LIVE from the Viking Neptune World Cruise includes FTL and LA

[Clay Clayton]

Just now, CurlerRob said:

 

The lack of requirement for celestial nav training is surprising - as recently as 2019, I used to watch the bridge crew on HAL taking a noon sight each day.

 

The electronics are indeed extraordinary, but I did really like the see-through decking on each bridge wing used when docking - that was still basically retro! 🍺🥌

But the back up cameras aren’t!

[Heidi13]

49 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

Bridge tour today.  Very interesting, especially as I am a former mariner.  Also made me want to go throw rocks since Neptune's vast arrays of instrumentation and controls, all with redundancy on top of redundancy is so far ahead of what some of my rust buckets were equipped with.  Today's officers are so spoiled.  The officer I was chatting with said they don't even have to get celestial navigation training.  All electronic now.  I was happy to recognize one cabinet full of gear....  The weather fax machines.  Yes, fax machines.  According to the officer it is required equipment.  

 

 

Jim - How times change. I recall the days we weren't permitted to even touch the Sat Nav, which was a main-frame computer, programmed by a ticker tape and the entire thing was over 2 ft square and 7 feet high.

 

It is actually sad that they don't learn even basic celestial navigation. Maybe they don't need to understand the maths and the the concept, but they should at least know how to use a sextant and use the Almanac and Norries Tables to get a position line.

 

Still recall having this chat with our son 20 yrs ago, just before his 1st trip to sea. The college lecturers convinced them that they would never need a sextant, as the ship has back-ups. He knows better now from experience, which was re-inforced a couple months ago doing a delivery to BVI. Got the dreaded call in the middle of the night, Captain can you come to the Bridge. Totally dead ship, so back to basics.

 

Mind you, the new Bridges certainly made life easier, as with multiple GPS  and radar overlay on the electronic chart, I was comfortable using GPS and visual marks, so didn't see a need for position fixing. Most of the time, our GPS was accurate to a couple of feet, or less. Bet the Bridge Officers rarely do position fixing on the chart with ranges and bearings.

[Heidi13]

58 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

The electronics are indeed extraordinary, but I did really like the see-through decking on each bridge wing used when docking - that was still basically retro! 🍺🥌

 

We used to have fun with those glass panels in the deck, when we had Bridge visits. We convinced them it was strong glass and you could jump on it safely. Once pax jumped on the glass, we would crush a styrofoam cup. Got some interesting reactions.

 

Probably couldn't get away with that these days, or many of the other tales we used to tell.

[Jim Avery]

2 hours ago, CurlerRob said:

 

The lack of requirement for celestial nav training is surprising - as recently as 2019, I used to watch the bridge crew on HAL taking a noon sight each day.

 

The electronics are indeed extraordinary, but I did really like the see-through decking on each bridge wing used when docking - that was still basically retro! 🍺🥌

Probably an older Captain.  I used to love taking sights though not required for work.  I think it is important to know where you are and directions to travel.  All that wonderful stuff has backups but all require electricity.  I know, backup genesis and battery packs.  Those all have a lifespan.  Celestial is always there.

[Jim Avery]

Oh, and remember,  DONT press the red button.......

[BobCatter]

13 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Oh, and remember,  DONT press the red button.......

Oops. Sorry about that. 

[Messybill]

17 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Bridge tour today.  Very interesting, especially as I am a former mariner.  Also made me want to go throw rocks since Neptune's vast arrays of instrumentation and controls, all with redundancy on top of redundancy is so far ahead of what some of my rust buckets were equipped with.  Today's officers are so spoiled.  The officer I was chatting with said they don't even have to get celestial navigation training.  All electronic now.  I was happy to recognize one cabinet full of gear....  The weather fax machines.  Yes, fax machines.  According to the officer it is required equipment.  

 

We got the bridge tour today on Viking Sea.  Amazingly cool.   Our guide was one of the second officers and he was clearly a very traditional mariner.  He thought it very important to explain how all of the really important movement of the ship was done with manual controls. There was also other evidence of traditional practices like the rack full of flags and pennants

I

 

MillyBess and I also got to sit in the chairs used to conn the ship (is that the right term?).  I have a picture of MillyBess sitting there wearing a Viking helmet but unfortunately I am not authorized to post it.

 

[Clay Clayton]

For my fellow cruisers headed to Papette, be advised if you buy flowers in the market, they will need to inspect them and ask you to destroy before we reach New Zealand. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Clay Clayton]

Some more unsolicited advice.  If you’re booked on the Point Venus Lighthouse and garden excursion, you might want to rethink it unless you really enjoy long bus rides. It is about 30 min to the lighthouse, then 1.5 hours to the garden and then almost an hour back to the ship.  If you decide to do it, highly suggest you not be on the 1:30 run as it’s unlikely you’ll be back for the 6:30 Tahitian Dancing show. 
 

Both places were fine, just too far apart. 

[UWDawg]

Anyone aboard the Neptune who will be on the Le Truck excursion in Bora Bora, I lost a Nikon camera lens while I was on that excursion the other day (I’m on the Viking Star).  I know the specific stop where it was lost and if you could take a look for it at that location, I would greatly appreciate it.  It was the 3rd or 4th stop where we stopped and got off of Le Truck to take photos.  We pulled over in front of some residential properties/ driveways and from the grassy slope you could take photos of one of the lagoons and of some waterfalls looking inland.  Below is one of the photos I took from that location.  I was on the grassy slope near some short palm trees and I likely lost it near the base of one of those palm trees, to the right of where the below photo was taken, when I knelt down to take a photo of some distant waterfalls.  We were advised to watch our step because of dog poop.  Anyway, I changed from my shorter lens to my longer zoom lens and somehow the short lens fell out of my pocket.  I’ve also included the specific map location of that viewpoint.  Thanks in advance for your efforts to find my lost camera lens.  

 

 

 

[UWDawg]

9 hours ago, UWDawg said:

Anyone aboard the Neptune who will be on the Le Truck excursion in Bora Bora, I lost a Nikon camera lens while I was on that excursion the other day (I’m on the Viking Star).  I know the specific stop where it was lost and if you could take a look for it at that location, I would greatly appreciate it.  It was the 3rd or 4th stop where we stopped and got off of Le Truck to take photos.  We pulled over in front of some residential properties/ driveways and from the grassy slope you could take photos of one of the lagoons and of some waterfalls looking inland.  Below is one of the photos I took from that location.  I was on the grassy slope near some short palm trees and I likely lost it near the base of one of those palm trees, to the right of where the below photo was taken, when I knelt down to take a photo of some distant waterfalls.  We were advised to watch our step because of dog poop.  Anyway, I changed from my shorter lens to my longer zoom lens and somehow the short lens fell out of my pocket.  I’ve also included the specific map location of that viewpoint.  Thanks in advance for your efforts to find my lost camera lens.  

 

 

 

* Correction... I'm on the Viking SKY... LOL, we were on the Star on the 21/22 WC, but on the Sky for the 23/24 WC to pick up the ports we missed on our prior voyage.

[millybess]

9 hours ago, UWDawg said:

Anyone aboard the Neptune who will be on the Le Truck excursion in Bora Bora, I lost a Nikon camera lens while I was on that excursion the other day (I’m on the Viking Star).  I know the specific stop where it was lost and if you could take a look for it at that location, I would greatly appreciate it.  It was the 3rd or 4th stop where we stopped and got off of Le Truck to take photos.  We pulled over in front of some residential properties/ driveways and from the grassy slope you could take photos of one of the lagoons and of some waterfalls looking inland.  Below is one of the photos I took from that location.  I was on the grassy slope near some short palm trees and I likely lost it near the base of one of those palm trees, to the right of where the below photo was taken, when I knelt down to take a photo of some distant waterfalls.  We were advised to watch our step because of dog poop.  Anyway, I changed from my shorter lens to my longer zoom lens and somehow the short lens fell out of my pocket.  I’ve also included the specific map location of that viewpoint.  Thanks in advance for your efforts to find my lost camera lens.  

 

 

 

Best of luck Dawg.  I hope someone on the following Neptune keeps a look out for it.  

[Wavetripper]

3 hours ago, UWDawg said:

* Correction... I'm on the Viking SKY... LOL, we were on the Star on the 21/22 WC, but on the Sky for the 23/24 WC to pick up the ports we missed on our prior voyage.

Hey UWDawg, we searched high and low and didn't come up with it. We were the third truck of 6 today. 

Hopefully someone comes up with the lens and we will advise if we hear of anything and put you in touch. 

There was also the Wind Spirit in port today.

[UWDawg]

3 minutes ago, Wavetripper said:

Hey UWDawg, we searched high and low and didn't come up with it. We were the third truck of 6 today. 

Hopefully someone comes up with the lens and we will advise if we hear of anything and put you in touch. 

There was also the Wind Spirit in port today.

Thank you so much for your efforts @Wavetripper

I figured it was a long shot... 3 days later... but worth a try.

 

I really enjoyed the Le Truck excursion and hope you did too.  Bora Bora was impacted significantly from the drop of tourism due to the Covid-19 pandemic and it looks like it will take a long time for them to recover economically.  Hopefully our cruise ship visits will help out. 

[Wavetripper]

Yes Le Truck excursion was really good. We enjoyed it.

Was amazed to see how many resorts had  closed and were in disrepair. But many still remain and are flourishing. We helped where we could, the wallet is a little lighter now, easier to ride the tender back, ha. 

[Jim Avery]

The Sky's rain finally caught up with us big time in Moorea.  We were on the boat cruise and it had a canvas top but no sides.  Everyone got completely drenched,  Couldn't see to take pix so everyone onboard voted to return to the dock.  Still, it ended up being the advertised 1 hour tour and we don't have to wash the clothes we were wearing..  Shoes and hats are going to take a while to dry.🍹

[Clay Clayton]

Just now, Jim Avery said:

The Sky's rain finally caught up with us big time in Moorea.  We were on the boat cruise and it had a canvas top but no sides.  Everyone got completely drenched,  Couldn't see to take pix so everyone onboard voted to return to the dock.  Still, it ended up being the advertised 1 hour tour and we don't have to wash the clothes we were wearing..  Shoes and hats are going to take a while to dry.🍹

Thoughts & Prayers

[Jim Avery]

After hot, humid, and sometimes rainy Papeete a rather nice sea day and glory glory the Pool Deck roof is open. 

[Mich3554]

On 1/24/2024 at 10:51 PM, Jim Avery said:

The Sky's rain finally caught up with us big time in Moorea.  We were on the boat cruise and it had a canvas top but no sides.  Everyone got completely drenched,  Couldn't see to take pix so everyone onboard voted to return to the dock.  Still, it ended up being the advertised 1 hour tour and we don't have to wash the clothes we were wearing..  Shoes and hats are going to take a while to dry.🍹

It poured on us last year on the Neptune.  Moorea and Bora Bora were done in downpours and we got drenched on the included excursion and the ATV trip.  

[UWDawg]

I’ve been thinking for many months that we on the Sky ought to leave some "Easter Eggs" for you on the Neptune… to discover along the way in our joint voyages around the world.  I was remiss in not leaving an Easter Egg for you in Hawaii… and you failed to find my “Easter Egg” in French Polynesia/ Bora Bora… So, I’ve left you another here in the South Pacific, between Fr. Poly and NZ… look for the message I left for you in a bottle.  I didn’t want to contribute to the plastic waste in the ocean, so it is a glass wine bottle with a real cork.  It’s up to you folks on the Neptune to find it… it might be easier to find than a whale in these deep waters.

 

 

 

 

[Jim Avery]

It’s a miracle!!! After lots of bar time on Viking, and always asking, when they pass out the foo-foo canapés, for pretzels or potato chips they delivered these baskets around the bar. Pretzels, potato chips, cheetos, tortilla chips and more.👍

[Hobson1754]

7 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

It’s a miracle!!! After lots of bar time on Viking, and always asking, when they pass out the foo-foo canapés, for pretzels or potato chips they delivered these baskets around the bar. Pretzels, potato chips, cheetos, tortilla chips and more.👍

How the rest of the cruise now Jim - in particular the standard of food in restaurants & other glitches? 

[Wavetripper]

Hey Jim, totally missed that one, not sure how, I guess we never made it down there in time. Will try for the next time. See you then.

Cheers 🥂🍻

[Azulann]

7 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Pretzels, potato chips, cheetos, tortilla chips and more.👍

WOW is right. On my last Viking cruise I really wanted some potato chips . Not one to be found onboard even in the little shop within one of the stores on the ship.

Wonder if they are just spoiling the WC's with these nibbles at the  living room bar?  

[stretchcruz]

Those chips etc look so good! On my 33 day cruise in Nov/Dec I was also craving some. Went on a snorkeling catamaran. They put some out for snacks and you should have seen everyone rush to that counter. It was hysterical.