Port Hope

Thanks so much for posting this Carol. I have been looking for more info about 2018 cruises but hadn't seen this.

Fpacifico - we were in 4058 on the port side! Loved the location and if you tender in any port it's quite an entertaining show from your balcony to watch them bring the boats back in.

We took the Viking tour of the Terrace Houses in October, 2015. I really wanted to see the houses and realized that I might not see all of Ephesus but the tour did promise the main sites so I was hopeful. Of all our tours, this was the only disappointing one.

We boarded the bus at 8 a.m. and arrived at the site at 8:30. We started at the lower gate and were there before the shops opened so all was peaceful. We stopped for a view of the Theatre and then went on to the Library. We were the first group there which was great. Then on to the Terrace Houses where we had a good thorough tour. So far, so good. But then our guide walked us back to the Theatre and said we had to be back at the bus in 30 minutes. I asked if we could go back and see some of the other sites and he said "Viking didn't provide for that. " So after exploring the Theatre (no info from the guide) we headed back. On the bus ride back the guide started the sales pitch for carpets. ( every country has its art; carpets are Turkey's art; how long it takes to make a carpet, etc.) We then went to carpet shop.

So the advertised 3.5 hour tour was an hour on the bus, 2 hours at Ephesus and 30 minutes at a carpet shop. I've managed to get really annoyed all over again just writing this! If you look at the map of Ephesus you can see how easy it would have been to see more in a short period of time.

Carolyn

 

Thanks for your updates about Viking Sea. I'm due to sail next month and I'm wondering if the public address system has been changed? I read on CC that guests were having trouble hearing announcements on the Star when they were in their staterooms, they had to open the room door to hear. I've got hearing problems so I might miss any announcements if they are not announced in the staterooms.

Thanks, S

I would not like the announcements audible in the cabins. We were on board the Star last fall when 2 passengers did not check back in. After several announcements in the public areas requesting the two women to report in, the appeal was broadcast to all areas of the ship. I was in our cabin at the time and just about jumped out of my skin. So, in an emergency, the captain can broadcast everywhere and it is loud! For shore exercursions you just have to get to a public area a few minutes before your departure time so you can hear when your tour is called. I loved being able to relax in the Living Room with a second cup of morning coffee while waiting to disembark.

We were in a DV4 cabin right between the elevators and above one of the lifeboats. This was a very stable location. Even on a night when others reported a lot of motion, we felt very little. Our friends were on the same deck right across from the laundry room. They were a little concerned at first but said they could not hear anything - either machines running or people coming and going.

Well that blows any economy in letting Viking get group rates on airfare--adds a cool $400 to it. I'm calling them today and blowing off everything but the cruise, getting a refund on the rest, doing our own thing. I will stay at their Istanbul hotel, at the minimum, however, if for no other reason than it's one less decision to wrestle with and I will feel more confident because Viking people will be there who can make sure we get to the ship OK.

We were on the Viking Star this fall doing the reverse of your itinerary. We used Viking Air and the Viking post package in Istanbul. We were a little concerned that the political situation in Turkey might disrupt the itinerary. However, since we had cruised out of Venice previously we booked our own hotel and made our own arrangements. I wasn't going to post since others had thoroughly covered all the pros and cons until I saw your comment that you were going to book the Viking hotel in Istanbul.

The Conrad is a beautiful hotel in a lousy location for tourists. There were several conferences there, including a meeting of the G20 Finance Ministers which reinforced my opinion that it is more of a business hotel. Viking literature states that the hotel will be in the Taksim Square district. Not even close! I had researched the location ahead of time and knew that it was a 30 minute walk to Kabatas which is the start of the tram line and also the location of the funicular up to Taksim Square. No problem, I thought. If we are too tired to walk we'll get a cab from the tram stop. Well, cab drivers consider this too short a trip and won't take you. The concierge at the hotel told us that and we found out he was right. The second day we did get a cab from the Conrad to the Sultanahmet district to save our weary legs. (We'd walked about 10 miles on day one!) We were with friends and the cost was quite reasonable, except that the cab driver didn't drop us off where we asked.

Perhaps for your cruise Viking will have changed their hotel. There are two Hiltons in the Taksim Square district that would be much more convenient.

DC Gal, if you haven't found it yet this blog has a ton of info on the Viking Star: https://travelinsubman.wordpress.com/

The author was on the Star for the 50 day maiden voyage. His blog has been mentioned on various threads but IMO worth mentioning again.

I totally agree with you on all you said...except for the coffee....! We are coffee snobs and I admit it. :)

Madrone - I knew I had read somewhere what brand of coffee was on the Star. A little digging found this:

" I can tackle the coffee question (and thanks so much for hosting this thread, Becki!): It's from a Finland-based company called K-fee. My husband, who is from Finland, was quite excited about that and he's pretty picky when it comes to coffee so I hope that's good (I don't drink the stuff).

Carolyn "

Carolyn is the Cruise Critic editor who was onboard April 11 when the Star left Istanbul. Becki is rjscott who was also onboard April 11 and hosted the thread that Carolyn references called Live from the Viking Star. It's great to see rjscott, id4elizabeth and others still following these threads and popping up to answer questions. Many thanks!

Port Hope: Just looked at my invoice from July 1, 2013. We booked a DV 6 on the September 27 cruise for $3,999 per person (without air, transfers, gratuities). To get the $4249-$5049 range above for DVs, did you convert GBP to USD, or was that from the U.S. brochure? After two years, I'm now wondering if our travel agent gave us a small discount! I didn't keep the original brochure with prices.

In the spring of 2013 I read about Viking Oceans, went online and ordered a brochure. The prices I quoted are from that brochure. ( It's really more of a magazine, silver grey in colour and says "Reinventing Ocean Cruising: Announcing the Maiden Voyage of Viking Star")

I am a Canadian as you may have gathered from the extra "u's" scattered throughout my messages but we paid the price I quoted in U.S. Dollars just about the same time as you paid.

So, yes, it does look to me as if you got a bit of a discount.

Well this thread intrigued me! I have the brochure that I got in the spring of 2013 and these are the comparable prices in U.S. Dollars:

Sept. 3

Veranda $4499 and $4674

Deluxe Veranda $5174 to $6124

Penthouse Veranda $6624 to $6974

Sept. 27

Veranda $3699 and $3849

Deluxe Veranda $4249 to $5049

Penthouse Veranda $5449 to $5749

Looks like the Star is on the move again!

http://cruiseoutlook.com/current-position/viking-ocean_star

Thank you for all the replies. We were hoping that we could get a layover in a European city that we hadn't been to before and add a stay over. But we aren't going until Sept. 2016. Wondering if you wait to call Viking to add the deviation until we get notified about our flights, or call them now and explain our interest in a lay over?

We just got our Viking Air flights with seat assignments yesterday via our TA. Since the seats are assigned I think that these are pretty firm. So, if you wait until you get your flights and then ask for a deviation, I think you will be stuck paying some kind of change fee to the airline in addition to whatever Viking charges. It's probably better to explore the lay over option now. There's a website called Skyscanner.net that lets you put in departure and arrival airports and tells you all the airlines that will get you there along with the stops. That might be a good place for you to start looking at possible European cities to visit without creating a convoluted travel plan.

BTW, we are quite happy with our assigned flights. We got direct flights where they exist and one reasonable stop where there are no direct flights. Kudos to Viking Air!

For those who have already cruised or are going soon on Empires of the Mediterranean Venice to Istanbul and have taken the Viking Air package......Can you please tell me the itinerary of the flights from US that you took......I guess my main question is, was it direct flights from the East Coast to Venice/from Istanbul or what European cities did you have layovers in. If you did have layovers, is there an option to stay overnight in these European cities? Thanks for any insight.

Can't help with the itinerary question as we are still awaiting our Viking Air flight details. However, when we booked our cruise (two years ago!) we asked for a week long layover in London but did not want to book any pre-cruise package. Viking charged us $100 each for what they called a "flight deviation" which I thought was pretty reasonable. If you have a specific city in mind for a layover you may still be able to book that as a deviation.