What’s going on with Rome?

[Cher98]

13 hours ago, Twitchly said:

That’s the excursion we were hoping to see! So strange that they dropped it. 

I wonder if in part it’s due to cruise cancellations in some way. We had a couple of excursions cancelled not too long before our trip so we chose other ones.  I thought then that those cancellations were due to a lack of interest and not enough people signing up, but I think that Rome excursion was/is popular so I don’t think that would be the case. It was full although as time passed, folks cancelled their entire trips/excursions. During the cruise, Viking did switch our times on some excursions to fill out groups and even doubled up two groups on one of them. The ship was about half full.  There weren’t crowds on the ship nor on land.  That was def a plus!

[Cher98]

Me:  “That was a plus!”

 

Of course, it is nice to not be crowded, but I hope that all is back to normal in travel and all aspects of life for the sake of everyone.

[Jaime-usa]

On 11/28/2021 at 10:51 AM, Mrs Miggins said:

We embark in Rome on Dec 29th.  We then sail to Livorno for 2 days.  Very limited shore excursions.  We have already done the included Pisa one, but have booked again just so we can get off the ship.  2 other options - long days in Florence - showing as Sold Out.  We have been to Florence many times.  In the past we have just wandered around in Livorno - in the summer getting a local bus to a lovely beach town.  I guess this time we stay onboard until we move on to France and Spain.

 

Thank you for your posts. We were curious about a couple of items if anyone had any current information.

1. Availability of shore excursions: Traditionally, the more interesting Viking shore excursions often sell out quickly. Since the number of shore excursions now seems to be limited, has it made this limitation/problem a lot worse?
2. Since Viking shore excursions appear to be limited, while a passenger on a Viking cruise, can you make your own shore excursion arrangements with a 3rd party tour?

Thank you for your time and any information. We are trying to decide if we should postpone our March/April med cruise for later in the year or next year. 

[Twitchly]

4 hours ago, Jaime-usa said:

 

Thank you for your posts. We were curious about a couple of items if anyone had any current information.

1. Availability of shore excursions: Traditionally, the more interesting Viking shore excursions often sell out quickly. Since the number of shore excursions now seems to be limited, has it made this limitation/problem a lot worse?
2. Since Viking shore excursions appear to be limited, while a passenger on a Viking cruise, can you make your own shore excursion arrangements with a 3rd party tour?

Thank you for your time and any information. We are trying to decide if we should postpone our March/April med cruise for later in the year or next year. 

As I understand it, you can make private shore excursion arrangements in countries that allow you to leave the Viking bubble. That changes. Right now Italy doesn’t allow it, for example. But that could change by March.

[Twitchly]

Update from Viking on Rome: I sent a note to Viking at their tellus email address this morning, and they responded with a phone call within a few hours. Pretty remarkable, I thought! They said that Rome is basically shut down right now but was expected to open back up on December 15. They are looking into possibly scheduling more excursions once that happens. So I’ll start checking again after the 15th and keep my fingers crossed.