OnTheJourney

Amen to that. At that point I really would rather be at home, but not for the reason that Rudy is referring to. This 'if you're worried about getting sick then maybe you should just stay home and let us (non-maskers) go out and have a good time' mentality got old real quick as the pandemic started to come along. "Let them die and decrease the surplus population".

Yikes. Somehow much of what you report is rather incongruous with Torstein's previous commitment to such extensive covid protocols. Sounds like it (elimination of testing) has been a move in the opposite direction. Maybe we'll still wind up canceling our January cruise. Most ironic that we planned to cancel it if the PCR tests were still taking place, but now might cancel due to the lack of testing, i.e. increased cases. Oh well....still a considerable way off yet. Not really true. Tor's latest video on viking.tv alludes to the change in protocol. Seriously?

You got it...I'd never survive a world cruise.

Like I said, I'm ok with that long a trip by car, since we stay in different hotels (don't mind "hotel hopping"), never quite know where we'll wind up eating, etc. There is a bit more (or at least a different sort of) spontaneity. Cruising is surely great for only unpacking once (which is why so many like it I suspect), but I think by the time the third week would come along I'd have had a bit too much of being in the same room.

Sure it does. Some folks are just so self-centered. This is what's wrong with our society - for some people it's all about them.

Two weeks - ideal....Three....getting a bit too long for me on a ship (road trip totally different story). Four...nope. I'd be ready to jump overboard by then! Cities of Antiquities in January will be three weeks in all. Will see how it goes. I hate traveling during the winter - so worried about the possibility of bad weather, and then have to make arrangements for someone to plow / shovel snow.

Isn't that one "Trade Routes of the Middle Ages"? Or else very similar. We could have done that following the end of the Chairman's cruise, but having done both pre and post extensions, it would have gotten a bit long plus the timing - arriving back in mid-June - would not have been good for me relative to everything I had to do around the house. I've come to realize - especially from talking to others about travel, bucket lists, and such - that unfortunately the "someday" sometimes never comes along if not truly planned for.

Sort of like a Baltic cruise...very port-intensive. It'll keep you busy! Agreed on not flying to Europe for less than 2 weeks, or at least close to it. A month away from home, though, is just more than I want, especially with putting pets in a kennel and securing a plant waterer for my way-too-large collection, let alone getting someone to mow the lawn if the trip would be in spring or summer. I'm also a church organist, so that many Sundays off all at one time creates a bit of an issue. But, with flying all the way from Seattle - makes sense to stay over there longer.

Is that the Athens to Barcelona that you have listed? Have to check that one out, though 21 days on a ship is a bit long for me. We just did one that ended in Barcelona back in May.

LOL....once saw somebody's signature here on CC that said something to the effect of: "spending my kids' inheritance...one cruise at a time" 😆 It was really nice of Viking to still think of us. The original idea was for last January, but of course that was canceled along with tons of other stuff. This second offering came as a bit of a surprise. We only had two weeks to decide on it. So that was a bit hectic for many people I'm sure due to other trips being planned. We really debated on going / not going (had to cancel a cruise that overlapped) but are so glad we did. It was our first time in the Med, so everything was new to us. Like I said, that's just so cool - didn't know you could track it. We've never been to Long Island, but our daughter just graduated with her PhD from Rochester Institute of Technology, so we've been up that way many times. I like the Adirondacks area as well. Yes! Another great picture.

Your departure pictures are really good....as well as approach to Greece. Never know how it'll get when taking from a plane window. Lots of times the windows aren't clean enough and then the camera focuses more on a smudge than the ground.

That's cool...how does one do that? Certainly nice, since that's always a bit of a worry. One of our suitcases was temporarily unaccounted for between the time that we disembarked the Mars and started on the post-cruise Barcelona extension. It did show up at the hotel after a bit, but most distressing to not find it in the terminal with our other suitcase. Somebody grabbed it by mistake I suppose and it went along to the hotel on a different bus since there were like 5 busloads of pax doing the extension. I suppose we all have some level of a suitcase horror story of one sort or another!

Absolutely! Sort of nice to "gain" back the time by flying west, but going over the pond is also nice due to the added benefit of the tailwind - I think the seatback map showed at one point we had over 100 mph tailwind - along with -80F. temps? Sheesh...glad I wasn't out on the wing somewhere. Kudos for taking Business class going home. I've started to think that this is the way to go. Life is short. We had a real nice premium economy going from Newark to Rome, but then what was billed as also PE from Barcelona back to Newark was anything but. Same food as economy, no nice headsets, etc. Only difference was a SLIGHTLY bigger seat. I said to DW....I'm done messing around with this. Next time we go big. Yep...go for it. The heart-shaped waffles are very nice, as are the lunch sandwiches, but the real treat is all their different pastries - coffee-cake-type specialties. SO good. Also a really nice quiet part of the ship. My favorite spot of all is probably the upper level of the Explorer's Lounge. We really lucked out since we had a free upgrade to a penthouse suite on deck 8 - so a short walk to the upper rear entrance of the lounge. Mr. Hagen and his daughter Karine were along on our sailing, with the famous Viking dogs - so got to meet them. They pretty much got mobbed wherever they showed up on the ship. Karine did a wonderful presentation relative to what happened to us on the Sky 3 years ago. Brought tears to my eyes since it included video footage of crews from various ships who all offered their support during and following the event. Torstein also spoke to that in his very humor-laced talk. The invitational cruise was, of course, a non-public sailing and was free to the Sky passengers. Economy air was also free, but I paid for the upgrade to PE. This was only our 2nd cruise with Viking. And to you as well!! Looking forward to more places to explore in the Med. Have always had the Holy Land on the bucket list, so if all goes well we will get there.

Just got through it all now. Great pictures! I find it most interesting, though, that you left the ship so late at night. I just assumed that most pax returning from Europe to US have the usual morning / afternoon departures. Also...curious as to whether or not you ate at Mamsen's at all? You didn't mention it so assumedly not. I might suggest giving the spa a try. It was something I really wanted to do during our cruise on the Sky back in '19, but unfortunately I waited till Saturday, March 23. Enough said on that I suppose! Never got to the spa since the cruise ended rather abruptly. SO...on the Invitational cruise I finally had my chance. It's really neat - especially the snow grotto. Your review really makes me anxious for the Cities of Antiquities cruise. Hope all is still ok covid-wise by then. Thanks again...most enjoyable 'traveling' with you!

I'm glad you did this review, especially being that Heraklion, Rhodes, and Athens are part of the "Cities of Antiquities" itinerary that we're doing in January, along with the Holy Land and several other ports. We just had our first Meddy experience on the Chairman's cruise back in May. Loved it! Such smooth sailing too. Looking forward to ALL your pictures and descriptions, etc. !! We will also be on the Sky - haven't seen her since March '19.

Same here. On the recent Chairman's cruise I was originally scheduled for the same room I had on the March '19 Sky voyage (DV2 on deck 5, ) but then saw on MVJ several weeks after we accepted the invitation that our room was changed to PS1 on Deck 8. I questioned it figuring it had to be a mistake. Quite an upgrade for sure. LOVED It...we're totally spoiled now!!! It was so cool to be real close to the upper level entrance to the lounge - convenient and easy way to get from our room to Mamsen's as well. 😉 Enjoy!

Probably about the same (or actually I'd say less) on the Chairman's cruise. Agree with both of these points. I couldn't understand the logic behind having to do daily PCR testing but yet not wear masks either onboard or ashore (with the exceptions of most of the shore excursion busses and in certain churches, etc.) You have loads of pax traipsing through those narrow streets in Europe crowded with people eating in those plentiful outdoor cafes. DW and I generally wore masks during those times. The whole shebang - effectiveness of masking / distancing and so forth is a debate that will probably continue on for years.

LOL....🤔

Wow...I had a pic taken of one of our waiters on a RCCL ship back in March, but I didn't ask him to remove his mask - he did it on his own. Makes sense that what you're referring to could surely lead to additional cases, but I deem it more likely that it's attributable to pax not being masked, plus probably the relaxed (more like eliminated) testing protocol. I wasn't real fond of spitting in a tube every morning, but if cases are going to start reappearing in greater numbers, maybe they should reinstate - at least testing prior to embarkation. That would seem to make sense.

Oh Lordy.....how digital media has indeed changed the world. Anyway, thanks to several posters here for clarification, since I questioned it recently. I'm not a FB member.

?? I'll simply take your word for it....lol

I can imagine it, but it wouldn't be my first choice! As you undoubtedly know, trying to predict covid policies is like trying to nail down a blob of mercury. Noone has any clue what might be taking place even a few months from now, let alone next year. I share your concerns, having another international cruise booked for January. Got lucky with the recent one back in May. All we can do is hope for the best. If covid were to get really bad again, it's possible the cruise lines will be lenient with cancellation / rebookings, though I wouldn't count on it.

Sounds good! Glad it all worked out for you.

Different situation. The chairman's cruise also came with free air but I upgraded to PE. You and I both already had an air component on the booking.

What's with this? I've heard this before...what is the site and why it is not to be named? Something too politically controversial or such? If it's that egregious is whatever manner, why hasn't it simply been removed?