Viking Sun World Cruise ongoing review/comments

[Eaches]

Geez, had lots o wine with Chef Eric. Now have to plan for lots more at Kitchen Table dinner tonight.[emoji33][emoji483][emoji322][emoji41]

 

 

 

A wine lunch will get you ready for your special dinner tonight !

 

 

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[Jim Avery]

And just delivered to our cabin is a very nice Birthday Cake and bottle of Champagne compliments of Viking.:bottle-pop: Very nice of them. I guess when they do something with your passport every few days, they know your birthday.:cool:

[SantaFe1]

Happy Birthday!

 

And a question (though probably not for Jim) After four months at sea, how is the salon. I am wondering what to do for our 2019WC. My specific question, if anyone has experience, is how are the color services? Do you think it best to just bring the color from home, or is the stuff on the ship adequate?

[Eaches]

And just delivered to our cabin is a very nice Birthday Cake and bottle of Champagne compliments of Viking.:bottle-pop: Very nice of them. I guess when they do something with your passport every few days, they know your birthday.:cool:

 

 

Jim

A Big Happy Birthday to You ! and Many More !

 

 

 

 

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[georose]

I am enjoying your posts, Jim Avery. Sure liking the idea of hiring a taxi for a tour. Have you tried the idea of asking the driver to take you where he lives? To visit his family, neighbourhood?

[Jim Avery]

I am enjoying your posts, Jim Avery. Sure liking the idea of hiring a taxi for a tour. Have you tried the idea of asking the driver to take you where he lives? To visit his family, neighbourhood?

Actually, no. If a stranger asked me to take him home with me I would refuse. I would expect a driver to tell me the same. Seems a bit pushy to me.:cool:

[Nippy Sweetie]

I agree. Taxi drivers' families are not some sort of tourist destination.

[Celebrate34747]

Dear Jim:

Thank you so much for sharing your posts. I'm glad your "off the Viking grid" private tour turned out well. I 'm still nervous about being left behind. We will be on 2019 WC.

[Wants to cruise]

Happy Birthday!

 

And a question (though probably not for Jim) After four months at sea, how is the salon. I am wondering what to do for our 2019WC. My specific question, if anyone has experience, is how are the color services? Do you think it best to just bring the color from home, or is the stuff on the ship adequate?

 

My wife and I are on the 2019WC and she would be very interested in the answer to this question! from anyone who has used there services. Thx for all the great postings from the current WC!

[Wagnerite]

Happy Birthday!

 

And a question (though probably not for Jim) After four months at sea, how is the salon. I am wondering what to do for our 2019WC. My specific question, if anyone has experience, is how are the color services? Do you think it best to just bring the color from home, or is the stuff on the ship adequate?

 

The price is extremely high IMHO! It's twice what my wife and I pay at home and we brought our own products. The results were adequate I suppose as nobody seemed to be laughing at us.

 

That's part of the down side of cruising. We are never anywhere long enough to go to a decent place. If I did it again, perhaps shaved head and wigs would be the way to go?

 

Some people went for $9 cuts in some random places. I'm not sure that I would go that route. When we lived abroad, we went to the place where the ambassadors and their wives did. It was quite a bit more than on the street, but less than back in the US.

 

At least alcohol on viking is quite reasonably priced so we can drink after looking at ourselves in the mirror!

[Wagnerite]

Jim

A Big Happy Birthday to You ! and Many More !

 

 

 

 

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Happy Birthday Jim. After 130 daze(!) you are the first person I heard of with a birthday, except Lorena, whose might have been same as you.

[Wagnerite]

Due to the political situation in Tunisia, our World Cruiseis skipping the port of Tunis. Instead,we were given extra time and an overnight in Valletta, Malta. I had thought of Malta as a “secondaryattraction,” worth no more than a day or so, but I still felt it would be niceto have an evening in a city so that we might dine in a restaurant and escapethe ship for a meal.

We had originally signed up for the included excursion, butI found out that we would be docked close to the town and that it was smallenough to navigate on foot, so I cancelled the tour and did a bit of researchso that we would be ready to go soon after docking.

The sail in was rather beautiful as we could see the OldTown of Valletta with its medieval buildings shining in the sun. As we passed the Cruise Ship Terminal, I wonderedif we were going to dock across the water, at the container port, but we werejust turning around to come into the dock on our port side and we wound upright under the town!

Once the tour groups were off the ship, we went out to dosome exploration around Valletta. I hadthe area map and had done some research as to what were the most significantplaces to visit, so I figured we’d be OK.

NO shuttle buses were allowed in the port, but it was just ashort walk to the place where taxis, horse carts and hop on, hop off buses werelocated. Even better was the elevatorinto town that was just five minutes further from the port.

The elevator costs a euro to go up but is free whendescending. We had a short wait in lineto buy tickets but then were quickly transported to the Upper Barrakka Gardens,from where we had a great view of the harbor and the Salute Guns, which arefired off each day at noon. There is arefreshment café, the War Rooms Museum and a number of statues and monuments.

Just a couple of minutes away was the church of Our Lady ofVictories, the oldest building in Malta, built in 1566. It wasn’t ornate, but it is impressive forits having survived for so long.

Probably the most visited site in Valletta is St. John’sco-Cathedral so we strolled up Republic Street to check it out. We found out that a “co-cathedral” is onethat shares a bishopric see with another cathedral. This one was built in the 16thcentury and is said to be a masterpiece of Baroque art and architecture. Dedicated to St. John the Baptist, it islarge and ornate with amazing decorations and a great deal of art work,including two Caravaggio paintings. Itwas built as the church for the Knights of St. John. During our hour-long visit, we used the audioguides to try to make some sense out of what we were seeing, but we probablydidn’t retain much of the commentary. Still it was quite an impressive sight and compares favorably with themany other cathedrals that we have felt it was our duty to visit over theyears.

One of the things we enjoy in Europe is eating at an outdoorcafé and watching the people go by. Right outside the co-cathedral is a square with several cafes so Caroland I took a break for lunch. We split aMargherita pizza and I had a local Cisk beer. The pizza was ok, and they even served it on two plates, though wewouldn’t have minded sharing from one plate. The usual mix of locals and tourists went by. I like to note that my stomach isn’t nearlyas huge as many who walk by, especially the ones who were on one of the fourcruise ships that were in port!

Soon after we were seated, a man wheeled a small uprightpiano in front of the café and began to play. It was nice to have free music with lunch! I did, of course put a euro into his hat ashe was not doing this for practice.

As we had a day and a half in Valletta, we decided to dosome walking and exploring to see what we could see and to find a restaurantfor dinner. The food on the ship is OKbut gets so boring! It is just nice tobe able to sit in a restaurant where neither the other diners nor the staffknows you. Our crew on the Viking Sun ifwonderful but it’s not all bad to be served by a complete stranger.

I had heard of the Baroque theatre, Teatru Monoel and guidedus over to see it. Unfortunately, it wasafternoon and the tours are only given in the morning. I made a plan to return the next day so thatwe could take the tour.

We then wandered past one of the restaurants I had comeacross in my internet search and we looked at it. It seemed like a possibility, but Carolthought it might be best to check out other places before committing.

Next on our list of sights was the Grandmasters Palace. Built in 1571, it has been the administrativeseat of Malta for centuries. It was thecenter of government for the Knights Hospitallers of St. John, a medievalCatholic order that ruled Malta for nearly three centuries.

The two rooms that we visited had a large collection of armsand armor. A knight was very well protected,but the armor was extremely heavy and must have limited his mobility.

After the palace, we started to wend our way back to theship, first taking a look at Il Horza, another restaurant mentioned in manyonline reviews. It is located in a smallstreet, not far from the waterfront but we were able to locate it. It is a charming little place, with only 24seats. After a glance at the menu, wedecided to book a table for dinner.

On the way back to the ship, we stopped at the LowerBarrakka Garden, which commands a good view of the harbor. It contains the Siege Bell, which was erectedto honor those who died in the siege of Malta during World War II. It is only rung at noon and we were,apparently, too far away to hear it tolling at that time.

It looked like a straight walk along the coast from theLower Barrakka Gardens to the Upper Barrakka Gardens on the way back to theport, but the road twisted and turned until we were faced with a steep stonestaircase. There didn’t seem to be anyway around it, so up we went. Althoughthere were no hand rails, we managed to reach the top and then back into theUpper Barrakka Gardens where we found the elevator down to port level andwalked back to the ship.

The elevator came up full but only two other people joinedus for the trip down. When we got there,we noticed a considerable line waiting to go up. There were a couple of other cruise ships inport with a few thousand passengers trying to see the sights. We were glad that we started early!

Our restaurant only opened for dinner at 7:30, which is latefor us these days. We tend to eat at6:00, when the ship’s restaurants open. At least we had time to rest, get cleaned up and changed, and have adrink while listening to Ferry, the Resident Pianist, play a set, beforeleaving for dinner.

Taxis in Malta don’t seem to have a meter, so you have tonegotiate. We actually just jumped intothe first one we saw and, only asked the fare after we had told him thedestination. 15 Euro was no doubt high,but how much better were we going to do and there is a psychic cost to tryingto get a cheaper fare.

The driver was pleasant enough but wound up letting us offat a corner because he said it would be difficult to go around the block on a one-waystreet. It was no big deal to us, butthen it turned out that the restaurant was actually the right way! He offered to let us back in, but we decidedjust to walk the short block.

When we arrived, the young woman who had taken our bookingwas sitting on the curb with another young woman, who had spikey hair, a sleevetattoo and various piercings. Theyinformed us that the chef-owner had forgotten the key and would be back to letus in. When I asked about therestaurant’s name, she told me it meant “the well” and, once we got inside, sheshowed us the well down in the cellar. We could have sat there but Carol preferred upstairs.

We had seen the menu so had a good idea of what we wouldorder: mixed antipasto for two; braised rabbit and a ribeye. The steak was quite good, and the rabbit wasOK, just a bit dry. We had a bottle ofMaltese wine, a blend of cabernet franc and Syrah, which was quite palatable.

There was a French couple dining downstairs and a hip femaleparty of four having a birthday celebration. The hostess/waitress knew them as she hugged them and spoke in Malteseand they helped themselves to wine and answered the phone.

We got the hostess to call us a cab and this one onlycharged 11 euros. I long for the days of meters in taxis! He dropped us a bit past the cruise terminal,but it didn’t matter as it was locked up tight. There was a sign telling us to go to Security Gate and, together with afew other passengers, we found it and got back to the ship.

For our final hours in Valletta, I planned the tour of theTeatru Manoel and hoped to get a Maltese pastry on the way. After getting dressed, Carol and I had aquick coffee downstairs in the Viking Bar, then walked to the theater, againvia the elevator.

We arrived on the dot of 9:30. The doors were not yet open,and another couple was waiting to get in. They were from Salzburg, Austria and had very little English. We Americans are spoiled since English is nowthe universal language and the tour would be in English.

As it happens, the woman who gave the tour not only had someGerman, but also had a German script for the tour so she gave the talk in bothlanguages, sometimes starting in English and sometimes in German. I understood quite a bit of the German justfrom some words I have picked up during our travel, but it would have beendifficult to follow a complete tour in that language.

The theater is a real jewel box, built in 1731, by order ofGrandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller Fra Antonio Manoel de Vilhena. It has only about 650 seats and was recentlyrenovated. Now it contains temporarychairs but there are plans for permanent seats to be installed within the nextyear.

The theater is made of wood with gold leaf adorning theboxes and a trompe l-oeil ceiling that looks like a dome but is really flat.

The “tour” was actually a talk as we sat in the auditoriumand didn’t see the stage or the backstage rooms. Unfortunately, our cruise was departingbefore we could see a performance. Wemissed a piano and violin concert honoring Claude Debussy. Such is the way of cruising!

On the way back to the ship, we tried to find coffee and apastry, but the best we were able to do was some heavy qassatat, thick roundpastries filled with baked ricotta or mashed pea puree! Next time perhaps we can find something flakyand sweet!

Our time in Valletta was enjoyable and we would not rule outreturning some day when there was an opera at the Manoel. Three or four days would be a nice amount oftime to see the sights and enjoy the ambience.

 

 

Took some pix but can never get them to post. So far for me, I'd say Valletta is the high spot, not counting the places where we have been so many times. Singapore, Saigon, and Hong Kong are a different sort of experience as we didn't have to do any sightseeing, just wandering and eating in some of our favorite restaurants. Valletta was a chance to explore and, together with Sydney, are the places we would most likely return

[Geosez]

Thank you, Wagnerite. Lovely report on your time in Valletta!

[Nippy Sweetie]

Valletta is indeed lovely. Do go back to Malta though. The old citadel 'the silent city' is one of life's 'must sees'. The church which survived the bomb through the roof is also fascinating. If you stay longer it's worth making the trip to the little island of Gozo too.

I sound like the Malta tourist board but I just like the place!

[stretchcruz]

Was there a severe list last night when the Sun was avoiding a fishing boat? Things broken?

[Jim Avery]

Was there a severe list last night when the Sun was avoiding a fishing boat? Things broken?

At sunset after leaving Algiers, a small (maybe 20 meters) fishing boat on our starboard side made a turn toward our bows. The watch on the bridge made a hard turn to port to miss the fishing boat causing a roll to starboard. We were in the private room at Manfredi's and there was a lot of crashing followed by a river of red wine into the private room. The carpet was the main casualty but was cleaned later. I heard from other passengers that the scene in the Trough (World Cafe) was ugly with food trays, etc. hitting the deck. I have no knowledge of any personnel or passenger injuries. And that's all I know about that. :cool: Had a great stop in Cartagena yesterday and are docked in Malaga at present. More later. Breakfast just arrived.;p

[Eaches]

At sunset after leaving Algiers, a small (maybe 20 meters) fishing boat on our starboard side made a turn toward our bows. The watch on the bridge made a hard turn to port to miss the fishing boat causing a roll to starboard. We were in the private room at Manfredi's and there was a lot of crashing followed by a river of red wine into the private room. The carpet was the main casualty but was cleaned later. I heard from other passengers that the scene in the Trough (World Cafe) was ugly with food trays, etc. hitting the deck. I have no knowledge of any personnel or passenger injuries. And that's all I know about that. :cool: Had a great stop in Cartagena yesterday and are docked in Malaga at present. More later. Breakfast just arrived.;p

 

 

 

Moon over Malaga this morning

 

 

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[stretchcruz]

Beautiful pictures! And I am glad that all onboard are ok.

[Eaches]

Beautiful pictures! And I am glad that all onboard are ok.

 

 

 

We where in the main restaurant when the ship did it’s movements - a lot of glass breaking and the wine bottles when for a ride but all is good and that’s one Lucky Fisherman !

 

 

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[Eaches]

At sunset after leaving Algiers, a small (maybe 20 meters) fishing boat on our starboard side made a turn toward our bows. The watch on the bridge made a hard turn to port to miss the fishing boat causing a roll to starboard. We were in the private room at Manfredi's and there was a lot of crashing followed by a river of red wine into the private room. The carpet was the main casualty but was cleaned later. I heard from other passengers that the scene in the Trough (World Cafe) was ugly with food trays, etc. hitting the deck. I have no knowledge of any personnel or passenger injuries. And that's all I know about that. :cool: Had a great stop in Cartagena yesterday and are docked in Malaga at present. More later. Breakfast just arrived.;p

 

 

 

We had dinner last night in Manfredi’s and you couldn’t see that anything happened . I want those rug cleaners to come to my house . No stains or smells noticeable.

 

 

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[Jim Avery]

We had a great day today in Malaga. Spectacularly beautiful architecture and friendly people. But first, yesterday we were in Cartagena. Docked right at the town center and a short walk to the pedestrian only shopping/restaurant zone. What appeared to be travertine and granite pavers in all the pedestrian areas were beautifully done. We managed to see the partly restored Roman Theatre and Museum along with the excavated Roman Baths area. Found a great little restaurant that specialized in local hams. Had 2 types of ham, two types of local cheeses, fresh crusty bread with olive oil and vinegar, along with two beers all for 15 Euros. Just for fun on the way back we stopped at a waterfront pub for fish & chips with more beer while overlooking our floating home. After all that eating we had room service salads and a movie to cap a really nice day. Back to Malaga. We surely wish for more time in this spectacular city. So much to see and do that we barely scratched the surface. Lots of walking in the pedestrian zones admiring the incredible buildings, including a horse and buggy ride past the Plaza de Toros, parks, and the city beach, and found some Mexican food! Tacos and Quesadillas. Not surprisingly, several of our crew were there also. Good stuff, not what we are used to but good nonetheless. The shuttle bus situation was a bit bonkers with 3 ships in at the port so we walked back to the ship. Less waiting that way. A perfect sunny, breezy, Spring day in Spain.:cool: We are due to sail at 6pm so we probably will not see the Rock of Gibraltar unless the moon is bright. Partly cloudy at the moment. Shockingly, tonight we sail for our LAST PORT before being tossed off in London! Can't believe it is rapidly winding down. One sea day, Porto Portugal, two more sea days and arrive in London on the 4th to be dragged off early on the 5th. A fantastic journey for sure.:cool:

[Eaches]

We had a great day today in Malaga. Spectacularly beautiful architecture and friendly people. But first, yesterday we were in Cartagena. Docked right at the town center and a short walk to the pedestrian only shopping/restaurant zone. What appeared to be travertine and granite pavers in all the pedestrian areas were beautifully done. We managed to see the partly restored Roman Theatre and Museum along with the excavated Roman Baths area. Found a great little restaurant that specialized in local hams. Had 2 types of ham, two types of local cheeses, fresh crusty bread with olive oil and vinegar, along with two beers all for 15 Euros. Just for fun on the way back we stopped at a waterfront pub for fish & chips with more beer while overlooking our floating home. After all that eating we had room service salads and a movie to cap a really nice day. Back to Malaga. We surely wish for more time in this spectacular city. So much to see and do that we barely scratched the surface. Lots of walking in the pedestrian zones admiring the incredible buildings, including a horse and buggy ride past the Plaza de Toros, parks, and the city beach, and found some Mexican food! Tacos and Quesadillas. Not surprisingly, several of our crew were there also. Good stuff, not what we are used to but good nonetheless. The shuttle bus situation was a bit bonkers with 3 ships in at the port so we walked back to the ship. Less waiting that way. A perfect sunny, breezy, Spring day in Spain.:cool: We are due to sail at 6pm so we probably will not see the Rock of Gibraltar unless the moon is bright. Partly cloudy at the moment. Shockingly, tonight we sail for our LAST PORT before being tossed off in London! Can't believe it is rapidly winding down. One sea day, Porto Portugal, two more sea days and arrive in London on the 4th to be dragged off early on the 5th. A fantastic journey for sure.:cool:

 

 

 

 

 

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[Wagnerite]

Our trip to The Alhambra was quite rewarding and even worth the bus ride. If I think of it, I’ll cut and paste my blog post.

 

With just one more port, I’m starting to see the end is in sight.

 

I’ve enjoyed seeing Jim and Eaches’ posts and interacting with passengers and crew on this marathon voyage.

 

The nature of cruising is that you never really get to experience much in any port. I will say that the whole has truly been greater than the sum of its parts.

 

I can’t imagine ever doing this again unless I get too old or feeble for independent travel. I don’t regret doing it , just not our highest and best use.

[minka34]

I have enjoyed "going on vacation" every morning before going to work! Thank you, Jim and fellow world travelers, for sharing your trip with us.

[Geosez]

Been with you since roll call days. It’s been interesting to see some personalities evolve - positively, that is. Hard to believe it’s almost over. Porto is a lovely town. Nice place to begin the wind up. OK - where are we going next time?