Azulann

I too appreciate the sea days no matter how many. I am not as young as I used to be ! Your cruise sounds amazing. My last Viking cruise was out of Malta. it is the most picturesque harbor I have ever sailed out of.Malta is full of great history. Out Viking tour and guide was great. I have been to Cadiz twice , love just walking around that Spanish town ,and also Corsica. On Corsica, we went to a little cafe down a back street. We ordered the cheese and meat platter, wonderful. My frined wanted a Chardonnay. The waiter said NO NO, no French, have Corsica wine only.. She did and it was a great wine. Corsica has a very wild terrain once you are out the the major towns. I have missed Casablanca on three different cruises. It is always dropped for various reasons. Hope you get thereon your cruise.

I am going on a Viking cruise ending in Copenhagen. It arrives on morning and stays overnight. Lots of day excursions to pick from. All the Viking cruises at have looked at with overnight, had a full day first in same port.

I was curious about your question of this cruise and the overnight stay in Istanbul. On the Viking ocean web site, it says the evening tour of Hagia Sophia and the cistern are privileged access evening excursions. I would think the ship is in port for a full day / overnight and disembarks the next day. . No reason that Viking would not offer day tours these places also. As others have said, one can always do a private tour . All guides in Turkey are licensed but by the state , and they all have passed courses on historical sites and speak multiple languages. I used three different private guides in various ports in Turkey and in Istanbul. They were all excellent . I organized groups on my roll call. This was on another cruise line a number of years ago. I even bought a hand made rug in the Grand Bazaar with an advanced reservation with a rug dealer recommended by a friend. We stayed in Istanbul post cruise for four days. Love the city , food, and the ancient sites. Both the Hagia Sophia and the Grand Bazaar are not opened at night to the general public. Easy to do a tour of both with a private tour guide or even on your own if you prefer. The itenary looks really interesting. Been to most of the ports which are full of historical sites of the ancient world.

Another option is to wait till on the ship, go to Guest Relations and ask to be waitlisted for the time you wanted that was already sold out. I have cancelled excursions and have gotten excursions that were sold out before my cruise, once on board. It has been my experience that many folks change their minds once on ship, maybe they realize they need a sea day, or they cannot do all that walking and opt out of an excursion. I just booked my excursions . I had to take my second choice for three of the include excursion. Instead of 9:30 am , we got the 8:30 slot , no big deal. Be back on ship for lunch if we want and spend the afternoon around infinity pool if the weather is right .....

I just finished booking my excursions. I did it for both myself and sister. We are sharing a room. It is easier if one person does them all for the stateroom. Yes, pick your optional ones first and pay for each one with payment option who have set up. I used the automatic withdrawal from my checking account. I did set that up before hand. Then go back to excursions on home page and repeat. It does take a few minutes to do this for each one. then book your included ones. I did not get the time I wanted on two of the include ones. but there was other times in the morning to book . We got the 8;30 am ones instead of the 9 or 9:30. No big deal. Be sure to click on calendar when you are finished. You an find a summary of each day and the excursions and times. Very handy to print and keep in your files. The site opened for me at exactly at noon Pacific time I was totally done by 12:17! You will be fine using this method. It feels som good when you are done and all set for your cruise.

Thank you for your trip report. I am always sad the last night of a cruise. I started ,many years ago ,to always do a night or two in port before I go to the airport to fly home. It helps me savor the memories of my wonderful cruise vacation and slowly get back to reality of life.

Oh you will love your DV1. The picture of the wake as you depart is one of the major reasons. Our last two cruises we had DV1 on the Orion and Venus. Great to meet your lovely neighbors and get a tour of their stateroom. They are fabulous. Our roll call starter had one on my first Viking cruise. He invited many of us to stop by one evening for drinks and snacks. I like your itinerary, but Venice looks like an ongoing problem as an embarkation port or ending port. Thank you for posting pictures and look forward to your live report in the coming days. Cheers, Patti

SJD117, Covid is a nasty little bugger, back to taking care of yourself as you recover tfor the second time in a short period. I can only think your immunity will be huge once you get over this episode. Hope for a speedy recovery. Thank God you have trip insurance, but missing a cruise one has looked forward to is a letdown.

Thank you for your trip report and the great photos. It helped me pass the dreary winter days here at home still my next Viking cruise in June.

Good to know that Viking does read their mail and monitor this forum. I am glad they responded. I will be on the Viking Jupiter in June and will do a live trip report so I will let you alll know about any dogs on board and better yet , what a scenic cruise we are having.... 🤩

OMG, I am laughing so hard I cannot finish the rest of my coffee. This made my day. Thank you.

Looking forward to your almost “live” trip report on the coming days !

ON my previous curies on Celebrity I had seen service dogs. They are indeed vested and sit or lie at the foot of their owners And then again I have seen two little puff balls being wheeled around in a stroller by two different passenger feeding dog, food from her plate. I immediately left the buffet. I too hope Viking enforces it dog policy for service animals only.

Hmmm, I was on the Viking Sea for my TA. It was the second ship launched by Viking. Glad they have an easier mechanism on the later ships. Thanks for the update.

Sorry to hear about the pool area. What is your itinerary on the Sky? On my previous Viking cruises the pool roof was only closed when chance of rain or high seas. On my TA they opened maybe 1/4 to 1/2 to totally open on our six seas days.

I had the Nordic hot dog from pool grill on my first Viking cruise. Figured why not! Shrimp salad on a very good hot dog. It was interesting, but I ate the whole thing.

I have T-Mobile, will use my iPhone in Europe in June to take pictures, maybe text my family yback home and use the wifi on ship or land to post on Viking forum. It worked well on my last cruise in Western Med. No charge on my bill. I do not make phone calls when on a cruise.

Have you tried the success cake at Mamsen Deli in the Explorer Lounge? The desserts are all Norwegian desserts. They are open for breakfast lunch and late evening. I would check with guest relations and maybe you will be able to move up your excursion time , if there is availability. Some people cancel their excursion when on board for various reasons. Thanks for posting a update while you are on your cruise.

When in Europe please tip in Euros. Even in Turkey our local guides accepted Euros. Don't know aobut Croatia or Motenegro. I usually get Eruos from omy bak or at ATM once in Europe . Right the now the exchange rate is great for USD. Enjoy your cruise.

Mini Me is having a school Spring break to remember forever! She is a lovely young girl who has the most winning smile. I wish I had daughters, only sons. And my granddaughter does not want to cruise and she is 20. My other Granddaughter is 11 so there is still hope. thank yo so much to this wonderful live report.

Looks like it is rumor Friday. I will have a gin martini while I listen... Cheers 🍸

The word "luxury" is in the eye of the beholder. Gratuities are what they are and people react according. Sorry you did not like your viking cruise for all the reasons you have stated before. Hope you have a great upcoming cruise waiting for you on another line,. Happy sailing!

Hope they get the engine repairs ASAP! Lots of full upcoming cruises on the Viking Jupiter.

My first Viking cruise was a TA from San Juan to Barcelona! It was wonderful with great mix of passengers that we got to know many over the course of six sea days in a row. I know what you mean about doing a TA. Viking ships are absolutely Scandinavian beautiful. One can always see the sea or sky from all the common areas except the theater and the nightclub Thorshaven. Also no casino , no children under 18 and all veranda cabins. Wintergarden room is the best light and airy space on any cruirse line! They have afternoon tea in it, otherwise a quiet place to just relax , read etc. Do try Viking Ocean, I am sure you would love it. It is more of a European vibe than the US based cruise lines.It is owned by a Norwegian family. Sorry, did not mean to highjack your summary.

Exactly what I am looking for in terms of the onboard culture among passengers. Azamara is now on our list of cruise line to try next. We love cruising Viking but their itineraries in Europe have not changes over the years. Looking to some different ports of call. Thank you for your informative posts in this summary review.