debbieandnorm

We had Room Service breakfast Every Single Day! Sometimes a big order, sometimes a small order. The decaf coffee carafe was hot & delicious. Always arrived on time & the order was always correct. Plus the view from our balcony was superb!!

We have to agree with you! We were part of that group of quiet passengers who disembarked in Rome lol. The last night of our cruise, we had a lovely table (#125) in the aft, port side of the Restaurant. We were hoping to enjoy our final dinner together peacefully. But, a table of 6 people next to the empty table of 2 beside us, made that impossible. In fact, they were so incredibly loud, that another couple who were about to be seated there, asked to be moved before they even got their menus! We lasted until dessert, but had had enough by then & our server suggested that they send it up to our room via room service. The staff apologized profusely to us, but other than that, what could they do? We were talking with other passengers about the noise & wondered why they couldn’t have a section of tables for 2 only. A quiet room. For conversation, not shouting. On another note, we are thoroughly enjoying your photography, especially the Mount Etna ones we didn’t get to visit. It’s funny to see the same pictures we took of places we visited, only better! Home now, but still feels like we are on the cruise! Thanks.

Yes, we’re on board & did the full day in Venice on Saturday. We had to be on the dock at 7:45am in Chioggia. We arrived in Venice at the Cornoldi pier by about 10am. We had 2 options to return: 1pm with the guided tour people, or 6pm with our Venice on Your Own group. We didn’t arrive back at the ship until 7:40pm! Most of our group agreed that we were ready to return at about 3 or 4pm. The one & a half hour boat ride was more pleasant than expected, as it putted by islands along the way. To my knowledge we were on the last boat from Venice. There was a little Viking shuttle boat that took you from our dock at the cruise ship terminal in Chioggia to the Piazza Vigo town dock starting at 6pm each day. Sunday night we did have to be back on board by 10pm. The port also provided a free shuttle bus from noon to 9pm just to the outside of the port gate. From there is was about a 10 to 15 minute walk into town.

As I mentioned, we’re also in our 70’s. We entered the Walls at Pile Gate which is the steepest climb but I just kept my head down & stepped up each step! We exited at Ploce Gate by the marina, which was an easy climb down. If you just go at your own speed you should be fine. In regards to Kuna vs Euros, we noticed some places in Split were taking both. Not so much in Dubrovnik.

Hi there! We’re currently on this cruise too - embarked in Athens. We climbed the walls in Dubrovnik on our own. We’re in our 70’s. It seemed easy after climbing the uneven steps to the fortress in Kotor! We entered the walls at Pile gate & exited at the marina. To my knowledge you cannot re-enter the walls after you exit. We took our time, stopped for an iced coffee along the walls, used the washroom at the cafe (long line at the public washroom further along). We were booked on the first included tour out at 8:45 that morning. Our guide showed us where to find the entrance to the walls & where to buy tickets. It wasn’t busy at that time. We left the tour early in order to do the walls. We took the shuttle bus back to the ship later that afternoon. It was a great day!

I really enjoyed reading your informative post. We’re excited to take our first ocean cruise on Viking Sky in September, from Athens to Rome. We’re flying into Athens independently a few days early & had scoped out Covid tests months ago, prior to the changes made by Viking. I’m curious to know if you were charged for your tests at the port? You also answered a few other questions I had been thinking about! Plus it was great to read about Crete & Rhodes, which we had previously visited on our own in 2002. Loved both islands. We always said we would take a cruise when we got to the point where we didn’t want to drag our bags around any more!