Viking 'Footsteps of the Cossacks' (Ukraine)

[silkismom]

I just looked at all your ship photos, thank you especially for the one of the wall socket(?), made a note to bring my European plugs along so I can charge my camera. I've been sailing ships with US style wall sockets and might have forgotten.

[azmimi]

I would love to take this cruise, my dad was born in the Kiev area. I think Viking needs to look into a newer ship for the itinerary!

[Kohola]

Stop obsessing about Istanbul; it is a modern airport serving an international clientele. (However, you are right about Munich/Frankfurt/Vienna etc. having more connections to East Coast cities and that is certainly a big consideration). Here is the link for the Ataturk Airport; take some time to explore it because it is full of helpful information about the airport. Here is what the website says about making international connections; you will not have to go through customs/immigration to get from one flight to another--even if Odessa cannot give you a boarding pass:

Transfer Passengers: (International Transfer Passengers With An International Connection Flight) A boarding card is issued for the passenger (if not issued in the country of origin) at the transit desk of the relevant handling company on the Arrivals floor. The passenger does not go through passport control. Instead, he/she directly proceeds through the transit area into the International Departures area. Baggage will be automatically transferred to the connecting flight.

 

Start following your flights online. You should be able to get an idea of where one flight arrives and the other takes off; it won't be precise but it will give you a general idea so that you can check it out on the airport map. You will also get an idea of the flight's on-time record and that will help you determine if you have enough time between flights.

 

There is no need to fly back to Kiev to get home. Odessa connects to a number of transatlantic hubs that will get you into East Coast cities, even if not directly into BWI. Check out reviews of Ukrainian airlines before you make any decisions.

 

Our experience flying from Odessa-Istanbul-JFK in 2011 was not as described by the Istanbul Airport Website. Our luggage was not checked through to our final destination, but only to Istanbul; as a result we had to obtain a Turkish Visa and clear Passport Control before being allowed into baggage claim to retrieve our luggage before we could continue to the ticket counter to check in for the continuation of our flight. Fortunately we had plenty of time between connections that it didn't poise a problem for the eight of us traveling separately in the same situation.

 

Our TA verified with Viking twice before the trip that obtaining a Visa would not be required because of her past experiences of traveling to the area and warned us that she was not comfortable with the information provided to her. As a result of the misinformation Viking reimbursed our Visa cost as well as providing a generous credit toward a future trip.

 

The situation may have changed at the Odessa Airport since 2011, but I would be very wary. Odessa Airport was very lax...my wife and I cleared passport control in different lanes with our passports swapped.

[Peregrina651]

I would love to take this cruise, my dad was born in the Kiev area. I think Viking needs to look into a newer ship for the itinerary!

 

Easier said than done. I believe that, similar to the situation in China, Viking does not own the ship that it uses but must lease if from a Ukrainian company. However, don't let the ship stand in your way; it might be slightly below today's standards of opulence but it is clean, well kept and well managed.

[Peregrina651]

Our experience flying from Odessa-Istanbul-JFK in 2011 was not as described by the Istanbul Airport Website. Our luggage was not checked through to our final destination, but only to Istanbul; as a result we had to obtain a Turkish Visa and clear Passport Control before being allowed into baggage claim to retrieve our luggage before we could continue to the ticket counter to check in for the continuation of our flight. Fortunately we had plenty of time between connections that it didn't poise a problem for the eight of us traveling separately in the same situation.

 

Our TA verified with Viking twice before the trip that obtaining a Visa would not be required because of her past experiences of traveling to the area and warned us that she was not comfortable with the information provided to her. As a result of the misinformation Viking reimbursed our Visa cost as well as providing a generous credit toward a future trip.

 

The situation may have changed at the Odessa Airport since 2011, but I would be very wary. Odessa Airport was very lax...my wife and I cleared passport control in different lanes with our passports swapped.

 

 

 

It sounds like your problem in Istanbul stemmed from the folks in Odessa not being able to check your bags through to your final destination. We had a similar problem in Kiev with bags being checked only as far as our next stop. Is this SOP for the Kiev and Odessa airports? Or were we just lucky?

[Grandcruisevirgin]

Well, with only an hour and a half to conntect in Instanbul, I'm not risking getting stuck there. I thought Turkey was an EU country and didn't have a visa requirement? No matter, I'm not going there!

I'll be on the phone to Viking this afternoon to change this.

I may need to go home through IAD. There's a flight from Odessa to Munnich, then Munich to Dulles, at this point Dulles is looking better than getting stranded in Turkey! ;)

[silkismom]

Why aren't you taking advantage of the free night in Vienna, if you fly Austrian? Leaves Odessa about 3P-1hr flt--next morning 10:30 nonstop to IAD. Not sure how good Austrian is but it can't be much worse than UA or AA.

[TravelerThom]

Why aren't you taking advantage of the free night in Vienna, if you fly Austrian? Leaves Odessa about 3P-1hr flt--next morning 10:30 nonstop to IAD. Not sure how good Austrian is but it can't be much worse than UA or AA.

We did the Vienna overnight return from Odessa two years ago with comped hotel and breakfast and thought it was great. Dinner is on your own, but the S-Bahn rate for Seniors into Vienna is about US$3 for the 20 minute ride, and that includes anywhere in Vienna on the U-Bahn. I have flown Austrian several time [but not in the last two years] and their service was vastly superior to UA or AA. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

 

Thom

[Grandcruisevirgin]

Well, I changed my reservation and am now flying out of and back to Dulles.

Going there, I fly Lufthansa to Frankfurt, then Frankfurt to Kiev.

Coming back: Odessa to Vienna - on that 3:PM flight, then staying at the airport hotel and flying Vienna to Dulles on Oct. 4th.

I wonder why the hotel stay is not reflected on my latest itinerary? What's the name of the hotel? I guess I need to call again tomorrow, I'm done for the night.

So, Silkismom, it looks like we'll be together from start to finish, or at least what will be the last flight for me, I guess you will have one more from IAD west.

I still have a few months before I have to break the news to my boyfriend or son, about needing a ride to Dulles and back. :o

[Peregrina651]

I still have a few months before I have to break the news to my boyfriend or son, about needing a ride to Dulles and back. :o

 

Tell them now and maybe they'll go halfsies on a RT shuttle/limo ticket for your birthday. ;)

[TravelerThom]

... What's the name of the hotel?...

in 2011 we were accommodated at the NH Vienna Airport. It was about a 100 meter walk across the parking lot from the Terminal [which contains the S-Bahn to downtown (S-Bahn is about 4 minutes slower than the dedicated airport train, but much cheaper).

 

Thom

[silkismom]

Thank you Thom

[Kohola]

It sounds like your problem in Istanbul stemmed from the folks in Odessa not being able to check your bags through to your final destination. We had a similar problem in Kiev with bags being checked only as far as our next stop. Is this SOP for the Kiev and Odessa airports? Or were we just lucky?

 

If this happens at both Kiev and Odessa it appears that Homeland security is not comfortable with the screening resources available in the Ukraine. It would be nice to have input from more members to confirm this is the protocol so future travelers would know to allow enough time for retrieval and recheck of their luggage when returning from the trip.

Turkey does not have full membership status in the EU as of yet. Other countries in the area...Ukraine is too large for membership, Moldova too poor, Belarus too authoritarian, and Russia too scary;-).

Incidentally Peregrina, the 3 cousins I mentioned working on the Lomonosov are still fact there in the upper dining room which is probably why you didn't run across them.

[Peregrina651]

Incidentally Peregrina, the 3 cousins I mentioned working on the Lomonosov are still fact there in the upper dining room which is probably why you didn't run across them.

 

Bob, I must have missed them then because only one dining room was open on our cruise--or maybe they didn't join the ship until after our sailing. There were only about 120 people on board on our cruise (three buses worth) and they were working with only dining room. Even though we were a multilingual cruise, we were not segragted by language at meals--and a couple of nights we ended up sharing a table with some of the German-speaking passengers. I didn't mind; everyone was friendly even if language was a barrier.

[Peregrina651]

It would be nice to have input from more members to confirm this is the protocol so future travelers would know to allow enough time for retrieval and recheck of their luggage when returning from the trip.

 

LOL, I wish we had more people participating, too. There are times when it would be great to 'ask the audience' and get more than two or three responses. For now, two random responses are just not enough for drawing any reliable conclusions.

[altiva]

Well, I changed my reservation and am now flying out of and back to Dulles.

Going there, I fly Lufthansa to Frankfurt, then Frankfurt to Kiev.

Coming back: Odessa to Vienna - on that 3:PM flight, then staying at the airport hotel and flying Vienna to Dulles on Oct. 4th.

I wonder why the hotel stay is not reflected on my latest itinerary? What's the name of the hotel? I guess I need to call again tomorrow, I'm done for the night.

So, Silkismom, it looks like we'll be together from start to finish, or at least what will be the last flight for me, I guess you will have one more from IAD west.

I still have a few months before I have to break the news to my boyfriend or son, about needing a ride to Dulles and back. :o

 

You did well to change. By the way, Turkey is not in European Union, it's not even in Europe geographically. Last year some people I know flew from Istanbul to Odessa on Turkish airlines. It's about 1 hour 10 minutes flight, the same as to Kyiv. It was late for five hours. Turkish airlines representative in Odessa said that it was due to the strike of camel drivers. She said that they used camels to bring fuel to planes, and the cames along with the drivers went on strike. I am still not sure if it was a joke or not, but late they were. And, they are always late. When someone tells you " I am coming with Turkish airlines, meet me at the airport", you come to the airport about 2 hours later than it's scheduled. It will never arrive any earlier anyway. The closest to the schedule they arrived once, was 40 minutes late. Someone above talked about "lax" airport in Kyiv. Try Turkish airlines for real "laxness".

Edited December 10, 2012 by altiva

[altiva]

I would love to take this cruise, my dad was born in the Kiev area. I think Viking needs to look into a newer ship for the itinerary!

 

Why do you need to use Viking necessarily? Check "General Vatutin",

it does the same itinerary and is operated by a Ukrainian company. Viking is not even that competent in managing this route.

[Grandcruisevirgin]

Ukraine is on the path to EU membership.

 

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/european-parliament-criticizes-elections-in-ukraine-supports-kyiv-brussels-association-according-to-six-draft-resolutions-317396.html

 

The Kyiv Post is an excellent paper, by the way, I try to read the headlines every day.

[Peregrina651]

in 2011 we were accommodated at the NH Vienna Airport. It was about a 100 meter walk across the parking lot from the Terminal [which contains the S-Bahn to downtown (S-Bahn is about 4 minutes slower than the dedicated airport train, but much cheaper).

 

Thom

 

Thanks for the info. We are thinking that our next cruise is going to be the Danube from Budapest to Bucharest with some time in Vienna and Prague, so this is very helpful.

[altiva]

March of the Zaporozhian Cossacks

 

 

 

The cossack in front, smoking his pipe in battle is a kharacternyk

(on the photo, on the far right). A

kharacternyk is a cossack with special powers. He could do magic. You

could not kill him with a bullet. He could catch the bullets, shot at

him, with his bare hands, and throw it back at the enemy. If such a

bullet even skimmed you, you died on the spot. They could become

invisible, cure wounds, be in several places at the same time, breath

underwater, see future, come out dry from the water, find treasures.

It was also believed that you could kill a kharacternyk only with a

silver bullet to the heart, so they often lead in battles.

The first and most known and legendary kharacternyk is cossack Mamai.

After him, all great Ukrainian hetmans, were considered to be

kharacternyks.

[Peregrina651]

I just finished reading Jon Meacham's book Winston and Franklin (or is it vice versa). It covers the Yalta Conference at the Lividia Palace and it was kind of cool to have my own images of the palace-- in my head as read.

Edited December 22, 2012 by Peregrina651

[Peregrina651]

(Hmm! There was no digest delivered last night and there should have been. Must be a hiccup on the server. )

[silkismom]

What digest?

[Peregrina651]

What digest?

 

We learn something new every day. ;)

 

When you start posting to a thread, you are automatically 'subscribed' to that thread and you get a notification informing you of new posts on the thread. You can choose to have an instant notification (an e-mail that is sent to you just as soon as there is a new post), a daily digest (one e-mail per day which is compendium of all posts in the past 24 hours), a weekly digest (one e-mail with all the posts in the past week) or no notification at all.

 

I prefer to get a daily digest from the threads I subscribe to; it means that I don't have to actually go to the CC website to keep up with what is going on and I don't have to try to remember all the threads I am interested in following. It all comes to me automatically, all in one convenient place (my inbox so I can read it with my morning mail) and all at the same time each day.

 

You can manage your subscriptions in User CP which can be found in the CC page header. There you can see a list of all the threads you are subscribed to and you can use that list to delete threads you are no longer interested in or to change your notification settings. There is also a way to change your default notification setting (which I believe is instant notification) so that if you would prefer daily or weekly notifications for most threads you don't have to change it each time you add a new subscription.

[silkismom]

Now I understand, I've just been going to CP everytime I open CC--usually several times a day. I changed to the daily notification. Thanks and Merry Christmas!