newbies before we knew better. Oddly enough, on the day after the missed connection when we returned to the airport to try again, it was deserted! Live and learn, and what I have learned is that too much time is better than not enough, always have a back-up plan, and never arrive on the day of departure. We often have arrived on embarkation day, but only if there is an overnight in port that day. Good luck!
  20. I would certainly not say it was expected, but I assume it is always appreciated. We have only routinely done it for our cabin stewards, and once for a server on a river cruise at whose table we sat every night. In my opinion, the recommended gratuity is computed to acknowledge the service of both the people we see, and those who work behind the scenes. Any individual tip would usually go to someone who left a real impression on you during your cruise.
  21. Liberty Bella, Interesting that you always go to the Gustav Moreau Museum. We have a three night stay in Paris coming up, and that is one place that I am hoping to fit in to our schedule. With Versailles, Musee d'Orsay, and Sainte Chapelle on our schedule so far, it all depends on how our energy holds out with the first day really being the travel day. Fingers crossed!
  22. It is so interesting how the same tour can vary, I guess mostly based on the guide, the logistics of the day, and the interests of the person taking the tour. We never buy souvenirs either, and did not spend any of our free time on the Nice, Eze, and Monte Carlo excursion shopping. In Eze, we spent our little free time to hike the rest of the way to the top of the hill to visit the Jardin Exotique. The admission fee was nominal and the view was priceless. In Nice, we spent our free time at the Flower Market. I suppose that could be called shopping, but in my case it was research. I work in a florist shop at home, and was very interested in the variety and pricing of the flowers at the market. Browsed the other area of the market with interest, even though I had no intention of buying. Could have walked along the beautiful Mediterranean beach instead! In Monte Carlo, we did take time to have a nice Salad Nicoise and a glass of wine at an outdoor cafe after the tour of the Prince's Palace. Our free time at the Casino was just resting up and looking over the extremely high end cars parked out in front. We could have wandered through the surrounding streets, but were pretty tired by that time!
  23. We are untrained but appreciative of art in its many forms. After three visits to Venice by land, I would say that the city itself is a work of art. I believe that I could spend an entire day there without setting foot in a building (oops, bathroom breaks don't count) and say I had a wonderful day!
  24. We are scheduled for a three night pre-cruise stay in Paris in June (hoping that all the protesting is done by then) before a Viking river cruise in the south of France. This will be our second visit, and we pretty much have our plans for the time there worked out. Our first trip covered the Eiffel Tour, Notre Dame, six hours at the Louvre, the ride around to see the city, and a lot of just walking the streets of Paris. This time we will visit Versailles, the Musee d'Orsay, and Sainte Chapelle. Reading all your comments has really reminded me of how much I am looking forward to this trip!
  25. We did the Barcelona to "Venice" portions last April, and there is an overnight in Livorno. Rome is the turn around day, but not an overnight. Those of us who were continuing on to Venice (which unexpectedly became Ravenna for us instead of the planned on Fusina), we were offered excursions once on board for Rome. The included one was a panoramic Snapshots of Rome (6 hours) with a driving tour and one (?) photo stop, followed by around 90 minutes of free time at St. Peter's Square. They also offered a 10.5 hour Highlights of Rome & the Colosseum and a 10 hour Sistine Chapel & Vatican City. I don't recall the pricing on those optional ones, nor any information about the ease of securing spots on those two tours. We had been to Rome twice before, so just did the included excursion for a relaxing way to see the sights again. We were there on Easter Saturday, which was an interesting time to be in the Vatican. Of course, there was no time to go inside, but it's still a nice view. We even had time to go to a pizza place nearby that we knew from a prior stay. Honestly, we enjoyed ourselves, but for a first time visit to Rome I would recommend one of the optional excursions.
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