Iconic western Mediterranean

[Michael50]

Hi all, was wondering if any of you have taken the iconic western Mediterranean viking cruise- as of now we are booked for November 2019 and would love feedback, opinions,  advice etc, we start from rome, thinking of adding two days, ending in Barcelona and adding 2 days on that end.

This is our very first viking trip and would love any advice.

Thanks

[Micktooth]

We are taking the same cruise in July 2019. We will also be starting in Rome and this is our first Viking cruise. I will be following this post. We can't wait for our trip!!  

[Peregrina651]

Viking has been sailing the western Med since 2016 and the one-week Barcelona to Rome or vice versa has, under various names and variation of itinerary,  been its staple. "Iconic Western Med" is a variation on the theme and, except for the new addition Montpelier, Viking has plenty of experience with the varying ports of call. There is a lot of information to be found here in this forum and in the roll calls from the past sailings (both the Star and the Sea have done W. Med sailings and the Sky is currently doing them).

 

IMHO, two days --and by that I mean two full days actually spent touring, not two nights-- is not enough time for either Rome or Barcelona -- especially if you have not visited them before -- because there is so much to be seen in both cities. If you make your own arrangements rather than use a Viking pre- or post-cruise extension, you can get more days for the same amount of money (even including the deviation fee you will pay if you are using Viking Air).

 

Advice here takes two specific forms: one is itinerary specific and the other is ship specific (which includes topics like the drinks package, the laundry room, booking excursions, dress code, etc.--and all of which have multiple threads to read ). Do take the time to search through the old threads; there is info there that might not be repeated. As a first timer, here are a couple of threads that might be of help for general info: Tell Me Why .....,   Tips for New Viking Ocean Cruisers

Edited December 9, 2018 by Peregrina651

[Krisval]

Peregrina651 is the Sage of All Things Viking (seriously!) and her advice is spot on. Do add several days pre and post cruise for Rome and Barcelona- both are fabulous cities of history and iconic sights and you’ll need the time to get over the jet lag coming into Rome and to absorb the atmosphere and culture of Barcelona. 

 

Our practice when going to a city of such history as these two is to arrange an “overview tour” first, just to get an idea of what’s out there. We’ve done the hop on/hop off bus sometimes to familiarize ourselves with the distances between sites, the lay of the land, and to prioritize where we want to spend our time. Or, look for overview tours on Tripadvisor that fit your time and interests. 

 

We are Viking addicts and have enjoyed many Viking river and ocean cruises. I hope you find the ship to be one of the highlights of your trip.

[Peregrina651]

Heavy weighs the crown... Not all things, my friend.

[Marykatesmom]

We just got off the Nov. 27th sailing of the Barcelona to Rome Iconic W Med.  I was surprised how much we enjoyed Barcelona.  I booked a tapas tour through https://www.etapatapa.com/  .  We also had a flamenco show add on to the tour but it got cancelled last minute but the refund was prompt.  I also booked two customized private tours through them and they were tremendously accommodating.   I would recommend doing a youtube search of each city to get a feel for what you would enjoy.

 

Some of the passengers did not enjoy the stop in Sete but we enjoyed our included walking tour in the morning.  I know I would have prefered that over sitting on the ship looking at St. Tropez.   The tour in Sete was besieged by a common thread with all of Vikings tours included or not.  A walking tour always ends up being a slow shuffle followed by things being shortened by "time constraints".   I liked seeing an authentic French fishing village.  I would recommend using a Viking optional tour here as this isn't a popular port with cruise lines.    We did the optional Medieval Village and Abby stop.  The wine tasting was a bit unorganized but the guide was great.  It was a nice way to see the countryside.

 

Monaco was our favorite stop.  It wasn't a very long stop in port.  It would have been nice to see it at night but we left the port at 4:30 PM our earliest departure of the cruise.  My guess is it is one of the most expensive ports in the world and ridiculously expensive to dock there but it would have been wonderful to see it at night.  We did the optional Nice and Monaco tour which was the longest tour in that port.  I did not want to have to sweat getting back to the ship.  Some of the passengers did the included walking tour and elected to stay behind and not take their bus back.  They then tried to take our optional bus back and that is not allowed for a variety of reasons and frankly it seemed really rude to just get on a bus labeled Viking if you were not on that tour to save yourself cab fare which is probably really expensive in Monaco.  What if the guide had done a simple head count and others got left behind?  As it was our bus pulled in at 4:15 PM.  If we had not been on a Viking tour the last hour would have been ruined by my anxiety regarding getting back to the ship.  I know that about myself so I choose to do a Viking tour.

 

In Marseille we did the Le Castellet and wine tasting and very much enjoyed it.  

 

Livorno is an hour and a half from Florence and we elected to spend the night in Florence.  I used a private tour company https://www.milesandmiles.net/   that picked us up in Livorno and took us everywhere we wanted to go including pick up and drop off at the port and our hotel in Florence.  It was lovely to go at our own pace and see what we wanted which included some small little towns, a Super Tuscan winery, Sienna and some lovely country lunches.

 

We did not see Rome at all due to time constraints.

 

We had a great cruise and while I was onboard I booked one tour for 2020 and one for 2021.

 

My only issue with Viking is the pace of all the tours is unbearably  slow.  This can cause parts of the tour to be shortened or eliminated altogether.  On absolutely every tour we were "running behind" and believe me the guides were NOT walking fast or even moderately.  Standing and waiting for people to catch up and having it eat into your tour time is frustrating.  Some of the best moments of the cruise was during the "on your own" time in Nice,  Le Castellet,  Sete, and especially Monaco and that is where guides make up for lost time.   We only had less than 40 minutes in Monaco out of a 9 hour tour so there wasn't a lot of walking around and enjoying the scenery and that was supposed to be the highlight of the trip.   If you signed up for a tour labeled "moderate" a flight of stairs should not be a problem.  If you have severe mobility issues walking around hilltop medieval villages on uneven pavement may not be for you.  Buses are not allowed in many city centers.   I think Viking needs to add more "easy walking" tours and bus tours for those guests that need them.

 

The upside was that absolutely everyone was prompt every time.  If a guide said 11:15 everyone was there at 11:15, no stranglers ever, a pet peeve of mine which is why I book private tours most times.

[Peregrina651]

As to Montpelier/Sete, it is a new port for Viking and they are just getting the feel for how things work there. Hopefully, things will improve there. St. Tropez and Toulon have been on past versions of this itinerary.

 

In Marseille, we chose to go Aix-en-Provence with Viking. It was part guided tour and part on your own. It was during the Christmas season, so the Christmas markets were still open. We could have done it on our own by train from Marseille but opted for the lazy way.  I'm a fool for old provincial cities and towns, so this was perfect for us.

 

In Monaco (on Jan. 1, so museums closed), we took the 100 bus from the Place des Armes into Nice, wandered along the shore line into the Old City for a few hours and then made our way back to the bus stop. The bus runs along the coastline and the views are beautiful.

 

In Florence, we did a day trip to Florence on our own. We bought tickets for the Uffizzi online and then planned the rest of our day around that. This was a return visit and we had a shopping list that took us from the Ponte Vecchio to the Leather School at Sta. Croce to a little old-fashioned candy store Migone (for limoncello filled chocolates; Via dei Calzaiuoli corner Via dei Tosinghi -- opposite Vistoria's Secret). In the process, we got to see a lot of the city. The next day, we took the Viking tour to Lucca to wander around.

[Michael50]

Hi , this is great information,  I really appreciate all the info.. we are looking at November 2019 for the trip, what is the general weather like at that time? We are  oing from New York and would like to leave our winter coats at home - are layers doable? 

We are both hikers, walk at least 3-4 miles each day , would lIke to avoid buses if possible.

Also, we plan on adding days to each end of the trip

Thanks again for all the help

Helene 

[Peregrina651]

5 hours ago, Michael50 said:

Hi , this is great information,  I really appreciate all the info.. we are looking at November 2019 for the trip, what is the general weather like at that time? We are  oing from New York and would like to leave our winter coats at home - are layers doable? 

We are both hikers, walk at least 3-4 miles each day , would lIke to avoid buses if possible.

Also, we plan on adding days to each end of the trip

Thanks again for all the help

Helene 

 

Even in November, I would be bringing the winter coat, because the the weather can turn on a dime and I'm not happy touring unless I am warm (the weather can be cold but not me). I made a mistake on a day trip last year and did not dress warmly enough and I was miserable for the whole tour. We are traveling in March and I will be bringing a winter coat and Uggs.

Edited December 10, 2018 by Peregrina651

[SquatsandChampagne]

We just visited Sete a couple days ago on the Viking Sun, I quite liked the Port, it was last minute change for us so their was only an included walking tour of the town, but you could

Easily spend a good 4 or 5 hours there, very nice city, great fresh seafood and good wine for that region

[peasmith]

We are doing the Iconic Med Holiday on the 23rd December this year so will post when we get back - St Tropez was originally on our itinerary when we booked it as 'Iconic Western Med' holiday but due to tendering at that time of year Viking dropped it from the itinerary and we now have a day at sea on Christmas Day. 

[IdahoMonkey]

Just got home from the Western Iconic Med cruise.  We had an amazing time.  I agree with thought Monaco was amazing.  Of course the weather helped...In Sete we took the optional excursion into Montepelier.  Beautiful town, very clean and not as touristy as some of the others, our second favorite stop behind Monaco.  I would recommend doing an option tour in Marsaille as it is a big city and not as charming as some of the others....  The tours are slow because some of the cruisers think their abilities are better than they actually are and do not head the warnings of stairs or the extent of walking.  We were an on a tour that states it was extensive walking and stairs and people had walkers...

 

The Chefs Table with the Asian cuisine was Amazing and if you like steak the Rib eye at Manifredi's is out of this world. This cruise exceed every expectation we had.  The Tile floors are a very warm and the bathroom is a bit like a sauna. We ordered room service for breakfast on the days we had early excursions. It was our anniversary and they had sparkling wine in our room on our anniversary and we got a cake in Manifredi's.  The ship never seemed crowded, there was always plenty of quiet places, the excursions were kept relatively small.  25-30 max and the buses was not packed full.  In Rome the street sellers are very aggressive, if they give you a "FREE" bracelet you better believe they are gonna come back and extort money from you.  Also I think this was a scam in Rome, it was young people asking for your to sign a petition for drug rehabilitation and they they will pressure you for a donation.  It looks very official. But what good would a petition do with a signature from a tourist? Do be careful though of the Gypsy pickpockets.  One lady lost her wallet and it contained her passport and credit cards.  this was in a dark alley we had to walk back to our bus in Pisa.  They look like students mostly young girls so I would not bring a backpack or a large purses on any excursion. Also in Monaco, a couple went into a restaurant to eat lunch, ordered and nothing ever came so they go up and left.  The restaurant called the police and they were arrested for dining and dashing.  They never even go their water, but when they left the restaurant made the table appear as if they had eaten and left.  They were taken to the police station where they had to pay a fine.   This is not meant to scare you, and over all we never felt unsafe.  You just need to be diligent and smart.  If you look like a target they will seek you out. 

 

We loved Barcelona and wished we had extended as the one day is not enough. We did get to Rome a couple of days earlier and that was great. It gave us a chance to see sights before the cruise.  We used Viator for the front of the line tour of the Vatican and Barbara was fantastic.  It was very reasonable and worth every penny.    

 

I hope this helps,  before our cruise I read everything I could as had never been one a Viking cruise or to Europe before.  The last recommendation I have is if you can swing it.  Upgrade to Premium Economy.  We used viking air with the cheap airfare deal and our seats were not upgradeable.  It is a Very long flight, when the person in front of you reclines their seat the screens are about 4 inch from your face and I could not focus on the screen.  We flew on Lufthansa and our flights were great but space is non existent.

[Michael50]

Thanks so much for all this great information, can you guys recommend places to stay in Rome and Barcelona? We are adding on days at each end and booking ourselves, 

thanks

helene

[Peregrina651]

6 hours ago, peasmith said:

We are doing the Iconic Med Holiday on the 23rd December this year so will post when we get back - St Tropez was originally on our itinerary when we booked it as 'Iconic Western Med' holiday but due to tendering at that time of year Viking dropped it from the itinerary and we now have a day at sea on Christmas Day. 

 

We did St. Tropez last year and it was our least favorite of all the ports. Since you are there on Christmas Day, they probably decided to make it a sea day because most everything would be closed, the guides and drivers want the day off and, if they open at all, the bars and restaurants would be opening late.

 

55 minutes ago, Michael50 said:

Thanks so much for all this great information, can you guys recommend places to stay in Rome and Barcelona? We are adding on days at each end and booking ourselves, 

thanks

helene

 

While I can't give you the name of a specific hotel in either city, my suggestion is to start by deciding what the places are that you want to see and then look for hotels that are convenient to them, so that you don't spend a lot of time/money getting to the places you want to see. In Barcelona, most of the fun stuff is somewhat close together while in Rome, things are rather spread out.

Edited December 10, 2018 by Peregrina651

[peasmith]

31 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

We did St. Tropez last year and it was our least favorite of all the ports. Since you are there on Christmas Day, they probably decided to make it a sea day because most everything would be closed, the guides and drivers want the day off and, if they open at all, the bars and restaurants would be opening late.

 

 

While I can't give you the name of a specific hotel in either city, my suggestion is to start by deciding what the places are that you want to see and then look for hotels that are convenient to them, so that you don't spend a lot of time/money getting to the places you want to see. In Barcelona, most of the fun stuff is somewhat close together while in Rome, things are rather spread out.

This was a section of the e-mail received from Viking:-

 

"In our time operating this itinerary, we have learnt that the unpredictable nature of the seas near St. Tropez has affected our ability to visit the port more frequently than we would like. Because of how our ships anchor in the bay of St. Tropez, guests must be transported ashore by the ship's tender vessels. When seas are rough, we are unable to transport guests, resulting in a missed port of call.

Therefore, in order to ensure the best cruise experience possible, instead of visiting St. Tropez during the holiday as originally planned, we will now cruise the Mediterranean Sea on Day 3 of your itinerary and proceed to Marseille on Day 4"

[trinicruisegyal]

We did a similar cruise as the second leg of a roundtrip cruise from Rome last New Years. One of the great things about the itinerary is that it’s possible to do more than one tour/activity per day; for us we took a Viking tour ‘first thing’ in the morning, had lunch back at the ship and then spent the rest of the day exploring the various cities on our own.  The free shuttle buses offered by Viking or in some cases the port were key to us being able to easily do this. Some ports we had a plan for what we wanted to do with the second half of the day before we left home. For example in Marseille we did the included tour which was a bus ride around the city, got some shopping done, had lunch back onboard and then caught the train to Aix-en-Provence and spent a few hours wandering around, did some more shopping caught the train back to Marseille and were back onboard in time for dinner. In other ports like St Tropez (I know this port was dropped from your itinerary) we took cues from that morning’s tour and shaped that afternoon’s adventure which included a walk, coffee and some Tarte Tropézienne (at a café recommended by our guide that morning) and a ride on the St. Tropez Christmas train. 

I think that if you already know that you would like to avoid bus tours where possible you may want to look into either exploring on your own or organizing private tours with others on your cruise. We felt that as it was our first Viking cruise that we wanted to experience the tours that were included, so that on any future cruises we would have a good idea what their tours are like and know whether to skip them or not. Plus the Viking tours were great for our small multigenerational group, as there was just the right mix of driving and walking.

During November in the Mediterranean you shouldn’t need the winter coats, however I would suggest that you walk with them because you really never know. We walked with ours last December/January, the weather was fantastic during the cruise…my husband grumbled about having unnecessarily walked with his coat and gloves, so he packed his coat in his checked luggage when we left the ship. We left for home from Rome, had an early flight into Munich and then were scheduled to fly from Munich to JFK and then home to Trinidad. We left Munich for JFK and were diverted into Detroit due to a winter storm. We had to spend the night in Detroit, it was 0 degrees Fahrenheit when we landed and had to find the shuttle to the hotel the airline provided and then we got bused to JFK the next day. After the super long bus ride we ended up with a 12 hour layover in a terminal at JFK with no heat (they closed the terminal a few hours after we left), couldn’t get a room at any hotel nearby…it was a nightmare…but hubby was thrilled to have his coat and gloves. 
 

[Michael50]

Wow, that was great information, I’m going to print all of this and put into my new file that is quickly growing, so much to look forward to!!! We just booked a hotel in Barcelona and also a hotel in Rome, biloth were very reasonable, I grabbed them since others were already sold out, amazing that it’s a year away and sold out,,, oh well, I guess I’m not alone here, 

this will actually be my first time in Europe so I’m very excited, my husband has been to London, also a place I would like to visit, but Barcelona is definitely one of our top places to see.... we booked three nights on our own there, any info would be appreciated as well as Rome,,, 

thanks again for your advice 

helene

[Peregrina651]

2 hours ago, Michael50 said:

Wow, that was great information, I’m going to print all of this and put into my new file that is quickly growing, so much to look forward to!!! We just booked a hotel in Barcelona and also a hotel in Rome, biloth were very reasonable, I grabbed them since others were already sold out, amazing that it’s a year away and sold out,,, oh well, I guess I’m not alone here, 

this will actually be my first time in Europe so I’m very excited, my husband has been to London, also a place I would like to visit, but Barcelona is definitely one of our top places to see.... we booked three nights on our own there, any info would be appreciated as well as Rome,,, 

thanks again for your advice 

helene

 

Those hotels are not necessarily booked up. It is a year out and it is entirely possible that they haven't even opened for booking at this point--it just doesn't say so on the website. Keep checking. Keep watching for your first choice hotels to have openings. Also, keep watch for price drops on the hotels where you are currently booked.

 

Okay, Barcelona.

 

Departing the ship:  Really no need to make special arrangements. There will be cabs on the dock. Take your luggage to your hotel and ask them to store it for you until you check in. Then get out and start touring.

 

Departing your hotel for the airport: Take a cab. It is a flat fee of 29€ (additional fee for suitcases is a standard charge through out Spain, so don't think they are ripping you off; it has been that way for at least the last 50 years). Just double check the flat fee online in case it has gone up or my memory is faulty.

 

The hardest thing in Barcelona (and Rome) is realizing that you just cannot see everything in three days so you are going to have to make choices. You are overnighting in Barcelona, so take advantage of the bus tours that Viking offers to see what you cannot not otherwise get to easily on your own (such as the tour that goes to Montserrat and Parc Guell or even just the included panoramic bus tour that will give you a chance to see parts of the city that you might not otherwise get a chance to see).

 

 

Edited December 12, 2018 by Peregrina651

[Micktooth]

Thank you everyone for this information. We are getting excited for our July '19 sailing. 

[FionaGal]

On 12/9/2018 at 7:15 PM, Peregrina651 said:

 

Even in November, I would be bringing the winter coat, because the the weather can turn on a dime and I'm not happy touring unless I am warm (the weather can be cold but not me). I made a mistake on a day trip last year and did not dress warmly enough and I was miserable for the whole tour. We are traveling in March and I will be bringing a winter coat and Uggs.

My suggestion would be a light weight winter coat, like packable down, with a scarf if needed.   We checked temps from home and although the highs were all about 60, the mornings were definitely colder.  If you take the Montserrat excursion from Barcelona, it can be much colder and windier due to elevation.  We were on the Dec 2-9 sailing and had great weather with only one day of on/off drizzle.  Always better to have a coat than wish you did.  (We arrived in Rome one day early and were surprised that everyone seemed to be in winter mode with fur lined hoods even though it was 63.  At home we would still be seeing t shirts.)

[SM77]

On 12/9/2018 at 1:36 PM, Michael50 said:

Hi , this is great information,  I really appreciate all the info.. we are looking at November 2019 for the trip, what is the general weather like at that time? We are  oing from New York and would like to leave our winter coats at home - are layers doable? 

We are both hikers, walk at least 3-4 miles each day , would lIke to avoid buses if possible.

Also, we plan on adding days to each end of the trip

Thanks again for all the help

Helene 

 

We just came back from the Mediterranean using Oceania.  We are huge Viking fans, having done three river cruises & Viking Homelands last May, and headed to New Zealand, Australis, & Indonesia in Feb 2019 but we were also very impressed w/ Oceania.  If you are staying in Barcelona post-cruise, I highly recommend Barcelona Day Tours to transfer from the ship to your hotel - they will pick you up from the port and take you & your luggage on a full day tour of Barcelona - we did Barcelona & Montserrat - and then drop you off at your hotel - it was great - We also stayed at Hotel Colon (very reasonable in November) which is across the plaza from the Barcelona Cathedral - great location, fabulous hotel staff - you can walk to lots of places in Barcelona - highly recommend doing a tour of Palau de la Musica Orfeo Catala.  Layers are definitely doable in Barcelona in Nov - we left on Nov 15th - it was in the '60s & humid, I was so warm, I just wore a light shirt and traveling vest to the airport.  

[SM77]

Also, the taxi fare was 42 euros - he used a meter from Hotel Colon to the airport.  We had two large suitcases & one carryon.

[Peregrina651]

Last I heard, it was a flat fee from the airport into the downtown area. Has this been changed?

 

The airport website has a good chart for taxi fares into Barcelona and it lists a flat fee of 39€  between the airport and the port.

 

[SM77]

 

11 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

Last I heard, it was a flat fee from the airport into the downtown area. Has this been changed?

 

The airport website has a good chart for taxi fares into Barcelona and it lists a flat fee of 39€  between the airport and the port.

 

I don't know about taking a taxi from the airport to downtown.  Hotel Colon ordered a taxi for us and it cost 42 euros.  The hotel is in a pedestrian area so the rate may be higher and we also had three pieces of luggage.  I just thought the OP would benefit to know what we just paid for a taxi last month (Nov 2018).  

[Peregrina651]

6 hours ago, SM77 said:

 

I don't know about taking a taxi from the airport to downtown.  Hotel Colon ordered a taxi for us and it cost 42 euros.  The hotel is in a pedestrian area so the rate may be higher and we also had three pieces of luggage.  I just thought the OP would benefit to know what we just paid for a taxi last month (Nov 2018).  

 

Hmm. Okay. Not doubting you. Something to keep an eye on. I know it used to be a flat fee; now I have to watch for what others report.