Search for the Northern Lights on the Viking Venus Review with Lots of Photos and Menus

[MVPinBoynton]

I have just posted a review to my website with lots of photos of a recently completed Search for the Northern Lights on the Viking Venus.  I also have the menus from the restaurants, spa and lounges.

 

The review is located on my website, which is linked to in my signature.  You can also just Google “Mike and Carol’s Cruise Reviews” to find a link to it.  I hope it is helpful for those of you that are planning to go on a Viking cruise or to see the Northern Lights.  If you are fortunate enough to have been on a Northern Lights cruise, I hope that it brings back some fond memories.

 

Below are photos of the Igloo Hotel in Alta Norway and the gorgeous terrain in Norway’s inside passage. 

[DrKoob]

WOW! What a great review! And what an amazing website. There must be close to 50 or 60 cruise reviews on here with amazing photos. Can't wait to check them all out. Thanks for this. Sorry about your weather problems.

[oskidunker]

Excellent site! A few questions. How was the included wine? Do the have Sommeliers? 
 

i seeRack of  Lamb only in the specialty restaurant , right?

 

How was the Lobster? Can you order two entrees? Looks like the night of the Lobster is also Prime Rib.

 

 Whats the best entree on the cruise and what would you avoid?

 

is Manfredis worth it or would you stay in the dining room?

[MVPinBoynton]

1 minute ago, oskidunker said:

Excellent site! A few questions. How was the included wine? Do the have Sommeliers? 
 

i seeRack of  Lamb only in the specialty restaurant , right?

 

How was the Lobster? Can you order two entrees? Looks like the night of the Lobster is also Prime Rib.

 

 Whats the best entree on the cruise and what would you avoid?

 

is Manfredis worth it or would you stay in the dining room?

We had the Silver Spirits package. We had the included wine at times and it was good. 
 

Lobster was supposed to be farewell show.  Cathy liked her lobster.  I didn’t see anyone getting 2, but They assume you could if you asked. 
 

Since Manfredi’s is no extra cost, it’s worth going to. 

[oskidunker]

I noticed you did not mention the Planaterium. Did you go?

[aungrl]

Thanks so much for posting here and alerting us to your fabulous review and website.  I just spent the loveliest hour reading through your Northern Lights review and looking at all those amazing pictures.

[MVPinBoynton]

23 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

I noticed you did not mention the Planaterium. Did you go?

We went to the show in the planetarium in Tromso.  That is all we did there. I was only able to put a photo of the room. 

[Myrtle Ave. Mayhem]

Lovely review & pictures! A Norway cruise is on the bucket list! I agree that the lack of variety of breads, cookies, & World Cafe menu is disappointing. 

[toolworker]

When Northern Lights were visible, did the ship turn off any outdoor lighting to provide dark viewing areas?

[MVPinBoynton]

41 minutes ago, toolworker said:

When Northern Lights were visible, did the ship turn off any outdoor lighting to provide dark viewing areas?

They didn’t, but the lights kept people from tripping ver things and didn’t seem to affect the viewing. 

[LAKaye]

Thank you for the great review with so much useful info.

My sister and I are booked for Feb 2024 on this itinerary.  Was the mail pool heated so that passengers could swim in it?

Thank you~

LA

[MVPinBoynton]

9 minutes ago, LAKaye said:

Thank you for the great review with so much useful info.

My sister and I are booked for Feb 2024 on this itinerary.  Was the mail pool heated so that passengers could swim in it?

Thank you~

LA

I’m sorry, I never checked out the water. I did see some people swimming. With the pool totally enclosed, the temp was fine to swim. 

[LAKaye]

Thank you very much---we will bring swimsuits!

🙏🏻

[Meander Ingwa]

@LAKaye dont forget the sauna and spa pool.  I intend to use extensively.  I assume suits in the sauna rather than towels / nude

[Shaporama]

Thank you for the very very complete overview.  We are taking the same cruise in January-February 2024.  May I pose a few photography-related questions:

1. My longest lens (Sony) is a 70-300 zoom.  I saw that you have two zooms - did you feel that you needed the extra reach of the 400, or was the shorter zoom sufficient when shooting the shoreline from the ship?
2. During the shoulder hours of the morning and during the setting sun, what aperture did you frequently use and if you needed to boost the ISO, what level did you find acceptable?
3. Did you bring a tripod, and if so, did you have much reason to use it (and when?).
4. How did you keep your lenses from fogging up when you moved indoors (did you keep your gear in an enclosed bag until it warmed up?
5. How about battery life?  

Apologies for the lengthy list of questions, but I enjoyed your photos and am looking for some helpful advice for our cruise.

[MVPinBoynton]

1 hour ago, Shaporama said:

Thank you for the very very complete overview.  We are taking the same cruise in January-February 2024.  May I pose a few photography-related questions:

1. My longest lens (Sony) is a 70-300 zoom.  I saw that you have two zooms - did you feel that you needed the extra reach of the 400, or was the shorter zoom sufficient when shooting the shoreline from the ship?
2. During the shoulder hours of the morning and during the setting sun, what aperture did you frequently use and if you needed to boost the ISO, what level did you find acceptable?
3. Did you bring a tripod, and if so, did you have much reason to use it (and when?).
4. How did you keep your lenses from fogging up when you moved indoors (did you keep your gear in an enclosed bag until it warmed up?
5. How about battery life?  

Apologies for the lengthy list of questions, but I enjoyed your photos and am looking for some helpful advice for our cruise.

I’m glad you enjoyed the review.  Get ready for an amazing adventure.  For my Canon R7, I only brought 18-150 lens, which is a 240 mm equivalent. I normally just use P mode and didn’t need to adjust the ISO or expose comp. 
 

I don’t use a tripod when traveling and it wasn’t necessary. 
 

Over half of my photos were taken with my iPhone.  It’s HDR I makes a huge difference in many situations, as well as it’s low light performance.  It even worked much better for aurora photos. 
 

I didn’t have much of an issue with fogging.  I was kind of surprised it didn’t affect the iPhone at all. 

I kept my R7 in a shoulder bag when I wasn’t using it outside.  The batteries held up great. 

Enjoy your cruise. 

[BlairsvilleCruiseGirl]

On 3/4/2023 at 11:41 AM, oskidunker said:

Excellent site! A few questions. How was the included wine? Do the have Sommeliers? 
 

i seeRack of  Lamb only in the specialty restaurant , right?

 

How was the Lobster? Can you order two entrees? Looks like the night of the Lobster is also Prime Rib.

 

 Whats the best entree on the cruise and what would you avoid?

 

is Manfredis worth it or would you stay in the dining room?

Just got off the Viking Sea/Empires of the Med and towards the end of the cruise, the Restaurant had Lobster Thermador and Prime Rib on the menu.  However, the World Cafe had Lobster Vol au Vent on their menu, but ended up also grilling lobster tails and filet mignon al fresco (of course, they would do it inside if it was bad weather).  So be sure to check the Daily for both restaurants and maybe ask the chef in the World Cafe if they're going to be doing lobster tails too.  No limit - we saw one man get 4 tails!

[photopro2]

I've just been reading through your fantastic review of the Northern Lights trip on your website. I thoroughly enjoyed it and almost feel like I was right there with you. I was particularly impressed with the wide-angle interiors of the ship and your photographs of the entertainment are outstanding. I would be interested to know what equipment you're using?

 

I don't know how often you update your website, but would like to suggest a small correction that you might like to make at some point? Folks reading your review of the Chef's table might be worried that they would not get the wine pairing unless they had purchased the beverage package. As you probably know that is not really the case and everyone gets a wine pairing, it is just upgraded for those with the package.

 

I hope you forgive me for that small criticism of what is otherwise a really excellent review of your trip - I will now be happily working my way through the rest of your website 😁

[RLK33853]

Thanks very much for providing the menus and beverage menu.  Just what we had been looking for!

 

Cheers

 

Ray and Ann

[MVPinBoynton]

3 hours ago, photopro2 said:

I've just been reading through your fantastic review of the Northern Lights trip on your website. I thoroughly enjoyed it and almost feel like I was right there with you. I was particularly impressed with the wide-angle interiors of the ship and your photographs of the entertainment are outstanding. I would be interested to know what equipment you're using?

 

I don't know how often you update your website, but would like to suggest a small correction that you might like to make at some point? Folks reading your review of the Chef's table might be worried that they would not get the wine pairing unless they had purchased the beverage package. As you probably know that is not really the case and everyone gets a wine pairing, it is just upgraded for those with the package.

 

I hope you forgive me for that small criticism of what is otherwise a really excellent review of your trip - I will now be happily working my way through the rest of your website 😁

Thank you so much for your lovely comments.  I also appreciate knowing where I need to make a correction.  I’m currently in Switzerland and won’t be able to fix it until after I get home in 3 weeks. 
 

My camera equipment is listed at the bottom of every age of the review. 

[photopro2]

40 minutes ago, MVPinBoynton said:

My camera equipment is listed at the bottom of every age of the review. 

How did I miss that!!!! My only excuse is that I was reading on my phone, so the pages were a bit small 🔍😉

 

I must say you are making very good use of those lenses, I've always been a Canon fan.

 

Of course, no hurry for the correction, enjoy your time in the land of chocolate and cheese 😁

[LostFan#1]

Thank you for your review. We're taking this cruise in Feb., hoping for Northern Lts sightings since we missed them during our 10-day trip to Iceland last September. This is our first Ocean cruise with Viking, so I also appreciated the dining options information.

[MVPinBoynton]

10 hours ago, LostFan#1 said:

Thank you for your review. We're taking this cruise in Feb., hoping for Northern Lts sightings since we missed them during our 10-day trip to Iceland last September. This is our first Ocean cruise with Viking, so I also appreciated the dining options information.

Best of luck on your cruise with the lights.  Viking does a great job on their ocean ships. Enjoy!

[LostFan#1]

Thank you, MV! We just finished an amazing Egypt river cruise with Viking and are excited to experience Viking Ocean. 

[MVPinBoynton]

42 minutes ago, LostFan#1 said:

Thank you, MV! We just finished an amazing Egypt river cruise with Viking and are excited to experience Viking Ocean. 

We are doing a Viking Egypt in Jan 2025 on the Osiris. It should be amazing.