planetarium on jupiter?

[CCWineLover]

We are with OneSixtyToOne on the Jupiter now cruising W.Europe's coast.  I also was quite curious about the planetarium or Exploration Dome, as Viking calls it.  We attended our first show a few days ago, called "Hidden Universe" and are going to see the "Aurora Lights" show soon.   I took some pictures of the theatre and the ramifications to the Explorer's Lounge on Deck 8 and will post them shortly.   Our experience was also not bad, although perhaps since we came in with tempered expectations.  The film was a 3-D film and we were handed 3-D glasses to watch it.  Per advice from others, we sat in the very back row.  It holds 26 people, with 3 rows of 4-aisle-4 and 2 singleton seats on row 4.  Seats are quite comfortable but you do have to tilt your head back a bit to see the dome and the show.  They did a short 3-D test to then query if anyone had motion sickness so they could leave if so.  The film itself was good, although not sensational.

Hearing about our resident astronomer doing an impromptu show is quite encouraging, because 1. it means perhaps he will do it again this cruise since he has another lecture   and 2. perhaps Viking will go outside the box and use if for things other than the canned 3 films they have to show.

[CCWineLover]

I should mention that you need to get tickets to the "included" shows.  They are cards just like the Excursion cards and you get them from the Excursion desk.  Hopefully these pictures will give people an idea of what it is like.  There is no doubt that the "dome" takes up quite a bit of space in the deck 8 of the Explorers' Lounge, but there are still 2 side small rooms now to sit and read.  The opening to the Dome is at the front on Deck 8, as the door slides open and you enter.

 

[CCWineLover]

Pictures of the Viking Jupiter Dome Inside and the Changed Deck 8 Explorer's Lounge.

 

[cocopico]

And another follow up to our experience, which I think I posted in my cruise review, is that you should plan to get to the theater about 15 minutes early if you want to get the "coveted" seats toward the back of the theater.  Our experience for all three films was that some folks were lined up when we arrived even 10 minutes early.  Also, reserve your tickets early because as it gets later in the cruise, the tickets are gone.  Finally, and as a courtesy to your fellow passengers, if you have tickets but change your plans, please cancel so that others can see the show.  We went to one show that was listed as "sold out" but there were four empty seats, presumably from no-shows.  

[CCWineLover]

3 hours ago, cocopico said:

And another follow up to our experience, which I think I posted in my cruise review, is that you should plan to get to the theater about 15 minutes early if you want to get the "coveted" seats toward the back of the theater.  Our experience for all three films was that some folks were lined up when we arrived even 10 minutes early.  Also, reserve your tickets early because as it gets later in the cruise, the tickets are gone.  Finally, and as a courtesy to your fellow passengers, if you have tickets but change your plans, please cancel so that others can see the show.  We went to one show that was listed as "sold out" but there were four empty seats, presumably from no-shows.  

 

Good points.  I will say that this week on Jupiter we were up on Deck 8 Explorer's Lounge 15-20 minutes ahead of time twice and there was a decent group of people waiting around.  The only reason we were first in the door was because people thought the door was the door around the side (which goes to the 8th deck rooms) instead of at the front.

On our first visit, we sat in the 2 single seats in row 4.  The seats are so very comfortable - and the dome was not over airconditioned.   The 2nd time, we sat in row 3.  I do still feel that the seats needed to be reclined further and/or the headrests allowed to move backwards, as it was a bit difficult to maintain looking upwards throughout the two shows.  

I certainly hope that Viking will indeed use this for more than just the films and purposely involve the astronomers on board on future cruises.

[zitsky]

Do only the Jupiter and Orion have these shows?  I thought all Viking ocean ships were the same?  Why would they lock the door?

 

How long are the shows? 

Edited May 1, 2019 by zitsky

[OneSixtyToOne]

50 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Do only the Jupiter and Orion have these shows?  I thought all Viking ocean ships were the same?  Why would they lock the door?

 

How long are the shows? 

The ships are mostly identical but they have added the planetarium to the last two ships built, Orion and Jupiter.

 

The shows are 45 minutes long. 

 

The room is circular and there is a sliding circular wall that closes to keep out external light as well as to prevent anyone from entering during a presentation. There is an emergency exit in the back. Also, the interior walls are covered with anechoic  material to improve sound quality.

[Clay Clayton]

18 hours ago, zitsky said:

 I thought all Viking ocean ships were the same?  

There at minor differences between the ships-an evolution of you will. The first ships built have outdoor exercise equipment on one of the upper decks, while later ones do not. Similarly, the bathroom floors on the  first ships built don’t offer inroom control of the temperature while I understand on later ships this has been added.  Also, I believe the closets in the new ships include some drawers. 

[deec]

the gym is larger from the SKY on....less room for the beauty salon...good move Viking!

There are drawer in the v and DV rooms in 1/2 of the closet from SUN on....good addition Viking!

As mentioned being able to adjust the bathroom heated floor yourself is a welcome evolution.

 

 

[zitsky]

5 minutes ago, deec said:

the gym is larger from the SKY on....less room for the beauty salon...good move Viking!

There are drawer in the v and DV rooms in 1/2 of the closet from SUN on....good addition Viking!

As mentioned being able to adjust the bathroom heated floor yourself is a welcome evolution.

 

 

 

When you say from the Sky on... obviously you are talking about the newer ships.  Is there a list of Viking Ocean ships in order of their sailing date?  I'm on the Star which I believe is one of the older ships, relatively speaking.

[Little Monty]

5 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

When you say from the Sky on... obviously you are talking about the newer ships.  Is there a list of Viking Ocean ships in order of their sailing date?  I'm on the Star which I believe is one of the older ships, relatively speaking.

 

In order - Star, Sea, Sky, Sun, Orion, Jupiter. Star started carrying passengers in 2015 and the others followed.

 

On Orion and Jupiter there is also the addition of a pasta bar - I have cut / pasted my message from January below which includes a photo (I hope it works - if not I will come back and add separately).

 

 

 

[moatenote]

13 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

When you say from the Sky on... obviously you are talking about the newer ships.  Is there a list of Viking Ocean ships in order of their sailing date?  I'm on the Star which I believe is one of the older ships, relatively speaking.

Here's the list of ships and the year they were made:

Star  2015

Sea  2016

Sky   2017

Sun   2017

Orion   2018

Jupiter 2019

[zitsky]

Thanks to both of you.  Just my luck I get the oldest one.  I guess they are mostly the same.....

[moatenote]

1 minute ago, zitsky said:

Thanks to both of you.  Just my luck I get the oldest one.  I guess they are mostly the same.....

LOL We've been on 3 Viking Ocean cruises and all were on the Star.  Our next one in July is on the Jupiter--can't wait to compare ships. Will definitely post a review of our cruise--British Isles.

[Little Monty]

6 minutes ago, moatenote said:

LOL We've been on 3 Viking Ocean cruises and all were on the Star.  Our next one in July is on the Jupiter--can't wait to compare ships. Will definitely post a review of our cruise--British Isles.

 

9 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Thanks to both of you.  Just my luck I get the oldest one.  I guess they are mostly the same.....

 

We have been on Star in 2017 and Orion in Dec 2018 / Jan 2019.

 

We board Sky in Bergen May and Star in Venice in June and will do the comparisons as well and will report back. Star is still a 'new' ship in our eyes so we hope there won't be any signs of wear and tear.

 

I don't think we will notice much change - we will just be happy to be on-board 😀

 

 

Edited May 3, 2019 by Little Monty
error

[deec]

If I were picking a SHIP not a destination I would do SUN....larger gym, drawers in closet in V and DV cabins, and the larger Explorer Lounge 2nd level and no planetarium that reportedly takes up space.  But our choice of a cruise is always destination driven!

 

We were on the Sea last fall and the only wear/tear I saw was some chipped tiles in some areas.  No stains or dirt on upholstery furniture or carpets that I observed.

[CCWineLover]

20 minutes ago, deec said:

If I were picking a SHIP not a destination I would do SUN....larger gym, drawers in closet in V and DV cabins, and the larger Explorer Lounge 2nd level and no planetarium that reportedly takes up space.  But our choice of a cruise is always destination driven!

 

We were on the Sea last fall and the only wear/tear I saw was some chipped tiles in some areas.  No stains or dirt on upholstery furniture or carpets that I observed.

 

Hi deec - looking forward then to being on the Sun in June 2020 for Into the Midnight Sun!  Nice news that they did the drawers in DV cabins for the Sun.  We'll see you there!

That being said, this post is starting to drift from the planetarium topic, so I created a separate one for all the updates that may have occurred from the Star up through the Jupiter.

[CCWineLover]

On 5/3/2019 at 1:26 PM, Little Monty said:

 

 

We have been on Star in 2017 and Orion in Dec 2018 / Jan 2019.

 

We board Sky in Bergen May and Star in Venice in June and will do the comparisons as well and will report back. Star is still a 'new' ship in our eyes so we hope there won't be any signs of wear and tear.

 

I don't think we will notice much change - we will just be happy to be on-board 😀

 

 

 

I agree - all the Viking ships are great (and even the Star is relatively new).  Interesting note - our Captain told us about the various ship schedules in general.  He mentioned that the Star will be going to drydock in 2020 for the mandatory 5 year inspection and possible updates.  We also heard that the Venus is planned to sale in the the Mediterranean in 2021 with some new itineraries involving Turkey, the Holy Land, and Eastern Mediterranean.

You will enjoy the Sky as well.  Let us know if they have retrofitted the drawers in the closets (which were not there when we were on the Sky in Bergen-Stockholm last May)

[Little Monty]

4 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

 

I agree - all the Viking ships are great (and even the Star is relatively new).  Interesting note - our Captain told us about the various ship schedules in general.  He mentioned that the Star will be going to drydock in 2020 for the mandatory 5 year inspection and possible updates.  We also heard that the Venus is planned to sale in the the Mediterranean in 2021 with some new itineraries involving Turkey, the Holy Land, and Eastern Mediterranean.

You will enjoy the Sky as well.  Let us know if they have retrofitted the drawers in the closets (which were not there when we were on the Sky in Bergen-Stockholm last May)

 

Thanks for the update CCWL

We would love to visit Turkey despite the issues which the country has endured. We do look forward to new the itinerary releases you mention.

I will try to post whilst we are on-board - but can I check ...  which staterooms / cabins are the retro-fitted draws likely to be in ? LM

[CCWineLover]

Planetarium Shows - 3 Films.  One in 3-D using the 3-D glasses.   We saw the Universe (45 minutes) and the Aurora (30 minutes in 2D), but did not see the Explorer.

 

[moatenote]

When can you get tickets to the various shows in the planetarium??  And I think I read you can also get them at the Excursion desk or on the Viking App, is that correct??

[CCWineLover]

23 minutes ago, moatenote said:

When can you get tickets to the various shows in the planetarium??  And I think I read you can also get them at the Excursion desk or on the Viking App, is that correct??

You can get tickets at the Excursion desk, subject to availability.  We got ours when we got onboard.  The app purchase had a bug and did not work so you had to get tickets in person.  Note that there is no assigned seating.  I’d suggest you get up to the outside of the dome at least 15-20 minutes ahead of time.  Entrance is just behind the telescope on deck 8.