The start of the latest travel adventure.
A friend & I had planned to go on the Viking Shores & Fjords ocean cruise in September of 2020. Then Covid happened, and the cruise was cancelled, as were so many things back then. We rebooked for September of 2021. By then, things would be better, right? Of course!
Well, summer of 2021 came around and things weren't really all that much better. Viking cancelled the cruise a second time. But we persevered ... and rebooked for April 2022. And, lo and behold, the cruise wasn't cancelled this time! We left for the airport (that's the initial 'roads' part) using the limo service I have used for about35+ years, arriving at Boston/Logan about 1pm Wednesday for our 3pm flight to Newark. Then on to Oslo, Norway - on a flight with empty seats for once, which let us spread out a little - arriving around 8:30 am. Finally, the flight from Oslo to Bergen, which arrived just before noon. It was stunning flying in to Bergen, over snow and fjords. Here are a few pictures.
After landing we, and quite a few other people also traveling on the same cruise (and who we had met on one or more of our incoming flights) all moved to baggage claim. And waited of course; what baggage claim area isn't an island of impatient travelers waiting (and hoping!) for their bags? There were at least a couple of Viking staff walking around and assuring us that we would soon be on our way to the ship. Which we were, although there were at least a couple of folks whose luggage was not there. At least one of them had her bags later that evening, but I am not sure about others.
Ultimately, we all climbed into a bus and started the approximatly 25 minute ride to the Viking Jupiter. It's almost a brand new ship - I was told (although I can't vouch for it) that this is only its third sailing. We arrived in our room by about 1pm, did a partial unpack of our carry-ons only since our main luggage had not yet made, and then headed - since it was now mid-afternoon - to lunch.
One thing I forgot to mention above is the Covid protocols in place here. We were instructed to have had a PCR test within 72 hours of our first part of the journey here, as well as to bring our vaccine card and be wearing a mask when arriving at the ship. During the boarding process, every arriving passenger had to provide a saliva sample for Viking to test. We were allowed to board, but had to wear a mask until the results of that test were known, which pretty much meant until the next morning. And every night the attendant delivers another vial to each of us so that we may provide another sample by about 8am the next morning - we are tested every day. No news is good news, and once we tested negative on Thursday, we no longer have to wear a mask around the ship ... although, of course, some people do.
Both of us were determined not to sleep until late evening, in our best attempt to adjust to the new time zone. When we arrived back in our cabin after our (late) lunch, we found our luggage had been delivered. So time to unpack! We also had the opportunity to meet our main cabin attendant - Gilbert - and to make sure that he knew that we would like ice delivered to the room at regular intervals every day! After settling in, we went for a walk around the ship, locating the various areas to dine, the bars, the Atrium, Library, Star Theater and a few other places. We still haven't seen the cinema -- but we did find three pianos which we decided bode well for our entertainment.
We then headed to The Restaurant (the main dining room) for our first dinner onboard, and then finally back to our cabin. I'll be honest, by then I had been up for approximately 34 hours with virtually no sleep. It never even occurred to me to take any pictures or start a blog post that night! But before I end this post, here are a few pictures from the ship that I took on Friday morning.
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