Clay Clayton

Just now, Astromaid said:

Clay, I have seen you playing a game of LRC and needing 3 one dollar bills. There is a whole discussion on Carnival about some one reporting this game being played on a Carnival ship and the participants have fists full of dollars. Illegal on Carnival and security shut them down. Must be that Viking is OK with the game. 

No issues so far on Viking and in fact Max, our shore excursion manager mentioned in his port talk yesterday about Dakar (where we will be tomorrow) that guests should have dollar bills if they wish to pay for souvenirs and suggested stopping by the pool bar at 3:30 today if anyone need to change larger bills. 😂

Also have never had any issues on NCL where on one TA our pot was typically over $100!

Long time no post….Are y’all still back there?

Just now, WAVTAM said:

World cruise.... Sky.... Jan 5 LA to London. Reserved this last year only to cancel and booked the Orion for 91 days which we are on presently. Last years World promos came out in Aug. If anyone sees sooner let me know.

Actually the first promos on the World Cruise came out in March or April 2023.  I know because I missed it and didn’t see until August. Someone on our (Sky) rollcall told me that I was late. 😂

Only 10 for LCR today but Linda was still happy to head back to her stateroom with an extra $27!

Could be you tomorrow.  3:30 pool bar, bring 3 one dollar bills-no experience necessary😂

I’ve confirmed with my sources that while Viking Corporate approved our deviation to Null Island, it had one caveat. Sky was required to send a tender ahead last night with a cloaking cape to cover the buoy so we couldn’t see it.  
 

The cloak is rigged to self destruct at midnight so that the buoy will be visible in three (or is it two?) days. If you go to the stern then you may be able to see the cape when it starts burning (🎼insert mission impossible self destruct music here🎶) 

#NeptuneGetsEverything😂

Thanks @PeterPan48 for making me aware of this plot. 

Janet went home with an extra $54 today after LCR!  Join us tomorrow at 3:30 at the pool bar and you could be the lucky one🤞

No experience necessary-just 3 one dollar bills (Janet will have plenty of change if you need to break a larger note😂)

1 hour ago, BobCatter said:

Yes - but you made the ports. You also got Kauai and I think you got to cruise Milford Sound. You also had a stop in Reunion and made your ports in SA (even though CT was delayed). There’s no use comparing. We are each happy and disappointed in our own ways. 🤷‍♀️ #skygetseverything 😉

No Milford Sound for us-we had to hightail it to Sydney missing that as well as Hobart due to the port strike so I agree with ya-both ships have had disappointments and exciting times…I believe all of us should feel very lucky to have had this wonderful adventure!

We had 24 folks play LCR today and Kim left with an extra $69 dollars in her pocket!

Come join us tomorrow (3rd Sea Day) at the Pool Bar at 3:30.  No experience necessary just a willingness to laugh and 3 one dollar bills (Kim will be there to make change if needed😁)

Was anyone else surprised to learn that they had more river passengers in 2023 than ocean guests?   I know they have a lot more river boats but I had no idea. 
https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/04/viking-700-plus-per-passenger-day/

5 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Just kidding Clay.  Just couldn't resist the hashtag opportunity....🍸

Well the thought did run through my head that Neptune is feeling the way Sky did when we were docked in the hinterlands rather than in Melbourne and at the other pier rather than Circular Quay😂

6 hours ago, DJVKN said:

Totally unrelated but I told you I’d get our numbers for you. As of tomorrow we will have 558 on board per Mara, head of guest services. (4 are disembarking tomorrow).

WOW-almost the same count

Fun afternoon at LCR this today. Steve made $51!  
 

Join us tomorrow (2nd Sea Day) at 3:30 at the Pool Bar. All you need are 3 one dollar bills and a fun attitude. 

I thought y’all were scheduled to overnight in Walvis Bay?  Did that get canned due to the late Cape Town departure also?

FWIW-immigration was a breeze for us-we went to Star Theatre 5 min before our scheduled excursion time (9:15am for us), got our group number in the hallway as usual, scanned our key card, walked up on stage, Viking put a sticker on our card, one of the four?five immigration officers looked at our passport, stamped it twice and filled in info by hand, we walked down the other side of the stairs, gave our passport to Viking folks, and headed to our excursion. 

I hope it will be as smooth for y’all as it was for us. Hate hearing yall aren’t getting to see as much as us. 

So Neptune have you left yet? If you haven’t already booked an excursion, folks enjoyed the included but we really loved the Dunes to the Ocean.  Video on the Sky thread.  
 

oh and how many are onboard now? We are reportedly 555

Great day in Walvis Bay! While we didn’t get the grill surprise that those on the included tour got, we did get a surprise when offered the chance to sand surf!  Mike says he felt like a 10 year old again!

Highly recommend the From Dunes to Ocean optional excursion! We saw lots of springbok, an ostrich, flamingos, pelicans, oryx, and a clear gecko. And the ride up and over the dunes was better and any roller coaster!

 Come join us tomorrow, April 12 (first sea day after Walvis Bay) for LCR at 3:30 pm at the Pool Bar.  Not experience necessary-all it takes is 3 one dollar bills!

Just now, deec said:

Reduced passengers on a ship it great ( our covid experiences)  so nice to eat at Manfredi's or Chef table any time we wanted and to always have a window seat in the main dining room!

 

Clay, did Viking put drawers in the closets of V/DV rooms for the WC? 

As I recall they were installed awhile back. 

According to the Restaurant Manager, there are currently 557 guests and 20 contract (lecturers? guest entertainers? repair workers) folks on board. I know there are at least two people leaving tomorrow in Walvis Bay so I guess our numbers will be reduced further as we head towards London. 

Just now, ural guy said:

Hi-  Enjoying reading this report.  Just wondering, how many passport pages does a cruise like this use up?

The information we received prior to the cruise required their be 6 or 7 blank pages.  To date, I think we have only had stamps in three or four countries

Just now, fefe1961 said:

 

Hello, you are great, thanks a lot. Next August 17, 2024 we will have our first Viking  on Neptune around British Isles. We are not sure if worth it to buy  Silver Spirit package. We use to drink at the pool margarita or Aperol  or vermouth and before dinner maybe a Prosecco or some cocktail.

We think we are on the line between to think is a good idea to get it or not.

Please help us to decide. 

Have a nice time and thanks a lot in advance.

Federico from Spain (sorry for my english that is not good enough)

No need to apologize, your English is much better than my spanish!  Welcome to Viking-hope you will enjoy your first cruise. 

If between you both you will have at least 6 drinks a day you will break even. We typically don’t buy the package on port intensive cruises as we find the wine or beer at meals is typically sufficient. Our travel agent provides onboard credit which typically will cover our gratuities with enough left over for our small bar tab.  On cruises that have few ports, we find we drink more and therefore either buy the package or at the first duty free port we will buy a bottle of liquor and make our own. 
 

If you haven’t discovered it yet, you might want to check out this thread which provides lots of advice and tips to make the most of your first Viking cruise:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2416372-tips-for-new-viking-ocean-cruisers/page/62/#comment-62141739

Our Trivia Team had our first perfect match today and won the tiebreaker for our third win!

Once we left Cape Town the sun came out but the temperature dropped-we could see our breath-quite a welcome change at least for us from the heat of Asia!  While sitting on the balcony this afternoon, a friend texted that there were whales off the starboard side-too far to really see well. About them I heard a splash and realized I could see whales blowing off the port. They were too far from the ship to see them but their blows and the occasional breech were visible. We also had a beautiful sunset on our side since we are heading north again😁

Our assistant cruise director, Rosanna had her solo show tonight-she is quite the musical theatre performer!  She is newly married to the sommelier onboard so it was fun to watch his reaction to her show too!

Sea day tomorrow 

We had a wonderful time in Cape Town. The included tour to Stellenbach was enjoyable although unbeknownst to anyone the museum there was closed-likely due to the many downed trees. But the town is artsy and enjoyable and the winery beautiful.  Our tour finished near the ship at a beach club (think twenty year olds in Miami Beach) and some sparkling wine and really great musicians.  Afterwards, Mike and I took an Uber to a Cape Malay restaurant for a delicious traditional supper.
 

Affer we got back onboard we went to hear the University of Cape Town Choir.  Really great performance!
 

Our plan for today was to go to Table Mountain if the clouds lifted or to the V&A Waterfront if that wasn’t the case.  Unfortunately, we had a more when we got to the room that the port authority was not going to allow anyone to go out in order to address the many ships waiting to enter due to the delays of the last few days. So after our 20 minutes ashore at 8:30 to “exit” immigration we have been back onboard enjoying the sunshine and wonderful weather. We presumed that as soon as all had cleared immigration we would be leaving, but that isn’t the case, didn’t leave until 1pm….seems like we could have had time to explore a bit this morning afterall. #nexttime

Neptune-enjoy the beautiful weather hereafter missing Richard’s Bay y’all deserve it!

as Cory said, 4 hours late but currently on our included tour to Stellenbosch.  Unfortunately the tablecloth is fully covering the mountain. #clearskystomorrow🤞

Almost to Capetown aboard @vikingcruises Sky.  It’s 8am which was our original posted docking time but we are currently on a one hour delay due to winds.  Hoping the pilot boards at 8:30 so that delay doesn’t get longer🤞

6 hours ago, Pappri said:

Denise, were you able to use your credits and everything is good?  If not, I can tell you what our resolution with LA was and who to speak to. 

How about sharing with all of us!