I have told you all why we are sailing— in search of cooler weather with a side order on No on duty for Karen-cooking, cleaning, washing, errand running or even making the bed-but Eddie usually makes the bed, first in last out…short straw on that household chore. Now, the how and when. My research into cruising is not especially scientific, I usually use a search engine on United Cruises…yeah, that United. They have “partnered” with a large travel agency that gives you a multiplier of dollars spent and stateroom category usually 7-12x in you guessed it, United mileage if you use their Chase Mileage card. Yeah, mileage is like green stamps from when we were kids. It takes a lot to buy anything these days, too. Thank goodness we don’t have to lick them and put them in a book. Eddie flew enough back in the day that he is Gold for life, which means we usually can get home from our far flung destinations on mileage. I enter the month and year, and our preferred cruises lines. We tend to sleep around with the various majors, with a river cruises thrown in for good measure. I see what they are offering. We are purely destination driven in cruise speak. …and how much they want for a upper category room or suite. You know the Captain, his butt powdering needs a certain category to make him feel at home. I know the range per night we are willing to spend….there has been a definite cruiseflation…everyone has figure out the same thing…cruising is the easiest way to see the world without repacking a suitcase. So, my target number has gone up considerably since BC (Before Covid). This cruise was no different. Both Viking and HAL (Holland America Lines-aka Carnival for old folks) offered similar itineraries-US port departure, head north along Canadian coast across to Greenland and around Iceland. HAL comes back to Boston-35 days. Viking Ocean terminates in Reykjavik, Iceland in 14 days. Not wanting to miss Hurricane season in Houston and the chance to put a blue tarp on our roof or muck water out of our house, we decided to try Viking. Viking is new to the Ocean cruising business, and has actually only been in the river cruise business for 25 years…they currently have 60 long boats or river cruisers, 12 ocean vessels, and 2 expeditions ships for more shallow bodies of waters like the Great Lakes. It was marketing genius to place sponsorship ads with PBS Masterpiece-they know their target market. The business model fascinates me…the debt load of this Norwegian gentlemen must be enormous. The ships are all new (no refurbs). Small…like 950 passengers…in a world of large, tall, noisy mine is bigger than yours ships. There are no casinos, minimum number of bars and meager entertainment staffs, no art sales, cooking demonstrations or the like. No staff driven games or hijinks. Plenty (like 5-6 times a day) enrichment lectures by very knowledgeable professionals that could put anyone to sleep. So, as a passenger you are expected to entertain yourself-read, spa, lay out in the sun or swim, work out in the gym…but you are on your own. The food and service is outstanding…the staff all smile and appear to be happy. They are not harried or overwhelmed with they number of people they are asked to serve. Pleasant change for sure. The deco-danish modern, well, duh. Kinda like a cruise ship mated with an IKEA store. Blonde wood, low back seating (Eddie hates that) thoughtful designed staterooms and bathrooms. Lots of closets and drawers and surface area and a bathroom shower large enough that you don’t have to stand in the toilet to get clean-looking at you, Princess…or a bathtub too high to get in and out of without steps. A woman must have designed this space.
So, who signs up for this cerebral cruise….old people. There are no children allowed on Viking Ocean cruises. I guess their definition put any one under 45 (maybe even 50) are classified as children. There are probably only 10% younger than me. In fact, Eddie looks a little young-but you know, fat don’t crack, so he has a less weathered and wrinkled appearance…and after 3 eye surgeries, he looks positively youthful…except for the chronic tearing part (yes, still)… We figure most folks to be 75-85 years old….basically all Quails, possibly a few second marriages but not trophy wives. Did not see the rule that scooters and walkers would not be permitted on board…there are none (or they have hidden them)…walking poles or a subtle cane are permitted.of course there should be an onboard shop for medical braces, because 33% of folks have some sort of appliance or brace. There are a lot of mobility challenged folks limping, hobbling, shuffling, knuckle dragging…never mind the part about mouth breathers and hearing aides….basically, at Day 3 we are still looking for our tribe. It appears that most groups on board did not just organically happen, more of a BYOP-bring your own posse. Everyone else sticks to their quail mate.
Sister Kathy has quite a network of cruise friends and professionals. She asked for a “first impression” on Day One as she was eating with her cruise booking gal that lives in the PNW. Turns out we made the better choice on Viking over HAL. The HAL out of Boston has had numerous problems and apparently is sending this pal lots on reports!
We are currently preparing to get off the ship in Halifax…and take a tall ship tour of the harbor, Did I mention that the storm that slammed the eastern seaboard and left 1 million in the dark has followed us up to Nova Scotia. So, we have dawned our rain gear. Not sure we will see much as the fog-you got it, thick as pea soup. We will be shuffling off for now.
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