Live from Viking Saturn June 7-21 NYC-Canada-Greenland-Iceland

[LindaS272]

2 hours ago, Messybill said:

There is also at least one other sangiovese you can get by the glass with SSBP

I presume you mean a la carte…?

[Messybill]

6 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

I presume you mean a la carte…?

Yes, you are correct.  

[Lotusgirl22]

I see that there is a Nero d'avola by the glass. We enjoyed those wines when in Sicily last year, and have bought some bottles back home. You may want to try it. 😀

[uktog]

Appreciate that wine list for use with the silver package might not be as great as people remember it but for us coming from another Cruise line where we pay for an ultimate package that does not bring us nearly a range of choice or quality we really are looking forward to trying the offerings on the Viking package. 

[Mackdogmolly]

5 minutes ago, uktog said:

Appreciate that wine list for use with the silver package might not be as great as people remember it but for us coming from another Cruise line where we pay for an ultimate package that does not bring us nearly a range of choice or quality we really are looking forward to trying the offerings on the Viking package. 

But No Whispering Angel!

[TayanaLorna]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

Appreciate that wine list for use with the silver package might not be as great as people remember it but for us coming from another Cruise line where we pay for an ultimate package that does not bring us nearly a range of choice or quality we really are looking forward to trying the offerings on the Viking package. 

Interesting you should say that.  Awhile back, Cruise Critic had a drinks package comparison write up of the major cruise lines.  Vikings package at $20 per person back then was well below any other cruise line and more comprehensive.  Plus it was easier to understand what is/is not included and the cost limit per drink was higher.  I would bet that even at $25 pp now it is more economical.

[Mackdogmolly]

1 hour ago, TayanaLorna said:

Interesting you should say that.  Awhile back, Cruise Critic had a drinks package comparison write up of the major cruise lines.  Vikings package at $20 per person back then was well below any other cruise line and more comprehensive.  Plus it was easier to understand what is/is not included and the cost limit per drink was higher.  I would bet that even at $25 pp now it is more economical.

I would agree, except for the Viking caveat that both passengers in a cabin have to upgrade.

[Peregrina651]

33 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

I would agree, except for the Viking caveat that both passengers in a cabin have to upgrade.

 

Isn't that common across most cruise lines?

[Mackdogmolly]

1 minute ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Isn't that common across most cruise lines?

Not Azamara. Plus, you can upgrade at any point during the cruise and only pay for those days. Per day price is about the same.

[SJD117]

Let me do the math. At $25 pp/day for the SSP, and assuming an $8 charge per glass for so-called “premium” wine, I’d need to drink three glasses of wine per day during our 15-day cruise next month in order to break even. (Yes, I know this back-of-the-envelope calculation doesn’t account for pre- or post-dinner cocktails, but I very rarely drink those anyway, so wine is my basis for comparison.)

 

Last night I went to a nice restaurant with Linda and a friend. I had two glasses of some pretty good chardonnay, both average pours. That left me a bit woozy. Three or more glasses would have been too much for my fragile old-guy gut. And three or more glasses each day for 15 days would probably leave me comatose.

 

To those who can get liquored up with no apparent effect, you are obviously much stronger than me. But such is life. My life, it seems, is limited to the occasional adult beverage. I’ll try to survive, though. Salud!  🙃 

 

 

[FetaCheese]

ccWine:  Thanks for posting all the wine lists.  We had the Chilean Red, DeMartino on last cruise, Sea Dec. 2022.   It was very nice.  I like full bodied reds.

 

Did you all attend the naming ceremony?  Nice article in SeaTrade:

 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/viking-saturn-named-operatic-celebration-nyc

 

Also, 2 other articles:

 

V Newbuilds

 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/shipbuilding-refurb-equipment/10-more-viking-ocean-ships-2030-tad-bigger-and-some-china

 

Ship Designer

 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/refurb-interiors/after-more-100-viking-ships-rottet-studio-stays-engaged

[kentuckycruiser]

My parents are on the Iceland to NYC cruise (boarded 6/6). They found out today at least 3 ports have been canceled due to the ice - they mentioned both stops in Greenland and at least one other, maybe 2. Now spending the night in one port in Iceland and have 4 days at sea in a row. It was hard to follow them on speaker. Viking offered credit towards a future cruise I believe.

[CCWineLover]

News today.  Captain sadly announced the iceberg situation is still bad, so we head tomorrow for Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.  Then 4 sea days and then an extra day in Reykjavik, before resuming the original itinerary.  Everyone we encountered is taking the news in stride.  I do feel we have a lot of glass half full people and veteran travel-savy people on board.  Certainly the many people we have met.  Will be fun.

 

[CCWineLover]

Newfoundland and Greenland will have to wait for another day.

[Mariastreby]

What a bummer for you all, Kent! But try to enjoy whatever decent wine there is, and the extra sea days.
Back to the Panama Canal for us over Christmas. 😁 If they find icebergs on the way between Florida and CA, then Climate Change has really occurred!

[Sleep7]

👋Hi CCWineLover!

I'm so looking forward to following your grand adventure!

Thanks so much for posting.. loving it.🤗

[Mich3554]

55 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

News today.  Captain sadly announced the iceberg situation is still bad, so we head tomorrow for Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.  Then 4 sea days and then an extra day in Reykjavik, before resuming the original itinerary.  Everyone we encountered is taking the news in stride.  I do feel we have a lot of glass half full people and veteran travel-savy people on board.  Certainly the many people we have met.  Will be fun.

 

On the Neptune going in the opposite direction and there was an announcement while we were waiting for our tour (did you know you can hear these announcements outside the ship for at least 50 yards?) that Greenland was a no go for us too today.  We get an extra day in Isafjordur and 4 sea days, and pick up Louisburg in Nova Scotia.  

[CCWineLover]

5 minutes ago, Mich3554 said:

On the Neptune going in the opposite direction and there was an announcement while we were waiting for our tour (did you know you can hear these announcements outside the ship for at least 50 yards?) that Greenland was a no go for us too today.  We get an extra day in Isafjordur and 4 sea days, and pick up Louisburg in Nova Scotia.  

Yes.  He announced it on loudspeaker this morning while we were all waiting and Queuing by the gangway for Halifax tours.  Then the CD told us the new schedule.  That’s how we were able to talk to so many today how they felt.  Everyone seems very fine, a bit disappointed, but totally understand.  We did not know about the 50% until we got back at 4:45 today.  Even nicer bonus we all say.  We figured the Neptune would have the same experience.

[CCWineLover]

Wonderful sailaway from Halifax.  Great guitar entertainer!

[CCWineLover]

[Mariastreby]

Interesting to see a guitarist sitting on the piano bench! And nice to see you finally got enough bandwidth for posting the Explorers Lounge photos. Enjoy Happy Hour and another yummy Viking dinner!

[CurlerRob]

7 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Not Azamara. Plus, you can upgrade at any point during the cruise and only pay for those days. Per day price is about the same.

Oceania permits a single pax in a cabin to upgrade as well. It is uncommon across lines. 🍺🥌

[CurlerRob]

5 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

News today.  Captain sadly announced the iceberg situation is still bad, so we head tomorrow for Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.  Then 4 sea days and then an extra day in Reykjavik, before resuming the original itinerary.  Everyone we encountered is taking the news in stride.  I do feel we have a lot of glass half full people and veteran travel-savy people on board.  Certainly the many people we have met.  Will be fun.

 

 

Disappointing for you, but I'm pleased to hear of the open level of communication that you've had from Viking, both before the adjustment and now. We've all had schedule changes for many reasons - it's when they come as unpleasant surprises that the hackles raise.

 

It'll be interesting to see if Viking decides to make some wholesale changes to the timing of these early crossings for the coming years. Late May / early June is always going to be at increased risk for weather in the higher lats, and especially for ice.

 

Enjoy the trip! 🍺🥌

[Myrtle Ave. Mayhem]

Hi Kent - Great to see your blog & you bringing us along! Sorry that some of the itinerary has changed. Still a wonderful adventure! We also had Russell Lee & Verity Brown on the Neptune trans-Atlantic in December. The first thing that caught my attention aboard Neptune was the missing glass encased ship models on deck 8 of Explorers Lounge. As others have mentioned, this makes the room look a little different, less specifically nautical. This picture is from my Sky trans-Atlantic a few years ago. Those models are missed!

Edited June 10, 2023 by Myrtle Ave. Mayhem

[PeabodyMa]

NASA: Quebec Fires Deliver One of the Most Intense Outbreaks if Smoke in the Eastern U.S. in Decades

“Wildfire smoke from Canada has passed over the northeastern United States multiple times each summer in recent years, but it often goes unnoticed because it is relatively high in the atmosphere. That isn't the case in June 2023. In the first week of the month, large amounts of smoke from fires in Quebec poured south into the eastern U.S. and degraded the quality of surface-level air that tens of millions of people breathe. 

 

Winds typically move smoke from fires in Quebec toward the east and out to sea. But in June 2023, a persistent coastal low centered near Prince Edward Island instead steered smoke south into the United States. This image, from the GOES-16 weather satellite shows smoke sweeping into New York and Pennsylvania on the morning of June 7, 2023.”

 

Several NASA satellites are collecting data throughout the event. The Terra, Aqua, and Aura satellites are observing how smoke particles affect how the atmosphere absorbs and reflects light, while the CALIPSO satellite collects observations of smoke height. Meanwhile, data from NASA’s ground-based Micro-Pulse Lidar Network and Aerosol Robotic Network indicate that a significant amount of smoke is present near the surface.

 

Learn More: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/151433/smoke-smothers-the-northeast