OnTheJourney

Exactly. That's how our Baltic cruise was. When DW and I first started cruising we didn't care for sea days in the itinerary. Now...as we're getting older I say, 'bring 'em on!' That go-go-go all the time in every port starts to catch up to you at some point. Next to last cruise (another one in the Meddy) we often had two excursions on the same day. Too much after awhile. But, figuring we're not likely to get back to most of these ports again, might as well see as much as we feel up to. We didn't see any of Naples (other than what was visible from the ship in dock) but rather took an excursion to Pompeii....in the rain, though not too much of it. Amazing place but doubt if I'd be inclined to want to see more of it. The Holy Land, however, I COULD go back to since we lost one of our two days there. Wouldn't do it by ship though. WAY too much time on the bus back and forth. The one day was over 6 hours on the bus in all. The excursion to Delphi (from Athens) was a long day too.

Tell me about it. As a pre-diabetic a cruise is a test of will for me. I try to lean more towards the "no sugar added" offerings, but those little cream cheese tarts, cakes and chocolate desserts call to me, along with the cookies (sometimes there are no sugar selections). Proud to say that I (almost) completely avoided the ice cream line at the lunch buffets. Amazing how quickly that line formed (referring to a recent Viking cruise).

OK...now that you mention it I did see this thread. So your itinerary didn't include the Holy Land. I went back through your thread briefly. Well done! You retained alot of info about what was seen in the Acropolis museum. For some reason alot of that stuff just goes in my one ear and right out the other. Probably cause I'm always so focused on taking pictures and video. This trip inspired me though. Knowing relatively little about ancient history, I want to start doing some reading. Will start with the Epic of Gilgamesh (the earliest written story...ever) and then move on to the Homeric Hymns, Iliad, and Odyssey. Then, once I'm done, I probably won't remember 90% of it! Part of it is a very bad memory in general, and getting worse unfortunately! I had to laugh at your report of 60 degrees at the Acropolis! We got there twice. First time, during the one post-extension day, it was snow showers and really cold. Second time was during our free day - went up again with a private Viator tour. Overcast and SUPER cold. We had a good bit of rain on the trip. Weather was just crazy - it changed constantly.

Safe journey home....

Saw you did Cities of Antiquities. How'd it go? We were on the Jan. 24 sailing out of Rome and wound up losing one of our two days in Haifa. Most disappointing. Storm system was coming in so we had to leave port. After all the advanced excursion research, planning, and booking, the one we lost was to Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee. Pre-extension in Rome was real nice, as was the post - Greece. All the ports were great. We wound up with an extra sea day, sort of - came into Cyprus towards late afternoon and then overnight there. Not originally planned. All the excursions were shifted to the following (full) day for Cyprus. Our full day in Jerusalem (from Haifa) was great also though started in alot of wind and rain. Even that day we lost part of since having to get back to port in time to shove off. CRAZY weather though in Athens. Snow! And freezing cold (like in the 30s) for much of the sightseeing there. Our guides said it was most unusual to have that. On the way to Delphi passed LOTS of salt and cinder trucks...and snow plows. They had a good amount of snow. By the time we got in higher elevation towards Delphi, sun was out. Weird. I would NOT do the Holy Land again by cruise ship though. WAY too much time on busses. Our bus to go back to Haifa broke down...twice actually. After sitting on it for like 20 minutes with no success to get it going, we were transferred to a different bus, and then later back to the first one again - which seemed to barely make it back to port - had to pull off the road several times. I saw several warning lights going on up at the dashboard as we went along. Once was when we pulled off for awhile in a tunnel - not comforting. Oh well...it was the Viking Sky, so we should have expected some weird happenings after what we went through back in '19 with the March Northern Lights cruise! Hope you had a good one...truly an amazing itinerary, although at this point I'm about archeological museum'd out. I don't think my brain would have been able to take one more.

Huh...I suspected as much. Our last cruise, with Viking, didn't have much masking either - maybe 5% or so? More during excursions and some ports required it on the busses and in certain buildings. Some of the crew still masked. Did you do a live thread during your cruise on the Beyond? Never been on any of the newer X ships so would be interested to see that.

Curious...where did you go? We just did one back in May that started in Rome, then went to Sicily, Sardinia, Malta, Majorca, and ended in Barcelona. A more recent one included Naples, Crete, Cyprus, Rhodes, Nafplio, and ended in Athens - but also included Jerusalem and Haifa (for the Holy Land). Unfortunately we lost a full day in the Holy Land due to a storm system that was moving in - had to leave port instead of staying overnight. I've found the Mediterranean lovely sailing - for the most part quite smooth.

LOL...I have to agree. Some of the stuff looks great, but the taste doesn't match the appearance.

LOL..they're probably all jet lagged....😆 Give 'em a few days to come around..

ah well, maybe they don't know who they are either! I admire your spirit to travel alone like this. Not every spouse would be inclined to do that. Hope you enjoy Blu. Friends of ours highly suggested it, so that's partly what got us interested in trying AQ class. We loved it since we typically eat dinner really early and so got in there around 5:00 (I think? Maybe that changed by now) and always wound up at a window. Much quieter than the MDR.

Yikes. Out of curiousity...are you seeing much (if any) masking? The desserts, etc. look quite fancy. RCCL, on one of our last cruises with them, didn't trot out that chocolate fountain and the fruit skewers till the last day. They seemed to 'pull out all the stops' for the last lunch buffet. Looking forward to the Summit again in a few months. Glad you're enjoying...

Wow! Well that should be a lively group! Wonder if any of the team members or staff are along. Sounds like too much noise / partying for my taste.

what sort of charter?

I've seen similar. Crew probably has to do this every so often.

Ha Ha....Well, given that they're located underneath the seats, that's a bit impractical, don't you think? In this older thread, I was just trying to convey that the newer (very relaxed) video-oriented drill presentation likely doesn't prepare one as well for an actual emergency compared to doing a more 'hands-on' sort of drill or at least having to stand out at the muster station and receive the explanation. Unless you've been part of an actual emergency on a cruise ship, you really can't relate to what I'm trying to express. Let's face it, most on the plane pretty much tune-out the flight attendant going through the spiel. Probably the same for whatever takes place on cruise ships since likely the attitude for most passengers is that 'nothing bad will happen anyway'. I was probably about the same way...till March 23, 2019.

Oh well, perhaps unnecessary but I figured submitting the form can't hurt. I had no idea there was a special request form like that. It pretty much includes most any sort of special needs situation. Mark...weird how our total number of posts are nearly exactly the same - difference of two!

One thing I've learned to really like about cruising with Viking is the quietness. Nice, subdued (sort of new agey) music in the background in certain public areas. Very unobtrusive and soft (well, perhaps not quite as unobtrusive for musicians since, again, I find myself listening to it since it's all so pleasant - although it's all very enjoyable to listen to). I find the more high-powered, much louder, pop-oriented stuff playing in the Celebrity or RCCL Windjammers during lunch as being a bit offensive and just makes me feel a bit stressed. As for "quiet spots"...LOTS of them on Viking. Small areas to just sit and read especially near their "Wintergarten" - one of the loveliest spots on the ocean ships. I seem to recall the Summit has a library area - not sure anymore. I'll have to check around on the Summit next time we're there but mostly if we want quiet for reading we just sit out on our balcony, except that often you can easily hear the music coming from the pool deck.

Kathynorth...Thanks. I completed the page of the form that applies to sharps and then scanned and sent it to them. BTW...how was your Antarctica cruise? Saw that you did it. We did that same cruise on Infinity back in '17. Pretty amazing. No zodiac / landings, etc. but we still really enjoyed it especially since we had never been anywhere in South America. Our sailing across the Drake, both times, was smooth as glass. Got super lucky. The day at Port Stanley was unbelievably warm - only had a sweatshirt on.

You are correct, and glad you found the video useful. .You're to be commended for watching it more than once. Some people are more visual vs. auditory learners. Being a musician, I'm more auditory but totally agree with you about various types of sounds or volume levels being too distractive from whatever else I'm trying to concentrate on. I, too, have trouble with ambient noise interfering. If there's music playing in the background and people are trying to talk to me, it makes it very difficult since my brain focuses on the music instead of the conversation. Looking forward to more of your entries!! We were on the Summit right after she was "revolutionized" back in fall of '19 and thought they did a great job with her. Looking forward to boarding again in a few months. Enjoy!!!

dc....thanks! I'll take a look at the form, but sounds like it's probably a simple matter to take care of once we board.

And that's the extent of the emergency drill procedure? Sorry...but...as one who was on a ship that ran into a REAL (and almost disastrous) emergency situation and had to be partially evacuated by helicopter, I just don't agree with this relaxed a form of doing a drill. Even after being physically given the life vest to hold and look at (this was not on Celebrity), when the actual time came to put it on, in the confusion, stress, and nervousness of the moment, I had NO idea what to do with it. Watching a video is truly not really enough. Sorry to mention these thoughts, and I wish you a fantastic and safe cruise, but this is just one of my pet peeves.

Agreed! Some people don't like that overhang. I'm fine with the extra shade provided. We're in Aqua on 9 for a Summit cruise later in spring.

Wow! Livin' it up before even boarding the ship!! It all looks great!!

I came across older threads about this but thought I'd check for more current information. I'll need to know about disposing needles from diabetic and other medical self-administered procedures, etc. Thanks...

View from the hotel looks awesome....love that 2nd picture.