Sleep7

A quote from one of my favorite movies.. "It's all happening!!" The absolute BEST time of a cruise.. when you are walking up the gangway for the very first time. You know you have the whole week ahead of you to enjoy!

No lines at all.. quickest check in ever!

Now this was the unexpected part.. Even though Viking didn't require a negative COVID test to board the ship.. the Greek government did. When we arrived at the port we were asked if we had taken a COVID test within the last 24 or 72 hours. We had not, so they very swiftly and politely moved us to the testing area a few yards away, where we were swabbed, and then waited for our results. We looked at each other with sleep deprived eyes thinking that wow.. this vacation might be over before it had even begun. There was instant comradery amongst our fellow "testees" and within a few minutes we all thankfully tested negative and were on our way to check in.

Hello to our old friend Viking Sky! We missed you!

As always.. a truly welcome sight to bleary eyed travelers. The friendly and very helpful Viking representatives there to meet and greet us with a smile.

Almost there! Goooood morning Greece!!

Flying time just under 9 hours. I love seeing that thin sliver of dawn that appears just a few hours into a transatlantic flight.. it means that Europe is up and has started it's day already.🤗

Next up to take off! Goodbye Long Island.. see ya in a week.👋

We still wore masks on the plane. I looked up that you didn't need to be vaccinated or have a negative COVID test to enter Greece so I thought that "masking up" for the flight was a good idea.

Delta flight 202.. nonstop from JFK to ATH. Boarding soon!

Didn't know you could track your bags on a real time map.😃

Checked out two lounges.. the Amex Centurion Lounge and the Delta Sky Club. We ate, drank and were very very merry.

Well what a difference 6 months makes! We had sailed on the Sky last November (first cruise on Viking Ocean) and the days leading up to our departure were filled with filling out online forms and making appointments for COVID tests. These were not only for the ship but for our entry into Spain as our cruise left from Barcelona. I had packed a large Ziploc bag of masks and hand wipes and even a pulse oximeter. More than a few times I googled "medical evacuation in case of COVID overseas." Once on board we were tested every day (which I was very happy to do) and carried passenger locator necklaces with us at all times. Daily we took "face temperature" tests and filled out our "how are you feeling" questionnaires on the Viking app. Even with all that going on back in November 2021 we still had the BEST cruise ever! Well I'm very happy to declare that all or most of those protocols have been put aside (for now and hopefully forever) and cruising, for the most part, has returned back into what it was pre-pandemic. The biggest shift from our two post COVID cruises last fall, was (we thought) no pre-cruise testing required.. more on that later though. For the moment we were transported back to 2019. Just pack your bags.. check in online and you are good to go! And that's just what we did. Terminal Four at JFK.. we are ready to roll!

Hellooooooo to all the Viking fans on the board! We are just back from an absolutely fantastic 7 day "Ancient Mediterranean Treasures" sailing from Athens to Istanbul. Just flew home yesterday and the smiling has not stopped. Although exhausted and jet lagged.. I am truly anxious to get started on the incredibly happy tale of our absolutely SKYMAZING seven days on the Sky. It's 2am here in New York.. Due to the 7 hour time change and the fact that I couldn't make myself stay up past 7:00pm last night I'm up and ready to write! Come sail with us!