Italy-Adriatic-Greece March 2022

[longterm]

On 3/6/2022 at 7:53 PM, claranda said:

I really can’t believe what I’m reading here! Is no one complaining about this appalling situation? We’re forced to pay for tests that should satisfy the cruise line - certainly it satisfies other lines - and they still insist on a PCR and lock you up for five, six, god knows how many hours! We can board at 11 in Venice, but what’s the point? Better to have a leisurely lunch on shore and board in the afternoon!

I respectfully disagree; having watched while other cruise lines had outbreaks, I was also glad to see that almost none of the Viking ships experienced outbreaks--and this is just among those that the CDC reports on--while dozens of other cruise lines reported Covid situations.

We had to stay in our stateroom when we boarded in Rome (Civitavecchia), but since there were no excursions available for us as new passengers anyway, we were fine with watching movies, relaxing, and having meals in our stateroom. 

I traveled as a touring musician for almost 20 years with major acts based in Nashville; we had a saying that the moment you stepped aboard a tour bus or got on the first flight out of Nashville, your schedule was no longer your own and subject to constant changes (which happened a lot). Once I accepted the inevitable unpredictability of travel, I quit stressing about it and it all got a lot easier.

I remember literally running onto a plane in Fargo, North Dakota, to get airborne before a blizzard moved in; I remember running through airports when flights were canceled, or sitting on the bus because the artist wanted to do some shopping.

Being able to travel after being housebound for 2 years has been great for us, and for the shops and restaurants we've visited. We've had 17 great days and look forward to 6 more, and have already booked our next Viking cruise, which will be 29 days.

[Heidi13]

6 hours ago, pdmlynek said:

Hahahaha!  Is Viking trolling you? 

 

How could anyone think that a huge ship like Viking Sky, with a 30 meter beam and 7 meter draught be able to ply canals that are 1 to 5 meters wide and a meter deep?  Have they ever been to Venice or seen pictures of canals of Venice?

 

I hope that they were just trying to be funny.

 

 

I have sailed into Venice many times, both as a pax & navigator and the ships do use a canal to access the cruise terminal. The Guidecca Canal is the main canal entering Venice, separating the islands of Dorsoduro and Guidecca.

[Mrs Miggins]

3 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

I have sailed into Venice many times, both as a pax & navigator and the ships do use a canal to access the cruise terminal. The Guidecca Canal is the main canal entering Venice, separating the islands of Dorsoduro and Guidecca.

But not any longer.  The current restrictions for cruise passengers in Italy combined with the makeshift use of a Ferry and Industrial port because of the understandable and long awaited decision to ban cruise ships from Venice, certainly make Venice a more challenging destination.  

Hopefully we will be able to go ashore independently on our Azamara cruise in April. However the current docking locations will make Venice trips much more difficult. 

[Heidi13]

2 minutes ago, Mrs Miggins said:

But not any longer.  The current restrictions for cruise passengers in Italy combined with the makeshift use of a Ferry and Industrial port because of the understandable and long awaited decision to ban cruise ships from Venice, certainly make Venice a more challenging destination.  

Hopefully we will be able to go ashore independently on our Azamara cruise in April. However the current docking locations will make Venice trips much more difficult. 

 

Thanks, I should have said "Did" use the Guidecca Canal, as I am aware of the current restrictions.

[Hazel52]

10 hours ago, longterm said:

Yes, we booked our own accommodations in Rome. I can highly recommend the Argentina Residenza Hotel; it is two minutes from the Pantheon, directly across the street from where Julius Caesar was assassinated. Staff was wonderful, room was very nice

 

We are staying in Athens on the Viking post extension; we booked two tours  with a private guide, plus we have the three tour excursions provided by Viking; our guide is going to surprise us on the last day with some things that are not common tourist destinations, and we are very excited about that. We are gliding into Corfu Greece as we speak, should be docking in the next 20 minutes. Absolutely beautiful.

Hope you will continue to share your thoughts on your tours, hotel, etc in Athens. We’ll be staying extra days as well and wondering about using Viking or doing it on our own, as we usually do.  Really appreciate you taking the time to share your trip with us. Thank you!

[pdmlynek]

11 hours ago, Mrs Miggins said:

Cruise Ships including those bigger than Viking did indeed travel along the Guidecca Canal past St Marks Square to the Cruise Port.  Of course they didnt enter the Grand Canal !  Photos available online.

Well, sure, I've seen them myself when I was there, but nobody would consider sailing by Venice to mean "traveling through the city's canals." 

 

I am not sure if Viking was trying to be funny or trying to pretend that their ships went into Venice.

[pdmlynek]

9 hours ago, longterm said:

According to the local guides, St. Mark's has never allowed tours on Sunday mornings, just on Sunday afternoons. I place the blame squarely on the local tour company, whose name didn't exactly inspire confidence (I'll not post it here).

Well, sure, you can't trust whatever the local tour company says.  That is the part of traveling to Italy.  They'll screw you over and they won't care.  Many times I had to book for new ticket in Italy because they "lost the ones that I bought on the internet".  I've gone to a hotel in Italy they had my reservation at the agreed price, but when wanted to hand me the key they said that the new price for the hotel is now 30 EUR more. 

 

Italy is great, but the veracity of people in the hospitality industry is not their strong suit.  It is not mean spirited like in some African or Eastern European countries, but more of a lackadaisical attitude .  If they get a bad reputation it does not matter; they have many more times tourists than they can service anyway. 

[longterm]

13 hours ago, Mrs Miggins said:

But not any longer.  The current restrictions for cruise passengers in Italy combined with the makeshift use of a Ferry and Industrial port because of the understandable and long awaited decision to ban cruise ships from Venice, certainly make Venice a more challenging destination.  

Hopefully we will be able to go ashore independently on our Azamara cruise in April. However the current docking locations will make Venice trips much more difficult. 

It seems as though very little planning went into the change of docking in Venice. Port workers at both Fusina and Marghera seemed confused every time we drove in and out; had some pre-planning been done, the move might be easier.

 

Unfortunately, Fusina is surrounded by a chemical plant, necessitating instructions sent to our stateroom on what to do in the case of a chemical spill. Not the most encouraging thing to read, even having grownup across a lake from oil refineries in Louisiana.

Edited March 18, 2022 by longterm

[longterm]

Last day on board the Viking Sky. We docked in Olympia (Katakolon) and took an excursion to the site of the first Olympics. Very interesting, but it was cold an windy today. The ruins are fascinating, well worth the trip.

Then we went to Magna Grecia, a farm where the owners grow olives and wine; their focus is mainly on olives and olive oil. Had a glass of their wine and then were treated to what turned out to be much more than a snack--Greek salad, tzatziki, tapanade, great bread. We of course decided to buy some olive oil and have it shipped home; we've got a lot of great oil to enjoy!

Looking forward to reaching Athens, where we're staying for 4 nights. More to come!

[Maite88]

4 hours ago, longterm said:

Last day on board the Viking

I have really enjoyed and learned from all your post about this trip.  Ours is in May from Athens to Rome and we are very excited.  Thank you for all the great info provided.  
 

One more question, if you are on DV room, does it have 3 drawers in the closet?

 

 

[longterm]

26 minutes ago, Maite88 said:

I have really enjoyed and learned from all your post about this trip.  Ours is in May from Athens to Rome and we are very excited.  Thank you for all the great info provided.  
 

One more question, if you are on DV room, does it have 3 drawers in the closet?

 

 

You’ll love it; we enjoyed every port. 
 

Yes, we’re in a DV; drawers: 2 in the closet, 3 below the coffeemaker. 

[austinetc]

On 3/13/2022 at 9:22 AM, longterm said:

Today was the 3rd day for us in Venice. We originally scheduled an optional excursion for a tour of the Doge's Palace and St. Mark's Basilica.

 

When we got the last batch of excursion tickets 2 days ago, I noticed we were missing a ticket for the 13th (today). I went to Guest Services to inquire, and it's a really good thing I did...

 

We were told that our excursion had been canceled because St. Mark's Basilica is closed to tours on Sunday mornings, and that we had been notified with a letter to our stateroom. 

We got the letter later that day, but still too late to do much with it.

I was not a happy camper; I was told we could take any of 3 remaining tours (the free tour + 2 others); the 4th, a tour of Doge's Palace, was full.

Of the 3 remaining tours, we had already taken 2 of them, so that left the freebie, which was a tour of St. Mark's Square. Wow. Not much to see there, and we'd already seen it on a tour that morning.

I told the Viking person that the only tour we would be satisfied with, having now lost our chance to go inside St. Mark's, was the tour of the Doge's Palace. He wouldn't budge; he put us on a waiting list behind 4 other people.

I was not pleased, and told him so, politely but firmly. I asked to speak to his superior, and he told me he'd have the excursion director call me. She called while we were out of the room, so I called back. 

She told me that we weren't the only people with the same situation, and said they'd worked out a solution: they organized a private tour for the 12 of us to the Doge's Palace, and we'd be taken there and back by private water taxis, not the large water buses we used for the other excursions. 

It was wonderful; we were whisked there, 6 in each water taxi, got an excellent private tour of the Doge's Palace, and a half hour to spend in St. Mark's Square, where a few of us bought souvenirs or coffee.

Yet again, Viking did the right thing; someone set up this tour without considering that St. Mark's was closed on Sunday mornings--oops--I would guess that it was someone in Venice, but I don't know--but Viking came up with a great solution. Water taxis are 70 euros for a one-way trip for ONE person, and I don't know what they paid for parties of 6 (probably at least 200-300 euros each way), but our excursion was just perfect. I give Viking huge points for taking care of its guests.

We didn't get to see the interior of St. Mark's, but it's an excuse to return soon.

We're booked to do the same excursion on Sunday, 4/24, so I "chatted" with a Viking representative this morning, conveying your experience. For brevity, I didn't say that you were on the Sky or that it happened just last week. Her first response was that I shouldn't trust guidance from others and that Viking was in a unique position that "other" tour groups were not. I replied that the information was both very fresh and from a Viking passenger. I assumed her first reaction was "oh, oops". She's promised to look into it within 72 hours.

 

I would be fine with the "fix" that you received, but without the initial confusion and dissatisfaction.

[miami mama]

Can't wait to hear about your post extension in Athens. We are also booked for that, as it seemed to be well priced and provided a lot of experiences. 

[longterm]

10 hours ago, austinetc said:

We're booked to do the same excursion on Sunday, 4/24, so I "chatted" with a Viking representative this morning, conveying your experience. For brevity, I didn't say that you were on the Sky or that it happened just last week. Her first response was that I shouldn't trust guidance from others and that Viking was in a unique position that "other" tour groups were not. I replied that the information was both very fresh and from a Viking passenger. I assumed her first reaction was "oh, oops". She's promised to look into it within 72 hours.

 

I would be fine with the "fix" that you received, but without the initial confusion and dissatisfaction.

Interesting! My experience with Viking phone reps has been all over the map. Although they are very friendly and as helpful as they can be, they don’t all have the same information. Sadly, I have found the same thing to be true of guest services aboard the ship; they have contradicted each many times, so we have been forced to go back to them to clarify things.

 

having said that, I wrote a long review yesterday of things on the ship, made some helpful suggestions, and they followed up almost immediately on one particular issue. I was impressed with the fact that they took my letter seriously and followed up with us.

 

We are big fans; Cruises are complicated endeavors, and we think Viking does everything they can to make things smooth, comfortable, and enjoyable.

[longterm]

Day 2 in Athens. Yesterday we went to the Parthenon, which turned out to be every bit as amazing as I expected. Having lived in Nashville for 34 years, I'd seen the exact replica of the Parthenon that is in Centennial Park there, but seeing the real thing made me realize how spectacular it, and the Acropolis in which it is located, really are. 

Crowds were okay for a Saturday, but by the time we left there were much more people entering the site. 

The Acropolis Museum is the finest museum I've ever seen; the floors are clear glass, beneath which are ruins that have been excavated and left for everyone to enjoy. 

We had a private guide yesterday afternoon; she was such a pleasure. She and her driver took us to Cape Sounion, where we say the Temple of Poseidon, high on a cape overlooking the Aegean Sea. Really fantastic. Our guide Niki is superb; she works with Rick Steves, doing his groups when they are in Greece. If anyone is looking for an excellent guide for Athens or Olympia, please contact me privately on this forum and I'll be glad to share her information with you--she's first class.

Today Viking took us to Mycenea, another acropolis south of Athens; it was fantastic and highly recommended; we then went to Epidaurus, which is the site of a 1st century open-air theatre that seated about 15000, and a hospital whose ruins have been excavated. On the way we crossed the Corinth canal, which is an interesting canal--very deep channel, but the water's only 26 feet deep.

 

While I'm thinking about it--we had a private guide in Rome as well. She took us on 2 days of walking tours, and was such a great guide. If you're interested in using her as a guide (we highly recommend her), please contact me privately and I'll be glad to share her contact information.

[longterm]

Our Viking guide had this on her iPhone, so I took a photo of it. This is a great list of words to learn before heading to Greece, thought someone might find it useful.

 

[miami mama]

So for Day 1 in Athens, did they take the post extension group off the ship early and then right to the Parthenon and onto the museum, leaving the afternoon open for your private guided trip? Also, how long did it take you to walk up to the Parthenon? For our extension Day 3 is left open to do on your own so I am interested in looking at private guided activities.

[Azulann]

So much to see and do  in Athens and the neighborhood. Love having a great tour guide.  

We took a private tour to Corinth when there last. it included a boat trip through the Corinth Canal. The designer was the same French guy who did the Suez Canal and failed at the Panama Canal building.

[Hazel52]

5 hours ago, longterm said:

Day 2 in Athens. Yesterday we went to the Parthenon, which turned out to be every bit as amazing as I expected. Having lived in Nashville for 34 years, I'd seen the exact replica of the Parthenon that is in Centennial Park there, but seeing the real thing made me realize how spectacular it, and the Acropolis in which it is located, really are. 

Crowds were okay for a Saturday, but by the time we left there were much more people entering the site. 

The Acropolis Museum is the finest museum I've ever seen; the floors are clear glass, beneath which are ruins that have been excavated and left for everyone to enjoy. 

We had a private guide yesterday afternoon; she was such a pleasure. She and her driver took us to Cape Sounion, where we say the Temple of Poseidon, high on a cape overlooking the Aegean Sea. Really fantastic. Our guide Niki is superb; she works with Rick Steves, doing his groups when they are in Greece. If anyone is looking for an excellent guide for Athens or Olympia, please contact me privately on this forum and I'll be glad to share her information with you--she's first class.

Today Viking took us to Mycenea, another acropolis south of Athens; it was fantastic and highly recommended; we then went to Epidaurus, which is the site of a 1st century open-air theatre that seated about 15000, and a hospital whose ruins have been excavated. On the way we crossed the Corinth canal, which is an interesting canal--very deep channel, but the water's only 26 feet deep.

 

While I'm thinking about it--we had a private guide in Rome as well. She took us on 2 days of walking tours, and was such a great guide. If you're interested in using her as a guide (we highly recommend her), please contact me privately and I'll be glad to share her contact information.

It seems private messaging is disabled. Would love to have info for your guide in Athens. Thanks so much! Drenshaw@aol.com

[Maite88]

6 hours ago, longterm said:

Our guide Niki is superb; she works with Rick Steves, doing his groups when they are in Greece. If anyone is looking for an excellent guide for Athens or Olympia, please contact me privately on this forum and I'll be glad to share her information with you--she's first class.

I’ve tried messaging you for the information regarding your tour guide in cruise, and the “message” feature seems to be disabled.  Can you send me the info to; wanda.mora@att.net.  Thank you!

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, Hazel52 said:

It seems private messaging is disabled. Would love to have info for your guide in Athens. Thanks so much! Drenshaw@aol.com

 

Affirmative, the software's PM feature is disabled by the Admin. You can find the guide using Google.

[longterm]

A few things I've thought about on this trip that may be helpful:

 

1. You can buy clear plastic room card key holders on Amazon; the key cards work through the plastic. You can thread the contact tracer through the card as well, so you can wear one lanyard with both on it.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0991QZSFB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

2. Use dog poop bags for paper that can’t be flushed.

 

3. Buy magnets to put your daily report on the stateroom wall

 

4. Best time to do laundry: early morning--usually empty if you're early enough.

 

5. Scared of losing your iPhone overboard? Check out this case from Amazon, it has a heavy duty strap and it’s great for using your phone for photos on excursions

 

https://www.amazon.com/Moshi-Compatible-Detachable-Quick-Release-Responsive/dp/B08HVGF24C?pd_rd_w=LooUv&pf_rd_p=fee1a516-c203-4f3d-ba42-9eac07cd0f88&pf_rd_r=6778REQYVN1ZQY9P8SP0&pd_rd_r=5ba54072-a52f-474c-a7ad-7e65fe610a92&pd_rd_wg=byxU9&pd_rd_i=B08HVGF24C&psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_d_rp_7_t

 

6. Don’t change money at a US bank, use your card overseas and ATMs outside banks; they’re all over. We got a terrible exchange rate at a Chase Bank in Texas.

 

7. Having just finished our cruise and now on our post extension, I tend to think that excursions at beginning are great, but by the time you get to the end of the cruise, you're ready to get home. We'll only book pre-extensions from now on.

 

8. Most Americans already know this one: pack washcloths because lots of European hotels don't provide them.

[Heidi13]

11 hours ago, longterm said:

A few things I've thought about on this trip that may be helpful:

 

1. You can buy clear plastic room card key holders on Amazon; the key cards work through the plastic. You can thread the contact tracer through the card as well, so you can wear one lanyard with both on it.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0991QZSFB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

2. Use dog poop bags for paper that can’t be flushed.

 

3. Buy magnets to put your daily report on the stateroom wall

 

4. Best time to do laundry: early morning--usually empty if you're early enough.

 

5. Scared of losing your iPhone overboard? Check out this case from Amazon, it has a heavy duty strap and it’s great for using your phone for photos on excursions

 

https://www.amazon.com/Moshi-Compatible-Detachable-Quick-Release-Responsive/dp/B08HVGF24C?pd_rd_w=LooUv&pf_rd_p=fee1a516-c203-4f3d-ba42-9eac07cd0f88&pf_rd_r=6778REQYVN1ZQY9P8SP0&pd_rd_r=5ba54072-a52f-474c-a7ad-7e65fe610a92&pd_rd_wg=byxU9&pd_rd_i=B08HVGF24C&psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_d_rp_7_t

 

6. Don’t change money at a US bank, use your card overseas and ATMs outside banks; they’re all over. We got a terrible exchange rate at a Chase Bank in Texas.

 

7. Having just finished our cruise and now on our post extension, I tend to think that excursions at beginning are great, but by the time you get to the end of the cruise, you're ready to get home. We'll only book pre-extensions from now on.

 

8. Most Americans already know this one: pack washcloths because lots of European hotels don't provide them.

 

Great advice, which I can further expand

 

2) The cabin steward will provide satinary napkin bags for any paper that can't be flushed, no need to bring anything else.

 

3). Although magnets work in most cabins, I note that much of the construction is aluminium. We find that 3M Command Strips/Hooks will work everywhere, so we bring them in addition to magnets

 

4). In addition to early morning, later at night is also quiet

 

6). Personally I won't use any 3rd party ATM, preferring only to use ATM's at a recognised bank - risk issues. We also don't want to waste valuable time ashore looking for an ATM. Fortunately, our home bank provides us with excellent "Cash" rates for ordering foreign currency prior to a cruise. We get about the equivalent of CAN $ 20 for each port before the cruise.

[longterm]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Great advice, which I can further expand

 

2) The cabin steward will provide satinary napkin bags for any paper that can't be flushed, no need to bring anything else.

 

3). Although magnets work in most cabins, I note that much of the construction is aluminium. We find that 3M Command Strips/Hooks will work everywhere, so we bring them in addition to magnets

 

4). In addition to early morning, later at night is also quiet

 

6). Personally I won't use any 3rd party ATM, preferring only to use ATM's at a recognised bank - risk issues. We also don't want to waste valuable time ashore looking for an ATM. Fortunately, our home bank provides us with excellent "Cash" rates for ordering foreign currency prior to a cruise. We get about the equivalent of CAN $ 20 for each port before the cruise.

The magnets worked in our room, but this is the first time we've used them...

Yes, definitely go to a bank's ATM, not a free-standing one. We found banks everywhere overseas, in every town we visited--which is more than I can say about some of the port towns in the Caribbean.

[longterm]

On 3/20/2022 at 7:56 PM, miami mama said:

So for Day 1 in Athens, did they take the post extension group off the ship early and then right to the Parthenon and onto the museum, leaving the afternoon open for your private guided trip? Also, how long did it take you to walk up to the Parthenon? For our extension Day 3 is left open to do on your own so I am interested in looking at private guided activities.

No, we didn't leave the ship until 10am; we went straight to the Parthenon, toured it and then the nearby Acropolis Museum, which is probably the finest museum I've ever seen.

 

It took about 10-15 minutes if I recall; it wasn't that hard. Because it was earlier on a Saturday morning, the crowds weren't too heavy, but by the time we descended, there was a long line at the entrance. 

Highly worth it; it was incredible to finally see it in person after having seen photos of it for years, and having seen the exact replica in Nashville at Centennial Park (used to rollerblade there).

They swapped around tour days, which messed us up; I will say that Viking didn't provide advance information, despite my repeated calls and inquiries on the ship. We did 3 excursions on the first 3 days, and then tomorrow we have a free day, when we'll go with our private guide.

Apparently, Delphi is closed on Tuesdays, so they swapped around the tour days--and I had a private guide for today, who I had to move to tomorrow.

I rarely criticize Viking on here, but I will say that they dropped the ball on our post extension, in regards to keeping us informed. We didn't know until the morning we left the ship that our tours were on the 1st 3 days, so I had to call our guide and have her change her schedule. In addition, I asked at least 10 times for excursion durations, and no one ever got back to me with that information--either on the phone or on the ship at guest services. What's more, GS agents contradicted each other every time we went down there.

I asked, "Will we go straight to the excursion, or will we check in at the hotel first?" Two different answers on 2 different days.
 
"WIll our bags stay with us or go to the hotel?" One agent said they'd go on the bus with us to the excursion, the other said they'd go to the hotel. They went to the hotel.

 

I give them poor marks for this.

Hotel isn't near the more touristy area--it's more of an industrial area; there's nothing nearby, except for a nice mom-and-pop Greek restaurant, where all of us ate and enjoyed the food (Vasilli's). Food in the hotel is sub-par and overpriced. Rooms are very nice, clean, quiet, and the tub is really long and great for a good soak after all day walking.