Viking Saturn—Bergen to Reykjavik-July 5-July 19

[janetcbl]

35 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

If you get a chance, suggest that someone take a look at the bow cam, it seems to be (as my Daddy would have said), Cattywhompus. 😂

I have mentally tried giving it a turn; it didn’t seem to work……😁

[Clay Clayton]

17 minutes ago, janetcbl said:

I have mentally tried giving it a turn; it didn’t seem to work……😁

If you zoom out and panoramic it around you can see more but, not quite as good as usual. 

[CCWineLover]

3 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

Don’t know if the bow cam is related to the pissy wi-fi connection—but maybe. I have a few pics to offer from our very fine touring at Geirangerfjord today, but can’t get the thread to open on my phone where said pictures reside. Anon.

So sorry - but I warned you all.  On our Saturn Iceland trip the wifi was basically useless.  Probably the worst of any Viking ship I've been on.  People say it is because it is far north, but we were on Venus last summer on Midnight Sun cruise and it was quite a bit better than Saturn was.

Time to enjoy the sights and post later (or else post during the night when the facetimers and video streamers have gone to bed 🙂

 

[BluebonnetTexan]

3 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

If you zoom out and panoramic it around you can see more but, not quite as good as usual. 

I’ve been watching it, too. It’s been flaky since around June 19, didn’t update for days, then next thing I know it’s back and definitely caddywampus! I think I used exactly that word showing my husband! 😁 Hopefully someone onboard will see this and let someone know people want to see the scenery without getting a crick in their necks! LOL!  That said, there are some pretty cloud patterns today! 🤣

Edited July 7, 2023 by BluebonnetTexan
Typo

[Peregrina651]

At these latitudes, the high walls of the fjord  block the line of sight to the satellites.  

[LindaS272]

11 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

So sorry - but I warned you all.  On our Saturn Iceland trip the wifi was basically useless.  Probably the worst of any Viking ship I've been on.

You did indeed, Kent. But a girl can hope! 🤷‍♀️ 🤦‍♀️🤭

 

I’ll keep a log and publish pics when there’s good coverage. Meantime will post snippets as we go.

[SJD117]

3 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

You did indeed, Kent. But a girl can hope! 🤷‍♀️ 🤦‍♀️🤭

 

I’ll keep a log and publish pics when there’s good coverage. Meantime will post snippets as we go.

A fine view near Geiranger.

 

[SJD117]

And another!

 

 

[SJD117]

And one more.

 

 

 

 

[Azulann]

4 hours ago, SJD117 said:

And one more.

 

 

 

 

What a great picture. I can just imagined an ancient Viking ship sailing out of the fjord to places unknown. You need to be a hardy lot to live  in Norway.

[Peregrina651]

20 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

So sorry - but I warned you all.  On our Saturn Iceland trip the wifi was basically useless.  Probably the worst of any Viking ship I've been on.  People say it is because it is far north, but we were on Venus last summer on Midnight Sun cruise and it was quite a bit better than Saturn was.

Time to enjoy the sights and post later (or else post during the night when the facetimers and video streamers have gone to bed 🙂

 

 

Don't blame it on the ship! It is the location and the geography that is causing the problem, not the ship's equipment. The best equipment in the world cannot process a signal that is not reaching the ship -- and that is what happens in the higher latitudes.

 

 

[LindaS272]

Hot news of the day for those who want to know about the CDs. Matt (asst. CD) now tells me today that Damian will be the CD on the next leg of the Saturn. Verity is either going to be on the Orion or Neptune.

[LindaS272]

Hot news of the day for those who want to know about the CDs. Matt (asst. CD) now tells me today that Damian will be the CD on the next leg of the Saturn. Verity is either going to be on the Orion or Jupiter. (Matt says he can’t keep track of the ships  since he was hired when there were only three Ocean ships!)

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, LindaS272 said:

Hot news of the day for those who want to know about the CDs. Matt (asst. CD) now tells me today that Damian will be the CD on the next leg of the Saturn. Verity is either going to be on the Orion or Jupiter. (Matt says he can’t keep track of the ships  since he was hired when there were only three Ocean ships!)

Don't think I've heard of Damian?  Wonder why Matt hasn't ever become a CD?

[charmed1959]

Is there any dress code for the dining room on these Iceland/Norway cruises?  Or will the leggings and sweaters we are wearing on the tours be okay for dinner, or should we bring dressier clothes. We will be on the Saturn on the 19th out of Reykjavik, and I’m already packing.

[LindaS272]

28 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Don't think I've heard of Damian?  Wonder why Matt hasn't ever become a CD?

I think Damian’s last name is Solas or Solis. As for Matt—I have no idea. Those three times I’ve encountered him as asst., he was content to play sidekick to the diva CDs 😎😲—that would be Vicky, Verity & Heather—all dramatic singers. 

[LindaS272]

23 minutes ago, charmed1959 said:

Is there any dress code for the dining room on these Iceland/Norway cruises?  Or will the leggings and sweaters we are wearing on the tours be okay for dinner, or should we bring dressier clothes. We will be on the Saturn on the 19th out of Reykjavik, and I’m already packing.

From the Viking FAQs:

“During the day, dress is casual including shorts (if the season is warm), slacks or jeans and comfortable shoes for walking tours. Swimsuits, brief shorts, cover-ups and exercise attire should be reserved for the Fitness Center, pool areas and Sports Deck. There are no “formal nights” in the evening; evening dress is “elegant casual” for all dining venues, performances and special events. On these occasions, required attire for ladies includes a dress, skirt or slacks with a sweater or blouse; for gentlemen, trousers and a collared shirt. A tie and jacket are optional; jeans are not permitted. The evening dress excludes World Café where the dress remains casual after 6:00 PM.”

[Sailor Sam 407]

2 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

From the Viking FAQs:

“During the day, dress is casual including shorts (if the season is warm), slacks or jeans and comfortable shoes for walking tours. Swimsuits, brief shorts, cover-ups and exercise attire should be reserved for the Fitness Center, pool areas and Sports Deck. There are no “formal nights” in the evening; evening dress is “elegant casual” for all dining venues, performances and special events. On these occasions, required attire for ladies includes a dress, skirt or slacks with a sweater or blouse; for gentlemen, trousers and a collared shirt. A tie and jacket are optional; jeans are not permitted. The evening dress excludes World Café where the dress remains casual after 6:00 PM.”

We’re on Saturn now and on paper jeans are not permitted, but in reality we see them every night.

[Redtravel]

  On my cruises before the pandemic, at night you seldom saw jeans at dinner.  Fast forward a few years, when people stayed at home they dressed very casually.  Resuming life outside home, people have continued to dress casually.  I lived in jeans and shorts for 2+ years.  My cruise attire stayed in the closet waiting for my next cruise.  When I resumed cruising in June 2022, I packed my usual cruise clothes.  I was shocked when I saw what people were wearing.  Jeans were seen everywhere. My dressy clothing seemed out of place.  In the past year, I have taken 4 cruises on 3 different lines.  Some lines refused dinner service to people wearing shorts.  Thinking about my next cruise on Viking, happy .to wear jeans

[Clay Clayton]

5 hours ago, charmed1959 said:

Is there any dress code for the dining room on these Iceland/Norway cruises?  Or will the leggings and sweaters we are wearing on the tours be okay for dinner, or should we bring dressier clothes. We will be on the Saturn on the 19th out of Reykjavik, and I’m already packing.

 

2 hours ago, Sailor Sam 407 said:

We’re on Saturn now and on paper jeans are not permitted, but in reality we see them every night.

 

1 hour ago, Redtravel said:

  On my cruises before the pandemic, at night you seldom saw jeans at dinner.  Fast forward a few years, when people stayed at home they dressed very casually.  Resuming life outside home, people have continued to dress casually.  I lived in jeans and shorts for 2+ years.  My cruise attire stayed in the closet waiting for my next cruise.  When I resumed cruising in June 2022, I packed my usual cruise clothes.  I was shocked when I saw what people were wearing.  Jeans were seen everywhere. My dressy clothing seemed out of place.  In the past year, I have taken 4 cruises on 3 different lines.  Some lines refused dinner service to people wearing shorts.  Thinking about my next cruise on Viking, happy .to wear jeans

Just an fyi, folks on other roll calls have reported sightings of people in jeans being turned away from The Restaurant. 

[Breckski]

8 hours ago, charmed1959 said:

Is there any dress code for the dining room on these Iceland/Norway cruises?  Or will the leggings and sweaters we are wearing on the tours be okay for dinner, or should we bring dressier clothes. We will be on the Saturn on the 19th out of Reykjavik, and I’m already packing.

All kinds of different experiences on this forum.  But on our northern lights cruise, dress was certainly more casual than normal.  

[LindaS272]

These are our lecturers—We’ve seen Slind on the Vikings & Haywood on the Sami. So far, so good!

[LindaS272]

On July 7–In Geiranger (pronounced somewhat like  “gair—anne—grrr”) we took the included Eagles Bend Overlook & Panoramic Drive. It was excellent. When you have fabulous panoramas, this kind of “overview” is worth it. We had an entertaining guide in Claudia from Spain. She’s young and while not a party girl, she claimed, she would like to have a little nightlife in the evenings, and she complained that there is nothing in Norway. Houses are generally far apart in the countryside and Norwegians keep to themselves—while they like the isolation, she told us that “Scandinavian Depression” is real. Quite interesting to hear a perspective from a young European person on the Norwegian character.

 

The weather in the morning was off and on cloudy, but clouds lifted enough by the time we got to the first high point (a few photos to follow). Incredible views out over the fjord with the seven sisters waterfall in the distance.

 

The second viewpoint was straight up from the port—so good views over the Saturn and the Silverseas ship which has been stalking us.

 

Our third stop was at a lake about a half hour up the road. There was snow high up around the lake and the temps were noticeably cooler.

 

After lunch back at the ship (we did not tender here as advertised, but were able to get their floating pier, so much easier to come and go)—we did a self-guided walk around the wee town. We took the back trails to the TI, found a stylized map and took off for the Fjord Center, which I knew was somewhere up above the town. We found a trail beside the waterfall that comes gushing down the valley to the port and followed that up 381 steps (ugh!) to a small park and the interpretive center. We only had a short time to be back at the ship, however, so opted not to go inside. It was only about $15, but we figured we had already had our fjord interpretations just by visiting the viewpoints & climbing up beside the waterfall! Nature is the best teacher.

[LindaS272]

And don’t forget the chocolate shop. We bought a dozen samples on the way back to the ship—our own little taste of Norway!

[LindaS272]

56 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

On July 7–In Geiranger (pronounced somewhat like  “gair—anne—grrr”) we took the included Eagles Bend Overlook & Panoramic Drive. It was excellent. When you have fabulous panoramas, this kind of “overview” is worth it. We had an entertaining guide in Claudia from Spain. She’s young and while not a party girl, she claimed, she would like to have a little nightlife in the evenings, and she complained that there is nothing in Norway. Houses are generally far apart in the countryside and Norwegians keep to themselves—while they like the isolation, she told us that “Scandinavian Depression” is real. Quite interesting to hear a perspective from a young European person on the Norwegian character.

 

The weather in the morning was off and on cloudy, but clouds lifted enough by the time we got to the first high point (a few photos to follow). Incredible views out over the fjord with the seven sisters waterfall in the distance.

 

The second viewpoint was straight up from the port—so good views over the Saturn and the Silverseas ship which has been stalking us.

 

Our third stop was at a lake about a half hour up the road. There was snow high up around the lake and the temps were noticeably cooler.

 

After lunch back at the ship (we did not tender here as advertised, but were able to get their floating pier, so much easier to come and go)—we did a self-guided walk around the wee town. We took the back trails to the TI, found a stylized map and took off for the Fjord Center, which I knew was somewhere up above the town. We found a trail beside the waterfall that comes gushing down the valley to the port and followed that up 381 steps (ugh!) to a small park and the interpretive center. We only had a short time to be back at the ship, however, so opted not to go inside. It was only about $15, but we figured we had already had our fjord interpretations just by visiting the viewpoints & climbing up beside the waterfall! Nature is the best teacher.