dancermom09

We don't live in CA, but we visit a lot! Our favorites are old vine zinfandels from some smaller winemakers based in Sonoma, but we like other varieties too.

We found the "included" wines on board sorely lacking, but they were more than happy to open any bottles you brought to dinner. We had arrived early and visited a couple of wineries/enotecas in Florence, so had several along. Thank goodness!

Surely there are some decent wine shops in the city you are embarking from that can make some recommendations. We went as CA wine snobs, but loved some of the wines we had. Of course, can't get them in the US.

Taking it easy in Toulon with included tour as we have 3 full days in Barcelona with a daytrip train ride to Girona for lunch. I really enjoy the trains!

Bob & Margie

I am sure you have it planned, but hope you are going to Sagrada Familia. It is an astounding thing to see.

One couple on our tour (Lucca & Pisa) did this, but others were able to purchase tickets after we got there. The tour guide offered to help. We had more than an hour to kill after the guided part of the tour, so i think it would be ok to wait.

I think if you are flying in with Viking Air, and you have no deviations, they will help you get to the ship with your luggage.

However, if flying in on your own or arriving some days early, you will need to handle the luggage. We arrived on the train, wheeled our luggage across the Ponte della Constituzione , and then caught a taxi at the bus station area (to the left when you walk off the bridge). I think there are porters that will help you across the bridge at the train station, but we didn't look into that. We had stored our large bag at Left Luggage four days earlier and caught the train to Florence.

The taxi will take you directly to the port the ship is located at. It's a fixed rate, posted at the taxi stand. Taking the People Mover with your luggage is a lot more walking.

Sharyn, Viator has GoT tours in both Dubrovnik and Split. We booked both. In Split, they take you out of the city to the old Fortress, which is used a lot for Mereen in the show. Then back to Split to walk around the Palace (also Mereen scenes), some of the same areas you would see on the included walking tour. However, on the included tour they do not tell you which are GoT sites! But you will see the room that Dany chained the dragons in, which is pretty neat.

Our guide in Split was excellent, but perhaps a bit of a lecturer. We listened to a lot of Split history, standing for long periods on concrete. I think she must have been a history teacher.

In Dubrovnik (King's Landing sites), our guide was a younger man and he was quite a bit more fun. Though he kept a faster pace. We covered a lot of ground on our 3 1/2 hour tour!

We made a purchase in the jewelry/watch shop on the Sea. DH's watch band broke, and we couldn't find anyplace to get it fixed, so he decided to buy a Tissot.

We didn't do well with the Duty Free items we bought. The watch was about $400 and the salesperson said the VAT taxes would revert to our account at midnight. Well, they didn't, and we didn't realize it until embarkation day. But they had given us the customs form, so we had that stamped at the Barcelona airport and mailed it.

He recently got an email saying no refund of VAT because the Passport and credit card did not match. The ship account was in my name, same last name.

Anyway, I wouldn't count on any VAT refunds. They make it pretty complicated. Nice shops though, fun to look.

Dubrovnik is quite wonderful, but be sure and add lots of stairs to your evening walks. There are a lot. We did a private Game of Thrones Tour that took us up the fortress outside the walls, along with walking the Wall. We had a fantastic lunch, I think it was Moskar on Prijecko. Best oysters, amazing risotto. If you like wine, ask about the Pinot Noir that is only made in Croatia, I think it is called Mali?

Are you going to Corfu? We simply walked around on our own, and had lunch at Salto Wine Bar. Another outstanding lunch and very pleasant day. There are a couple of very old forts to explore, plenty of shopping and scenery along the coast.

We missed Naples because we were sick. But we were going to take the Sorrento/Pompeii tour and heard from someone that so much time was spent in Sorrento, they had to practically jog through Pompeii.

Rome we did the Fountains & Monuments tour. Enjoyed the tour mostly, but I wrote a thread about it. Bottom line, avoid any tours with included lunch. You will do much better on your own.

Monte Carlo we did Eze, Nice, MC tour. Eze is lovely, we got very little time in Nice and were supposed to eat. Actually took the tour to get an equal time at all three, but most was spent in MC. Again, lots of stairs.

Toulon we did the tour to Cassis with the boat ride. This was very nice. Cassis is very charming, and we had a nice tasting. Found a little cafeteria just around the corner from the wine bar to have a snack. They spoke no English, but it all worked out.

We considered the pre tour, but did four nights/three days on our own in Florence instead. Took the train to and from Venice. Was our favorite part of the trip!

Tellus, there really isn't anything to add.

Elizabeth, I really did try to do this. But there wasn't anyone on our Roll Call. One couple on the 50 day posted a couple of times, and one posted a couple years before then never came back.

I looked and looked for this information when planning our trip, but never saw this. Viking has a complimentary shuttle that leaves from the Marina to a stop near San Marcos that leaves once an hour. It was available both days the ship was in port. It's the same dock that the Aliguna uses, and was right next to our ship.

The shuttle doesn't go through the Grand Canal, but it's free! There was a Viking rep outside directing people. Except for the time we first walked by of course. I saw the sign, but thought it must be for excursions, and we continued to the People Mover and Vaporetto. But we did get our Grand Canal cruise!

This would also fit into the "difference between Viking and Oceania" thread, as the larger Oceania ship did not have a shuttle.

In Barcelona, there was no shuttle and there has been in the past. But the Sea was docked near the front of the port so it wasn't a bad walk to the usual shuttle stop.

I'm an ok walker, and did fine in Rome even after two sick days. Now Dubrovnik and Monte Carlo almost did me in. We just don't have stairs like that in NM! My husband is a 6 footer with long legs. If he had to hustle to catch up, you know we were scurrying.

Just had a thought. Our group was only 13, and the other group we saw was small as well. The restaurant was not very big, though they had a larger room downstairs. So maybe this particular restaurant is only booked for the smaller tours. Eh, I wouldn't take the chance again.

No, we just quickly walked, on a warm day. There were some interesting shop windows along the way, but that was it. This restaurant was street level, but I do not remember the name either. The bathrooms were downstairs. We walked past dozens of restaurants. My husband took a couple of photos, but then had to jog to catch up. We were marching, I'm not lying to you.

And we loved our guide, she was great. Informative, sweet, and devout Catholic which certainly added an interesting layer. As I said, she didn't eat with us, she left and went somewhere else.

I wasn't the only one that hated the meal, I promise. We were all laughing about the beef, and there were several comments about the pasta sauce. We all ate the pasta because by that time we were starving and no one told us anything. Thought it might be all we got. We later realized the staff spoke English, but that was around dessert time.

So Italian tour companies think Americans prefer bad food? Now I'm insulted too. Since our cruise was only about half American with a large percentage of Brits, Aussies etc, it wasn't really a good assumption either.

It's likely that Trumpy tours has done a good job before. After all, they got the contract. But in this case, for these tours, you should know. If you take the tours anyway, at least you have been warned.

We've been back from the Mediterranean Odyssey cruise on the Sea for a week. We really enjoyed almost everything about the cruise. There were a few blips, we were sick for two days, Manfredi's served me the wrong meal (I have an allergy), but the thing I still seem to be mad about is this tour so I'm posting a "review rant".

Had a hard time deciding which tour to take. We've never been to Rome and wanted to see as much as possible, as well as inside at least part of the Vatican. Finally settled on the "Fountains, Monuments & Cathedrals" tour at $179 each. Did not register that this tour included lunch.

Our tour guide was terrific. No complaints there. We drove by the Coliseum and a couple of other ruins, getting off near the Trevi. Had some free time there, then walked by some more sites, toured the Pantheon, had 20 minutes free at Piazza Navona. Nice tour so far.

This is where it got weird. The guide told us we were going to lunch, just 20 minutes more. Then proceeded to lead us through the city for about 35-40 minutes to a restaurant. Here's the meal we had; a glass of red wine about the quality of Two Buck Chuck; pasta with canned tomato sauce; Two slices of boiled beef that you might remember from school lunches, a bit of iceberg lettuce salad, some limp potato wedges. Then a small square of tiramisu and half a shot of espresso.

We then walked several more blocks to meet the bus to take us to the Vatican, where we had a guided tour of the Basilica. We did get to go through the group line.

I later found out that our tour was basically the Included walking tour. Except they got a stop at the Coliseum and the Spanish steps. They also got time for lunch on their own at Piazza Navona. One of the Included Tour guides got tickets for the Basilica and got the group in through the group line, the other did not.

So, taking the Included Tour means you may or may not get into the Basilica. There's that. But another Optional tour group was leaving as we arrived at the restaurant. So if you take a Rome tour that includes lunch, you will be dragged to this restaurant. Our guide did not eat with us. When we tipped her, I asked who made the lunch arrangements and was told it was the owner of the tour company that does all the Rome tours for Viking, Trumpy Tours. The owner must have contacted all the restaurants in Rome to see who would feed tourists the cheapest. I'm guessing the deal was made for about 5 Euros.

I wrote a scathing review for the ship, even asked for a refund. Didn't hear a peep. But at least I can warn you guys to avoid this mistake. To be clear, it's not just the quality of the meal that I'm complaining about, it's also that we were marched so far to eat said meal. We did really well finding little places for lunch in port on our cruise, would have been nice to have that memory in Rome.

We had five optional tours on our Viking Sea Mediterranean Odyssey cruise, just back. The first one in Rome had only 13 people which should have been a hint. It was not even an ok value at $179 pp, but that's another story.

The other four tours were very popular, and we enjoyed them. All had 28-30 people, or a bus full. Yes, it was tough in some places to keep with the group, especially Barcelona which was very crowded that day. I think Eze/Nice/Monte Carlo tour had three buses.

Interestingly, the optional tours were almost completely American with the occasional Aussie. Told DH, other couple must have had the same idea we did. Traveling that far, we wanted the best tours available even at an extra cost. There were a lot of Brits on our cruise, and they seemed to stick to the included tours.

And an odd note, Viking provided us with a chaperone on only one tour, the one with 13 people. She was a Stateroom Stewardess, and she kept to the back to make sure everyone was together. We enjoyed her, she was really having fun seeing Rome for the fist time. But that was the only tour that happened on.

 

My favorite discovery on this trip: The somewhat revamped Chef's Table. There's two new menus that you have to try if you get a chance -- a Norwegian bistro and a Chinese. New as well is an enhanced wine pairing option (you can still have the complimentary wine pairing meal) that's $25 extra per person but no extra charge to those who've bought the Silver Spirits package. We found the new pairings to be really dynamic and interesting....

 

Carolyn

We tried the Chinese menu and it was excellent. No one mentioned the enhanced wine pairing, we certainly would have gone for it. I even made the suggestion to the waiter and he acted as if it was only possible if we had the Silver package. Odd. Still enjoyed our meal.

We were on the Sea April 12-24, and both had something. Got sick on the sea day and missed going ashore at Naples. We suspected mussels or perhaps snails in Manfredi's, but only heard of a couple of other people getting sick. Avoided those items the rest of the trip!

Well I hope we get our documents! We did use a travel agent, which seems to complicate everything. But don't we need something like a "ticket" at the port?

There is an ATVO Flybus from Marco Polo Airport to Venice's Mestre train station. From there you can take a slower regional train or the high speed Frecce to Florence. I think the tickets go on sale on line 119 days out. The sooner you book the cheaper the Frecce ticket since these are reserved seats. The regional train you buy your ticket that day and there is no reserved seat.

Wish I had come back to this thread sooner! That would be easier than schlepping over to Venice to catch a train. Already booked but maybe can cancel. Will check prices, and need to find a Left Luggage but there might be one at Mestre station. Thanks!

So Alilaguna and ACTV are different boats? This is going to be confusing. I bought 24 hour ACTV tickets online, so I guess if we want to travel from the port we have to get separate tickets. Checking the Alilaguna schedule, looks like they only depart from the cruise port once per hour, as the circuit takes it around Venice island to the airport and back for the Blue line.

When does Viking send out documents? We are almost five weeks from boarding the ship, but about four weeks from leaving the US!

Thank you! Will look for your post before we leave.

I've already booked the Nice/Eze/Monte Carlo tour for our cruise on the Sea in April. Last night my husband commented that someday he'd like to see the lavender fields in France. Um, pretty sure there's a tour for that!

We could change tours once we get on the ship, but here's the question. If we take the Grasse tour, will we see the lavender fields? What he really wants to do is take some photos. I read the nice reviews of the tour, but hadn't considered it because I usually cannot tolerate fragrances. Not the flower essences, but the chemicals that are added. Of course, if it begins to bother me, I can go outside during the perfume factory tour. And then open a window on the bus.

Hope someone will chime in that's been on the tour, thanks!

We are another couple who rarely gets sick, and I am not sure this is a good thing. I've just read that having a cold actually helps "tune up" your immune system and I haven't had one in several years. Definitely got a stomach virus while visiting our daughter last October after two flights a week apart, so hoping that has the same effect! Not that I want to get either on a cruise.

Shanty, I have read a recent European study that agrees with you, but now I can't find it. It was about bathroom design in hospitals being to blame for the infections they can't seem to get rid of. The toilet being in the same room as the sink etc, no lid to the toilet, big flush throwing stuff all over the room. Then the next person in is covered in bugs. Not a pleasant thought, and has me thinking about avoiding public restrooms. But can't do that on an 8+ hour flight as our next cruise is from Italy. Thinking about not only avoiding touching anything in rest rooms, but not breathing as well! Need to practice. I agree that they weren't talking about Noro, more along the lines of staff infections etc but it's still down to toilets.

The thing that helps your immunity the most is the amount of good bacteria you have in your own gut. Constant disinfection in every day life, and antibiotic use, lowers your good bacteria or even kills it off.

Hand washing, absolutely! And I will take along some Olive Leaf, turmeric, elderberry, and Liposomal C. Also a cancer survivor, so I take most of these anyway. I do not use hand sanitizer, and this explains why:

http://www.caryinstitute.org/newsroom/why-you-shouldnt-use-hand-sanitizers

Our trip is a long one, hoping for the best.

Shoalwater, thanks! We embark on the 12th and the ship stays overnight. So we have almost two days in Venice.

Yes, we have reservations for all of the museums you mentioned, including a tour of the Uffizi and Vasari corridor. One of the days will be spent in Tuscany, so only two days actually in Florence. As we tend to be more interested in Food and Wine than art, Florence seemed the better fit for us.

In Venice, I think the new vaporetto dock by the bus station might be open now, so maybe a little closer to the People Mover? Not so funny story, I am not used to military time, so spaced on booking appointments for entry to St. Mark's. We now have three different times for the first afternoon. Luckily, they were only 2 Euros each, but guess we will see if anyone at lunch wants the ones we can't use. Ha.

Did not know about the jewelry display at St. Marks. Yes, I would enjoy that, thanks for the tip!

We used Viking Air, but paid the deviation to arrive four days early and then paid the Air Plus to select our own flights. They may have given us the same flights I selected, since there weren't a ton of options from ABQ. But I made sure we had plenty of layover time to do customs etc, not sure Viking always considers that. Maybe see if you can add Air Plus at this date, gives you a lot more input. Kind of silly that they charge for that, but why not?

I have noticed that Norwegian Air, Iceland Air, and Wow Airlines have some smoking deals. No idea how flying on these airlines would be, but you might check them out.

Viking waits a long time to book, then waits until a month out to issue tickets. We requested that they issue them two months out and they did. We were able to select seats and even do an upgrade for the long haul flight coming home.

Also...more searching. Looks like sometimes the ship docks at San Basilio so taxi might be best for that. And others have mentioned dropping luggage off at the Terminal rather than taking it to the ship.

And it seems that the port can change after documents are received, whenever that is.