Live from Viking Sky on Mediterannean & Adriatic Sojourn

[miami mama]

We have now been on three Viking ocean cruises and two of the times we arranged our transportation to the ship since we were doing our own pre-extensions. We did use Viking Air for the Canadian expedition cruise so we ended up having a private car service from the airport through New York City. Have to say that was very nice. When we arranged transportation to the ship the other two times in Europe, no problem. The ship was close to the city we were staying at. However, we will be staying in Venice a few nights, and I'm a little concerned with how we are going to get to Chioggia if that is the port we will be using. (And since several different ports have been used in Venice over the past several months, it sounds like we need to think of several contingency plans.) It almost seems cheaper to catch the bus/train back to the airport and use Viking transfer to facilitate the move to the ship, whereever it is. Have you run across anyone that joined the ship in Venice after spending time there, and if so, what did they arrange to get to the ship?

 

[DrKoob]

6 minutes ago, miami mama said:

We have now been on three Viking ocean cruises and two of the times we arranged our transportation to the ship since we were doing our own pre-extensions. We did use Viking Air for the Canadian expedition cruise so we ended up having a private car service from the airport through New York City. Have to say that was very nice. When we arranged transportation to the ship the other two times in Europe, no problem. The ship was close to the city we were staying at. However, we will be staying in Venice a few nights, and I'm a little concerned with how we are going to get to Chioggia if that is the port we will be using. (And since several different ports have been used in Venice over the past several months, it sounds like we need to think of several contingency plans.) It almost seems cheaper to catch the bus/train back to the airport and use Viking transfer to facilitate the move to the ship, whereever it is. Have you run across anyone that joined the ship in Venice after spending time there, and if so, what did they arrange to get to the ship?

 

There are a lot of people on board who sailed from Venice. Most of them had Viking transfers. If you are doing a pre-extension with Viking, they will get you to the ship. If you are flying directly to Venice for the crusie, they will get you to the ship. Otherwise, I like your plan about going back to the airport and getting a Viking transfer. Have your TA arrange it for you. 

 

The other option would be to just take a taxi once you find out where the ship is. For the forseeable future you can pretty much count on it being Chioggia. They are building terminal facilities in the Fusina area but from what we were told, it may be a couple of years until they are ready to be used.

[LindaS272]

I don’t think you can get a Viking transfer from the airport if not on a Viking pre-extension or arriving day of embarkation. This was mentioned in another post and a Viking rep said no.

[lackcreativity]

3 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Here are the photos I took of the seaside village of Crotone, a truly lovely place.   

...........

As I write this, a new group of people are coming on board. This is actually not a three-week cruise but a series of four one-week cruises, one after the other, and we are on three of them. 

I am really enjoying your photos. We took the two week Barcelona to "Venice" part of the cruise back in April, and will be doing the Venice to Istanbul portion next year. Your description (and photos) of Crotone are the perfect example of how I often wish I could be in two places at once on these trips. We took the optional excursion to Santa Severina from Crotone, which was just wonderful. I do wish I could have seen Crotone too. While my photos in no way can compete with yours, the scenery was just as beautiful, and it was also a small Italian town, but on a hilltop and with a castle. And there was a stop at a vineyard with great local  food. What a tough choice!

Edited September 17, 2022 by lackcreativity

[kcpvwill]

DrKoob we also watched most of the Downton Abbey series when we were in Covid isolation on board Venus for Midnight Sun Cruise in June.  Unfortunately the two films were not available.  

[TayanaLorna]

2 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

I don’t think you can get a Viking transfer from the airport if not on a Viking pre-extension or arriving day of embarkation. This was mentioned in another post and a Viking rep said no.

I recall a number of people wanting/trying to do this and it was always a no from Viking.

[Mrs Miggins]

Not sure where you are now but according to the other site Viking Sea is in trouble in Ravenna having moved due to weather from Choggia

[DrKoob]

14 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

I don’t think you can get a Viking transfer from the airport if not on a Viking pre-extension or arriving day of embarkation. This was mentioned in another post and a Viking rep said no.

Ask for a supervisor. There is even a form to fill out. They will be happy to take your money but they want you to jump through some hoops to get there.

[DrKoob]

9 hours ago, Mrs Miggins said:

Not sure where you are now but according to the other site Viking Sea is in trouble in Ravenna having moved due to weather from Choggia

We are way over headed into Livorno today. A long way from Venice. 

[LindaS272]

7 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Ask for a supervisor. There is even a form to fill out. They will be happy to take your money but they want you to jump through some hoops to get there.

@DrKoob it’s not about taking your money, it’s whether they have dedicated buses on the day you want to arrive. And if you’re not on their extension or arriving on the day of embarkation, they don’t make room for you. We’ve tried it—these boards have discussed it at length numerous times.

[Mitina]

5 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

 it’s not about taking your money,

Agreed.  Only available if on the Viking pre-extension or arriving on embarkation day.

And if you pay for a deviation (to fly in a day or two early) with Viking arranged air, no transfers (included or paid)

[miami mama]

I did call my Viking agent and they confirmed what Mitina wrote above. We made all of our arrangements based on everyone being transported from the  old terminal by bus to wherever the ship was docked. Our agent indicated the port currently showing for our cruise next year is Venezia.  A few years ago that would have meant the Venezia Cruise Terminal on the island. Even now the agent indicates the listed terminal is about 10 miles from the airport (about the distrance from Marco Polo to the island) . We all know Viking can't dock there. I guess I will need to wait to see where exactly we are instructed to embark. If the ship is located a significant distrance from where my agent informs me it is to be, I am hoping Viking will make the appropraite arrangements for everyone expecting Venezia.  

[DrKoob]

17 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

@DrKoob it’s not about taking your money, it’s whether they have dedicated buses on the day you want to arrive. And if you’re not on their extension or arriving on the day of embarkation, they don’t make room for you. We’ve tried it—these boards have discussed it at length numerous times.

Sorry. I did it. If you are coming in at the same time as anyone else, they will sell you a transfer. If I were at home, I could post a PDF of the actual Viking form you fill out to get it. They have that form. If they have that form, they will sell you a transfer. While I agree that they won't just pick you up, if you are coming in at the same time as others WITH transfers, unless the coach is full, they will sell you a transfer.

 

When we get home I will come back and here and post the form my TA had me fill out. They were told repeatedly that they could not do it until they got the right supervisor and then it miraculously happened. If a form exists to do it, they will probably do it.

Edited September 19, 2022 by DrKoob

[LunaSeaRetreat]

Here you go.

https://docs.vikingcruises.com/pdf/Transfer-Request-Form_2020.pdf

 

Notice it must be submitted at least 30 days before arrival.  The form asks for your flight information so I imagine it must be on the same day of the cruise.  I only booked a post cruise transfer for my up coming cruise.  Bottom line -  there is a form, and you can book a transfer with Viking if you are flying in or out on the same day as the cruise.

Hope this helps.

Cynthia

[LindaS272]

8 hours ago, DrKoob said:

While I agree that they won't just pick you up, if you are coming in at the same time as others WITH transfers, unless the coach is full, they will sell you a transfer.

And my point is only on the day they have dedicated buses. Just having the form doesn’t guarantee anything as numerous posters here have attested.

[janetcbl]

3 hours ago, LunaSeaRetreat said:

Here you go.

https://docs.vikingcruises.com/pdf/Transfer-Request-Form_2020.pdf

 

Notice it must be submitted at least 30 days before arrival.  The form asks for your flight information so I imagine it must be on the same day of the cruise.  I only booked a post cruise transfer for my up coming cruise.  Bottom line -  there is a form, and you can book a transfer with Viking if you are flying in or out on the same day as the cruise.

Hope this helps.

Cynthia

Having just been through this, if I had lied on the arrival form about our arrival date, we could have booked the transfer. I wouldn’t  do that, so we went on to Greenwich on our own, stayed overnight at a great hotel, enjoyed the day in Greenwich and boarded the ship in the afternoon. (Wish we had had booked an even earlier arrival- much to see in Greenwich.) 

[TayanaLorna]

4 hours ago, LunaSeaRetreat said:

Here you go.

https://docs.vikingcruises.com/pdf/Transfer-Request-Form_2020.pdf

 

Notice it must be submitted at least 30 days before arrival.  The form asks for your flight information so I imagine it must be on the same day of the cruise.  I only booked a post cruise transfer for my up coming cruise.  Bottom line -  there is a form, and you can book a transfer with Viking if you are flying in or out on the same day as the cruise.

Hope this helps.

Cynthia

Exactly and we have purchased them in advance before.  However you cannot fly in, stay at a hotel, do a self pre cruise and then take a taxi to the airport to pick up a Viking transfer to the ship on embarkation day.

[DrKoob]

Messina, Taormina and Mount Etna and some ship observations

Before I get to the fun/destination part of this post, here are a few more observations about onboard life.

 

Yesterday, while we were in Rome, a large part of the ship's passengers got off and another group got on. As I mentioned earlier, this three-week cruise we are on is actually three one-week cruises stacked one on top of the other. It is actually four one-week cruises (starting in Istanbul). The very large group that got on board in Rome was much louder and party-types than the group that got off. For that reason has become a more raucous ship. Something we did not expect from Viking. Kathleen was awakened a few times that first night by the person above us talking loudly and walking heavily. We would have called down to Guest Services, but we couldn't tell if the noise was coming from directly above or one of the staterooms on either side of it.

 

This brings me to going back to the Main Dining Room. Our new friends Corky and Larry said they had an outstanding server, and if we came to dinner with them, we would have amazing service. They were right. They have a waiter (whose name I believe is Joku0) who takes great care of them. Not only that, but we met THE wine steward. We asked him if he was the ONLY wine steward on board, and he said he was not. There was one in Chef's Table and in Manfreddis, but he told us, "I am the only one in THE Restaurant. Therefore, I am THE wine steward." But we still did not have that great an experience. The food was "fine" (we still had much better in the World Cafe), but the noise was off the charts. Corky and Larry are not overly quiet people, but I thought I heard about half of what they said. And my friends know that I am not exactly a quiet guy, but Kathleen had to ask me to repeat a couple of things—and she was sitting right next to me. I felt like you needed to shout to be heard, and obviously, so did everyone else. There is no sound deadening when the room is full, and it was slammed.

 

Back to our previously scheduled port excursion tour, on Thursday morning, we woke up in Messina, Sicily. Or I should say Kathleen did. I woke up REALLY early (even for me) at 4:45, so I could see us sail through the Strait of Messina. The last time I sailed through this strait, we were in a storm so bad that waves were breaking over the top of our 13-deck ship (Celebrity Century). I had never heard that being there to take pictures as you go through was that great, but the cruise director RAVED about it the night before, so I decided to get up and get out there to take some photos. 😴

 

Yup, nothing. Nada. Zilch. Here is the only photo I took that morning that I would even think about bothering with. Not sure why I am even showing it to you.

 

See what I mean? I should have stayed in bed. But that's OK because the day got a lot better as we were booked to head down to Taormina and then up to Mount Etna.

 

Messina is a pretty nice port to sail into. It doesn't take long, and there are lots of things to take photos of if you are on the right side of the ship. Since we would be on our excursion to Taormina and Mount Etna for the rest of the day, this was my only chance to get some shots of Messina. Head on over to wwwDOTjktravelredmondDOTcom to see them.

 

Beautiful Taormina

After breakfast, we headed down to get on our "luxury motor coach" to tour Taormina and Mount Etna. The drive was most interesting with a bunch of tunnels to pass through, some very tight curves that our driver did an amazing job of negotiating and just beautiful coastal scenery to see. After about an hour's drive, we arrived in the beautiful mountainside village of Taormina. It reminded us a lot of our previous trip to the Amalfi Coast. Lots of beautiful villages above cliffs that lead down to the sea. You will see that when you check out the Taormina photos below.

Besides a beautiful Italian village, Taormina is home to a huge Greek theater set on the side of a cliff that dates back to 301 AD. It is still in use today, as you will see from the photos. I am amazed at how many of these open-air theaters built almost 2,000 years ago are still being used. We saw one on the side of the Acropolis that was even older and was hosting a Sting concert the night after we were there.

To learn and see more of our Taormina experience, check out my pics on my blog. Head on over to wwwDOTjktravelredmondDOTcom to see them.

 

On to Etna

After about two hours in Taormina, we were back on our "luxury motor coach" to head upwards to Mount Etna. If we had thought the first part of the trip was a windy road, we had seen nothing yet. This was the most amazing piece of "luxury coach" driving we had ever seen. I am still not sure how our driver negotiated some of the turns he did. We finally wound up at the highest point that "luxury coaches" can go. There were a couple of restaurants, a few gift shops and the bottom station of a gondola ride to the top of the volcano.

 

Etna was not erupting when we were there (thankfully), but she was letting off a lot of steam. And we did see plenty of lava lands and craters. Our first stop at the top was for lunch, where we were served a nice lunch with appetizers, pasta, bread and wine. It was all great, and they offered us much more than we could possibly eat. Especially when you are on a cruise. Some of it suffered from having been prepped way too early in the day, but it was all "fine." I forgot to mention that the restaurant we ate in had displays showing that it had been rebuilt twice after being burnt down during Etna's last two eruptions.

 

After lunch, we had a few minutes to shoot some photos before we were back on the "luxury motor coach," and we drove about a mile or so away, where there were five smaller craters that opened up in previous eruptions. We had the chance to hike up and take photos. Kathleen stayed on the bus while I did my usual run-around thing, snapping away. To learn and see more of our Mount Etna experience, check out my pics on my blog. Head on over to wwwDOTjktravelredmondDOTcom to see them.

 

That was our day, and it was a long one. Took the "luxury motor coach" back to the ship, got on and collapsed. Quick dinner in the buffet and off to bed after another couple of Downtons.

 

 

[DrKoob]

On 9/17/2022 at 9:03 AM, lackcreativity said:

I am really enjoying your photos. We took the two week Barcelona to "Venice" part of the cruise back in April, and will be doing the Venice to Istanbul portion next year. Your description (and photos) of Crotone are the perfect example of how I often wish I could be in two places at once on these trips. We took the optional excursion to Santa Severina from Crotone, which was just wonderful. I do wish I could have seen Crotone too. While my photos in no way can compete with yours, the scenery was just as beautiful, and it was also a small Italian town, but on a hilltop and with a castle. And there was a stop at a vineyard with great local  food. What a tough choice!

That's a really nice shot you have there. Your colors and the light are VERY good.

[DrKoob]

2 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

Exactly and we have purchased them in advance before.  However you cannot fly in, stay at a hotel, do a self pre cruise and then take a taxi to the airport to pick up a Viking transfer to the ship on embarkation day.

But you can as long as they have others going on that day. So if you flew into Venice on Tuesday (on your own or with Viking Air with a deviation) and the cruise leaves on Saturday, you can make your way back to the airport when they are picking up other Viking guests and if there is room, and you fill out their form and pay them money, you can do it. I have done this myself. It took a lot of phone calls by my TA and finally a supervisor said, "No problem."

[LunaSeaRetreat]

1 minute ago, TayanaLorna said:

Exactly and we have purchased them in advance before.  However you cannot fly in, stay at a hotel, do a self pre cruise and then take a taxi to the airport to pick up a Viking transfer to the ship on embarkation day.

Glad to hear that you are doing ok after the storm.  Hope you don't run out of wine before the roads open!😀

[DrKoob]

2 minutes ago, LunaSeaRetreat said:

Glad to hear that you are doing ok after the storm.  Hope you don't run out of wine before the roads open!😀

No storm here. That was the VIking Sea that was on the other side of the Med. We here on the Viking Sky have had no weather problems to speak of other than a lot of heat at the start of the cruise and some drizzle today in Pisa. Yesterday we (our party) went by private excursion to Cinque Terra and the weather could only be described as glorious.

[DrKoob]

48 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

And my point is only on the day they have dedicated buses. Just having the form doesn’t guarantee anything as numerous posters here have attested.

Yes, that's my point. They will NOT pick you up unless they have a "luxury motor coach" already going and there is room on that coach. You can't just ask them to pick you up at any old time. Fill out the form, send it in. If you don't hear back in a week, start calling. Or better yet, have your TA do it. And don't stop until you have a letter in hand confirming the transfer.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Looking forward to come onboard on Saturday.  Reading your reports with interest.  What is the entertainment like and who is the Cruise Director.  Have you been to Torshaven.  We have really loved it on our previous Viking cruises and the band were excellent.

It is strange that each sector of this cruise has a different vibe ?  

Wonder what our group will be like.  Friends currently on Jupiter say only 20 from the UK and 6 from Australia with the rest from North America.

[LindaS272]

1 hour ago, DrKoob said:

Yes, that's my point. They will NOT pick you up unless they have a "luxury motor coach" already going and there is room on that coach. You can't just ask them to pick you up at any old time. Fill out the form, send it in. If you don't hear back in a week, start calling. Or better yet, have your TA do it. And don't stop until you have a letter in hand confirming the transfer.

 

I don’t use a TA and I’ve had different experiences in my several cruises with Viking. What you experienced is not a general rule because we have filled out forms and then been told there is no provision for extras. It’s not about making noise and going up the chain of command. Sounds like occasionally you’ll get lucky and they had room for you.