Globalfish Posted May 14 #1 Share Posted May 14 https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/John-Waggoner-revive-Victory-Cruise-Lines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globalfish Posted May 14 Author #2 Share Posted May 14 Also see https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ship-operations/john-waggoner-reviving-victory-cruise-lines-great-lakes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted May 14 #3 Share Posted May 14 I wish him luck with this (and I don't mean that sarcastically). I had a great cruise on the Navigator, although I know other cruises last year had problems, including the generator. But if he spruces them up and can match or beat Viking and ACL's prices, he could make it work. I hope he can. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globalfish Posted May 14 Author #4 Share Posted May 14 24 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said: But if he spruces them up and can match or beat Viking and ACL's prices, he could make it work. I hope he can. Yes, I too hope he can make it a go. Would book a Lake Superior cruise that begins and ends in Chicago (with a similar itinerary to AQV’s Ocean Navigator cruise that I was originally supposed to take this August). I agree with you that it would have to be cheaper than Viking. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted May 14 #5 Share Posted May 14 It would be great if he could get the Lakelorian we had on Navigator. Great speaker, good information. I wonder if he could get Road Scholar back again. They booked quite a few Great Lakes cruises. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globalfish Posted May 14 Author #6 Share Posted May 14 (edited) 29 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said: I wonder if he could get Road Scholar back again. They booked quite a few Great Lakes cruises. Road Scholar is probably salivating at an opportunity to offer Great Lakes cruises again and I’m sure they would jump at it. Without them leaves a terrible void in their domestic cruise offerings. Edited May 14 by Globalfish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted May 14 #7 Share Posted May 14 24 minutes ago, Globalfish said: Road Scholar is probably salivating at an opportunity to offer Great Lakes cruises again and I’m sure they would jump at it. Without them leaves a terrible void in their domestic cruise offerings. I don't know how large the group was, as they didn't keep to themselves the way some groups (not RS) on large ships do. Because there was only one lounge, other passengers were invited to attend their lectures, which I thought was nice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted May 23 #8 Share Posted May 23 If he plans to leave the vessels strictly in the Great Lakes, the corrosion problems that ocean-going ships of this age see will be pretty much eliminated, but the inspections of steel thicknesses and weld integrity that all older ships must complete will make competing with ACL's newer ships harder to do. As others have said, I wish him luck, but he's setting a hard row to hoe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globalfish Posted June 20 Author #9 Share Posted June 20 Seems like 2025 dates and routes for Victory I and II have been announced, although not yet available for booking until next month. See https://www.greatlakescruises.com/victory-cruise-lines.html Website https://www.victorycruiselines.com launches in July 2024. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted June 23 #10 Share Posted June 23 Thanks for posting that. The description sounds exactly like the cruise I did last year--I was on one of the fortunate sailings that had no problems. Sounds like he connected with the same vendors. Pictures look like the cabins were redecorated, or else they showed the other ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globalfish Posted June 23 Author #11 Share Posted June 23 (edited) 1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said: Thanks for posting that. The description sounds exactly like the cruise I did last year--I was on one of the fortunate sailings that had no problems. Sounds like he connected with the same vendors. You welcome. He didn’t waste a moment’s time after he bought those ships back, but methinks the Victory II (previously the Ocean Navigator) still needs a lot of work to make it seaworthy again. The 15-day Chicago round trip is identical to the AQV cruise I was supposed to take on the Ocean Voyager this August. But its only posted dates thus far are May 30 and June 13, 2025, which conflict with my Quark Svalbard expedition from June 9-18, so alas the Victory cruise will have to wait at least another year. But I’m OK with that because I just returned home last night from a 7-day Road Scholar land program to Traverse City, Sault Ste. Marie and Mackinac Island (followed by 3 days in Chicago on my own). Sadly, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario is economically depressed and a “nothing burger” (with the exception of the excellent bush plane museum). Their lock is not currently in operation because they’re building a new one. But watching the big tankers going thru the Soo Locks on the other side of the border in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan was exciting and wonderful. Edited June 23 by Globalfish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted June 23 #12 Share Posted June 23 I did Chicago to Toronto last year. We docket on the US side at Sault Ste Marie, where there's a lot to see. A viewing platform at the lock, an ecology museum, and a museum inside a former freighter. Ahh, Svalbard! I've been to Longyearbyen twice--Cunard, a bit different from Quark. The 15-day Chicago round trip looks good to me, too. But not next summer for me, either (more Cunard). Maybe I'll see you on a Victory ship in 2026! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globalfish Posted June 23 Author #13 Share Posted June 23 (edited) 23 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said: I did Chicago to Toronto last year. We docket on the US side at Sault Ste Marie, where there's a lot to see. A viewing platform at the lock, an ecology museum, and a museum inside a former freighter. Yes, the US side of the Soo is far more interesting. Mercifully I was able to make it up the steps to the top viewing platform at the lock in an orthopedic boot for a broken foot. Did the Museum Ship Valley Camp two years ago on a Pearl Seas cruise. Edited June 23 by Globalfish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob brown Posted June 24 #14 Share Posted June 24 I might have taken the Chicago to Montreal that I had originally booked on AQV, but they are not ready for this Autumn season, so stuck with Pearl Seas cruise Milwaukee to Quebec, instead. Don't know if I will ever go on Victory, but I would like to sail into Duluth some day, so who knows?🤷♂️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globalfish Posted June 24 Author #15 Share Posted June 24 3 hours ago, bob brown said: Don't know if I will ever go on Victory, but I would like to sail into Duluth some day, so who knows?🤷♂️ Pearl Seas now offers a 15-day Great Lakes Explorer Cruise that includes ports on Lake Superior including Thunder Bay and Duluth that it didn't do prior to this year. https://www.pearlseascruises.com/cruises/great-lakes-cruises/great-lakes-explorer Wish they offered a shorter cruise that just did Lake Superior because the 15-day is too duplicative of ports I have already been on the 4 other Great Lakes and doesn’t get into Superior until well more than halfway through the cruise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GottaKnowWhen Posted August 14 #16 Share Posted August 14 On 6/24/2024 at 2:29 AM, Globalfish said: Pearl Seas now offers a 15-day Great Lakes Explorer Cruise that includes ports on Lake Superior including Thunder Bay and Duluth that it didn't do prior to this year. https://www.pearlseascruises.com/cruises/great-lakes-cruises/great-lakes-explorer Wish they offered a shorter cruise that just did Lake Superior because the 15-day is too duplicative of ports I have already been on the 4 other Great Lakes and doesn’t get into Superior until well more than halfway through the cruise. I am booked on this one next June… Toronto to Duluth. Except for Duluth and a couple of other Superior stops we have done driving tours, land visits to all of the ports. Looking forward to a different perspective! Stan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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