Viking 'Footsteps of the Cossacks' (Ukraine)

[travelling fools]

We researched optional tours for ourselves, but the timing is too tricky. May get Odessa Opera tickets when we get there. Viking sends out a brochure before the cruise with options and approx cost, but here is the on board listing. Prices are in UAH, approx 8 to the US dollar.

 

Chersonese 325

Black Sea Band 530

Balaklava 395

Nikita 310

Chechov House 265

Massandra winery 440

Odessa Opera 530

Akkerman Fortress 525

Odessa art gallery 300

Vodka Seminar 150.

 

Jewish Kiev was 325

Jewish Odessa is 390.

 

Hopes this helps.

They are charged to your on board account.

Lou

 

Looking forward to hearing your reviews on the tours you do take.

 

Looking forward to our trip.We are getting anxious as we leave in just over 2 weeks but still no tickets.It does not leave much time if there is any problems with them.

 

How far in advance did everyone get their tickets?

[Peregrina651]

Looking forward to hearing your reviews on the tours you do take.

 

Looking forward to our trip.We are getting anxious as we leave in just over 2 weeks but still no tickets.It does not leave much time if there is any problems with them.

 

How far in advance did everyone get their tickets?

You should have your tickets already. Call Viking or your TA and let them know.

 

We got an e-mail in advance of the tickets being delivered. Check your spam to see if perhaps it was misdirected.

 

Viking sends out a brochure before the cruise with options and approx cost, but here is the on board listing. Prices are in UAH, approx 8 to the US dollar.

 

Right the info included prices but they were quoted in euros, which is useless since 1) the shipboard currency is UAH and 2) my normal currency is USD. Prices should always be quoted in the shipboard currency since that number is not subject to change.

Edited June 8, 2012 by Peregrina651

[Peregrina651]

Good to know theship is seaworthy.

Would you mind posting the cost of the optional tours you take? Do they get charged to your ship account?

 

Keep in mind that these are the prices for the 2012 season and could change for 2013.

[loum140]

On board - as Andrea said, food is wonderful. Cabins spotless. Love the beverage station. So far only taken one optional tour, Jewish Kiev which included visit to ravine at Babi Yar, Very emotional. Our guide is Alla and she's terrific. We have 5 tour groups, all English speaking. City tours have been great. Really enjoyed Cossack Horse show. Sailing now for Kherson. After slow start, A/C in our room is exceptional as it is in the Kiev restaurant, but it is a little stuffy in other public areas. Weather has been good today - sunny and not too warm. Will answer questions and provide more details later. Marsha

[Peregrina651]

On board - as Andrea said, food is wonderful. Cabins spotless. Love the beverage station. So far only taken one optional tour, Jewish Kiev which included visit to ravine at Babi Yar, Very emotional. Our guide is Alla and she's terrific. We have 5 tour groups, all English speaking. City tours have been great. Really enjoyed Cossack Horse show. Sailing now for Kherson. After slow start, A/C in our room is exceptional as it is in the Kiev restaurant, but it is a little stuffy in other public areas. Weather has been good today - sunny and not too warm. Will answer questions and provide more details later. Marsha

 

Wait a minute. Did I miss something? We have loum and sitraveler both reporting from the same cruise. I was going to ask if you two had met one another yet but as I think about it, I'm going to bet that the answer to that question is, "Yes, some years ago." ;) You probably mentioned it months ago and I just don't remember it (lol, par for the course)

 

Marsha, who was the guide on the BabiYar tour?

[sitraveler]

Marsha's the one with the "I'm with ..." t shirt.

 

Anyway- Jewish Kiev tour guide was not one of our staff. Outside, independant guide with one of our buses/driver.

 

My battery recharger is not working right, could be the voltage adapter??

Today I was a cossack, nice trick being Jewish.

Put my little bottle of water in freezer compartment of refrig, 3 hours later still water.

Noise of air conditioner drowns out any sounds from hallway/deck.

 

Having a wonderful, interesting time.

It's warm-bring light weight clothes TF.

It's 5:45 AM, no competition for internet band width.

Hasta manana.

[Peregrina651]

Marsha's the one with the "I'm with ..." t shirt.

 

Anyway- Jewish Kiev tour guide was not one of our staff. Outside, independant guide with one of our buses/driver.

 

My battery recharger is not working right, could be the voltage adapter??

Today I was a cossack, nice trick being Jewish.

Put my little bottle of water in freezer compartment of refrig, 3 hours later still water.

Noise of air conditioner drowns out any sounds from hallway/deck.

 

Having a wonderful, interesting time.

It's warm-bring light weight clothes TF.

It's 5:45 AM, no competition for internet band width.

Hasta manana.

 

Lou, you are confusing two terms. An adapter allows you to plug your American style plug into another style outlet. A voltage converter allows you to use your 110 volt appliance in a 220 outlet without frying the appliance.

 

Double check your battery charger to see if it actually needs a converter; most chargers are designed to work with 110 and 220, and therefore don't need a converter. Read what it says on the charger. If you are using a converter when all you need is an adapter, it may be what is causing your problem. You are looking for something like "110v-240v'' written somewhere in the fine print on the charger.

 

If your refrigerator doesn't work, first check to make sure it is actually turned on and then if that doesn't work, report it to the front desk. They will happily take care of the problem.

 

So, were you participant number one or number three?? DH was number one--one of those mixed emotions moments.

Edited June 9, 2012 by Peregrina651

[Peregrina651]

Lou's comments above remind me to remind everyone to make sure that you don't leave home without all the chargers, cords, batteries and manuals that you need for all of your electronic devices. MAKE A LIST. When it doubt, take it.

 

There were a number of people with cameras they couldn't use after the first day because they left vital components home. Everyone tried to be very helpful (to no avail) and Guide Alla spent a lot of time taking folks to electronic or camera stores to try to find batteries or whatever was needed.

 

If you have a new camera, practice using it a lot before you go. If you have an old camera that you haven't used in a while, take time to re-familiarize yourself with it. You will be glad you did.

 

Someone borrowed a video camera. They didn't know how to use it and hadn't practiced. They didn't even have the manual with them and ran into trouble just a couple of days into the trip.

 

FYI, there is no resident geek on the ship; if you run into trouble with your electronic equipment, you are on your own--which really from a liability standpoint is the way it should be.

Edited June 9, 2012 by Peregrina651

[loum140]

Name of the local guide in Kiev for the Babi Yar excursion is Natasha.

 

Today we had a Ukranian Bar-b-q on the sun deck for lunch. Lots of fun, great food and singing and dancing.

 

We have been able to plug in notebook directly to outlet for recharging with only a plug adaptor, however the converter we brought is not doing a great job on the batteries for our cameras. But since they use AA, we bought some non-rechargeable before we left US and will use them if needed.

 

And yes, sitraveler is my DH.

 

No other optionals to report on until Sevastopol.

 

Weather warm and sunny.

[sitraveler]

I was number 1.

 

We have to remember not to spoil surprises for those still to come.

 

Dollar bills do come in handy for when you want to leave a small tip. A 10 UAH note would do, but I've only had 1-2 at a time.

 

Weather still purfect. It's 6:00 Sunday

[Peregrina651]

 

Dollar bills do come in handy for when you want to leave a small tip. A 10 UAH note would do, but I've only had 1-2 at a time.

 

I really, really, really have to disagree with you on this one. Stick to UAH. The person you are trying to tip may have great difficulty in trying to exchange that single dollar bill. Think of it this way, how would your favorite waiter react if he received a tip in euros or pounds or even Canadian dollars?

[sitraveler]

even street vendors had prices in US, Euros or UAH.

 

Navy chorus was excellent. You cannot get tickets on your own as it is a closed Viking show. Big theatre, we were about 80. There was not enough time for the ruins, but we cannot spend as much time as we would at any 1 place.

 

On to breakfast-its Monday already.

[Peregrina651]

even street vendors had prices in US, Euros or UAH.

 

The street vendors were the exception to the rule--and maybe some souvenir shops; these were the only places accepting dollars. Every place else, it is no UAH, no sale. By quoting prices in other currencies, they agree up-front to accept foreign currencies and do enough volume in foreign currencies to make it worth their while to accept them.

[Peregrina651]

This is what the outlet looked like in our cabin.

 

[sitraveler]

Per our cruise director:

 

$10.00 per day per person tips.

Includes tour guide, not driver

 

Ukraine is not Europe or Russia.

[altiva]

Per our cruise director:

 

$10.00 per day per person tips.

Includes tour guide, not driver

 

Ukraine is not Europe or Russia.

 

Ukraine IS the largest country in Europe, the language is the 6th most spoken in Europe, and it's definitely NOT Russia, which is in Asia. One has to love racists.

[TravelerThom]

Ukraine IS the largest country in Europe, the language is the 6th most spoken in Europe, and it's definitely NOT Russia, which is in Asia. One has to love racists.

Racist is a pretty strong term to throw around loosely.

 

There are no widely accepted boundaries of continents, nor even an agreement of how many there are. In the US it is generally agreed that the Urals form a boundary between Europe and Asia, but many geographers list Eurasia as a single continent. If one takes the Urals as a continental boundary 77% of the Russian population lives in Europe, but 77% of the area is in Asia, making it difficult to assign it strictly to either continent. Note that the area of the Ukraine is less than 16% of the area of European Russia [as defined above] and about 3% of the area of all of Russia.

 

Tour companies often use the term "Europe" loosely meaning a vaguely defined Western Europe or the European Union [with or without candidate states] or the Schengen Zone. I believe the comment about Ukraine not being in Europe meant that economically its pricing structure is substantially different from the EU / Western Europe.

 

It is not just Tour companies who use these terms loosely. If you connect air flights in Frankfurt, Germany you are given the choice of "Europe" or "International", and in this context FRA considers that Europe equals the Schengen Zone [countries that have standardized visa requirements and border enforcement], and everybody else [including the Ukraine] is presumably non-Europe. For the record I think FRA needs to correct their signs since I do consider the Ukraine to be without doubt in Europe, albeit much smaller than European Russia.

 

Thom

[altiva]

Racist is a pretty strong term to throw around loosely.

 

There are no widely accepted boundaries of continents, nor even an agreement of how many there are. In the US it is generally agreed that the Urals form a boundary between Europe and Asia, but many geographers list Eurasia as a single continent. If one takes the Urals as a continental boundary 77% of the Russian population lives in Europe, but 77% of the area is in Asia, making it difficult to assign it strictly to either continent. Note that the area of the Ukraine is less than 16% of the area of European Russia [as defined above] and about 3% of the area of all of Russia.

 

Tour companies often use the term "Europe" loosely meaning a vaguely defined Western Europe or the European Union [with or without candidate states] or the Schengen Zone. I believe the comment about Ukraine not being in Europe meant that economically its pricing structure is substantially different from the EU / Western Europe.

 

It is not just Tour companies who use these terms loosely. If you connect air flights in Frankfurt, Germany you are given the choice of "Europe" or "International", and in this context FRA considers that Europe equals the Schengen Zone [countries that have standardized visa requirements and border enforcement], and everybody else [including the Ukraine] is presumably non-Europe. For the record I think FRA needs to correct their signs since I do consider the Ukraine to be without doubt in Europe, albeit much smaller than European Russia.

 

Thom

 

you seriously must be joking.

First, you are misquoting Wikipedia, which says:

"The term "European Russia" was used in the Russian Empire to refer to

traditional East Slavic territories under Russian control, including

what is now Belarus and most of the Ukraine (Dnieper Ukraine)."

So, when Russians talk about European Russia, they still, in their

dreams believe that they are occupying Ukraine, thus their claim to

Europe.

Second, even world atlas states:

"Regardless of its European associations, the entire country of

Russia is (geographically) still considered a part of Asia."

http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/europe/eur.htm

and infoplease:

"Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ukraine is the largest

country in Europe, followed by France, Spain, and then Sweden. Here

are their respective land areas:

Ukraine 603,700 sq. km

France 547,030 sq. km

Spain 504,750 sq. km

Sweden 449,964 sq. km

Third, I liked it how you interestingly pointed out that Ukraine is

not, exactly, in Europe, because when we say "Europe", we mean

"Western Europe" and Shengen zone, and then proceeded to show how Russia IS in Europe, because some think that Eurasia is a single

continent. So, Russia, it's in Europe, because some believe, but

Ukraine is not, because it's not in Shengen area! If it's not a racial

prejudice, what is that, then?

Fourth, why would we bother with Germans, who did not even consider

Ukrainians human beings and never even bothered to apologize for what

they did in Ukraine, and their anti-racial announcements? They said,

in Germany, too, that Berlin was the capital of the world, Welthauptstadt Germania ("World Capital Germania"), and Ukraine - German Lebensraum, and now suddenly they don't think that Ukraine is

in Europe? Great surprise.

And with the rest of Western guides and such, who always called Ukraine - Russia, and now started using "Ukraine", only because there is a border to cross? Certainly Ukrainians are not going to pretend that they do not exist or are not in Europe, because of racially biased companies and Russian supporters, who use the term "losely" (i.e., as it pleases them best)?

Fifth, it's called UKRAINE, and not THE UKRAINE, as it's not THE

Italy, THE France, or THE RUSSIA. Throughout your answer, it was

RUSSIA, but THE UKRAINE, yet you tried us to believe that you were NOT

racially prejudiced.

[altiva]

And, of course, I forgot to mention the OP's original statement:

"Ukraine is not Europe or Russia."

Thus making Europe (only Western Europe, as you explained to us) and

Russia as something that goes together and much, much better than

Ukraine.

[travelling fools]

you seriously must be joking.

First, you are misquoting Wikipedia, which says:

"The term "European Russia" was used in the Russian Empire to refer to

traditional East Slavic territories under Russian control, including

what is now Belarus and most of the Ukraine (Dnieper Ukraine)."

So, when Russians talk about European Russia, they still, in their

dreams believe that they are occupying Ukraine, thus their claim to

Europe.

Second, even world atlas states:

"Regardless of its European associations, the entire country of

Russia is (geographically) still considered a part of Asia."

http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/europe/eur.htm

and infoplease:

"Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ukraine is the largest

country in Europe, followed by France, Spain, and then Sweden. Here

are their respective land areas:

Ukraine 603,700 sq. km

France 547,030 sq. km

Spain 504,750 sq. km

Sweden 449,964 sq. km

Third, I liked it how you interestingly pointed out that Ukraine is

not, exactly, in Europe, because when we say "Europe", we mean

"Western Europe" and Shengen zone, and then proceeded to show how Russia IS in Europe, because some think that Eurasia is a single

continent. So, Russia, it's in Europe, because some believe, but

Ukraine is not, because it's not in Shengen area! If it's not a racial

prejudice, what is that, then?

Fourth, why would we bother with Germans, who did not even consider

Ukrainians human beings and never even bothered to apologize for what

they did in Ukraine, and their anti-racial announcements? They said,

in Germany, too, that Berlin was the capital of the world, Welthauptstadt Germania ("World Capital Germania"), and Ukraine - German Lebensraum, and now suddenly they don't think that Ukraine is

in Europe? Great surprise.

And with the rest of Western guides and such, who always called Ukraine - Russia, and now started using "Ukraine", only because there is a border to cross? Certainly Ukrainians are not going to pretend that they do not exist or are not in Europe, because of racially biased companies and Russian supporters, who use the term "losely" (i.e., as it pleases them best)?

Fifth, it's called UKRAINE, and not THE UKRAINE, as it's not THE

Italy, THE France, or THE RUSSIA. Throughout your answer, it was

RUSSIA, but THE UKRAINE, yet you tried us to believe that you were NOT

racially prejudiced.

 

Please let us get back to what these boards are mainly for.Comments on the cruises and helpful hints and suggestions.

Right now I would like to know what bathroom amenties are supplied on this ship.Does it still have a sauna onboard and can anyone recommend a nice restaurant in Odessa?

[Peregrina651]

Please let us get back to what these boards are mainly for.Comments on the cruises and helpful hints and suggestions.

Right now I would like to know what bathroom amenties are supplied on this ship.Does it still have a sauna onboard and can anyone recommend a nice restaurant in Odessa?

 

Bathroom amenities include sink, toilet and shower head (stalls are optional and depend on room category). Also, towels (good sized ones at that), soap, shampoo, conditioner, body wash and body lotion. I think I also remember a shower cap and maybe a sewing kit. Hair dryers are available from the front desk (but are already in the deluxe rooms). Any hair dryer borrowed from the front desk should be returned to the front desk before disembarkation; don't just stick it in a drawer. ALSO, there is always a 2 liter bottle of water in the room. Once you open the bottle, a new bottle will be placed in your room, ready for when you finish the opened one.

 

I can't answer about the sauna but maybe Lou and Marsha can check it out before they disembark (if we have caught them in time). Is there one and is it operational?

 

I'm no help on the restaurants. Sorry. But our guide Alla pointed out a couple of places that she likes to eat. Again, this might be a question for Lou and Marsha; they can get the name of the places Alla likes and be able to get the address, too.

[altiva]

Please let us get back to what these boards are mainly for.Comments on the cruises and helpful hints and suggestions.

Right now I would like to know what bathroom amenties are supplied on this ship.Does it still have a sauna onboard and can anyone recommend a nice restaurant in Odessa?

 

hi travelling,

I allow myself to disagree with you. I think that discussing the country's geographical position belongs to travel boards. More so, I think that it's extremely helpful for cruises to know where the country is situated. I consider it a helpful suggestion.

[Peregrina651]

And, of course, I forgot to mention the OP's original statement:

"Ukraine is not Europe or Russia."

Thus making Europe (only Western Europe, as you explained to us) and

Russia as something that goes together and much, much better than

Ukraine.

 

 

It has to be said.

 

Through all this discussion, no one has used the labels 'better' or 'worse' except you. You are the one who has chosen to read 'worse than' into this comment--and then you have proceeded to yell at us because you have completely misunderstood what is being said. It is not pleasant and it makes this thread an unpleasant place to visit.

 

All we want to do is take a pleasant vacation in your country and this constant political ranting is taking away from that pleasure. This is not a political forum. It is a travel forum and no one likes to listen to arguing and anger in a travel forum .

 

Let's keep the discussions here friendly and helpful. Let's make this thread pleasant and inviting--and by extension, that Ukraine and its people are as well.

 

 

 

Lou, Thom, sorry you got stomped on. You didn't deserve it; no one does. Lou, I actually thought that your description/warning hit the nail on the head. Ukraine is different and in so many ways, good and bad. You are right to remind us that Ukraine is a separate country from Russia these days; many of us have had a tough time remembering that fact. It was all Soviet Union for most of my life--one huge country with just one agenda. Even harder is having to remember to drop the 'the' that we have always appended to the name; it is not that we are trying to be insulting, it is just that sometimes we just don't remember. Old habits die hard--especially at our age. 'Not Europe' is a longer discussion and one that I think I'm going to postpone for another day and more time to gather my thoughts.

[altiva]

 

It has to be said.

 

Through all this discussion, no one has used the labels 'better' or 'worse' except you. You are the one who has chosen to read 'worse than' into this comment--and then you have proceeded to yell at us because you have completely misunderstood what is being said. It is not pleasant and it makes this thread an unpleasant place to visit.

 

All we want to do is take a pleasant vacation in your country and this constant political ranting is taking away from that pleasure. This is not a political forum. It is a travel forum and no one likes to listen to arguing and anger in a travel forum .

 

Let's keep the discussions here friendly and helpful. Let's make this thread pleasant and inviting--and by extension, that Ukraine and its people are as well.

 

 

 

Lou, Thom, sorry you got stomped on. You didn't deserve it; no one does. Lou, I actually thought that your description/warning hit the nail on the head. Ukraine is different and in so many ways, good and bad. You are right to remind us that Ukraine is a separate country from Russia these days; many of us have had a tough time remembering that fact. It was all Soviet Union for most of my life--one huge country with just one agenda. Even harder is having to remember to drop the 'the' that we have always appended to the name; it is not that we are trying to be insulting, it is just that sometimes we just don't remember. Old habits die hard--especially at our age. 'Not Europe' is a longer discussion and one that I think I'm going to postpone for another day and more time to gather my thoughts.

 

hi Peregrina,

did you ever consider that it was not about YOU and what is pleasant

for YOU, but what it PLEASANT or UNPLEASANT to people who live in

there? It's not pleasant for them that, after a quarter of a century

of independence it's a hard time for you to remember, that it's not

Russia, that, though Ukraine has only 5 per cent Russian population,

it's considered dominant for foreigners, and Russians are first rate

people, and Ukrainians are second rate, that Ukraine has been exactly

where it is since 8 A.D., yet people find it difficult to find it on

the map, or believe that it's a country, or bother to spell the

name properly. Maybe, if foreigners who

came there showed a little consideration to the people who live

there, their vacations would be as wonderful as you describe.

As per now, I see only about as much tact as of a person, visiting

the house where someone died and loudly discussing rigor mortis.

Ukraine is so much worse then Europe and Russia! Yes, maybe it's perhaps

because Russians plundered and stole and killed there for 70 years. And Germans, they killed and plundered and took teenagers, boys and girls from 10 to 14 to be worked to death in Germany as slaves. Then, we plunder achieved, the countries prospered, and Ukraine is now "bad".

When Russians left, they took everything that was not nailed down,

and it was all huge ruin. Now you come and compare these countries,

as if nothing of this happen, and say, nonchalantly, that it's not

Europe or Russia!

And I know why this happens. It's very difficult to like someone who

you did so many wrongs to. You feel bad and embarrassed in front of

such people, and don't want to see them or talk about them. Do you

know why Viking cruises run such a kitchy, Russian oriented cruise in

Ukraine? Everything is Russian on that cruise, the staff uses Russian names, they are required to speak Russian, all the Ukrainian names and cities are spelled in Russian. It's to make it easier for foreigners.

Now, instead of accepting Ukraine as a different country with a

difficult history, we have some funny people, who, all of a sudden,

decided to be called "Ukrainians" instead of Russians, and who run

around, shouting hop-la-la. What a relief to visiting tourists! It's

just Russia here, all the same, just worse than the real one!

And it's not possible to separate these issues from a pleasant visit

to this country. Because, while, on one hand, we should not discuss

them openly, YOU openly show this kitchy small Russia, worse than the

real one, approach. Maybe, if you don't want people to have such a

reaction, YOU should not show such an attitude! You PROVOKE people

into defending themselves, and then you say that they are bad

troublemakers. And this is the attitude that prevailed for centuries:

come on, guys, do not trouble others, be nice and easy, pretend to be

some Russians or kind of Russians, here are good guys, learn Russian

language (ha ha ha, what funny provincial accent you have), and do

not make bad, upsetting comments to Russians or "rich" visiting

foreigners.

I don't think that you can discuss if Ukraine belongs to Europe or

not, because you don't know Ukrainian history.

I am sorry for the long post, and hope we are finished now.

[sitraveler]

no sauna/

Waiting to disembarc in Odessa.