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

[Heidi13]

On 3/30/2024 at 10:41 AM, dottythecat said:

Hi Sky World cruisers. I have been happily following along with you. We are picking up the Sky on May 6 for the British Isles cruise. The Viking schedule shows us departing from Greenwich; however, Cruise Mapper shows the Sky in Tilbury on May 6. Can anyone confirm where you will be docking on May 6?  Thanks.

 

Cruise Mapper is a 3rd party website that frequently provides erroneous information. If you don't believe the cruise line's information, may I suggest checking the Port of London website.

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, LindaS272 said:

Just had to click on this story today on CNN since it involved a cruise ship off Africa. So it could be worse than not making it through the Suez Canal!

 

https://www.cnn.com/travel/norwegian-cruise-passengers-stranded-africa/index.html

 

 

 

31 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

Boy oh boy, Linda, so scary.  Glad we are doing British Isles Explorer and Rhine the rest of this year.  

Seems to me this is either the tour operators fault or the guests for not giving them the correct all aboard time (with a margin for error). I’m a big proponent of independent excursions and have never in all our cruising had an issue-but we always tell the operator we want to be back to the pier at least an hour before the all aboard time and sometimes longer. 
 

I hope someone on CC will post the name of the operator so that nobody else books with them.  I’ve found that conscientious tour guides always have a plan B. On one tour on South America I had arranged for a small group, the guide got a phone call when we were on the way back to the ship.  Another guide working for a different company was calling as their van had blown a tire.  Our guide asked if we would be willing to pick up those passengers, rather than them cutting it very close while they changed the tire.  We of course welcomed our fellow guests-and as I recall, our new friends insisted on paying the tips to the guide for all of us. 

[Island2Dweller]

5 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

The Viking schedule shows us departing from Greenwich

Greenwich.  See this link

https://server1.pla.co.uk/Travel/Cruise-Ship-Diary/Cruise-Ship-Diary

[Pushka]

41 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

 

Seems to me this is either the tour operators fault or the guests for not giving them the correct all aboard time (with a margin for error). I’m a big proponent of independent excursions and have never in all our cruising had an issue-but we always tell the operator we want to be back to the pier at least an hour before the all aboard time and sometimes longer. 
 

I hope someone on CC will post the name of the operator so that nobody else books with them.  I’ve found that conscientious tour guides always have a plan B. On one tour on South America I had arranged for a small group, the guide got a phone call when we were on the way back to the ship.  Another guide working for a different company was calling as their van had blown a tire.  Our guide asked if we would be willing to pick up those passengers, rather than them cutting it very close while they changed the tire.  We of course welcomed our fellow guests-and as I recall, our new friends insisted on paying the tips to the guide for all of us. 

The complication is the ship tender. Thats relevant but we don't know how late they arrived for the last one. It worries me when cruise lines do this at quite remote locations, leaving people with unknown credit availability for flights and accommodation etc. 

[dottythecat]

8 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Cruise Mapper is a 3rd party website that frequently provides erroneous information. If you don't believe the cruise line's information, may I suggest checking the Port of London website.

Thanks, Heidi13. We received docs yesterday confirming Greenwich.

 

8 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Cruise Mapper is a 3rd party website that frequently provides erroneous information. If you don't believe the cruise line's information, may I suggest checking the Port of London website.

 

[TayanaLorna]

6 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

 

Seems to me this is either the tour operators fault or the guests for not giving them the correct all aboard time (with a margin for error). I’m a big proponent of independent excursions and have never in all our cruising had an issue-but we always tell the operator we want to be back to the pier at least an hour before the all aboard time and sometimes longer. 
 

I hope someone on CC will post the name of the operator so that nobody else books with them.  I’ve found that conscientious tour guides always have a plan B. On one tour on South America I had arranged for a small group, the guide got a phone call when we were on the way back to the ship.  Another guide working for a different company was calling as their van had blown a tire.  Our guide asked if we would be willing to pick up those passengers, rather than them cutting it very close while they changed the tire.  We of course welcomed our fellow guests-and as I recall, our new friends insisted on paying the tips to the guide for all of us. 

I agree.  I was nervous arranging mostly private tours on our Round Cape Horn cruise.  On one tour when Viking cut the stop short due to weather, our guide in the Falklands got a radio call from home base telling him to head back immediately because Viking was calling all excursions back.  On another tour to the remote Peninsula Valdes area, we were happy to learn that the company had a free roaming van on the Peninsula whose sole job was to get guests back in case their vehicle had trouble.  It is the guests responsibility to return to ship on time as well as question the tour operator they choose.

[Twitchly]

On 4/1/2024 at 9:20 PM, LindaS272 said:

Just had to click on this story today on CNN since it involved a cruise ship off Africa. So it could be worse than not making it through the Suez Canal!

 

https://www.cnn.com/travel/norwegian-cruise-passengers-stranded-africa/index.html

 

 

Gack. What a mess. 
 

Reading things like this makes me realize my days of traveling for enjoyment in countries with crappy health care are over. (No insult intended to the places mentioned in this article, which may have sterling hospitals for all I know. Long ago when I lived in Africa, such was not the case.)

[Tango_01]

Interesting to see that while most cruise ships have diverted and going around Africa, the Crystal Symphony and Le Champlain went through the Bab Al-Mandab strait and are now sailing in the Red Sea (according to Marine Traffic). I wonder why they made such a decision...

Edited April 3 by Tango_01

[Penspack]

Fyi. At the Coffee Chat this morning, Verity read a letter from Bruce. I have attached a copy of the letter for those interested.

 

[UWDawg]

On 3/12/2024 at 6:25 PM, Kountess said:

Has anyone scanned the excursion descriptions for the remaining ports?  Future world cruisers are curious!

I finally got around to cleaning up my scan of the 2nd leg of the African deviation itinerary.  Please see attached file, which I augmented with some recent additions of Leisurely Pace versions of some included excursions 
 

AFRICA & EUROPE 2 

 

**Walvis Bay, NAMIBIA - April 11th

NAWAL02 - Moon Landscape & Sighting of the Welwitschia Plant [D, 4 hr]
NAWAL03 - Dunes Meet Atlantic Ocean  [D, 7 hr]
NAWAL04 - Scenic Flight Over the Namib Desert*  [E, 4 hr]
M2NAWALO5 - Walvis Bay Lagoon Cruise  [M, 4 hr]
NAWAL07- Swakopmund Explorer [M, 3 hr, Included]
NAWAL13 - Kayak & Cruise at Pelican Point  [D, 4½ hr]
NAWAL14 - Nature, History & Artisan Tastings [M, 4½ hr]

 

**Dakar, SENEGAL- April 19th

SNDAK01 - The City of Dakar  [E, 4 hr, Included]
SNDAK02 - Gorée Island On Foot  [D, 4 hr]
SNDAK03 - Joal-Fadiouth  [M, 8 hr]
SNDAK04 - Lake Retba by 4×4 [M, 5 hr]
SNDAK05 - Bandia Reserve Safari
 [M, 5 hr]
SNDAK06 - Village Visit with Folklore Performance * [E, 4 hr]
SNDAK07 - Highlights of Dakar
  [D, 8 hr]

 

**Santa Cruz de Tenerife, SPAIN - April 22nd

ESSCTO1 - Impressions of Tenerife [M, 4½ hr, Included]
ESSCT02 - Teide National Park [M, 4½ hr]
ESSCTO3 - Santa Cruz Highlights On Foot [D, 3½ hr]
ESSCT04 - Tenerife & Masca Off-Road Excursion  [M, 8 hr]
ESSCTO5 - Panoramic Northern Tenerife  [E, 4½ hr]
ESSCT06 - Whale Watching & Swim  [M, 5 hr]
ESSCTO8 - Pyramids & Esperanza Forest  [M, 4½ hr]

 

**Agadir, MOROCCO - April 23rd

MAAGA05 - Marrakesh Overland * [M, 3 Days]
o    Panoramic drive through Agadir and along foothills of Atlas Mountains to Marrakesh.
o    Day of guided tours of Marrakesh
o    Drive to Casablanca with panoramic tour of Casablanca
o    2 nights in Marakesh

 

** Agadir, MOROCCO - April 24th

MAAGA01 - Postcards From Agadir [M, 4 hr, Included]
MAAGA01E - Leisurely Pace Postcards From Agadir [M, 4 hr, Included]
MAAGA02 - From the Atlas Mountains to the Shore [M, 5 hr]
MAAGA03 - The Moroccan Hammam*  [E, 3 hr]
MAAGA04 - A Taste of Morocco  [E, 4 hr]

 

** Casablanca, MOROCCO - April 25th

MACAS01 - Casablanca: City of White  [M, 3 hr, Included]
MACAS03 - Religious Coexistence in Morocco: An Inside View [M, 5½ hr]
MACAS04 - El Jadida Portugese Fortress Town  [D, 6 hr]
MACAS06 - Imperial City of Rabat & Panoramic Casablanca [M, 7½ hr]
MACAS07 - Casablanca & Its Grand Mosque [M, 3½ hr]
MACAS08- Moroccan Cooking Class* [E, 6 hr]
MACAS09 - Casablanca Walking Tour & Rick's Café [M, 3 hr]
MACAS10 - Hassan Il Mosque & Moroccan Calligraphy [M, 4 hr]

 

** Tangier, MOROCCO - April 26th

MATNG01 - Snapshots of Tangier  [M, 3 hr, Included]
MATNG01E - Leisurely Pace Snapshots of Tangier  [M, 3 hr, Included]
MATNG02 - Best of Tangier
 [M, 5½ hr]
MATNG03- Artistic Asilah [M, 5 hr]
MATNG04- Tetouan Highlights
  [M, 5½ hr]
MATNG05 - Panoramic Tangier & Tetouan [M, 7½ hr]
MATNG07 - Historic American Legislation  [M, 4 hr]
MATNG08 - Moroccan Cooking Experience [M, 4 hr]

 

** Lisbon, PORTUGAL- April 27th & April 28th

Due to the itinerary change and an extra overnight, we will be publishing the tours first week of April. Please note, that your original bookings will be honored on either of the dates.

 

**Lisbon, Portugal - April 27th & April 28th
City Walk & Funicular Ride [D, 4 ½ hr]
Queluz Palace, Sintra & Seaside Vistas [M, 5 hr]
Holy Fatima [M, 7 ½ hr]
Lisbon Tram Ride [E, 4 hr]
Lisbon City Drive [E, 4 hr, Included]
Medieval Óbidos [M, 4 ½ hr]
The UNESCO Sites of Lisbon [M, 3 hr]
A Culinary Tour by Tuk-Tuk [E, 3 hr]
A Musical Evening of Fado & Tapas [E, 2 ¾ hr]
 

** Leixes (Porto), PORTUGAL - April 29th

PTOP001 - Porto by Foot [E, 3½ hr, Included]
PTOP001E - Leisurely Pace Porto by Foot [E, 3½ hr, Included]
PTOP002 - Braga & Guimarães Exploration
 [M, 4½ hr]
PTOPO03 - The Best of Porto: Fado, Vistas & More
 [E, 5 hr]
PTOP006 - The Art of Filigree*
 [E, 4 hr]
PTOP007 - Quinta da Aveleda Winery
 [M, 3½ hr]
PTOP008 - Historic Coimbra & Aveiro
 [M, 6½ hr]
PTOP009- A Tram Ride into the Past *
 [E, 3½ hr]

 

** A Coruña, SPAIN - April 30th

ESLACO1 - A Coruña & the Old Town [E, 3 hr, Included]
ESLAC05 - Hercules Bike Tour *
 [D, 2 hr]
ESLAC06- A Coruña Estuary
 [M, 5 hr]
ESLACO7 - A Day in Santiago de Compostela 
 [M, 7 hr]
ESLACO8 - Santiago de Compostela & Cathedral Rooftop *
[M, 7½ hr]
ESLAC09 - Panoramic Costa da Morte & Cape Finisterre 
[E, 7½ hr]
ESLAC12 - A Coruña by Foot
 [M, 2½ hr]
ESLAC14 - Panoramic A Coruña & Betanzos 
 [M, 4½ hr]

 

** Cherbourg, FRANCE - May 2nd

FRCHG02 - Gardens of Normandy
 [M, 4½ hr]
FRCHG03 - Cap de la Hague
 [M, 4¼ hr]
FRCHG06 - Mont Saint-Michel
 [D, 10 hr]
FRCHG08 - Bayeux Cathedral & Tapestry
 [M, 6½ hr]
FRCHG09 - Norman Spirits & More
 [M, 4¼ hr]
FRCH611 - Cherbourg on Foot [M, 3 hr, Included]
FRCH611E - Leisurely Pace Cherbourg on Foot [M, 3 hr, Included]
FRCHG12 - Sainte-Mère-Église & Utah Beach [M, 4 hr, Included]
FRCHG14 - Tales of Cap de Carteret Lighthouse*
 [M, 4 hr]

Please note, your pre-voyage shore excursions bookings for listed ports below, will remain as your original bookings.

Honfleur, FRANCE - May 2nd
Dover (Canterbury), ENGLAND - May 4th
Greenwich (London), ENGLAND - May 5th

 

However, the following additional excursions have been added:
Leisurely Pace Explore the Medieval Town of Honfleur [E, 3 hr, Included]
Leisurely Pace Historic Canterbury [M, 3½ hr, Included]
Leisurely Pace Royal Greenwich by Foot [M, 1½ hr, Included]

Africa and Europe 2 - Description Summary.docx Lisbon Excursions Summary.docx

[cruising denise]

Just wanted to bid farewell to my Viking Sky traveling partners, some of whom I have been in communication with since fall of 2022 (when we booked this adventure!).  @Penspack  Debbie:  you know who I'm talking about!!!

 

Eddie and I are disembarking in Cape Town on April 8th, where we will spend five days exploring, then heading home on April 13th.  

 

Although we have made this decision and feel confident it is the right one for us given our own situation, those of you who stay on will have a wonderful adventure ahead of you and I will be following these posts to see what happens!  

 

It is bittersweet, this saying goodbye after embarking on Dec 20th, which right now seems eons ago!  To those of you who we first met in person in Ft Lauderdale prior to embarking - we have a special connection, and to those of you who embarked in LA, it has been an amazing journey.  Despite the missed ports and changed itinerary, in the end, it has been incredible, and we have been places, met people (passengers, crew and residents of the many ports we've visited) and seen things we never in our lives would have seen otherwise.  We are truly blessed to have undertaken this journey, and don't regret it for a second.  

 

Thank you to all who have shared this with us, who have helped make our adventure more fun and enriching, and Godspeed for fair winds and great adventures ahead of you.  You will always be in our memories.  

[Kountess]

12 hours ago, UWDawg said:

I finally got around to cleaning up my scan of the 2nd leg of the African deviation itinerary.  Please see attached file, which I augmented with some recent additions of Leisurely Pace versions of some included excursions 

Thank you so much for doing this.  Having access to the list of excursions ahead of time will certainly help in planning for our World Cruise.  Of course, nothing has been announced yet as far as a revised itinerary, but I'm just guessing our itinerary will match yours.

[Clay Clayton]

2 hours ago, cruising denise said:

Just wanted to bid farewell to my Viking Sky traveling partners, some of whom I have been in communication with since fall of 2022 (when we booked this adventure!).  @Penspack  Debbie:  you know who I'm talking about!!!

 

Eddie and I are disembarking in Cape Town on April 8th, where we will spend five days exploring, then heading home on April 13th.  

 

Although we have made this decision and feel confident it is the right one for us given our own situation, those of you who stay on will have a wonderful adventure ahead of you and I will be following these posts to see what happens!  

 

It is bittersweet, this saying goodbye after embarking on Dec 20th, which right now seems eons ago!  To those of you who we first met in person in Ft Lauderdale prior to embarking - we have a special connection, and to those of you who embarked in LA, it has been an amazing journey.  Despite the missed ports and changed itinerary, in the end, it has been incredible, and we have been places, met people (passengers, crew and residents of the many ports we've visited) and seen things we never in our lives would have seen otherwise.  We are truly blessed to have undertaken this journey, and don't regret it for a second.  

 

Thank you to all who have shared this with us, who have helped make our adventure more fun and enriching, and Godspeed for fair winds and great adventures ahead of you.  You will always be in our memories.  

Have a great time!  Thanks for all you did to make this a great journey. 

[Clay Clayton]

Unfortunately we weren’t out back when it happened but Robin and Sam were and captured the most amazing pilot delivery I’ve ever encountered!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5U6gbGophv/?igsh=aDI1cDNpOHQ2bnpw

 

I think I will be outback for sailaway!

[Clay Clayton]

Since I remain dubious that we will actually go to Senegal (Viking hasn’t actually called there in several years) so I asked someone onboard the South Atlantic crossing to share the excursions for Cape Verde. Sharing incase anyone else wants to do some research ahead of time. 

[LindaS272]

7 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Unfortunately we weren’t out back when it happened but Robin and Sam were and captured the most amazing pilot delivery I’ve ever encountered!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5U6gbGophv/?igsh=aDI1cDNpOHQ2bnpw

 

I think I will be outback for sailaway!

No way!!!! 🙀 Shades of March 2019–(#Sky gets everything!) A helicopter over Sky could be triggering for some people—just sayin’!

[Fellini]

Regarding Mindelo, São Vicente, been there 3 time, i suggest do the included tour that it will take you to marvellous view of the island, there s also a 4x4 tour that basically do the same tour as the included, the bus used are school bus. also if you like a nice beach just walk from the ship , just beside the pier is there a nice beach.. a souvenir and typical clothes are located on a square  walking distance too. normally Viking provides a shuttle to city center. people are nice and you feel safe.hope you enjoy.

[Clay Clayton]

Just now, Fellini said:

Regarding Mindelo, São Vicente, been there 3 time, i suggest do the included tour that it will take you to marvellous view of the island, there s also a 4x4 tour that basically do the same tour as the included, the bus used are school bus. also if you like a nice beach just walk from the ship , just beside the pier is there a nice beach.. a souvenir and typical clothes are located on a square  walking distance too. normally Viking provides a shuttle to city center. people are nice and you feel safe.hope you enjoy.

Thanks!  I hope I’m wrong and we don’t end up there but if we do. Your recommendations are most appreciated.  
 

Am I understanding correctly, the included tour is on school buses?  Given we have a heap (and will have more if we don’t get to Dakar) would you think the 4x4 might be a good use of our “funny money?”

[Fellini]

yes , on local old buses, not really that bad, i wouldnt pay the 4x4 unless you are a big person.save your money. 

[Fellini]

cabo verde video.jpg 1.htm

[Fellini]

[Clay Clayton]

Our optional excursion today from was a game drive to Bonamanzi Game Preserve. This park doesn’t have lions so our eyes were peeled for the other four of the “Big Five”-elephant, rhinos, buffalo, and leopard.  Given it was a daytime drive we knew the chance of seeing a leopard were pretty slim. Unfortunately our vehicle was driven by a very knowledgeable guide who wasn’t familiar with the park and his vehicle had issues. I was really hoping to see giraffe and we also knew there were nyala, impala, warthogs, wildebeast and zebra in the preserve. Nobody saw elephants or rhinos but everybody including us saw all of the those. But our group didn’t see any giraffes or buffalo unlike everybody else.  Lunch was tasty but was Very disappointed🤬 when everyone else was sharing their giraffe and buffalo photos. All due to a bad driver.  
 

 

 

 

But on the way back to the ship in the big tour bus, we saw giraffe! #daysaved  Africa exceeds anything you’ve ever heard.

 

[Clay Clayton]

Just now, Fellini said:

yes , on local old buses, not really that bad, i wouldnt pay the 4x4 unless you are a big person.save your money. 

Big (6’-6” and 320 lbs) and it’s “funny money” onboard credit that we have to use!

[deec]

we did 4x4's on both Cape Verde islands we visited and they were good choices from what others said.  This was during a TA 2 years ago.

[Clay Clayton]

Uh-oh. Never seen this announcement before😳