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

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, odblnt said:

Looking forward to gazing longingly at the ship in less than a week. Unfortunately, it's just over 9 months until we get to set foot on it's decks.

 

Clay & Mike - did you finally figure out what you're going to do here in Honolulu?

 

Pete

We have not.  Other than we decided to not rent a car. 

[FetaCheese]

If not been before, suggest Pearl Harbor Visitor Center tour (included).  Very moving and quite emotional. We had a terrific driver/guide who narrated the entire coach ride.  Also took us to Punch Bowl, National Cemetery of Pacific.

[UWDawg]

White wine tasting this afternoon: 
1. Loberger Vielles Vignes, Riesling, Alsace, France.
2. Baron Longo Hohenstein, Gewürztraminer, Trentino, Alto Adige, Italy.
3. Gérard Bertrand: Chardonnay, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc; IGP Pays d'Oc, France.
4. Robert Mondavi Napa Valley: Fumé Blanc; Napa Valley, California.
5. Hartford Court: Chardonnay; Russian River Valley, California

 

My favorite was the Riesling.

[Buckwheel]

17 hours ago, WhereInTheWorldIsKarla said:

For those interested in wildlife:  sea lions spotted from the tender and acorn woodpecker spotted on a tree outside the Santa Barbara Mission.

I love seeing the wildlife and you take excellent pictures of them. Those acorn woodpeckers are such a joy to watch. There are some that live near our son and daughter-in-law‘s place and it’s fun to watch them squirrel away the acorns.

[Clay Clayton]

11 hours ago, UWDawg said:

White wine tasting this afternoon: 
1. Loberger Vielles Vignes, Riesling, Alsace, France.
2. Baron Longo Hohenstein, Gewürztraminer, Trentino, Alto Adige, Italy.
3. Gérard Bertrand: Chardonnay, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc; IGP Pays d'Oc, France.
4. Robert Mondavi Napa Valley: Fumé Blanc; Napa Valley, California.
5. Hartford Court: Chardonnay; Russian River Valley, California

 

My favorite was the Riesling.

Damn, missed seeing it.  Do we need to stop at Guest Services to know when/sign up?

[frickwg]

On 1/8/2024 at 12:05 PM, WhereInTheWorldIsKarla said:

If you are lucky in the future and a movie is playing or a tour is offered to Arlington Theatre, Santa Barbara, take it.  Inside it is like a gigantic "Zorro" TV set. They often show old B&W pre-talky films with the huge organ rising from the center of the stage playing "Hooray for Hollywood!"

 

 

 

 

[UWDawg]

2 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Damn, missed seeing it.  Do we need to stop at Guest Services to know when/sign up?

Apparently the White Wine tasting was NOT posted in the Viking Daily because so many people had signed up for it that it was "sold out."  We got in just under the wire.  Clay, I'm guessing you are TOO TALL to fit under the wire. 🤣

 

Yes, check with Guest Services.  🍷

[Pappri]

1 hour ago, UWDawg said:

Apparently the White Wine tasting was NOT posted in the Viking Daily because so many people had signed up for it that it was "sold out."  We got in just under the wire.  Clay, I'm guessing you are TOO TALL to fit under the wire. 🤣

 

Yes, check with Guest Services.  🍷

The part that surprised me with the “sold out” wine tasting, was that about half the people didn’t show up for it.  There were 8 empty place settings, which is such a waste for those who really wanted to do the tasting.

[wine-wine-wine]

1 hour ago, Pappri said:

The part that surprised me with the “sold out” wine tasting, was that about half the people didn’t show up for it.  There were 8 empty place settings, which is such a waste for those who really wanted to do the tasting.

In November on Sky we arrived at the wine tasting only to find that guest services had not properly added our names to the reservation list. We waited at the Living Room Bar and when a couple did not show we were ushered in.

[DogSaysStayHome]

To those of you on this cruise, thank you for your blog posts, pictures and commentary. Those are very helpful for my wife and i to chose our excursions for next year. Glad to see you were having fun in my hometown of LA and Santa Barbara. The courthouse is lovely, and the Arlington is fun to visit too. Our daughters grew up frequently visiting the Mission gardens. Also recommend Alice Keck Park park as a fun place to stroll. We are living vicariously through your shared experiences and can't wait to be there ourselves in a few months. 

[Clay Clayton]

Just back from the first book club meeting which was organized on the site that can’t be named, but several attending were from CruiseCritic and requested I post the dates and book titles for upcoming meetings.  Time and location will be in the dailies, but here are the books and dates when each will be discussed;

 

Jan 17th.  
The Bounty by Caroline Alexander

(if you haven’t started l, get busy it’s very dense-I’m not sure I’m gonna make it through)

Feb 9th

Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes 

 

Feb 26th

Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng

 

Mar 25th

Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

 

Apr 10

Parting the Desert by Zachary Karabell

 

 

Happy Reading!

[millybess]

2 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Just back from the first book club meeting which was organized on the site that can’t be named, but several attending were from CruiseCritic and requested I post the dates and book titles for upcoming meetings.  Time and location will be in the dailies, but here are the books and dates when each will be discussed;

 

Jan 17th.  
The Bounty by Caroline Alexander

(if you haven’t started l, get busy it’s very dense-I’m not sure I’m gonna make it through)

Feb 9th

Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes 

 

Feb 26th

Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng

 

Mar 25th

Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

 

Apr 10

Parting the Desert by Zachary Karabell

 

 

Happy Reading!

Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes is one of my all-time favourites.  That, and In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson -- one of the funniest books about Australia.  Enjoy!  (I know I would 😊.)

[SantaFe1]

And Gift of Rain is one of my favorites!  And I agree, In a Sunburned Country is hilarious!  Read it before our WC

[TayanaLorna]

On 1/9/2024 at 3:04 PM, Clay Clayton said:

Damn, missed seeing it.  Do we need to stop at Guest Services to know when/sign up?

We always go to Guest Services to find out about tastings as soon as we board.  They are never posted in the Daily.

[UWDawg]

Last night's Vodka Tasting in Torshavn...

 

 

Here are my notes from the tasting: 

 

The bar tenders provided background information on each of the vodkas one-by-one prior to us tasting them.

 

Tito’s made from corn. U.S. Texas. Gluten free. 2nd largest U.S. exported spirit behind Jack Daniel’s. Slightly antiseptic. Sensation, slight burning, in nasal area, tongue, front and sides of mouth.

 

Belvedere 5 filtrations. Creamier.  Sensation, slight burning, tongue, front and sides of mouth, but less so than Tito’s.

 

Kauffman Soft - Russian. Tear drop / penguin shaped bottle. Filtered 14 times. Wheat based. Primarily feel on tongue. Smooth.

 

Beluga Allure - Russian. neutral and clean wheat vodka is subtly enriched with trace amounts of maple syrup and fig extract. 3 filtrations. Smells antiseptic and slightly sweet. More sensation in nasal area and front of tongue.

 

Can also make vodka from fruit, which can provide a slightly sweeter taste than vodka made from potato, which is creamy, while vodka made from grain/rye  can be bolder.

 

Kauffman Allure was my favorite of those tasted.

 

I believe that each of these vodkas is covered under the Viking beverage plan with no additional charge.  The Kauffman Vodka is only available in Torshavn.
 

[UWDawg]

Thank you to @Clay Clayton for coordinating the Cruise Critic Meet-and-Greet session in the Wintergarden last evening.  It was a great opportunity to associate CC user names with people's actual names and faces.

 

Yesterday, over either lunch and the Meet-and-Greet session, I did manage to track down most of the folks that I am aware are writing and publicly posting blogs of their travels on this Viking Sky World Cruise, and thank them for their efforts.  I am so much enjoying their different perspectives of the places we are visiting.  As we travel forward, since I can't  go on all the excursions that I are of interest to me, I hope to expand my appreciation of the different ports vicariously through the experiences shared by others.

[FetaCheese]

6 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

We always go to Guest Services to find out about tastings as soon as we board.  They are never posted in the Daily.

On Star now.  Surprised that tastings were listed in Daily.

[TayanaLorna]

6 minutes ago, FetaCheese said:

On Star now.  Surprised that tastings were listed in Daily.

Great!  Hopefully will remind those who signed up and don't remember when and where it was to take place.

[DogSaysStayHome]

Glad to see that Tom and Joanne posted on their blog, was worried they fell off after Cabo 😅 Now, did Eddie and Denise make it back after Santa Barbara? Steve & Debbie are in transit to Hawaii. Love to see what's happening and having a hard time waiting 11 months for our turn.

[Clay Clayton]

Just now, DogSaysStayHome said:

Glad to see that Tom and Joanne posted on their blog, was worried they fell off after Cabo 😅 Now, did Eddie and Denise make it back after Santa Barbara? Steve & Debbie are in transit to Hawaii. Love to see what's happening and having a hard time waiting 11 months for our turn.

I can confirm Denise and Eddie are onboard!

[Clay Clayton]

Made this earlier, the sun is now peaking through the clouds but we are still moving quite a bit.  

 

 

[Clay Clayton]

We had only nine for LCR this afternoon. Given our dwindling numbers (it’s still been fun!) we are going to play again tomorrow and will discuss how often to play in the future…maybe just once on each sea day leg? every last sea day before a port? Who knows?   
 

Anyway, if you’d like to join us for some fun, be at the long table at the pool bar at 4 pm.  All you need to bring is three $1 bills and a sense of fun!

[cruising denise]

2 hours ago, DogSaysStayHome said:

Glad to see that Tom and Joanne posted on their blog, was worried they fell off after Cabo 😅 Now, did Eddie and Denise make it back after Santa Barbara? Steve & Debbie are in transit to Hawaii. Love to see what's happening and having a hard time waiting 11 months for our turn.

Thanks so much for asking, Dog!!!  I have a lot of photos from Santa Barbara and inserting a couple of other posts before then so hopefully fully caught up by tomorrow.  I will confess that Eddie is much more faithful about keeping up with it than me!  Your cruise will be here before you know it.  I'm trying to slow every day down but somehow they seem to be flying by...

[Clay Clayton]

Found these size medium ladies unmentionables on our deck five port side balcony, they won’t fit us and we don’t have a receipt so can’t return them for a store credit😂 so if they are yours, please let us know. 

[Twitchly]

13 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Found these size medium ladies unmentionables on our deck five port side balcony, they won’t fit us and we don’t have a receipt so can’t return them for a store credit😂 so if they are yours, please let us know. 

If you ever found out how they got there, please let us know!