travelingman

59 minutes ago, KyOh said:

Travelingman, what company did you use for the visit to Corinth?  We've spent time in Athens and are looking for something different to do.

It was with privategreecetours dot(.) com.

We did 1/2 day tour but they also offer all day tours with visits to other sites.

Stan

The Star has 4 computers each wth a notepad and a "square" pen and 1 printer.

Stan

We did a private tour to Krka Waterfalls and Zadar Tour (Portal Tours - Split Excursions) with a total of 8 people from our cruise which was a lot cheaper than the Viking tour.  The key is to get enough other people to go with you to bring the cost down.  We used the Cruise Critic Roll Call to find others.

Stan

I was on the same cruise as Brad.  We also had pre-cruise days in Venice and post days in Athens.  We did not have a good start.  Our flight was delayed in Richmond, VA due to late arrival and we could not make our connection in JFK.  We ended up staying home overnight and leaving the next day arriving in Venice a day late on Sunday to all day rain and wind.  As Brad said we needed more time in Venice.

i agree with what Brad said about the Viking Star and the crew.  It is a very nice and well trained crew.  If they have time they are happy to chat with you from the assistant waiters and housekeeping staff to the officers.  They do everything they can to please you, if possible.

The one difference I have from Brad is that we enjoyed Viking Ocean enough that we are doing them again.  We are not late night people and are not looking for a party to go to.  Also, not looking for a casino and we enjoyed the age 18 and over Policy.

As for the excursions we did 3 included tours, 2 optional excursions and 3 private tours.  We did not do any tours in Venice on day 1 since we were there already on our own.  Choices of private tours were based on being able to get cheaper private tours versus Viking optional tours or wanting to go somewhere for which Viking did not offer a tour.  On 2 of the days we did tours and some things on our own - such as the Dubrovnik wall walk in the morning and the included tour in the afternoon.

On our arrival day in Athens we did a private tour to Ancient Corinth; were dropped off in Athens; did the Acropolis in the afternoon and returned to the ship via the Viking shuttle.

My negative comments on ports would be the short amount of time in Zadar and Kotor.

We are returning home tomorrow (19th) from Athens worn out and used up.

Thought we would slow down some in Athens but too much to see.

Can slow down once we get home.

Stan

11 minutes ago, Respbj said:

We will be on Empires of the Mediterranean, starting in Venice and ending in Athens.  We are then going to stay in Athens an extra 4 nights on our own (Vikings price for 2 nights was way to expensive).  My Question is how is the best was of getting from the port to a central Athens hotel.  I must admit since this trip is next year I have not really started to research this myself. Thanks to any who have done this trip for suggestions.

BJ

We will be doing the same thing this May.  We will be taking the X80 Express bus from the port to downtown.  It stops close to the Acropolis and Syntagma Square among others areas.

See this link: https://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2018/05/09/bus-express-x80-piraeus-acropolis-syntagma/

The article is old but it still applies.

Of course, you can always take a taxi.

Stan

1 hour ago, Richard2 said:

If you logon to My Viking Journey, use the "Help" link to "Top 10 Questions," you will see "When Can I Book Shore Excursions."  It lists the number of days in advance of sailing for each cabin category, with the footnote that on that date, excursions open:
at 12:01 PM Pacific Time, 3:01 PM Eastern Time, 8:01 PM GMT, 7:01 AM AEST and 9:01 AM NZST

Richard2 is correct.  I logged into my account and went to the above referenced area and sure enough it now states 3PM For East Coast and 12:o0PM for Wesr Coast.

Stan

3 hours ago, philw1776 said:

Elsewhere on the net (Facebook) folks claim the new excursion booking window now opens at 12 NOON PST on the date cited.  Several people say that called Viking & confirmed.

This means booking at 3PM EST and after dinner in the UK.  Australia and NZ get the shaft.  IF this is so.  Confirmation by soon to cruise folks solicited.

 

EDIT:  Just read Questions about Excursions thread where OP had to wait to book until 3PM.  This looks real.

 

Sorry for my slowness here but please help me out.

The East Coast has now changed to 3:00PM.

so, if I would booked on Monday at 3:00 AM under the "old" system does that mean it will now be 3:00 PM Monday afternoon.

In other words, the same day and not a day earlier.

Thanks.

Stan

Hi everyone.

Do any of you have any idea which day and/or time the Meet and Mingle and the Explorer Society Cocktail Gstherng on the Empires of the Mediterranean are held?

 Do not want to book the Specialty Restaurants on the same day/time as one of these.

Thanks.

Stan

Does anyone know if you can hire a guide onsite once you arrive at Corinth / Delphi?

Thanks.

Stan

Does anyone know if Viking runs a shuttle between Piazzale Roma and the ship on boarding day?

The Viking Star will be in Santorini from 9:00am to 6:00pm on May 14.

Hope that helps.

If you would tell us what day in May you will be in Santorini some of us might be able to help you with the times Viking will be there.

Do they serve lobster in the World Cafe when they serve it in the Main Dining Room?

thanks.

Does anyone know which night is lobster night on the Venice to Athens Empress of the Mediterranean?

Thanks.

I think everyone would agree Saint Mark's Basilica and Doge's Palace are a must.

You should buy a timed ticket ahead of time for the Basilica and The Secret Itinerary toor of the Doge's Palace.  Not sure If you can get a combined ticket for both of thes or not.  You should also see the Rialto Bridge and the Rialto Market.  There are a number of interesting churches with great art work.  Lastly, just wonder around the town and see how the locals live.  There are many things to do such as museums.  You just need to decide what your interest are and key in on them.

Take a look at these websites:

https://www.tomsportguides.com/uploads/5/8/5/4/58547429/venice-05-06-2011.pdf

http://www.tomsportguides.com/uploads/5/8/5/4/58547429/veniceguide.pdf

https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/venice-itinerary

https://www.theveniceinsider.com/

https://europeforvisitors.com/venice/

Some of the above websites will also give you some info on places to stay.

Besides the price you need to decide on what area you would like to stay in; determine how easy it is to get to walking or by boat; and the fact you might have to pull your suitcases over the cobblestone walks a good ways.  If you want to limit your walking and be closer to the port you might want to look in the Piazzale Roma area,

Thanks to both for your suggestions.  Much appreciated.

For any of you that have been to the Jewish quarter in Venice do you have any recommended sights to see there?

 Thanks.

Follow up question.  If you are not able to use all of your OBC on your current cruise will it carry over to a future cruise or do you just loose it?

Thanks.

Question n booking onboard.  I understand I will get the various perks if I book onboard.  What about my booking onboard for a friend who s not on the cruise but who is a past Viking cruiser?  Will they also get the perks?  Thanks.

As some of you are aware Venice already charges a tax per person per night if you are staying over night in a hotel, BnB, etc.

 I would think any such tax would be charged to the cruise ship or train and then added to the ticket price by them.  Not sure how they are going to tax the folk that drive in by car.

I have a question please, concerning buying insurance from any of the cruise line be it Princess or any other line.  What happens to the insurance coverage if the cruise line was to go under or declare bankruptcy?  Thanks.

21 hours ago, Quasar1011 said:

Is it me, or does NCL only visit the Isles, and not Athens? I would like to do Venice-Dubrovnik-Athens-Santorini, but can't find a cruise that does all 4.

VIking does Venice, Koper (Slovenia), Zadar (Croatia), Dubrovnik, Kotor (Montenegro), Corfu (Greece), Katokolon (Greece), Santorini, and Athens.

Glad to see the majority are in agreement on how they feel about the change n the policy.  Hopefully a lot of Viking cruisers will let Viking know how they feel about it.

The ultimate test will be if we show how we feel about the policy with our feet.

i already have 2 Ocean cruises booked under the "old" policy with Viking but I am already looking at other companies for a 2020 Danube river cruise.

This post was in another forum.

So this is what I have received in writing from Viking.
 In the past clients could negotiate the final payment date up to 6 months prior to departure. There has been a recent change on this. For new bookings made as of November 1st 2018 (or for existing bookings that revise to a different cruise after November 1st 2018), the final payment date can only be negotiated up to 12 months prior to departure the latest. This is fair across the board in that all customers (all travel agencies as well as passengers that book direct with Viking) can only negotiate up to 12 months prior now." end quote.

It seems this is only a change for US customers.

i am curious if this policy change will make any of the Viking customers consider other rivers cruise lines due to this change in final payment?

Question I have is whether this change to 12 month final payment date will make you consider using another  cruise line?