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

[CurlerRob]

6 hours ago, janetcbl said:

We did this the last year before COVID hit, and I remember we missed a couple of ports, but don’t remember the crossing being rough….anyone else?

 

 

6 hours ago, SJD117 said:

Janet, you must have been on the same cruise as us. I remember some very chilly weather, and a few big waves, but not an especially rough sailing. Our TA last March across the southern pond was much bumpier.

 

We were aboard Sun for the September 2019 crossing - it was leg 2 of the WC as I recall. There was another ship (Star? Sky?) that was a day or two ahead of us. Sea conditions were not significant on Sun, but both we and our "lead dog" had major itinerary changes and waits while we tried to dodge a couple of the late season hurricane remnants and other depressions. We were a day late leaving Bergen and missed the Shetlands as well. The weather was largely rainy.

 

Sun's crossing was fairly smooth, but I understood the preceding ship was bumped around somewhat. All in all, the re-routing was well done by the bridge and completely necessary. Life ain't perfect in September, either! 🍺🥌

[LindaS272]

3 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

 

 

We were aboard Sun for the September 2019 crossing - it was leg 2 of the WC as I recall. There was another ship (Star? Sky?) that was a day or two ahead of us. Sea conditions were not significant on Sun, but both we and our "lead dog" had major itinerary changes and waits while we tried to dodge a couple of the late season hurricane remnants and other depressions. We were a day late leaving Bergen and missed the Shetlands as well. The weather was largely rainy.

 

Sun's crossing was fairly smooth, but I understood the preceding ship was bumped around somewhat. All in all, the re-routing was well done by the bridge and completely necessary. Life ain't perfect in September, either! 🍺🥌

I don’t recall that we were a day late leaving Bergen, but the Sea (which was ahead of us) had to leave earlier than planned to get in front of the storm.

[CurlerRob]

5 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

I don’t recall that we were a day late leaving Bergen, but the Sea (which was ahead of us) had to leave earlier than planned to get in front of the storm.

 

Thank you - it was the Sea ahead of us. My notes had us something like 13 hours delayed out of Bergen (ok, 1/2 day 😈) for the same reason. Sea wanted to get in front of the first storm, we let it pass partially by. 🍺🥌

[Budvegas]

On 6/8/2023 at 5:49 AM, CCWineLover said:

Missed a page or two…

 

A glass of the Australian Coriole Shiraz/Sangiovese from McLaren Vale might be worth a try. Not tasted it and an odd blend, but they know their reds at Coriole so I'd trust them.

 

Incidentally the two whites (sauv blanc) they list as Australian are in fact from NZ, which will no doubt upset the Kiwis no end! Not a fan of antipodean s-b so can't help with those.

 

Enjoy the cruise (we'll be embarking on VS in Barcelona in December next year).

[CCWineLover]

Sunday morning Day 5

we begin our 4 sea days on the way to our added day in Reykjavik.  Viking posted 2 excursions last night for people to book for the Thursday bonus visit to the capital.  Included tour with the whale museum (2 hrs) and an optional tour - Golden Circle full day $229.  
looking forward to some sea days to enjoy the ship, the great lectures (3 or 4 a day!) and some Attrium concerts.  Explorers society party today at 5:30. 

had an excellent Italian Primativo wine last night at dinner.

Cruise Director Verity - up by the chess set on 8th floor Explorers Lounge.

 

[deec]

Kent,

So glad that most are just going with the flow ...the dynamics of every cruise is quite different.  Seasoned travelers often make the best shipmate companions.  we will be looking forward to your thoughts about Iceland.

[uktog]

I’ve booked this trip (for late August) because I’ve always wanted to go to Greenland. I’ve fully done Halifax and Iceland before so there was a lot we didn’t book the cruise for. So I will be gutted if I can’t step on Greenland. 
 

But I’m a seasoned traveler (also making my third attempt to see the Falkland Islands early next year - it happens). My reaction will all depend on how Viking looks after us both in terms of the overall experience and how they react if there was a significant itinerary change. 
 

From what I’m reading on this post I’m going to have no issues. In terms of where I am coming from, our previous experience on Viking was under quite tight Covid restrictions and there were elements of the on-board experience that we felt let them down even allowing for the Covid position. We also felt they did not handle missing two ports and communicating the reduction in hours in the third port very well - that reduction happening when most of us were actually onshore on excursions and therefore we didn’t know it happened.  And we never saw a penny back in obc.

 

But I am really looking forward to being on Viking again, and this thread is confirming to me it’s the right thing to do even if we might not get Greenland. 
 

I hope the coming days on your cruise are enjoyable and to keep the post coming. Thank you for taking time to share.

[purpleally]

On 6/7/2023 at 2:43 PM, CCWineLover said:

Sparkling and Rose list

 

I thought the silver spirits included drinks up to $18.00 and a glass of champagne fell into that category, NOT processco 

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, purpleally said:

I thought the silver spirits included drinks up to $18.00 and a glass of champagne fell into that category, NOT processco 

Prosecco definitely IS included in SSBP!  DW loves it!!

[CCWineLover]

Just at Explorers Party.  400 of our passengers on Viking are Viking veterans!

Also, it was announced that the Saturn is the final and 10th ship in the Star class.  There will be 10 ships built in the new class, beginning with Vela in fall 2024.  Not sure if they all will be like Vela.

[CCWineLover]

Excellent Explorers Society party for Viking veterans!  Sasha is our pianist and one of the best and most talented we’ve seen on Viking Ocean.  And she’s always friendly, positive and has such enthusiasm!

[purpleally]

42 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Prosecco definitely IS included in SSBP!  DW loves it!!

Yes but I said NOT Prosecco . Champagne?

not the same thing

[CCWineLover]

Just now, purpleally said:

Yes but I said NOT Prosecco . Champagne?

not the same thing

Sorry - misunderstood what you wrote 🙂

It is what it is as published on the wine list.  We at first were a bit disappointed, since as Viking Veterans, we've been used to much more complete wine lists, but at least on this cruise, we've enjoyed the selections we've tried.  I did learn today that negotiations fell through post-COVID with many of the wine producers they had used before, as Viking was asking for a greater volume than the producers were willing to sell to Viking.  Interesting.  (example:  Mer Soleil Chardonnay, now bought out by a large company and that company said no to Viking)   Will have to probe that story further.

Edited June 11, 2023 by CCWineLover

[purpleally]

6 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Sorry - misunderstood what you wrote 🙂

It is what it is as published on the wine list.  We at first were a bit disappointed, since as Viking Veterans, we've been used to much more complete wine lists, but at least on this cruise, we've enjoyed the selections we've tried.  I did learn today that negotiations fell through post-COVID with many of the wine producers they had used before, as Viking was asking for a greater volume than the producers were willing to sell to Viking.  Interesting.  (example:  Mer Soleil Chardonnay, now bought out by a large company and that company said no to Viking)   Will have to probe that story further.

Interesting. When Viking raised the price (secretly) one of the new “benefits” touted was since drinks up to $18.00 was included, that meant champagne was included. Disappointed to hear this   

[Mariastreby]

1 hour ago, CCWineLover said:

Excellent Explorers Society party for Viking veterans!  Sasha is our pianist and one of the best and most talented we’ve seen on Viking Ocean.  And she’s always friendly, positive and has such enthusiasm!

Kent, if you took this picture in the Atrium, are you saying that a huge Explorers Society party was held there?! Where did 400 people sit - the stairs? On our Trade Routes cruise last May, they had the party on the pool deck, plus opened the Wintergarden glass panels to increase the seating capacity. 
I’m glad you like this pianist. Have to admit we’ve never interacted with any of the musicians. 
When they talked about this new Velo ship class, was there mention of it being an increased passenger capacity, or an additional specialty dining venue? My wish would be for a larger Restaurant, so that the tables aren’t quite so close to one another. Any other details?

[SJD117]

21 minutes ago, Mariastreby said:

Kent, if you took this picture in the Atrium, are you saying that a huge Explorers Society party was held there?! Where did 400 people sit - the stairs? On our Trade Routes cruise last May, they had the party on the pool deck, plus opened the Wintergarden glass panels to increase the seating capacity. 
I’m glad you like this pianist. Have to admit we’ve never interacted with any of the musicians. 
When they talked about this new Velo ship class, was there mention of it being an increased passenger capacity, or an additional specialty dining venue? My wish would be for a larger Restaurant, so that the tables aren’t quite so close to one another. Any other details?

We’ve been to several Explorers Society parties, always in the Atrium (not on the Pool Deck). Typically the Viking staff announce the number of return guests on the ship — not the number who are actually attending the party. And yes, attendees can and do sit on the stairs. 

[CCWineLover]

So I spoke with the Cruise Consultant, Jordan, this evening and got a lot of information.

Yes, the next 10 ships will be part of the "Vela" class and will all be the same, with the new propulsion systems.  Vela will be the first, out fall 2024.  There will be 998 max passengers.  The ships will be exactly the same but a bit longer.  As he said, think of the "stretch" airplanes in the past.  Makes it easier for design.  The Star class, finishing with Saturn, is complete.  There will be no more.  They built them in triplets after the unique "Star".  Each triplet had similar designs in the small aspects.  Sea-Sun-Sky then Jupiter-Orion-Venus (which originally was to have planetarium but it was dropped); then Mars-Neptune-Saturn.

Jordan said you can book the Vela cruises now.  It will be taking the place of Venus in the Norway and Mediterranean itineraries and Venus will join the Jupiter and Orion as the Southern Hemisphere ships.  Hope this is of interest to folks!

[CCWineLover]

Just now, Mariastreby said:

Kent, if you took this picture in the Atrium, are you saying that a huge Explorers Society party was held there?! Where did 400 people sit - the stairs? On our Trade Routes cruise last May, they had the party on the pool deck, plus opened the Wintergarden glass panels to increase the seating capacity. 
I’m glad you like this pianist. Have to admit we’ve never interacted with any of the musicians. 
When they talked about this new Velo ship class, was there mention of it being an increased passenger capacity, or an additional specialty dining venue? My wish would be for a larger Restaurant, so that the tables aren’t quite so close to one another. Any other details?

It was indeed pretty crowded - they had the balconies of deck 2 and 3 packed as well.  It reminded me, Maria, of the Christmas caroling party you, Mike, and we were at for the Star last Christmas!  Nice to see and quite well done.   See my answers regarding the Vela class.  No mention of restaurant expansion as well.  I do agree - I very much dislike the 737 seating for parties of 2 at the MDR. We won't go there unless we are with other people - and even then, it is still very slow service for us (on this trip too).  It's OK if you plan for a dinner of 2 1/2 hours.

[TayanaLorna]

3 hours ago, purpleally said:

Interesting. When Viking raised the price (secretly) one of the new “benefits” touted was since drinks up to $18.00 was included, that meant champagne was included. Disappointed to hear this   

On the previous by the glass wine list, real French champagne was $16 per glass which was over the SSBP limit of $15 per drink at that time.   "Champagne" was never included on Ocean in the parameters of the SSBP.  The bubbly wines were very limited in the old list too.  I see that now there are more choices for bubbly, Proseco or CAVA by the glass and within the SSBP limit.  That's a good thing.

[purpleally]

51 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

On the previous by the glass wine list, real French champagne was $16 per glass which was over the SSBP limit of $15 per drink at that time.   "Champagne" was never included on Ocean in the parameters of the SSBP.  The bubbly wines were very limited in the old list too.  I see that now there are more choices for bubbly, Proseco or CAVA by the glass and within the SSBP limit.  That's a good thing.

Still, not Champagne 😕

[CCWineLover]

Monday at sea - lots of activities scheduled today by Viking staff!

todays Viking Daily.

[photopro2]

10 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

It will be taking the place of Venus in the Norway and Mediterranean itineraries and Venus will join the Jupiter and Orion as the Southern Hemisphere ships.  Hope this is of interest to folks!

Certainly is! Also I never thought of the ships being in "triplicate" before, but that makes perfect sense. Very much enjoying the thread as a whole, keep up the great work 👍

 

12 hours ago, Mariastreby said:

When they talked about this new Velo ship class, was there mention of it being an increased passenger capacity, or an additional specialty dining venue? My wish would be for a larger Restaurant,

The deck plan for the new Vela is available on the Viking website. Both the main restaurant and the World Café are shown as being larger, though this might simply be in proportion to the additional number of passengers. You can find some more information on "Viking Vela" thread.

 

[CCWineLover]

Just attended a wonderful genealogy workshop by Gail Nigh Lee in Torshaven Lounge.  It was a huge success!  More people than could fit so CD Verity Brown said it would be done again tomorrow.  Fantastic job by Gail to our absolutely packed house!

 

[TayanaLorna]

This morning I looked on Cruisemapper for the Saturns current location.  I noticed a boat icon actually in Greenland with a track showing it had made several stops along and into waterways on Greenland's western coast.  I clicked on it to learn it was a Poseiden Adventure expedition ship with a hull reinforced for ice.  I don't know the ice class rating of this ship vs that of Viking expedition.  So for those who wish to have a better chance of visiting Greenlands ports, there is an alternative, as this ship visited ports in the last week that Viking had to cancel.

[CCWineLover]

4 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

This morning I looked on Cruisemapper for the Saturns current location.  I noticed a boat icon actually in Greenland with a track showing it had made several stops along and into waterways on Greenland's western coast.  I clicked on it to learn it was a Poseiden Adventure expedition ship with a hull reinforced for ice.  I don't know the ice class rating of this ship vs that of Viking expedition.  So for those who wish to have a better chance of visiting Greenlands ports, there is an alternative, as this ship visited ports in the last week that Viking had to cancel.

Andy ( @Heidi13 ) had posted recently a great explanation of the different ship ratings.  Hope he sees this since I can’t remember where I saw his post!