jc522

Viking canceled their Amalfi Coast excursion, apparently due to docking in Naples for a shorter time than originally scheduled. We dock at 1pm and disembark at 7pm. We've hired a private driver and would like some information as we work on an itinerary. I have read that Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Ravello and Scala are the top 5 towns to visit. I'd guess that there are others. We have been to Sorrento and Positano. I'd skip Sorrento this time. If we also dropped Positano we would have more time for the other 3 and maybe a few others in the area of Amalfi town. Are some of these other towns as picturesque as Positano, or should I keep Positano on my list? If I drop Positano we could perhaps save some time by driving via inland routes, avoiding the traffic on the coast road.

We booked Taormina, Santa Severinas, and Highlights of Montenegro. Thanks for the info.

We booked the Dubrovnic Walking Tour. It's guided, but I think there is also time on our own. I'd consider booking both Dubrovnic and Cavtat, but that might be too busy on this cruise where there is an excursion every day for 13 days and no at sea days. Thanks to all for the advice.

Please help narrow our choices of excursions for a cruise in March 2023... Sicily (Messina): -Messina and Its Treasures -Enchanting Taormina -Ancient City of Tindari Crotone: -Crotone On Your Own -Charming Santa Severinas Hilltop Village -Le Castella & Its Fortification Kotor: -Walking Tour of Kotor -Highlights of Montenegro Thanks

Thanks. We'll book both.

On our March cruise, we have a choice of doing a walking tour of Dubrovnik or a bus to Cavtat and Ljuta. Any preferences?

We are going there in March 2023 on the Sky. We are familiar with Rome, Naples and Athens, but could use some help selecting excursions in Crotone, Bari, Sibenik, Split, Dubrovnik, Kotor, Corfu, and Katakolon. Thanks.

I might have spoken too soon. Tonight they did Dancing Under The Stars. A rousing 3 hours of disco, and of course Sweet Caroline, Proud Mary and YMCA, followed by a line dance and a conga line. Fortunately there were no heart attacks or strokes.

And you can't fix it for me? Aren't you one of the resident experts?

I’m not a fan of cruise ship entertainment, so I’m not disappointed with what little Viking has to offer. One thing Viking does provide is music in several venues throughout the day, and IMHO that music is really bad. I grew up listening to 60s and 70s rock, jazz and blues, and a bit of classical, still do. So I’m solidly in Viking’s target age demographic, and after 8 days I’m real tired of listening to nothing but pop music and old show tunes all day and into the night. It is mind numbingly boring.

Enjoying our cruise experience very much!

At 70 yo, I didn't expect to be about the youngest onboard.

Currently on Star for our first Viking cruise. I like to dress a bit more casual, never wear dress slacks, but I'm glad i brought a pair. The dress code as written is definitely followed in the restaurants. You still get some hat backwards, camo pants and hiking shoe passengers, but only a few. The average age on-board is OLD! The music in the public areas is targeted at that demo. Very boring and monotonous.

Lots of charming places in the world.

I did an Italy cruise on Azamara and they did let you know the travel time from Civitavecchia to Rome.

A link or two would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

I'm not sure where in your description there is anything to support the argument that Viking didn't know the distance from Chioggia to Venice a long time prior to accepting payment for this cruise. Their itinerary lists that we will dock in Chioggia (where is that?). They had to know the time and distance to Venice, but they didn't include that information in any of the Venice excursion descriptions. Finally, they waited to send out the email until there were only a handful of vacancies remaining. So, actually it's not just my deposit. They had something like 900 deposits in hand, and who knows how many full payments. That's either rank stupidity or deception. You choose.

I received this in an email after I made the final payment for the cruise: Dear Viking Guest, Thank you for choosing Viking for your upcoming Classic Panama Canal Passage cruise. We would like to take a moment to advise you of a change in your itinerary. Due to ongoing local restrictions, the scheduled port call to Key West, Florida will not be possible. The VIKING STAR will now spend the day at sea. Please note, our website will reflect this change to your itinerary in the coming days. If this is due to "ongoing local restrictions" (established almost a year ago), didn't Viking have to know about it well before the final payment was due? I most likely wouldn't have spent $16K to go on a 10 day cruise that had 4 days at sea.

When we saw the Italy, Adriatic & Greece cruise, we thought it looked very good. Our primary interest is the Italian towns and on this itinerary we'd be able able to go to the Amalfi Coast on an excursion out of Naples, and we'd have 2.5 days to explore Venice. Not really. Viking still lists the Amalfi excursion on the IAG cruise itinerary, but on My Viking it isn't listed, and won't be. In addition, we aren't really going to Venice. We are going to dock 1 1/2 hours away, in Chioggia. In the list of Venice excursions, nowhere does it mention the 1 1/2 hour travel time to and from. There are good reasons for both of the above, but there is no reason for Viking to clarify the situation only after they have my deposit.

I recently received an email from Viking that states that we are going to dock in Chioggia: You may be aware that the Italian government announced in 2021 that all cruise ships...would be moved to alternate docking locations, outside central Venice, in order to preserve the Venetian Lagoon, which is a national monument. ....all affected 2023 Viking voyages on your itinerary will now dock in Chioggia (Venice) instead of central Venice. Chioggia is approximately a 1½ hour drive south of the Venetian Lagoon, depending on traffic. To ensure you enjoy time in central Venice, a selection of shore excursions to Venice will be operated from Chioggia. Additionally, a shore excursion program for Chioggia will be made available for booking through My Viking Journey, when your stateroom category is open for selection. It doesn't appear that this is a new situation, so why doesn't Viking make it clear in their description of the Italy, Adriatic and Greece cruise that for those 2.5 days we won't actually be in Venice, but actually 1 1/2 hours away. That's like them saying you are going to Milwaukee but they actually put you up in Chicago. Previous IA&G cruises must have docked in Chioggia. If you were on one of them, please describe the situation relative to maximizing 2.5 days in Venice, as we had hoped to do.

We depart on our first Viking Ocean cruise in a few weeks. It's a Panama canal cruise on Viking Star. I have new dark denim jeans that I had planned to wear with button down long sleeve dress shirts. This is something I could comfortably wear to expensive restaurants at home. The Viking travel consultant didn't commit, but he made it seem like it would not be a problem. After reading this thread I'm not so sure, so I'll ask again. Would I not be permitted to dine in Manfredi's, Chef's Table or The Restaurant, or have any other limitations anywhere on the ship due to this attire?