Welcome Back Cruises 2021 - Malta & Adriatic Cruises and General Discussion

[les37b]

33 minutes ago, FirstTimeFreddy said:

We would've liked to do the Greek itinerary also but my holiday dates are fixed with my employer, so that was out of the question. Another time maybe. So pleased Viking have relented to allow you to cruise on the Venus itinerary once again. 👍

 

 

To be fair, I would have been fine with either.... Both would have been great! lol

 

I can see you are a bit of a photographer... Me too! I always try to video arrival and departures from ports from the bow and stern using my GoPro's (or yet to be used DJI Actions - that should have been up the Norwegian Fjords, Panama Canal and Venice)...... So its vantage points I'm after info for.

 

I'm assuming at the stern, its only the Affinity pool deck or above that there is a public view? At the Bow, I'm a bit confused. I have seen photos where people have been on the Platform on Deck 3, but assume they are probably crew? I'm a little unsure if there are any nooks and crannies on the bow other than the main galleries on the higher decks?

 

[les37b]

12 hours ago, FirstTimeFreddy said:

**NEWS REGARDING CROATIAN PORT STOPS**

 

Viking in cooperation with the Croatian authorities have now made it possible to roam freely at all Croatian port stops from Wednesday 28th July. This means that once you've completed your required morning PCR test, health screening questionnaire and temperature check, you'll be able to roam the cruise ports to your heart's content.

 

This means Shopping, Bars, Restaurants, as well as the freedom to create your own itinerary.

 

You must still take every precaution possible to keep yourself and the crew safe from Covid-19 and Vikingare asking you to remain masked. However  this is fantastic news for our cruise and all those that follow.

 

This DOESN'T apply to Montenegro or Malta. Only Croatia at this stage. 🥳😉

 

Wow, that's super news.

 

On my last visit to split, there are always taxi drivers outside offering various length tours to a choice (your choice - mix and match) of destinations. From memory, the price they requested we basically negotiated half the amount and visited 4 wonderful locations in an approx 5 hours or so tour in the comfort of a nice aircon car. There is some wonderful sites to visit. I think we paid approx 100 Euros for the trip. (They did accept Euros but the shops didnt!)

 

Split and Dubrovnik were certainly the highlights of my visit in October 2019.

 

 

[FirstTimeFreddy]

1 hour ago, les37b said:

 

 

To be fair, I would have been fine with either.... Both would have been great! lol

 

I can see you are a bit of a photographer... Me too! I always try to video arrival and departures from ports from the bow and stern using my GoPro's (or yet to be used DJI Actions - that should have been up the Norwegian Fjords, Panama Canal and Venice)...... So its vantage points I'm after info for.

 

I'm assuming at the stern, its only the Affinity pool deck or above that there is a public view? At the Bow, I'm a bit confused. I have seen photos where people have been on the Platform on Deck 3, but assume they are probably crew? I'm a little unsure if there are any nooks and crannies on the bow other than the main galleries on the higher decks?

 

Yes the Infinity Pool is Deck 7 Stern and there is another two decks above that. So there's plenty of places for photography and filming 🎥  Not sure about nooks and crannies at the bow. I need to take a look.

[sugarside]

Try my one of my favourite areas ,a well kept secret,the sports deck 9.

[CLBSC]

2 hours ago, les37b said:

 

Wow, that's super news.

 

On my last visit to split, there are always taxi drivers outside offering various length tours to a choice (your choice - mix and match) of destinations. From memory, the price they requested we basically negotiated half the amount and visited 4 wonderful locations in an approx 5 hours or so tour in the comfort of a nice aircon car. There is some wonderful sites to visit. I think we paid approx 100 Euros for the trip. (They did accept Euros but the shops didnt!)

 

Split and Dubrovnik were certainly the highlights of my visit in October 2019.

 

 

This is such good news, let's just hope everyone is super careful though. Wondering if anyone walked the Old Town wall. Is it a tough walk in the heat?

[FirstTimeFreddy]

50 minutes ago, CLBSC said:

This is such good news, let's just hope everyone is super careful though. Wondering if anyone walked the Old Town wall. Is it a tough walk in the heat?

We went on the walking tour of Dubrovnik and it was super hot. There wasn't a great deal of shade and we were happy to return to the ship. The walk on the wall is completely exposed. I imagine it was unbearably hot as the temperature was 34c, 93f. Us Brits aren't used to that kind of heat 🥵

 

Being a major tourist hub, it was very crowded and most of our tour group were masked. We didn't feel comfortable roaming after the tour, but a few others chose to. Hardly any other tourists were masked.

Edited July 28, 2021 by FirstTimeFreddy

[jsam949]

1 hour ago, CLBSC said:

This is such good news, let's just hope everyone is super careful though. Wondering if anyone walked the Old Town wall. Is it a tough walk in the heat?

I went to Dubrovnik as part of a land tour a couple years ago and I walked on the Walls of Dubrovnik. It was mid July when I went and roughly an hour or so before noon. I can tell you that it is HOT as heck! The sun is beating down on you and there is pretty much no shade. It can get crowded too. On the other hand, the views are incredible up there!  
I didn’t walk the entire wall.. I spotted a staircase and exited when the heat started to get unbearble. I think I spent a total of about 45 minutes up there. I don’t think I could walk the entire thing unless it was early morning or  evening. And definitely wouldn’t be able to handle it with a face mask on.

[gma1]

2 hours ago, CLBSC said:

This is such good news, let's just hope everyone is super careful though. Wondering if anyone walked the Old Town wall. Is it a tough walk in the heat?

Was this the included tour? My husband walks with a cane and doesn't do too well with very long distances. Were there places to sit & join back up with tour on return. Guess the evening before tour talks will address that though. Maybe by Sept. cruise will be little cooler.?? Good news about getting out of the bubble just a little in Croatia!!

[les37b]

15 minutes ago, jsam949 said:

I went to Dubrovnik as part of a land tour a couple years ago and I walked on the Walls of Dubrovnik. It was mid July when I went and roughly an hour or so before noon. I can tell you that it is HOT as heck! The sun is beating down on you and there is pretty much no shade. It can get crowded too. On the other hand, the views are incredible up there!  
I didn’t walk the entire wall.. I spotted a staircase and exited when the heat started to get unbearble. I think I spent a total of about 45 minutes up there. I don’t think I could walk the entire thing unless it was early morning or  evening. And definitely wouldn’t be able to handle it with a face mask on.

 

It rained when I was there. The sun would have been preferable to the rain! Luckily it was only the last stretch we had to make a dash for it

 

[LindaS272]

13 minutes ago, gma1 said:

Was this the included tour? My husband walks with a cane and doesn't do too well with very long distances. Were there places to sit & join back up with tour on return. Guess the evening before tour talks will address that though. Maybe by Sept. cruise will be little cooler.?? Good news about getting out of the bubble just a little in Croatia!!

No, the Wall Walk is an optional tour and they label it “demanding.” I think it would be that for anyone in the current heat of 90•F! Hoping Sept. will be at least 10• cooler!🥵

[les37b]

2 hours ago, sugarside said:

Try my one of my favourite areas ,a well kept secret,the sports deck 9.

 

Not sure that's a well kept secret.....  Its the only place on the bow I could see that i can definitely use...... But its certainly better than nothing. I will have a look at some of the videos to see if I can work out the best way to mount the cameras.

 

 

I just had a short 3 days on MSC Virtuosa. There is no place to view from the bow on any deck without being in "yacht club". I dont think on such a huge ship i want to pay for that privilege. 

[les37b]

Looks like good news is here for UK cruisers.... The international advisory is being lifted - probably from 2 August. If only it had been a week earlier, I could have been onboard!

[Jchivers]

8 hours ago, FirstTimeFreddy said:

Verity announced it last night in the theatre during the Beatles tribute. I take it you heard the tannoy announcement at 8am? 👍

We got to the Beatles show a few minutes late, but heard the morning announcement just after I made my post. Thanks!  (Btw..:at the show I would estimate that 50% of the audience was masked). 
 

We took the Quaint Towns tour in the morning (recommended) and then went shopping (yay!) in the afternoon, instead of the included tour. In one shop we mentioned that we’d thought about walking the wall, and the young shopkeeper looked horrified at the thought. She said the only thing to do in such heat is to take a boat out onto the island where there is lots of shade. 

[viking2704]

For those arriving in Malta after July 31st. 
 

verifly just added “Malta Arrivals” to their app. Make sure you have the digital passenger locator form (dplf) filled out before you start since you will need the QR code from the form. Also make sure you have your cdc card handy

[Alan2504]

Sibenik sailaway  through the St Ante Channel 😎

[Heidi13]

6 hours ago, FirstTimeFreddy said:

Yes the Infinity Pool is Deck 7 Stern and there is another two decks above that. So there's plenty of places for photography and filming 🎥  Not sure about nooks and crannies at the bow. I need to take a look.

 

For photography areas fwd, I have used:

• open deck fwd of Explorers on Dk 7, probably my favourite, as on the wings you can also get shot aft and along the parallel body of the ship, pilots arriving/departing, etc. Might have to be early if the ship is full.
• Sports deck (Dk 9) can be used, but they have glass railing around the fwd end, so I rarely used that area.
• Explorers Dk 8 has Port and Stbd doors that open onto a type of Bridge Wing. In addition to the stairs up to Dk 9, they also have a reasonable view ahead. If watching the night sky, this is probably the best spot on the ship. 

 

At the stern, Dk 9 aft of the funnel is not available to pax, as this is the crew deck, so Dk 8 aft is the highest we can go. To access Dk 9 aft, you must use the internal crew stairs. It's unfortunate, as this would be a great spot for aft photos.

Edited July 28, 2021 by Heidi13

[CCWineLover]

If you wish to be high up, these are great areas.  On our Bermuda cruise, however, on the Explorers Lounge Deck 7 outside on the wings, however, Viking had installed what appeared to be a wooden cross hatched "fence" type restriction sort of like a crossed trellis.  Made it difficult to see aft from the wings.  Not sure if this was added due to COVID or what.

 

We often went down to Deck 2 aft of the Restaurant.  Several tables and chairs and a nice albeit lower deck view aft.  Nice thing is no one goes there and you can walk easily back and forth from port to starboard side quickly.

[Heidi13]

5 hours ago, CLBSC said:

This is such good news, let's just hope everyone is super careful though. Wondering if anyone walked the Old Town wall. Is it a tough walk in the heat?

 

I have completed the wall many times, with the last one in July 2015, when the temperature was in the mid 90's.

 

If you are able to disembark and tour on your own, and Viking provides a shuttle to Pile Gate, the Wall is easy to do on your own. No need to sign up for a tour. We caught one of the first buses into town, which takes you to the Pile Gate bus park, which is a short walk to the Wall.

 

We purchased tickets just inside the Wall and climbed the stairs up to the Wall. They were fairly narrow and steep, but easily completed, if done slowly. The Wall is uneven and has lots of stairs, but taken slowly most people should be able to go all the way around.

 

Although the Wall is mostly open to the sun, they do have a few cafes, with shade umbrellas to stop and sit, before heading out again.

 

We completed the Wall by about 11:00 and then wandered through the old town, stopping at a cafe for lunch and a few refreshments.

 

Best suggestion is to start early, bring lots of water and stop at the cafes. At the harbour, you can also descend to ground level and then resume the wall, after checking out the harbour.

[jsam949]

On 7/25/2021 at 3:20 PM, Alan2504 said:

Another fantastic day in Dubrovnik great walking tour small group only 7 city was was full of life but only the Viking Sea in port so not over run by cruisers but lots of people on "game of thrones" tours

Overall happy with the Viking Covid protocols which protect the ship and crew so much so we cancelled a land based post cruise stay in Mal[a and booked the next cruise 😎

Are you staying on the Viking Sea for the Malta & Greek Isles cruise that begins on July 31st? I recall you also saying there will be roughly 430 guests on board the next cruise… is this the one you are referring to?

[CLBSC]

Are you able to cancel paid excursions and get a refund? ..thinking maybe too hot for the wall tour....

[FirstTimeFreddy]

3 hours ago, les37b said:

 

Not sure that's a well kept secret.....  Its the only place on the bow I could see that i can definitely use...... But its certainly better than nothing. I will have a look at some of the videos to see if I can work out the best way to mount the cameras.

 

 

I just had a short 3 days on MSC Virtuosa. There is no place to view from the bow on any deck without being in "yacht club". I dont think on such a huge ship i want to pay for that privilege. 

Our next cruise is in September on the Sky Princess for a 6 day UK Seacation.  Looking forward to it. I'd cruise every week if I could 😀 How did you find the Virtuosa? The ship looks lovely but I heard that MSC food can be hit and miss. 

Edited July 28, 2021 by FirstTimeFreddy

[jsam949]

3 minutes ago, CLBSC said:

Are you able to cancel paid excursions and get a refund? ..thinking maybe too hot for the wall tour....

I logged into my viking journey and made cancellations/additions to my excursions about a week in a half prior to cruise start date and was refunded for the cancelled ones. 

[FirstTimeFreddy]

6 minutes ago, CLBSC said:

Are you able to cancel paid excursions and get a refund? ..thinking maybe too hot for the wall tour....

I believe Viking have a 48hr cancellation policy for excursions.

Edited July 28, 2021 by FirstTimeFreddy

[LindaS272]

3 minutes ago, FirstTimeFreddy said:

I believe Viking have a 48hr cancellation policy for excursions.

Yes.

[les37b]

19 minutes ago, FirstTimeFreddy said:

Our next cruise is in September on the Sky Princess for a 6 day UK Seacation.  Looking forward to it. I'd cruise every week if I could 😀 How did you find the Virtuosa? The ship looks lovely but I heard that MSC food can be hit and miss. 

 

We were meant to be on sky Princess on 22 September but cancelled to allow the Viking cruise. Still got scarlet lady on 9 august and regal princess on 28 August  to go... So yeh, the 18 months cruise absence has been made up for.

 

Virtuosa is a nice ship... Too big for my liking. (The Viking ships are too if I'm honest.) Yes the food was very hit or miss.... Mostly the latter. I compared the main restaurant with school dinners and go as far to say it's the worst food I've had at sea. The YouTube videos all seem to say the same thing, so not just me.