Jul 23

Jul 23 Day 1 - Viking Mars Embarkation in Stockholm, Sweden

After a restful pre-cruise night’s stay at Hotel Rival in Stockholm, we ordered an Uber to pick us up at our hotel and take us to the pier which was located only about a ten-minute drive from the hotel. Embarkation was scheduled to begin at 11am and several guests were already in line at the tent set up next to Viking Mars.

*Rickee enters the tent to check-in for the cruise*

Checking in for the cruise was simple. Basically, you just present your passport and you are handed your stateroom keys.

Check-in was much easier and quicker than last year when I sailed on Viking Orion. There are no more pre-cruise Covid tests required and nobody even checked our Covid vaccination records. No temperature checks were done and Viking is no longer using the contact tracing medallions that were required last year. It would appear that cruising is back to “normal” on Viking!

After receiving our stateroom keys, we were invited to board the ship using the gangway.

Once on board, we were greeted with a glass of sparkling wine and invited to Deck 2 for the safety demonstration. The safety demonstration was held in the Stars Theater and was basically a demonstration of how to put on a life vest. The remainder of the safety drill information, which every guest is required to watch, is viewed on your stateroom television.

Our stateroom was not scheduled to be ready until 1pm; however, we decided to stop by and check just to make sure, and if nothing else, drop off our carry-on luggage. We were greeted in the hallway by our stateroom attendant who informed us that our room was, in fact, ready. We dropped off our luggage and headed up to World Cafe for a light lunch.

World Cafe is Viking Ocean’s buffet restaurant located on Deck 7 aft. A quick walk up one flight of stairs and we are there! Even though we are not typically fans of buffet cuisine, World Cafe is one of our favorite cruise ship buffets.

Rickee wanted a slice of pizza and I could not pass up the BBQ pork ribs.

On the way out of World Cafe, Rickee decides she must try a scoop of Salted Caramel Ice Cream in a cone.

We will do a much more thorough review of World Cafe at the end of this trip. Make sure to watch for our video review series on our YouTube channel (@cruisereport). Also, we post photos and video clips throughout each day on Instagram and Facebook, so make sure to follow us on those social media platforms as well.

After lunch, we head back down to our stateroom where we find our two large pieces of luggage have been delivered. We shipped our luggage from our home in Texas to Stockholm using Luggage Forward delivery service. We did not want to have to worry about our luggage being lost by the airlines on this trip. Luggage Forward came through for us once again. This is a service we highly recommend.

We are still suffering from a bit of jet lag, so after unpacking all of our luggage, we settle in for a nice nap. It is a cloudy, rainy day in Stockholm, so we leave the drapes to our balcony window open and enjoy some much needed rest.

This evening, we visit Explorer’s Lounge where we enjoy a cocktail and excellent guitar music by Paolo.

We purchased the Silver Spirits package for this cruise so we can enjoy as many drinks as we like and not have to worry about signing tickets. Viking’s Silver Spirits package is one of the best values in the cruise industry as drink packages are concerned.

Still pretty full from our lunch in World Cafe, we did not really feel up to a large dinner tonight, so we decided to head back to World Cafe for some light fare. They have fresh sushi, cocktail shrimp and crab legs every evening here.

Newer Viking Ocean ships also have the Asian Stir Fry station at the aft section of World Cafe, facing Aquavit Terrace. This was one of my favorite spots on Viking Orion and I am glad they included it on Viking Mars. I decided to try the pork noodle dish, which was very good.

There is no show in the theater this evening, but Viking Mars’ resident pianist, Sofia, is entertaining in The Atrium on Deck 1.

*Sofia entertains during Munch Moments in The Atrium*

There is a movie playing tonight in the Stars Theater, but it is one we have already seen so we decide to stay in The Atrium and enjoy more music from the Classical Duo.