>> PROs & CONs Should you go?

We loved this trip, but many of our fellow passengers did not. They found little to see. They were bored on the shore excursions.

Why did we go?
Simply, I wanted to see the Black Sea. I wanted to visit Yalta. We wanted to return to Istanbul and spend more time there to prowl the city and to meander in places that tourists rarely go. And we were curious because we are aware how profoundly the Olympics can change an area, and the Olympics are coming to the Black Sea in 2014.

Photographer outside the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey

What did you want to see?
We generally do not go to see specific things. In Egypt you’ll ride a camel, and in Singapore you’ll have to go to Raffles, et cetera. So, of course, we do those things. But what we really are curious about are the people sitting at the next table or walking on the streets or people like the street vendor in Moscow on Red Square selling books who told us about his life today (bad) and his life as a child under Communism (a different kind of bad).

Why were others on this trip? And who were they?
Mostly, Americans, plus several likeable Canadians, several entirely lovable Australians and a light sprinkling of a few other nationalities. What we found on this trip were a surprising number of people who had ancestry here with horrendous stories. This is not generally a stable area historically.

Questions to ask before you go.

1. Do you want a modern ship with great food and entertainment?
Go somewhere else The Viking Lomonosov is an older ship which was never particularly well appointed to begin with. It may, in fact, have been built for vacationing Soviet Communist party officials during the Cold War as were other Viking Cruise ships. I found the food better than the indigestable food on Viking’s St Petersburg-Moscow run, but that is not saying much since I was sick from that ship’s food fully three weeks after I returned from our Viking/Moscow adventure last year. Regarding food, I advise Contemplation before Consumption. Example: Do you really think eating a hamburger than is gray in color is a good idea? Yes, hamburger will turn gray when microwaved, but are you sure it wasn’t gray before it was microwaved?

2. Do you like lots of shore excursions and to go/go/go from dawn to dusk?
This may not be your kind of place. From a tourist standpoint towns like Kherson and others on the Dnieper River are ill-prepared for tourism and what attractions they have are poorly presented. Generally, Viking offers a single free tour a day and it consists primarily of driving around in a bus, walking a square to see a war memorial or a statute to Lenin (Lenin? — yes, Lenin) and poorly lit, un-airconditioned museums with no elevators.

3. Are you interested in history?
This may be your kind of place. The Crimean War (1854-1856) was fought here and I pretty much agree it was World War 0. The February 1945 Yalta Conference was held here, and that carved up and shaped the world as it largely is today. The Russians are here and maybe the Ukrainians think they’re leaving, but I don’t. Their Black Sea navy is anchored here and while that secret Soviet Sub Base outside Sevastopol is now a museum, it is a fascinating window on the Cold War (1945-1991).

4. Are you into interesting people with fascinating life stories, and life experiences?
Book passage immediately.

5. Can you walk? Are you in reasonably good shape?
Think about it. There are lots of steps (Potemkin Steps in Odessa number nearly 200) on the ship and on shore. The ship has no elevators, and you won’t find many on shore either. If you travel when we did, it will be hot, super hot — and shade is not easy to find. And more. Be in reasonably good shape, and be ready to take it easy.

Go or No? Go! This is a fascinating place. The Dnieper River is largely unspoiled. The Black Sea is gorgeous. The entire area is a birdwatchers paradise. And the history is not merely rich, it is very relevant to our lives today and events here shaped the geo-political world we now live in. TWO THUMBS UP.