carolinetodd

Although the food is self-service in the World Café, waitstaff circulate constantly to bring drinks. We never had to ask for refills - when our glasses ran low, there was always someone magically at hand to refill them.

Yep, tough and bland. I really wanted to like it, tried a couple times, but no. Just no.

Here is a thread that contains some info about getting wheelchair help in Galataport.

We also found the bread disappointing. In all our land-based travels in Europe, and especially in the south, whatever else we were served, we knew we could count on excellent bread. The bread baskets in the Restaurant and Manfredi's were full of weird, soft things, and in the World Café, the best option seemed to be little whole-wheat mini-bâtards - nice enough bread, but not the baguettes of your dreams. There were lovely spreads of meze while we were in Turkey and Greece, but the only pita offered were little soft, doughy rounds like the ones you'd see in a lowest-common-denominator supermarket.

We didn't experience this sort of unwelcome interaction (on Saturn, Jan-Feb.) Once, at the Restaurant, we accidentally said yes to sharing a table, and had a pleasant meal with some people we never saw again, and occasionally we exchanged brief remarks with people seated near us in the World Café, but that was all. Once or twice, when it was especially crowded, we shared a six-top with another couple, without talking to each other at all. Y'all must just look a lot more interesting and approachable than we do.

Not always. I asked about the "Florence on Your Own" drop-off point and was told we'd be dropped at Piazza Santa Croce, when in fact the bus dropped us 20 minutes walk from there, and the guide left us at Santa Croce.

In fact, there is an elevator, only available to those with some disability. My cane was apparently enough - two asthmatic women in our group had to argue a bit.

Best main: the shrimp and calamari appetizer (minus the shrimp - I'm allergic!) at Manfredi's Best side: the creamed spinach at The Restaurant - a total butter bomb, but so delicious Best dessert: the lemon mousse at the World Café that looks like an actual lemon - so pretty, and not too sweet

Sorry, I wasn't clear - we did this two days ahead of the reservation date.

We did this on Saturn last month - no problem.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2982297-troy-pompeii-mycenae-epidaurus-how-demanding-is-demanding/ This thread has a discussion of many of the sites on your trip. For most Viking tours, especially the included ones, there is a "leisurely" version for anyone who doesn't want to try to keep up with a "normal" speed group. We didn't ask about it - we were just assigned to it after the first couple of tours. Since you're on a shorter trip, I'd ask in advance.

The standard answer people give is that the included tours are usually bus trips to look at the highlights of the port city, and maybe most are, but we had several very good experiences with included tours. All three included tours in Turkey were excellent, and things we would have paid extra to see - a boat trip on the Bosphorous, Troy (didn't really need the part where we got to see the Trojan Horse from the fairly recent movie, but the ruins were worth the side trip,) and Ephesus. The walking tours of Rhodes and Chania were also worthwhile. Of course, much of the quality of the tour depends on your guide, and that's kind of a crap shoot.

I couldn't get that post to work for some reason. You can get the beer switched - we didn't even ask. One evening we discussed the Ægir IPA with the World Café servers, the next day there was some in our mini-fridge.

They have a lovely Norwegian IPA from Flåm called Ægir - no upcharge.