longterm

Innocent, yes, but responsible for a bit of contingency planning. Every news outlet started talking at least 2 weeks ago about the impending weather situation that was headed across the US; this would have been the time to call airlines and see about possible alternative flight plans--not a day or two before Christmas when tens of thousands of travelers were doing the same thing. We've bought TripMate travel insurance in the past, but were fortunate not to have to use it; there are some good providers for those who always buy travel insurance, but the key is to ask questions and read the fine print before plunking down the cash. This unfortunate situation should be a cautionary tale for all of us to consider when we're making expensive travel plans.

Yes, we went straight from the ship to the Parthenon; it took maybe 10 minutes total. We waited maybe 5 minutes in line. After the Parthenon we went through the museum, which probably took about an hour or 80 minutes; it's one of the best museums we've ever seen.

If they had read the agreement they signed, they would see that it clearly states the policy on refunds or cancellations; on our invoice, which they sent when we booked the cruise, it states this very clearly (see screenshot attached, which is for a cruise we have in 2024). It's not fair to blame Viking for something that is not their fault; the customer is responsible for understanding the terms of the contract he or she signs. This weather situation wasn't a surprise; if someone had called Viking well before the storm and checked on it (as I certainly would have), I'm sure they would have been as helpful as they could be under the circumstances. Calling Viking "scammers" and saying that Viking is "the kind of company that will trick you out of your money" is totally unjustified. These sorts of statements on a public forum are not only inaccurate but unfair.

We did the excursion to see the villages where scenes from "The Godfather" were filmed. Beautiful drives up into the hills, and if you're a fan of the movies, a must-see. We did the freebie, and to be honest, downtown Crotone didn't have a lot to see. Some great food to be had in Kotor; we had one of our best meals on a street just beyond the main city center building (a long building, yellow I think); we wandered down the street behind it, found a great little restaurant. Some nice shops too.

Not Plaza, Plaka... autocorrect. 🙂

Yes, we stayed there; the hotel is very nice, the rooms are nice, the breakfast buffet is very nice, but... the restaurant is overpriced and its menu is pretty meager. We ate there a couple of times out of desperation, but I wouldn't recommend it. The little Greek restaurant less than a block away (the Vassilas Grill) is a great place to eat; the prices are excellent, the women who run it are very nice, and I highly recommend it. Although there aren't a lot of places to visit nearby, you can jump in a cab and get to the Plaza district in a 5-10 minute cab ride. I can't list this as one of my favorite hotels, but it's a very nice place--I just wish the restaurant were better.

We did the Italy, Adriatic & Greece trip, going from Rome to Athens, in March of this year, and I would do it again. We spent 5 extra days in Rome before getting on-board, and also added the post extension in Athens; I'd recommend both. We both felt that 5 days in Rome was a good length of time, although we could easily have spent 5 more and not seen the same areas twice. In fact, I've already sketched out a train trip that will stretch from Zurich to Rome, and we'll plan a few days in Rome for that trip as well. We particularly loved all the stops in Croatia and Montenegro; Venice was wonderful but not long enough (will be part of our train trip), and next time we'll see some areas we didn't get to, like the Amalfi coast and Cinque Terre, but the Viking cruise hits some great places (Bari and Crotone weren't much, but we did find a great silk rug in Bari). One of my favorite stops was in Sicily, where we did an excursion and saw the sites of Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather;" as a big fan of those movies, I was thrilled to see the actual locations of some of the scenes in the movie. Walking the wall in Dubrovnik was memorable as well, and the food there and in Split was simply amazing. If I were advising, I'd suggest the same itinerary we did--5 days in Rome pre-trip on your own (we stayed at the Argentina Residence Hotel--5 minutes from the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Farnese), and the post extension in Athens is well worth it as well.

Not just cruising. We took 2 Viking cruises early this year (Caribbean and from Rome to Athens), and didn't get Covid; then in May, we did a Rick Steves tour from Paris to Nice, and out of 25 people, 8 of us made it to Nice without having either gotten Covid or rooming with someone who did. And this was with masking on the bus every day and in most of the sites. How does this have any relevance to the rogue wave event? When you leave your door, to go to the grocery, go on a cruise, go on a tour, you never know what you might encounter. Is the reward worth the risk? For us, it's been worth it, even with the calamities on our France trip.

Fortunately, pet snakes aren't on the prohibited list.

Well of course! The glare, the glare! You'd think they'd put the bill of the cap on the other side so you could use it to shade your eyes...

I like to wear the cap backwards so I can easily use my hand to shade my eyes.

I suspect they'd let it pass if it happened to be a Viking polo shirt. 🙂 I solved this easily by leaving blue jeans at home and packing black chinos; no khakis for me. IMO chinos are more comfortable than jeans anyway. T-shirts and polo shirts for excursions, button shirts for dinners. One pair of shoes for everything. If it's a summer cruise, I pack pants that have zipper legs so that they can be worn either as shorts or long pants. Having traveled professionally for more than 20 years, I learned a long time ago to travel light.

We've done quite a few Viator excursions; my son and I went to the Normandy coast for a full-day tour; my wife and I have been to Giverny and Versailles; we did a 2nd trip to Giverny; my son and I also did a full-day tour to Stonehenge and Glastonbury. All of these were excellent; not only were the pickups on time, but everything was as expected, if not better. I know it's luck of the draw, but I wouldn't hesitate to book another excursion with Viator.

No, that's it; I got the name wrong.

That's it--I misnamed it. My bad.

No, it's a different one; it's set by itself at the edge of the sea. If you look closely you can see where Lord Byron scratched his name onto the monument, along with all the other graffiti through the decades. Not a lot out there--just this one temple--but we stopped on the way home at a wonderful Greek restaurant, whose name I don't recall, and it was well worth the drive there. Delphi is amazing; it was probably my favorite among all the ruins we visited.

The temple of Apollo is interesting; it’s not a full day trip, but can be combined with a stop at a nice restaurant on the way there or back. A half day in old town is fun as well; just walking through the old meat and fish market was an interesting experience, to say the least.

We did use a local guide, named Nicki Vlachou at Olympic Tours. She took us to the temple of Apollo, which was worth the drive. She also took us for a tour through Old Town, which was really interesting.

You’re right!

We were on the Adriatic cruise in March (Rome to Athens); we booked the extension in Athens, and originally expected to be at the Athens Hilton. I booked a private tour guide in Athens; she told me that the Hilton was under construction and that we were probably going to be elsewhere; that prompted me to inquire, and I found out we'd be at the Intercontinental. As I mentioned before, I wasn't impressed with the restaurant there, although the hotel itself was very nice, clean, modern. The location wasn't great though, and required a cab ride if we wanted to go anywhere. Fortunately though, Old Town was only a 5-minute ride away, and the hotel shuttle graciously drove us there. Having said that, the excursions they took us on were excellent; on the first day we went to the Acropolis, managed to avoid any lines, had a great time there and at the nearby museum, which, in my opinion, is easily the finest archaeological museums I've ever seen. On the 2nd day we went to Delphi, which was spectacular; on the 3rd we visited Mycenae, crossed the Corinth canal, visited a 2nd site whose name escapes me. All in all, I'd say the post extension was well worth it, and I'd recommend it to everyone; despite the mediocre (at best) restaurant at the hotel, everything else was excellent, and we were glad we spent the extra money. The local Viking rep was extremely helpful--she arranged for us to go to Old Town to a specific shop where we could find something we needed, and we were grateful for her hands-on assistance. Booking a post or pre extension really depends on a) the excursions they've planned, b) your willingness to do the work yourself and book an extension on your own, and c) the overall cost. In Rome, at the front end of our trip, we stayed 5 nights on our own, and I arranged private tour guides for 4 of the 5 days, got us in an excellent hotel very near the Pantheon, and had a private driver to take us to the port to board the ship. The pre extension Viking offered didn't show much, and I'm glad we did it on our own.

We booked our next Viking ocean cruise while on our March cruise; looking back, I don't see any advantage to setting the meeting at the beginning or at the end of the cruise--the OBC and discount that they offer are going to be the same. Getting an appt. to meet with him was easy and we were able to meet the same morning. When we met with the rep, he pulled up the same web pages that any of us can see if we go to Viking's site; the ONLY advantage to meeting with this guy was the onboard discount and OBC he extended to us. He had only been at his job a few weeks, and the lack of experience was obvious. While he was friendly and got our trip reserved, I had already done all the research, so there was little for him to do. It was clear that he had no discretion to extend additional discounts or offers.

That’s what they did when we were in Puerto Rico.

I'm disappointed not to be getting to see the Canal, but considering the cost of the cruise, combined with what are (in my opinion) mediocre port calls, it made sense to take the money from that cruise and use it on another one. Visiting Key West is certainly not on my wants list; we go to Cancun every year, so Cozumel isn't a big draw; from all the reviews I've read, Colon and Roatan are both better to be skipped; that left the Canal.

We were there in late May; originally we were scheduled for the Athens Hilton but instead were at the Intercontinental. Very nice hotel, but the restaurant was a huge disappointment--skimpy menu, high prices--better to walk a block to an excellent local Greek cafe, which we loved. Breakfast buffet (which is included) was good though. Location of the Intercontinental is not great, but the old town area is a 5-minute cab ride.

Makes me REALLY glad we cancelled our reservation in lieu of another destination; I hate not to see the Panama Canal, but there are just too many sea days for the price.