Viking Sea March 26 Athens to Venice short review

I won't do a long review here, because others have done it and done it better! But here are some thoughts:

We decided to try Viking Ocean after 2 Viking river cruises. We talked to many people on this cruise, and I'd say the vast majority had also sailed with Viking river before. We absolutely love Viking River (in fact, are sailing again with them this fall) and feel that the Ocean experience is very close. Not exact, of course, because the number of people is greater, but a similar feel.

We booked the lowest level cabin, and were very pleased. A lot more room than on the river cruise, and a good size cabin compared to other ocean lines we've cruised. The bathroom was the nicest we've ever had on any ship.

As for the food, we really enjoyed it. Not as highly ranked as Silverseas, but that is in a higher category to begin with, and you pay more for it. The wine and beer flowed freely (we always asked for a full glass before leaving the dining room and took it with us to our evening entertainment - no server had a problem with that).

The included excursions were good - some of the local guides were great. And the ports of call on this cruise are fantastic.

All in all, a wonderful experience. Would not hesitate to book with Viking Ocean again!

Thanks for taking the time to post! Happy to hear you enjoyed your trip.

Thanks for your review.

Did you use room service? How was the room service menu?

We ordered room service 1 day for breakfast. It was pretty much the same menu as in the dining room, as I recall. Everything was still warm and very prompt.

Thanks for taking the time to post a review. We have never taken a Viking River cruise so our Homelands Cruise in May will be our first Viking experience. Did your cruise have a Meet and Mingle and did you attend? Deborah

Yes it did. There were maybe 10 CCers, and maybe 6 or 7 crew members. It was very well done and the crew seemed very appreciative.

TGBoss- Thanks for posting, this trip looks like a lot of fun, and at a good time of the year for us.

My wife and I have only been on river cruises. She gets seasick/airsick at times. This looks like the most sheltered route you can take. Is there a lot of motion, do people still get seasick?

Thanks

Thank you for your review. Please tell us more! We will be on the same cruise same time next March on the Star. How was the weather? How was the sea? How did the shuttle from the ship to Athens work? Did you take the Viking tour in Athens?

Hope that is not too many questions. First time poster and first time in the Med.

ural guy -

Sometimes I've had issues with motion sickness, too. I was so surprised on this cruise - I barely ever felt the motion of the boat. So this may be a good route for her, or we just got lucky!

Thank you for your review. Please tell us more! We will be on the same cruise same time next March on the Star. How was the weather? How was the sea? How did the shuttle from the ship to Athens work? Did you take the Viking tour in Athens?

Hope that is not too many questions. First time poster and first time in the Med.

The weather was perfect. High temps varied from low 60s to low 70s, and being the Mediterranean, the sun was very intense. No rain. Only 1 day somewhat cool, high 50s and windy. The sea was very calm.

We didn't take the shuttle into Athens, nor the tour. We have been to Athens a few times before, so we took the optional turn to Cape Sounion, which was beautiful.

Thank you very much for the reply. We just signed up last month, and It is still almost a year out, but I am getting excited!

We have done Viking River, so I know the ship will be wonderful. Would love to hear what you did in the ports, or from anyone else who did this itinerary, especially since some changes were made after discontinuing the stops in Turkey.

Thank you for your review. Please tell us more! We will be on the same cruise same time next March on the Star. How was the weather? How was the sea? How did the shuttle from the ship to Athens work? Did you take the Viking tour in Athens?

Hope that is not too many questions. First time poster and first time in the Med.

What date will u be on the Star.. we sail March 29 2018 Athens to Venice.

Hi, ebtrip.

Yes! That is the same trip. March 29, 2018, Empires of the Mediterranean, Athens to Venice on the Star. All new places in the world for us.

Hi, ebtrip.

 

Yes! That is the same trip. March 29, 2018, Empires of the Mediterranean, Athens to Venice on the Star. All new places in the world for us.

Hi,

We are Elaine and Steve, traveling with Ro and Gary from Southern California.. we are arriving March 28, staying one night at the Herodion hotel. My friends have never been to Athens, so we are going to do a private tour on the 29th, looking for a good tour company before we board the ship.

We are extending our trip in Venice, staying at the Becher hotel for two nights. We have been to Venice many years ago. We love the city.

I have started a thread on the Star post, please join us and register for the meet and mingle.

Elaine

Check out the ROLL CALL for your particular cruise to share info and join tours.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/rollcalls/?cruise_line_id=203&ship_id=748

(in case someone can not find their roll call - there is always a link at the top of this page)

Hi,

We are Elaine and Steve, traveling with Ro and Gary from Southern California.. we are arriving March 28, staying one night at the Herodion hotel. My friends have never been to Athens, so we are going to do a private tour on the 29th, looking for a good tour company before we board the ship.

Elaine

If you have not stayed previously in the Hotel Herodion, it is ideally located an easy walk from an entrance to the Acropolis, just around the corner from the Acropolis Museum, and an easy walk to the Plaka district.

With only part of a day to sight see, I would be tempted to do it independently.

I doubt the weather in March would be warm enough to dine outside at night in the hotel's roof top restaurant, but it does provide an excellent view of the illuminated Acropolis.

Plus, when I was there in July 2015, I found the food to be excellent.

Thank you very much for the reply. We just signed up last month, and It is still almost a year out, but I am getting excited!

 

We have done Viking River, so I know the ship will be wonderful. Would love to hear what you did in the ports, or from anyone else who did this itinerary, especially since some changes were made after discontinuing the stops in Turkey.

Most stops we did the included tour, then explored on our own. Here is some info about some of the stops:

Santorini - The included tour was just ok. But it is a good way to get to Oia free. Then can take the time to explore on your own.

Olympia/Katakolon - We rented a car here, to explore the region on our own. Very easy to do and we enjoyed it. Then we did Olympia on our own. It's a beautiful area, but would have enjoyed what the guides had to say here!

Corfu - This was one of my favorite stops. The included tour was good, and there was plenty of time to explore on our own. We hiked up to both fortresses for the views of the town.

Kotor - Wow, loved this place! Our guide for the included tour was fantastic and what a great small town to explore on your own. We hiked up to the fortress on the hill high above town. Took about an hour, but the views made it worth it. Also had a great lunch in one of the cute town squares.

Dubrovnik - We did the included tour, then walked the city walls on our own. Lovely place; had a great lunch here, too.

Zadar - Did the Krka National park tour - this was a wonderful tour. The waterfalls were magnificent. I didn't think that Zadar had much to see, so was glad we booked this optional tour.

Koper - Did the included tour, which was ok. We then caught a local bus on our own to Piran, which was beautiful and well worth going to see.

Let me know if you need any more info!

Liz, you're a great reviewer! General question - going on my first Viking cruise, doing an ocean one, homeland tour, leaving May 6 on the Star. What is the dress code like? Do people wear like business casual for dinner or fancier or very casual? Trying to pack light so would like insight on dress code (if I had my way, I'd wear jeans so...I'm really casual but, I want to do what is expected and right). Thanks.

No fancy dress required and very few dress up. Few suit and tie - but not common. We were in nice but casual attire and fit right in. I would guess a few reviews have some pictures of people. Wife had a few dresses and some slacks that worked.

We did this cruise with carryon and had no problem at all.

After reading other reviews, I was surprised how casual it was. I didn't wear jeans at night (since I wasn't sure it was allowed), just slacks and tops. My husband just wore a pair of black docker type pants every night. I didn't see any fancy dress at all on this route, even in the specialty restaurants. One note: it was warm on our cruise, and my husband wore shorts in to town most days. However, shorts are not allowed in the main dining room for breakfast! They sent him back to the room to change in to jeans! No complaints, just a little embarrassing!

Liz, you're a great reviewer! General question - going on my first Viking cruise, doing an ocean one, homeland tour, leaving May 6 on the Star. What is the dress code like? Do people wear like business casual for dinner or fancier or very casual? Trying to pack light so would like insight on dress code (if I had my way, I'd wear jeans so...I'm really casual but, I want to do what is expected and right). Thanks.

For even more talk about dress code, there are a couple of threads discussing it. Here is the most recent one. Dress code is always a hot topic.

TGBoss- My wife and I have only been on river cruises. She gets seasick/airsick at times. This looks like the most sheltered route you can take. Is there a lot of motion, do people still get seasick?

We sailed on the Sea, March 5 - 17, from Barcelona to Venice. Rarely felt any motion at all.

For even more talk about dress code, there are a couple of threads discussing it. Here is the most recent one. Dress code is always a hot topic.

And to summarize that thread and others - the "hot" part is usually about folks that want to dress down a bit more than what most consider the norm. Never an issue about folks wanting to dress up. (jeans at dinner seems to set folks off). I will leave continued discussion of that to the other thread. (vs. starting it up here - AGAIN) Please.

If you have not stayed previously in the Hotel Herodion, it is ideally located an easy walk from an entrance to the Acropolis, just around the corner from the Acropolis Museum, and an easy walk to the Plaka district.

 

With only part of a day to sight see, I would be tempted to do it independently.

 

I doubt the weather in March would be warm enough to dine outside at night in the hotel's roof top restaurant, but it does provide an excellent view of the illuminated Acropolis.

Plus, when I was there in July 2015, I found the food to be excellent.

Thanks for the info.. we're coming in a day early so we will have a full day as the ship overnights in Athens. We have previously done a tour of the Acropolis but our friends haven't so we figured we'll do it again.. we will do the museum the next day with the ship included tour.

These posts are so helpful. Thank you all for the information! I am sure that over the next 11 months I will come up with a few more questions.;)