Viking European Cruise, Part 1

Over 3 years before we actually went, Roger and I and our friends, Jim and Kathy Jensen, signed up to go on the 15-day Viking cruise, Trade Routes of the Middle Ages. Well, to be totally accurate, when we originally signed up for a Viking ocean cruise over a year before Covid hit, the original cruise we signed up for was a repositioning cruise, mostly at sea, a Viking "bargain," leaving from San Juan and ending in Barcelona. Each of the 3 times it was cancelled, a 125% credit was applied, our original cruise was eliminated and we all chose this cruise in its stead, upgrading our rooms to a Penthouse Veranda in the process. By the time it finally came around, we were so excited! In our past travels, we had already visited all of the countries included, but we had not been to any of the ports, except Bergen and Amsterdam.

Our beautiful ship, Viking Mars

Hanging out in the serene Explorer's Lounge

As with all cruises, there were several dining site choices. Kind of a fun thing was, in the Explorer's Lounge, fresh-made waffles with fresh fruit and rolls of Norwegian sweet brown goat cheese, gjetost, were available each morning. I, who am of 97% Norwegian descent, remember my grandmother, mother and uncle loving this cheese.

Pastry snacks were put out there at other times of day, as well as tasty little open-faced sandwiches.

In the dining rooms and the on-deck dining, poached salmon, little boiled buttered potatoes and pickled cucumbers were always available to diners.

Unlike many cruises, big midnight buffets (though there was included 24-hour room service) and other big buffets weren't how Viking did it, but theme buffets were set up in different areas of the ship as the days went by, such as cheese theme, fruit theme (pictured), lobster theme, pasta theme, the country where you were theme, etc., as well as afternoon teas everyday.

There were two specialty restaurants on board, and we ate in Manfredi's twice and Chef's Table once.

"Goodies" from an afternoon tea

I have grouped our on-board ship pics at the first of my post (wish we had taken more), and I had to tell you about this cute lady. When we were eating up on deck, she and her husband sat down at a table next to ours and I overheard a woman at another table immediately ask her, "Where did you get that Pirate hat?" She excitedly said, "Oh, I bought it online. You could order one, too!" and she proceeded to tell her the website. It tickled me how sincere she was - it wasn't Costume Night or Pirate Night or anything - I guess she just loved pirates! Roger asked if he could take her pic, and she was delighted!

Traveling benefits are many and one of my favorite things that can happen is to make new friends. We sat by Dorothy (D. Ann) and Jerry Nadeau on the bus of one of our day tours, struck up a conversation and made a dinner date on board. (The Jensens were quarantined with Covid. Jim came down with a bad head cold 3 days into the cruise, went to see the ship doctor, was quarantined, 2 days later, his wife came down with it, 2 days later, Roger, and 2 days later, me. We were at sea for some of our sick days, and I just missed 2 ports in Spain - just so grateful that we all had mild cases. It wasn't any fun, but it could have been so much worse!).

 

Back to Dorothy and Jerry. They are from back east originally, younger Dorothy was a stand up comedian and an actress, became a drama teacher and they located in Mesa, Arizona. Through her students, Dorothy became acquainted with our church, observing her LDS students and their parents (she called them the Fluffies) and other children around her (the Flufettes) closely and on an 11-student-fund-raised trip to Broadway with her students and a chaperone LDS mom, she got in deep discussions that led to her, then her husband, sister, sister's family and actually, many others joining the Church. They were a delightful couple and we struck up a friendship and plan to get together with them when we spend Thanksgiving with Stacy and Tom in Mesa. She has mailed us a book she wrote, "So Many Miracles," telling of her "before and after" lifestyle and "the fluffy Mormons" who became a part of her story.

We enjoyed the entertainment on board - a Lion King singer and actor, Phillip Browne, and the Viking Quartet, from England and Scotland. (There were other acts that we didn't see.)

Feri was our friendly, kind cabin steward and he took exceptional care of us. Before the cruise, I had a shot in each arthritic knee so I could manage the stairs and ups and downs better. The shot in my worse knee worked great and the shot in my better knee had hit a nerve and I limped a lot. On our first return from a day outing, I asked Feri if there was some sort of ice pack I could put on my knee while I rested. He made one for me with double plastic bags, and every day after he had one waiting for me when we returned back to our cabin. He gave us excess Coke Zero (we don't drink, but wine bottles were provided in others' cabins), ginger ale, water bottles and stacks of Norwegian chocolate bars. He was Johnny on the spot for all of our needs.

Roger and I have traveled to probably 60 countries, separately and mostly together, and our luggage has never been lost. Record broken! My luggage arrived 8 days into the cruise. I actually got along lots better than I thought I would. The ship had some tops left behind from other cruises, laundered nicely, and I picked one, and a cute new friend we had made in the airport and who then was on our cruise, heard of my plight and brought 2 of her tops for me to borrow. (So kind!) The ship laundered the few clothes I had every night for free - 

luckily, I had 2 pairs of underwear! I was just sooo grateful my luggage was found (my husband was a pro on the phone, bugging United until they took care of it properly), and I didn't lose my way-too-many-packed clothes. I always start out planning to pack light, but never do!

Pretty sun and moon taken on the ship

Okay, so, with the ship stuff talked about, here we go with the visited ports  and countries!

Bergen, Norway

We love, love, love this place! We both have a high percentage of Norwegian blood and we feel a real kinship with this quaint little port city. Roger and I went on the city tour and Jim and Kathy went on the tour to the composer, Edvard Grieg's home (we had been there on a previous trip).

I am sitting on my three-legged cane that really saved my life on our day tours. The quiet box with earpiece we each wear allows perfect hearing of the guide's voice from a good distance so you don't have to be right up next to him/her. 

Domkirken Church

We saw Grieg's Concert Hall. He has always been my favorite composer - it might have something to do with my parents playing their record of the Peer Gynt Suite a lot as I grew up. I solo danced to Hall of the Mountain King in ballet class.

Byparken

Teaterparken

Fish market

Norwegian Red King Crabs - we were served this delicious crab several times on our ship.

Pastries in all countries in Europe are always delicious. Roger asked in this bakery which is the most popular one, then bought one for me.

We had very little time to shop anywhere on our cruise. We went into the shop next to the bakery and a delightful Norwegian sales woman told us about the fine curly white birch from the north, from which some small items were carved. I selected a butter spreader, fascinated by the design in the wood and its smoothness.

The clerk was so tickled to be asked to be in Roger's selfie and cuddled right in to him! Who wouldn't, right?

Native costumes on display

Note the cable car - it comes down from the top of the mountain and Roger and I rode when we were in Bergen last.

This is an ice-breaking ship that can travel in the northern fjords in winter.

Sailing away

After a day at sea, we arrived in the Amsterdam harbor. A few months before our cruise, we discovered that our daughter, Missy, and her husband, Jedd, would be disembarking from their Viking ocean cruise celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary the same day that we would be there! Jedd had served a Church mission there as a young man and they have visited Holland before together. They love it and Jedd knows the ropes! They rented a car, planning to spend a few days after their cruise in Holland, and they picked us up. We had previously planned to drive to Akersloot in Alkmaar to see, as luck would have it, the last cheese market of the season.

Greeting our cute kids outside the Viking Amsterdam terminal

This village makes serious Gouda cheese, in many flavors added and in several forms. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it is the best cheese I have ever tasted!

The festivities and auction are held in the towns square and town residents dress in native costume and carry the cheese to auction, as they have done since the late 16th century.

Craftsman carving wooden shoes

Jedd bought some little Dutch pancakes for us to try.

Roger treated us to grilled Gouda sandwiches - yum!

Missy and Jedd found fresh stroopwaffels - their favorite treat!

Quaint streets

Our ship's sailing was moved up to 3 o'clock instead of 6 because Viking celebrated its 25 anniversary in the harbor, so Jedd's next plans were cut short, but we enjoyed the drive to and from Alkmaar, seeing the Dutch countryside. We have visited Amsterdam and Holland 2 previous times and saw museums, had a canal boat ride and saw other sights. Bikes are everywhere. When we went by the train station, bikes were stacked like this pic about as far as the eye could see.

Missy and Jedd were able to go through the Hague Temple, Jedd going through speaking Dutch and Missy going through with translating ears. They were both so glowing and happy and we were all really tickled to meet up with each other in Amsterdam! It was a big highlight of our trip!

Our next stop was in Belgium . . . stay tuned!