Clay Clayton

Glad to hear Neptune didn’t have the technical glitches we did-turns out it wasn’t a live stream but a video. But Sky’s wifi bandwidth couldn’t handle everyone watching the same channel on their stateroom televisions. The video was fine in the theatre and pool screen I’m told. I have to disagree with Jim-Viking isn’t prepared (much to my chagrin). I’ve been their cheerleader onboard telling everyone one who was complaining about not know what we were doing, that once Viking announced I knew they would tell us everything. Wrong. Not sure what they have been doing since January but now we’ve been told it will be another four or five days before we learn about the excursions? And while I hope Jim is right about them mentioning safari for all passengers but I will be very surprise if that is more than a day trip to a game preserve-not really a safari in my mind. I am hopeful that there will be a real two or three night safari offered and have space for us since it appears we will have about $3000 of credits to use up after all is refunded. I will be over my initial disappointment in missing India (unless Chase Sapphire doesn’t come through with a refund) in a day I suspect but I really hate that my previous confidence and pride in Viking has been so damaged. Maybe they will surprise me and step it up when we get to Africa 🤞

Mike and my thinking is similar to yours. My biggest disappointment is the way the information was rolled out. First the technical glitches and then having to wait another “four or five days” to find out about the possible excursions or other options. I sincerely expected that given how long it took for Viking to give us any information that it would be complete when we heard it. <climbs down off his soapbox>

Hopefully Neptune is getting to hear everything-we are getting every twentth word so really no idea of what we are doing.

So apparently it’s. Live stream and it’s breaking up a lot. All we know so far is diverting in Phuket. Look forward to getting it in writing momentarily soon

Like always, #NeptuneGetsEverything, Sky wasn’t told about the 10am video at 9:15am 😂 stay tuned-

LCR tomorrow (Saturday) at 3:30 pool bar-unless it’s too hot then we will be at Explorers’ Lounge. As a reminder, we play each first sea day after a port, come join us-it’s a great stop on your way to the Ladies’ A-Z sessions!🍸🍹🍺🍷

These of the kids didn’t upload the first time

Thursday Island (on Friday)

An all around wet day in Thursday Island but most enjoyable. This morning it was hot and humid and therefore my clothes were quickly wet as I “glistened” as my southern mother would have said (“ladies don’t sweat, they glisten”-I was glistening like a pig!😂 Then after the included program we had a typical tropical downpour-for 20 minutes or so. The port talk prepared us to have very low expectations of Thursday Island but they didn’t prepare us for how warm and friendly the people here are. It started for us this morning at breakfast when we chatted with the Pilot Captain who is from here. His big recommendation was to go to Mona’s Boutique which has been there since he was a child. We went and bought a shirt for Mike. They also had some pretty fabrics at good prices. Throughout the day, I chatted with people welcoming us and interested in our thoughts on their home. The performance was enjoyable. Not terribly dissimilar to the one we saw at the Kiwi groves in New Zealand except this was performed by a group of high school students. My videos can be seen on Instagram. We had a great time chatting with them afterwards-they were interested in learning where we were from. The most interesting thing was one young lady who said she wanted to have a grilled steak-said she had never had one and sees them on tv and they look so good. We discussed NC whole hog bbq and discovered they have something similar here. While most folks waited out the rain, we decided to just get wet-it felt so nice to not be hot, and head back to the tender pier. Due to the rain, we had a wait and by the time they had restarted, there was a long long line so glad we did. It’s now after 3 and it appears we may be getting underway about an hour late. Next stop, Dragonville! Will try to upload photos separately

There is Perrier onboard but only in large bottles. It is difficult to find. My husband sweet talked a waiter and got some when we were in the Restaurant. I haven’t seen anything but Schweppes onboard Sky. Which is fine by me as it won a blind taste test we did at our house so it became our house tonic.

Reef Photos -putting on the “stinger suits” was the hardest part of the day.

What a great day in Cairns! We took the optional excursion to the Great Barrier Reef that didn’t go to the platform. Folks on the one that went there also say they had a great day. The boat wasn’t full even with about 150 or more aboard. Other than the initial entry into the water it wasn’t overly crowded. The crew were friendly and very helpful. So while expensive at $399/pp we belive it was a good use of our shore excursion credits. After having snorkeled here, we suspect we may never snorkel again-everything you hear about the Great Barrier Reef is true! I will try to post a few photos in a separate post so that if they don’t go, at least the text does.

Not sure if he boarded in Fort Lauderdale or in LA with us? He is from the Philippines and has a very high voice-tenor? When we first heard him, without seeing him, I thought it was a woman singing.

Finally, something that Sky is exceeding at! Our guitarist Mark is incredible. He even played one evening at dinner on the Aquavit and it was absolutely magical. There was a special (seafood grill maybe?) going on and the chefs were enjoying him being there. Once their service slowed down, they joined him using their tongs and spatulas as percussion instruments. By the last few songs, the 40 or so of us and the chefs and managers were all singing along with Mark. It is one of the best evenings I have spent on Viking.

Flyer, ya know I love ya, but here is my arrow-I don’t think Viking positions themselves in the same market as Seabourn, Silverseas, or Regent-they certainly aren’t priced that way. I see Oceana as their major competitor not those uberlux lines.

After our pirate encounter and the utter failure to stave it off this morning, methinks I don’t trust whatever security measures are supposedly in place😂

I’m thinking maybe no one bothered to look at the tide tables before setting Sky’s itinerary (“make it the same as Neptune, but 3 days earlier and let them dock in Melbourne, Circular Quay, and Brisbane”) and only just discovered that three days earlier in HCM City is a low low tide so if we don’t go and come at the highest tide, we won’t be able to? Calling @Heidi13 for his thoughts….

Oops, just noticed the chocolates were addressed to Mike’s mother (before she remarried😂). Guess we shouldn’t have eaten them but instead packed them up and delivered them to her in May🤔

Heads up from Sky, our arrival and departure times from Ho Chi Minh City have changed-arriving on the 5th at 14:00 (rather than the 6th at 8:00), departing on the 8th at 13:00 (rather than at 18:00). It’s unclear why though some have speculated it could be tide related. Playing havoc with some excursions on the 8th and with independent plans. #itsanadventure

Sky is anchored in the stunningly beautiful Whitsunday Islands today. These are the tops of former mountains that became islands when the oceans rose. Our included excursion was a 2 hour cruise around the largest island and along Whitehaven Beach whose sand is 98% silica. Reportedly it doesn’t get hot and is silky smooth in addition to being pure white. We also passed by a number of resorts all but one of which are empty due to damage by a cyclone five years ago. This area is a birthing area for humpback whales from July to mid-September. Hope we can come back to see that-one of the crew members on the catamaran said while you can see more on a whale watching cruise, he has seen them 20-30 feet from the shore! There was a bit of a mixup this morning and they accidentally loaded most of the first cruise group on the wrong catamaran -luckily we were still in line to board when the issue was recognized. After a 10-15 delay, everyone was offloaded, the correct boat brought up to the ship and we started our cruise. But as usual Viking went out of their way by having some goodies waiting in our room 2 hours later when we returned as an apology😃.

I’m not the one beating the horse. I never lay on the chaises (too low) so the view isn’t an issue for me and as long as there is air movement, I’m fine with either. However, the roof is wide open today but it’s hotternhell out there right now. Partially due to the blazing sun and outdoor temperature, but showboating it (10kts/hr) due to missing Mooloolaba day before yesterday isn't helpful either for creating a breeze. #goarguewithsomeoneelse! 😂

Interesting change…wonder what brought it about🤔. We get to Ho Chi Minh a day early but too late to really do much and are leaving four or five hours early. No mention in this letter about excursions that are scheduled to get back to the ship three hours after the ship will now be leaving. At least we had quite the spread of donuts this morning!

Thanks for your information. Glad to hear that the food is similar to Oceana. Sorry to hear of your difficulties in obtaining seating in The Restaurant. In our nine VO cruises we have never experienced any delay at breakfast or lunch and only a short wait (mostly for someone to walk us to the table) at dinner. Maybe it would help to arrive 30 minutes after opening?

You’re right. Sorry I forgot about it. Also available at the bars is a glass jarred Peach Tea. Mike likes it as it’s not too sweet but still typically makes his own hot tea in the morning and by lunch it’s cool enough to pour over ice.

That’s in all cabins, and we hate it-always turn it off in the newer ships or have the cabin steward do it on the older ones that don’t have individual controls on the wall.