20260317 Viking Vela Northern Lights and British Isles - Day 2/32

Viking Vela In Search of the Northern Lights and British Isles Explorer Cruise Day 2/32 – The hits kept on coming

We got some decent sleep in the Hilton Garden Inn in Orlando, waking up about 8:00 in the morning. We ate at their $16.95 buffet, so with a couple of Coke Zeros and fees, we had an extremely overpriced $50 breakfast. But, without transportation, it was our only option.

So far, so good. We would hang out here until our noon check-out, head to the airport and pick up the car, then drive to Tampa. That was the plan until Alamo decided to cancel our inter-city reservation due to an Orlando-wide rental car shortage. Woo! 

We looked into Uber. That would run us $150-$200 to get to TPA. Our travel agent, Lisa, found a shuttle service from MCO to TPA, but that would have been more than $450. I decided to call Creative Concierge, the car service that we use to get to that airport and back home. He said he should be able to accommodate us. We waited about an hour for confirmation. It came about 10:30, confirming our ride at 1:00 to Tampa.

With a little creative thinking (and Arlona reminding me to call Creative Concierge), in addition to Lisa's extraordinary efforts well past midnight, we had a new plan.

Our driver arrived about ten minutes early. We loaded up our bags and hit the road to Tampa. Shortly after getting on I-4, we came to a stop. Typical I-4. The slowdown was short-lived, but nature had another plan. A short time later, we were in and out of pretty impressive rain, coupled with strong lightning. We soldiered on. The sun made another appearance, and the road cleared up again.

We arrived at TPA, found Delta, and checked in at the kiosk. All went well until it told us it couldn't print our bag tags and to see an agent. Into another line and waiting once again.

The board behind the agents wasn't encouraging, even though it showed our flight, at the top, as on time

The line moved reasonably quickly. Eventually, they printed our boarding passes, tagged our bags, and we were off to the terminal. When I got to TSA, I discovered that the agent had removed my Pre-Check status. Arlona was still good. It was also then that we discovered that the Delta Club is in Airside E. Our gate is in Airside F. Our travel agent, Lisa, mentioned E, but I didn't put it together that it was a different terminal than we would be flying from. So, back to ticketing, I got a new, correct boarding pass, and we were off to Airside E. Our boarding passes wouldn't open the gate to the train. Why? Our boarding passes are only for Airside F. An agent said we needed to get a shuttle pass that opens the gate. Who would know that?  Off to the information desk we went.

We passed by "HOME," a 21-foot-tall sculpture of a pink flamingo nicknamed "Phoebe" by artist Matthew Mazzotta. It was installed in the main terminal of Tampa International Airport in 2022. 

We got a pass, returned to E, went through the gate, and arrived at the train. The train came into the terminal, but only part of the way. That was par for the course for today. Several minutes later, they backed it out, and a worker performed a safety walk, walking the entire track, looking for possible obstacles. Once that was complete, the train returned, we boarded, and we were whisked to Airside E. We went through TSA to get into the terminal. This sucks because when we go back to Airside F, we will have to go through TSA again. Congratulations, TPA, for having the stupidest airport design in Florida.

We found the Delta Sky Club. It took us 75 minutes from arriving at TPA to make it to the club. Did I say inside the club? No, I did not. Why? Just like last night, the club was full, and people were waiting to get in. Unbelievable.

Because we had Delta One status, that moved us up the pecking order, but the agent still said there was a potential two-hour wait to get in. After a discussion with her, she suggested that we would likely get in by 5 pm or so, given the upcoming flight departures.

Seats were scarce, even to just sit and wait. Arlona scored seats at a table with a very nice couple trying to get home to Minnesota. After chatting with them for a while, the happiest sound came from Arlona's phone. It was the text saying we were good to enter the Sky Club. 65 minute waiting, but we got in.

A couple of plates of food and a couple of drinks, and we were good to go.

I checked the status of our inbound flight. It kept flipping from 50 minutes delayed to 1.5 hours delayed. It was targeted to arrive at 7:15 pm, a tight turn if we were to board at 7:55 pm.

In the grand scheme of things, our problems today were relatively minor. It doesn't seem like that when it is happening to you, but given that 3,500 flights got canceled today, and another 6,300 were delayed, if we did launch tonight, we would be one of the lucky ones.

We left the lounge, took the train back to the main terminal, and got the train to our terminal. We made it through TSA again and waited at our gate.

"On Time" was a bit of a lie

Our Airbus A330, which just flew in from Amsterdam, getting ready to return to Amsterdam

The flight was full. There were 25 people with passport issues. There was one very frazzled gate agent. We felt sorry for her as she was trying her hardest to get everyone handled. Boarding started about 20 minutes late, but everyone got aboard, and we finally left Florida.

Given our exhausting days, sleep came easily, even for me, and I don't sleep well on planes.

We arrived at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. We didn't have boarding passes because, for some reason, Delta couldn't give us them for the connecting flight. We tried at the Delta desk and were told to head to transfer desk #6 and talk to KLM. The friendly agent said Arlona was good to go, but somehow, Viking, when they rebooked us, left me on the flight from Amsterdam to Bergen yesterday, rather than reticketing me for today's flight. It took them about ten minutes to sort it all out with Delta, but we got our boarding passes.

Schiphol is a huge airport. The walk to Passport Control was relatively quick. There was a long line, but it moved very quickly. A quick, "Where are you headed?", and we were on our way.

We found our way to KLM's crown lounge, got seats, and grabbed a couple of Coke Zeros. Europe's soda culture is very different from that in the USA. While Big Gulps keep getting bigger, this was what was available for soda in the lounge.

Basically a glorified double-shot glass

We enjoyed our swallow of soda and relaxed. I asked one of the entry agents for a time estimate to walk to our gate, D78. He said that it was near the end, so plan on a 15-20 minute walk. Did I mention that Schiphol is huge?

We are now at UTC+1, or five hours ahead of the U.S. East Coast. As I type this paragraph, it is 12:45 in the afternoon on Tuesday, March 17. Our flight to Bergen departs at 3:10, arriving in Bergen at 4:50 in the afternoon. Bergen is also UTC+1, so we'll be in this timezone for a while.

It only took about ten minutes to walk from the KLM Crown Club to gate D78. Boarding started a few minutes after we arrived. We were flying "European Business Class" on this Airbus A321neo. What that means is similar to what South American airlines call Business Class. There are still three seats on each side of the aircraft, but in Business Class, they don't sell the middle seat. Not as nice as individual pods, but no one is immediately adjacent, and there is semi-reasonable legroom. The flight was uneventful, and we touched down at 4:42 pm local time.

Does Bergen have an identity crisis?

Our bags took forever to arrive on the carousel, but everything was there, and that's always a good thing. That gave us time for pit stops as we waited for the bags to appear.

We took turns :-)

We wish US airports would label baggage claim like this.

At US airports, everyone crams around the carousel, and nobody can see their bags. You have to push people apart to reach in and grab your bag as it goes by. By keeping people back, everyone can see, and there is no pushing and shoving to get to your bag. It's so simple.

We walked out of the baggage area and immediately spotted a young lady holding an electronic pad with "M/M KOLB" on it. She escorted us to her waiting van, loaded our bags in the back, and drove us through Metro Bergen.

After about 25 minutes, we arrived at the Radisson Blu, our crash pad for the night.

This is a sore spot for us. We paid for a pre-stay in Bergen. We have done pre-stays and post-stays before with Viking. In fact, we are doing a post-stay on this trip, taking the train to Oslo and spending a couple of days. Viking always does a great job, and typically includes a tour or tours. Today was the day for tours for the pre-stay. Because of our travel delay, we missed today completely. That sucks. But...we saw the itinerary for the pre-stay. Viking supplied no tours, and today was a day on your own in Bergen. For what Viking charged for the pre-stay, they offered almost no value-add. We hope that isn't a sign of things to come with Viking.

Our room is quintessentially European. Clean lines, efficient, small room, and twin beds.

We're always amazed that Europeans don't seem to enjoy sleeping in the same bed as their spouse

Since we ate on the plane, neither of us was hungry for dinner. We did want something to sip on tonight, and some cold caffeine for tomorrow morning. Arlona spotted a 7-11 on Google Maps, so we hoofed it the few blocks to the store.

Classic Bergen architecture

That ornate building contains a Starbucks

Viking Vela is already in port in Bergen - we board her tomorrow

Let's summarize our travel to get here. We left our house at about 5:00 pm on Sunday. I'll reference all times in Eastern Daylight Time for ease of calculations. With the exception of a few hours of sleep that night in Orlando and a few hours on the plane today, we traveled until noon on Tuesday. I will sum that up in two words. We're tired.

With all the cancellations and delays across the country, we know that we're lucky that we even got here. But we did, we're here, and the trip will start in earnest tomorrow when we board the Viking Vela. We will remain in Bergen on Wednesday and most of Thursday, sailing that night.

Tonight's plans? Shuffle a few things in our bags, shower, and hit the hay sometime between nine and ten. Our bags have to be outside the room before 8:00 tomorrow morning so they can be transferred to our stateroom. We have breakfast at the hotel tomorrow morning and need to be downstairs at 11:30 to catch our ride to the ship.

Glad we're here and glad this travel adventure is over. Let the cruise begin!

20260316 Viking Vela Northern Lights and British Isles - Day 1/32

Viking Vela In Search of the Northern Lights and British Isles Explorer Cruise Day 1/32 – Time for another trip! (or so we thought)

Noon on Sunday - the car arrives at 5pm to take us to the airport

Have you missed traveling? We have! So...we're back on the road again.  In truth, the packing started Saturday evening.

Arlona, the more organized of us, started putting things in packing cubes Saturday night

I, however, didn't even un-nest my suitcases and just put a small pile from the laundry on top

Where are we going this time? Since you asked, this trip will take us to the Arctic and the British Isles on two back-to-back cruises on the brand-spanking new Viking Vela. It's only been sailing for just over a year, entering service in December, 2024. It marks the first substantive change in the design of Viking's ocean fleet, jumping from 930 passengers to 990 passengers. The layout of the ship remains unchanged. There are just a few stretches here and there. Manfredi's, Mamsen's, Chef's Table, the World Cafe, the spa, Explorer's Bar, the Living Room, Finse Terrace, Torshavn - they're all still there.

Let's check out our itinerary. Here is cruise #1.

We start in Bergen, Norway. We will spend a couple of days there before boarding the Viking Vela on March 18 and heading north. We will cross into the Arctic and spend a couple of days in Alta at 70° north latitude. The goal for this cruise is to see the Aurora Borealis, more commonly known as the Northern Lights. Next, we'll spend an overnight in Tromsø, before continuing to Narvik. After our time in the Arctic, we will head south to Amsterdam, and eventually end this cruise in Tilbury, a London port, on March 30.

The second leg has us continuing on the Viking Vela, departing Tilbury and sailing through the British Isles.

Our cruise will visit Ireland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland before returning to Bergen, Norway. We will disembark the Vela and hop a train to Oslo, Norway, where we'll spend a couple of days before flying home. We visited Oslo on our World Cruise, but Arlona was locked away with Covid, so she missed it completely. Since Viking offered Oslo as a post-cruise extension, we jumped at the chance.

Technically, this trip started on March 15, but since it was just an overnight flight, we're officially starting on March 16. We will fly home on April 15, arriving home in the wee hours of April 16.

This trip is unusual for us. Most of our trips seem to start by getting picked up for the ride to the airport before the sun comes up. This trip started with a ride to the airport at 5:20 pm. How nice to have the entire day to pack!

Our driver was scheduled to arrive at 5 pm to take us to Orlando for our 8:20 flight. With all the spring break hubbub at Orlando International Airport and the partial government shutdown, we wondered if we were cutting it a little too close, with potential TSA slowdowns.

To make matters worse, this happened on the way.

We hit some major weather, slowing the Florida Turnpike down to 50MPH from its usual nearly 80.

Good news, if you interpret it that way, came in the form of a Delta notification that our flight was now delayed 90 minutes. Problem solved. We have a 4.5-hour layover in Amsterdam, so no biggie there.

Well, sort of. We got a second notice that we were now delayed 145 additional minutes with a new departure time of 12:15 am. That put our connection in jeopardy. The gate agent booked us on a contingency connection to Bergen, just in case.

We cleared TSA in less than five minutes. They did need to take a look at the ice packs, keeping some meds cold, but it was otherwise uneventful. We grabbed the train to the gates and headed for the Delta Sky Club. Well, that was the plan. This sign greeted us.

Yup, full. Nice. There were 17 ahead of us in the Delta One line. 

The regular line for credit card holders had at least 75 people waiting to get in.

Starbucks had a line at least 50 people long. The airport was crazy.

After 35 minutes in line, we got in. The Sky Club at Orlando is small as clubs go. Seating was at a premium. We did score a small table and got something to drink and a snack.

Our inbound aircraft was diverted to Atlanta and got stuck there. We got an update that it was supposed to leave Atlanta at 9:30 pm and arrive here in Orlando at 10:52 pm. That will make a quick turn to get us to launch by 12:15 am. The issue is that our 4-hour layover in Amsterdam was now down to 50 minutes. Plus, Amsterdam is our entry to Europe, so we'll have to clear immigration. Delta saved space for us on a contingency flight in the event we can't make our original connection. That leaves seven hours after our original connection. Woo.

What could possibly happen next? The Sky Club kicked everyone out rather unceremoniously at 10 pm, so we made our way to the gate and found seats. A little after 11 pm, our flight got canceled. We first saw it when the marquee at the gate changed. No announcement. Eventually, a text came in.

Arlona was checking at the Delta desk, and there were already at least 150 people in line. I called Delta and was told there was a two-hour wait. Yikes!

We waited in line to talk to a Delta rep on the phone. He was utterly useless.

The line to talk to a useless Delta rep on the phone

I texted our intrepid travel agent, Lisa McKay at CSB Travel, who jumped into action. Over the next two hours, she was able to rebook us. The only flights from Orlando weren't until Tuesday! She was able to book essentially the same flight with the same departure time out of Tampa tomorrow (Monday). We figured that we'd rent a car and drive home, and then drop it off in Tampa tomorrow. She tried to get us a rental car tonight, but there was nothing available. She scored us an Alamo Jeep Wrangler tomorrow from Orlando to Tampa, and a room at the Hilton Garden Inn on American Way for tonight.

We went down to baggage claim to find our bags already on the carousel. We grabbed our bags, hopped in an Uber (with surge pricing due to the scads of stranded passengers), and headed for the Hilton Garden Inn.

We arrived about 1:45 am. An unusually cheerful desk clerk, Cat, greeted us warmly. We hit the room, I finished this blog, and we hit the hay.

We'll grab breakfast tomorrow at the hotel and take an Uber back to the airport to pick up our car. Then, we'll drive to Tampa and try this overnight flight thing all over again. 

Travel is so exciting...

20260118 Celebrity Constellation Western Caribbean Day 8 - The end of the trip

Celebrity Constellation Western Caribbean Day 8 – Back home again

It was another dark morning get-up. We were up at 6:30 this morning because we needed to clear the room by 7:30. 

We always get a kick out of cruises. "Thanks for sailing! We loved having you! We hope to see you again! Get out!  Get out now!" Ha!

We met Tom and Donna for a quick breakfast, returned to the room, brushed our teeth, tossed the toiletries into our suitcases, and met them again at the elevators. Since we didn't have much luggage, carrying our own bags off the ship was a lot more convenient than having the crew take the bags the night before. There's no finding your bag in the sea of bags, or waiting for others searching for their bags.

We rode down to deck four and walked outside to the exit.

There was a long line from both directions, but it moved quickly

We walked up the gangway, down a couple of escalators, and to Customs. We expected a line, based on the number of people ahead of us. To our surprise, as we rounded the corner, we saw four facial recognition cameras with no line. Why? As soon as you walked up to the camera, the light turned green, and the screen said to walk out. No passport, no talking to anyone. It literally took five seconds. Nice! That line was reserved for people with passports, so folks traveling with only a RealID or birth certificate had a much longer line.

We walked across the street to the parking ramp, rode the elevator to deck 3, and then quickly discovered that our truck was on 4. Whoops! We got back in, rode to four, loaded the truck, and drove out. The Tampa traffic was nonexistent early on Sunday morning, as was the I-75 traffic. We left the parking ramp at 7:52 and were in Tom and Donna's driveway at 9:16. We drove around the corner to our house, and were fully unpacked before 9:40 with a load of laundry in the washer before 10:00. Cruising from close to home is awesome.

So, let's wrap up the trip.

The main mission for this trip was to see Chichen Itza, and that was a resounding success. We had terrific weather, the place was interesting, and the architecture was impressive. We're looking forward to our visit to Rio next February to see Christ the Redeemer and complete our tour of the seven modern wonders of the world.

The snorkeling in Belize was top-notch. Standing among the rays and nurse sharks was also a big bonus. It was another day with picture-perfect weather.

Costa Maya was nothing special, especially due to the crowds, but we still enjoyed our walk around the port, again with perfect weather.

The three sea days were fun, and we did come away with a trivia win. The weather on the way back was a little cool, but nothing to ruin the day.

The part we had not planned on was our friends, Tom and Donna, coming along. That happened late in the planning, back in November. Traveling with friends adds another dimension of fun to a trip, and this was no exception. We didn't spend every minute together, but we did share at least one meal and some activities every day, and it was great.

The cruise itself was good, not great. We've been spoiled lately, cruising smaller ships where the service is impeccable. It's not fair to expect that on a mainstream cruise line like Celebrity. As a rule, the crew was friendly, welcoming, and provided good service. The food was good, and occasionally great. The activities were plentiful and fun. The ship was nice, albeit old. It was well-maintained, but it lacked modern conveniences such as multiple power outlets and USB ports in the rooms. The weather was overall good, and the seas were smooth. If I had to rate the trip as a whole, I'd call it 7.5/10. 

The one thing that turns us off is the constant selling on the ship. The stores having special "sales" that aren't really sales. The art auctions. The photographers. The casino. The Deal or No Deal card sales. We can do without that. But most of that can be avoided, and it obviously appeals to a large number of people.

So that wraps up our Celebrity Constellation trip. Time to start looking forward to our next adventure, a pair of back-to-back Viking Ocean cruises, In Search of the Northern Lights from Bergen, north through Norway to Tilbury, England, and Viking's British Isles Explorer from Tilbury, through England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland, back to Bergen. We'll take the train to Oslo, so Arlona can see what she missed on our Viking Homelands cruise when she was in Covid jail on the ship. That's coming in March 2026. We'll see you there!

20260117 Celebrity Constellation Western Caribbean Day 7 - Sea Day #2 back to Tampa

Celebrity Constellation Western Caribbean Day 7 – The last day at sea before this trip ends

As we leisurely cruise along a northerly route on our way to Tampa, we'll spend our final day on the ship doing ship activities like trivia, art, eating, and drinking. Today, we also got to do one of our favorite things, watch flying fish. 

I already mentioned that this ship is essentially full, with 2,130 passengers out of a possible 2,170. That is most evident in the morning and at noontime in the buffet. Once again, it was packed today with people milling about in random, often changing directions, and hardly a table to be found.

 Still, we were able to get a seat and had a nice breakfast. Arlona and Donna left for a color-by-numbers art project. We met up afterward for general knowledge trivia. We did alright, coming in just behind the winners. Our misses:

• In what year did the United Kingdom's lease on Hong Kong expire?
• We thought it was 1999, but it was 1997
• The ancient city of Carthage is in what modern-day country?
• We guessed Greece, but it was Tunisia
• How many nautical miles are in a league?
• We guessed 12 - it was 3
• What type of animal is an Oryx?
• I said antelope as we saw them in Africa, but was overruled for cat - it was antelope
• How long is a quadrenium?
• We thought millennium and quad, do 4,000 - nope, it's just 4 years
• What mountain range extends from California to British Columbia?
• We guessed the Olympic Range, but it was the Cascades
• What is a group of hummingbirds called?
• We guessed a flutter, but it was a charm

We followed that with food trivia. It all seemed to be going well until question #6.  We got three right after that. Wow. I'll skip our silly guesses and just give you the whole quiz.

1. What is the chemical compound that creates heat in spicy food?
1. Capsasin
2. What is the Japanese term for the savory 5th taste?
1. Umami
3. What is the French dish with snails in garlic butter?
1. Escargo
4. What specific nut is baklava filled with?
1. Pistachio
5. What does proof measure in liquor?
1. Alcohol content by volume
6. The wheels came off here...What enzyme in pineapple breaks down protein, making it great for marinades?
1. Bromelain
7. What is the French technique of cooking slowly in its own fat called?
1. Confit
8. What is the thick yeast residue left in the bottom of wine and beer containers called?
1. Lees
9. Gin, lemon juice, sugar, and soda water make what cocktail?
1. Tom Collins - I knew this, but was talked out of it for a Gimlet, but that has lime
10. The dish, Feijoada, comes from what country?
1. Brazil
11. This question was removed by the trivia host
12. What gives turmeric its yellow color?
1. Curcumin
13. What is the main ingredient in hummus?
1. We know this one - chickpeas
14. What spice is actually dried flower buds?
1. Clover
15. What is the French dessert that translates to burnt cream?
1. Creme Brulee - we knew this one
16. What does AQI mean on a fine dining menu?
1. As quoted - sounds classier than Market Price, I guess, but I couldn't find any support for this online
17. What liqueur is used in Black Forest Cake?
1. Krischwasser
18. What liquor is in a Moscow Mule?
1. We knew this was vodka
19. Preserving food in vinegar or brine is called what?
1. Pickling - we should have known this
20. What vitamin is destroyed through cooking?
1. Vitamin C

We learned something.

At 11:00, they held a Parade of Flags on the pool deck. Crew from more than 90 countries paraded around the deck, waving their home country's flag, and smiling at the waves and cheers from the passengers.

There have been more African crew members than we have seen before - we've met crew from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa

We returned to the room for a bit. Arlona read on the balcony. The pool towels wrapped around her are evidence that the temperature is dropping as we head north.

Flying fish were out in droves this morning. They are always fun to spot.

See them all?

Here is the same photo with at least 28 flying fish labeled

This afternoon, a member of the entertainment team, Wagner, who is also an aspiring magician, had a show in the theater.

The magic wasn't anything exceptional, but it didn't matter. Wagner was a master showman who was engaging, funny, and put on an outstanding show.

He asked for a couple who was in love to come on stage

We qualified!

We had a great time at his show. It was a great way to spend an hour on our last afternoon.

Not all the art on the ship is weird - some is cool and engaging

We hit the Martini Bar for pre-dinner cocktails before having our final dinner in Blu. Tonight's dinner was very good, with Arlona having prime rib, and I had a filet mignon. After dinner, we returned to the Martini Bar. Arlona had a Bananas Foster martini.

But it was personalized for that special experience.

We were also there for the evening performance. It was entertaining, as always.

We'll be up early tomorrow to get breakfast. We have to vacate the room by 7:30 am, so we'll disembark at that time, walk to the truck, and head home. Tomorrow, I'll write a wrap-up to comclude this trip.