Little Monty

16 minutes ago, Pushka said:

Viking has confirmed it from a phone call on hold for 30 minutes. 

But I think they are telling people the wrong time for Sydney. She said it was now 7am. My calculations for Adelaide (30 minutes behind) is 5.30 am so Sydney would be  6 am (we are still on DST and US has moved on to their DST)

@Little Monty - what time does this make it for you? Am I correct?

ah ha .. of course. I forgot you are on daylight saving time till the end of the month. Therefore you are 30 min in front of us (and Sydney is 60 min ahead of us).

The time on West Coast of US is presently just after 6pm Sunday (according to google) - and it is just after 11am in Brisbane - so we (Brisbane) are 17 hours in front of West Coast US.

So .. midday on the West Coast of US will be 5am Brisbane time (5.30am for Adelaide, 6am Sydney time).

With adjustments required as daylight saving begins / ends in each location.

1 hour ago, Pushka said:

Yeah. It’s gone from 5.30pm for me to 5.30am and earlier in NZ and eastern Australia. Awful timing for me as my window to book opens up this Wednesday in two days time and I’ve had 5.30 pm etched in my brain since excursions came out. Being in DV I have to book at that time or possibly miss out. Viking Australia knew nothing about it last week. I’d have expected some info from Viking given it impacts on me so soon. 

So Pushka has it gone back 12 hours ? ie we were scheduled to book excursions at 6pm this coming Saturday night .. so should I assume it will now be 6am Sunday morning (Brisbane time is 30 min ahead of Adelaide).

Thanks philw1776 for the heads-up.

Agree with lextrvlr .. why no message from Viking ?

45 minutes ago, Aussie Cruise Nuts said:

Thanks for the reminder Little Monty.    I had forgotten Orion was in Brisbane today. 

 

I headed down to see her and took a few pics from the opposite side of the River, then went across to Portside Cruise Terminal for a closer look.   

 

She is looking great and we will join her in Hong Kong on 21 April for our cruise to Vancouver.     Can’t wait.   

 

A few pics follow -  

 

 

Well done ACN .. nice photos.

And wow .. HK to Vancouver sounds fabulous - I hope you have a great time and I hope seas are calm.

I'm not sure if you have been to HK before and you probably already know way more than me .. and by all means do all the 'popular' tourist stuff in HK (a place I really love) … but of all the things you do in HK I recommend you go here, peace and tranquillity in the middle of chaotic fun;

https://www.hongkong.net/attractions/nan-lian-garden.html

I note you disembark in Vancouver the day before board in Bergen .. so please do keep us up to date with your adventures.

Cheers from Woody Point

And to CC members and all on board Orion, I truly do you had a good day and would love to know what you did and what you enjoyed.

Regards, LM

For the next few hours ... the view of Brisbane from Viking Orion.

https://viking.panomax.com/orion

It's just after 8am local time (Wed) under blue skies - it was 28C (82F) at 8am and later will get above 30C.

Orion is berthed at Portside Hamilton, about 7k's (4.5m) to the city centre (left side of forward facing panamax view). Portside is a much better location than the Brisbane Commercial Port - where World Cruise on Sun berthed last year.

I hope all on board have a great day. LM

1 minute ago, SM77 said:

Thanks LM for the welcome!

 

We are at Sea today & it’s been fun sitting on the balcony looking for wildlife & enjoying the calm waters.

 

Speaking of ports, kudos to Viking for providing a water ferry from White Bay Cruise Terminal to Circular Quay, especially on the transition day when we had free time to explore.  It really made a difference in enjoying Sydney - I was really stressing over what was the best way to get to Circular Quay & Viking took care of it!  Plus it was a great ride in the Harbour.

My pleasure.

We were berthed at White Bay in January and used the ferry to get to Circular Quay - so yes, well done again Viking. Sydney has a beautiful harbour so I hope there were some blue skies to make it all the more enjoyable.

We have nothing like Sydney Harbour in Brisbane but there is much here to enjoy. Have good day. LM

4 minutes ago, stretchcruz said:

We, as well, had a good included tour in Newcastle. Good driver, good history and commentary. We got off downtown and they had local people in red shirts with "ask me" buttons on. One of them told us about a nice walk that we took (ended up at one of the same beaches that we saw on the tour but that was fine). Circled around and ended up back in the city centre. Had a meat pie from a food truck for lunch. It was good! Very friendly locals. Beautiful sea views and a nice little town. At sea today. 

Welcome to Brisbane (tomorrow) to you and all on board. The weather forecast is for hot, humid weather (fairly typical for this time of the year).

I believe you will be berthing at Hamilton Portside  - which is way better than the outer commercial Port of Brisbane.

I hope you enjoy the day and I hope all excursions go to plan.

Regards, LM

4 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

 

Thank you for sharing your experiences.  It is sad that this was disappointing. 

I enjoy astronomy a lot, and is a shame that Viking built this just to put on a 2nd rate show.

Perhaps with enough reviews they will attempt to make things better.  Trying to be positive!

Yes, after my review I was contacted by Viking (via this Forum) to thank me for my comments. They indicated these sorts of comments are taken seriously and are provided to those higher up the management line for their attention. Let's hope for something better in the future.

As an aside, apart from a couple of minor gripes, we had a wonderful time on-board and look forward to our Norway - Iceland cruise in May. Where ever you are going next, we hope you also enjoy. Regards, LM

9 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

I've seen nothing but very bad reviews & comments on CruiseCritic of the planetarium on the Orion and Jupiter.  Can anyone comment who has been to the planetarium on why?   Is it the programs?  The seats?  The astronomy specialists?

Was this a big mistake for Viking?   Are there things that could be changed? 

I was looking forward to this on our upcoming cruise on Jupiter, as I very much enjoy astronomy, but now I'm not so sure.

 

How do they have people attend?  I heard you have to sign up for tickets?  Where/when?   What are examples of the programs they have had?   I heard another comment that "they lost the last rows of seating" ?  

 

Thanks to those who can provide some insight as to whether this is a worthwhile cruise experience!

hello CCWineLover

We were on Orion in January and I wrote a review after. This is an extract from that review;

*we attended the Mars presentation in the planetarium dome. We assumed it would be some sort of documentary about man’s progress towards a Mars landing etc. Unfortunately it was a ‘movie’ (for the want of a better word) with actors pretending to be astronauts pretending to go to Mars. It was terrible. They lock the door when the movie starts .. we assume this is to keep those attending in, rather than late arrivals out

Obviously just our opinion .. we didn't back back for seconds so can't comment on the other movies / whatever they are called. We did seriously consider walking out half way through but thought we would only disturb others (who may well have been enjoying the experience).

You get tickets from Guest Services.

We sat at the very back but even then it was uncomfortable looking up at the screen on the ceiling as the seat did not recline back far enough - again in our opinion.

There was no 'expert' in the room to talk about astronomy etc - just a guy who locked the door and pushed the 'play' button.

Personally - the whole experience was disappointing.

According to Viking Ocean post on another social media site (rhymes with space hook) there are 436 pax on Viking Sun doing the World Cruise. The rest are .. no disrespect .. segmenters.

Assuming around 900 on board throughout .. more than 50% are not going the full journey.

This would seem to be a big change from the first WC where 100% went all the way (except for those who disembarked injured / sick etc).

I’m not trying to make any point, I just found that stat interesting.

Jim A / Eaches / Deec .. others from first World Cruise  - any thoughts on this ? How would this effect the on-board environment?

Would you prefer a regular change of on-board friends or just one group for the whole journey ?

Just curious about your thoughts, not trying to start an unruly debate

As always, regards to all

😀

hello SM77, stretchcruz and all on board.

Sorry to hear about lobster night (I guess we got lucky) but I'm glad to know most things are going very well (except maybe those pesky excursions!).

Weather forecasts for Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney are all quite good so I hope seas are calm and you enjoy the days ahead.

Regards from me. LM

4 hours ago, stretchcruz said:

 Our included tour in Tauranga sucked. Waste of time. A lot of folks on other buses went and complained. At least our driver was funny but what a waste of time. Drive by, stop for a few minutes at a park then a stop at "The Historic Village". Basically a few shops. Bathroom stop. Should have paid for something else. My own fault I didn't do enough research. Today Wellington was cold and windy. Included again drive by with 3 short stops. Napier another drive by but we stayed in town after. Auckland sky tower and aquarium that we paid for good. Included in the afternoon drive by of stuff we saw in the morning. I'm having lots of problems with my back and knee but still these drive bys are just not good. Tomorrow Christchurch and we do the Mona Vale gardens so hoping for more. You said Dunedin was good so can't wait for that.

The ship is excellent. The staff unbelievable. They remember our names. The service fantastic as well as the food. Enjoying our time immensely just wish I'd spent more time on excursion planning. I work too much!!

Oh dear .. sorry to hear about the tours stretchcruz.

I probably should have mentioned we did our own thing in Tauranga as the included and optional tours didn't attract us.

In Dunedin I did the included excursion (which was good) and DW did the wildlife cruise which she enjoyed (but it was hard to take photos due to rocking and rolling of the boat). After DW finished her excursion we took the shuttle back into town for a walk around and lunch (at 'Best Cafe' - across the road from the railway station, great fish and chips). Enjoy.

3 minutes ago, stretchcruz said:

We had a great meet and mingle tonight. I think well over 30 people. Turns out the invitations were printed wrong, I had spoken to someone on staff who told me the meet and mingle was last night so that's why we were there. Just a miscommunication but all is well that ends well and it was a great get together tonight! As a few of the officers said..."take 2!". Mistakes happen but it all worked out in the end. It was great to meet everybody. Viking did a great job with hosting, snacks, drinks, etc.

 

That is good news stretchcruz .. I'm glad it all worked out.

I would be interested to know your thoughts of the cruise so far - what is weather like ?, calm seas ?, enjoying the food ?, excursions up to expectations ?, were you surprised how nice Tauranga was ? (we were !) etc.

When you have time, we would enjoy knowing your thoughts.

Regards, LM

I don't know the answer but I am interested in the question as we will be on Star in Santorini in June.

This is from another source :

Cruise ships anchor in the caldera and large, local tenders are provided to the base of the town of Fira. There are only three ways up to the top: hiking up the donkey path (800 ft elevation, 600 steps, free), taking a donkey up (€8, Aug 2014), or using the cable car (€5, Aug 2014). There are reports that the donkeys are abused and mistreated so keep this in mind when deciding which option to take. The hike up is steep, just avoid the donkey poop and it is not advised if the steps are wet. The cable car line ups going down will be extremely busy, especially if multiple cruises ships are anchored. Tenders for ship tours dock at a pier further south that has road access for the tour buses. Tours typically drop passengers off in Fira afterwards and a complimentary cable car ticket is provided.

Below are two extracts from the Viking shore excursion we are considering:

Make the most of your time on Santorini by visiting all its highlights on one extensive excursion. From the tender pier, drive with your guide to Pyrgos, the island’s former capital.

...  Return to the tender pier at your leisure by cable car using the ticket we have provided.

These extracts would suggest this excursion starts at the ferry terminal (where there is vehicular access) but finishes at the cable car / the base below Fira (no vehicular access).

I'm not sure I have answered the original question - so any further advice / information / suggestions would of course be appreciated - especially from those with recent experience. Regards, LM

7 minutes ago, moatenote said:

Wow, that info on VO cabins is great!!  Thanks for sharing this!

Yes, it is very comprehensive.

Well done again to ronbe65.

5 hours ago, rjsretired said:

We are looking at an ES2 cabin on the 6th deck.  Has any one stayed in one.  It is under the infinity pool.  Was there noise from hosing the pool deck down during the day.  Is there a lot of noise from above..deck chairs, etc?

CC Member ronbe65 has written a wonderful overview (link below). I hope this is of assistance.

From the Cabin Guide in the Viking blog.

https://viking-cruises-cabin-guide.blogspot.com/

1 hour ago, stretchcruz said:

 We leave in a week and I am now going to take some stuff out of my suitcase and replace it with cold weather clothes! I'm in AZ and was expecting summer there but it sounds chilly....

 

You might need to cover all bases.

It is 80F in Sydney today, 82F in Brisbane and 90F in Cairns ... but only 68F in Hobart and Dunedin. 

I probably should have asked .. are you travelling thru to Bali ? If not my advice about Cairns / Brisbane temp's is probably not really relevant 

1 minute ago, caviargal said:

 

I will post what I find out.  Not feeling good about our cruise in 8 days, and not at all interested in having the main public areas  I use potentially closed for a week as is the norm post noro cruises.

Thank you .. I hope everything goes to plan and I hope you have a great cruise. Cheers 

1 minute ago, caviargal said:

 

Facebook from live postings from passenger onboard.

 

This morning does not show the ship having made much, if any, progress.

We aren’t FB users so any updates you can provide over coming days will be most appreciated. Thank you

11 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

 

We plan to go on the Sydney to Bali portion sometime in 2020 or 2021. 

I had gone onto the various Sydney webcams to see what the harbor looked like (this was back in December) and to my surprise and luck, got to see the Orion sailing in (from Bali).   I took a few screenshots so thought I would post them here.

Well done. Orion will be back in Sydney on March 9 / 10 and Sun on March 15 / 16 if you want some more webcam entertainment.

There is so much more to Australia than just Sydney Harbour of course, but the harbour is a very special place.

Enjoy. LM

3 hours ago, Ready to Sail! said:

I saw it all and it was worth waiting out the hour delay.  It was a little after midnight here when she came under the bridge.  You are lucky to have sailed on the Orion and also have access to Sydney Harbor.  You've probably done that sail away a time or two!  When family arrived back in Sydney it was in the wee hours of the morning and it was another beautiful sight with both the city and the ship ablaze in lights.  Hope to experience this ourselves one of these days.   

Thanks RtS. We lived in Sydney in the past (more than 20 years ago now) but we do go back regularly. The harbour area is wonderful.

I'm glad you were able to stay up to see the Orion go under the harbour bridge and I hope you get to visit one day. Regards, LM

Correction .. Orion has departed. My apologies. I think I lost the link and didn't realise.

Just now, Ready to Sail! said:

I’m watching CruiseMapper and she hasn’t left yet and that should have been “sight” of course. It’s also a lovely harbor. Family said it was a beautiful sail away port. 

Yes, we were on board when Orion arrived from Auckland in mid January. It was a beautiful day on a beautiful harbour.

The Orion is presently at White Bay which is just a short distance from the harbour bridge. Sunset is 80 minutes away so we might get some twinkling lights on the bridge and in the city as the ship departs (assuming she departs in the next hour). 

Cheers, LM

18 minutes ago, Ready to Sail! said:

Several weeks ago we watched as family sailed from Sydney on a Princess cruise on a live web cam:  webcamsydney.com.    I am waiting right now to watch the Orion sail away.  She is at the pier on the other side of the bridge so should be a lovely site as she sails under the bridge and past the Opera House. 

Fantastic .. well done !!

The webcam on the ship seems to be out of order, but this is a fine substitute. 

This one seems to work better ...

https://www.portsofstockholm.com/vessel-calls/

20 minutes ago, VJMAZZ said:

We are booked for the HL cruise in June. Does anyone know where Viking Ocean docks in Stockholm?

We did HL in July 2017 and the ship berthed at Stadsgarden - a nice walking distance to the Old Town. Of course probably best to check the port schedule to confirm ...

http://crew-center.com/stockholm-sweden-cruise-ship-schedule-2019

Enjoy