Live from Mediterranean Odyssey - March 28 thru April 9, 2022

[Eggtuary]

One of my favorite things on the Viking Ocean boards has been following the various live blogs posted here ... so I'm going to try to pay it forward!

 

My wife and I will be celebrating our 25th anniversary by taking our first Viking Cruise later this month, which is also only our 2nd cruise ever (previously did a 3 night Disney cruise to the Caribbean) and will be our first time to Europe!  

 

We fly out Friday the 25th (another first -- lie-flat seats!), arriving in Venice on the 26th.  We will stay two nights at Hotel Antiche Figure directly on the Grand Canal before boarding the Sky on the 28th.  Since we're arriving on a Saturday afternoon and don't want to spend our Monday morning scrambling to get a COVID test, we're taking the rapid PCR test here in the US on the morning of our flight out.

 

Below are the excursions we selected.  We realize we could have booked with independent operators, but we decided to play it super safe and do all Viking excursions.  All are optional, except for the included one in Venice.  

 

Venice, Italy - At a Glance: St. Mark's Sure

 

Split, Croatia - Krka National Park & Dubrava Falconry Center
Dubrovnik - Dalmatian Coast Wine & Food Tasting
Corfu, Greece - Scenic Corfu and Theotoky Estate & Winery
Naples - Sorrento & Pompeii
Rome - Highlights of Rome & the Colosseum
Florence/Tuscany - Cooking in a Tuscan Castle
Monte Carlo - Nice, Èze & Monte Carlo
Marseille, France - Le Castellet & Wine Tasting
Barcelona - Gaudí Architecture & La Sagrada Família (morning)

An Evening of Flamenco (evening)

 

Almost hard to believe we'll be in Venice in less than a week!

[Azulann]

Look forward to following along.

 Just looking at your list of excursions brings back memories of my first trip to Europe, a land trip to  Rome and Tuscany for 10 days.

My first cruise was  in Europe, 10 days Western med cruise. 

Your excursions will give the main highlights  which are awesome of the various cities you will explore. 

Happy anniversary ! 

[Ceegeefl]

Thank you for posting this. We will be taking out first Viking cruise in May with the same itinerary. Looking forward to reading about your trip. Have fun!

[PWRWAGN]

Also doing the Mediterranean Odyssey but our cruise leaves a couple days after you on April 3rd out of Barcelona on Viking Sea.  We are also celebrating our 25th anniversary - two years late as our original trip in 2020 was canceled.  Will also be our first time to Europe, first time with Viking and 3rd time on a cruise.  

Likewise we have scheduled all excursions through Viking- all optional but one of the included ones in Venice.  We are also doing the pre cruise extension in Madrid.  So fly out on the 31st.  
 

anyway to bad we weren’t on the same cruise- would’ve been fun to have a beer together.  I will be following along for a couple days till we leave.  Congrats on the anniversary and have a great time.  

Edited March 20, 2022 by PWRWAGN

[lackcreativity]

Eggtuary,

Welcome to the Viking community. I think you have selected an excellent itinerary for a first visit to Europe, and hope you like Viking (and Europe!) as much as we do.

 

When we began exploring Europe ten years ago we were instantly smitten. In the beginning, as newbies, we took escorted bus tours, which were fun back in the day. Touring by land does have some benefits, but the packing and moving to a new place so often became exhausting. Like so many, we started with a Viking river cruise, then our first ocean cruise ever with Viking, and we had found our travel home.

 

At first, we always wanted to be going to new places. We still enjoy that, but have found that returning to places you have visited before allows you to see parts of a port that you didn't get to see on a first visit. Choosing a different excursion can be an entirely different experience, or sometimes we now choose just to go out on our own.

 

Congratulations on your anniversary. Hope you have a great time, but be careful, it can become addictive!

[Heidi13]

11 hours ago, Eggtuary said:

One of my favorite things on the Viking Ocean boards has been following the various live blogs posted here ... so I'm going to try to pay it forward!

 

My wife and I will be celebrating our 25th anniversary by taking our first Viking Cruise later this month, which is also only our 2nd cruise ever (previously did a 3 night Disney cruise to the Caribbean) and will be our first time to Europe!  

 

We fly out Friday the 25th (another first -- lie-flat seats!), arriving in Venice on the 26th.  We will stay two nights at Hotel Antiche Figure directly on the Grand Canal before boarding the Sky on the 28th.  Since we're arriving on a Saturday afternoon and don't want to spend our Monday morning scrambling to get a COVID test, we're taking the rapid PCR test here in the US on the morning of our flight out.

 

Below are the excursions we selected.  We realize we could have booked with independent operators, but we decided to play it super safe and do all Viking excursions.  All are optional, except for the included one in Venice.  

 

Venice, Italy - At a Glance: St. Mark's Sure

 

Split, Croatia - Krka National Park & Dubrava Falconry Center
Dubrovnik - Dalmatian Coast Wine & Food Tasting
Corfu, Greece - Scenic Corfu and Theotoky Estate & Winery
Naples - Sorrento & Pompeii
Rome - Highlights of Rome & the Colosseum
Florence/Tuscany - Cooking in a Tuscan Castle
Monte Carlo - Nice, Èze & Monte Carlo
Marseille, France - Le Castellet & Wine Tasting
Barcelona - Gaudí Architecture & La Sagrada Família (morning)

An Evening of Flamenco (evening)

 

Almost hard to believe we'll be in Venice in less than a week!

 

Thank you for doing this.

 

Quick question, will you be completing your reports in a Cruise Critic thread, or completing blog posts on your own website.

 

If you are doing posts on your website, can you please provide the URL, so we can subscribe and follow along.

[Tom F.]

Your postings will be on our "must see" list!

 

This is our cruise a week later on the Viking Sea.  We're having our rapid PCR test roughly 71 hours before the cruise because we're stopping for a night in London on the way.  

 

We wanted to visit La Sagrada Família but the excursion was full.  So we bought a timed ticket online and plan to see it after the morning Iconic Barcelona tour.  We're pretty handy on our own.  (Last August the travel bug got us and we drove around Brittany visiting 9 towns in 9 days with a few extra days in Paris.). Otherwise, we happy with the excursions we booked.

 

We're doing all Viking excursions because this is our first ocean cruise.  We're as excited as you are.  Bon voyage!

[SLCSkier]

17 minutes ago, Tom F. said:

Your postings will be on our "must see" list!

 

This is our cruise a week later on the Viking Sea.  We're having our rapid PCR test roughly 71 hours before the cruise because we're stopping for a night in London on the way.  

 

We wanted to visit La Sagrada Família but the excursion was full.  So we bought a timed ticket online and plan to see it after the morning Iconic Barcelona tour.  We're pretty handy on our own.  (Last August the travel bug got us and we drove around Brittany visiting 9 towns in 9 days with a few extra days in Paris.). Otherwise, we happy with the excursions we booked.

 

We're doing all Viking excursions because this is our first ocean cruise.  We're as excited as you are.  Bon voyage!

We found the bus and subway system very easy to use in Barcelona. Took the subway to L Sagrada and then a bus to Parc Guell. The bus driver and people at the bus stop were very helpful, we do not speak any Spanish but showed them where we wanted to go. Easy.

La Sagrada Familia is amazing, not to be missed! If you can get tickets to go up one of the towers, do that as well.

[Eggtuary]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Thank you for doing this.

 

Quick question, will you be completing your reports in a Cruise Critic thread, or completing blog posts on your own website.

 

If you are doing posts on your website, can you please provide the URL, so we can subscribe and follow along.

I will be posting here!

Edited March 20, 2022 by Eggtuary

[20Cruise20]

We are also on this cruise and will try to augment posted information. By way of background, we attempted this cruise coupled with a TA in 2022. We were in the middle of the Atlantic when Viking paused operations and returned our ship to the US. So, technically, this is our second cruise with Viking.  

 

Our 2022 itinerary is flight to Rome, several days of independent Rome travel, train to Venice, joining the Viking pre-cruise group in Venice, cruise, post-cruise Viking group in Barcelona, and flying independently home from Barcelona. Our Viking tours are a mix of included and optional. (We are comfortable traveling independently, however, decided to use the pre and post Viking options to eliminate challenges with the Venice embarkment and at-the-time fluctuating testing requirements to return to the US.) 

[Eggtuary]

1 hour ago, 20Cruise20 said:

We are also on this cruise and will try to augment posted information.

Excellent!  It will be good to have multiple perspectives of the same cruise. 

[millybess]

We are doing a B2B May 2023 -- Mediterranean Odyssey and Empires of the Mediterranean, so we're very excited that we will be able to follow you here. 😀😀

 

To start, I will be interested to read if there is a possibility for a "Meet & Mingle".

 

Happy 25th to you and your wife.🥂

[soundcruiser]

Eggtuary, you and your wife must have somehow peeked at our MO choices from three years ago in May!

We also stayed at the Hotel Antiche Figure and loved it - we enjoyed their breakfast on the terrace overlooking the canal our first morning in Venice and I can almost feel the sun's warmth as I write this. We hired a gondolier from the dock out in front of the hotel for an evening ride that was magical - no reservation was needed so you might consider that if you have time!

We also chose the same excursions as you two in Split, Naples, and Monte Carlo and felt that they were all excellent as well. We chose some private tours in other ports that we loved, too. We wish you a marvelous time as you celebrate your 25th!! 

[Doortravel]

We are set for Venice to Barcelona Late Sept. Your review will surely help, Thanks

[Peregrina651]

@Eggtuary, great thread.  I love LIVE threads and I am looking forward to a vicarious vacation (especially the flamenco in Barcelona).

 

One suggestion: see if you can get the moderator to add the word LIVE to the title of the thread. Why? It's a jargon thing. The word LIVE in a title indicates that you and others on your sailing are reporting live from the ship as you sail. Right now people may be skipping this thread because they think it is a misplaced roll call.

 

Contacting the moderators is simple. In post #1, upper right hand corner, there are three horizontal dots. Click on the dots, then click on Report. Choose the first choice "everything is okay but..." and then in the text box, plead your case. Tell the moderators that you are a newbie and tell them that it has been suggested that you should have put the word LIVE in your thread title. Ask them if they can help out and fix your mistake. After that, it is up to the moderators to fix it or not as they see fit. (They generally do not like to fix our mistakes but may make an exception for a newbie.)  In any case, it is your choice to contact them or not, as you wish.

 

Safe flights and a very bon voyage.

[Host Kat]

Howdy y'all! 

 

The thread title has been edited.

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat 

[mauimacho]

We're doing this cruise in August and will be following closely.

[Eggtuary]

2 hours ago, Host Kat said:

Howdy y'all! 

 

The thread title has been edited.

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat 

Thanks so much! 

[SailorPaulH]

On 3/20/2022 at 12:07 AM, Eggtuary said:

One of my favorite things on the Viking Ocean boards has been following the various live blogs posted here ... so I'm going to try to pay it forward!

 

 

I agree - I am enjoying the blogs also. They provide useful info and ideas for future adventurers and I have seen some great photos. I'm going to try and do the same for my July cruise, so keep an eye out (hopefully) for 'Live from Iceland's Majestic Landscapes - July 6 thru July 18, 2022.'

 

Have a great voyage, looking forward to reading your posts!

[Selion]

On 3/20/2022 at 12:07 AM, Eggtuary said:

Venice, Italy - At a Glance: St. Mark's Sure

Not sure if it's too late to change, we did this tour on the 3/12 cruise out of Venice.  It was rather underwhelming.  The walking tour part was only 1.5 hours, and the last part of the tour is a sightseeing boat ride in the Venetian lagoon that lasted a good 45 minutes or so.  Would've preferred more time spent walking around Venice instead of riding in a boat.

[mkerner]

Se are doing this voyage in October from Bacelona to Venice.  Looking forward to reading all about your adventure!

[Eggtuary]

On 3/25/2022 at 2:39 PM, Selion said:

Not sure if it's too late to change, we did this tour on the 3/12 cruise out of Venice.  It was rather underwhelming.  The walking tour part was only 1.5 hours, and the last part of the tour is a sightseeing boat ride in the Venetian lagoon that lasted a good 45 minutes or so.  Would've preferred more time spent walking around Venice instead of riding in a boat.

Thanks!  We actually arrived in Venice today, two days before we join the cruise.  We are exploring the area on our own.  We deliberately picked the included tour for Venice just to see what new insights we get from Viking's guides in an area we've already toured on our own, and to get used to using those earpiece things that allow one to hear the guides.  I had heard before that the included Venice tour isn't all that great, and we're not worried.  But thanks for making sure I knew!

[Eggtuary]

We are really loving Venice already.  We'd heard that a private water taxi is a fantastic way to transfer from the airport, and our hotel arranged their own that met us just outside baggage claim, which was handy after dealing with some airport frustrations (just typical stuff) on the way here.  The boat was very pretty and a fun way to get to the Grand Canal.  We're staying in Hotel Antiche Figure, and have been quite pleased so far with the friendly staff.

 

On our last leg in (from Frankfurt), we met a number of fellow Viking passengers.  All seem so friendly!  I think all the ones we met have done at least one Viking cruise before, and most have done both river and ocean.  If this sample is representative of the people we will meet on the ship, I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time.

 

Most of the other Viking passengers are here for a pre-extension through Viking.  While I'm sure that would be fun, I'm glad we did our own thing.  It was exciting to walk around Venice tonight off the beaten path, and to eat some delicious cicchetti.  Tomorrow, we will explore St. Mark's Square on our own for a while, and in the evening we've booked a walking food tour (which is always among our favorite things to do when in a new town.)

 

Can't wait to meet more of the Viking passengers in a couple of days! 

[austinetc]

We are headed to Venice to catch the Sky later this month, though our cruise goes east after Corfu, not west. We're booked for VIking's 2-day pre-extension. Normally we'd do what you're doing, but murky Covid testing rules and an unusually reasonable price were attractive inducements.  

 

I was in Dubrovnik just a couple weeks ago on a land tour and loved the old town. The wall walk is fun, with a view of perhaps the world's strangest basketball court. I highly recommend Dingač wine. 

 

[puppymama1]

5 hours ago, mkerner said:

Se are doing this voyage in October from Bacelona to Venice.  Looking forward to reading all about your adventure!

So are we… on the October 8th sailing… is that when you are going also?