19-20 Aug 22 Home to Athens

  

This post is based primarily on Don's notes, occasionally supplemented with MT's notes from our cruise in August 2022. When information from other sources is added—for further explanation to readers or to satisfy our own curiosity—that is set off in a text box (as this one).
Most of the photos that accompany this post are from Don’s camera (with a caption indicating the time it was taken); those from MT’s iPhone are indicated by “MT” placed at the beginning of the photo caption. Photos from any other source (such as the public domain Wikimedia Commons), occasionally used for clarification, indicate that source in the caption.

We woke at 3 am to have breakfast and get ready for the airport shuttle to pick us up at 5 am. After a 40-minute drive, we arrived at KCI airport in Kansas City, MO. American Airlines flight 2949 departed at 7:30 for a flight of just over an hour to Chicago O'Hare. 

MT Friday, August 19, 2022, 7:18AM - Kansas City: Wing of our plane and another American Airlines plane on the ground at KCI.

MT 7:23 AM - Kansas City: Don and MT, with facemasks,  our plane on the ground at KCI.

MT 8:11 AM - Kansas City: wing and clouds on way to Chicago.

We arrived at Chicago O'Hare airport around 9 am.

MT 9:32 AM - Chicago: O'Hare Airport (notice the blue-and-white flags of Greece in the foreground).

‏‎10:23 AM - Chicago: O'Hare Airport (notice the blue-and-white flags of Greece in the foreground).

American Airlines flight 160 departed Chicago at 1:40 pm and arrived in Athens around 8 am.

A Viking representative met us and one other lady (Christina) immediately after the baggage claim and showed us to taxis (one for Don and MT and another for Christina) that took us to the Piraeus cruise port, where the Viking Sky was docked. The driver said this drive would normally be about 1 hour, but, since many people were on vacation in August and it was also a Saturday, it would take only half an hour. He explained that Piraeus was the main port for Athens (there are two other ones not used for cruise ships) and that locals sometimes still called it by a nickname that started with "Carbon..." because of the coal used by steamships.

Around 9 am, the driver dropped us off at the cruise terminal and told us to go into the "coffee shop," where we would have to wait until 3 pm to board our ship, the Viking Sky, which had arrived late from Barcelona. We met some people who were taking a series of Viking cruises from Barcelona to Venice, then Venice to Athens and some who would continue from Athens to Istanbul. At the door which said Welcome to Viking, a guard asked if we were "new passengers" and said we would not let us enter and said we had to wait. Around 11 am, they finally let us into the check-in area and onto the ship, but we were told we could not get into our stateroom until 3 pm.

So we hurried to the Pool Grill on Deck 7 for out favorite lunch of seared ahi tuna, from our previous Viking ocean cruises. However, the grill did not open until 11:30 that day. While we were waiting, Don discovered that he had lost his stateroom key card, which each of us had just received at the check-in. Aside from getting into our stateroom, this card would be required to be scanned every time we departed the ship or re-boarded it. Don immediately went down to the Explorers Desk (customer service) on Deck 1 to ask what he could do about this. The person at the desk asked for his name and handed him the card, which someone had found on an elevator landing. What a relief!

Don's key card.

By 11:30, Don had rejoined MT at the Pool Grill, and we enjoyed our lunch. After lunch, we went to the reservation desk at Manfredi's restaurant on Deck 2 and made reservations for August 21 and 25 at Manfredi's and at the Chef's Table (the other special dining place requiring reservations) for August 23.

At 2 pm, there was a PA announcement that the staterooms were ready. Then we went to our stateroom 3023, on the forward, starboard (right) side of the ship, where we showered, and unpacked our suitcases.

The Viking Daily newsletter we found in our room said that there would be a complimentary shuttle bus from Piraeus to a drop-off/pick-up point near Hadrian's Arch and the Plaka District is the old part of downtown Athens. We decided to rest instead, since we had spent 4 days in Athens at the end of our Empires of the Mediterranean cruise in 2019, (See our Blog at https://madillmediterraneancruise2019.blogspot.com.)

Around 5:30 pm, went to the Atrium on Deck 2 to listen to the ”Atrium Melodies” by the Classical Duo down on Deck 1.
 

MT Saturday, ‎August ‎20, ‎2022, ‏‎5:32 PM – Viking Sky: ”Atrium Melodies” by the Classical Duo.

At 6 pm, we went to The Restaurant on Deck 2, where reservations were no longer required as they had been on our previous cruises. We had a very nice meal there. Don's main course was the Chairman's Choice: Norwegian Poached Salmon, and MT's was Sea Bass Filet.

MT ‏‎6:37 PM – Viking Sky: Don's Chairman's Choice: Norwegian Poached Salmon above MT's Sea Bass Filet.

Back in our stateroom, we ordered room service breakfast for the next morning, since we would have to report for our shore excursion at 8 am.