Juniper Venice Viking Excursions

[quiltsnh]

On Jupiter June 2024.  We dock outside Venice for two nights and 3 days. There are no excursions listed for the middle day.  It is a Sunday.  I spoke to Viking 2 x and got no satisfactory reasons.  Seems strange the longest day there no excursions?  

[CDNPolar]

There may not be other excursions available...  For one, Viking only offer one included excursion per port - as a guarantee.

 

We have seen two days in one port with the exact same excursions offered on the second day.

 

I would write tellus@vikingcruises.com and ask this group. You will receive a phone call, usually within 48 hours, and this group is more knowledgable than the average phone agent.

[CDR2001]

Is your cruise a leg on a longer Viking cruise? Venice might be the port for departing guests on your day 2, with new guests arriving that same day. I know from friends that Viking will offer excursions for passengers who continue on the journey at that mid point. They have said that excursions were announced onboard. I agree that an email to Tellus might clear it up. 

Edited March 18 by CDR2001

[OneSixtyToOne]

2 hours ago, quiltsnh said:

On Jupiter June 2024.  We dock outside Venice for two nights and 3 days. There are no excursions listed for the middle day.  It is a Sunday.  I spoke to Viking 2 x and got no satisfactory reasons.  Seems strange the longest day there no excursions?  

As discussed on this board multiple times, it is the middle day of a back to back cruise (two or more separate cruises and you are on one that has been bundled together to create one with a new name). People are departing and arriving which is a very busy time for the staff.  For some reason, Viking doesn’t release an excursion schedule for those passengers staying on the ship. Possibly it’s to prevent newly boarding passengers from scheduling an excursion on the day they arrive. It’s also possible that their software can’t handle the circumstances. In any event, you will be notified of available excursions (if any) once you are onboard.

Edited March 18 by OneSixtyToOne

[quiltsnh]

 I did do search but found nothing.  It should be noted this is not a back to back cruise.  This is in the middle of cruise from Rome to Athens so not a transition day.  But thanks for replying. 

[OneSixtyToOne]

5 minutes ago, quiltsnh said:

 I did do search but found nothing.  It should be noted this is not a back to back cruise.  This is in the middle of cruise from Rome to Athens so not a transition day.  But thanks for replying. 

I believe that almost all of the Viking Cruises that dock in Venice are part of a B2B. There are Rome to Venice and Venice to Athens legs that are sold separately. 

Edited March 18 by OneSixtyToOne

[quiltsnh]

This is 15 day voyage.  Rome to Athens called Italy and Adriatic. 

[OneSixtyToOne]

39 minutes ago, quiltsnh said:

This is 15 day voyage.  Rome to Athens called Italy and Adriatic. 

That is a combination of Italian Sojourn and Venice, The Adriatic, and Greece, hence a B2B.

 

 

 

Edited March 18 by OneSixtyToOne

[duquephart]

Starts in Barcelona - ends in Istanbul. Four segments.

[kctwinmommy]

Yep! We're on a similar cruise, so nothing posted for that middle day. However, someone in another group shared a photo of what they got once they boarded the ship. You will find out the excursions for that day once you are onboard. They don't post online, because the excursions offered aren't available for those who will be boarding on that day. It was pretty much similar to what's on the first day, a couple of basic "on your own" trips into Venice. I don't remember the other optional ones. We know we'll have to book that day once we get on board, and I'm keeping some options open on Viator as well.

[Frenchberet]

We just returned from this cruise.  The full itinerary was Barcelona to Istanbul.  We sailed Rome to Istanbul (legs 2, 3 & 4).  Venice and Athens were change-over days where passengers got on and off for a new leg.  Viking offered several included and optional excursions for passengers continuing on.  We received a handout in our cabin a couple of days before the change-over with all the info.  Great cruise, enjoy!

[kctwinmommy]

2 hours ago, Frenchberet said:

We just returned from this cruise.  The full itinerary was Barcelona to Istanbul.  We sailed Rome to Istanbul (legs 2, 3 & 4).  Venice and Athens were change-over days where passengers got on and off for a new leg.  Viking offered several included and optional excursions for passengers continuing on.  We received a handout in our cabin a couple of days before the change-over with all the info.  Great cruise, enjoy!

Do you by chance have a picture or know what they were? And were they difficult to book? What did you guys do in Venice? Thanks for any info!

[CHammond]

We did this cruise last fall, if memory serves me correctly, we had 2 options that day in Venice, one was a free shuttle that took us and dropped us off near st Marks, we could ride back a few hours later on the shuttle again or make our own way back which involved making our way to the cruise terminal on the edge of town where the arriving passengers were taken and then taking the bus to where the ship is, which was quite a long process but worth it if you want to stay longer, the other option was a paid excursion out to the islands, Burano and Murano

[Frenchberet]

2 hours ago, kctwinmommy said:

Do you by chance have a picture or know what they were? And were they difficult to book? What did you guys do in Venice? Thanks for any info!

Sorry, I didn’t keep a copy.  I think there were two included walking tours and two optional tours to choose from on transfer day.  No problem booking, just stop at Guest Services.  We chose an optional tour to Murano/Burano, very good.  
 

On our other days in Venice we did an included walking tour, “Highlights of St Mark’s Square”, and an optional tour to the Doge’s Palace.  We booked these during the regular excursion booking process prior to boarding.

The issue with Venice is that you are docked 90 minutes from St. Mark’s Square.  You’re spending 3 hours in transit (by boat) each day which limits the time you can actually spend sightseeing.  Just something to keep in mind.

[CHammond]

The option we chose that day was to ride the free shuttle in to St Marks ( we were docked at Fusina), and since we weren’t ready to leave when the shuttle left we got ourselves back to the ship- first you ride the water bus up the grand canal back to the old cruise port stop where they won’t let ships go anymore, then ride the people mover train over to the cruise port terminal where viking is waiting, join the other passengers just getting off their flights and ride the bus over the causeway back to the ship, the whole process took us 2 hours and we were docked in Fusina

[longterm]

7 hours ago, quiltsnh said:

 I did do search but found nothing.  It should be noted this is not a back to back cruise.  This is in the middle of cruise from Rome to Athens so not a transition day.  But thanks for replying. 

We did that cruise in 2021--loved it so much that we're doing it again, but with the 1st and 4th legs this time.

There *are* people boarding and disembarking in Venice; that cruise is legs 2 & 3 of a longer journey, which is made up of 

Leg 1: Barcelona to Rome

Leg 2: Rome to Venice

Leg 3: Venice to Athens
Leg 4: Athens to Istanbul

If you look at Viking's offerings, you'll see there's a cruise from Venice to Athens, so your cruise will more than likely pick up some new travelers in Venice. We just booked "Mediterranean's Iconic Shores," which is Barcelona to Istanbul.

 

[longterm]

If you're in Venice on a Sunday, keep in mind that St. Mark's doesn't allow tours on Sundays--at least, they didn't when we were there. However, you can do the Doge's Palace, Murano/Burano, etc.

[kctwinmommy]

16 minutes ago, Frenchberet said:

Sorry, I didn’t keep a copy.  I think there were two included walking tours and two optional tours to choose from on transfer day.  No problem booking, just stop at Guest Services.  We chose an optional tour to Murano/Burano, very good.  
 

On our other days in Venice we did an included walking tour, “Highlights of St Mark’s Square”, and an optional tour to the Doge’s Palace.  We booked these during the regular excursion booking process prior to boarding.

The issue with Venice is that you are docked 90 minutes from St. Mark’s Square.  You’re spending 3 hours in transit (by boat) each day which limits the time you can actually spend sightseeing.  Just something to keep in mind.

Thanks! And yeah, I know we're pretty far away. We currently have the 1 included booked for the first afternoon we get there. And I know we can only book 1 included at each port. So we'll see what opens up for the full day.

[millybess]

10 hours ago, quiltsnh said:

On Jupiter June 2024.  We dock outside Venice for two nights and 3 days. There are no excursions listed for the middle day.  It is a Sunday.  I spoke to Viking 2 x and got no satisfactory reasons.  Seems strange the longest day there no excursions?  

I am not sure where you are docking, but we did a b2b last year and we were docked in Chioggia.  On the "off-day" we did a very nice and relaxing stroll through Chioggia.  We would definitely do it again.  It's a nice spot.

 

We would also recommend the Murano Burano tour.  It's a very relaxing boat ride and we enjoyed the tour very much.  

[quiltsnh]

Thank you… docking is Chioggia. Did you do Murano tour on the middle day?

[millybess]

3 minutes ago, quiltsnh said:

Thank you… docking is Chioggia. Did you do Murano tour on the middle day?

No.  We did it on day 1, but it seems from reading this thread that it might be offered on day 2.  

[millybess]

I should add that we have spent a lot of time in Venice in the past, so we had no desire to go back.  If you've never been, your time might be better spent there.  Murano Burano was something we had never done, which is why we did it.

 

When we docked in Chioggia, most of the excursions to Venice were by boat.  This was usually indicated in the excursion description.  We quite liked the boat ride.

[quiltsnh]

Thank you everyone… it is much clearer now… 

Edited March 18 by quiltsnh

[TayanaLorna]

Just got off legs 2 & 3 of this 4 day cruise.  We docked in Chioggia.  We got a paper in our cabin with excursions for turnover day in Venice.

 

Included - Venice on your own 8 hours

Murano & Burano 7 hours

Verona 9 hours

A couple to Chioggia

Shuttle bus to Chioggia

 

We did Secrets of the Doges Palace day 1

Murano & Burano day 2

A Taste of Chioggia day 3

 

The boat ride to/from Venice takes 1.5 hours each way.  There are bathrooms, a bar where folks could purchase coffee, hot chocolate etc and a guide explaining all kinds of things about the canals, Venice etc.  The boat had an open upper deck and the ride was scenic even in the awful weather we had.  We were the only cruise ship in town and Venice was still crowded in February.

[kctwinmommy]

Thanks @TayanaLorna! I think I need to just get some tickets for St. Marks & Doge Palace on our own. It sounds like the "Venice on your own" basically just gets you there. Which is fine... I just wonder what time our tickets should be bought for.