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

[Clay Clayton]

We made it to Los Angeles -boy getting up at 4 am is no fun! Uneventful flight, followed by unexpected upgrade at Hertz to the President’s Circle where we could pick our own, so since it’s a beautiful day here, a convertible it is!  “Animal style” lunch at In-n-Out, nice visit to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House, then a drive up to Griffin Observatory before checking into our free (except for parking) room at Tommy Hollywood courtesy of the annual free night amenity of Mike’s Hyatt Card. Feels good to have our shoes off and relax a bit. Planning on strolling up to Hollywood Blvd for an early dinner after having our complimentary drink at Tommy’s rooftop deck. Then suspect it will be an early bedtime.  

Look forward to boarding tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 5 by Clay Clayton

[Penspack]

25 minutes ago, cruising denise said:

I also have the included highlights but I was in the afternoon one.  Maybe I'll look at changing it...although I don't know if I want to listen to Steve "wining" 😆

It won't be too bad. I always love a little whining when I'm wining....🥳

[aungrl]

45 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

We made it to Los Angeles -boy getting up at 4 am is no fun! Uneventful flight, followed by unexpected upgrade at Hertz to the President’s Circle where we could pick our own, so since it’s a beautiful day here, a convertible it is!  “Animal style” lunch at In-n-Out, nice visit to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House, then a drive up to Griffin Observatory before checking into our free (except for parking) room at Tommy Hollywood courtesy of the annual free night amenity of Mike’s Hyatt Card. Feels good to have our shoes off and relax a bit. Planning on strolling up to Hollywood Blvd for an early dinner after having our complimentary drink at Tommy’s rooftop deck. Then suspect it will be an early bedtime.  

Look forward to boarding tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at those happy happy faces!!  So excited for you guys.  

[millybess]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

We made it to Los Angeles -boy getting up at 4 am is no fun! Uneventful flight, followed by unexpected upgrade at Hertz to the President’s Circle where we could pick our own, so since it’s a beautiful day here, a convertible it is!  “Animal style” lunch at In-n-Out, nice visit to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House, then a drive up to Griffin Observatory before checking into our free (except for parking) room at Tommy Hollywood courtesy of the annual free night amenity of Mike’s Hyatt Card. Feels good to have our shoes off and relax a bit. Planning on strolling up to Hollywood Blvd for an early dinner after having our complimentary drink at Tommy’s rooftop deck. Then suspect it will be an early bedtime.  

Look forward to boarding tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a great start!! 🙂

[PeterPan48]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

We made it to Los Angeles -boy getting up at 4 am is no fun! Uneventful flight, followed by unexpected upgrade at Hertz to the President’s Circle where we could pick our own, so since it’s a beautiful day here, a convertible it is!  “Animal style” lunch at In-n-Out, nice visit to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House, then a drive up to Griffin Observatory before checking into our free (except for parking) room at Tommy Hollywood courtesy of the annual free night amenity of Mike’s Hyatt Card. Feels good to have our shoes off and relax a bit. Planning on strolling up to Hollywood Blvd for an early dinner after having our complimentary drink at Tommy’s rooftop deck. Then suspect it will be an early bedtime.  

Look forward to boarding tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love it!

[janetcbl]

2 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

We made it to Los Angeles -boy getting up at 4 am is no fun! Uneventful flight, followed by unexpected upgrade at Hertz to the President’s Circle where we could pick our own, so since it’s a beautiful day here, a convertible it is!  “Animal style” lunch at In-n-Out, nice visit to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House, then a drive up to Griffin Observatory before checking into our free (except for parking) room at Tommy Hollywood courtesy of the annual free night amenity of Mike’s Hyatt Card. Feels good to have our shoes off and relax a bit. Planning on strolling up to Hollywood Blvd for an early dinner after having our complimentary drink at Tommy’s rooftop deck. Then suspect it will be an early bedtime.  

Look forward to boarding tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy! Viking is still terrific, but no pistachios buns, at least on the Mars ( I checked).

[Penspack]

3 hours ago, Penspack said:

We have the 8:40 included Santa Barbara highlights and planned on going to the Funk Zone area and doing the Urban Wine trail afterwards. Debby is not going to pass up a wine trail, and I'll be whining about it 😄...

I wasn't explicit, just to be clear, anyone interested may join us ...

Edited January 6 by Penspack

[DogSaysStayHome]

Curious to know the time of arrival/departure for LA. Our 24/25 itinerary has us in port for 4 hours, which is clearly wrong. We live 30 min from the San Pedro port, so are wondering how much time we have to visit friends and family.

[SantaFe1]

2 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

then a drive up to Griffin Observatory

These pictures make me so homesick.  My office overlooked both the Hollywood sign and the observatory.  I was glad to retire 11 years ago, but I miss my home.  

[Penspack]

4 hours ago, DogSaysStayHome said:

Curious to know the time of arrival/departure for LA. Our 24/25 itinerary has us in port for 4 hours, which is clearly wrong. We live 30 min from the San Pedro port, so are wondering how much time we have to visit friends and family.

We are scheduled to arrive at 5am with back on board at 11pm. I don't think we can disembark until around 10am as we must do customs and immigration. Everyone is scheduled to be off ship by 10:30 am.

[cruising denise]

13 hours ago, Penspack said:

I wasn't explicit, just to be clear, anyone interested may join us ...

Assuming the forecasted high winds are not enough to keep us from Santa Barbara, I will look to connect with you.  Who else on board is interested?  Steve and Debby, what time does your excursion get over?

[Clay Clayton]

Welcome to Los Angeles! Don’t leave without us!

[Pappri]

FYI - guest services says Torsten Hagen is going to be at the get together by the pool this evening  

[Azulann]

2 minutes ago, Pappri said:

FYI - guest services says Torsten Hagen is going to be at the get together by the pool this evening  

That is pretty cool ! It will a nice send off to the world cruisers . Do you overnight in LA before leaving port ? 

[Pappri]

15 minutes ago, Azulann said:

That is pretty cool ! It will a nice send off to the world cruisers . Do you overnight in LA before leaving port ? 

We leave at midnight 

[CatalinaUK]

Thank you Clay for the glimpse at the FLW house. Another bucket list item added!

[Clay Clayton]

5 minutes ago, CatalinaUK said:

Thank you Clay for the glimpse at the FLW house. Another bucket list item added!

Talk to me about other FLW houses if you need more for your list. 

[CatalinaUK]

2 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Talk to me about other FLW houses if you need more for your list. 

I'm in the UK, so *any* FLW house will do, honestly. I can always repay you in Charles Rennie Mackintosh tips!

[Jim Avery]

15 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Talk to me about other FLW houses if you need more for your list. 

You have probably been to PHX then if you love FLW.  Taliesin West is pretty amazing.  Wish I could afford one of his houses...

[cruising denise]

Welcome aboard!!!!!  We are loving the trip so far.  Very excited to meet Torstein and Karine Hagen.  No Finse, though.

 

There is already group of "usuals" who gather at the Explorer's Lounge somewhere in the 8-9:00 timeframe.  To all you LA embarkees, come on up and join us if you like.  If not, see you soon!

[FortWorthCruiser]

26 minutes ago, cruising denise said:

Welcome aboard!!!!!  We are loving the trip so far.  Very excited to meet Torstein and Karine Hagen.  No Finse, though.

 

There is already group of "usuals" who gather at the Explorer's Lounge somewhere in the 8-9:00 timeframe.  To all you LA embarkees, come on up and join us if you like.  If not, see you soon!

Denise - Ernie & I are at LAX; looking forward to boarding the Sky this afternoon. We’ll look for you this evening in the Explorer’s Lounge. Can’t wait to meet you in person!

[Clay Clayton]

We are aboard!  After an easy drive from Hollywood to San Pedro with the top down but the heater and heated seats blasting, we had breakfast at the Happy Diner.  We shared an “Aztec Omelette” and a short stack of pancakes. The omelette had napales and carnitas with guacamole-it was yummy!  We then dropped off luggage at the ship, gassed up and returned the car to Hertz.  We then walked the 1.7 miles to the ship along the harbor.  It’s nice to be back aboard a Viking ship and we can’t believe how lucky we are for it to be our home for the next four months!😀

[FetaCheese]

Curious to know how many total pax onboard WC? 

Thanks 

Edited January 6 by FetaCheese

[Twitchly]

Living the dream! (Vicariously for some of us.)

[LindaS272]

4 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

Curious to know how many total pax onboard WC? 

Thanks 

Checked the website yesterday. Sky was sold out; Neptune had 3 DV2 cabins still available.