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Mediterranean Cruises


jiminyC_fan
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I was wanting to book Into the Midnight Sun cruise but my husband wants a Med cruise because we were on the Homelands tour this year. That's fine with me as long as we are cruising, LOL. So now I am looking into the Med cruises. They offer so many that I have no clue where to begin. Anyone that has cruised with Viking on any of the Med cruises, could you please tell me what you chose, why. and your thoughts about it I have no clue what a must see is when over there in that area. I truly feel ignorant. I see they have a new one for 2018/2019 called Mediterranean Explorer and Crossing that is 24 days long. Love the length of the cruise but I do know ports are important. I love sea days and that is always a draw but shouldn't be. The Mediterranean Odyssey cruise seems good for the countries offered. HELP, please.

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I was wanting to book Into the Midnight Sun cruise but my husband wants a Med cruise because we were on the Homelands tour this year. That's fine with me as long as we are cruising, LOL. So now I am looking into the Med cruises. They offer so many that I have no clue where to begin. Anyone that has cruised with Viking on any of the Med cruises, could you please tell me what you chose, why. and your thoughts about it I have no clue what a must see is when over there in that area. I truly feel ignorant. I see they have a new one for 2018/2019 called Mediterranean Explorer and Crossing that is 24 days long. Love the length of the cruise but I do know ports are important. I love sea days and that is always a draw but shouldn't be. The Mediterranean Odyssey cruise seems good for the countries offered. HELP, please.

 

I hear you have a friend taking the Mediterranean Odyssey cruise. He chose it because it seemed to offer a wide variety of countries and cultures he was familiar with but never really went into in detail. Much like the Viking Homelands. Aware of some ports but some were unheard of before this cruise. I will say to plan some extra time in Venice as you arrive around noon and you disembark the next day. With the included excursion, that's not a lot of time. I hear April and May are delightful times to be there.

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First questions: when do you want to cruise, what kind of weather do you want? How long do you want to cruise?

 

I want it on the cool side and I don't mind cold, so we are cruising over New Year's and into January. Viking only has one ship in the Med at that point and last year and this year, they are sailing the western Med--Barcelona to Rome along the Riviera and then Rome to Barcelona on a southern route. Viking has also taken these two one-week cruises,combined them into two week voyages and given them names. You can sail Barcelona to Barcelona or Rome to Rome. So, for us, where to sail in the Med was determined solely by when we could sail. The big draw for us is the stops in Africa. We are doing Barcelona to Barcelona simply because DH starts teaching right after MLK Day.

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Peregrina, I am much like you. I like it cool. I am starting to see that I need to narrow it down dates along with ports. I like 10 or more days. Thanks for your help. After your comment, I realize that I need to look at much more than just the ports alone.

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Peregrina, I am much like you. I like it cool. I am starting to see that I need to narrow it down dates along with ports. I like 10 or more days. Thanks for your help. After your comment, I realize that I need to look at much more than just the ports alone.

 

JiminyC, go on Viking's website. There's a lot of info there! Both cruises you're mentioned are wonderful so it really boils down to what appeals to you. If you go to the library you can find the Eyewitness Guides and they have lots of photos and info so you can narrow down what you want. I'm a visual person so looking at enticing photos is always my first line of research. :) Coffee table books are another good source at the library!

 

One nice thing about Viking is that there's an included tour at every port. When you're new to a country/city, this offers a great intro to the lay of the land. Viking really does make it easy to discover new places in that respect.

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Peregrina, I am much like you. I like it cool. I am starting to see that I need to narrow it down dates along with ports. I like 10 or more days. Thanks for your help. After your comment, I realize that I need to look at much more than just the ports alone.

 

Cruisemapper can be a help. They give each ship's itinerary for the year. But it is just a starting point because they don't always have the most up-to-date information; you still have to go back to the Viking website and verify.

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Peregrina, I am much like you. I like it cool. I am starting to see that I need to narrow it down dates along with ports. I like 10 or more days. Thanks for your help. After your comment, I realize that I need to look at much more than just the ports alone.

 

Not to make your decision more complicated, but are you certain that you want to cruise the western Mediterranean? We did the eastern region, from Athens to Venice, and it was a fabulous cruise. Dubrovnik, Croatia and Santorini, Greece were absolute highlights. ( We did not add an extension in Venice as we have been there three times prior, but it would also be a must see for most.) We traveled in April, which was lovely weather and reduced crowds.

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dln929, I am most certainly a visual person. Great advice.

Peregrina, I will check it out.

lackcreativty, oh good grief. The more I think about it, Greece is something that might interest me. Thanks for making it harder, haha. I most certainly will check into it.

 

Thanks everyone!

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dln929, I am most certainly a visual person. Great advice.

Peregrina, I will check it out.

lackcreativty, oh good grief. The more I think about it, Greece is something that might interest me. Thanks for making it harder, haha. I most certainly will check into it.

 

Thanks everyone!

 

If you are a visual person, like I am, I suggest Pinterest when considering ports of call. Just type in a location, and check out the photos. It's like seeing vacation photos before you go! It really helped me to visualize places that I had never heard of before, like Corfu, Greece. I use it when considering shore excursions too. The Viking website also has destination focused videos which I enjoy.

 

We enjoyed all of the stops in Greece on our Empires of the Mediterranean itinerary, but Santorini was truly magical. We were most fortunate to be there in early April, and the Viking Star was the only cruise ship in port that day. Walking the nearly empty streets of Oia was amazing.

 

Happy planning!

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Took the Med Odyssey in April 2016. We had fantastic weather, never needed a coat, just a light sweater and only rained the last night in Barcelona. I loved this cruise. We spent extra time in Venice. The only place we want, that I could have done with out was the side trip to Pisa. I'm from NYC originally and all I could think of was Coney Island with all the hawkers. It was beautiful but would have stayed longer in Florence instead. Loved the cruise. I would recommend it. Doing Homelands in May.

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I was wanting to book Into the Midnight Sun cruise but my husband wants a Med cruise because we were on the Homelands tour this year. That's fine with me as long as we are cruising, LOL. So now I am looking into the Med cruises. They offer so many that I have no clue where to begin. Anyone that has cruised with Viking on any of the Med cruises, could you please tell me what you chose, why. and your thoughts about it I have no clue what a must see is when over there in that area. I truly feel ignorant. I see they have a new one for 2018/2019 called Mediterranean Explorer and Crossing that is 24 days long. Love the length of the cruise but I do know ports are important. I love sea days and that is always a draw but shouldn't be. The Mediterranean Odyssey cruise seems good for the countries offered. HELP, please.

 

JiminyC_fan,

 

If you are looking for a cruise that will include Christmas at sea (or in Bermuda, not sure which), extensive port stops in the Westen Mediterranean and a long relaxing sea cruise from Lisbon to Miami, then the Med Explorer and Crossing is a good bet.

 

This is a back-to-back, repositioning cruise for the Viking Sun just before beginning its second round-the-world cruise in early January 2019. We booked it a couple of months ago before it was listed as a single cruise option on Viking's web site. We are looking forward to it even though we have been to most of the Mediterranean ports previously when we sailed on the Viking Star in the Spring of 2015.

 

There is a thread about this cruise over over on the Viking Sun's Roll Call.

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