• Di and My's World Journey
  • Di and My's World Journey

2024 Viking World Journey

Pengembaraan 124hari oleh Di and My's World Journey Baca lagi
  • Permulaan perjalanan
    7 Januari 2024

    Background

    3 Januari 2024, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☁️ 28 °F

    Viking Neptune World Journey
    123 Days
    In January 2022, Myron and Diana were to embark on a 119 world journey from LA to London. The world was just coming out of COVID and so many places were still not open to cruise passengers and in some countries to any travelers. We flew to LA and learned our itinerary was to be greatly altered.
    Viking offered us a full cash refund. We took it, flew back home, regrouped and two years later; we and the world are ready for us to embark on this great journey.
    We leave our home on January 6th spending the night in Sioux Falls and fly to LAX at 5:00 AM on January 7th.
    We will be on the Viking Neptune from January 9th returning to our home on May 9th from London. England.
    We shall visit 23 countries making 57 port of calls with 15 of those being overnight stays of one or more nights. We shall have 8 unique scenic sailings and 45 sea days.
    We know the itinerary can change so we are flexible as we sail along.
    Some highlights are spending all of February exploring Australia and New Zealand.
    Visiting the Taj Mahal while in India. Spending two nights in Vietnam. Seeing the Treasury at Petra, Jordan. Visiting the Valley of the Kings and Queens in Egypt.
    Let the adventure begin!
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  • The Perks

    3 Januari 2024, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☁️ 28 °F

    The perks for this World Cruise are:
    Free Business Class Air
    Complimentary Luggage Forward to pre-ship two bags to be delivered to our cabin.
    Complimentary Visa service provided by Gen Visa.
    One complimentary shore excursion in each port.
    Silver Spirit Package (Drinks)
    Gratuities
    Free WiFi
    24 Hour Room Service
    Complimentary access to The Nordic Spa & Fitness Center
    $4000 per person credit to be used to purchase shore excursions and spa services. We will need haircuts on this voyage.
    We saved over $25,000 that it would of cost us to sail on another cruise line.
    We also have an amazing Travel Agent with Cruise Planners who provided us $8,800.00 in a cash rebate.
    All of this softens the blow of the cost of such a cruise adventure.
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  • Our Cabin 4104

    3 Januari 2024, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☁️ 28 °F

    We are in a Deluxe Veranda cabin. Ours is a DV5. We are on Deck 4 aft on the port side of the ship.
    The service is impeccable and Viking is the cleanest, most service oriented cruise line we have ever sailed. The ships décor is Scandinavian across the fleet. Clean lines and minamilistic.Baca lagi

  • Packing

    3 Januari 2024, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☁️ 28 °F

    So how do you pack for a 123 day adventure? You don't.
    You pack for about 3 weeks with the challenge being cooler weather on the front and back end of the trip. Viking offers free laundry and even provides the soap!
    It will be very hot and humid once we get to Bali in March. Upper 90's and very humid.
    It will cool back down to the 60's once we arrive in Europe. You can see in the attached picture where we will be in the world by month.
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  • Luggage Forward

    3 Januari 2024, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☁️ 28 °F

    Viking provides a complimentary luggage service through Luggage Forward. We could ship two bags at 50 pounds each for free, And in our case for an extra $30, we could ship two bags weighing as much as 75 pounds each. Our bags are over 50 but far less than 75 pounds.
    There are many things that could not be shipped in these bags but we sent our snorkeling gear, items to organize our cabin such as storage cubes, and magnets.
    UPS picked our bags up on December 22 and they were waiting for us in the warehouse in LA as of December 29th.
    They will be placed in our stateroom aboard the Viking Neptune on January 9th.
    We are still schlepping our two 50 pound bags, two roller boards and Diana's backpack with us through the airport.
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  • 01.07.2024 Home to Los Angeles

    7 Januari 2024, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ 🌬 55 °F

    It was an early morning for us. We stayed at the AeroStay in Sioux Falls. Up bright and early for our first flight at 5:00 am.
    All flights were good and on time.
    We met up with Shari and Dylan at the hotel. They drove down and we will join us for dinner. We had a great Italian dinner at Raffaello Ristorante. So good to see family.Baca lagi

  • 01.08.2024 San Pedro

    8 Januari 2024, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    We have a pretty low key today. Thanks to Diana ‘s daughter, Shari, they shopped for the rest of their consumables before Shari and Dylan drove home last night.
    Following breakfast today, (thanks Shari for the vouchers,) we explored the USS Iowa. It was the largest warship at the time it was built in 1942 in 9 months.
    Nice weather and plenty of sunshine.
    We had lunch at the Green Onion a Mexican restaurant that locals love.
    Margaritas and burritos were on the menu. It was delicious.
    An afternoon resting and then off to dinner to meet some of our fellow travelers at the San Pedro Brewery.
    It was great to meet fellow travels. Andy and his wife Debby with their cousin Joyce along with Cynthia and Matt. Tomorrow we board the ship.
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  • 01.09.2024 Boarding the Neptune

    9 Januari 2024, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    Following a nice breakfast at the hotel. We repacked our bags and our Uber driver took us to the port.
    Following lunch in the World Cafe we went our stateroom to unpack.
    Tonight we have our welcome aboard party with Torstein Hagen and his daughter Karine.
    BTW we are holding hands.
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  • 01.10.2024 Santa Barbara, CA

    10 Januari 2024, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F

    Today we are in Santa Barbara. It is a tender port and we have no excursions booked. We went to the County Courthouse as we were told to climb the tower and see a full view of Santa Barbara but it was closed today.
    We peaked inside Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church and Trinity Episcopal Church. It is gothic church built in 1912 by the same architect who built the National Cathedral in Washington DC.
    Lunch was at the Sandbar. Pacifico for Myron and a Cadillac Margarita for Diana. We shared a burrito. It was huge and very good. Spicy!
    Tonight we have dinner reservations at the Italian restaurant, Manfredi’s.
    A welcome show with the Captain is at 9:00.
    We are at sea the next 5 days as we sail to Hawaii.
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  • 01.10.2023 A Sea Lion Adventure

    10 Januari 2024, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F

    True story. While we were in Santa Barbara, this sea lion actually came on board the Viking Neptune. They lured him back off with chunks of raw salmon.
    He kept trying to get back on so they put up this board to block his entrance. He was very determined. When we arrived back on our tender he was still there.
    (This photo was taken by a fellow passenger)
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  • Viking Neptune WC Fun Facts

    11 Januari 2024, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ 🌙 48 °F

    At our Captains Welcome Party last night he introduced his staff and provided some other tidbits.
    There are 848 of us sailing on this voyage with a crew of 450.
    Our Captain is from UK and our Staff Captain is from Austria. The Chief Engineer and his second are both from Croatia.
    Our Cruise Director is from Ireland. The rest of the senior staff are from UK, South Africa and I found it interesting our doctor is from Serbia.
    There is a host of historians on board who will provide lectures on astronomy, birds, sea life, history of ports and the world along with a certified knitting instructor, watercolor painting, certified bridge instructor etc.
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  • 01.11.2024 N. Pacific Ocean Sea Day 1 /5

    11 Januari 2024, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

    Seas were a little rough last night and this morning so the Captain is taking us a little more southwest to find some calmer seas.
    Diana’s watercolor class was fun. She will attend every sea day until Auckland and then Deb, our instructor will disembark.
    Myron attend a lecture this morning hosted by Resident Historian, Marie Conte-Helm called “ Pacific Exploration” and he and Diana are both attending one at 2:30 called Around the World in 80 days by Russell Lee one of the Guest Lecturers.
    We then have another lecture at 4:30 given by Stephen Marsh to learn about the whales and porpoises who live in these waters.
    Dinner tonight in The Restaurant with Beth and Teri. Fun ladies. The salmon was excellent. Went to see a show with Travis Cloer performing music of the 50s, 60s and 70s. He starred as Frankie Valli in the Jersey Boys on Broadway. We are busy!!
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  • 01.12.2024 Cabin 4104 Settling In

    12 Januari 2024, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☀️ 55 °F

    We are staring to get into a routine and have settled in nicely into our cabin. Diana packed lots of organizing cubes and such to help keep our small space tidy. As everyone knows she hates clutter. It seems to be working out pretty well and we seem to have enough space to co-exist peacefully.
    Our veranda is a wonderful place to sit and relax when the weather is nice. It is mid 60s but with the protected sides of of our balcony is quite pleasant to sit out.
    Our Viking swag has arrived as well. We were each given a hat, zippered waterproof bag, leather card holder and a waterproof fleece lined rain jacket.
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  • 01.12.2024 Pacific Ocean Sea Day 2/5

    12 Januari 2024, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F

    What a difference calm seas make. A good nights sleep for both of us.
    Myron is on the Behinds the Scene Tour.
    He visited the galley, laundry and engine room. Diana on the other hand is having a facial.
    Diana attends her second painting class this afternoon. She’ll share her finished painting tomorrow.
    Myron spent the rest of his afternoon lounging by the pool and talking to old and new friends.
    We have our cruise critic meet and greet which Diana organized with 94 fellow travelers attending. The picture is with Aveen (not how you spell her name).
    We met new folks at dinner and there is a couple on here from Rapid City. Randy and Vicki. We are going to have dinner with them some night soon. We went to the Magic show following dinner and ran into Travis Cloer the singer from the night before.
    We turn our clocks back again tonight so we are 4 hours ahead of central time.
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  • 01.13.2024 Pacific Ocean Sea Day 3/5

    13 Januari 2024, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ 🌬 70 °F

    We continue to make our way westward towards Hawaii. The temperatures are getting more moderate. Upper 60s during the day and mid 60s at night.
    Seas are a little rougher again today.
    Myron is attending a few lectures and Diana is relaxing on the pool deck. (It has a retractable roof which is closed right now)
    My painting is still not complete so no picture today.
    Lunch was a hosted pasta bar on the pool deck. It was good. Myron went to the 9:00 pm show while Diana had a quiet evening in our cabin.
    0h and Go Chiefs! Big win today.
    A pretty relaxing sea day.
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  • 01.14.2024 Pacific Ocean Sea Day 4/5

    14 Januari 2024, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ 🌬 72 °F

    Temperatures have really warmed up overnight. It’s 74 now with a low of 71 tonight.
    Rainbows we plentiful this morning while we were at breakfast.
    Diana was so excited for today. She attended a cooking class in the morning. Viking offers cooking classes of various cuisines. You make an appetizer, an entree and a dessert.
    It is held in The Kitchen Table. Today we had avocado shrimp appetizer, entree was seared red snapper with sweet potato mash along with snow peas and spinach.
    For dessert it was banana with carmel and puff pastry.
    As you all know Diana loves to cook.
    Myron also had a busy morning as he attended two lectures: Pacific War, Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal. And his second one was NASA, Working with the Right Stuff.
    He will be singing with the Viking Choir and practice begins today.
    Diana finished her painting today. “Under the Sea.” She has chosen to stop going to art class as it has grown from 35 to 60 people and is way more chaotic. Stay tuned for another crafting event she’ll be attending in the future.
    Dinner tonight with Terry, Beth, Jonathan and Brian at The Restaurant.
    This was followed by a return engagement of singer Travis Cloer.
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  • 01.15.2024 Pacific Ocean Sea Day 5/5

    15 Januari 2024, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ 🌙 72 °F

    Today is our final sea day as we will reach Honolulu tomorrow. A beautiful day with a high of 75.
    After breakfast we both attended “Aloha, the story of Hawaii as told by a shirt..” Guest lecturer Russell Lee is an amazing story teller.
    We both decided to take the rest of the day off and have a pool day. We are at the infinity pool that overlooks the ship’s wake. Not a chair hog in sight.
    Myron changed his mind and went to Choir practice and to the 4:30 lecture. Diana got caught up on her photo book, showered and headed to the Explorer Lounge. It is a two deck area at the very front of the ship with floor to ceiling windows. A great place to watch the world go by. I’ve included a few pictures.

    I know it looks like no one is on the ship but really Viking has so many niches for people to gather and spend time. And the reason they have all these wonderful places is because they don’t have to use space for photo galleries or casinos or separate libraries. See the books in the bookcases? Viking has lots of such cases throughout the ship for folks to borrow the books to read while on board. Every thing from historical novels to mysteries and romance. Some fiction and others non fiction.
    There is also plenty of art throughout the ship as well. It is not for sale but there are QR codes and you can download the audio commentary that accompanies the art pictures. It’s like going to a museum without going. Evelyn, you would love it.
    Enjoyed sunset and dinner with Harley and Priscilla and Dave and Sue. Must’ve been fun as we closed down the restaurant.
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  • 01.16.2024 Honolulu, Hawaii Day 1/2

    16–17 Jan 2024, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    Land Ho! We arrived in Honolulu about midnight. High of 78 today with a chance of rain after 6 tonight. Windy but sunny today.
    We do not have a Viking excursion but we have a loose game plan.
    We took the shuttle to Waikiki that was provided by Viking. Did a walk through the oldest hotel in Honolulu the Royal Hawaiian.
    Our next stop was the Punchbowl National Cemetery.
    The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (informally known as Punchbowl Cemetery) is a national cemetery located at Punchbowl Crater in Honolulu, Hawaii. It serves as a memorial to honor those men and women who served in the United States Armed Forces, and those who have been killed in doing so. There are over 28,000 buried on the 116 acres.
    From there we had lunch at the MonkeyPod. Mahi-mahi fish tacos. Delicious!
    Diana needed to find something to use for a birthday invitation for Myron’s 70th and then we went to the House Without A Key for their famous mai-tais. Ernest Hemingway also spent a lot of time here.
    We returned to the ship for dinner and retired early to our cabin.
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  • 01.17.2024 Honolulu, Hawaii Day 2/2

    17 Januari 2024, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F

    We awoke to sunshine and 75 degrees. A beautiful day awaited us. We had no excursions booked and we sail at 2 so we are having another pool day and doing laundry while the majority are off the ship. High today is 81.
    They collect our passports today as well before we reach the South Pacific Islands.
    Dinner tonight is at the Chef’s Table with Beth and Terry. Every course is paired with a wine. It is a great menu and great company.
    Good bye Honolulu.
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  • 01.18.2024 N Pacific Ocean Sea Day 1/5

    18 Januari 2024, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    And now back to our regularly scheduled program… We have five sea days as we make our way south to Bora Bora.
    Following we breakfast we attended Guest Lecturer Professor Ian Beckett: Discover the truth of Mutiny on the Bounty; Fact, Fiction or Film.
    We are having another pool day with clear sunny skies and a light ocean breeze and 77 degrees. Myron spent some time in the infinity pool.
    Today’s lunch is pool side fresh tuna or opha fish tacos.
    Diana was drinking Raller, a red amber ale. Brewed between the mountains and fjords in Flam, Norway. Pretty good!
    We had the Explorer’s party tonight. Out of 848 guest, 761 have previously sailed with Viking. Our assistant CD Michael sang for us along with the Viking singers.
    We attended another lecture on Vikings, Explorers and Settlers.
    Dinner tonight is with Marshall and his wife Lynn and Kathy and her husband Jerry in The Restaurant.
    We capped the evening listening to guest vocalist Lindsay Hamilton. She sang some great show tunes.
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  • 01/19/2024 N Pacific Ocean Sea Day 2/5

    19 Januari 2024, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ 🌙 72 °F

    Our second sea day. It’s a windy one today so the seas are rolling a bit.
    Myron attend two morning lectures and Diana walked on deck 2 until the pitching of the ship got her so she returned to the cabin and caught up on photo books.
    We had a tour of the bridge at 1:00.
    Watched “A Man Named Otto” in the theater in the afternoon. Diana forgot what a great movie that was.
    We attended Guest Lecturer Russell Lee’s “Captain Ahab’s Lust for Vengeance”
    A late dinner and then we spend a little time listening to Resident Pianist Filip. We round out our evening attending the Viking Neptune vocalist performance titled “Songbook” with the Viking Band.
    Whew! Another busy sea day.
    Tomorrow is a special day. Stay tuned.
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  • 01.20.2024 Where To Next

    20 Januari 2024, Amerika Syarikat ⋅ 🌧 55 °F

    One thing we want you all to know as we know a few of you are worried regarding us going through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
    Viking is working on a contingency plan in case things don’t calm down in that part of the world which seems unlikely.

    We would head to Africa after Mumbai, India which isn’t until April. This not definite at this time as there are many logistics to work out but didn’t want you to worry. Viking will not put us in harms way. We won’t know until much later in the cruise so for now we are going to enjoy the ports we will get to visit.
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  • 01.20.2024 Cross The Equator Sea Day 3/5

    20 Januari 2024, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F

    Today, we know exactly where we are as we cross the equator. (Another gift from Viking was a magnetic map with a pin to mark our adventure as we move along).
    It is hot and humid.
    For those of us who have never crossed the equator such as us via ship there is a ceremony where we go from polliwogs to shellbacks.
    We salute the fish, jump in the pool and exit the other side. Down a shot a Aquavit (Diana’s least favorite part). We are now officially Shellbacks. A fun ceremony.
    Myron has choir practice at 2 and Diana chose to sit on her veranda and look for wild life. None were found.
    Dinner tonight was in The Restaurant.
    We ate with Jim Avery and his wife Lois.
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  • 01.21.2024 S Pacific Ocean Sea Day 4/5

    22 Januari 2024, South Pacific Ocean ⋅ 🌬 82 °F

    Our 4th sea day in a row. The seas continue to roll but it is sunny and 82 degrees. Very humid with a real feel of 93.
    After breakfast we attend Russell Lee’ s lecture “South Pacific, the History Behind the Musical”.
    Very windy and warm but we decide to spend some time at the infinity pool.
    Lunch was a feature of Dim Sum and pot stickers. Yum! Myron had choir practice at 2:00. We played a few games of pinochle in the living room bar. (Myron is kicking Diana’s butt ). Chatted with a lot of people throughout the day.
    Oh yeah, and Go Chiefs! A nail biter win today.
    Dinner tonight in The Restaurant was with Jim and Joyce from Ohio.
    We went to the show with Guest singer Lindsay Hamilton. And who knew Russell Lee is also a pianist and composer so he played and Lindsay sang one of his songs. Very enjoyable.
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