s0tiger

Yeah, if it was just me and the wife we would do our own thing. Parents are concerned about missing the ship and are more comfortable with it being on Viking to get us there. They have been Venice and don't want to go there a day early. At the end of the day, this is probably the last time they will travel abroad so I am just going with the flow.

Been there and seen similar on a trip to Tanzania.

We ended up booking the cruise direct with Viking as they had/have a sale that offered $250 ship credit and the drink package along with reduced air (that we aren't using).

Didn't hear back from the parents travel agent while I was visiting them last week, saw the sale and we just pulled the trigger.

Parents want to do Tuscany before the cruise, so we will probably go with Viking for that due to the logistics of getting to Venice. We are staying in Greece a few days after on our own. Already really looking forward to it.

Not a city we ever go to. That said, it is one of the areas that has Republican representatives in Congress from this state.

The live near Rye. 30 or so minute drive south of Pueblo. Both evacuated to family in Pueblo.

EE in the 90s, I was ROTC so went into the Army, but Texas Instruments and AMD seemed like the big ones for that degree.

Almost 23K acres now, blew up in hours.

I have a couple of coworkers who have had to evacuate their families.

Need winds to calm so they can use air to fight it.

Thanks for the information. I am leaning towards booking flights and cruise separately for the same reasons as you and Nole Man.

Definitely want to do the Parthenon.

Thanks for your original post, as it is how I found this cruise which is perfect for what we were looking to do and convinced me to be ok with a cruise.

Will bump if I have other questions.

Looking seriously at this cruise for next May to celebrate parents 80th birthdays and our 30th wedding anniversary.

Did you use the Viking Air package or plan your own? The parents are concerned about not using the package, but we want to extend the vacation on both ends of the cruise by a few days and are considering doing our own thing as opposed to the Viking pre and post packages. I assume you planned your own since you were in Greece early, but maybe someone else can chime in if they have experience.

Also any tips on can't miss excursions, stateroom selection (I have never cruised before) or anything else is greatly appreciated.

My son was there a couple of years ago with the 101st, also infantry.

They trained with Romanians half the time, did stupid shite the rest. He was able to go off base most days after they were released and on weekends. Also had some long weekends they were able to travel and see the country. I wish my deployments had been like that.

They lived in giant tents with 1 company per, so no privacy and always trying to sleep around others making noise got old for him.

Overall it was a good experience for him.

My advice would be to immerse himself in the culture as much as possible. I worked with Romanians in Afghanistan and they are as anti-communist as possible. Also genuinely kind and grateful people. And many of the women are smoke shows as has been pointed out.

My comment wasn't aimed at you, just pulled the last gummy reference I saw to add my perspective about all the unnecessary ingredients in the things we consume.

I have stenosis in my upper and lower back causing nerve pain, knee issues from two injuries and subsequent surgeries and other chronic pain that was becoming unbearable. A few months ago I cut almost all processed food and all added sugar/sweeteners out and I feel 20 years younger. I try not be the annoying evangelist, but it opened my eyes to how bad all the additives are.