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

[Clay Clayton]

Could never get the photos to load for the above post.  Will try to do so later…

 

Since we won’t be at sea at 3:30, no LCR today.  We will play again on Tuesday Feb 6th unless the Captain changes our port schedule again. 

[Twitchly]

On 1/30/2024 at 2:27 PM, formernuke said:

Intersting, since Viking's stated policy is no visitors (from the MVJ onboard section):

I think it helps to be Clay. If he can get them to make pistachio buns, he can get them to do anything. 🥮

Edited February 1 by Twitchly

[Jim Avery]

Clay, how's the tv issue?  We still get little to no live tv.  Even at the dock.  Wi-fi seems ok but at this price point there should be at least as good tv reception as the mass market lines.....  Hopefully better.  

[Clay Clayton]

16 hours ago, Twitchly said:

I think it helps to be Clay. If he can get them to make pistachio buns, he can get them to do anything. 🥮

Actually, there were many names on the list and I only thought about it after seeing another guest being friends aboard. So, don’t think being me helped in this situation. 

1 hour ago, Jim Avery said:

Clay, how's the tv issue?  We still get little to no live tv.  Even at the dock.  Wi-fi seems ok but at this price point there should be at least as good tv reception as the mass market lines.....  Hopefully better.  

Haven’t turned it in since before Auckland so can’t say-we had Fox, CNBC, MSNBC, HGTV, and some others last time we turned it on. Happy to report it appears we now have fully functioning laundrettes on all decks save 3 which I’m told has one inoperable machine.  There have been reports of folks placing out of order signs on the machines to save them. As @twoleos stated, “there is a special place in hell for them”. 🤬

[Clay Clayton]

On 1/31/2024 at 8:27 AM, Clay Clayton said:

We had a lovely (albeit long and tiring) excursion this afternoon in Auckland.  We road across the Harbour Bridge to the North Shore and stopped first at a beach that looked out away from the CBD towards the ocean. Then we drove through several neighborhoods of various styles of architecture including the original smaller homes called “villas”. It reminded us of old Key West and a little bit of New Orleans.  These neighbors typically were bordered by the ocean on one side and a huge lake on the other. The lake is the crater of the volcano than originally formed this land. We then were driven up Takarunga which is the youngest volcano and the highest peak for photos back towards downtown Auckland and the port.  Following that, we rode the commuter ferry (the North Shore is a huge bedroom community) back to downtown and the port where we reboardes @vikingcruises Sky.  A local Māori group performed for us before dinner and then we had a wonderful dinner on the back deck with the great guitarist/singer Mark serenading us. They had a mussel and shrimp station out back and even the Chefs seemed to be enjoying the change of pace-they even joined in as percussionist with their tongs and spatulas for the last number!  The weather was beautiful as was the scenery of the harbor with a number of sailboats out for a sunset (8:34pm) sail which makes sense as Auckland is known as the City of Sails.  

Here are the photos that wouldn’t upload. 

Edited February 1 by Clay Clayton

[DogSaysStayHome]

45 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Actually, there were many names on the list and I only thought about it after seeing another guest being friends aboard. So, don’t think being me helped in this situation. 

Haven’t turned it in since before Auckland so can’t say-we had Fox, CNBC, MSNBC, HGTV, and some others last time we turned it on. Happy to report it appears we now have fully functioning laundrettes on all decks save 3 which I’m told has one inoperable machine.  There have been reports of folks placing out of order signs on the machines to save them. As @twoleos stated, “there is a special place in hell for them”. 🤬

Think that special place should be just aft of the infinity pool 😉

[Clay Clayton]

Posted in the wrong thread yesterday😳. Here is a link to our afternoon in Rotorua. 
https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2880934-viking-sky-december-20-2023-world-cruise-including-la-jan-6-2024/?do=findComment&comment=66851293

[Clay Clayton]

Our included excursion this morning included a drive through Tauranga (pop.160,000) and then back the way we drove yesterday coming from Roatura.  In Te Puke (ta pukay) we visited one of thousands of kiwi orchards.  Who knew they were a vine? They are grown on stakes and each plant can produce 200 lbs of fruit and all without irrigation!  They plant and trim the windbreaks to protect the vines when they are flowering. This area is called the Bay of Plenty and they produce plenty of kiwis-$6billion a year! Between them and the wood being shipped out of here it makes Tauranga the biggest export center in NZ (and third busiest port overall).
 

After viewing the orchards, we went to a community hall and had morning tea and biscuits while a kiwi expert heralded their benefits-golden ones have 10x more Vitamin C than an orange, lots of fiber, along with all sorts of associated  benefits to our digestive systems. After his talk, a Māori family gave a short performance and then we headed back to the ship…but not before exiting through the gift shop where we got to taste both green and golden. I had hoped I would like them better here but tasted similar to what we get…which makes sense as they are all harvested when they have reached 6%sugar and then kept cold (.5°C) until ready to ship. This is another reason they are such profitable crop.  The only real effort in growing them is them picking and sorting (both by hand) and the pollenating which is done with rented bees.  We ended up buying some tasty jam and relish to bring home.  

 

After we got back to the ship we hiked (death marched?) around Mount Maunganui.  Many climbed up but the walk around was enough for us-it was a beautiful walk but we were very happy when we rounded the last corner and saw the beach which meant we were almost done.
 

If you port here, the walk around is advertised as a 45 minute easy walk.  And it basically is, just keep in mind you need to add the 15-20 minute walk to the mountain and another 15-20 minutes from the beach where the trail ends back to the ship. According to our phones, we walked 4.4 miles today and other than going in and out of the community hall, all of that was our walk to, around, and from the mountain. Also note there are some steeper sections so if you’re like me and have balance issues be smarter than me and take your hiking stick. If all else fails there is an AED at the halfway point!😳

 

If you want a meal here, our Uber driver yesterday highly recommended “Smart India”  and @twoleos said their meal at LoLo Authentic Turkish Kitchen was very tasty. 

 

We leave in a couple of hours and have a wine tasting tomorrow in Napier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 2 by Clay Clayton

[vslparis]

Unfortunately, no wine tasting in Napier ( Hawk’s Bay ) tomorrow as our stop there has been cancelled due to high winds. We will have a day at sea and head directly to Wellington.  Guess we will have to just drink some New Zealand wine in the Living Room or Explorer’s bar .🤣

[Clay Clayton]

Shouldn’t have posted so early…Captain just announced due to expected weather overnight and tomorrow we are skipping Napier (and our only scheduled winetasting😢) and heading to Wellington. So sea day tomorrow and there on Sunday. 
 

Given how different Matakana Island looks as we head out the channel compared to when we came in yesterday, seems like a good decision!

[SJD117]

25 minutes ago, vslparis said:

Unfortunately, no wine tasting in Napier ( Hawk’s Bay ) tomorrow as our stop there has been cancelled due to high winds. We will have a day at sea and head directly to Wellington.  Guess we will have to just drink some New Zealand wine in the Living Room or Explorer’s bar .🤣

Sorry you had to miss Napier — it’s a nice town with some great Art Deco buildings.

 

Back in April 1998, I spent several days and nights in Napier, living on the cheap at a local youth hostel. One day I rented a bicycle and rode out to the Hawke’s Bay vineyards. (Fun fact: NZ’s ex-PM, Jacinda Ardern, was married last month at the Craggy Range winery at Hawke’s Bay). I have a vague recollection of seeing quite a few vineyards, drinking a lot of wine, and weaving my bicycle back to Napier in an inebriated state. Fortunately I wasn’t pulled over. If that had happened, I would have seen Napier from the inside of an Art Deco jail.

 

Enjoy your cruise! And enjoy the Land of The Long White Cloud!

[Jim Avery]

We also missed Napier due to high winds. A very tight entry so can understand. Wellington is great and has a very good McDonald’s.😳🍺🍸🚢😎

[vslparis]

On 2/1/2024 at 9:42 PM, Jim Avery said:

We also missed Napier due to high winds. A very tight entry so can understand. Wellington is great and has a very good McDonald’s.😳🍺🍸🚢😎

Makes sense . My thought is if the Captain says it is unsafe to go, then we don’t go.  Love Wellington and the Te Papa Museum ( which is one of the included tours) ; not sure about McDonalds though 🤣. The Gallipoli : The Scales of Our War exhibit, in collaboration with the WETA Worksop , there is not to be missed.  I think the included tour gives about 90 minutes in the museum, but I would recommend that you take your time there and use the shuttle bus to return to the ship if it stops close by. 

[Heidi13]

10 hours ago, vslparis said:

Unfortunately, no wine tasting in Napier ( Hawk’s Bay ) tomorrow as our stop there has been cancelled due to high winds. We will have a day at sea and head directly to Wellington.  Guess we will have to just drink some New Zealand wine in the Living Room or Explorer’s bar .🤣

 

Napier is a tough port for cruise ships, due to the exposed and narrow entrance. I've never docked on a cruise ship, only ever made it in once on a cargo ship.

[PasadenaDave]

We did the included inclined tram ride and tour of the city and botanical gardens in Wellington.  Don't do it.  The inclined tram is fun to ride and easily done on your own, but you have likely visited and will do so again much nice botanical gardens

[DogSaysStayHome]

2 minutes ago, PasadenaDave said:

We did the included inclined tram ride and tour of the city and botanical gardens in Wellington.  Don't do it.  The inclined tram is fun to ride and easily done on your own, but you have likely visited and will do so again much nice botanical gardens

Wife and I can second this notion. We wandered the town ourselves and serendipitously came across the tram. We took it to the top of the gardens and had a lovely walk down. No need for an excursion to do this. Bonus was we bought some crackers and cheese to have with wine when back onboard. The ship we were on (wasn't Viking) did not have cheese and crackers to go with our pre-dinner wine bar gathering with other passengers to whine and wine about the day's events. 

[SJD117]

3 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Napier is a tough port for cruise ships, due to the exposed and narrow entrance. I've never docked on a cruise ship, only ever made it in once on a cargo ship.

That may explain why I took a bus to Napier rather than a ship.  😀

[SJD117]

10 minutes ago, PasadenaDave said:

We did the included inclined tram ride and tour of the city and botanical gardens in Wellington.  Don't do it.  The inclined tram is fun to ride and easily done on your own, but you have likely visited and will do so again much nice botanical gardens

The tram is pleasant but nothing remarkable. Much nicer views of Wellington and the surrounding area are available from the Mount Victoria lookout, just off Oriental Bay.

[SteelCity Cruiser]

1 hour ago, SJD117 said:

The tram is pleasant but nothing remarkable. Much nicer views of Wellington and the surrounding area are available from the Mount Victoria lookout, just off Oriental Bay.

We went to Mt. Victoria during the included excursion our Viking cruise last year and it was fantastic.  We missed the funicular ride which I wanted to do, but that gives me a great excuse to go back there some day!

[vslparis]

On 2/2/2024 at 8:50 AM, PasadenaDave said:

We did the included inclined tram ride and tour of the city and botanical gardens in Wellington.  Don't do it.  The inclined tram is fun to ride and easily done on your own, but you have likely visited and will do so again much nice botanical gardens

This is our third time to Wellington and have seen a good bit there. I had looked at the tram before, but didn’t want to pay for an excursion there as we could have done it on our own. However, this time it is an included tour so we will give it a try .

[Liz Masterson]

13 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

We also missed Napier due to high winds. A very tight entry so can understand. Wellington is great and has a very good McDonald’s.😳🍺🍸🚢😎

A couple of days ago Captain Kate from another cruise line posted a very informative Instagram post about narrow entries and wind and 'crabbing'. It's worth a look. 

[Jim Avery]

3 minutes ago, Liz Masterson said:

A couple of days ago Captain Kate from another cruise line posted a very informative Instagram post about narrow entries and wind and 'crabbing'. It's worth a look. 

I used to do that for a living so nothing new to me.😎🚢

[Liz Masterson]

2 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

I used to do that for a living so nothing new to me.😎🚢

I figured! But I appreciated her video... ABL Always be learning! 🙂

 

[Hanoj]

5 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Napier is a tough port for cruise ships, due to the exposed and narrow entrance. I've never docked on a cruise ship, only ever made it in once on a cargo ship.

 

Kind of begs the question, why schedule such ports of call? Missing ports seems to be more common now across cruise lines than pre-shutdowns. Some guests (see this mostly with Oceania) suggest missing ports or shortening visits is a cost cutting measure (I have no idea about the plausibility of such assertions - I just find it interesting because a cruise's itinerary is the most important factor in our selection process). And there seem to be certain ports, like Napier, where it is a recurring issue. Though, of course, reading about missed ports on the different forums is more likely to be posted than if they were successfully visited.

[Clay Clayton]

LCR at 3:30 pool bar!