Fitzall

We booked our Viking Cruise in May 15 for Aug 16 departure (incl $au999 p/p airfares) - paid 40% by end of Jun 15 & balance by Apr 16. Thought this was reasonable

Cappadocia is a beautiful part of Turkey. Are you going up in a hot air balloon?

Regards Elaine.

We are. Also doing the Green & Red Tours. And staying in a cave room.

Excited!

We'll be in Istanbul 7-9 & 12-14 Aug with 3 nites in the Cappadocia region in between. Unless the Australian Govt website tells us 'Do Not Travel', we'll be there. Using Ataturk airport 4 times .... will report in during our stay.

Had communications with our hotels in Istanbul (pretty much everything back to normal - except tourism running around 20% of normal) & Goreme (weekend events never really affected them on face value, but tourism generally down). Pretty much all major airlines now flying back in to Ataturk.

We fly to Athens to pick up our Viking Sea cruise on the 14th (previously departing from Istanbul)

Hi Folks

 

The roll call for the Explorer of the Seas sailing on the 10th November is very slow and we are still two people short of the 25 need to qualify for a meet and mingle party

 

Kindest Regards

 

John

So I've learnt something today ..... Those cruise lines that do meet & mingle may set a # to qualify for a CC get together on board. We're doing an m&m on Viking Sea in Aug and its min # is 1. Mind you, that'd be a little boring by yourself ... We have 18 signed up so far (vessel takes 930 pax)

Hi. We'll be visiting Kotor on a cruise on the Norwegian spirit in august. It says in the brochure, that we'll be tendering. Can anyone tell me if we need to pre-book the tender and if so, when? Also, van anyone tell me what are the best things to do in Kotor? Thanks

 

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I would think the Norwegian Spirit organises the tenders. Embarkation departure time may depend on if you've booked an excursion with the cruise line.

We're visiting Kotor in Aug on The Viking Sea (luckily its a smaller vessel, so no tendering) from 0800-2300, so we're using Adventure Montenegro (don't be put off by the name .... We're in our 60s!) as a private tour to go to Perast & Our Lady of the Rocks, walking tour of Kotor then, after lunch doing the drive up to Mt Lovcen which looks down over the harbour. 10.5hrs @ approx €90 p/p. Pretty good value

I will be sailing on the Azamara Journey but can't seem to ever see it in port on that website [emoji23]. Are they the only line that doesn't seem to show up?

Viking Ocean Cruises don't appear either.

We use this website http://www.cruisetimetables.com/cruises-to-kotor-montenegro.html

Until we're told by the Dept of Foreign Affairs in Australia not to travel to Turkey, (it's currently 'reconsider your plans to travel'), we still intend to visit there in early Aug for 8 days before flying to Athens to pick up our Viking cruise. We will be vigilante, but after what has happened in Nice, Bangladesh and the huge amount of shootings in the US, we're happy to take our chances.

We've used Viking Air twice to Europe using the $999 return flight option. 1st time with Emirates (in to Paris/out of London); this time with Singapore (in to Istanbul/out of Barcelona). Flts chosen by Viking Air both times have been perfect with minimum stopover times. We are in Australia so maybe we don't have the issues that people have with Viking Air in the US.

Media reports today indicate a military coup has taken place in Turkey looks like it is going to be a difficult time for everyone in that country.

Due to go there in 3 wks before Viking cruise ex Athens. Smart Traveller website now says ''reconsider your plans to travel' .... If it moves to 'do not travel' then I guess we change our plans!

We're on Viking Ocean next month. Each cabin has a coffee pod machine & tea making facilities ...... Also plenty of tea & coffee making facilities throughout the ship. Never thought people would take there own kettle!

We have also signed up for the Viking Meet & Mingle get together on board with other Cruise Critic members.

Thank you so much for your responses. They have been very helpful.

 

Koper, Slovenia - In the morning we are doing the hop-on, hop-off bus. In the afternoon we are doing the included walking tour. That evening we are going to the Chef's Table. (Thank you for your input.)

 

Zadar, Croatia - in the morning and early afternoon, we are taking a non-included Viking tour - Historic Sibenik and Culinary Delights. That night we have reservations at Manfred's Italian restaurant.

 

Kotor. Montenegro - We were told we have to wake up early for the sail-in. Then we are taking a 5-hour outside private tour of Kotor-Perast-Lady of the Rocks

 

Thank you once again for all your input.

All looks very good.

These are the 3 spots where we're doing private tours (we're on the Athens-Venice route)

Kotor- Looking forward to the sail in also. As we're in port from 0800-2300, it will be Perast & Lady of Rocks, walking tour of Kotor & then drive up to Mt Lovcen for a walk & to look over the harbour (10.5 hr day) @ €85 p/p incl entrance fees etc via Adventure Montenegro. This will be our busiest day!

Zadar- wanted to go to Plitvice NP but was a bit too far, so opted for Krka NP to see the travertine waterfalls. Travel to Skradin and catch boat into/out of the park (optional cruise tour goes all the way by bus), tour around the park (lunch pack included), then return for walking tour of Zadar. (6.5 hrs @ €90 p/p) includes entrance fees etc via Zadar Guided Tours

Koper- Doing Postojna Caves & Predjama Castle Tour (6.5 hrs @ €99 p/p) incl entrance fees etc via Istranka D.O.O. Same as the optional Viking Tour but more personal.

I had booked Zadar/Koper before I saw the cruise prices for these optional tours. Glad I went the way I did!

2. We normally book private excursions so we can get a better, more personal experience. We were wondering what your experience has been both with Viking's included and extra charge excursions. We do like the fact that they use the headphone system on their included excursions, which most other ocean cruise lines do not.

 

Dining - We made our reservations for the Italian specialty restaurant, but were uncertain about the Chef's Table since we do not drink. Is the food itself special enough for two "foodies" who don't drink?

.

EXCURSIONS - After reading many reviews it seems the Included excursions can be hit or miss affairs so we decided to do private tours at those ports which hold the most interest. In the end we opted for 4 included; 2 Viking extras & 3 private excursions.

SPECIALITY RESTAURANTS - I'm not a drinker either (my wife is), but I believe the food at the Chefs Table will be well worthwhile (and not necessarily be enhanced by a drop of red or white!)

We are leaving in a week on our first VO cruise. We are interested in booking another trip for next year. Are discounts offered onboard while cruising that would make us wait to book? Are the discounts the same as we'd get as second-time cruisers anyway? Just want to get the best price I can.

We did a Viking River cruise 2 years ago & resisted purchasing our ocean cruise at that time (didn't want to be forced in to it), although some discounts were offered.

When it came to booking the Viking Ocean cruise last year for Aug 2016, we received a $500 discount p/p (as a return customer) plus $au999 airfares p/p (ex Australia)

Hi. We'll be on the Viking Homelands trip soon so I'm lining up my ducks. Do we need to print out or bring along any papers in order to board? Other cruises we've been on require some sort of "set sail" pass.

 

Thanks,

Jan

Received our docs tda for 14 Aug cruise. As mentioned above, you'll only require your passport that should match your MyVikingJourney details. Your cabin #/name will also be on luggage labels that you put on bags once your arrive at port.

Really Viking? So today an e-mail comes through to us to tell us that we are no longer embarking in Barcelona, but in a port an hour and a half away.

 

Somehow Viking lost their berth in Barcelona. Seems to me that this should be Viking's responsibility to get their customers from the original port of embarkation to the alternate port since it is such a distance..

I'm sure Viking will look after you. We had a port change and because we were doing some pre cruise travel (not via Viking) they paid for the transfers to the new port.

If your flying in to Barcelona on the day of embarkation, they will organise transfer from the airport.

I was wondering about the places for and charges for luggage on the alliguna, bus and/or taxi from the airport to the cruise terminal.

 

Thx!

 

Becki

Hi Becki

I can only speak for alilaguna ... Last time we just held on to our suitcases / hand luggage. Extra suitcases are €3 each. The water taxi wasn't overcrowded. They're different to the ACTV water taxis that ply the canals of Venice which are a bit smaller.

Michael

Is there a place for luggage on all these conveyances? Extra charge for luggage ?

 

Becki

Hi Becki

Last time we used the water taxis we had a suitcase & carry-on each (like an aeroplane). I can remember people having more luggage but not sure it they paid for it. The website may show if additional charges apply

 

I am interested in the best way to get to the ship from the airport. Haven't done that before.

 

Becki

We're going by water taxi (http://www.alilaguna.it) but the other way round.

For you, From the airport to the cruise terminal takes around 110 mins and departs airport every half hour - from between 7.15am & 5.30pm daily.

Use the Blue Line and cost is €15 p/p on the day. Can also buy online for €14

Nice way to get there :) if you're not in a hurry

A bus would be around €8 (40 mins); a land taxi around €35 (30 mins)

We disembank in Barcelona and have a 10:40 pm flight home. As we have to be off the ship in the morning and don't want to be taken to the airport too early, does anyone know what we can do with our luggage so we can spend the day sightseeing ?

Try bagstogo.com. They'll pick up from the port & deliver to the airport. Around €10 per bag

We are booked on a cruise that has the above referenced ports of call. Any ideas of things to do on these port days? Any recommendations of tour companies would be great too as we have never been to these ports.

 

TIA.

 

Kim

We stop in Kotor in August (0830-2300) so we have plenty of time. Rather than the free excursion Viking is offering, we're using a local company to Perast & Our Lady of the Rocks, walking tour of Kotor and then a drive up Mt Lovcen (27 switchbacks on the road!). 10 hr tour - reasonably priced.

Fitzall would love to hear what you think of Viking Sea on your return, but she looks a treat.

Will do. Not cheap but we like a 'small ship' (930 Pax); no casino or photographers, all rooms have balconies, free wine & beer with lunch/dinner, a free shore excursion in each port, no kids (no-one u18 allowed), spa/sauna/snow room nil charge, free laundry rooms, premium restaurants (nil charge but reservation required). Really aimed at 55+ with the various ports the main focus.

Just heard a report on the radio this morning ..

Last year the number of cruise ships to visit Istanbul equalled 700,

this year 100, and many of those are cancelling and going elsewhere.

In view of the latest events there may now , not be any....:eek:

We were booked on Viking Sea in Aug to embark Istanbul; now changed to Athens. We will still go to Turkey for 7 nites pre-cruise (Istanbul, Cappadocia & Gallipoli) before flying to Athens & will use Ataturk 6 times during this time.

The comments that this could happen anywhere is so true but we are not going to let today's event faze us.

Last week, DH and I booked a deluxe veranda the January 8, 2017 sailing of the Viking Sea on the Romantic Mediterranean itinerary

 

How have others booked on Viking Ocean made use of this wishlist feature?

You are correct that you can't update your Wishlist until 67 days out on MyVikingJourney for excursions. Ours was the same (Aug departure Empires of the Med) but there was space available when the 67 days kick in.

What I did was look at was the webpage for the particular Viking cruise, so I knew what I wanted to do 67 days out. Under each day the various excursions are shown (incl the freebie) at the bottom of the page.

Thank you all :). I've looked at the links to Romeo and Juliet and zadarguidedtours and notice both list tours leaving at 8 am. The Rhapsody doesn't get into Zadar until 10 a.m. Did you arrange something special coming from the cruise ship or is your cruise ship arriving earlier?

We emailed Zadar Guided Tours with our arr/dep cruise ship times, what we'd like to do (Krka NP & Zadar City Walk) and they came back with what they can do/price etc. our tour is just the 2 of us, guide & driver