Considering trip extension...Rome, Italy

[IkonIke]

We are considering an extension in Rome, but are unsure what level room is normal for the hotel that is provided? Is there a way to upgrade? Currently either the Marriott Flora or Villa Agrippina Gran Melea are available, but no feedback was available when we asked about the room level. Any advice regarding rewards programs and working with Viking extension while staying in Rome?

[Clay Clayton]

Can’t speak to Rome but when we did our one and only Viking extension in Beijing we had a standard  nice JW king room. We booked it because the price was among the lowest we had ever seen for a Viking extension and included a day of touring we wanted to do and the 2 hour transfer to the port.  When I put together what we would have paid for a comparable room at our pre-extension DIY hotel and an independent transfer to the ship it basically meant we got the day of touring and two lunches for “free”. 
 

When I have tried to price comparable DIY extensions in other locations, Viking is usually at least twice as expensive as doing it independently before taking into account any hotel rewards. 

[Cape Hernlopen]

Dear Fellow Terrapin:

 

We have done two extensions with Viking in Asia.  In Hong Kong we stayed at the Shangri La (great location).  The room was very nice and the hotel was fabulous with an outstanding breakfast and two Michelin starred restaurants.  In Beijing we stayed at a Marriott and had a top floor room with unbelievable views.  Facilities and restaurant were ordinary.  In Asia we prefer Shangri La brands and in Europe Kempinski hotels.  Review what they offer.

Joel Barry

[longterm]

On 7/7/2022 at 12:31 PM, IkonIke said:

We are considering an extension in Rome, but are unsure what level room is normal for the hotel that is provided? Is there a way to upgrade? Currently either the Marriott Flora or Villa Agrippina Gran Melea are available, but no feedback was available when we asked about the room level. Any advice regarding rewards programs and working with Viking extension while staying in Rome?

We did the Adriatic cruise (Rome to Athens) in March; I looked at Viking's pre-extension in Rome, but it really didn't offer enough to justify the cost. 

Instead, we flew to Rome on our own, spent 4 nights there and hired tour guides for the days there. We did a private food tour the first night, then 2 days of walking tours with a 2nd guide (who is an archaeologist and was excellent), then the last day with a guide who took us on a Vatican tour.

Moneywise, it was much better than what Viking offered; we stayed in a hotel (Argentina Residenza Hotel) that was about 5 minutes from the Pantheon and maybe 8 minutes from the Trevi Fountain; across the street from our hotel was the site where Julius Caesar was assassinated.

The hotel offered a car service to get us to Civitavecchia, where we boarded the Viking Sky; we had a nice drive there, boarded the ship with no trouble; I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to spend some extra time in Rome.

[IkonIke]

Thank you very much for the replies, we realize that an extra few days of margin are wise and will take into account your advice! We found LivTours for the Vatican to be reasonable, any other suggestions for tour guides? We will probably only have two days to explore, with some time needed for travel recovery and some relaxation, so I am grateful for referrals.

[Clay Clayton]

I can’t offer any tour guide recommendations but we were very pleased with using the Rick Steves app as our guide. We bought our Vatican Museum tickets in advance, put in our earphones and let Steve lead us through. If you are in good shape, climbing (and I mean climbing) to the cupola is great but not if you’re claustrophobic or have any mobility issues.  I do highly recommend paying the €14 or so and taking the elevator to the roof even if you aren’t going on up to the cupola. Not only do you get to see the incredible mosaics around the drum but you can buy a tacky souvenir from a nun while on the roof.  Additionally it gives you the opportunity to see just how HUGE those statues of the saints are that stand atop the facade. 
 

We also took several of Rick’s “guided” walks through Rome which we found well done.  
 

Lastly, if you only have a short time and can’t see all the sights, my DMIL enjoyed the HoHo bus which we did near sunset one evening. It was nice for her to be able to see all the sights lit at night on what will likely be her only trip to Rome. 

Edited July 8, 2022 by Clay Clayton

[longterm]

1 hour ago, IkonIke said:

Thank you very much for the replies, we realize that an extra few days of margin are wise and will take into account your advice! We found LivTours for the Vatican to be reasonable, any other suggestions for tour guides? We will probably only have two days to explore, with some time needed for travel recovery and some relaxation, so I am grateful for referrals.

We used a woman named Marisa, who has a college degree in archaeology; you can find her on toursByLocals dot com. She does walking tours only--no car--although we did start our day with a short taxi ride to the Colisseum so that we could beat the crowds. 

From there she took us to the Roman Forum, where she had been part of a dig in previous years; we spent 2 days with her, also visiting Piazza Navone, Baths of Caracalla (overlooked by tourists but one of our favorite sites), the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Trastavere (the Jewish Quarter), and a few other sites as well. This was spread over 2 days and it's a lot of walking, but was incredible; we felt like we got to see most of the important sites in Rome other than the Vatican, which we were scheduled to tour on our last day with another guide.

I'd also highly recommend the hotel we stayed in; the service was great, the room was very nice (small like most European hotel rooms), good A/C. It's called the Argentina Residenza Style Hotel; I think I found it on Travelocity. Had good included breakfasts as well. 

We also did a food tour the first night, with a company we found online (theRomanGuy dot com); we visited 4 different places--a traditional old-fashioned cheese/butcher shop, had some bacala (basically fried cod, a traditional street food in Rome), a great sit-down Italian meal in Trastavere in a nice restaurant, and finally some excellent gelato. Great fun. As it turned out, we were the guide's only clients that night, so we enjoyed a personal tour.

We thought about taking the train to the port of Civitavecchia, but I'm glad we didn't; it would probably have meant walking quite a while with our bags, since the port's very large; instead, our driver dropped us a few feet from the boarding area for the Viking Sky.

[IkonIke]

Sounds absolutely fabulous, thank you for the tips! This is just what we were hoping for. Now we get to start making some concrete plans...So excited, but wary of airline woes and the risk of disappointment again. Chin up and keep dreaming is my motto these days!

[SempreMare]

7 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

I can’t offer any tour guide recommendations but we were very pleased with using the Rick Steves app as our guide. We bought our Vatican Museum tickets in advance, put in our earphones and let Steve lead us through.

Clever! 

[Peregrina651]

8 hours ago, longterm said:

We thought about taking the train to the port of Civitavecchia, but I'm glad we didn't; it would probably have meant walking quite a while with our bags, since the port's very large; instead, our driver dropped us a few feet from the boarding area for the Viking Sky.

 

Actually, you can't just wander around the port; if you are walking, you have to take  a shuttle at the front gate, which will take you to your ship.  I've never done it before but I assume that from the Civitavecchia train station, one would take a cab.

[Clay Clayton]

7 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Actually, you can't just wander around the port; if you are walking, you have to take  a shuttle at the front gate, which will take you to your ship.  I've never done it before but I assume that from the Civitavecchia train station, one would take a cab.

It was a number of years ago, but we just walked (with our rollaboards) along the waterside from the trail station to the gate where we boarded a bus to our NCL ship.  The only hard part was going down and back up steps to get from the train track to the sidewalk as there was no elevator. 

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

The only hard part was going down and back up steps to get from the train track to the sidewalk as there was no elevator. 

 

Aha! That's a good point to know for folks who need an elevator (no matter how much luggage they have to deal with).