Viking 'Footsteps of the Cossacks' (Ukraine)

[Peregrina651]

 

I'm thinking that if I go, I'm going to skip the Kiev extension. I'd have to hire a car and driver to get to the town where my maternal grandparents were from and i don't know if anything from 100 years ago would be left. :confused:

 

Well, you still have time to add the extension later if you are doing your flights through Viking, which if you can swing it, I say do it. As for heading out of town, we didn't either, mostly because as you said, we had no idea what would be left from 100 years ago. Still, we loved wandering around Kyiv and felt that the half day on the ship's itinerary just wasn't enough. In fact, we would have loved a three night extension.

 

Edited May 20, 2012 by Peregrina651

[Grandcruisevirgin]

It seems my printer was a printer/scanner/faxer after all!

 

So, here's what I scanned from the back of my grandparents' wedding picture. If anyone can read Russian, please let me know what it says.

 

I decided Viking is not getting paid tonight, it is more important to me to wait until my credit card billing cycle closes on May 26 or 27 than it is to get their $50 credit.

 

I'm leaning towards going at this time, had a chat with the boyfriend about me getting more vacation time per year than he does and my taking this trip alone next September doesn't bother him.

 

I did get my airfare from Viking, I'll decide about Kiev later.

[Grandcruisevirgin]

It should be something like this:

 

originally, Akiva Mulman was from Bratislava. In 1904-1905 he received

numerous awards on international exhibitions in Florence, London and

Paris, the award for "Special Achievements" from Imperial Technical

society and more. But the most interesting thing is, that somewhere in

1915 Mr Mulman received a title of "The personal courtier photographer

of his highness Shah of Persia"! I felt it would be the photographer

of shah of Persia.

 

That is definitiely it! Unbelievable that my grandparents were photographed by someone who would go on to become the personal photographer of the Shah of Persia!

Thank you so much! Can you make out the address in the lower right? I want to go there even though it's probably not a photo shop any longer.

[altiva]

It seems my printer was a printer/scanner/faxer after all!

 

So, here's what I scanned from the back of my grandparents' wedding picture. If anyone can read Russian, please let me know what it says.

 

I decided Viking is not getting paid tonight, it is more important to me to wait until my credit card billing cycle closes on May 26 or 27 than it is to get their $50 credit.

 

I'm leaning towards going at this time, had a chat with the boyfriend about me getting more vacation time per year than he does and my taking this trip alone next September doesn't bother him.

 

I did get my airfare from Viking, I'll decide about Kiev later.

 

hi Grandcruisevirgin,

please, read my posts on the previous page! :)

[altiva]

hi, people, Odessa Opera House programme for June arrived!

It's here

 

http://opera.odessa.ua/ru/repertuar/tekuschiy-repertuar/?date=201206

 

and here

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1261914&page=6

 

Needless to say, there is NO Lucia di Lammermoor on June 10!

Instead, they have June 10 - Giacomo Puccini - Madame Butterfly.

[altiva]

That is definitiely it! Unbelievable that my grandparents were photographed by someone who would go on to become the personal photographer of the Shah of Persia!

Thank you so much! Can you make out the address in the lower right? I want to go there even though it's probably not a photo shop any longer.

 

hi Grandcruisevirgin, sorry, I did not see your last post.

The whole inscription says:

Photography K. Mulman

In Odessa

Preobrazhenskaya street - corner of Uspenskaya street, building n 58

The rest is too small. If you scan just the corner, to see more.

On his other passe-partouts, he says that he is in building n 60. He

must have rented his office, and moved around a little. Or does yours

says "68"? Because, in later years, number 60 became 68.

[altiva]

Mohammad Ali lived in Odessa from 1909 to 19111, and then till 1920,

and afterwards he moved to Istanbul, and then to Italy, where he

died.

In Odessa, Mohammad Ali rented a whimsical house, which was built for

a rich merchant called Brzhozovsky. The house is built like a Norman

castle, but it's called, till nowadays, Palace of Shah.

[Grandcruisevirgin]

hi Grandcruisevirgin, sorry, I did not see your last post.

The whole inscription says:

Photography K. Mulman

In Odessa

Preobrazhenskaya street - corner of Uspenskaya street, building n 58

The rest is too small. If you scan just the corner, to see more.

On his other passe-partouts, he says that he is in building n 60. He

must have rented his office, and moved around a little. Or does yours

says "68"? Because, in later years, number 60 became 68.

 

It's definitely 68. (Just wondering what that could possibly mean - 'in later years.')

With my father born in 1912 and his brother the year before, I'm 'guesstimating' my grandparents wedding year as approximately 1910.

 

I met someone from the State Department today, who was just stationed in Ukraine for 2 years. I decided that was fate - I'd ask him what he thought of me going to Ukraine by myself, didn't tell him how old I was, but he could look at me and make his own judgement, told him that I would be picked up in Kiev, put on the ship, that I wouldn't wander off the tour, and that I'd be taken to the airport in Odessa, mentioned Viking specifically - and if he told me that he thought it wasn't safe, I'd cancel. Instead he told me that his parents, who are in their 70s came to visit him while he was there and they went off by themselves from Kiev to Odessa, without a tour and did fine on their own.

 

So, I'm going! I'm going to call Viking next Monday or Tuesday - I like to cut things close! - and charge the balance and - more good fortune or fate (you be the judge) - a brochure arrived in the mail today from a travel insurance company, so I'm going to call them and compare them to American Express, although I'm leaning towards using American Express.

 

So: I will be going to Ukraine 99 years after my grandparents left and I will be the first person in the family to go back there.

 

I'm going to think about using google earth to find the address of the photo shop, not sure I want to look at it right away though, and may look into finding a historian/geneologist to meet me during the free time I'll have in Odessa.

 

Looking forward to this. There's no need to tell my son about this yet, he wanted me to cancel, but since the State Department man told me there's very little street crime, I'll break it to my son when the time is right, and I have a year and 4 months to get ready! :)

[Peregrina651]

 

I met someone from the State Department today, who was just stationed in Ukraine for 2 years. I decided that was fate - I'd ask him what he thought of me going to Ukraine by myself, didn't tell him how old I was, but he could look at me and make his own judgement, told him that I would be picked up in Kiev, put on the ship, that I wouldn't wander off the tour, and that I'd be taken to the airport in Odessa, mentioned Viking specifically - and if he told me that he thought it wasn't safe, I'd cancel. Instead he told me that his parents, who are in their 70s came to visit him while he was there and they went off by themselves from Kiev to Odessa, without a tour and did fine on their own.

 

I have never felt so safe wandering around. NYC is freakier; Rome is the only city where we have actually had someone try to pick our pockets. In Kyiv and Odessa, you really only see a very small area of the city--like going to NYC and just hitting midtown Manhattan without ever getting to Brooklyn, Bronx or Queens (you really don't see much of a vast city). Everything you want to see in any of the cities is in a compact area and you don't really get out into the residential neighborhoods unless you get into a cab or onto a trolley and go. The areas accessible by foot from the ship (or from the Radisson Blu), were all middle to upperclass neighborhoods. The docks are all in nice, well-kept areas and going to and fro is anything but creepy, even at night. The street vendors were outgoing and friendly but never got nasty when you walked on without buying. Yes, a little pushy at times but that is understandable since they are trying to make a living. From what we experienced, a single woman traveling alone could do far worse for choice of destinations.

[Peregrina651]

I've just started to sort pictures. Since this thread is about the ship itself and the details of the cruise, I thought I would post pictures of the ship right on the thread. In case the picture doesn't show up below, I'll add a link to my 'Footsteps of the Cossacks' site and promise that over the next few days I will be adding more pictures.

 

Cabin 337 is a standard cabin on the middle deck, category C. It has Pullman beds (narrower than a regular twin) and a yacht-style shower. There is A/C in the room which kept us comfortable--and we like it on the cool side. There is a TV, which we never once turned on, but no phones in the rooms. Wake up calls are done the old-fashion way, a knock on the door.

 

Edit--yup, I was right, I can't link to an image on S'fly, so there is no picture and I will have to try again later using a different site for posting the picture. I don't want to post it directly to CC because it is a huge image.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2012 by Peregrina651

[Peregrina651]

Okay, let's try this again. Welcome to Cabin 337.

 

 

[Grandcruisevirgin]

Looks comfy! Is it possible that the single cabins are larger than the standard doubles? I think the website or the brochure shows them as having more square feet.

 

I can't wait to see more pictures. I'm definitely getting a new camera before my trip!

[travelling fools]

Cabin 337 is a standard cabin on the middle deck, category C. It has Pullman beds (narrower than a regular twin) and a yacht-style shower. There is A/C in the room which kept us comfortable--and we like it on the cool side. There is a TV, which we never once turned on, but no phones in the rooms. Wake up calls are done the old-fashion way, a knock on the door.

 

Edit--yup, I was right, I can't link to an image on S'fly, so there is no picture and I will have to try again later using a different site for posting the picture. I don't want to post it directly to CC because it is a huge image. [/color][/font]

 

 

 

 

 

I was able to see all of the 9 cabin photos from this one.Thank you !

Ours is a little smaller than that as I think we are one deck below you in D category as that was all that was left.Yours was 107 and ours is 93 sq ft.But we do not plan to spend alot of time in it anyway.

[loum140]

Peregrina651: Just wondering -- is there a movie channel on the TV? Or just news, sports, etc.? How were the evening activities? Thanks for reminding us about the wake-up "knocks". We're bringing a small travel clock, as well as a travel coffee mug. What optional excursions did you take and were they interesting? Marsha

[Peregrina651]

Peregrina651: Just wondering -- is there a movie channel on the TV? Or just news, sports, etc.? How were the evening activities? Thanks for reminding us about the wake-up "knocks". We're bringing a small travel clock, as well as a travel coffee mug. What optional excursions did you take and were they interesting? Marsha

 

Marsha, I gotta tell you, I have no idea what was on the TV. We never turned it on the whole time we were there. As for a travel mug, don't bother. There is a coffee station just down the hall that is available 24/7--and you don't have to wash the mug.

 

Evening activities were fun. There was a 3 piece band on the ship who played most nights in one of the bars (but we never went to listen to them, mostly because we were asleep already). There was a crew talent show one night, a vodka tasting ($$), a Ukrainian music concert and maybe a lecture or two (but I don't remember off hand). In Odessa, Kyiv, Sevastopol and Yalta, you can leave the ship to check out the night life. We went to the opera in Odessa and promenaded along the strand in Yalta. But, most of the nights, we just crashed.

 

T'Fools, there are more pictures coming. Have your TA check as the cruise gets closer to see if any cabins have opened up in the category you wanted or at least in a higher category. You will probably have to pay for the upgrade but it is what you wanted in the first place. There are always last minute cancellations (even of full paid bookings) and it can't hurt to keep asking.

 

GVC, I was looking at my b-i-l's Nikon super zoom this weekend and I am definitely suffering from camera-envy. It is not a DSLR but the little I saw was, well, enviable. It is lighter than my DSLR+lens, has more zoom (to 800mm, I think he said). He reports great battery life (maybe because it doesn't have to keep retracting the lens??).

 

Optional excursions:

Opera in Odessa (530UAH pp) -- As opera lovers, we loved sitting through Don Giovanni--even though it was 3+ hours long. I am sure that we over-paid for back of balcony seats--and that we could have gone to the box office ourselves and gotten the tickets for much cheaper. However, we paid the Viking price to avoid the hassle of trying to buy tickets in a foreign language and to avoid having to arrange for transportation. Going with Viking, Viking took care of all the details --including finding the time to buy the tickets. On the other hand, I expected much, much better seating options from Viking so don't get me started on just how lousy our seats were. Super-titles are in Cyrillic (yes, just stating the obvious) but at least we were give a synopsis of the opera. (BTW, folks who went to the ballet the next night reported much better seating on the floor--and it wasn't as long as the opera either.)

 

Jewish Odessa (???UAH pp)-- Interesting tour but since it was done on a Saturday we could not go into any of the synagogues. According to the itinerary we received with our docs, that tour was scheduled for Friday afternoon but for some reason, the schedule was changed to do both included tours on Friday and the optional tours on Saturday. (Guide: local)

 

Chersonese (325 UAH pp) -- AMAZING but far too short. I'm a sucker for the antiquities, especially if you throw in a theater. However, we really didn't have any time to investigate the theater or to wonder off on our own. The tour includes a visit to the newly built St. Vladimir's Temple (don't ask me about it because I was too busy soaking in all the details and taking pictures to remember a word that Natasha told us about the building or why it was built in this location). The interiors are not to be missed; I wish I had a better visual memory because no pictures were allowed inside. Ladies, bring a head covering. (Guide: Natasha)

 

Black Sea Fleet Band (530 UAHpp) -- WAY, WAY, WAY overpriced. The dancers were the best of the lot. The singers were okay but there was no program so you had NO IDEA what they were singing about--a teaching moment gone to waste. The Russian folkloric show we saw when we were StP a few years back was much, much better. Afterwards, they were selling BSF Band CDs for $15 or $20 a pop--again, way overpriced. If you want local music, get the CD that the ship's trio sells. IMHO, don't waste your money; take a stroll along the strand or check out what is playing at the theater or check out a local bar.

 

Vodka Tasting (150 UAH pp) -- What a fun, fun hour and a half!! You toast, you taste, you sing and laugh out loud--and you get to sample 6 different Ukrainian vodkas. Don't eat the onions! You will be unapproachable for days.

 

These are the only optionals that we did. Also, go back to my earlier posts during the cruise because I may already have made other comments about the tours.

 

[Peregrina651]

Looks comfy! Is it possible that the single cabins are larger than the standard doubles? I think the website or the brochure shows them as having more square feet.

!

I just checked the website and they are basically the same size as the standard C rooms but bigger than the standard D.

[travelling fools]

T'Fools, there are more pictures coming.

 

 

Looking forward to them.

[travelling fools]

I know I saw it somewhere but cannot find it.

Cash or can you use credit card?

[Peregrina651]

I know I saw it somewhere but cannot find it.

Cash or can you use credit card?

 

TF, the answer is both.

 

Here is how we ended up doing it, which might be more helpful than a simple yes/no. We charged the recommended amount per day per person for the entire crew on our credit card (BTW, your cc will be charged in UAH for your shipboard purchases--and once you close your account 24 hours before disembarkation, you will have to use UAH or credit card for any further transactions).

 

There was a lot of confusion whether our guide was included in the crew's divvy of the pot; we really had trouble getting a straight answer and were told at one point that the information in the itinerary booklet is wrong. In the end, we reduced the amount we gave our guide in cash feeling (but not knowing) that as we had been told, the guide would be included in the ship's divvy. We also gave a cash tip to the driver (not based on the the few hours that we actually used the bus but based on the idea that he was with us 24/7 since he drove the bus from place to place as we sailed). Finally, we also gave additional cash tips to a couple of individual members of the dining room staff.

 

Guide, driver (not included in the crew divvy of the pot)and extras were given in UAH not USD and we had to scramble to get the cash. My advice, start thinking about tips on Day 1 so that you can start to set aside cash for tips as you go from town to town.

 

We went through a lot of cash on this trip, which we got from the ATMs starting at the airport. We paid for most everything with cash and rarely used our credit card.

 

Also, when you use the ATMs stick to the choices given on the screen. Our attempts to get more than what was shown inevitably failed.

[travelling fools]

TF, the answer is both.

 

Here is how we ended up doing it, which might be more helpful than a simple yes/no. We charged the recommended amount per day per person for the entire crew on our credit card (BTW, your cc will be charged in UAH for your shipboard purchases--and once you close your account 24 hours before disembarkation, you will have to use UAH or credit card for any further transactions).

 

There was a lot of confusion whether our guide was included in the crew's divvy of the pot; we really had trouble getting a straight answer and were told at one point that the information in the itinerary booklet is wrong. In the end, we reduced the amount we gave our guide in cash feeling (but not knowing) that as we had been told, the guide would be included in the ship's divvy. We also gave a cash tip to the driver (not based on the the few hours that we actually used the bus but based on the idea that he was with us 24/7 since he drove the bus from place to place as we sailed). Finally, we also gave additional cash tips to a couple of individual members of the dining room staff.

 

Guide, driver (not included in the crew divvy of the pot)and extras were given in UAH not USD and we had to scramble to get the cash. My advice, start thinking about tips on Day 1 so that you can start to set aside cash for tips as you go from town to town.

 

We went through a lot of cash on this trip, which we got from the ATMs starting at the airport. We paid for most everything with cash and rarely used our credit card.

 

Also, when you use the ATMs stick to the choices given on the screen. Our attempts to get more than what was shown inevitably failed.

 

Thank you.Did you use more USA or UAH or Euro?

[sitraveler]

We leave for our trip a week from today.

 

When you posted you went through a lot of cash, what was it for?

 

I know souvenirs, daily tips to local guides, and such are not included.

Viking optionals and on board expenses get charged, right?

 

Thanks for all the great info.

[altiva]

It's definitely 68. (Just wondering what that could possibly mean - 'in later years.')

With my father born in 1912 and his brother the year before, I'm 'guesstimating' my grandparents wedding year as approximately 1910.

 

I met someone from the State Department today, who was just stationed in Ukraine for 2 years. I decided that was fate - I'd ask him what he thought of me going to Ukraine by myself, didn't tell him how old I was, but he could look at me and make his own judgement, told him that I would be picked up in Kiev, put on the ship, that I wouldn't wander off the tour, and that I'd be taken to the airport in Odessa, mentioned Viking specifically - and if he told me that he thought it wasn't safe, I'd cancel. Instead he told me that his parents, who are in their 70s came to visit him while he was there and they went off by themselves from Kiev to Odessa, without a tour and did fine on their own.

 

So, I'm going! I'm going to call Viking next Monday or Tuesday - I like to cut things close! - and charge the balance and - more good fortune or fate (you be the judge) - a brochure arrived in the mail today from a travel insurance company, so I'm going to call them and compare them to American Express, although I'm leaning towards using American Express.

 

So: I will be going to Ukraine 99 years after my grandparents left and I will be the first person in the family to go back there.

 

I'm going to think about using google earth to find the address of the photo shop, not sure I want to look at it right away though, and may look into finding a historian/geneologist to meet me during the free time I'll have in Odessa.

 

Looking forward to this. There's no need to tell my son about this yet, he wanted me to cancel, but since the State Department man told me there's very little street crime, I'll break it to my son when the time is right, and I have a year and 4 months to get ready! :)

 

sorry I didn't answer before, I was very busy.

in the Odessa Yellow pages edition of 1902-1903 Mulman photography

studio address is Preobrazhenskaya 60. On passepartouts of 1905,

it's already 68. So, the re-numbering happened somewhere in between.

The passepartouts show his phone number, too, it was 9/51.

Today, this building still exists. Now, it houses "Odessa karavai" (a

chain of little shops that sells bread, baked goods and pastry), a

hairdressers salon and a souvenirs shop called "Yarmarok", which

means "market" in Ukrainian (they have very cute things, but mostly

pottery and such, not easy to bring back home, but check it anyway.

68 Preobrazhenskaya street, where Mulman used to have his photo

studio:

 

 

 

Uspensky (Assumption) cathedral is next door to it:

 

[altiva]

And here is Odessa archive - it's situated in a former Brodsky

synagogue.

 

[Peregrina651]

Thank you.Did you use more USA or UAH or Euro?

 

Only UAH. No dollars. No euros. Some street vendors may have taken the other two currencies but we still used only UAH.

[Peregrina651]

We leave for our trip a week from today.

 

When you posted you went through a lot of cash, what was it for?

 

I know souvenirs, daily tips to local guides, and such are not included.

Viking optionals and on board expenses get charged, right?

 

Thanks for all the great info.

 

I confess to being a shopper--post cards, an occasional guide book, souvenirs (especially the hand painted plates which I fell in love with) plus we tipped our bus driver, guide and a couple of the wait staff in cash. Also, we had two nights on our own in Kiev and had to pay for lunches and dinners. (Fortunately, there is only so much space in two roll-aboard suitcases and two 'personal' items, so my shopping was severely curtailed.)

 

There was only one local guide that we encountered. The rest of the tours, were conducted by our regular guide who traveled with us on the ship and was tipped at the end.

 

Anything we purchased on the ship (optional tours, bar, gift shop) was charged to our shipboard account and then we paid using a credit card. The ship operates entirely in UAH so there is no converting back and forth from one currency to another. Your credit card will be charged in UAH and converted by the bank at the going rate (plus any fees and charges your cardholder makes for foreign transactions).

 

There is no purser on board the ship. You cannot exchange money on board and you cannot break larger bills.