Live from the Viking Sky (Ft Lauderdale to London) December 20, 2023 - May 6, 2024

[Wavetripper]

Sounds great and lunch time is perfect. 

23 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Yessir! A short walk from the Circular Quay dock.  Fish & chips for lunch....

Sounds great and lunch time is perfect. Bring on the 150 Lashes. Cheers 🍻

[Clay Clayton]

We had a low turnout for our informal pub crawl-just four of us, but it was great to experience both Fortune of War and Glenmore Hotel. Unfortunately, Carnival blocked the view from the rooftop bar.  After visiting both, we returned to the ferry shuttle and then back to the ship.  Hot, worn out, and sweaty but glad we had the extra day last week in Sydney and that the forecasted rain never materialized!

[OneSixtyToOne]

On 2/14/2024 at 8:11 PM, Clay Clayton said:

If anyone was climbing the bridge at 2:03, you’re welcome😂

We did it almost 20 years ago. It was fantastic. 

[dgw1924]

My wife and I have been following your posts on the cruise, we are not onboard, but our best friends Stacy and Mary Schmidt from Texas are. Keep the great photos and commentary coming!

[CurlerRob]

12 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

We had a low turnout for our informal pub crawl-just four of us, but it was great to experience both Fortune of War and Glenmore Hotel. Unfortunately, Carnival blocked the view from the rooftop bar.  After visiting both, we returned to the ferry shuttle and then back to the ship.  Hot, worn out, and sweaty but glad we had the extra day last week in Sydney and that the forecasted rain never materialized!

 

You chose ... wisely! 🍺🥌

[HUNKY]

Looks as though the port was busy.  I noted Carnival, Virgin, Disney, and Viking.  And the ferries.  A mini Port Everglades!

 

On another note, Crystal Serenity is rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope.

Edited February 16 by HUNKY

[SJD117]

@Clay Clayton We visited the Queen Victoria shopping arcade in 2017 on our three-week trip around Australia. Nice place!

[Azulann]

Clay, your pictures are amazing . I will never get to Australia so I am  delighted to follow  your posts. You are on a fabulous journey on your WC and looks like you are having a great time making new memories!

[Clay Clayton]

32 minutes ago, Azulann said:

Clay, your pictures are amazing . I will never get to Australia so I am  delighted to follow  your posts. You are on a fabulous journey on your WC and looks like you are having a great time making new memories!

You should do it!

[stretchcruz]

Passengers on RCI Ultimate World Cruise are being given 2 choices as to where they are going. They are going to vote!

[Clay Clayton]

2 hours ago, stretchcruz said:

Passengers on RCI Ultimate World Cruise are being given 2 choices as to where they are going. They are going to vote!

Seems like a recipe for a good fight!

[Clay Clayton]

Beautiful sea day today as we head to Moolaboola.  New captain and lots of other new guests and crew all settling in.  Best news, the roof is open!

[Clay Clayton]

We were scheduled to port in Mooloolaba Australia today, but a few moments ago the Captain announced even though the weather looks beautiful, it was too choppy in the channel for the tenders to get us ashore safely so….😢. Worse part is our friend Margarete from Brisbane had driven an hour to meet us.  She said, “no worries, there are two nice Sunday markets so I’ll go shopping”….and then sent the picture of us🤬

 

 

Edited February 17 by Clay Clayton

[Jim Avery]

#Neptunegetseverything.🍺😎

[Clay Clayton]

4 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

#Neptunegetseverything.🍺😎

Probably 

[Clay Clayton]

Interesting change…wonder what brought it about🤔. We get to Ho Chi Minh a day early but too late to really do much and are leaving four or five hours early. No mention in this letter about excursions that are scheduled to get back to the ship three hours after the ship will now be leaving. 
 

At least we had quite the spread of donuts this morning!

 

 

Edited February 18 by Clay Clayton

[PeabodyMa]

Take advantage of the afternoon arrival in Hong Kong and go ashore. Enjoy! There’s lots to do. An extra overnight gives the opportunity for a delicious Hong Kong dinner. 

[UWDawg]

1 hour ago, PeabodyMa said:

Take advantage of the afternoon arrival in Hong Kong and go ashore. Enjoy! There’s lots to do. An extra overnight gives the opportunity for a delicious Hong Kong dinner. 

We will be porting in Ho Chi Minh City, not Hong Kong.  Still, I'm sure the same applies, despite being about an hour outside of the city and having to shuttle into the city.

[PeabodyMa]

1 hour ago, UWDawg said:

We will be porting in Ho Chi Minh City, not Hong Kong.  Still, I'm sure the same applies, despite being about an hour outside of the city and having to shuttle into the city.

Thank you for the correction to Saigon. Yes, Saigon is friendly, safe and has delicious food. 

[Clay Clayton]

Sky is anchored in the stunningly beautiful Whitsunday Islands today.  These are the tops of former mountains that became islands when the oceans rose.  
 

Our included excursion was a 2 hour cruise around the largest island and along Whitehaven Beach whose sand is 98% silica. Reportedly it doesn’t get hot and is silky smooth in addition to being pure white. We also passed by a number of resorts all but one of which are empty due to damage by a cyclone five years ago.  

 

This area is a birthing area for humpback whales from July to mid-September. Hope we can come back to see that-one of the crew members on the catamaran said while you can see more on a whale watching cruise, he has seen them 20-30 feet from the shore!  
 

There was a bit of a mixup this morning and they accidentally loaded most of the first cruise group on the wrong catamaran -luckily we were still in line to board when the issue was recognized. After a 10-15 delay, everyone was offloaded, the correct boat brought up to the ship and we started our cruise.  But as usual Viking went out of their way by having some goodies waiting in our room 2 hours later when we returned as an apology😃.

Edited February 20 by Clay Clayton

[Clay Clayton]

Oops, just noticed the chocolates were addressed to Mike’s mother (before she remarried😂). Guess we shouldn’t have eaten them but instead packed them up and delivered them to her in May🤔

[Clay Clayton]

What a great day in Cairns!  We took the optional excursion to the Great Barrier Reef that didn’t go to the platform. Folks on the one that went there also say they had a great day. 
 

The boat wasn’t full even with about 150 or more aboard.  Other than the initial entry into the water it wasn’t overly crowded.  The crew were friendly and very helpful. So while expensive at $399/pp we belive it was a good use of our shore excursion credits. 
 

After having snorkeled here, we suspect we may never snorkel again-everything you hear about the Great Barrier Reef is true!

 

I will try to post a few photos in a separate post so that if they don’t go, at least the text does. 

[Clay Clayton]

Reef Photos -putting on the “stinger suits” was the hardest part of the day. 

 

[cnd crsr]

10 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

What a great day in Cairns!  We took the optional excursion to the Great Barrier Reef that didn’t go to the platform. Folks on the one that went there also say they had a great day. 
 

The boat wasn’t full even with about 150 or more aboard.  Other than the initial entry into the water it wasn’t overly crowded.  The crew were friendly and very helpful. So while expensive at $399/pp we belive it was a good use of our shore excursion credits. 
 

After having snorkeled here, we suspect we may never snorkel again-everything you hear about the Great Barrier Reef is true!

 

I will try to post a few photos in a separate post so that if they don’t go, at least the text does. 

I agree the snorkeling at the GBR was fantastic  and  by the way, your pics are great. The only place we have snorkeled that was better was The Red Sea.

[cruising denise]

14 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Reef Photos -putting on the “stinger suits” was the hardest part of the day. 

 

Oh Clay! Fantastic pix!  Glad you and Mike enjoyed!  We did the Great Adventures private with a bunch of other Vikings and it was a very memorable, wonderful day.  I completely agree.  The hardest part was getting those darn antisting suits on.  But given the jellyfish you saw, that was time and effort well spent!  We didn't see any but were warned to keep our hoods on (made putting the mask on much easier as my hair was tucked in) and keep covered up.  I gladly heeded the advice and had an absolutely wonderful trip.