Live from the Viking Star 9/28/19 Venice to Barcelona

[zitsky]

Villefranche sur mer

 

 

[zitsky]

3 hours ago, zitsky said:

Royal Caribbean Reliance of the Seas is here with us.

 

Brilliance of the Seas, correction.

[zitsky]

Monday 10/7/19

 

 

[zitsky]

Some views around Marseilles.  Slighty hilly terrain.

 

 

[zitsky]

Waiting to taste Domaine de Fregate wine.  Another group from the Viking Sky, got here first.

[zitsky]

My on board credit card was declined.  I had to go to the Explorer Desk to update.  I am 100% certain that I updated this on MVJ but now I can't confirm that.

[zitsky]

Again in Castellet we are told how to get back on our own.  It's a small town.

[zitsky]

Winery and Le Castellet

 

[Peregrina651]

3 hours ago, zitsky said:

My on board credit card was declined.  I had to go to the Explorer Desk to update.  I am 100% certain that I updated this on MVJ but now I can't confirm that.

 

I think that they don't keep that info from trip to trip. I don't even bother to supply it in advance. It is one less bit of personal information sitting on their servers.

[moatenote]

5 hours ago, zitsky said:

Again in Castellet we are told how to get back on our own.  It's a small town.

 

Is there a Viking shuttle, is  Castellet within short walking distance back to ship,  or????

[zitsky]

4 hours ago, moatenote said:

 

Is there a Viking shuttle, is  Castellet within short walking distance back to ship,  or????

 

You take a bus to Castellet and walk around the small town.  It is not close to the port.

[zitsky]

Wednesday 10/9/19

 

 

Edited October 8, 2019 by zitsky

[zitsky]

Out of order

 

Tuesday 10/8/19

[zitsky]

Could be a fluke, but some of the pastries taste stale on this, next to last day.  But all is not bad.  I learned to make a double (triple?) cappuccino from the machine.

[terrydtx]

Enjoying your posts, we are on the Venice to Athens next September on the Viking Sea.

[LunaSeaRetreat]

14 hours ago, zitsky said:

 

You take a bus to Castellet and walk around the small town.  It is not close to the port.

Hi Zitsky,

I've been enjoying your posts.  Thank you for taking the time.  Did you enjoy your Castellet and wine tour?  How was the wine? We just signed up for this for our December cruise.  We've been to the area before and this seemed a little different.

Thanks again,

Cynthia

[zitsky]

28 minutes ago, LunaSeaRetreat said:

Hi Zitsky,

I've been enjoying your posts.  Thank you for taking the time.  Did you enjoy your Castellet and wine tour?  How was the wine? We just signed up for this for our December cruise.  We've been to the area before and this seemed a little different.

Thanks again,

Cynthia

 

Castellet is a nice small town.  Worth a visit.  The winery gave us 4 wines to taste more than other places.  Worth visiting once.

[RJ2002]

9 hours ago, zitsky said:

Could be a fluke, but some of the pastries taste stale on this, next to last day.  But all is not bad.  I learned to make a double (triple?) cappuccino from the machine.

 

We didn't experience it on Viking, but on other lines we sometimes have noticed a decline in quality for some baked goods at the end of a cruise.  I wonder if it has anything to do with the upcoming turnaround day?  Just speculation...

 

Again, have really enjoyed your commentary and pictures!

[zitsky]

1 hour ago, RJ2002 said:

 

We didn't experience it on Viking, but on other lines we sometimes have noticed a decline in quality for some baked goods at the end of a cruise.  I wonder if it has anything to do with the upcoming turnaround day?  Just speculation...

 

Again, have really enjoyed your commentary and pictures!

 

Thank you.

 

Chef's Table Mexico

 

 

[zitsky]

So far we have tried three Chef's Tables.  Xiang, Asian Panorama and Mexico.  So far, the Mexico is our favorite.  

[zitsky]

Some post cruise info.  We went straight from the Viking Star to the Barcelona Hilton Diagonal Mar and arrived at 10am.  We were allowed to check in very early and were given access to the Executive Lounge.  Check in is normally 4pm.  I have no status but they told us I was the guest of the day.  I suspect they tell that to a lot of people.

 

This is a nice hotel with a view of the water.

[zitsky]

I had a great massage at the Spa.  Swedish deep tissue. Very relaxing.

[zitsky]

I worried about bathroom breaks but it wasn't a problem.  There were enough chances for breaks.  The guides on Viking and private tours were good about stopping to use the bathroom.

[RavensFan2011]

Thank you for all the information!

We are doing Rome to Barcelona next month.

 

If you are now in Barcelona now, are you seeing any protests?

I’ve been reading about the civil unrest & Iberia airline strikes.

 

Lynne

[zitsky]

I'm not in Barcelona.  I left a few days before the protests started.