Viking Sineus July 15-27 Kiev to Odessa

[racknlube]

This is our first Viking cruise, first river cruise, and first time in this area. Has anyone been on this cruise? What advice can you give us before we leave?

[Peregrina651]

This is our first Viking cruise, first river cruise, and first time in this area. Has anyone been on this cruise? What advice can you give us before we leave?

 

 

This itinerary used to be known as "Footsteps of the Cossacks" and if you search this forum for Cossack, you should turn up a couple of pages worth of older threads that may have some helpful information including one very long thread called

 

 

Viking 'Footsteps of the Cossacks' (Ukraine)

(Sorry for the funny spacing but blame on on the Cruise Critic formating; I don't have the patience to fight it.)

[Peregrina651]

Okay, now that I got rid of the funny formatting, I can talk.

 

The bugs on the river are awful; do not leave your balcony door open, especially at night.

 

Traveling in the countries of the old Soviet bloc is fascinating. Seventy years of Soviet domination have taken their toll and left their mark but Eastern Europe is slowly but surely making up for lost time, restoring its past glory and building an economic future. Just because the people don't smile does not mean that they don't like you, aren't happy or could care less about serving you. Smiles are not business-like and a good worker who is doing his job does not smile.

 

When we sailed in 2012, the ship that is now known as the Sineus was called the Lomonosov. The were no balconies on any of the cabins, the beds were pullman beds 30 inches wide and the bathrooms were "yacht-style". DH could stand between the beds and touch the walls. I just looked a pictures at the Sineus and all I can say is WOW!! Here's a picture of what the cabins used to look like:

 

[racknlube]

We are looking forward to traveling in the old Soviet bloc. We consider it a challenge to make people smile, but will the employees get in trouble if they do smile?

Yes, the newly renovated rooms look nothing like the old ones. The old ones were functional and cozy and small. Now it's like a 5 star hotel!

[Peregrina651]

We are looking forward to traveling in the old Soviet bloc. We consider it a challenge to make people smile, but will the employees get in trouble if they do smile?

Yes, the newly renovated rooms look nothing like the old ones. The old ones were functional and cozy and small. Now it's like a 5 star hotel!

 

It won't get them in trouble but it won't endear you to them either; it will just reinforce stereotypes, and not for the better. They distrust our ready smiles. So perhaps, "When in Rome..." will get your further.

 

Language and custom are barriers here. We had a horrible experience in a museum in Odessa. We went in and had trouble dealing with the older woman on the cash desk. We bought our tickets and went in the direction she indicated and saw a couple of rooms but as we left those rooms and tried to see the rest of the museum, our way was barred; they would not let us proceed any further. Unable to make any headway in the communications or understanding of the system, we left.

[racknlube]

Ok, thanks for the advice. We look forward to discovering this interesting part of our world.