LissaKay

There was a bit of drama last night, as might be surmised from this morning's announcements. I don't have any specific details beyond what I witnessed, which may or may not be relevant or even related. At the end of the Farewell Reception, there was a pax who had some issue that required medical response team and a stretcher. Then, around 11 pm, we were chatting with Damian in Torshavn when he was summoned by the Captain. Not something that is usual at that time of night. He hurried away, clearly concerned. About 11:30, there was an urgent announcement requesting those with O+ or O- blood type to volunteer a donation for a patient in need. That's all I know, and the events may or may not be related. I was extremely proud to see the incredible turn out of people that showed up to help. It was truly amazing. Most of the volunteers had to be turned away because they had been imbibing that evening, but still plenty who had not, including the crew that have been on board renovating staterooms. We're now awaiting our excursion to start - we're on the Best of Barcelona and Our Lady of Montserrat. As I've mentioned, we're staying on for the Med Odyssey, so will also have two more days in Barcelona. I'm going to miss all the new friends we've made, but excited to experience the next adventures and more new friends!

Hellooo Sky Princess! Fancy meeting you out here! And land ho, mateys! We've reached the Straights! Yes, we're up really late. We're night owls.

The weather was looking very iffy this morning, but aside from a brief shower and some wind while waiting in line for the tobaggan, it was a nice day. Tonight, though, it's getting pretty spicy. I love it! We're having our anniversary dinner at the Chef's Table, watching the wild sea outside the windows. Here is our photo from the tobaggan ride! Weee!

They do in Torshavn!

Here are the three ships in port today. The Star is absolutely dwarfed by the Wonder OTS. We went on the Half Day Land and Sea excursion. The land part was ... meh. It was also cut short because of the delay in disembarking. The boat trip with snorkeling and a visit to a beach was marvelous. Not the best snorkeling - I'm spoiled by Hawaiian beaches, but great company and fun guides. I'm now fighting to stay awake with a Gascon Coffee while the ship rocks me to sleep in the Explorer Lounge. The blanket isn't helping matters ....zZzZzZzZz

Very cool ... we got to see the harbor pilot jump off the ship back to the escort boat. I'll try to upload the video here before I lose cell signal. 20240318_223442.mp4

Underway finally!

I just came here to see if there's any word on this further delay ... but everyone seems to be quite happy in the Explorers Lounge for now.

It is. We have two days before we get to Sint Maarten on the 21st.

They just announced that the sail away is being delayed some to wait on the delayed passengers. It's 6 right now, and we're still here. Breathe!

The last time I looked, there was one cabin available.

We arrived at FLL yesterday morning with minimal fuss. Airports always stress me out and getting up at 2am after only a couple hours of sleep following a frenetic day of packing and getting the house ready ... Whew! Then a long Uber drive from the airport to the Westin and we were exhausted! Our room wasn't ready so we went and had brunch in the restaurant there ... St Patrick's day plus mariachi band made for a fun but less than relaxing meal. We were able to arrange for Viking to pick up our bags and transport us to the ship - one less thing to stress over! The lovely Christine who set things up for us has set the bar for Viking staff. If the rest are even half as gracious and helpful as she has been, we will be spoiled rotten! We're currently relaxing in our room until check out time. We can hardly wait to get going!

Never mind ... I found it. I swear I searched all the FAQs and forums for this ... is there a specific phone number that family can call in the case of emergency back home that would go directly to someone on the ship? We are instructing our kids to use Facebook Messenger to stay in touch, but we'd like to leave them some way to contact us in case we don't have Wifi internet or are out of range.

We are booked on the "Gaudi Architecture and La Sagrada Familia" tour with Viking. Does this enter the LSG? If not, is there an option to get tickets and go on our own, leaving the booked tour at this point?

There is an episode on the TV series "Mighty Cruise Ships" with the Viking Star, I believe season 2, and it goes into some detail about porting in Falmouth, with the timing of tides both getting in and out of port. It was pretty interesting!

We shall raise a glass together! I'm a bourbon girl, and Woodford Reserve is my go-to brand!

We're booked on the March 18 Transatlantic cruise, followed by the April 1 Mediterranean Odyssey. We will have three days in Barcelona, the second of which is when the pax not continuing on disembark, and the Mediterranean Odyssey folks embark. Do those of us staying on have to disembark as well, and go through customs and security? Or do we just treat it like any other port day? There are no excursions scheduled that day, so we'll probably do something on our own.

Someone I follow on Twitter post this: "I really liked the Viking Cruise I went on. Could have done without all the pillaging and plundering and so forth, but still, a fun time."

We were disembarking a Viking cruise in Chioggia and going to the JW Marriott (at this time, tentatively) for three nights afterward. What are our options to get from the port to St Mark's Square, where we will meet the water taxi from the JWM? This is NOT booked through the cruise line, so we are on our own.

I get the same result when I check using ATL, CTL, and even MIA, JAX and MCO (Orlando) as the departing airport. The answer I am arriving at is that it's a glitch in the system. If it were only the flight to Ft Lauderdale, I would definitely book it myself. However, we will be returning from the cruise from Venice, and Viking prices are about two-thirds the prices I see on Google flights, plus they handle all the ground transfers, luggage handling, and etc.

We are already booked, with Viking Air. I went back in to get the screen shots for this post. And I did chat with Viking, and they said we would depart sometime on March 17 and arrive at sometime on March 18. We are an hour flight from several hub airports, then two to three hours from the hubs to FLL.

As I said, our airport is in the southeast. It is a regional airport, not a hub, but it is served by all three major airlines as well as a couple of budget fliers. Even if I put in the departing airport as Atlanta or Charlotte - which would be nonstop flights for Delta and American, respectively - I still get the departure date of March 17 for a cruise that embarks on March 18. Even with Orlando selected, it gives the same dates. With Google Flights, the only way to depart on the 17th and arrive on the 18th is to either get there shortly after midnight, or with an overnight layover in the connecting airport.

Thank you for the information. That's very helpful.

Our home airport is in the southeast, in the Eastern time zone. It's an hour to Atlanta or Charlotte, then about two hours to Ft. Lauderdale. The only flight schedule that would have us leaving the day before, and arriving the next day would entail a 12 or 13 hour layover.

We are booked on a cruise that will depart from Ft Lauderdale. We added Viking Air on our booking, and it said that we will depart from our home airport the day before the cruise embarks. I chatted with Viking to ask if there were any arrangements for a hotel for the night, or are we on our own. They said no, the flight should depart the day before, and then arrive the day of embarkation. Does this sound reasonable at all? The flight from our home airport is no more than 4 or 5 hours at the most, with a reasonable layover in either Atlanta or Charlotte. Even if we departed the last flight the day before and the second leg was the earliest one the next day, we'd have a layover of at least 13 hours. What has been the experience of others flying in to Ft Lauderdale booked with Viking Air?