Viking Ukraine - Odesa - Kyiv 6-16 July 2019

Viking Sineus

To Odesa to cruise a little of the Black Sea and up the Dnieper River to Kyiv, with Peter & Sue Chasney who got a real bargain price.

We moor along the route to sightsee at Kherson, Zaporozhye, Dnipro and Kremenchug.

It's the final year for this particular itinerary, from 2020 the cruise will start/end near on the Danube near the city of Tulcea in Romania with all day bussing between Tulcea and Bucharest, lunch in Constanta, and a stay in a Bucharest hotel. This is to avoid Odesa and to use Bucharest which has better airline connections.

Peter & Sue

Our car came for us at 03:30 to get to LHR T2 for an 08:25 departure with LOT Polish Airlines. We had 90 minutes at Warsaw to make our connection for the onward flight. We - and our bags - met it. About a dozen passengers not on our flight had to wait till the following afternoon to get their bags.

Lot Breakfast LHR>Warsaw

Lot Lunch Warsaw>Odessa

Seating on these flight, using Embraer aircraft, is 2x2 in business, with the aisle seat kept empty. No Champagne in business, just 'Grand Imperial' French Vin Mousseux, which wasn't too bad.
 

 

 
Ukraine flag and Viking Sineus moored. Gangway at lower right corner. That floor is the main deck, with two windows per cabin and walkway outside. 

Floor above is middle deck, rooms here have private veranda, as does upper deck above that. Top deck above that has Sky Bar Lounge and sun deck. And bridge, with the Viking logo.
 
 

 
Inside the bridge while cruising. Captain is at back of shot, Guide Olga in red polo shirt is explaining equipment and translating captains answers to questions when necessary.
 

Port at Odesa opposite Potemkin Steps. This side has HMS Duncan, a Type 45 Destroyer behind a Canadian warship. Boats at Odessa for a Nato naval exercise. There's an exclusion zone around the ships with the public kept from getting close on the harbour. Viking Sineus is moored on other side, to the right. Hotel is unoccupied. 

Potemkin Steps, a short walk from boat. Deliberate optical illusion means from here you can't see the wide landings on the steps. To left is funicular.

Boat departed Odesa at 23:00. Canapés and large glasses of brandy were served on sun deck in celebration. 

Entering reconstructed Cossack Fort with village inside, at Zaporohye
 
 

 
Cimbalon player at Pirogova Folk Architecture Museum. Many of us bought his 54m CD for UAH 50 (£1.50) and I'm listening to it while posting these pix.

 
Dasha was our main waitress, looked after us well, and gave us a hug at the end. 

Included wines at lunch and dinner are Ukrainian  Saperavi (red) and Chardonnay (white). The Saperavi is full bodied and fruity. Too many of the Chardonnay are oxidised to various degrees, some too much to be drinkable. Unlisted but available if asked for is Pinot Grigio which is crisp and dry and far superior. 
 

The sparkling wine served at receptions, Explorer Club & etc is a vast improvement on the house German Sekt served on other cruises. It’s a Ukrainian Brut fizz from Shabo winery, made by the Charmat method, from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

There’s a large wine list; the most expensive which is UAH 1370 (£45), a rare Ukrainian white from Shabo Winery, made from the Telti_Kuruk, grown only in the Shabo area where there’s  about 70Ha. Despite their website, it was not available at Kiev airport duty free)
 

Executive Chef Pawel Ussorowski dances out onto the sun deck with even more canapes

Our wonderful  Programme Director Oliver Groszer in yet another costume. He is a bundle of energy and has talents that include juggling, amazing magic tricks, funny stories, singing and dancing. Not to mention serving tacos at the buffet. When the Cossacks need a volunteer to hold a reed to be broken by a Cossack with a bull whip, Oliver was there. 

Ival from New Jersey (who I'd 'met' via Cruise Critic) and Joel.

Viking busses and their drivers drive through the night to meet us at our next mooring. Here they are in Kyiv.

We left from Kyiv airport. This is unpleasant. It took 50-55 minutes to get to airport from ship. Then to get into airport you have to queue to lift your bags onto X-ray machine and go through security scanner. Viking have staff there and they directed the coach to the far entrance where the queue was much less. 
 
After checking in you have to go through security. Then you get to passport control. There were 10 desks open with such long lines that they took up the entire hall and it was hard to find the end of a queue. The lines moved at a glacial pace. Although the lines were wide with groups, people – even kids – had to go separately to the desk. Reason seems that for Ukrainians a passport is not enough; they need supporting documentation. Some have it ready in their hands; others have to search for it when they get to desk. Then officer has to read the certificates etc. 

In Soviet times Dnipro was a city forbidden not only to foreigners but also citizens without a special permit, as it was the centre for nuclear,  defence and  space research

There is a fast line both here and the preceding security, sponsored by Mastercard. But you can only pay for this with a Mastercard issued by a Ukrainian bank. Business Class flyers can’t use fast line. 

Once you’ve wasted so much time hopefully you won’t have missed your flight. Airside is quite good, with a selection of restaurants and shops 

Bucharest airport is a dream compared with Kyiv. If I do this cruise again, I will go the opposite way; I won’t depart from Kyiv.