Clay Clayton

Just now, BobCatter said:

Very disappointing for the overlanders. Itinerary has us in Port Elizabeth tomorrow. 🤞

 

I believe Sky had a second stop after India in Reunion, which the Neptune did not. We'll get back the third day with two stops in Namibia.

Two stops??? #NeptuneGetsEverything. We only get Walvis Bay-where else are y’all going?

did yall miss Reunion due to weather or was that the plan all along? If so, that’s too bad-it was beautiful. 

On 4/6/2024 at 6:59 AM, mwike said:

My thoughts exactly   We visited China before as independent travelers so know enough to be dangerous.  I told my wife that Viking will have problems with the land portion of these trips due to the volume of people combined with inherent difficulties involved with traveling in China.  Heck, feeding 900 people in China won't be the easiest to arrange and certainly won't be easy to do in a manner that satisfies most.  

 

 

 

Can’t speak to doing it in a regular 3 meal a day basis but on our Ocean’s cruise in the before times from Bejing (Tian) to Hong Kong Viking did a great job of feeding four or five busloads of folks on our excursions. China had an abundance of event halls which is what we experienced, so I could imagine them contracting with several to handle all 900 guests?

9 hours ago, BobCatter said:

We've now missed docking in Durban. This was an attempt to get the folks off the ship for the various overland excursions. The pilot made it onboard, and the captain made a few passes at the harbor entrance, but the wind and weather gods just weren't with us today. 

That is awful.  So what’s the revised itinerary?  Are we both gonna end up in Capetown at the same time?  
 

speaking of which, when/how did Neptune go from being three days after Sky to only two?

So sad that they’ve missed both ports. Hopefully they will be able to make it up in Port Elizabeth with an overnight? Or two?   Though our guide said it looked like they were gonna have four days of rain😢

Nice fixed course meal on the pool deck this evening.  Made for a nice end to this great day!

Great day onnour Sibuya excursion. The 1.5 hour trip there was well worth it!  Lunch was good too. Lots more pics (and videos) on Instagram

Thought y'all might like to hear Patricia!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5a6BjrqFCLCd8sPDBM82iPuU0HsS2HYbhjsBo0/?igsh=MXZlODg4ZjF4ZGg1Zw==

Let’s hope the wind dies down before we get to Port Elizabeth tomorrow and Capetown on Monday!

https://www.ttgmedia.com/cruise/ambassador-ship-collides-with-cargo-vessel-during-world-cruise-45674

Noon update from Sky as we make our way to Port Elizabeth, South Africa.  According to the Captain, winds are now up to 40 knots, with 50-55 knots gusts (gale force), waves are 15-16 feet and it’s rainy. The good news (again according to the Captain) is that it is going to get better overnight. The bad news is that it is going to get worse before it does😳. #washingmachine

We’ve gotten to the promised rough seas!

Just now, UWDawg said:

We didn't manage to see any giraffes during the included Huhluwe-iMfolozi Park excursion.  Probably because all of the elephants were blocking the view.  

 

The included Huhluwe-iMfolozi Park excursion FAR EXCEEDED expectations.  I highly recommend it.

 

WOW!

Uh-oh. Never seen this announcement before😳

My new favorite dessert-exotic wave!  Perfect combination of tart & creamy passion fruit curd, sweet, crunchy & sweet meringue, smooth whipped cream and fresh fruit. Yummy!!!

Just now, Fellini said:

yes , on local old buses, not really that bad, i wouldnt pay the 4x4 unless you are a big person.save your money. 

Big (6’-6” and 320 lbs) and it’s “funny money” onboard credit that we have to use!

Our optional excursion today from was a game drive to Bonamanzi Game Preserve. This park doesn’t have lions so our eyes were peeled for the other four of the “Big Five”-elephant, rhinos, buffalo, and leopard.  Given it was a daytime drive we knew the chance of seeing a leopard were pretty slim. Unfortunately our vehicle was driven by a very knowledgeable guide who wasn’t familiar with the park and his vehicle had issues. I was really hoping to see giraffe and we also knew there were nyala, impala, warthogs, wildebeast and zebra in the preserve. Nobody saw elephants or rhinos but everybody including us saw all of the those. But our group didn’t see any giraffes or buffalo unlike everybody else.  Lunch was tasty but was Very disappointed🤬 when everyone else was sharing their giraffe and buffalo photos. All due to a bad driver.  
 

But on the way back to the ship in the big tour bus, we saw giraffe! #daysaved  Africa exceeds anything you’ve ever heard.

Just now, Fellini said:

Regarding Mindelo, São Vicente, been there 3 time, i suggest do the included tour that it will take you to marvellous view of the island, there s also a 4x4 tour that basically do the same tour as the included, the bus used are school bus. also if you like a nice beach just walk from the ship , just beside the pier is there a nice beach.. a souvenir and typical clothes are located on a square  walking distance too. normally Viking provides a shuttle to city center. people are nice and you feel safe.hope you enjoy.

Thanks!  I hope I’m wrong and we don’t end up there but if we do. Your recommendations are most appreciated.  
 

Am I understanding correctly, the included tour is on school buses?  Given we have a heap (and will have more if we don’t get to Dakar) would you think the 4x4 might be a good use of our “funny money?”

Since I remain dubious that we will actually go to Senegal (Viking hasn’t actually called there in several years) so I asked someone onboard the South Atlantic crossing to share the excursions for Cape Verde. Sharing incase anyone else wants to do some research ahead of time. 

Unfortunately we weren’t out back when it happened but Robin and Sam were and captured the most amazing pilot delivery I’ve ever encountered!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5U6gbGophv/?igsh=aDI1cDNpOHQ2bnpw

I think I will be outback for sailaway!

2 hours ago, cruising denise said:

Just wanted to bid farewell to my Viking Sky traveling partners, some of whom I have been in communication with since fall of 2022 (when we booked this adventure!).  @Penspack  Debbie:  you know who I'm talking about!!!

 

Eddie and I are disembarking in Cape Town on April 8th, where we will spend five days exploring, then heading home on April 13th.  

 

Although we have made this decision and feel confident it is the right one for us given our own situation, those of you who stay on will have a wonderful adventure ahead of you and I will be following these posts to see what happens!  

 

It is bittersweet, this saying goodbye after embarking on Dec 20th, which right now seems eons ago!  To those of you who we first met in person in Ft Lauderdale prior to embarking - we have a special connection, and to those of you who embarked in LA, it has been an amazing journey.  Despite the missed ports and changed itinerary, in the end, it has been incredible, and we have been places, met people (passengers, crew and residents of the many ports we've visited) and seen things we never in our lives would have seen otherwise.  We are truly blessed to have undertaken this journey, and don't regret it for a second.  

 

Thank you to all who have shared this with us, who have helped make our adventure more fun and enriching, and Godspeed for fair winds and great adventures ahead of you.  You will always be in our memories.  

Have a great time!  Thanks for all you did to make this a great journey. 

Just now, molymoo said:

We are still 78 days out from our Iconic Iceland, Greenland and Canada cruise in June.  We have booked our excursions but recent health issues have me wondering whether we might need to make some changes before we sail.  We have booked two in particular that I question moving forward and wonder if those who have done these can give me some more details than offered in the descriptions.  One is in Akureyri … the Whale Watching Safari.  It is listed as “demanding” but wonder what might make it so.  The other is the Fjallsárlón Ice Lagoon by Zodiac in Djúpivogur.  The question here is riding on the Zodiac … have been having some arthritis issues in both shoulders and wonder if the zodiac might be difficult to manage.  Am working diligently with doctors to address the issues and better manage the situation but want to be ready to make changes if necessary.

 

We did the whale watching and the most demanding thing was the temperature once the boat got going.  Take your coats, hats, gloves even if it doesn’t feel like you’ll need them.  There is a small part of the boat that is inside but best views are out front. Keep your expectations on seeing whales relatively low.  We saw Minke Whales and a pod of dolphins so it was a great morning.  The included tour there was also enjoyable-the botanical garden is beautiful (or was when we were there) 
 

We did the ice lagoon on our land visit. I was worried about the zodiac entry and exit also due to my balance and knee issues. That turned out not to be a big concern-the issue I had was the climb up and over the berm that surrounded the lagoon. You can see the berm behind Mike in his fashionable survival suit.  It was a rocky gravel path that was pretty steep. I hadn’t planned on taking my hiking stick but was glad I had it. The lagoon ride was great fun putting on the survival suit, not so much!

1 hour ago, LindaS272 said:

Just had to click on this story today on CNN since it involved a cruise ship off Africa. So it could be worse than not making it through the Suez Canal!

 

https://www.cnn.com/travel/norwegian-cruise-passengers-stranded-africa/index.html

 

 

31 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

Boy oh boy, Linda, so scary.  Glad we are doing British Isles Explorer and Rhine the rest of this year.  

Seems to me this is either the tour operators fault or the guests for not giving them the correct all aboard time (with a margin for error). I’m a big proponent of independent excursions and have never in all our cruising had an issue-but we always tell the operator we want to be back to the pier at least an hour before the all aboard time and sometimes longer. 
 

I hope someone on CC will post the name of the operator so that nobody else books with them.  I’ve found that conscientious tour guides always have a plan B. On one tour on South America I had arranged for a small group, the guide got a phone call when we were on the way back to the ship.  Another guide working for a different company was calling as their van had blown a tire.  Our guide asked if we would be willing to pick up those passengers, rather than them cutting it very close while they changed the tire.  We of course welcomed our fellow guests-and as I recall, our new friends insisted on paying the tips to the guide for all of us. 

Just now, Peregrina651 said:

Oh my goodness! Does that look delicious!!  Thank you!

I just hope some of the new menus we have gotten to have will make it into regular rotation🤞

Just finished the New Chef’s Table South African menu designed by Chef Beni who has been with Sky for several months and is a warm and wonderful guy (and whom I helped push to add salt to the grits😂)
 

OMG, dinner was so good! Pictures and notes are posted over on the 21 menus thread. 
 

Go make reservations now-Beni is boarding in Cape Town to share with y’all. I’d make reservations for one of the sea days a few days after he boards even if the menu says something else-we heard about the new one from him a couple of weeks ago, but the menu didnt show up on the app or calendar at the podium until a couple of days ago. 
 

We hope Beni will be rejoining us after he visits y’all but he says that hasn’t been decided yet. 🤞

#SkyGetsEverythingFirst

Just finished dinner-OMG, so good! Pictures and notes are posted over on the 21 menus thread. 
 

Neptune-go make reservations now-Beni is boarding in Cape Town to share with y’all. I’d make reservations for one of the sea days a few days after he boards. 
 

We hope he will be rejoining us but he says that hasn’t been decided yet. 🤞

#SkyGetsEverythingFirst

Enjoyed an incredible meal designed by Chef Beni tonight aboard Sky at the Chef’s Table featuring his interpretation of South African cuisine. The amuse had really incredible flavors. The yellowfin course was fine but our least favorite-would have preferred it as a smaller amuse and given us a larger fish cake and more chalaka sauce! #yummy.
 

The main course was the best beef dish we’ve had in a long time-the corn cake was a perfect foil to the oh-so-tender meat. Dessert which Beni told us afterwards was a dish offered at all restaurants in South Africa, was a delicious cake with hints of ginger and molasses. We hope we can get in again before we get to Cape Town when Beni leaves us to share this menu aboard our sister World Cruise ship, Neptune. 

(I’ll update the listing of all Chef’s Table Menus when I have better wifi)

Great cooking demonstration this morning by Chef Beni of Fish Cake with Apple Chutney and Chakalaka Sauce (peppers, tomato, onion, curry and baked beans!😳)-one of the dishes on his new South African Chef’s Table menu. Can’t wait to try it tonight!