Saturn's Iceland and Norway's Arctic Explorer-July 19-August 2 LIVEish

[Clay Clayton]

9 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

And a lovely time was had by all!

 

Clay, who did you talk to set this up? How far in advance did you do it?

I did it once onboard and the first days were already booked even though in the past I have been told it can only be done onboard. Perhaps that has changed. Max is 12. 

[Clay Clayton]

Beautiful "sunset" last night after dinner in Manfredi's and amazing scenic sailing today in the inside passage. 

[Geoffa30]

Thanks for the continued updates Clay. Certainly looks like you’re enjoying your trip. Another question if you don’t mind - what are Torshavn’s hours of operation please? I’ve read late night only but the Viking website mentions it’s ideal for pre-dinner drinks. Trying to make a decision on whether to buy the drinks package.

[LindaS272]

2 hours ago, Geoffa30 said:

Thanks for the continued updates Clay. Certainly looks like you’re enjoying your trip. Another question if you don’t mind - what are Torshavn’s hours of operation please? I’ve read late night only but the Viking website mentions it’s ideal for pre-dinner drinks. Trying to make a decision on whether to buy the drinks package.

Torshavn is not open for pre-dinner drinks. You must be thinking of Explorer’s Lounge. And why would you want to have pre-dinner drinks in a nightclub on a cruise ship with no windows? Particularly during the midnight sun at sailaway when there is so much gorgeous scenery?

 

I don’t have a Daily to hand, but I think Torshavn is active after the evening show because the band plays for that and then goes to Torshavn.

Edited July 30, 2023 by LindaS272

[HUNKY]

FYI Torshavn closes at Midnight

[Geoffa30]

45 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

Torshavn is not open for pre-dinner drinks. You must be thinking of Explorer’s Lounge. And why would you want to have pre-dinner drinks in a nightclub on a cruise ship with no windows? Particularly during the midnight sun at sailaway when there is so much gorgeous scenery?

 

I don’t have a Daily to hand, but I think Torshavn is active after the evening show because the band plays for that and then goes to Torshavn.

Thanks for the clarification - seems Viking needs to update the website 🤷‍♂️

 

[sk99]

On 7/29/2023 at 4:11 PM, SVP123 said:

We will also be doing the DIY Arctic Train trip in August.  Can you ask Scott about his trip to the train station from the cruise port.  How far did he have to walk from the shuttle bus stop in town to the train station?  

Tips for Arctic Train: train boarding started very early, like 30-40 minutes before 11:40 departure. Take the left side on your way to Bjørnfell as it is narrated. Also some seats do not have windows. We switched sides on our way back to Narvik.

[Clay Clayton]

3 hours ago, HUNKY said:

FYI Torshavn closes at Midnight

Not all the time.  We have been on cruises where they stayed open as long as people were using it. 

[madmedic]

On 7/22/2023 at 2:33 PM, Clay Clayton said:

Had a visit to the bridge this afternoon. Who knew they still kept a handwritten log book😂

 

There have been a couple of whale sightings but so far I haven't😢

 

We did pretty miserable at Trivia again today. We had no idea what a grouping of Hippos was called😂 Hope we make it into the tie-breaker at least once🤞

Do you have to book a tour of the bridge? Did one on Celebrity once and it cost a fortune.

[CCWineLover]

1 minute ago, madmedic said:

Do you have to book a tour of the bridge? Did one on Celebrity once and it cost a fortune.

On a previous post, Clay said that yes he did book the tour of the bridge.

[madmedic]

1 minute ago, CCWineLover said:

On a previous post, Clay said that yes he did book the tour of the bridge.

 

1 minute ago, CCWineLover said:

On a previous post, Clay said that yes he did book the tour of the bridge.

Sorry must have missed that. 

[LindaS272]

There’s no charge for a bridge tour. 

[Peregrina651]

15 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

There’s no charge for a bridge tour. 

 

And book it on boarding day because they go quickly. 

[Clay Clayton]

2 hours ago, madmedic said:

 

Sorry must have missed that. 

Scroll back, I think I posted pictures.  If ai didn't holler and I will.  Hard for me to scroll with the slow wifi

[Clay Clayton]

8 hours ago, Geoffa30 said:

Thanks for the continued updates Clay. Certainly looks like you’re enjoying your trip. Another question if you don’t mind - what are Torshavn’s hours of operation please? I’ve read late night only but the Viking website mentions it’s ideal for pre-dinner drinks. Trying to make a decision on whether to buy the drinks package.

Here are times for all venues. One is for yesterday when we ported in Narvik and the other is today's sea day schedule.

Edited July 30, 2023 by Clay Clayton

[Clay Clayton]

Sorry I can't seem to delete the first schedule.  I decided after uploading it would be easier to handwrite port and sea day on them rather than trying to tell you which was which.  😝

[Clay Clayton]

Happy to report we have a new "gate" to report. The menu tonight advertised "Scottish Lobster Cocktail," not knowing what a Scottish Lobster was we were excited to try it. Unfortunately it just gave us "Scottish Lobstergate"! 😂

Edited July 30, 2023 by Clay Clayton

[Peregrina651]

4 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Happy to report we have a new "gate" to report. The menu tonight advertised "Scottish Lobster Cocktail," not knowing what a Scottish Lobster was we were excited to try it. Unfortunately it just gave us "Scottish Lobstergate"! 😂

 

Good to see someone has a sense of humor.

[CCWineLover]

Well, Clay, we always appreciate your humor!  You have the best attitude!

Look at it this way:  you are not cooking at home 🙂

 

[Peregrina651]

3 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

you are not cooking at home

 

Just another reason I love cruising.

[Clay Clayton]

Beautiful early morning sail into our penultimate port, Geiranger.  So beautiful and well worth the early alarm!

 

impossible to capture its magnificence photographically. Now I understand why this is one of the most popular ports. 

Edited July 31, 2023 by Clay Clayton

[uktog]

16 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Happy to report we have a new "gate" to report. The menu tonight advertised "Scottish Lobster Cocktail," not knowing what a Scottish Lobster was we were excited to try it. Unfortunately it just gave us "Scottish Lobstergate"! 😂

In Scotland, langoustines are often marketed as Scottish lobsters  Looks like langoustines -were they?  Makes me hungry what ever they we're!

[Clay Clayton]

10 hours ago, uktog said:

In Scotland, langoustines are often marketed as Scottish lobsters  Looks like langoustines -were they?  Makes me hungry what ever they we're!

The same baby shrimp that were in the Norwegian Shrimp Salad at lunch😂

[Clay Clayton]

Had a nice day in Geiranger, but given the natural beauty I don't think it would be possible to have a bad one!

 

Went on the 9am included 3 hour excursion this morning.  Started with a scary drive up (11 switchbacks) to Eagle's Bend where there is a great viewing platform. Unfortunately, it was above the clouds so the view wasn't as nice as it was on the way up.

 

We then drove back down the hairpin road and then up the other side for a beautiful view of the town of Geiranger and its Fjord. Thankfully the clouds lifted a bit. 
 

Last stop on our the included excursion in Geiranger was on the plateau at 1000 meters above sea level at the deepest lake in Norway.  Stunningly beautiful and so warm, much to our surprise. We bought a couple of souvenirs and a delicious piece of carrot cake. 
 

Made it back to "downtown" Geiranger to find Costa Firenze docked at the new articulating floating pier. Town was packed so we didn't spend much time before heading back to the tenders and back to Saturn. Original plan had been to go at least partway up the waterfall stairs but we didn't.  
 

We did stop long enough to get some loca chocolates with interesting flavors:brown cheese, blue cheese, cloudberry, gin&ligonberry, and beer.  Look forward to tasting them with friends in Raleigh....presuming they make it that long😂.

 

After lunch we did laundry (love going home with clean clothes) and read on the balcony looking at the beautiful view of the road up to Eagle Bend. 
 

We enjoyed the sail out of the Fjord on the Aquavit and Viking provide special drinks the color of the water😂.  Just after we left we got the first rain of the entire cruise.  But by the time we had dinner in the dining room the sun was shining again.  We are hoping our weather luck will hold for four more days in Bergen and Oslo but if it doesn't we sure can't complain!

 

It was surf and turf night so Mike and Gary had some tails as a pre-appetizer during the sail-out. We then went to the dining room where Mike asked for a side of a lobster tail with his lamb ( the waiter said he wasn't the only one).  I had asked Angela (our new favorite Restaurant Manager since John isn't sailing anymore) to have a birthday cake for our dinner tonight.  She asked who was celebrating and I told her Mike's three weeks ago and Robert's in three more weeks.  I was so surprise when they brought two cakes!  What's worse, we all had a piece from Mike's, sent Robert's to his room and then ordered the Grand Marnier  soufflé.  OMG, new favorite dessert onboard.  Very very good!  All of us felt like this was the best meal we had on the cruise. My foie gros app was delicious, the baby arugula salad was tasty I'm told, Gary and I both loved our sole, and Mike his lamb. 

 

Just back from the Farewell show and while they got a lot of crew up on stage, they didn't sing the usual farewell song,,,,but of course I can remember what it is. Hopefully one of you will remind me and maybe know why they don't do it anymore?

[depplep]

Simply stunning photos.