Empires of the Mediterranean

Has anyone been on this cruise or something similar? It takes in Athens, Santorini, Corfu, Olympia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia and Venice. The reason I ask is we are off in May and wondered about the excursions. They are not available to book until the 6th March but if anyone has an idea where the excursions go to I can at least start thinking about what we would like to do.

Thanks

We did this cruise in April of 2017 and it was a wonderful trip. Have you found the descriptions of possible excursions on the website? Go to the page of Empires of the Mediterranean and scroll down the page to the Day by Day listing of ports. If you click on each day (not Day 1 as there are not usually excursions that day) and then scroll down again to see the possible excursions. All of the ones shown may not be available for your particular sailing, but you can start to get some ideas.

We took a mix of included and optional excursions, and were pleased with all of them, with the exception of the included tour in Zadar. The guide was disappointing, so it was hard to tell if the town would have been more interesting with someone else.

Thank you for that, I’ve now found the list. To be honest all the ones I fancy are the ones you have to pay for. Typical!

We did this cruise last spring, and it was one of my favorite cruises ever. We only took 2 of the optional Viking excursions, and did DIY for the others. Let me know if you have any questions about specific excursions or ports.

Thank you for that, I’ve now found the list. To be honest all the ones I fancy are the ones you have to pay for. Typical!

Those decisions are, of course, up to you and your budget. If you are aiming for a middle of the road approach, pick your favorite optional ones, and use some of the included ones too.

Read the descriptions carefully, to see what is included and what is not. We used an optional excursion in Athens, because the included one did not go up to the Acropolis and that was important for us to see.

Keep in mind that in most ports, Viking provides free shuttle buses from a set point back to the ship. In Dubrovnik, we did the included excursion, which was really good. After it ended, we remained behind and bought our own tickets to go up and walk the walls of the city. After that, we ate lunch in a local restaurant and then took the shuttle back to the ship. The morning tour was included, we paid a modest fee to walk the wall (they took credit cards right at the ticket booth), and paid for our lunch. It was a great day!

Many people advise the use of private tours as a better option, both in terms of group size and cost. As new cruisers, so far we have only used Viking tours.

In Dubrovnik I fancy the trip that takes in a coastal boat trip a well a walking tour of the town. My husband fancies the trip that goes up the cable car. Is it possible to do the boat trip excursion and have time to go up the cable car and back on our own before we need to be back at the ship? The tour finishes at 1pm.

In Dubrovnik I fancy the trip that takes in a coastal boat trip a well a walking tour of the town. My husband fancies the trip that goes up the cable car. Is it possible to do the boat trip excursion and have time to go up the cable car and back on our own before we need to be back at the ship? The tour finishes at 1pm.

What time does the ship depart?

4pm.

4pm.

If the ship departs at 4:00, you have to be back on board at least by 3:00, and there is travel time from Dubrovnik to the ship. I don't know about the logistics of the cable car, but I would be leery about trying to do both. Someone else may know where the cable car station is and how long it takes to go up and back.

It is so hard, but there is never enough time to see everything you want to see!

Thanks, I thought it may be a tall order.

In Dubrovnik we took the included walking tour. We then did went off on our own and walked the city walls, wandered the small alleys and had a great lunch. One of our favorite days and didn't require an extra excursion!