HDS

We had to cancel our cruise so did not implement any of our carefully thought out plans.  I have not been following the posts since we decided to cancel.

Do cabins have a regular electric kettle as well as a coffee maker relying on pods?

I found it very easy to find the ports that most concern me for our cruise on the www.whatsinport.com website.  Millybess, do you have instances of when the site is now, or has been, inaccurate?

3 hours ago, MrRandal said:

According to Viking we are still scheduled to dock in Chioggia. Also verified that on Sept 29 and Sept 30 (our ship, our dates) the Viking Neptune is scheduled to be in port on the website www.whatsinport.com (great website by the way). I assume that may change, but will feel a little more comfortable when our final documents arrive. We got our luggage tags today, so  hopefully the docs will arrive shortly via email.

Thank you MrRandall for alerting me to the www.whatsinport.com website.  Have you found it to be accurate?

We visited Greenland in 2016 on a Silversea expedition ship with 100 pax.  Rough crossing from Iceland followed by many visits to settlement large and small, including the capital Nuuk as well as explorations by zodiac of glacier, hot springs and remains of early settlements. 

Thank you for the update.  Maybe by next year .........?

Thanks for responding.  I'd like to find a Corinth Canal cruise for our trip to Greece next year. 

6 hours ago, Azulann said:

Thank you so much for the for your post and reference about George's tax. We are doing the two night post extension and flying one day early on our own. I think I will hire them for a day tour. 

I went to Corinth many years ago. Saw the historical site of Corinth, the museum and had a boat ride through he Corinth canal. Sorry  that it was 1 inch of snow that kept you from experiencing it. 

Half of the ports I have been too but half will be new for me.

My sister has never been to Greece.

I do want to spend time in the Athen's archeology museum.I missed it the  last two times in Athens.

Cannot wait to eat some great Greek olives and feta cheese. 

 

Please tell me how you booked the boat ride through the Corinth Canal.

I have been following posts about docking for Venice and researching possible options for the three days we are there next February.  I found this thread useful for the information about the dock, its accessibility to Chioggia and to transport to Venice.

There is a bus service Chioggia to Venice (arrivaveneto.it) with a current website and timetables.  Travelling time seems to be about an hour, but probably traffic dependent. 

Hoping recent passengers will post information on transport options.

Peregrina:  Thank you for your warning about lack of date.  My bad.  The accompanying traveller's story was written in 1999, very much out of date.  Of course, one should get updated information from the company running the service before relying on it.

CC Wine Lover, we are booked on the same Viking Saturn cruise as you from Barcelona February 2024 with a three day turnaround in Venice and have been following on the roll call.  There is a bus service Chioggia to Venice (arrivaveneto.it) with a current website and timetables.  Travel time (no doubt traffic dependent) is estimated slightly less than the ferry Fieldofdreams mentioned.  We are considering spending one night in a hotel in Venice, returning to the ship on day 2 of the turnaround.

I'm keeping options open as I understand there is only one dock in Chioggia and, if it is occupied, Viking Saturn will be redirected to the industrial port at Maghera or somewhere even further away from Venice.  Or it may move berths sometime during the turnaround.  

As I said before, I hope cruisers on this route will post their experiences very soon.

No, but I found this article interesting.  Hope some recent cruisers who have docked at Chioggia can contribute.

Venice to Chioggia | Venice for Visitors (europeforvisitors.com)

I hope we do not encounter a noisy dockside welcome on our cruise.

Any age limit for the driver?  Upper limit that is?  

"Covid has not gone away but is managed differently now, just as influenza etc has not gone away." 

Vaccination is the best management tool for Covid and influenza.  I am disappointed in Viking.

Vagabobd51 you are my kind of traveler.  Thank you for your post on Istanbul.  That’s the way we like to get around a city.  We are very frustrated when our ship docks at industrial ports where pedestrian access/egress is denied and/or there is no public transport to the city.

Enjoying your posts and insights into these ports.   We are booked on a similar itinerary next year.  Thank you for the information,

On 3/22/2023 at 7:07 AM, fairydustca said:

Hi Hobson, Lorna and CC WineLover! We are also doing legs 2 and 3 next February/March (Rome-Venice; Venice-Athens). We will be arriving 4-5 days early  to spend time on our own in Rome and will take our own transport to meet the ship. If anyone wants to share transport from Rome to Civitavecchia please let us know

 

We will probably do the included excursion  of Chioggia on Day 1 in Venice if it is offered. On day 2 since those of us on the B2B will have the entire day, I'm hoping we can use one -way Viking transport into Venice (not sure if this is by bus or boat). We loved Venice and would like to stay into the evening rather than return back in the afternoon with the scheduled tours. It looks like a private minivan can be hired for up to 7 people for around $175-$200. We are figuring others will be interested in this option and staying later in Venice. Does Viking allow only using their transport for one-way?

 

Looking forward to sailing together next year!

Greetings Fairydustca and fellow travellers.  We are on this cruise for all four legs.  Definitely interested in a long day into night in Venice.  Look forward to connecting with you on the rollcall when you sign up to it.

Thanks, I'll start the process next week.

Have you posted a report of your Viking Sky cruise, Athens to Barcelona?  We are booked to do this in reverse in March 2024

DrKoob, found your posts very informative (and photos delightful), and appreciated insights re overnighting on shore and back to back cruises, which I suspect ours may be. 

We are booked on Viking Saturn, Mediterranean Iconic Shores Feb 24-Mar 13, 2024.   Love to hear from other travelers.

We are keen to overnight in Florence while the ship is moored at Livorno, and possibly Venice like you did. The long day in Livorno is a Monday when significant Florence museums are closed so it seems a no brainer to stay in Florence overnight.  Of course, we would inform Viking but had not considered we  would need to ask permission.   How did you go about asking permission?  How long in advance did you ask?

On 3/22/2023 at 1:53 PM, DrKoob said:

Venice seems to be a BIG topic on the Viking Boards. 

 

We were in Venice for those three days on a Viking Sky cruise in September 22. We asked Viking in advance if we could leave the ship on day 1 (on their shuttle) with a carry-on and spend two nights in a B&B in Venice. Then the last day, we went to the Venice train station and took a cab back to the ship in Chioggia. The B&B was $225 a night and the taxi was $90. We look back on it now and it was worth every penny. When you do the Venice on your own and you are in the city for just a few hours it is a few CROWDED hours. When you spend the night, the city empties out around 5:00 pm and doesn't get busy again until 10:00 am the next day. That's when you see things like this photo. 

 

You can read all about how we did it on my blog here: https://jktravelredmond.com/2022/09/13/venice-day-1-we-get-there/ It has the entire story including where we stayed.

Schedule for our Viking cruise in February 2024 shows it docks in Livorno from 8am Monday till 6pm Tuesday.  

We are considering travelling to Florence ASAP Monday morning, staying overnight and returning to the ship on Tuesday afternoon.  This would let us see some of the museums that are closed on Mondays.  

Would like to hear from cruisers who have done this and from cruisers who have decided against this option.

Is anyone considering a cruise "down under"?  We were mightily impressed with Coral Expedition Cruises, not to be confused with Coral Princess.   Similar style to Silversea Expedition cruises and better than the last cruise we took on Silver Explorer in 2016.  I have posted a review on the Coral Expeditions page.

I appreciate all the responses from Viking cruisers and I hope they are as useful to the originator of this thread, need2cruisesoon, as they are to me. 

Thanks "lackcreativity"  (I suspect that name is tongue in cheek).   You have given me the information I was seeking. 

Also interested in this topic re Mediterranean cruise. 

Would appreciate seeing the cost range for Viking excursions, half-day, full-day, preferably for Mediterranean voyages but those of other destinations would also be helpful.

Thanks in anticipation.