In September 2023 we started to think of doing something really special for our 30th anniversary. We’ve always wanted to tour Europe, and never having been, wanted somewhat of a curated experience where we would worry less about the details of travel and be able to enjoy the experience of being there more.
We looked at river cruises, and decided instead that we would really like to tour the Mediterranean for our first European trip. Where it’s warm and sunny. And the coffee is really, really good.
We read lots of great things about Viking River Cruises, and eventually discovered that Viking also has smaller ocean going cruise ships. We like the idea of a smaller ship, having been on the some really large cruise ships (large for 15 or 20 years ago, today’s ships dwarf those). Viking ocean cruise ships have less than 1,000 passengers, and the passenger to crew ratio is roughly 2 to 1, much better than the big ships.
So we decided on the “Mediterranean Odyssey”, Viking’s Venice-to-Barcelona cruise aboard the Viking Star. It touches on some really great ports, including Italy (Venice, Naples, Rome, Florence / Tuscany), Croatia (Split and Dubrovnik), Greece (island of Corfu), Monaco, France (Marseilles) and Spain (Barcelona).
We booked the cruise, having just slipped in under the wire, as the ship was almost fully booked at the time. You really need to book these things at least a year in advance. While we were at it, we went for the whole nine yards and also booked the two day “pre-” and “post-” hotel stays for Venice and Barcelona. What the hay! (hey?)
Fast forward 7 months to April 28, 2024 and we are ready go!
Our “luggageâ€. We (Dan) were fascinated (obsessed) with the idea of not checking bags and only traveling with carry-ons. (Thanks, Internet.) So we bought two 35 liter nice quality Cotopaxi backpacks. Pam already had a smaller bag to use as a “personal†item, and Dan bought a small backpack since the ones he had were loo large. So the small ones will double as daypacks when we’re walking and touring.
It did not work out as well as we (Dan) thought it would. It was pretty unwieldy to carry these through the airport, and would have been tough carrying them onto the plane. Dan looked on enviously at all the people with their fancy wheeled bags zipping throught the airport.
Anyway…
Oven is off.
Heat and A/C are off.
Pat is watering the orchid and feeding the sourdough starter :).
We have our passports, “Government IDs” (driver licenses – need this to re-board the ship in some countries) and everything else.
We are now set for our 17 day, first time European journey. Onward to the airport where the process all begins.