The Virtual Explorers' Lounge

[FetaCheese]

LR Bar case.

No pistachio buns

Have not seen them anywhere, will enquire later.

[JM0115]

 

Does anyone know what changes they made to the Sun to make it the Yi Dun? Are the crew mostly from China? Food chinese influenced? Is it mainly for the Chinese market or US?

[Twitchly]

17 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

 

 

 

There’s that red suitcase. Dang, I love that thing.

[millybess]

3 minutes ago, Twitchly said:

There’s that red suitcase. Dang, I love that thing.

I love the red bags that Mike made for them. 😊

[Twitchly]

1 minute ago, millybess said:

I love the red bags that Mike made for them. 😊

Yes! Envy is a terrible thing.

[Peregrina651]

6 hours ago, JM0115 said:

 

Does anyone know what changes they made to the Sun to make it the Yi Dun? Are the crew mostly from China? Food chinese influenced? Is it mainly for the Chinese market or US?

 

While I don't know exactly, from what I learned when we did our river cruise in China (2010) and from the few snippets I'd read about the sale, Viking was supposed to at least add a casino and redecorate the cabins to accommodate family groups. (scroll to the footer of any page on the Viking website and check out the MEDIA CENTER; there might be an old press release about the sale). Whether Viking every made these changes and whether they were ever able run cruise during the pandemic, I have not heard.

 

The ship is owned by a Chinese company and leased backed to Viking to run the hotel services. That is the way it works in China. The Chinese company operates the ship with Chinese officers and crew. Viking runs the hotel operation with a few officers from VO HQ in charge and the balance of the crew Chinese nationals, most of whom will speak English to one degree or another.

 

Because of the river cruises that ran from 2004(?)  to 2019 (shutdown before the 2020 season), Viking has seasoned employees in China, who hopefully are still with the company and long standing relationships with the tourist industry in the Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an (food on land will be Chinese cooking served family style or hotel buffet). On the ship, food service will be standard Viking fare with regional specialties available, just as on the rest of the fleet.

[FetaCheese]

 @Heidi13

Edited January 6 by FetaCheese

[FetaCheese]

Question for experienced mariners,  @chengkp75 

 

@Heidi13

And anyone else.

 

Had about a1 hours crew drills yesterday, including closing of fire and water tight doors.  

 

Took shower during and very minimal to no hot water, also at sink/basin.  Do they shut down hot water systems during such a drill?

Edited January 6 by FetaCheese

[Heidi13]

6 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

Question for experienced mariners,  @chengkp75 

 

@Heidi13

And anyone else.

 

Had about a1 hours crew drills yesterday, including closing of fire and water tight doors.  

 

Took shower during and very minimal to no hot water, also at sink/basin.  Do they shut down hot water systems during such a drill?

 

That isn't something I have seen on most drills, unless they shut down the main switchboard and went on the emergency generator, or even batteries. However, you would have lots of other things not working, in addition to hot water. I've never done that level of shut down with pax onboard.

 

Usually pax services in the public spaces/dining areas are shut down completely, or operate with a minimum staff. It may have been a coincidence, where they experienced an issue in the engine room and had less engineers available, as they participate in the drills throughout the ship.

 

Out of interest, assuming it was the regular fire & boat drills, can you recall where the announcements advised for the fire location and assembly points for the fire teams.

[Peregrina651]

On 1/4/2024 at 5:09 PM, Twitchly said:

There’s that red suitcase. Dang, I love that thing.

 

Me, too. 

 

And is that packing for one or two? Because if that is packing for two, then WOW, Clay and Mike win the "Light Packer" Award!

[FetaCheese]

4 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

That isn't something I have seen on most drills, unless they shut down the main switchboard and went on the emergency generator, or even batteries. However, you would have lots of other things not working, in addition to hot water. I've never done that level of shut down with pax onboard.

 

Usually pax services in the public spaces/dining areas are shut down completely, or operate with a minimum staff. It may have been a coincidence, where they experienced an issue in the engine room and had less engineers available, as they participate in the drills throughout the ship.

 

Out of interest, assuming it was the regular fire & boat drills, can you recall where the announcements advised for the fire location and assembly points for the fire teams.

Thanks for your response.  The fire location was laundry.  Sorry, can't remember where assembly point was.

 

Probably just a coincidence that it was during drill.  Never experienced it before or since.

[millybess]

5 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Me, too. 

 

And is that packing for one or two? Because if that is packing for two, then WOW, Clay and Mike win the "Light Packer" Award!

Free luggage forward.  Maybe we're only seeing half of it.  😊

[Clay Clayton]

11 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Me, too. 

 

And is that packing for one or two? Because if that is packing for two, then WOW, Clay and Mike win the "Light Packer" Award!

 

5 hours ago, millybess said:

Free luggage forward.  Maybe we're only seeing half of it.  😊

We shipped ahead two similar bags (one was a medium sized suitcase but not a huge one) with 1/2 of each of our clothes in the red bad and the bigger one with mostly consumables.  So a total of 4 suitcases and our underseat bags which had our prescription drugs, iPads, and change of clothes for LA.  Below is a photo of it all in our room. 
 

We were unpacked in about an hour which is another advantage of packing light. 😀

[HUNKY]

SantaFe1 - Did you choose the seats together in the middle or back to back by the windows?

[SantaFe1]

2 minutes ago, HUNKY said:

SantaFe1 - Did you choose the seats together in the middle or back to back by the windows?

W chose back to back by the window, 6a and 7 a.  

[Twitchly]

OK, after watching this I will never complain about rough seas again. (Actually I may never get on a ship again.) I can’t imagine how they got some of this footage.

 

 

[TayanaLorna]

9 hours ago, Twitchly said:

OK, after watching this I will never complain about rough seas again. (Actually I may never get on a ship again.) I can’t imagine how they got some of this footage.

 

 

The reason why we never want a forward facing Explorers suite.  That fishing boat was way smaller then a Viking ship but... 

 

If you want some really exciting sailing footage, watch Around Cape Horn narrated by Irving Johnson.  He sailed aboard the Peking in 1929 and shot the footage.  I think this film should be featured on every Viking Round Cape Horn and Chilean Fjord sailing.

[Azulann]

9 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

OK, after watching this I will never complain about rough seas again. (Actually I may never get on a ship again.) I can’t imagine how they got some of this footage.

Great video and music . It reminds me of the video I saw at the Maritime Museum in Astoria OR, near the mouth of the Columbia River.

 Showed pilot  and CG boats around Cape Disappointment also know as the Graveyard of the Pacific. They were doing  training exercises in that type of wave action .

But I am far from any ocean, but just made a delicious Sidecar  cocktail with very good Cognac , paired with aged havarti cheese , olives.

BTW, I will be back in San Juan PR  before  my next Viking Cruise in Oct 2025. We will stay again at the El Convento  hotel in old town  a day before our cruise and a day after our West Indies Explorer cruise. I know you live in PR! I loved walking around  San Juan. 

Cheers,

Patti 

 

 

[TayanaLorna]

14 hours ago, Azulann said:

Great video and music . It reminds me of the video I saw at the Maritime Museum in Astoria OR, near the mouth of the Columbia River.

 Showed pilot  and CG boats around Cape Disappointment also know as the Graveyard of the Pacific. They were doing  training exercises in that type of wave action .

But I am far from any ocean, but just made a delicious Sidecar  cocktail with very good Cognac , paired with aged havarti cheese , olives.

BTW, I will be back in San Juan PR  before  my next Viking Cruise in Oct 2025. We will stay again at the El Convento  hotel in old town  a day before our cruise and a day after our West Indies Explorer cruise. I know you live in PR! I loved walking around  San Juan. 

Cheers,

Patti 

 

 

We always take visitors to the Cathedral, the San Juan gate, La Rogativa sculpture and into the Hotel El Convento as it is very nice.  Old San Juan is the best part.  

[SantaFe1]

General question for those who have done British Isles Explorer.  We aren’t very interested in any of the excursions in Liverpool.    Is it easy to do a walking tour on your own?  We would like to see the “three Graces”  and go to the maritime museum.  (Yes, yet another maritime museum for me.  My husband loves them.  And, truth be told, so do I). TIA

Edited January 26 by SantaFe1

[Jim Avery]

Very easy to walk to those places.

[Berlin Bear]

Hi all, born and bred Liverpudlian here - you can, in fact, see the three graces from the ship. If you stroll past these buildings you‘ll get to the Royal Albert Dock where the Maritime Museum is located. It really isn’t far - perhaps ten minutes at the most. The International Slavery Museum in the same building is also well worth a visit.

 

Last time we docked in Liverpool we took a City and Beatles bus tour from the Albert Dock. We had my SIL with us and the tour, which took one and a half hours, gave her a good overview of the city centre and some of the leafier areas of Liverpool, including the two cathedrals. Really worth considering.

 

Whatever, it’s a very walkable city.

[SantaFe1]

Well, here’s a fun game we are playing tonight.   Where is it that you haven’t been and don’t have booked, that you really want to get to?  Last chance bucket list.  We are so fortunate to have traveled extensively and hope to keep traveling the next couple of years.  Ours are Istanbul and Santorini.  

[wine-wine-wine]

1 hour ago, SantaFe1 said:

Well, here’s a fun game we are playing tonight.   Where is it that you haven’t been and don’t have booked, that you really want to get to?  Last chance bucket list.  We are so fortunate to have traveled extensively and hope to keep traveling the next couple of years.  Ours are Istanbul and Santorini.  

Morocco, Lemnos, Samothrace  - none by cruise. Transatlantic on Sea Cloud. Transpacific on Viking. 
 

but as I can think / dream it I would be fine with 99 consecutive sea days on any Viking ocean ship!

[PasadenaDave]

8 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

Well, here’s a fun game we are playing tonight.   Where is it that you haven’t been and don’t have booked, that you really want to get to?  Last chance bucket list.  We are so fortunate to have traveled extensively and hope to keep traveling the next couple of years.  Ours are Istanbul and Santorini.  

Thule, Greenland.  My father was an early visitor in that he did the site development for the airbase prior to the famous fleet arrival.  Sadly the base doesn’t accept visitors, but I have photos that my father took of the Inuit living in their traditional ways.  He was part of a very small group of construction workers allowed to have contact with the Inuit, due into the fact that the construction contingent was a small group at that time.