Viking Empires of the the Mediterranean cruise--looking for info

We just finished our first Viking ocean cruise (Viking Homelands) and loved every minute! (We'd still be on the ship if they hadn't forced us to disembark on Saturday. Next time I'll find a better hiding place). We're now looking at the Empires of the Mediterranean cruise for May 2018 and would appreciate any information about it from folks who've taken this cruise. Thanks!

We just finished our first Viking ocean cruise (Viking Homelands) and loved every minute! (We'd still be on the ship if they hadn't forced us to disembark on Saturday. Next time I'll find a better hiding place). We're now looking at the Empires of the Mediterranean cruise for May 2018 and would appreciate any information about it from folks who've taken this cruise. Thanks!

So glad to hear you had such a wonderful time.. this will be our first Viking Ocean in March 2018, which we booked 14 months in advance. I'm amazed that our ship is sold out other than a couple of explorer suites. I wouldn't wait too long to book, as I think this is the norm. We can't wait for our upcoming cruise.

We're now looking at the Empires of the Mediterranean cruise for May 2018 and would appreciate any information about it from folks who've taken this cruise. Thanks!

We look our first ever ocean cruise this April on the Viking Star for the Empires of the Mediterranean. You already know how wonderful the Viking ships are, so I can report that we thoroughly enjoyed that particular itinerary. We were lucky enough to be the only ship in Santorini the day we arrived, which meant we had that magical place to ourselves! Dubrovnik was another highlight, like walking through the walls to the Old Town and stepping back in time to another world. Corfu and Kotor were also places I enjoyed very much.

We used all Viking tours, some included and some optional, and went off on our own sometimes as well. The only disappointment was that when we originally booked, the trip was supposed to include Istanbul and Ephesus, but understandably, changes were made after the series of events in Turkey.

Just as you are doing, right after we returned, we began searching for our next Viking cruise. We have booked the Trade Routes of the Middle Ages (Bergen to Barcelona) for October 2018. Best of luck in finding your next voyage.

We took this cruise early Dec '16 and had a wonderful time. We went from Ath to Venice and then spent two days in Venice one our own(or was suppose to, fog in the port did not allow the ship in and were bused from Trier. Did not arrive until about 9:00PM instead of early AM.)

Highlight of our trip was Kotor, the great weather and no crowds. Minor negative was no sea days to enjoy the beautiful ship. Any questions just ask.

We did Empires of the Med in the fall of 2015 and loved it. I found it to be a great mix of smaller ports and big-city ports, which I always like. There weren't many (or perhaps not any?) sea days, which was absolutely fine for me, but some really like sea days. The places we went were great, although I don't think the itinerary includes Pula, Croatia any more. I assume Istanbul is still off the itinerary as well, due to terrorism threats. That's a shame, because it was fabulous. We went early to Venice on our own and stayed late in Istanbul (first time to each, wanted to spend a little time) and loved both. We took a good number of included tours but did our own thing in a number of ports like beautiful Santorini, where we rented a three-wheeler to see more of the island. In Kotor, we did a private (but shared with 2 other people) tour into the countryside for a half day and I explored Kotor the rest of the day. It's one of those great, not hard to do on your own ports. Athens was my least favorite stop, but only because we had already been there previously. In most ports, it was possible to either stay after a tour and explore more, or go out on your own for a short while to explore, especially if you don't mind taking a taxi, bus or whatever back.

I have pictures on my photo site (http://www.pbase.com/roothy123) if you'd like to see more of what we saw and did.

We took this cruise this April and LOVED it! We stayed 4 extra days in Venice on our own. We just loved all the ports, and would recommend to anyone!

Any suggestions on what may be the best time of year to take this cruise - March, April, May, June, July, or Sept. Any of these during the "rainy season?"

Thanks.

Any suggestions on what may be the best time of year to take this cruise - March, April, May, June, July, or Sept. Any of these during the "rainy season?"

 

Thanks.

September was great.

We went 1st week in April - lovely weather, no rain, not too hot yet and the crowds were much less

We are taking the March 20, 2018 cruise. It was sold out but we were able to get a cabin that opened up after the May sailings were added. Will be reading this thread for excursion ideas. Our shore excursions aren't up yet even though we're 100 days out. Can't wait to see what our options are.

We are taking the March 20, 2018 cruise. It was sold out but we were able to get a cabin that opened up after the May sailings were added. Will be reading this thread for excursion ideas. Our shore excursions aren't up yet even though we're 100 days out. Can't wait to see what our options are.

If you go to kotor look at tours by milo if you do private or shared tours.

September was great.

Wife has some motion sickness problems. Do you feel you encountered much wave action that might affect her. There can be 6 - 7 waves and I won't feel them

Thanks.

Wife has some motion sickness problems. Do you feel you encountered much wave action that might affect her. There can be 6 - 7 waves and I won't feel them

Thanks.

Viking ships, being new, are the smoothest sailing cruise ships I've been on. I doubt even she will notice anything. The Med is also a good place for cruising as it's a bit sheltered compared to some places ocean cruise ships go. However, if you have to tender (use small boats to go ashore from anchorage) she may feel some motion on those.

Travelingman, I have to tell you that my husband and I don't get seasick (50 cruises or more). That being said, on the Barcelona the Baltics and Beyond cruise we ran into some really really high seas. We missed Porto Portugal because of them. The ship went up and then BAM down. I was fine. The problem was walking in the hallways. They cancelled all of the shows, the bands, etc. Too dangerous for the entertainers. I think the rough seas were a day or 2? Our cabin stewards took all of the glass in our cabin (soap dishes, etc) and put them away. One of our stewards got very ill. Like I said, I was fine. My husband felt a little queesy after dinner. The poor lady next to me at dinner at the World Cafe jumped up and vomited into the passageway between tables. Viking sent a hazmat team to clean it up once I signaled the waiter. They wore gowns, masks and gloves. The spa pool was empty for over 2 days. I kept going down thinking it would be fine but they said no. I think it depends on how you react to such things. Our bed was moving so much that my only worry was falling out!! And walking around the ship they kept telling us to stay low and slow and wear sensible shoes. They were giving out ginger ale everywhere. It is a small ship so you need to be aware that this can happen. It didn't bother us but if your wife is really susceptible if you run into rough seas it can happen.