We were on an Alaskan cruise in June. Onboard, we put down a very small deposit on a mid-May cruise from Athens to Venice, with a Florence/Pisa post cruise extension. Other than a beginning in Athens, it then stops at Olympia, Corfu, then Kotor, Dubrovnik, Split and Venice. I’m thinking of dropping the four day Florence/Pisa extension but doing our own pre-cruise traveling on our own renting a car with a couple days in Athens and time in Nafplion, an island, etc.Then maybe an extra day in Venice. Not saying Florence & Pisa aren’t worth it but I think it would be better to dig deeper in Greece instead of the Italian option. Does anyone have opinions on this?
Posted by
Vancouver, WA
523 posts
I can't speak to visiting Greece, but I think you are wise to drop the post-cruise extension. Between guide books and advice on this forum you can plan your own "extension" and visit just what interests you at your own pace for much less money.
Posted by
Twin Cities of MN
6614 posts
We usually travel independently. We have, however, taken one Viking river cruise and one RS tour. Soon, we are trying out an ocean cruise similar to yours. We always arrive a few days earlier than the cruise start date (or visits to important sites or museums when we travel independently). Partly to get over jet lag and rest up before the cruise, partly as a buffer in case of flight issues and definitely to allow us to explore a bit before the cruise starts. We also like to do some independent traveling on our own at the end.
When we've looked at the Viking extensions, we felt they were very expensive and we could do them on our own for much less money. Similarly, we do our own air travel and transfer.
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
6713 posts
Den makes a good point about traveling on your own. If you do that, you might find it easier in Italy where the signage is in an alphabet you already know. Choosing between Athens and Florence would be really difficult, both are treasurehouses of art and culture. You "think it would be better to dig deeper in Greece," so who could disagree with that?
Unless your ship is a small one, "Venice" probably means one of the nearby cities, now that Venice has restricted cruise ships in the lagoon. That's worth clarifying with the cruise line, especially if you want to make your own arrangements from there. Venice itself is worth several days, of course.
Posted by
Ohio
2161 posts
Hi Wesley, we did a Viking cruise “Adriatic & Mediterranean Sojourn” in Feb (Rome to Istanbul). Your cruise was one leg of this itinerary. If I were you, I’d arrive a few days early in Athens or do an Athens pre-extension. Otherwise, you embark in Athens with no real time to explore. Likewise for Venice. It was a very nice cruise, beautiful part of the world. Enjoy your trip!