JDincalif

Viking Sky, March 2019. Passengers and crew that we observed were calm and orderly during the report to muster stations. 

14 hours ago, babs711 said:

Great to know the departure time,

Just wondering how wide the path of totality is.  Thinking we could sail out of it and not get the 100% view.

 

According to this table the path of totality around Isafjordur will be roughly 300km/186 miles wide.

25 minutes ago, May B said:

Let’s see if there’s a roll call thread!

Thanks for starting it! ☺️ 

23 minutes ago, May B said:

And you know what? I was so excited to look for this cruise, I forgot how they show up, with the reverse itinerary being grouped with the one in the other direction.

 

Does that make any sense? I hope so, and I am so excited b/c I also booked it! Next stop, convincing Mr B this is a good idea.

 

 

Looking forward to sharing the excitement and to meeting you in 2026.

20 minutes ago, May B said:

Why wouldn’t it be available from out in the ocean?

No worries...it will be, sky conditions permitting

4 minutes ago, babs711 said:

Great to know the departure time,

Just wondering how wide the path of totality is.  Thinking we could sail out of it and not get the 100% view.

 

Lots of good information out there

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/iceland/isafjordur?iso=20260812

Just now, May B said:

Why wouldn’t it be available from out in the ocean?

Eclipse data shows totality around 5:44pm, ship is scheduled to depart at 7:00pm 

3 minutes ago, May B said:

 

Pardon me for being dense. I can’t find this cruise! Can you give me a hint by posting the ship?

It's the Viking Vela. Initially we didn't see it on desktop computer but in mobile, but it's on both now.

1 hour ago, babs711 said:

Viking’s ocean cruise starting in New York on August 3, 2026 going to Canada, Greenland, 

and Iceland is in Isafjordur on August 12. In the path of totality…

Wow - thanks so much! We have just booked that cruise.

3 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

The path goes through areas of Iceland, Greenland, and Spain - among a few other areas. Unfortunately the weather and chances of visibility could play a significant factor at most of the locations the way I'm reading. Princess passengers got to see the recent total eclipse near the start of the path in Mexico.

We've also been eyeing the 2027 eclipse with its trajectory over the ports of southern Spain with totality in the morning rather than closer to sunset. That would seem to be a perfect opportunity for a cruise line to feature eclipse-related activities.

22 hours ago, mwike said:

We have a Windstar trip booked and did so mainly to try out a smaller ship.  Quieter restaurants???, smaller/different ports, more private spaces on deck???, cozier feel...

Fewer passengers is its own pleasure.

Smaller ships can have a cozier feel.

Specific ship allocation of public space is a big determinant in whether venues felt crowded. On the Windstar ships, we found the main dining rooms to have comfortable spacing between tables, but even with smaller capacity than larger ships the main dining room volume could get pretty loud at peak times. In the buffet areas there seemed to be less space between tables, so even at less busy times it had a more crowded feel. 

16 minutes ago, JDincalif said:

We didn't 'leave' Viking; we choose cruises based on interesting itineraries rather than limiting our selections to specific cruise lines.

Our most recent Viking cruise was in May 2022 when Viking faced the same post-COVID industrywide challenges affecting all cruise lines, yet continued to provide us with a better overall experience.

We will give Windstar one specific point: the open bridge and the friendliness and willingness of the officers who offered to take photos of us there and at the ship's bow.

17 minutes ago, rjp50 said:

...what were the reasons for leaving Viking in favor of Windstar?  Secondly, is it possible that the Viking experiences were pre-Covid versus post-Covid for Windstar?... Is it possible that this could this be a reason for your observations?

We didn't 'leave' Viking; we choose cruises based on interesting itineraries rather than limiting our selections to specific cruise lines.

Our most recent Viking cruise was in May 2022 when Viking faced the same post-COVID industrywide challenges affecting all cruise lines, yet continued to provide us with a better overall experience.

We've had two recent Windstar voyages and two previous Viking Ocean voyages. Windstar was adequate but in our experience Viking has provided a superior product across the board.

On 4/3/2024 at 9:06 AM, riversights said:

Mutatis mutandis, we've settled on the 28-in. wheeled trunk and one suitcase of lesser dimensions.  Cumulative conversation contributed to our peace of mind (hard to come by in 2024).

We've found that our 28" Briggs&Riley cases have been slightly too large/deep, even unzipped and opened, to fit under beds in Oceania R class OV cabins. Cabin attendants will such store bags at your request until you need them again.

10 hours ago, kbconthemove said:

The only reason I would consider this cruise is the 5 days in NZ ports

Our NZ-SYD cruise out of Auckland had to skip something like four out of seven ports due to severe weather. So if seeing NZ is a high priority, it's best to consider more of a land tour than a cruise 

57 minutes ago, kittycrews said:

To all (especially j & d) very fond memories of Sky, Mars, and Viking. No regrets and we sail often.

The best part of our unexpected cruise extension was dinner with you and M. Warm wishes to you both

51 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

I have Chaney Kwak's book - most interesting. Often considered not keeping it but probably will for sentimental purposes.

At the very least, we appreciated his 'timestamp' chronology, since in all the chaos we really lost track of elapsed time - it seemed endless, punctuated by moments of sheer terror.

We also discovered that we and the author were in the same small atrium group under the protective wing of the cabaret singer, although we didn't meet him at the time because we were too traumatized and exhausted to do much more than cling to each other. So his account of those hours, particularly, gave more specific structure to the memory of our experience.

7 minutes ago, Haworth said:

Just catching up with this thread, it did.

I had to go back into our cabin as we came in, it was very emotional

Apologies, I have no idea why they are upside down, OK on my PC

Good to hear from you, Haworth. We've been thinking of you and hope that you're doing well.

2 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

That must have been an amazing and emotional moment for all who stayed on board! I'm sure I would have been brought to tears.

It did...and it still does.

On this fifth anniversary of the Viking Sky near-disaster, we raise a glass to all here who 'survived', to those on this board who helped us understand what happened especially with interpreting the final report, to those who kept the ship from destruction, to our rescuers, to Viking and others for their response to our needs, and to the astonishing volunteer spirit of the Norwegian people who provided food, medical aid, shelter, comfort and who cheered wildly as the Sky reached Molde.

Our warmest thoughts are with all of you today.

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

To summarise, personally, I never considered staying in port as 1 of the potential options options, as it was the default, if no option was deemed acceptable.

The 'thanks' button is woefully inadequate to express our gratitude for your thorough (*and* comprehensible!) explanation. Your professional expertise and experience, along with that of chengkp75, have been a gift to us here.

On 2/5/2024 at 8:21 AM, ORV said:

...all I care is whether or not I like it.

*This* is *the* answer.

1 minute ago, clo said:

Oh, wow. Lucky you. And I mean that.

We know it. We came out of that evening feeling as good as if we'd been sipping wine right along with him.

21 hours ago, clo said:

And I always enjoyed any shows I saw him in.

Pepin's association with the cruise line definitely influenced our initial choice to sail on Oceania. 

We were fortunate to see him live in conversation with a food/wine writer at the Fairmont SF, part of the Commonwealth Club lecture series. His relaxed warmth and wit were even more defined in person. And both he and the moderator carried on the chat while sipping red wine.