Nomadic Texan

Prior to this cruise our experience with Viking was only on a River Cruise. Since I have a tendency to become very ill at sea, I was considerably nervous about this sailing. We flew into Bergen and had a reservation at the Thon Orion Hotel. As we checked into our room, I noticed there seemed to be a concert stage outside our hotel window and it made me nervous about our sleep. When we went downstairs to dinner I asked what hours the concert would play. The nice desk attendant replied from 8:00 PM until 10:00 PM and I was happy. Kim asked who was playing and the desk attendant replied Bob Dylan. I nearby fell over. We hurried through dinner and went straight to our room. We had a ringside seat to one of my favorite musicians. As the concert unfolded we realized we wouldn’t be able to see him as the setup was back under the roof in case of rain. That didn’t stop us from listening to a really great concert with many of his oldies played, even at New York Broadway show. He played a couple of encores and stopped just in time for the crowd to leave as the rain began pouring down. 

The next morning after breakfast, we took a taxi a couple of kilometers away to the boarding area for Viking. It was starting to rain pretty well by the time we were ushered inside the welcome tent. As we had not been on an Ocean cruise with Viking we weren’t familiar with the procedures and more than once sought help from the staff. We showed our passports and they were taken in exchange for a room key that enabled us to enter our room, board and disembark the ship for tours and use as a general access method for all areas of the ship. After going through security just like at airports, we decided to tour the ship and found several items of interest aboard the Viking Sun. First was a globe on the Explorer’s deck that was gorgeous and accurate in design. Along side of it was a telescope to view the incoming ships and ports, also beautiful in overall look. In addition there were several libraries on multiple decks for your reading pleasure. This was a nice benefit since the ship was literally outfitted with a plethora of reading areas.

After the Explorer deck we ventured outside to the sports area where we found a multitude of games to capture our fancy. A very nice Bocce Ball court, Table Tennis, Miniature golf, Shuffleboard, along with a fantastic watering station in case you become dehydrated. If by chance you just wanted to get a little sun, there were many areas to sit and sun yourself. I thought Viking had done an outstanding job with this deck.

The inside section of this deck in addition to the libraries included board games such as chess, backgammon and many other challenging pastimes. Also shown were relic replicas from the Vikings including a stone axe and a model ship. Many items were represented for your viewing pleasure. Also noteworthy is the second deck which was equipped with all sorts of electronic games like เรียนรู้เพิ่มเติมเกี่ยวกับ UFA และข้อเสนอต่างๆ and a Scrabble board or two. We thoroughly enjoyed this deck many times, especially on sea days.

After reviewing the various decks and grabbing a bite of lunch we were let into our room. It was significantly larger than I had imagined. Our luggage had already arrived and was laid out for our unpacking. The room accessories included an umbrella large enough for us both, a pair of binoculars for shoreline viewing, slippers for venturing to the Spa, wonderful Freyja toiletries and a set of Wireless Tour Guide radios with one ear piece rather than the normal two that we were used to. We prefer the single now.

Next to the beds was a working and seating area. Included were two large lounge chairs, a coffee table, a working desk area and a 42″ TV for catching up on Viking news, information about our specific tours and weather forecasts. The weather during our cruise was extraordinary. This region usually receives rain 181 days a year in Oslo and 270 days a year in Bergen with it being the tenth highest rainfall city in the world. We were definitely lucky to have sunshine most days.

The desk area included free soft drinks, tonic water or club soda, nuts and several Toblerone bars which just happen to be one of my favorites, so they were constantly stocking the candy. Although there were two luxury restaurants on board, a wonderful buffet restaurant, a great burger bar for lunch next to the pool and we opted for room service on several days, generally at breakfast. It was wonderful and one can order 24 hours a day at no charge. Great omelets I must say!

Notice the balcony off the desk area. Every room on-board is equipped with a fairly private veranda. We love having a morning coffee outside when weather permits. In addition we both had wonderful, size appropriate bathroom robes that we used many times, visiting the fantastic spa on board. Whether for a massage as I had, a facial as Kim had, the wonderful steam baths, saunas or the unique Snow Room. I thoroughly enjoyed the sauna and steam room, but jumping into the freezing water afterwards wasn’t my cup of tea. I thought after being in the steam room for several minutes I could handle the cold room, but I only lasted about 20 seconds I believe. Don’t laugh until; you experience this Scandinavian tradition!

If you notice the dresser has several drawers. My dresser as shown was equipped with four drawers. Kim’s dresser was right around the corner and also had four drawers. This was more than adequate for our needs. The hanging closet to the left was supported by two more closets adjacent to the entrance door. Needless to say a couple has adequate room to store a cruise worth of clothes. We were settled in and ready to tour Bergen the next day and learn about this charming city. Let the cruise begin!

*** Portions of our cruise were sponsored by Viking Ocean Cruises. All opinions, as always, are those of my own.