2018 Voyage of the Vikings

Just got caught up.

Wonderful reports.

I delight in reading all of the blogs and posts about this year's Voyage of the Vikings.

Again, it is a remarkable voyage.

Thank you one and all,

Barbara

We arrive in Rotterdam tomorrow morning, ending the first segment of our Voyage of the Vikings.

Tonight the Ocean Bar alternated between the Pianist Gyuri and the Ocean Quartet, both seem to play good music and draw a bit of a crowd. Adagio played 4 sets in the Explorers Lounge, and Barry from Boston had the night off.

The main stage had Dance - performed by the Rotterdam Singers and Dancers. As I have noted in the past, the early show was full and seemed well received. The movie in the Wajang Theater was The Greatest Showman and the late entertainment was Dance to the Hits with Tino (the assistant cruise director).

The sea day schedule was filled with things to do, and the meals were good. Service, as alwasy, was very good. Part of the sea day today was the presentation of Medals followed by the Mariner Luncheon. Quite a few medals were awarded, and it was announced that of just over 1300 passengers embarked, a little over 1200 of us are Mariners with more than 700 4 and 5 star. I think I mentioned earlier that of the 700, less than 50 are 5 star and we have 1 President's Club on board.

We are still being reminded to wash our hands frequently, and we had another notice about deep cleaning while in port tomorrow. I don't know how many crew and passengers are disembarking tomorrow but talk it is few of each.The only officer I have heard mentioned leaving is the Beverage Manager, but the bar staff is happy with the new Beverage Manager.

I'll be on a car trip tomorrow and may be a bit late getting back. But sunset is late and we will be all right.

Glad to hear that there is a lot of evening entertainment.

Enjoy your car trip tomorrow.

Hope the deep cleaning ends the virus.

Thanks for doing this.

Very informative.

Hope you enjoy your visit to Rotterdam.

Sitting in the Kaapse Brouwers (brewery) in Rotterdam enjoying a tasting board flight of craft beer. Today was a beautiful day in Rotterdam! Looking forward to another one tomorrow.

We toured the town of Gouda which is 18 meters below sea level. How the Dutch make dry land out of low land is fascinating! Tomorrow, we will go to see how the windmills work and learn more.

I have been very impressed with the ship, the ports, the entertainment and the staff of this ship. IMO, if we cross the Arctic Circle, it will make this our best cruise ever! If we don't, it will still be our best cruise ever!

Looking forward to our M&M on Tuesday, just to refresh my memory of who is who and meet up with our new passengers.

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Sitting in the Kaapse Brouwers (brewery) in Rotterdam enjoying a tasting board flight of craft beer. Today was a beautiful day in Rotterdam! Looking forward to another one tomorrow.

 

We toured the town of Gouda which is 18 meters below sea level. How the Dutch make dry land out of low land is fascinating! Tomorrow, we will go to see how the windmills work and learn more.

 

I have been very impressed with the ship, the ports, the entertainment and the staff of this ship. IMO, if we cross the Arctic Circle, it will make this our best cruise ever! If we don't, it will still be our best cruise ever!

 

Looking forward to our M&M on Tuesday, just to refresh my memory of who is who and meet up with our new passengers.

 

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We enjoyed our visit to Gouda too during last year's VOV. And carried a round of packaged for shipping aged Gouda around with us until the end of the cruise, parsing out small slices of its deliciousness at home until it was finally gone.

Would this mean we would have to go back to Holland to get more of the real thing? Nope, some friends who stayed in our house while we were gone left some "Old Dutch" (or called 1000 Day Gouda) Cheese from Trader Joe's in the refrigerator and it was as good as the next best thing and may well be the real thing. So if you liked their local wares, Trader Joe's is the place to replace them.

We spent our day today in Amsterdam. We took the train and had a wonderful day doing the HOHO bus, Van Gogh Museum and lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. Tomorrow we’ll do the Splash Tours here in Rotterdam and some shopping!

Looking forward to our second M&G and meeting those joining us on this great cruise!

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A few days ago I was put into contact with a nice lady who had rented a car and now had no one to ride with her. I said I would and we had a wonderful time around Holland.

We picked up the car at 9:00am, and drover to Kinderdijk to see the windmills. We found a nice parking place which cost 5 euros and walked out to the windmills. I happened to catch a guide talking about the area and it was very interesting.

From Kinderdijk we proceeded to Delph, and managed to find a business that hand painted their goods. It was an interesting prestentation and I enjoyed it.

From Delph we went to Amsterdam and stopped several places and walked around, in addition to the views from the car. Again, a very pretty city.

In order to make sure we took a different way back, I set the GPS to Utrech which was also a very interesting city. We then proceeded back to Rotterdam and the GPS directed us right to the ship.

Each stop we made was busy with people, bicycles, and scooters. It was a beautiful day and everyone was out to enjoy it. We had a little trouble getting around due to other traffic, and the fact that several places had festivals of some type or another going on that affected traffic.

All in all, a very good day!

For another 2-day VOV Rotterdam layover suggestion, if you have already visited the Rotterdam/Amsterdam area highlights:

We got a Dutch rail pass and took the first tram out after arrival to Rotterdam Central train station and went out to charming and historic small town of Zutphen, stopping at Gouda in the bucolic eastern part of the country. This route takes one through Zwolle where the iHAL partner Le Liberjie restaurant is located. https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/destinations/provinces/gelderland/zutphen-2.htm

We then worked our way down to Maastricht, via the infamous Arnheim "Bridge Too Far" that played its fatal role WWII Market Garden defeat for the Allies.. Over-nighted near the German-Dutch border in beautiful Maastricht and then back to Rotterdam Central train station for the tram/metro back to the ship, with a side trip to very busy Delft on the same train pass. https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/destinations/maastricht.htm

Dutch trains ran like clockwork and routes were easy to figure out online and where to change trains, usually only one track away from the arriving train. Paying for the train pass was the real barrier - bring Euros since they only take Dutch bank credit cards.

On a sea day between Rotterdam and Dublin. We have had a smooth passage since leaving Rotterdam.

To update on entertainment:

9:00 pm activities:

Aug 4th - Disco Fever with Tino

Aug 4th - Raggae Favorites with Tino

Aug 5th - '50's & '60's Hits with Tino

Aug 6th - The Best of Michael Jackson - with Tino

Aug 7th - Meet the Officers Social (Ocean Bar)

Main Stage:

Aug 4th - Dance Fusion

Aug 4th - Dance featuring Rotterdam Singers and Dancers

Aug 5th - Big Screen Movie - Black Panther

Aug 6th - Maria Lyn - singer from Wales

Aug 7th - Variations featuring Rotterdam Singers and Dancers

Movie in the Wajang Theater

Aug 4th - Wonder Wheel

Aug 4th - The Greatest Showman

Aug 5th - Kidnapping Mr. Heineken

Aug 6th - Book Club

Aug 7th - Infinity War

Now we are beginning the second leg of the Voyage of the Vikings. The first part has been very good. The crew, outstanding! I know this cruise will be on the Zuiderdam next year, a much bigger ship. I hope it retains the feel we have had this year.The entertainment has been above average.

The singer last night on the main stage, Maria Lyn was very good and again played to a full audience. She had a pleasing selection of songs, and a funny group of stories between songs. A very nice evening's entertainment. The Adagio Duo plays well together and has a nice selection as well and the Ocean Bar has a small but nice crowd listening to good music.

Catching up a bit, getting ready to leave Greenock, Scotland.

We are a bit late leaving, we were scheduled to leave at 5pm, but we were held up first by two tours getting back and now because someone has to be evacuated, no information on why.

There has been a bagpipe band playing on the pier and entertaining us prior to sailaway, along with a man inside a balloon Scottish Man in a kilt. They have been very entertaining.

Catching up on entertainment:

10:00 pm activities

Aug 8th - Dance to the Hits with Tino

Aug 9th - Dance to the Hits with Tino

Aug 10th - Dance to the Hits with Tino

Main Stage:

Aug 8th - Celtic Storm

Aug 9th - Shades of Buble

Aug 10th - Luke Burrage - International Entertainer and Juggler

Movie in the Wajang Theater

Aug 8th - The Journey

Aug 9th - The Matchmaker

Aug 10th - Zoo

In general, the early seating of the Main Stage show has been full, with people arriving 10 minutes early having trouble finding a seat, at least on the upper deck. Shades of Buble was a group of three men with good voices doing the hits of Michael Buble. They sounded pretty good.

For other entertainment, Adagio continues to play several times an evening, generally 5:00pm, 6:15pm, 7:15pm, and 9:00pm. They have an audience when I walk by, but not a large one. The same thing goes with the Ocean Bar. On any given night you may see the Ocean Quartet or Pianist Gyuri. Both have a smallish audience with people dancing to the Quartet. In the Mix, Barry from Boston continues to draw a large, enthusiastic, audience, at least for the first set. For the second set the audience is a bit smaller, but still participates.

Dining, as has been discussed here, is subjective. The food, IMO, has been as good if not a little better than most of my cruises. The staff, as always, has been great. We have had three gala nights so far with another one Sunday. For the most part people have been "dressy" but I have seen many people still wearing shorts on into the evening.

Everyone, at each of the ports, has been fantastic. It has been a pleasure to be ashore at these ports.

Tommorrow is Isle of Skye, also in Scotland. It is a tender port and we will have to what happens. As of tomorrow morning, we will have two weeks remaining in this year's Voyage of the Vikings.

Catching up a bit, getting ready to leave Greenock, Scotland.

We are a bit late leaving, we were scheduled to leave at 5pm, but we were held up first by two tours getting back and now because someone has to be evacuated, no information on why.

There has been a bagpipe band playing on the pier and entertaining us prior to sailaway, along with a man inside a balloon Scottish Man in a kilt. They have been very entertaining.

 

Catching up on entertainment:

10:00 pm activities

Aug 8th - Dance to the Hits with Tino

Aug 9th - Dance to the Hits with Tino

Aug 10th - Dance to the Hits with Tino

 

Main Stage:

Aug 8th - Celtic Storm

Aug 9th - Shades of Buble

Aug 10th - Luke Burrage - International Entertainer and Juggler

 

Movie in the Wajang Theater

Aug 8th - The Journey

Aug 9th - The Matchmaker

Aug 10th - Zoo

 

In general, the early seating of the Main Stage show has been full, with people arriving 10 minutes early having trouble finding a seat, at least on the upper deck. Shades of Buble was a group of three men with good voices doing the hits of Michael Buble. They sounded pretty good.

 

For other entertainment, Adagio continues to play several times an evening, generally 5:00pm, 6:15pm, 7:15pm, and 9:00pm. They have an audience when I walk by, but not a large one. The same thing goes with the Ocean Bar. On any given night you may see the Ocean Quartet or Pianist Gyuri. Both have a smallish audience with people dancing to the Quartet. In the Mix, Barry from Boston continues to draw a large, enthusiastic, audience, at least for the first set. For the second set the audience is a bit smaller, but still participates.

 

Dining, as has been discussed here, is subjective. The food, IMO, has been as good if not a little better than most of my cruises. The staff, as always, has been great. We have had three gala nights so far with another one Sunday. For the most part people have been "dressy" but I have seen many people still wearing shorts on into the evening.

 

Everyone, at each of the ports, has been fantastic. It has been a pleasure to be ashore at these ports.

 

Tommorrow is Isle of Skye, also in Scotland. It is a tender port and we will have to what happens. As of tomorrow morning, we will have two weeks remaining in this year's Voyage of the Vikings.

Really enjoying your reports Rich...it's hot and sticky back here in the South...with lots of rain...enjoy the cooler weather!!!

Great reports Rich.

I too found the food good on the Rotterdam last year. Subjective, but I'm glad you are finding the same.

Just got caught up on your wonderful reports of your cruise -- Voyage of the Vikings.

Rotterdam is at Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland UK today!

Portree is a tender port and we arrived at noon. Tickets were supposed to be available at 12:45, but it was reported that they were being handed out earlier.

Once you took the 11 minute tender in, it was a bit of a walk up hill to get to the town. Once you arrived in town it was easy to walk around. Cabs were few and far between and booked for hours so it was impossible to get one to see the area surrounding the city.

Views from the city were worth the tender ride in.

Tonights Entertainment:

Ocean Bar has both The Ocean Quartet and Gyuri, with the piano early followed by the Quartet.

On the Main Stage at 8 and 10 pm Maria Lyn does a second, and new show.

At 10pm we will be able to Dance to the Hits with Tino - I guess they are no longer providing his themes.

Adagio has the night off

Tonights movie in the Wajang theater is Beirut.

Barry from Boston has his normal show from 8:45 until close with a 10 minute break around 10:15 or so.

We are moving toward the end of our cruise in Boston, still 11 days away.

Catching up on the entertainment:

Aug 12 - Main Stage: A la mode featuring the Rotterdam Singers and Dancers

Aug 12 - Ocean Bar, Pianist Gyuri plays the first set at 4:00pm and last at 7:45pm, while the Ocean Quartet starts at 7:00pm with the last set starting at 10:45pm

Aug 12 - 10:00pm Dance to the Hits with Tino

Aug 12 - Movie: Battle of the Sexes

Aug 13 - Main Stage: Shades of Buble performs a new show of Michael Buble music

Aug 13 - Ocean Bar, Same schedule as last night.

Aug 13 - 10:00pm Dance to the Hits with Tino

Aug 13 - Movie: I Feel Pretty

Aug 14 - Main Stage: Movie on the Big Screen - Planet Earth II, In Concert

Aug 14 - Ocean Bar, again same schedule as Aug 12

Aug 14 - 10:00pm Dance to the Hits with Tino

Aug 14 - Movie: Fahrenheit 451

Adagio has been playing most nights in the Explorers Lounge, but they are off tonignt. Shows in general have had good audiences. Barry from Boston has continued to have the Piano area of the Mix filled for the first set and a good audience for the second.

The service on the ship continues to be very good, most of the trivia contests are well attended with a good selection of questions. The winners have usually been only 1 point ahead of second place and several days have had ties. Today we were docked next to Koningsdam and it was nice to see that ship. Koningsdam left first at around 4pm and exchanged toots on the way out. The weather was very co-operative again and we had another good day in Iceland.

We booked our VOV while on the Koningsdam in Dec 2016. It was nice to see her in port. She is much bigger than the Rotterdam!

We spent the morning walking around Isafjordur. It's 47F, windy and overcast. Rain is predicted to begin at 1:30 pm. Hope it doesn't impede our scenic cruising at 5 pm. On the way back to the ship, we stopped at the bakery for 2 coffees and 2 donuts. Total was 1650 ISK, about $16.50 USD!

Next stop is Greenland!

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aToday we are in St Anthony's Newfoundland. It is a nice village that looks mostly like a fishing village. Just up from where we tendered into is what looks like a brand new hospital, and a few more new buildings.

Catching up on the entertainment, the last I listed was Aug 14th so a bit to catch up

Late Evening Activities (9:00pm):

August 15, Music Trivia

August 16, Latin Vibes

August 17, Hits of Billy Joel and Elton John

August 18, Call My Bluff (Game)

August 19, Tribute to Aretha Franklin

Main Stage

August 15, Bud Anderson (Comic)

August 16, Voce - 4 international female soloists

August 17, Paul Pappas (Pianoist)

August 18, Midnight Hour - Rotterdam Singers and Dancers

August 19, Kenny Byrd (Ventriloquist)

August 20, Voce - reprise

Movie

August 15, Music of Silence

August 16, Molly's Game

August 17, My Generation

August 18, The Bookshop

August 19, Rampage

August 20, The Grand Seduction

As before, the early main stage productions have been full and the entertainment has been good to very good. The entertainers were rotated several times during the cruise.

Overall, service has still been very good. I have had two problems that have yet to come to a resolution and I have my doubts that they will. I will attend to them when I get home.

Bar and Lido staff have all done their jobs cheerfully and well. The food has been good and, of course, plentiful.

Plenty of lectures have been available about upcoming ports and the speakers have been well received. The tendering operations have gone well, although I did here some grumbling about how the excursions were handled - but you can't please everyone. My tender ride back was about 10 minutes, and was very smooth.

Next stop is St Johns, then Halifax and back to Boston on Saturday. This has been a wonderful Voyage of the Vikings and I am glad I got a chance to do it.

No one has reported on Greenland! Did you get ashore there?

This was blogged yesterday on Greenland:

https://www.travelblog.org/North-America/blog-1019406.html

No post from John & Sharon today. Hopefully he is well.

Barbara

No one has reported on Greenland! Did you get ashore there?

We got into both Qaqortok and Nanortalik. We did not to Paamiut.

No one has reported on Greenland! Did you get ashore there?

We missed the first Greenland port (Paamiut) because of fog. Qaqortoq was a nice day, perfect for walking IMO. We wandered through town and into the hills. The only problem was the thousands of small black flies that were relentless even with bug spray. I started wishing I’d brought along some hats with netting over the face like I saw others had. Other than that it was a beautiful day with gorgeous views.

Like the others, Nanortalik is a very small village. Again we just walked around, not quite as long though, our day there was quite cold. I think the high was in the low-mid 40’s F.

We found the people in both ports to be warm and welcoming.

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We purchased those bug head gear things in one of the Greenland tourist offices for a few dollars - glad we did .Good reminder to add that to VOV tips up front. Goofy looking, but they do work.

Thank you. We were on the first Rotterdam to Boston cruise on 30 June. We had the flies in Qaqortoq but didn’t get ashore in Nanortalik due to thick fog.

I’ve been watching this thread with interest and now have the link to the very interesting blog.

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Gail