Aug 7

Aug 7 Day 3 Locks in the St. Lawrence River

Viking Polaris enters one of the many locks

Today, around 6:30am and three hours ahead of schedule, Viking Polaris begins transiting the many locks scheduled for today. A crowd gathers on the bow to watch the lock transit.

In true Viking Cruises fashion, the crew is present to offer complimentary cups of Irish Coffee to guests who are braving the cool early morning air to enjoy the lock transit.

Irish Coffee is a blend of sweetened coffee and Jameson Whiskey topped with a whipped cream-like topping. The whiskey has been cooked to remove most of the alcohol content. It was delicious.

I am not sure exactly how many locks we transited today. I stopped counting at five. The photo below shows just how close the ship gets to the sides of the lock. Guests are advised NOT to reach out to touch the lock walls during the transit. But, I saw a few people do it anyway. Not sure what the fascination is with touching a concrete wall.

Viking Polaris Just Inches from Lock Wall

Later this morning, I was on a mission to locate The Hide. I finally figured out that you have to go to the forward staircase on Deck 2 (or above), then walk down (or take the elevator) to Deck 1.

The Hide is all the way forward on Deck 1 and is a great place to escape for some solitude. The windows put you as close to the water line as you can get on Viking Polaris. I even posted a short video showing my first visit to The Hide (see below).

Short Video of The Hide

As it began to rain later this morning, we could see crew members hustling to cover all of the outdoor furnishings.

Deck Crew Covers Cushions To Protect From Rain

For lunch today, we went back to World Cafe. It is difficult to walk past the bakery without being tempted by the wonderful aroma of bread being baked just a few steps away. The breads and pastries have been amazing.

This afternoon was our first Team Trivia contest with Elmer. We teamed up with Alex and Nancy, a couple from Southern California. We scored 14 out of 20 points, which was good enough for second place. Viking does not offer any prize for winning! What’s up with that? No ship-on-a-stick?

This evening, we visited Explorers’ Lounge for our evening cocktail and now we are having a hard time deciding which is our favorite lounge on the ship. Explorers’ features the beautiful music of Explorers’ Lounge Duo, which is a real bonus.

The Explorers’ Bar has a full menu of drink options and is really a beautiful, classy place with 180-degree ocean views.

We end our evening with another excellent lecture by Loreen Niewenhuise, one of the Specialists onboard Viking Polaris. Tonight’s lecture was on the history of Quebec City.