On Board Viking Star for June 17, 2017 Into the Midnight Sun journey

For those who are interested, my wife and I are currently on the Viking Star on our way to Scotland and then Norway. I will be posting from the ship as time and internet allow. If you are interested you can follow our trip at travelswithcappy.com. I hope you finding the blog interesting and informative. Let me know.

Thank you so much for taking us on your journey on the Viking Star with your link to your blog.

Your pictures and commentary are very informative.

I now have Greenwich on my list of places to visit. Your pictures are beautiful .

I read a great book amn years ago about how folks had tried to figure out keeping track of time and longitude.

Just to clarify for those who are confused with two Midnight Sun live threads.

Viking has two ships currently running the itinerary. The Star, which BikeTreker is currently on, just left London and is making its way to Bergen. The Sky, just left Bergen and CC editor Carolyn, who is on board for the naming in Tromso on Thursday, started a live thread for that sailing.

Just to clarify for those who are confused with two Midnight Sun live threads.

 

Viking has two ships currently running the itinerary. The Star, which BikeTreker is currently on, just left London and is making its way to Bergen. The Sky, just left Bergen and CC editor Carolyn, who is on board for the naming in Tromso on Thursday, started a live thread for that sailing.

Thanks for the clarificaiton.

Will the two ship be in any port together or pass by each other on their journey?

i love live threads, the more the merrier....

Thanks for the clarificaiton.

Will the two ship be in any port together or pass by each other on their journey?

i love live threads, the more the merrier....

It looks like they will be in Lofoten on the same day.

For those who are interested, my wife and I are currently on the Viking Star on our way to Scotland and then Norway. I will be posting from the ship as time and internet allow. If you are interested you can follow our trip at travelswithcappy.com. I hope you finding the blog interesting and informative. Let me know.

Did the make the repairs to the hull of the ship. That was very scary that morning when we hit

Our 7/1 northbound cruise was scheduled to be in Lofoten with another Viking Ocean ship, they flipped the islands so that we are not there together.

If you are interested you can follow our trip at travelswithcappy.com.

Pleasure photopro2. I will do my best. Can't promise perfection but I do my best.

Laughing re more-the-merrier (and thanks, Azulann). I'm really interested in BikeTreker's reports as it will give us a feel for what to expect! So will be an active reader here.

Carolyn

Thanks for the clarificaiton.

Will the two ship be in any port together or pass by each other on their journey?

i love live threads, the more the merrier....

BikeTreker,

Just read your day 9 on your blog.Congratulation on your blue nose award.

Your pictures of the sea day fun looked very inviting!

BikeTreker,

Just read your day 9 on your blog.Congratulation on your blue nose award.

Your pictures of the sea day fun looked very inviting!

Loving your blog!!!

You guys had it easy!!! Last years's BlueNose ceremony included a full body dunk into ice cold water--followed by a shot of aquavit and the blue nose. Last year's was a hoot, but this year's way of handling it probably had more people willing to participate. I haven't really talked about the BlueNose ceremony because I didn't really want to spoil it for other people but considering that it is a bit different this year, I'm not spoiling any surprises.

The hot tub was filled with bags and bags of ice. I can't believe how many people with hair grayer than mine actually participated; they must be regular polar bears.

My wife and I are embarking on the Star in Bergen on July 1st. Hopefully Viking will have fixed the engine by then. My wife and our six friends aren't looking forward to rowing.

My wife and our six friends aren't looking forward to rowing.

 

But it's part of the quintessential Viking experience!

BikeTreker

We met the friendly folk in the Leviathan Shop in Stromness yesterday - delicious Orkney Ice-cream to be had in there and it's definitely ice-cream! I told them I had come across their photo in your blog and they remembered you taking the photo - I gave them the link to CC so I hope they found it.

BT --

I've been following your travel blog, re-living our 2016 journey. I just read your post from Honnigsvag/Nordkapp where you wrote

The gale-like wind at Nord Kapp made standing difficult. Everyone was dressed in winter clothing and expecting the worst. The rain blew sideways and taking photos was extremely challenging. Not my best work.

and honestly I have to disagree with your self-evaluation. I think you captured just how challenging, bleak and dismal the area actually is, especially when the weather rolls in.

We will be tendering at Kirkwall, Orkney on our British Isles Explorer cruise next year. There are two Viking excursions that are of interest: Yesnaby to Skara Brae coastal walk, and Orkney's Wartime Legacy. Each is listed at 4 hours, and of course it requires busing back to the port in between. Would it have been possible to book BOTH of these tours during your stop at Kirkwall (if you have not been late arriving) -- and what was the cost of each tour? I am thinking it might be better (and possibly cheaper) to arrange a private tour that would cover all these sites in a direct loop?

To all of you who have been reading my blog, thank you! With all that has been going on I am just now getting back to this thread. Just one or two more posts to come. Thanks for the feed back.

BikeTreker

To all of you who have been reading my blog, thank you! With all that has been going on I am just now getting back to this thread. Just one or two more posts to come. Thanks for the feed back.

BikeTreker

Loved your blog and your photos. I think my brother is booked for next year and I'm going to point him in the direction of your blog.

My wife and I are embarking on the Star in Bergen on July 1st. Hopefully Viking will have fixed the engine by then. My wife and our six friends aren't looking forward to rowing.

 

 

 

We're sailing on the 8/12 Viking Homelands cruise. Did they fix the engine?

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Actually it was a propeller. Brought a team into Norway from Italy where they built the Star. All "ship shape" now.

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Actually it was a propeller. Brought a team into Norway from Italy where they built the Star. All "ship shape" now.

 

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I don't think it was the propeller itself that was the problem but an issue with the propulsion system (of which the propeller is only a part) and specifically with the transformers (part of the electrical system). Viking has been having on-going problems with the transformers and both the Star and the Sea have had issues.

Quick question re the entertainment and lectures. How were they?? Also, what kind of movies were offered in the onboard cinema??

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BikeTreker, great job on your blog and pictures! I wish I had seen this thread while I was on the ship with you!

Other readers: I'm not Bike Treker, but he DOES mention entertainment quite a few times in his blog - check it out! In my opinion, the entertainment was modest but good, and I enjoyed what little of it I saw. (I generally don't attend many nightly shows on cruise ships.) Between the enrichment lectures, almost-nightly shows (mostly music, but sometimes a magician/comedian), classical guitarist, Classical Trio musicians, Oaseas band, occasional movies on the pool deck (like the movie about Edward Snowden), special events like Dancing under the Midnight Sun or a staff cooking competition, etc., there was enough entertainment to satisfy most people, although perhaps not the under 50 crowd! There were also some BBC or TED talk programs you could watch. I think those were shown in the Cinema, but I don't remember for sure. It was all a little bit TOO enriching for me, but of course, nobody forced me to attend, so it was OK!

I didn't watch much TV, so can't really comment on that. I turned on my tablet/computer if I wanted some entertainment, as the Wifi was free and usually pretty good. My only wish was that there were a few music channels on the room TV, although I suppose I might have been able to stream something.

As for the lectures, the few I saw (on various aspects of places we were going) were quite good. There were too many historical ones for my taste, but everyone's different, so perhaps I'm just not the typical cruiser. The port lectures were extremely good - probably the best I've seen on a cruise line. Of course, all the lectures can be watched on your TV in your room a couple hours post-lecture.

I heard that the problem on Star was a gasket - a very big gasket -- but who knows? It only slowed us down a little bit for a few days, so I didn't give it much thought after that.

Agree that music on TV would have been nice. Resident lectures in person or later on TV were excellent.

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