For anyone who has done "Cities of Antiquities" going from Rome to Athens...was the Overland tour available?

[OnTheJourney]

An interesting question has come up. There is an overnight tour that takes place called "Overland to the Holy Land" -stays one night in Jerusalem and then returns to the ship in Haifa.

 

A CC member just pointed out to me that this tour is listed for the Athens to Rome itinerary but not from Rome to Athens (which is the way both he and I are doing it). If indeed it's not available in the direction our sailing goes, I'm not sure I want to keep the booking. I'd rather do it in the other direction in that case. There are many shore excursions that visit the same places, but they involve very long bus rides, consuming much time. The most efficient use of time - and a more comprehensive tour and better experience, I feel - is the off-ship excursion option. 

 

If anyone here has done this cruise going from Rome to Athens, kindly reply with any info you might have on whether or not that Overland option was available on your sailing. I chatted with a Viking agent, who also found it odd that it wouldn't be available going in both directions (itineraries are identical), but of course he has no way of knowing since excursions are not available yet. To wait till November to find out is a bit too long, since by then I'd like to have all arrangements in place - including flights. 

 

Thanks!

Edited July 19, 2022 by AnyWayIsGood

[Cienfuegos]

It might be the result of an issue with the tour / bus operator, or availability with Viking's chosen hotel.

 

This is odd.

[OnTheJourney]

Agreed...any of those things could be the cause. It may very well just be a mistake or oversight. I think I'll try to inquire a bit further with Viking - perhaps they can tell me if, historically speaking since the cruise has been offered, whether or not that particular excursion has been available on both itineraries.

 

Since I've contemplated doing (and thus having researched) this cruise a few years ago already, and have info saved from a Viking agent I had been dealing with specific to that excursion, it leads me to believe that at least - at that time - it was probably available since I was considering the same itinerary. But, as we all know, so much has changed with the availability of many different commodities and services. Thanks for your thoughts on it. 

Edited July 19, 2022 by AnyWayIsGood

[shadowlover]

I agree that it is just too far to come back to the ship and wastes precious time.  We did not do the overland tour as it was listed as sold out (opened up later after we made our own plans).  We hired a private guide and found an airbnb to stay overnight in Jerusalem.  It was quite an experience.  We got to see SO MUCH because there were only four of us and our guide took us in a private car.  I highly recommend it if you can do it.  I also spoke with other guests who had a wonderful time on the overland tour.  I would have done it originally if it was available.  Keep in mind you will be with a big group trying to see many popular sites in a crowded environment.   Although I am glad we stopped in Israel and I had a fabulous time, it was my least favorite part of that cruise.  It is an amazing cruise- a trip of a lifetime!

For Israel we used this company. https://www.guidedtoursisrael.com/

You can also join small groups- they will place you and they are cheaper or you can arrange on your roll call group.  We did a group tour of nazareth and loved it.

[IkonIke]

Curious to hear why Israel was your least favorite stop? This will help me to have a realistic expectation for our trip! We also contacted https://www.guidedtoursisrael.com/ but so far not enough interest from our ship to organize a group tour. We are on the November 25 Holy Lands cruise from Rome to Athens. Thank you in advance 🙂

[longterm]

18 hours ago, AnyWayIsGood said:

An interesting question has come up. There is an overnight tour that takes place called "Overland to the Holy Land" -stays one night in Jerusalem and then returns to the ship in Haifa.

 

A CC member just pointed out to me that this tour is listed for the Athens to Rome itinerary but not from Rome to Athens (which is the way both he and I are doing it). If indeed it's not available in the direction our sailing goes, I'm not sure I want to keep the booking. I'd rather do it in the other direction in that case. There are many shore excursions that visit the same places, but they involve very long bus rides, consuming much time. The most efficient use of time - and a more comprehensive tour and better experience, I feel - is the off-ship excursion option. 

 

If anyone here has done this cruise going from Rome to Athens, kindly reply with any info you might have on whether or not that Overland option was available on your sailing. I chatted with a Viking agent, who also found it odd that it wouldn't be available going in both directions (itineraries are identical), but of course he has no way of knowing since excursions are not available yet. To wait till November to find out is a bit too long, since by then I'd like to have all arrangements in place - including flights. 

 

Thanks!

We went from Rome to Athens in March; there was no Overland trip option. We did a post-extension in Athens; the 3 tours provided by Viking were excellent.

[OnTheJourney]

12 hours ago, shadowlover said:

We hired a private guide

This is indeed the way to do things. We've used Viator twice to set up a private (driver and guide) in places that draw lots of tourists and will do so again in Rome before the Antiquities cruise. Both times were fantastic experiences. I will check into the link you provided. We are a bit hesitant to go outside the cruise line for things like shore excursions, arranging private tours and such. I know it's done all the time very successfully, but just a tad out of our comfort zone. Getting nearly stranded in a foreign country during a  (ship) shore excursion - guide decided to go back to the ship and didn't count her group, so we were left behind wondering where everybody went - didn't do anything to motivate us to become more adventurous outside of what the cruiseline offers. 

 

 

12 hours ago, shadowlover said:

I also spoke with other guests who had a wonderful time on the overland tour.  I would have done it originally if it was available.  Keep in mind you will be with a big group trying to see many popular sites in a crowded environment. 

Good to hear...at least the first part. Agreed, for sure, on it NOT being a "small group tour" lol

 

12 hours ago, shadowlover said:

it was my least favorite part of that cruise.

Most interesting! Sometimes I guess what is touted or expected as being the 'highlight' of a journey doesn't always necessarily turn out to be such. The one thing I don't look forward to is that it's another one of those very 'port intensive' itineraries with very little downtime (sea days). Much like a Baltic cruise, which we really enjoyed, but it was go-go-go for like 2 weeks non-stop. We were 7 years younger than too! Funny how, when we first started cruising, we disliked the idea of sea days (waste of time, etc.) NOW....we look forward to them! So, yeah, as you say, a trip of a liftetime for sure. I don't suspect we'll do too many more longer trips that do real extensive sightseeing without some sort of breaks in between. 

[OnTheJourney]

13 minutes ago, longterm said:

We went from Rome to Athens in March; there was no Overland trip option

Total bummer to hear this...so sounds like they no longer offer it. We have to think about this and maybe still cancel. I just wish there was a way to find out. I really should decide on this before making any flight arrangements. IF they were to continue doing the Overland for the itinerary going the other way, that would be my preference. With a longer trip ending in mid-November, I really wouldn't need another (especially more extensive one like "Cities") the following January already. 

 

13 minutes ago, longterm said:

the 3 tours provided by Viking were excellent.

Bob, can you elaborate on this? Which ones are you referring to? Jerusalem and Bethlehem for one I'd suspect (?)  You and I have chatted before...the piano player, right? 😉  We also have the Athens post-extension booked, as well as the Rome pre. Have never been to Rome, other than sailing out of CV for the Chairman's cruise. 

 

What makes NO sense to me is that both itineraries are identical from the standpoing of Day 7 being Jerusalem, and then 8 and 9 in Haifa. This is the case regardless of which direction the trip goes. So...what's the problem with not offering it both ways? I'm going to do a "tellus" email and see if I can get any further info on it. 

Edited July 20, 2022 by AnyWayIsGood

[OnTheJourney]

I sent something to the tellus@viking site. See what I hear back. I'd like to know if, historically since the cruise has been offered, has the Overland generally only been available for Athens to Rome?  If so, we might cancel and rebook some other time. I'd have to find out what the timeframe would be on that. November dates don't work for us, and no dates are out yet beyond end of '23. 

[longterm]

44 minutes ago, AnyWayIsGood said:

Bob, can you elaborate on this? Which ones are you referring to? Jerusalem and Bethlehem for one I'd suspect (?)  You and I have chatted before...the piano player, right? 😉  We also have the Athens post-extension booked, as well as the Rome pre. Have never been to Rome, other than sailing out of CV for the Chairman's cruise. 

 

Well, we were just on the Rome to Athens trip--we didn't continue to Israel. Yes, I"m a jazz piano player (have a gig coming up in Austin, TX on Aug. 7th, in fact!).

Viking offered 3 excursions; the first was to the Acropolis, where we spent 2-3 hours; first we went up to the Colisseum. Having lived in Nashville 34 years, I've seen the excellent exact replica of the Colisseum there (built for a World's Fair in the early 1900s), but seeing the real thing was stunning. 

Then we went to what I think is the most beautiful archaeological museum I've ever seen; it's a must-see.

Second day we went to Mycennae and another site, whose name escapes me; Mycennae was really excellent, the 2nd not as interesting.

On the 3rd day they took us to Delphi, which may be the best of the three. Far up in the mountains, a great historic site to visit. Interestingly, it snowed on us up there, and it was March 23rd. I certainly wasn't dressed for it...

 

 

[OnTheJourney]

20 minutes ago, longterm said:

Well, we were just on the Rome to Athens trip

OK....sorry...I assumed you were on the Cities of Antiquities cruise. 

[mchell810]

2 hours ago, AnyWayIsGood said:

I sent something to the tellus@viking site. See what I hear back. I'd like to know if, historically since the cruise has been offered, has the Overland generally only been available for Athens to Rome?  If so, we might cancel and rebook some other time. I'd have to find out what the timeframe would be on that. November dates don't work for us, and no dates are out yet beyond end of '23. 

 

You might want to check (google) to see if there is a local holiday for the dates you expected the tour to run.  It could be a factor leading Viking to skip the overnight tour for your specific cruise

[OnTheJourney]

Good thought, except that it's not just for my specific dates. It's not listed, in general, applying (presumably anyway) for all the dates that the cruise runs. 

[shadowlover]

12 hours ago, IkonIke said:

Curious to hear why Israel was your least favorite stop? This will help me to have a realistic expectation for our trip! We also contacted https://www.guidedtoursisrael.com/ but so far not enough interest from our ship to organize a group tour. We are on the November 25 Holy Lands cruise from Rome to Athens. Thank you in advance 🙂

Not to say that I did not enjoy Israel- I have always wanted to go there and it was a dream to be there.  I found it hectic, crowded and more commercialized than I had imagined it would be.  There was also some unrest when we were there- the cruise after us did not stop there.   

You don't actually have to gather the people yourself.  Many times you will find that others booked small group tours with this company and they will add you to the trip.  It was a very manageable group for Nazareth and I enjoyed it alot.  I would probably return to every other place on this cruise except Israel which told me that while I wouldn't have traded going for anything- I just feel like I have seen it and I'm good.  Hope that helps and makes sense.  Others I am sure would disagree with me. 

[OnTheJourney]

S.....thanks for your candid thoughts on it. I'm not surprised to hear any of that. I'm sure that I'll probably feel the same way -  once being good enough. The 'crowded and commercialized' is not my favorite cup of tea. I think we'll just keep the trip as is. Just heard back from Viking (phone reply to my "tellus" email). The agent didn't have much to say other than the Overland tour likely will not be available for my sailing (or any other I'll bet going in the same direction). I'm tired of canceling and rebooking trips. I'm done with it - unless the need truly comes about again due to covid escalation. Otherwise, I think we'll go, do what we can, and so be it. We've never been to Rome or Greece, so that's almost reason enough to keep the trip. 

[shadowlover]

It’s an amazing trip honestly you won’t regret going.  We did almost all included tours except for Israel.  We did the Greece 5 day extension and I HIGHLY recommend it. Enjoy every minute!

[OnTheJourney]

14 hours ago, shadowlover said:

We did the Greece 5 day extension

Might you possibly mean 4 days? We're doing that. Day 5 is simply departure to the airport. 

 

14 hours ago, shadowlover said:

you won’t regret going.  We did almost all included tours

Thanks. I'm no longer worried about the lack of the Overland tour. It'd be nice, but we'll just do "Jerusalem and Bethlehem" and "Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee" that the ship offers while docked in Haifa. I pretty much (at least tentatively) chose excursions - based on those mentioned at the present time at least - for the entire trip, and added a full-day private tour through Viator in both Rome and Athens. It's going to be a LONG and TIRING journey for sure. I don't take to super-long days of heavy sightseeing as well as when I was younger and free of some medical issues, so hopefully all will go well. Surely it'll be a once-and-done trip to Holy Land, although would still like to return to Italy at some point for a more extensive land tour. 

 

14 hours ago, shadowlover said:

Enjoy every minute!

Most kind....sure hope to. Still have to get flights through Viking. 

[shadowlover]

Yes it is technically 4 days.  We did the classic Greek extension before the cruise and also arrived two days early so I thought it was longer.    It was a highlight for me- absolutely loved it.  We went to Meteora on our own during the free day by train.  It was unbelievable!  

[OnTheJourney]

16 hours ago, shadowlover said:

We went to Meteora on our own during the free day by train.  It was unbelievable!  

I'm sure. SO much out there to see. I'm planning to use that free Athens day to do the Viator tour of Athens, since the extension visits other areas on 2 of the days. Never been to Rome or Greece, so I'm good with whatever we manage to see.