Viking Expeditions Thread

[njhorseman]

26 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

Just read Seabourn's newest tonnage, the Seabourn Venture, has stabaliser issues, with the stabalisers operating at reduced capacity.

 

Not a safety issue, but definitely a pax comfort issue. Will be interesting to see how Seabourn, who are owned by Carnival, deal with this issue and whether pax are notified in advance.

 

Haven't checked the Seabourn Board, but might be worth checking out. 

My sister and brother-in-law are supposed to be on that cruise. They will not be happy campers.

Taking a quick look at the Seabourn board someone said that the master didn't announce they were skipping South Georgia until after the ship had left Ushuaia and the ship reportedly then returned to Ushuaia as a substantial number of passengers demanded to be allowed to disembark.

[PeabodyMa]

4 hours ago, Liz Masterson said:

From my Marine Traffic App it looks like Polaris is on her way to Greece, probably somewhere to be repaired. 
 

Hope she is ready for passengers again soon. Fair winds and calm seas to her and her crew. 

Fournier Bay, Antarctica

[Tarwood3]

15 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Just read Seabourn's newest tonnage, the Seabourn Venture, has stabaliser issues, with the stabalisers operating at reduced capacity.

 

Not a safety issue, but definitely a pax comfort issue. Will be interesting to see how Seabourn, who are owned by Carnival, deal with this issue and whether pax are notified in advance.

 

Haven't checked the Seabourn Board, but might be worth checking out. 

Long short of what I have read on Seabourn’s facebook (we just got off Venture 2 weeks ago, so follow it closely)  they were notified of Stabilizer problem at dinner , a couple hours after leaving Ushuaia. It’s a 3 week journey…. They canceled South Georgia portion because of stabilizer issue. Quite a few people flipped out because that is a major draw to that particular cruise.  Anyway, the captain turned the ship around and docked back in Ushuaia the next morning and those who wanted to leave the ship, did, and the remaining have continued on. Someone , who stayed on the ship, posted a letter which showed what compensation they were being offered. I haven’t seen what was offered to those that chose to end their journey ??  

[Liz Masterson]

15 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Affirmative, she is probably bound for Fournier Bay

Really? Amazing how repairs can be done so quickly. Bravo to the repair crew!  Question... What does GR stand for in relation to the Fournier Bay? Just curious.

[chengkp75]

3 minutes ago, Liz Masterson said:

Really? Amazing how repairs can be done so quickly. Bravo to the repair crew!  Question... What does GR stand for in relation to the Fournier Bay? Just curious.

It stands for Greece.  As Heidi13 says, the navigating officer entered the first letters of Fournier Bay, and it came up with Fourni, Greece.  Since Fournier Bay is in Antarctica, that is not a port with a UN Location Code, that fits into the AIS system.  It needs to be entered manually.

[Goosebear Mum]

1 hour ago, Tarwood3 said:

They canceled South Georgia portion because of stabilizer issue. Quite a few people flipped out because that is a major draw to that particular cruise.  

South Georgia is the best for wildlife. I went in 2008 on an icebreaker, and if I’m lucky enough to be able to go back to Antarctica again, South Georgia would be on my ‘must list’.  It really does have the wow moments.  Many Antarctic cruises do the Falklands, but few do SG, so I can understand passenger ‘disappointment’.  I’d not have got off, but would have accepted the ‘compensation’.  

[toseaornottosea]

2 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

 

@chengkp75 A slight turn in this thread.  As you may have seen Heidi13 recently posted the following: 

"Just read Seabourn's newest tonnage, the Seabourn Venture, has stabaliser issues, with the stabalisers operating at reduced capacity.

Not a safety issue, but definitely a pax comfort issue. Will be interesting to see how Seabourn, who are owned by Carnival, deal with this issue and whether pax are notified in advance.

Haven't checked the Seabourn Board, but might be worth checking out." 

 

We are due to board the Venture in mid-January for an Antartica cruise.  From your experience do you think they can rectify the stabilizers issues (operating at reduced capacity) while at sea or while docked between cruises or must they go into dry dock to do so?  Would you make 2 Drake Passage crossings with stabilizers that are not fully functional?

[chengkp75]

5 minutes ago, toseaornottosea said:

@chengkp75 A slight turn in this thread.  As you may have seen Heidi13 recently posted the following: 

"Just read Seabourn's newest tonnage, the Seabourn Venture, has stabaliser issues, with the stabalisers operating at reduced capacity.

Not a safety issue, but definitely a pax comfort issue. Will be interesting to see how Seabourn, who are owned by Carnival, deal with this issue and whether pax are notified in advance.

Haven't checked the Seabourn Board, but might be worth checking out." 

 

We are due to board the Venture in mid-January for an Antartica cruise.  From your experience do you think they can rectify the stabilizers issues (operating at reduced capacity) while at sea or while docked between cruises or must they go into dry dock to do so?  Would you make 2 Drake Passage crossings with stabilizers that are not fully functional?

The experience I've encountered with "reduced" stabilizer function is a failure of one stabilizer wing itself (they ran it into the dock).  This would be a drydock repair.  It could be a control problem, which could be repairable in service.  I have no knowledge of what type of roll stabilizing the Venture has, it may be a combination of wings and roll stabilizing ballast tanks.  A failure of a stabilizer tank would likely be either a valve or pump failure, and would be repairable in service, should parts be available.

 

It would be my opinion that a small ship like Venture would be a more "tender" ship than larger cruise ships.  This means that while the ship may roll more easily, the roll motion will be more comfortable (slower, longer time between on end of roll to the other) than the "stiffer" larger ships, and therefore have less need for stabilizers, which do not stop rolling, but merely slow the speed of the roll.   Only you, and your susceptibility to sea sickness can answer whether you do the cruise or not.  The Drake Passage can be almost flat, as often as it is storming.

[toseaornottosea]

Thanks for your input chengkp75.

[Doc who loves to travel]

22 hours ago, Liz Masterson said:

From my Marine Traffic App it looks like Polaris is on her way to Greece, probably somewhere to be repaired. 
 

Hope she is ready for passengers again soon. Fair winds and calm seas to her and her crew. 

They are sailing to Antarctica with a temporary repair of the affected cabins. No passengers are in those rooms. The CEO is on board. They passed inspection to proceed. 
 

Viking Polaris Temporarily Repaired and Sailing to Antarctica Again after Deadly Rogue Wave Incident
https://youtu.be/ZIVXffan5HM

[Insanityx4]

We have an upcoming cruise on the Polaris. Have they given any time frame as to when final repairs are going to take place? With their current schedule it doesn't seem like there is any time for this unless some cruises are cancelled.

[chengkp75]

21 minutes ago, Insanityx4 said:

We have an upcoming cruise on the Polaris. Have they given any time frame as to when final repairs are going to take place? With their current schedule it doesn't seem like there is any time for this unless some cruises are cancelled.

The "condition of class" from DNV for the window repairs is now cleared, so there is no requirement to ever make final repairs.  They may wait until the first dry dock in 2027 to make final repairs.  If they don't, once the windows and frames are delivered, they would likely have a shipyard fabricate steel inserts around the window frames, and then weld the entire insert into the ship.  That would take likely a week, so maybe one cruise canceled.  The cabin repairs may be completed in service.

[Heidi13]

39 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

The "condition of class" from DNV for the window repairs is now cleared, so there is no requirement to ever make final repairs.  They may wait until the first dry dock in 2027 to make final repairs.  If they don't, once the windows and frames are delivered, they would likely have a shipyard fabricate steel inserts around the window frames, and then weld the entire insert into the ship.  That would take likely a week, so maybe one cruise canceled.  The cabin repairs may be completed in service.

 

Chief - definitely much easier than installing just the windows. Took us more than 1-day to install each 4' x 8' window.

 

Since they also had a number of cabin bulkhead failures, I figured they may purchase replacement pre-fabricated cabins and replace the cabins and windows at the same time. Crop the shell plating, remove the damaged cabins, then crane and slide new cabins in place. Then replace the shell plate with windows already installed.

 

A quality yard might be capable of completing that scope in 1-week, with additional days needed on the inside, once the ship sailed.

 

Right now the ship operates in the Great Lakes during the summer, then a Longitudinal World Cruise down to Ushuaia. Finding a shipyard could be interesting, unless they take the ship up to the Arctic one summer and use a European yard. 

 

Thoughts?

[chengkp75]

9 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Thoughts?

Yes, they could just crop out the entire row of damaged windows, put new cabins in, and then insert the sideshell as one or two pieces.  Probably quicker and easier.  I've had to dismantle cabin bulkheads to get to holed drain lines, and it is almost impossible, and has to be done in sequence, so you don't always starts anywhere close to where you need to be.

 

They could ship cabin modules on flat-rack containers anywhere in the world, and perhaps even pre-fab the window units and ship them on flat-racks.  If they bring in "consultants" from the cabin manufacturer and the window company, just about any decent yard could be used to provide the "grunt labor" to get the job done.  Using a US or Canadian yard would be pricey, they may have to interrupt the north-south cruise in Curacao, or in Brazil, Uruguay, or Argentina.  Yes, one week should see it done, with plumbing and electrical to follow up.

[mazza]

Hello all

 

New to Viking, new to polar expeditions (well a Northern Lights Cruise). I read that Viking provides some clothing for these cruises but what exactly is the 'expedition jacket'? I've been searching online and on the Viking site but can't find details about what it is in terms of warmth = the outer jacket or a mid layer type item? Any advice will be very welcome. Thanks.

 

Maree

Edited January 22, 2023 by mazza

[CurlerRob]

1 hour ago, mazza said:

Hello all

 

New to Viking, new to polar expeditions (well a Northern Lights Cruise). I read that Viking provides some clothing for these cruises but what exactly is the 'expedition jacket'? I've been searching online and on the Viking site but can't find details about what it is in terms of warmth = the outer jacket or a mid layer type item? Any advice will be very welcome. Thanks.

 

Maree

 

The polar expeditions are currently in Antarctica only on the expedition ships (perhaps the high Arctic in the future). These are the only cruises that provide clothing.

 

If you look up any of the roll calls for the  two expedition ships - Octantis and Polaris, you'll find a number of discussions regarding the supplied clothing and what pax chose to bring in the way of personal clothing. In general, the supplied parkas were very warm and well-reviewed (and you get to keep them!) 🍺🥌

Edited January 23, 2023 by CurlerRob
Correction

[mazza]

1 hour ago, CurlerRob said:

 

The polar expeditions are currently in Antarctica only on the expedition ships (perhaps the high Arctic in the future). These are the only cruises that provide clothing.

 

If you look up any of the roll calls for the  two expedition ships - Octantis and Polaris, you'll find a number of discussions regarding the supplied clothing and what pax chose to bring in the way of personal clothing. In general, the supplied parkas were very warm and well-reviewed (and you get to keep them!) 🍺🥌

Thank you @CurlerRob I'm looking at the clothing site sent to us from Viking with a choice of clothing to buy and a recommended packing list, and there was a note there saying they would provide a jacket, insulation layer, waterproof pants and boots. I know it's not an expedition as such but it will be in the Arctic Circle for four days at two ports. And I really don't want to be cold.🙂Thanks for the tip about the roll calls too, I'll head over and check them out.

Maree 

[CurlerRob]

21 minutes ago, mazza said:

Thank you @CurlerRob I'm looking at the clothing site sent to us from Viking with a choice of clothing to buy and a recommended packing list, and there was a note there saying they would provide a jacket, insulation layer, waterproof pants and boots. I know it's not an expedition as such but it will be in the Arctic Circle for four days at two ports. And I really don't want to be cold.🙂Thanks for the tip about the roll calls too, I'll head over and check them out.

Maree 

 

I'm confused and don't want to mislead you. What cruise are you on / considering?

 

As far as I know, the provision of coat, pants and boots is a feature restricted to the expedition ships, when sailing in the Antarctic.

 

Your reference to the Arctic Circle and "Northern Lights" seems to suggest a Viking Ocean voyage in Norway - which does not provide clothing as part of the fare. (Or perhaps the Aussies are being treated better than us 😈). 🍺🥌

[mazza]

1 hour ago, CurlerRob said:

 

I'm confused and don't want to mislead you. What cruise are you on / considering?

 

As far as I know, the provision of coat, pants and boots is a feature restricted to the expedition ships, when sailing in the Antarctic.

 

Your reference to the Arctic Circle and "Northern Lights" seems to suggest a Viking Ocean voyage in Norway - which does not provide clothing as part of the fare. (Or perhaps the Aussies are being treated better than us 😈). 🍺🥌

Ah you are right. I was on the Antarctic page 😞🙄- I got totally distracted - too excited. Well, that answers my question well and truly! Appreciate your knowledge for a newbie - much appreciated. 

[emileg]

I thought I would revive this thread as the last post was on January 22. I have noticed other more detailed expedition threads have emerged, showing there is still interest. I still wish that Cruise Critic would set up a separate forum for Viking Expeditions instead of including the topic under Viking Ocean.

[Peregrina651]

26 minutes ago, emileg said:

I thought I would revive this thread as the last post was on January 22. I have noticed other more detailed expedition threads have emerged, showing there is still interest. I still wish that Cruise Critic would set up a separate forum for Viking Expeditions instead of including the topic under Viking Ocean.

 

Emile, under the squeaky wheel theory, contact CC boss Laura at community@cruisecritic.com.

[CharTrav]

FYI - the schedule for Viking Expeditions has been extended into February 2025.  Check out my Combined Cruise Schedule thread -- https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2651194-viking-ocean-combined-cruise-schedule/?do=findComment&comment=65289268.

[EN_L2Cruise]

Hi All,  Big Fans of Viking Ocean and have a question for anyone who has stayed in a Nordic Jr Suite.  It looks like most of the (NS) cabins are either under the World Cafe, Mamsens or Right next to the Explorers Lounge.  Oh and also under the jogging track on deck 5   Has there been any issues with Noise coming from either above or for those next to the lounge through the wall.  I am hoping the answer is no and it is well insulated, but wanted to hear from someone who has actually stayed in the cabins.  

 

Thanks 

[Insanityx4]

Just got off of the Octantis a few weeks ago and never heard anything at any time of the day or night. The cabins are really insulated and sound proof. We didn't even hear people in the hallways. We were in a Penthouse Suite but only a few cabins away from a Jr. Suite.

Edited May 14, 2023 by Insanityx4

[EN_L2Cruise]

19 minutes ago, Insanityx4 said:

Just got off of the Octantis a few weeks ago and never heard anything at any time of the day or night. The cabins are really insulated and sound proof. We didn't even hear people in the hallways. We were in a Penthouse Suite but only a few cabins away from a Jr. Suite.

Thanks Insanityx4, much appreciated!  That was just what I wanted to hear!