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Live from the Viking Star World Cruise 2021-22

JM0115

By JM0115,
in Viking Ocean

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Heidi13

Heidi13

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, GKTV32162 said:

Which I mentioned...

 

Just read your post, where you mentioned that Istanbul is the only Capital city split between 2 continents.

 

While Istanbul is Turkey's largest city and financial hub, but it is not the country's capital. Ankara has been Turkey's capital for about the past 100 yrs.

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GKTV32162

GKTV32162

Posted
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24 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Just read your post, where you mentioned that Istanbul is the only Capital city split between 2 continents.

 

While Istanbul is Turkey's largest city and financial hub, but it is not the country's capital. Ankara has been Turkey's capital for about the past 100 yrs.

I stand corrected - as this came from a quote that Istanbul is the only capital that spans two continents that came from trivia here on the ship.  My bad for not checking facts nor knowing my world capitals. Checking facts, since all the guides mention that Istanbul is the only city that spans two continents, it seems that is an incorrect statement as well as other cities seem to sit on the continental borders.  For example, Suez, Egypt, a recent stop of ours, is said to straddle Africa and Asia. I guess I don't know what to make of Istanbul's claim.

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JM0115

JM0115

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We loved Istanbul on this trip. I found the Turkish people to be friendly and welcoming and the mosques and bazaars were amazing. It was too bad that we had some of the worst weather we have had on the world cruise but we have been very fortunate with the weather overall.  Thursday in Athens it is supposed to be mostly sunny with a high of 68-69F! 

 

Amendment: Luxor was probably the "worst" weather we have had with a high around 105F or so!

Edited by JM0115
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Azulann "Live from...." Rare

Azulann

Posted
Posted (edited)
40 minutes ago, JM0115 said:

We loved Istanbul on this trip. I found the Turkish people to be friendly and welcoming and the mosques and bazaars were amazing. It was too bad that we had some of the worst weather we have had on the world cruise but we have been very fortunate with the weather overall.  Thursday in Athens it is supposed to be mostly sunny with a high of 68-69F! 

 

Amendment: Luxor was probably the "worst" weather we have had with a high around 105F or so!

Loved  traveling in Turkey. It has more Roman ruins than any country  around the Med Sea. We spent 4 days after cruise in Istanbul. Took  a number of private tours in  the city.  I even bought a  Turkman hand made rug in the Grand Bazaar. I had a referral from an American who taught school there to a particular rug dealer. 

The pictures of the Grand Bazaar posted above  did not look crowded. When we were there it was wall to wall people. Love the food , and yes !the people were so friendly . 

Edited by Azulann
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ilikeanswers

ilikeanswers

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, GKTV32162 said:
World Cruise Day 116/152 - Istanbul, Turkey - A mosque, a couple of palaces, a bazaar, a concert, and no sleep
 

 

Loved the report on Istanbul however there is one tiny tidbit of info you have that is outdated. Since 2020 Hagia Sophia is no longer a museum it but was reinstated an operating mosque. 

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GKTV32162

GKTV32162

Posted
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41 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Loved the report on Istanbul however there is one tiny tidbit of info you have that is outdated. Since 2020 Hagia Sophia is no longer a museum it but was reinstated an operating mosque. 

There's a reason - see today's blog when I publish later tonight.  🙂

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sundaycreek

sundaycreek

Posted
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18 hours ago, GKTV32162 said:
World Cruise Day 116/152 - Istanbul, Turkey - A mosque, a couple of palaces, a bazaar, a concert, and no sleep
 
 

I wouldn’t worry too much about the mask in Italy thing.  We just returned from a Mediterranean cruise where we were told the same thing but we just wore regular masks, about half the group wore none (once off the ship) and our guides wore theirs off and on.  We also needed to carry our EU Plf along with vaccination cards and were never asked to show either.  We did however have to wait about an hour in our tour meeting places for authorities to board & clear our ship both in Messina and Naples which was a bit annoying.

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TERRIER1

TERRIER1

Posted
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15 minutes ago, Twitchly said:


Seeing this has convinced me to pass on ever seeing Hagia Sophia. Just too sad.

The Hagia Sophia is beautiful. We did it on our own so perhaps it was the guide and the excursion's issue. At the time we were there they were in the process of uncovering all the beautful mosaics.

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PasadenaDave "Live from...." Rare

PasadenaDave

Posted
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1 hour ago, Twitchly said:


Seeing this has convinced me to pass on ever seeing Hagia Sophia. Just too sad.

We are scheduled for that same tour May 8.  We are in town for a pre-cruise extension and may see the Haggia Sofia before boarding.  Do you suggest that we cancel the Panoramic Istanbul Tour and do another?  I agree that one of the draws of this tour is to see the Asian side of Istanbul

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TayanaLorna

TayanaLorna

Posted
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5 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Loved the report on Istanbul however there is one tiny tidbit of info you have that is outdated. Since 2020 Hagia Sophia is no longer a museum it but was reinstated an operating mosque. 

Yes i recall reading this also.

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downsmead

downsmead

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47 minutes ago, PasadenaDave said:

We are scheduled for that same tour May 8.  We are in town for a pre-cruise extension and may see the Haggia Sofia before boarding.  Do you suggest that we cancel the Panoramic Istanbul Tour and do another?  I agree that one of the draws of this tour is to see the Asian side of Istanbul

The Catacombs underneath the city are worth a trip, fascinating to see. 

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Heidi13

Heidi13

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3 hours ago, TERRIER1 said:

The Hagia Sophia is beautiful. We did it on our own so perhaps it was the guide and the excursion's issue. At the time we were there they were in the process of uncovering all the beautful mosaics.

 

Definitely agree with you. We visited on our 1st WC and will definitely return again next year.

 

So, we have to cover up to visit Hagia Sophia, to comply with local customs, isn't that just part of being a respectful traveller, rather than a tourist. 

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TERRIER1

TERRIER1

Posted
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13 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Definitely agree with you. We visited on our 1st WC and will definitely return again next year.

 

So, we have to cover up to visit Hagia Sophia, to comply with local customs, isn't that just part of being a respectful traveller, rather than a tourist. 

Now that it is a mosque and not a museum you need to cover up. I agree that it is being respectful same as with Vatican rules. They are covering only the Christian religeous mosaics that face Mecca and only during prayer time. The rest of the mosaics are uncovered all the time. I thought the Hagis Sophia was so much loveier than the Blue Mosque because of the mosaics.

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GKTV32162

GKTV32162

Posted
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5 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Definitely agree with you. We visited on our 1st WC and will definitely return again next year.

 

So, we have to cover up to visit Hagia Sophia, to comply with local customs, isn't that just part of being a respectful traveller, rather than a tourist. 

We agree as well. The issue was how it was described by Viking in the printed documentation. If it said it was a mosque, she would have had a headcover. It was stunning inside.

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ilikeanswers

ilikeanswers

Posted
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13 hours ago, GKTV32162 said:

There's a reason - see today's blog when I publish later tonight.  🙂

 

I see what you did😉. That is poor of Viking not to update excursion descriptions and to be honest I think a little inexcusable since the change to Hagia Sophia's status was two years ago. It is literally a one word change how difficult can that be? 

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GKTV32162

GKTV32162

Posted
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12 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

I see what you did😉. That is poor of Viking not to update excursion descriptions and to be honest I think a little inexcusable since the change to Hagia Sophia's status was two years ago. It is literally a one word change how difficult can that be? 

In Viking's defense, hey did mention that change in the port talk, but yes, they could at least update it in the app.

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ilikeanswers

ilikeanswers

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4 minutes ago, GKTV32162 said:

In Viking's defense, hey did mention that change in the port talk, but yes, they could at least update it in the app.

 

I did read that but I still think correcting after the fact does not makes up for pedalling outdated destination information in the first place especially considering this isn't new information anymore.

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JM0115

JM0115

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The Viking Band- Enrico, keyboard, Heintje, guitar, Jerome, bass guitar, London, drums, and vocalists, Annalyn and Jeffrey, are leaving on April 25. They have been wonderful to listen to in Torshavn throughout the cruise. We will miss them. Wonderful and talented people. Heintje learned Dire Straits Sultans of Swing for us over the past month or so and he was/is absolutely amazing! They are sad to be leaving but we understand that they have a life and need a break before returning to Viking in June or July.

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