Viking Expeditions Thread

[May B]

7 minutes ago, Australia08 said:

Does anyone know if passengers are able to book another cruise while onboard an expedition ship? 

Yes; anyway, we could in the Great Lakes. 

[Australia08]

2 minutes ago, May B said:

Yes; anyway, we could in the Great Lakes. 

Thanks. Was there a certain area of the ship where this was done?

[May B]

1 hour ago, Australia08 said:

Thanks. Was there a certain area of the ship where this was done?

See deck three, midship. It’s called Travel Consultant. 
 

[1985rz1]

2 hours ago, Australia08 said:

Does anyone know if passengers are able to book another cruise while onboard an expedition ship? 

Yes.  We did that on our Octantis cruise in October. 

[pontac]

On 12/11/2022 at 12:39 AM, kjbacon said:

Penguins are huge on my bucket list.

 

You don't have to go to the Antarctic or even board a boat to see penguins. All you need is to go to Cape Town. Penguins come ashore and are a feature of Cape Town's Boulders Beach, and there is a colony with more penguins than can be counted at Betty's Bay, a 90 minute drive from Cape Town.

 

 

 

Pix taken at Betty's Bay.

 

See penguin booklet (capenature.co.za)

Edited December 12, 2022 by pontac

[OneSixtyToOne]

35 minutes ago, pontac said:

You don't have to go to the Antarctic or even board a boat to see penguins

Or just watch the Penguin Cam

[junglejane]

I have friends booked on Octanis 7/7/23 Thunder Bay, Ontario to Milwaukee, WI. They were just notified that: "there have been itinerary adjustments due to expected inclement weather at ports Bayfield, Wisconsin and Houghton, Michigan." McGarvey's Shoal and Silver Islet, Ontario have been substituted. And comments on why that would make that adjustment so far in advance?

[Insanityx4]

Polaris is on the move heading away from the pier. I don't know if they are mooring to make room for another ship or heading back to Ushuaia after repairs. People from the Jupiter posted pictures and reported that the windows had been repaired when they docked in Punta Arenas this morning before Polaris moved away from the pier.

Edited December 12, 2022 by Insanityx4

[May B]

31 minutes ago, junglejane said:

I have friends booked on Octanis 7/7/23 Thunder Bay, Ontario to Milwaukee, WI. They were just notified that: "there have been itinerary adjustments due to expected inclement weather at ports Bayfield, Wisconsin and Houghton, Michigan." McGarvey's Shoal and Silver Islet, Ontario have been substituted. And comments on why that would make that adjustment so far in advance?

Evidently Houghton was cancelled more times than it was visited in 2023.

 

If I’m thinking of the right place, we lived Silver Islet.

[Heartgrove]

21 minutes ago, junglejane said:

I have friends booked on Octanis 7/7/23 Thunder Bay, Ontario to Milwaukee, WI. They were just notified that: "there have been itinerary adjustments due to expected inclement weather at ports Bayfield, Wisconsin and Houghton, Michigan." McGarvey's Shoal and Silver Islet, Ontario have been substituted. And comments on why that would make that adjustment so far in advance?

 

This is strange and I wonder if that is the actual reason? Silver Islet, ON is already on the itinerary.

 

Bayfield has a somewhat protected landing that accomodates the Apostle Island ferry in summer, and to dock at Houghton the Viking Octanis would transit the Keweenaw Waterway. Has Duluth been eliminated as well? If so, they appear to want to hug the Northern Shore of Lake Superior and avoid the "possibility" of rough water. I have said it before, the Great Lakes are not always placid even in summer.

[junglejane]

Day	Original Itinerary	Revised Itinerary
Day 1	Thunder Bay, Ontario	Thunder Bay, Ontario
Day 2	Thunder Bay, Ontario	Thunder Bay, Ontario
Day 3	Duluth, Minnesota	McGarvey's Shoal
Day 4	Bayfield, Wisconsin	Silver Islet, Ontario
Day 5	Houghton, Michigan	Duluth, Minnesota
Day 6	Soo Locks Scenic Transit	Soo Locks Scenic Transit
Day 7	Mackinac Island, Michigan	Mackinac Island, Michigan
Day 8	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Milwaukee, Wisconsin

[Clay Clayton]

For those of you lucky enough to go, thought this article might prove helpful:

https://www.authenticfoodquest.com/ushuaia-eating-at-the-end-of-the-world/

[junglejane]

@Heartgrove @May B Any further thoughts on the itinerary change for the Octanis? I posted the revised itinerary above.

[May B]

Just now, junglejane said:

@Heartgrove @May B Any further thoughts on the itinerary change for the Octanis? I posted the revised itinerary above.

I think they used info of what happened in 2022 to adjust for 2023. And I think they took this long to get it all booked.

 

It’s nothing the guest can control. Have a great time! 

[Heartgrove]

51 minutes ago, junglejane said:

@Heartgrove @May B Any further thoughts on the itinerary change for the Octanis? I posted the revised itinerary above.

 

I am not familiar with the substitutions. It is unfortunate that they have eliminated Bayfield. My DW's son lives nearby in Ashland so we have been there a few times. The Bayfield Peninsula has an artistic community. There is a nice commercial area in town with Madeline Island a short ferry ride nearby. A kayaking excursion to the nearby "Apostle Islands National Lakeshore" would allow kayaking the numerous sea caves. The Bayfield Peninsula has a few attractions for a panoramic drive for the less adventurous including a shipwreck to explore and abundant wildlife.

 

Houghton along with it's sister city Hancock are steeped in copper mining history. The Keweenaw Peninsula receives an extraordinary amount of snow each winter due to it's location. I have only been to Houghton/Hancock once in December. There was three feet of snow on the ground by then and a "yooper" quipped: "Good thing I was up there before it snowed!"

 

I still can't figure out VE's statement about the weather being an issue though.

[Level six]

On 12/12/2022 at 8:26 AM, pontac said:

 

You don't have to go to the Antarctic or even board a boat to see penguins. All you need is to go to Cape Town. Penguins come ashore and are a feature of Cape Town's Boulders Beach, and there is a colony with more penguins than can be counted at Betty's Bay, a 90 minute drive from Cape Town.

 

 

 

Pix taken at Betty's Bay.

 

See penguin booklet (capenature.co.za)

That was one of the funnest things we did while traveling in South Africa!  We spent the whole afternoon there.  Thanks for the memories

[Boatdrill]

On 12/11/2022 at 12:03 PM, Tarwood3 said:

Well, that was a mouthful…but since I was just there , at the same time, I can assure you, that at 1040p…it was not twilight. 

I learned from Heidi13's post about twilight. You ?

[CharTrav]

2 hours ago, Boatdrill said:

I learned from Heidi13's post about twilight. You ?

One of the things I'm in the habit of doing whenever planning for a cruise is to know the sunrise and sunset for each day of the cruise. In planning for our upcoming into the midnight sun I added recording the various kinds of twilight - which days will be really or effectively midnight sun. I find that this site is a great resource not only for the data I seek but also for the definitions of the various twilights - civil, nautical, and astronomical - https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/

And

https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/different-types-twilight.html

[philw1776]

Agree with the preceding. I check that site and long the info day by day for my cruises.

[TayanaLorna]

17 hours ago, CharTrav said:

One of the things I'm in the habit of doing whenever planning for a cruise is to know the sunrise and sunset for each day of the cruise. In planning for our upcoming into the midnight sun I added recording the various kinds of twilight - which days will be really or effectively midnight sun. I find that this site is a great resource not only for the data I seek but also for the definitions of the various twilights - civil, nautical, and astronomical - https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/

And

https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/different-types-twilight.html

Wow someone as detailed as me in preparing for a cruise.

[CharTrav]

21 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

Wow someone as detailed as me in preparing for a cruise.

I should actually credit my husband for this. when we did our first vo cruise viking homelands he asked me to include  sunrise and sunset on my spreadsheet. later when planning for into the midnight sun and wanting to know just how many days would count as midnight sun I learned about twilight (and variants of) and added nautical. 

[Liz Masterson]

From my Marine Traffic App it looks like Polaris is on her way to Greece, probably somewhere to be repaired. 
 

Hope she is ready for passengers again soon. Fair winds and calm seas to her and her crew. 

[Insanityx4]

I believe they left today for their scheduled Antarctic Explorer cruise, according to passengers on board.

[Heidi13]

Just read Seabourn's newest tonnage, the Seabourn Venture, has stabaliser issues, with the stabalisers operating at reduced capacity.

 

Not a safety issue, but definitely a pax comfort issue. Will be interesting to see how Seabourn, who are owned by Carnival, deal with this issue and whether pax are notified in advance.

 

Haven't checked the Seabourn Board, but might be worth checking out. 

[Heidi13]

Just now, Insanityx4 said:

I believe they left today for their scheduled Antarctic Explorer cruise, according to passengers on board.

 

Affirmative, she is probably bound for Fournier Bay