ddeprez

In August considering the heat factor, you may want to consider taking the first available shuttle off the ship to town, and do the wall walk first if you can book an afternoon included tour. Find out from the excursion staff if you could just meet your afternoon tour at the shuttle stop, or maybe even shuttle back to the ship for a quick lunch and pick up your afternoon tour. Just an option to consider if timing works….

We were just there two days ago, and had the exact same experience! Walk took us about 1.25-1.5 hrs with lots of stops for pics. Easy process!

We’re on board the Star now, and I’m pretty sensitive to loud noise and the MDR hasn’t bothered me at all. Dinner has averaged about 1.25-1.5 hrs, and has been very enjoyable. As far as dress, I was very worried about having the proper attire- been on many ocean cruises, but first time with Viking. The term “casual elegance “ really threw me! What I’ve found is it’s pretty much like every other cruise we’ve been on, with no one in anything close to “formal” attire. I haven’t even seen one suit coat for men. Men are mostly chino type pants with a collared shirt (golf style or button down). Women are casual slacks with a blouse or light sweater or casual dress. So, take what you’re comfortable with (as long as they’re not denim jeans, (lol) and don’t stress like I did!

Thanks for the heads up- we’ll be there for our post extension stay in May.

Thank you for your kind reply. My initial question was just how much currency to bring. Although other suggestions are certainly welcome, and have previously been made in a helpful manner, I don’t really need to be schooled on whether my preference is right or wrong.

Ok, then… Suggestions if your bank no longer provides foreign currency, and you prefer to not use an ATM there?

I appreciate you taking the time to share this. If people haven’t traveled to Europe, they may not know this, and we’re all about sharing knowledge here. Thanks!

We’re doing Madrid as a post extension for our May cruise. Any tips from your previous extension? Any suggestions for a flamenco show? Thanks!

I’m so glad you asked this, since I was wondering the same! We’ll be in Madrid for a post cruise extension. Does anyone also have recommendations for a flamenco show?

OP here- thanks to everyone for all the helpful advice! We haven’t traveled to Europe since pre-pandemic days, and those were land based tours, so a different experience from cruising. We needed to have more currency on hand for those trips, so wasn’t really sure what to expect with this. Glad to hear from everyone on how their experience has changed post pandemic, and we can plan from there. Thanks again! The CC crowd is the best!

We use a local credit union, and they no longer offer foreign currency! Crazy, huh??

I know this is majorly subjective, but my husband is a huge planner, so I’m asking for a “friend”, lol. We will be doing the Mediterranean Odyssey cruise in May, with the Madrid extension, so every country we’re visiting uses Euros. We would use credit cards for any major purchases, meals etc., but realize we’ll need Euros for tipping guides, small purchases, etc. Do most taxis take credit cards? He doesn’t want to use ATM’s once we’re there, so would just like to get opinions on what’s a reasonable amount to bring for 14 days. We’ll need to order them from AAA, and they don’t buy them back, so want don’t want to have too much left over. Appreciate everyone’s time, and TIA!

Thanks. Any approximation as per average fare to there from the port?

Thank you so much for all the info! With that said, I’m trying to get an idea of the taxi fare from the port to Sagrada Familia. I apologize if you covered this, although I didn’t see that specifically. Do taxis only charge per km (plus supplementals) and not for travel time? TIA!

Thanks to you both for the info! I think you’re correct about the cab fare, Peregrina, but I’m not really concerned with that- more concerned with the amount of time to get there from the ship. I would like to do the earlier tour so we have more time to explore after, just want to be sure we’re not cutting it too close not having any previous experience with Viking’s efficiency in getting passengers off the ship. I’m so used to the craziness of the mass market ships that I think I’m just having a hard time wrapping my brain around the smaller ship experience.

Did this tour take you near La Sagrada Familia?

In looking at available tickets, is it reasonable to think we could get there for a 10:45 tour with the ship scheduled to dock at 8:00, or better to take a later time? Barcelona Day tours will no longer accept Viking passengers for their semi private tours due to “unreliable docking times”, so should I be concerned with this?

Thank you! Yes, at this point we are planning to do it on our own as Vikings is sold out and I haven’t been able to find an independent that seems to work within our schedule. Your previous info provided has convinced me we can do this on our own, plus visit additional areas and sites. My question at this point is between purchasing the ticket for the guided tour at LSF, or purchasing the ticket for the self-guided tour. I was curious as to if the guided tour is much better than the self guided, keeping in mind that there’s less ticket times available for the guided tour?

Thanks! As always, you’re a wealth of info! Any opinion as to whether a guided tour would be much better than the self-guided? Not much more in cost for the guided, but less flexibility in times available…

Is a guided tour inside LSG included, or just a visit inside?

Glad to hear you enjoyed the Krka waterfall excursion- we signed up for that. Do you get to spend much time hiking around?

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. I contacted Barcelona Day Tours, and they emailed info about private tours costing between 210-330 euros/person for a half day tour. I replied back that I was interested in the semi-private “Best of Barcelona” tour shown on the website at 69 euro/ person. Here’s the response I received: Unfortunately we are only able to offer private tours for guests who arrive on Viking cruise ships. The reason for this is that Viking does not follow the docking schedule and has consistently been late to dock at port. For this reason we can only provide private tours for any passengers arriving from Viking, since from our past experience we cannot provide small group tours for its passengers –thank you for your understanding. So, not sure if this is a change from what previous guests have experienced, or if they were paying for private tours. Unfortunately, not in our budget. Thanks to everyone who offered assurances of the ease in doing it ourselves- that’s my plan at this point.