Monday, January 24th, 2022
This morning we were up early to fill our test vials with saliva for our COVID test to make sure we are negative otherwise we would not be boarding our ship, the Viking Venus! Little did we know that we would be doing the saliva COVID test every morning for the rest of our trip! Viking also had us wear a contact tracer our entire trip.
Guess what, it’s raining this morning and the forecast said it will continue throughout the day. We are to check out of our hotel today at 12:45 PM and head to the ship. There was a delay at the hotel so we sat in the lobby with the other Viking guests for close to an hour! Finally we boarded a bus for the port which is within walking distance! The passengers on the bus were limited to 25 so we were happy that they didn’t load it to full capacity!
The process for boarding the ship included Border control where our passports were checked and stamped and then we moved on to the Viking counter for a temperature check and a health survey. Besides a saliva COVID test required daily, we also had to complete a health survey and do a temperature check! It was to become a morning routine: COVID test, health survey, and temperature check! This did not bother us because it really made us feel secure knowing Viking was doing their best to keep all of us safe and healthy!
Once on the ship we went to our cabin and met Paul who showed us all of the features of our cabin. We immediately went to the Explorers Cafe for lunch because the lunch in our room had nothing Gluten Free. There was a tray of wrapped sandwiches and desserts in the cabin. This was because you had to stay in your room until given the all clear from your COVID tests.
After lunch we went back to our cabin to unpack because our luggage had arrived. When we were given the OK we left to explore the Viking Venus, our “home” for the next 12 days!
The Viking Venus was built in 2021 and is classified as a small ship with a maximum of 930 guests. This cruise was less than half full.
We found a bar at the front of the ship, the Explorer’s Lounge, and enjoyed a glass of wine.
After dinner we went to the theater onboard to watch the movie Respect that starred Jennifer Hudson and was about the life of Aretha Franklin. We learned a lot about her life that we didn’t know. Popcorn was available. There were only about 7 of us in the theater! As we walked back to our cabin we noticed the ship was like a ghost town! We put on our coats and went out on deck to look back at the town of Bergen.
Then it was time to get some rest because we have an official tour of Bergen first thing in the morning and we have to allow time to take our COVID tests, do our quick health survey, and get our temperature check done before breakfast!
