Viking Oceans Istanbul to Venice Dailies

[rjscott]

I had to break these into several days, because of the size limitations of the attachments on CC.

 

Becki

VS DAY 1-2.pdf

VS DAY 3-4.pdf

VS DAY 5-6.pdf

VS DAY 7-8.pdf

VS DAY 9-10.pdf

Edited April 30, 2015 by rjscott

[bxny]

Thanks for posting the the dallies. I now have a sense of what is being offered on the ship.

[rjscott]

You're most welcome. I was seeing many people asking about various daily activities and hoped these would help clarify some of that.

 

Becki

[avonglen]

I had to break these into several days, because of the size limitations of the attachments on CC.

 

Becki

Many thanks for taking the trouble to post the daily activity sheets - very informative indeed! Have just compared the tours on offer with those I have chosen from the 2016 Viking Empire (50days) only to find that many of the excursions I have selected (& researched) have not been included on your 2015 itinerary. Am keeping my fingers crossed that this will change for 2016 & that I will be able to undertake the ones I would dearly love to do. Did you find that, because of the modified list of excursions actually on offer, you had to amend your plans after setting up your wish list/booking/ boarding? If so, when were you advised of this?

[roothy123]

Hi Becki. I've been taking a break from reading Star posts, but just came back to check something I had read before, and found your post. Thanks so much for posting the dailies. They answered some questions I had, and provided me with a lot of information I hadn't read about before.

 

I must say I'm impressed with the cultural enrichment offerings. Viking promised those, and they've certainly delivered (Chef's Table menus could be included as well as the naturalist talks, marine talks, etc.) I usually don't go to too many organized activities, but maybe I'll make more of an effort to attend. I'm happy to see the cultural enrichment stuff is scheduled for times that I just might be back on the ship and not too tired to attend. I need some enrichment!

Edited May 1, 2015 by roothy123

[DianeLikesToTravel]

Thank you so much for this information. There are many more planned lectures and activities than I thought there would be. I hope you are having a wonderful time.

[rjscott]

Many thanks for taking the trouble to post the daily activity sheets - very informative indeed! Have just compared the tours on offer with those I have chosen from the 2016 Viking Empire (50days) only to find that many of the excursions I have selected (& researched) have not been included on your 2015 itinerary. Am keeping my fingers crossed that this will change for 2016 & that I will be able to undertake the ones I would dearly love to do. Did you find that, because of the modified list of excursions actually on offer, you had to amend your plans after setting up your wish list/booking/ boarding? If so, when were you advised of this?

 

Actually, all of the excursions our party of four selected prior to sailing were still scheduled, so we had no issues in that regard. It does not surprise me that Viking would have revised the offering of excursions after the maiden voyage; keeping those that were most popular and replacing those that were not. But, that's just my opinion.

 

Becki

[rjscott]

Roothy,

I wondered where you were. :).

If we were onboard and there was an enrichment lecture, my husband tried to attend. His favorite TV channels are History, Discovery, and Military. :). So, he just soaks this stuff up. He really liked the lectures on the Star. Sometimes, on other ships, he would come back and gripe that the lecturer didn't have their facts straight, which, as an engineer, really peeves him.

 

 

Becki

[roothy123]

That's funny...I'm very familiar with those channels as my husband also loves them. I like Discovery and Smithsonian channels but in general don't watch much TV. I'm more likely to be planning my next cruise!

 

I just couldn't read the Viking Star posts anymore, though - made me want to reply to too many of them and didn't want to come across as a know-it-all. You DO learn a lot if you cruise regularly though and the temptation is great to explain why some things are done.

 

Less than 7 months to go before we fly to Venice...yay! By the way, which were your favorite and least favorite ports?

[roothy123]

Oops, typo...Less than 5 months before we fly to Venice!

[rjscott]

Roothy,

I can understand why you needed a break. ;)

Gosh, that's a tough one for my favorite ports, as I liked them all for different reasons. But, I will pick two. Santorini, because it was so gorgeous. And, Kotor because that sail-in was so lovely and the surrounding scenery was amazing. I also loved just walking around the town snapping photos. Very picturesque.

You may be wondering why I didn't mention Venice. Well, Venice wasn't part of our cruise, but we did two days postcruise. We all loved Venice. It is magnificent.

 

Becki

[roothy123]

I'm really looking forward to Kotor, too. I see you guys were notified it would be a scenic sail in. I'm glad Viking posted the time. I've "watched" a couple ships go through the Bay so I knew about how long it normally takes, but after reading the daily for Kotor, I see I really didn't have to do that.

 

I read cruisinsub's blog on his walk to the Kotor fortress and thought of you. Apparently they were alone until the Captain showed up! I know I'm not going to make it all the way up, but I at least want to go as far as the church on the hillside.

 

I'm also really looking forward to Venice (and Istanbul) - such a unique place. It's funny, though - we have a friend who didn't like it 10 or so years ago - said it smelled and it was hard to get around! Oh well, most people love it, and I know I will, too.

 

We were in Santorini in 2006. I have never been to a more beautiful place. Loved Oia. I usually don't like going back to places I've been to, but in the case of Santorini, I'm pretty excited to spend another day there!

 

Thanks again for the dailies. I know things can change between now and late September, but at least they give me an idea of things to come.