Sky Transatlantic March 6 2020 Almost Live

[Clay Clayton]

We haven’t sailed Seaborn so I can provide any comparison.  This is the only upscale line we have sailed though Mike had his eye on Regent for a long time...but now that he has sailed here, I think he is hooked. 

[terrydtx]

Following and looking forward to the blog.

[aungrl]

Following, loving the blog, and wishing you great luck at 5 p.m.!

[Clay Clayton]

Thanks for all the good wishes but womp womp, they wanted MORE than the email offer we declined a few weeks before sailing!  Doesn’t make sense since 40% of the rooms are empty that they don’t do some good PR for those of us who didn’t cancel and make a little bit of money too. 
 

oh well since our DV is perfectly fine, it just means I’ll be wearing wrinkled shirts -that should show them! LOL

[deec]

we will follow you on the Viking Sea next week also heading to Barcelona!

How is weather thus far...we are hoping for sunshine and using the aft pool!

[Clay Clayton]

Rainy and windy today 😢 with seas that have gotten progressively more rough. Overheard several folks at dinner looking for green apples and ginger ale.  

 

Captain said at the Welcome Show tonight that the weather will be the same tomorrow and then is predicted to get better. 🤞

[Liz Masterson]

I knew Clay was going to brag on those pork chops! On my list for this summer!

[Clay Clayton]

14 hours ago, Liz Masterson said:

I knew Clay was going to brag on those pork chops! On my list for this summer!

Lamb! Not pork-that would just be silly for breakfast. LOL

[Clay Clayton]

Another windy, rainy, yucky day aboard.  We also had our first dreaded blue card telling us to move our clocks forward before bed last night.  So we got up at the crack of 10 am this morning.  Well I did anyway, Mike appeared just in time for Trivia at noon.  Our team of six did better today-only missed one😢. What’s the second most populous country in South America?  If you knew that Columbia had recently overtaken Argentina then you would have helped us tie the winning team!

 

We partook of the pool deck made to order Ruben sandwiches which were tasty but did not have near the amount of meat shown in the advertisement. It’s ok, we just made a whole sandwich into a half which made it pretty good!

 

After Name that Tune (our team did ok yesterday at 13 out of 15), we will have to shower and dress-the CC Meet & Mingle is at 6:15 followed by 14 of us having dinner in Manfredi’s private dining room.  
 

Be sure to take a look at the movies available on the inroom tv.  There are many first run ones we haven’t seen. So I’m hoping to watch some-Judy, Ford BA Ferrari, etc. 

 

here are the dailies from today-notice how Meat is on the Ruben 😂

[kcpvwill]

Just wondered if they have the Downton Abbey movie on the TV?

[Clay Clayton]

2 hours ago, kcpvwill said:

Just wondered if they have the Downton Abbey movie on the TV?

Yep

[kfran]

I just met with the onboard future sales person and he pulled up the actual spreadsheet with numbers of passengers and crew.  According to that there are 525 guests aboard. That’s 56.4% occupancy by my calculation. Since the ship was almost sold out (as I recall there were under 12 staterooms showing available for sale a few weeks ago so something around 40% must of taken advantage of the revised cancellation offer. 
 
Having so few aboard really does make for great service!  


I too am looking forward to your blog as I will be on the Sea next week for our transatlantic. In fact, your blog from last year is what peaked my interest in doing this trip. Have cruised on the Sea before as well as a few river cruises. Doesn’t matter if the ship is full or has less passengers, Viking always provides great service.

Karen






Sent from my iPad using Forums

[schnauzerQ]

We have not sailed Viking yet, but have sailed with other lines and I'm enjoying your updates and blog. It's been a pleasure reading about your Viking experiences since it is a fount of helpful info! I have a quick question about the TVs and movies - does Viking offer the capability to turn on closed captioning (successfully) on its TVs? Some cruise lines say they offer it, but actually getting it to work is a whole other matter! So I was just curious about Viking's setup. Thanks in advance!

[Clay Clayton]

4 hours ago, schnauzerQ said:

We have not sailed Viking yet, but have sailed with other lines and I'm enjoying your updates and blog. It's been a pleasure reading about your Viking experiences since it is a fount of helpful info! I have a quick question about the TVs and movies - does Viking offer the capability to turn on closed captioning (successfully) on its TVs? Some cruise lines say they offer it, but actually getting it to work is a whole other matter! So I was just curious about Viking's setup. Thanks in advance!

If it’s possible it must have to be done by the room steward or the ship’s crew.  There is not a setup or settings button on the remote that I can find.  

[Peregrina651]

3 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

If it’s possible it must have to be done by the room steward or the ship’s crew.  There is not a setup or settings button on the remote that I can find.  

 

That's because the CEO wanted a simple remote with as few buttons as possible. Saw that in an article about him. Viking Saga: The Tale of Tor Hagen And His Voyage From ...

 

 

[airtana]

Clay, Please see your email for a question.  Thanks

Edited March 9, 2020 by airtana

[Clay Clayton]

15 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

That's because the CEO wanted a simple remote with as few buttons as possible. Saw that in an article about him. Viking Saga: The Tale of Tor Hagen And His Voyage From ...

 

 

Thanks for the article.  I didn’t realize ow leveraged he is. I also wish he had of had been as concerned with identifying the hand soap from the hand lotion in the public Restrooms as he was about the shampoo and conditioner in the stateroom. I can never tell which is which! 😂

[Clay Clayton]

After another rocky night we awoke to a break in the clouds and by the time we arrived in Sint Maarten At noon it was sunny and beautiful. Since we had taken the included excursion last year we decided to stay mostly aboard except for a quick trip to the duty free to buy some gin for the room. We are the only ship in port so it’s very empty. Below are the dailies. 

Edited March 9, 2020 by Clay Clayton

[Peregrina651]

47 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Thanks for the article.  I didn’t realize ow leveraged he is. I also wish he had of had been as concerned with identifying the hand soap from the hand lotion in the public Restrooms as he was about the shampoo and conditioner in the stateroom. I can never tell which is which! 😂

 

Not too bad if you go for the lotion instead of the soap. Just add soap. A pain if you get the soap instead of the lotion--rinse well, dry and try again!.

 

[Clay Clayton]

We’re still alongside-should have left 10 minutes ago. Heard the bing-bong and the voice of the cruise director informing us that the bunkering has not been completed due to the swells. I had noticed when we went down the gangway that it was moving a bit but I’m really surprised that it was enough to hamper the refueling. 
 

But makes me no nevermind, I have no place to go! Well other than up to the Aquavit to see sunset. 

[CharTrav]

22 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

That's because the CEO wanted a simple remote with as few buttons as possible. Saw that in an article about him. Viking Saga: The Tale of Tor Hagen And His Voyage From ...

 

 

And a fellow with a degree in Physics too!!! 😂

[Clay Clayton]

I’m not sure what time we finally left Sint Maarten last night (this morning!). We went to bed about 11:30 and were still along side. I woke about 2 and we were rocking and rolling. The weather this morning is beautiful but still rough seas that keep everyone either walking down the halls like drunk sailors or holding the handrails. We lost another hour so everyone is moving a little slow this morning. We are in the Explorer’s Lounge reading and enjoying interesting conversations with fellow guests....and the beautiful view. Headed to Trivia in a few. Will this be the day we get 15 out of 15?

[Clay Clayton]

So we came in 3rd at Trivia-11.5 out of 16 and worse at Name That Tune. 😢 We enjoyed the salad bar on the pool deck for lunch and did laundry this afternoon. Then we had a lovely nap to make up for the hour lost overnight.
 

Weather was beautiful most of the day (a passing shower brought me in from the balcony at one point) but the ship is still rocking and rolling. Watch the handrail vs the horizon in the video below to get an idea how much-in reality it is not nearly as smooth, seems worse and makes walking difficult. We had dinner on the Aquavit all by ourselves -it was like being on our own yacht!  Now back in the room with room service cheesecake and are going to watch a movie.   

Edited March 10, 2020 by Clay Clayton

[CharTrav]

When we were on the Sky 2 yrs ago in the Caribbean, I simply loved the noon time Trivia games that always started with a reminder from the bridge by the Captain "Remember! It's only a game!!". 😁😁😁😁

[Clay Clayton]

16 hours ago, CharTrav said:

When we were on the Sky 2 yrs ago in the Caribbean, I simply loved the noon time Trivia games that always started with a reminder from the bridge by the Captain "Remember! It's only a game!!". 😁😁😁😁

We are enjoying trivia but the “it’s only a game” only comes from the entertainer asking the questions, not the Captain.