carolinetodd

Your best bet is to email the hotel and ask.

I'm surprised by the comments saying that Viking Ocean doesn't have slow-walking versions of their excursions. We were on Saturn from Istanbul to Barcelona in January and February, and on our first tour, we were assigned a bus with many older and slower folks without having to ask, and after that, every evening our original excursion tickets were replaced with new ones with a bus assignment already on them. My stick and slow walking speed made me an obvious candidate for the slow bus, but I'm sure that anyone without an obvious disability could request to be assigned to the "leisurely" group.

Although the food is self-service in the World Café, waitstaff circulate constantly to bring drinks. We never had to ask for refills - when our glasses ran low, there was always someone magically at hand to refill them.

Yep, tough and bland. I really wanted to like it, tried a couple times, but no. Just no.

Here is a thread that contains some info about getting wheelchair help in Galataport.

We also found the bread disappointing. In all our land-based travels in Europe, and especially in the south, whatever else we were served, we knew we could count on excellent bread. The bread baskets in the Restaurant and Manfredi's were full of weird, soft things, and in the World Café, the best option seemed to be little whole-wheat mini-bâtards - nice enough bread, but not the baguettes of your dreams. There were lovely spreads of meze while we were in Turkey and Greece, but the only pita offered were little soft, doughy rounds like the ones you'd see in a lowest-common-denominator supermarket.

We didn't experience this sort of unwelcome interaction (on Saturn, Jan-Feb.) Once, at the Restaurant, we accidentally said yes to sharing a table, and had a pleasant meal with some people we never saw again, and occasionally we exchanged brief remarks with people seated near us in the World Café, but that was all. Once or twice, when it was especially crowded, we shared a six-top with another couple, without talking to each other at all. Y'all must just look a lot more interesting and approachable than we do.

Not always. I asked about the "Florence on Your Own" drop-off point and was told we'd be dropped at Piazza Santa Croce, when in fact the bus dropped us 20 minutes walk from there, and the guide left us at Santa Croce.

In fact, there is an elevator, only available to those with some disability. My cane was apparently enough - two asthmatic women in our group had to argue a bit.

Best main: the shrimp and calamari appetizer (minus the shrimp - I'm allergic!) at Manfredi's Best side: the creamed spinach at The Restaurant - a total butter bomb, but so delicious Best dessert: the lemon mousse at the World Café that looks like an actual lemon - so pretty, and not too sweet

Sorry, I wasn't clear - we did this two days ahead of the reservation date.

We did this on Saturn last month - no problem.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2982297-troy-pompeii-mycenae-epidaurus-how-demanding-is-demanding/ This thread has a discussion of many of the sites on your trip. For most Viking tours, especially the included ones, there is a "leisurely" version for anyone who doesn't want to try to keep up with a "normal" speed group. We didn't ask about it - we were just assigned to it after the first couple of tours. Since you're on a shorter trip, I'd ask in advance.

The standard answer people give is that the included tours are usually bus trips to look at the highlights of the port city, and maybe most are, but we had several very good experiences with included tours. All three included tours in Turkey were excellent, and things we would have paid extra to see - a boat trip on the Bosphorous, Troy (didn't really need the part where we got to see the Trojan Horse from the fairly recent movie, but the ruins were worth the side trip,) and Ephesus. The walking tours of Rhodes and Chania were also worthwhile. Of course, much of the quality of the tour depends on your guide, and that's kind of a crap shoot.

I couldn't get that post to work for some reason. You can get the beer switched - we didn't even ask. One evening we discussed the Ægir IPA with the World Café servers, the next day there was some in our mini-fridge.

They have a lovely Norwegian IPA from Flåm called Ægir - no upcharge.

Another vote for the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum - they were highlights of a recent highlight-packed trip.

I don't get all the pearl-clutching about the dress code. We were happy to comply, but I feel it's for Viking to set the standard and enforce it or not. Other people's clothing has no relevance to whether or not I enjoy a restaurant or other venue, unless they actually smell - the perfume and fabric-softener cloud around some people can be pretty off-putting, but it's not something that can be policed. We found the World Café much quieter than the Restaurant - a matter of acoustics, rather than rowdiness, I think. We also found that different legs of our back-to-back-to-back had very different vibes, with the Istanbul-to-Athens pax more serious, less outgoing than the Athens-to-Rome group, who were much louder, but also much friendlier.

UK and US, two nations divided by a single language...

When we embarked on the Saturn at Galataport last month, we didn't have Viking transfer, but when we arrived at the check-in point, it looked like the people who did were bussed right there. After check-in, though, there is a fair bit of walking through the terminal to get to the ship - I remember it being miles and miles, but my husband estimates that it was about ten minutes (I walk with a stick and am very slow - regular people would walk it in five.) The included Bosphorus tour includes a bus which picks you up right where you checked in, drives around a while, then drops you near the Rüstem Pasha Mosque - so beautiful, but requires three flights of steps to access. We were then walked a few minutes to the spice market - I skipped it since I had already seen it, and there were plenty of places to sit. From there, a short walk to get on the tour boat - ours had five or so steps up to board. The boat drops you back at the port - no more bus - and you have to walk all through the port complex to get back to the ship.

I found it really disappointing - ever since I spent a week in Corsica, I've been dreaming of chestnut-flavored everything (seriously, chestnut yogurt, chestnut bread, chestnut spread...) Manfredi's Castanea isn't awful, but the chocolate really clanged - completely overwhelmed the chestnut. It might as well have been Nutella.

Schweppe's Bitter Lemon was available on Saturn a couple weeks ago. I asked our cabin steward, and he replaced the Sprite and Coke in our mini-fridge with it. It was also available at the bar in the Explorer's Lounge.

Tarquinia was awesome. I didn't attempt to go down into the tombs - I was tired and sore from Pompeii, and the various steps and ramps down just felt like too much. The site is interesting, with good descriptions and illustrations on the outside, and the location is stunningly beautiful. I loved the museum, which does have an elevator. "Florence On Your Own" was rather disappointing. I asked about the drop-off point so I could plan what I could reasonably see, and was told we'd be dropped off at Piazza Santa Croce. As it turns out, the bus drops you near the river, and your guide walks you to Piazza Santa Croce, about a 20-25 minute walk. This put a huge dent in the amount of energy and knee power I had to work with, especially since I needed to save something for the walk back to the bus. With the long bus ride from Livorno and back, the trip was about 50% travel overhead.

Pompeii! The site itself was not too difficult - many streets had raised sides that were smoother to walk on than the cobbled roadways, though there were often fairly high steps up and down . These were too narrow for rolling walkers or wheelchairs, and I didn't see anyone trying to use them. The walk to the entrance from the bus parking had lots of steps up and down at driveways into the street - no curb ramps at all. As you go through the site, you gradually gain altitude, and there's a longish series of steps, not high, and with hand rails, and ramps down to the exit. Overall, I think "demanding" is probably fair, and it would probably have been too much for me without a sturdy husband to steady me on the steps. On the other hand, it was absolutely stunning, completely amazing, and although I am really tired, it was totally worth the effort. In contrast, yesterday's excursion to "enchanting Taormina" was quite accessible, only a few ordinary stairs with hand rails to negotiate, but left me pretty cold (but sweaty - the sun was hot for February!) It's a pretty enough spot, lots of shopping, nothing to grab your heart or mind or imagination. Tarquinia tomorrow!