Saturday 20th September

Less than a week to go now, taxi booked ( just a 5.30am pick up), packing almost done, well mine anyway! Booked a day trip around NY for the Friday. It clashes with the first day of the Ryder Cup and as Bethpage GC is only an hour from NY we thought about trying to get tickets. A once in a lifetime jobbie! Amazingly, course entry tickets are still available - great news we thought..... tried to book on line and when we got to the payment page.... a small shock..... price £1250 for 2 tickets! That was a step too far sadly so we will catch up on the TV.

Email from American Airlines asking us to select our meal choices on the way out - how very posh! Let's see what happens!

Thursday 25th September 

Ok! Here we go.... all packed at last. For some reason, maybe the destination, perhaps the time of year, who knows why, the packing seemed more complex. Lots of layers, the odd sweater, waterproofs and stuff for warm and cold? Let's see how right we got it. The good news is we're taking expandable cases so if we have got it wrong we can always pop into a clothes shop along the Eastern coast.

So, what's the plan?

First we head to New York for a couple of nights, then embark on the Viking Mars for a cruise from New York to Montreal via Boston, Halifax, Gaspe, Saguenay, and Quebec with the odd day of scenic sailing on the St. Lawrence seaway. A couple of nights in Montreal before flying home.

On time at 5.30am pick up by Tony of AM Cars, who we had booked via the Warlingham Facebook page. Local driver required for Heathrow run. He was very highly recommended by several Warlingham folk, we had corresponded by WhatsApp and text so it was a huge surprise when we asked him where he lived and he said Pevensey Bay!! He moved there four years ago having lived in Warlingham for 32 years!

Slight delay at the airport due to the recent cyber attack - one poor soul on a laptop checking people in. Even in business we had a queue.... I mean for goodness sake what is the world coming to?

The American Airlines lounge is functional at best, not great on decor but the food and drink is free (well sort of free in that you pay within the price of the ticket, but it feels as though it is a benefit).

After some issues checking in on line yesterday, we arrived at the bag drop area to be told you need to get your own bag tags from a machine and put them on your bag. Would have been nice to know that in advance. All sorted and apart from threatened thunderstorms in New York ( which caused the Ryder Cup Opening Ceremony to be moved forward to yesterday), it looks as though we are due off on time.

Call me picky but we both admitted that American Airlines are well off the pace when it comes to business class offering. The lounge was ok nothing special, and we queued in the corridor to get into the departure lounge. No priority segregation so about 300+ people all waiting to board.

The seat was comfortable but Viv's headphones didn't work - three sets later - success! The pre take off drink served in plastic cups - I mean .... come on!

Lunch was ok, with my beef very tender but lacking in taste. Viv's salmon was the highlight. Starter salad was passable but the cheese plate was so cold it was tasteless. A generous serving of a passable Argentinian Cab Sav was welcome - this time served in a glass tumbler! Call me old fashioned but those little touches make the difference.

Landed an hour earlier than scheduled - not quite sure why but didn't mind that. JFK in New York is a big airport but over 15 minutes taxing to get to the stand is excessive.

We feared customs woukd be an issue but helped by being off the plane early enabled us to get through customs quickly. The only issue we both had was executing the thumb print - the pad was a bit high so we couldn't get our digit to press in the right place!

We met our Viking rep straight away and shown to our waiting car. It took over two hours to crawl the 16 miles in the centre of New York. A lethal combination of construction work and the UN meeting causing complete chaos (add to that the Ryder Cup and you have a perfect storm).

The hotel is best described as interesting. A Marriott, well positioned just off Times Square. This very helpful porter took our bags and gave us a ticket to give to reception when we checked in. I must be a bit slow on the up take... twice he said I won't see you inside the hotel and then said "do you need change?" I wondered what are you on about? Lightbulb moment - welcome to USA the land of the TIP! Thankfully we had come prepared with a healthy supply of small denomination notes!

Nothing happens in the US without a tip. It's so brazen. Completely different way of life over here. 

For some reason which escapes me, Hotel reception is on the 8th floor and when you get in the lift (sorry, elevator!) there are no buttons indicating the floors? So how do you know when to stop it? It's simples! Before you get into any elevator, you find a pad on the wall, press the touch screen which is in sections, press the section you want eg floors 1-8, meeting rooms 3-7, guest room floors 20-30, 31-40, 41-50, then within the section the floor you want, in our case 35, hope you are still with me...... then up comes the letter of the elevator you need, A-P. Then you run like mad to get the lift (elevator takes too long to type) and it will stop at your desired destination. After a while it sort of makes sense.

The great news is the elevator is automatically operated so no tip necessary! Yes it's just 'doing its job!"

We decided after a long day, to see if our evening meal booking could be brought forward. First job, find Langans! After a couple of abortive attempts to understand the difference between Avenue and Streets we found it. By the way NYC is simple (ish) Avenues go one way and streets go the other, they cross each other eg corner of 6th Avenue and 45th street. You don't need names to remember. They are sequential too ( big word for 4am jet lag typing). They go up one direction and down the other- so clever these Americans. Ah not sure how Broadway or Wall Street quite fits in but may find out on today's tour of the City,

Anyways (sorry slipped in some US language there), we found the restaurant, a lively place even at 5pm on a Thursday.

A lovely burger in Langan's finished off a long but largely event free day. I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

Friday 26th September 

Woke at 4am, which considering it was only Day 2 is pretty good. After updating the blog we ventured to the hotel breakfast area to enjoy a very impressive buffet. All in all pretty darn good. At last, a decent cup of 'corfee' but then if you can't get one in New York where can you?

We tracked down the meeting place for our pre booked Viator tour of New York and were met by Joe, a seasoned tour guide from New Jersey. It was fantastic, over six hours jam packed with history, sites, information, humour and above all, a voice and accent to enjoy.

First stop was Central Park, an oasis in the midst of the hustle and bustle of Manhattan.

Not unlike Lumpini Park in Bangkok in many ways, though a little cooler and more joggers and cyclists. Surrounded by skyscrapers, you do feel a little dwarfed!

Next stop was the Rockefeller Centre, a spectacular venue of shops and an events area, which due the the Ryder Cup had its own seating area, big screen and a huge number of Europe supporters which, given the score at that moment was 3-1 to Europe made the event and supporter area so much nicer!

Opposite the centre is St.Patrick's Cathedral, a small but quietly impressive sight.

So much to see in NYC and such a small area.around every corner, something new. Even as you walked past the Rockefeller Centre, a few doors down is the Today studio, amazingly open to view from the street. Sadly off air as we walked past, probably just as well as the stars of the iconic show would have not been recognised by me, and more importantly, I doubt they would have known me.

Just a short walk across the road and we came across the stunning spectacle of what our guide described as the "eighth wonder of the world."

The Empire State Building, for 42 years, the tallest building in the world. Built in just 405 days, one of the many plans had been  was for it to be a terminal for the massive airships of the 1920's. Crossing the Atlantic took five days and the idea was, but it never happened, the airship would 'come into land and be connected to the top of the tower'. Not only did it not happen, but the fact passengers could smoke on board a highly inflammable bag of hydrogen and the disaster that befell the Hindenburg put paid to airship flight.

No sign of King Kong or Faye Wray

From there we headed to the Staten Island Ferry for a return trip to see the wonderful Statue of Liberty and the imposing views of Manhattan on the way back.

A strange feeling, as over 30 years ago, pre 9/11, I had visited NYC and made the same trip and of course the twin towers were still there. I had even ventured up to the Observation Deck on the South Tower. No longer there of course and we were to see Ground Zero later in the day.

A great photo of the Staten Island Ferry, which, when full can hold up to 3000 passengers, the Liberty Statue to the left and the Manhattan Skyline.

The ferry is free to every passenger, commuter and tourist alike. Pre 9/11 it used to cost 50c but to encourage use of public transport they abolished the charge completely after the attack. Only 5% of New York's population own a car and only 4% of commuters drive to work. With the traffic in New York thank goodness it's not more!

Among the many strange sights, and trust me, there are plenty, is the Jenga building. A residential apartment block - would you live there?

Not for me!

Lunch was taken in the Food Court of a massive building called One World Trade Centre. A Westfield shopping mall built after 9/11 on the site of one of the seven buildings destroyed in the attack. 

The whole area, apart from a couple of artefacts that survived, has been rebuilt, a mixture of extraordinary design and symbolism. There are two monuments on the footprints of the twin towers, the North Tower one remembering the 2700+ people who died on that day and the South Tower monument remembering the 344 members of the NY Fire Department who perished trying to save others when the buildings collapsed.

The following images require no commentary from me, just pause and reflect on where you were and what you were doing on September 11th 2001 at just after 9am.

The tree in the penultimate picture survived the attacked and is now known, unsurprisingly, as the Survivor Tree. 
The white rose is laid by loved ones of the deceased on the day that would have been their birthday. A poignant reminder, some twenty years plus on that memories are never forgotten.

Talking of memories, this is our guide Joe, explaining one small part of an incredible day of interest and learning. Great job Joe!

Saturday 27th September 

Moving day!

We were supposed to be transferred by coach with around 100 other Viking passengers at 11.30am but we decided as the pier was only 4/5 blocks away we would get a taxi. Worked well, to a point! Journey excellent and bags taken from us by the cruise guys - all good. We had arrived earlier than planned and the check in wasn't open so ushered to sit in a waiting area. All good! As 11am approached, the number of chairs available for those waiting was clearly insufficient and being the gentleman I am ( well sort of, plus the fact that loads of people were starting to queue ahead of the seating area) I said to Viv, let's queue and give our seats to more deserving people. How chivalrous was I?

Standing in the queue, actually when I say queue, it wasn't your British orderly queue, more of a general melee.

No sign of a single Viking member of staff, so no-one had a clue what was happening. The appointed opening time of 11am came and went. A jobsworth guy from the port authority decided to exert his authority and tried to move people away from the walk way. Still no sign of cruise staff. 

Then, the classic lets p*ss off everyone moment arrived. The people in the all too few seating area were brought to the front of the queue and allowed through customs. Lots of people like us had done the same as us - given our seats up for the 'elderly'.

Everyone surged forward (not too quickly after all we are talking cruise clientele here of a senior age). The jobsworth had a King Canute moment, then rather wisely threw his hands in the air and said 'sod it - have a nice cruise!). A wise decision.

What added to the irritation was when we got to the check in area, loads of Viking staff, all happy, smiling 'have a nice day' types, you know the 'welcome on board', 'lovely to see you', 'thank you for choosing Viking' comments, all blissfully unaware of the angst at Border Control or at least choosing to ignore the problem.

For goodness sake, we were trying to leave the US not get in!

All on board, a rather bold fashioned safety drill shown in the theatre - where a Sound Technician showed us how to don our life jackets! These days most cruise lines show a video in your state room. Oh yes, after the demonstration, when you get into your stateroom you then have to watch the video - very odd!

Lunch in the World Cafe..... sorry canteen, all very pleasant with an American couple we had met the day before. Lots of chat about the life and times in the US. They were clearly so impressed with the quality of the company we met again for dinner. Either that or they were 'billy no mates'.

A lazy afternoon of unpacking, a cocktail in the Explorer lounge, instructions given to the cabin steward and his assistant that the spirit of choice was gin and all was good.

Dinner was fine, helped by Gary the US hubby, having been on this ship before was able to secure a table for four by the window. Clearly it's what you know and who you know that matters.

We kept bumping into a couple called Sally and Steve, obviously from the US (we haven't spotted any other Brits yet! maybe we will after the Ryder Cup finishes if the expected result materialises!). This couple are Mr and Mrs Viking, they have travelled loads of times with Viking, they know all the staff and the staff know them, lots of hugs all round! Sadly for them their Viking loyalty points tally curried no favour with the New York Port Authority - they were held in the holding pen with us poor people!!

Sunday 28th September 

First full day on board the Viking Mars. We decided that as we had done NY so well on Friday we would not take the included tour with Viking and instead have a leisurely breakfast and take a walk into town.

Viv's Eggs Benedict turned into a marathon with the chef taking three attempts to produce an edible egg with the white not being a stringy mess! The Head Waiter had to get involved so if nothing else, they now know who the trouble makers are!

 After brekkie, we ventured off the ship and decided to walk to the junction of 72nd Street and Central Park West. The Dakota building, where on the night of 8th December 1980, Mark Chapman gunned down John Lennon. The reason, it is said, is that he simply wanted to be famous.

We returned to the ship, via Columbus Circle and another chance to see the Trump International Hotel, an impressive building stretching skyward, so much so, I couldn't get most of it into the picture.

A pleasant lunch of Caesar salad and a large but most enjoyable Roast beef roll together with a recommended very palatable white wine to accompany it. The wine waiter made us laugh in that because we had a silver drinks package refused to serve us the house wine. A use it or lose it philosophy which I very much admired!

All this was followed by a wonderful sail away from our stay in New York. We said our fond farewell to the Manhattan skyline and her ladyship the Statue of Liberty.

The Empire State Building

One World Trade Centre

And finally, the Lady herself.

Monday 29th September 

Sailed overnight towards Boston and due to arrive at noon. 
We have a tour booked at 1pm so decided to chance the World Cafe for an early breakfast. Dear reader, I am not good in the mornings when it comes to jostling with fellow cruise passengers for the buffet. The plates are never hot, you have to decide if you want eggs cooked fresh in advance of grabbing the rest of your Full English otherwise everything gets even colder.

Wasn't too bad this morning because we were early so we survived. Two flat white coffees from the Living Room cafe area, a 1.5 mile walk around the promenade deck and it was time for an early lunch.

Back to the 'canteen' for a salad, a savoury croissant filled with prosciutto ham, Brie and cranberry went down a treat. Viv had a salad and we both enjoyed a glass or two of wine. We remembered what the wine waiter had said yesterday ' you have a drinks package, don't drink the house wine' - so we didn't!

The tour this afternoon was a 3 hour drive and walk through parts of Boston. Our guide was knowledgeable but had one of those voices that in spite of trying to hear everything, and pay attention, it was so boring. Nothing stuck - words went in, rested a while, then just flew out again!

This was quite interesting, the black area on the drawing shows the original footprint of Boston before land reclamation started. As you can see, the area has expanded greatly and space for development remains at a premium despite the expansion and extra land claimed from the sea.

Most of the tour was spent extolling the merits of the American Revolution of the 1760's. The ride of Paul Revere which is part fact and lots of fiction if you believed our guide.

Boston, to be honest, at least from the bits we were shown was a bit of a let down. We expected more oldie worldie style stuff which was in very short supply. The odd church-

An old wooden three masted ship in the harbour known by the locals as Old Ironsides as it was unsinkable. It is required to travel 4miles a year to maintain its 'qualification' as a serving warship.

Look carefully and you can just see it in the background.

Can you guess what these are?

I will provide the answer later in the holiday but feel free to post the answer on Facebook if you think you know!

Tonight, we are off to dine at Chef's Table. It is not the Captain's Table, we are not that posh. It's an alternative restaurant on board that serves a five course tasting menu with a paired flight of wines - I know - get you!! I had to find out this morning if they have alternatives as the first two courses are King Crab and Lobster with Chicken something and Viv doesn't do shellfish. Egg and chips for Madame please!

This is my lobster and chicken Shu Mai- lovely dumplings with a ginger flavoured sauce.

A very nice 5 course taster menu with the wines to go with each course!

After dinner, the show was excellent, British artists creating a medley of songs from musical theatre such as Oliver, West Side Story and of course, Les Miserables. The interesting snippet we gleaned from one of the male artists, was that there is the princely sum of 35 Brits on board out of a total of 930 passengers. We still won the Ryder Cup so hard cheese to the rest of you!!

Tuesday 30th September

Still in Boston until 5pm. We hadn't booked anything for today so decided to take a walk into the port area of the town.

The actual port itself is like many others, very industrial. So much so, when we opened our curtains this morning we were shocked to find this moored opposite!

The walk into the Seaport area took around 25 minutes with help from a friendly policeman 👮‍♂️ who took pity on two useless Brits and pointed us in the right direction. We saw more interesting places on the one hour or so walk than the whole of the three hour tour yesterday. Here is a selection -

Has to be a teapot in Boston after all

The Fish wharf

Early signs of New England in the Fall.

As we walked along the wharf area, we came across these rather quaint little wooden shops. In style they reminded us a little of the shops in Christchurch, New Zealand after the earthquake, which were made out of ship's containers, except these were wooden.

One took our fancy and we popped in to find a young couple selling an array of candy sweets imported from Sweden. Apparently, these shops are leased on a six month's rental, a sort of 'pop up store' arrangement. Very clever and good luck to them.

This part of Boston is nothing if not a bit quirky. In the central reservation, there are a number of rather bright, hard to miss, animals. No idea ('no eye deer'!) what there are doing.

I was sorely tempted to take this little boy home to scare off the real ones that keep digging up our lawn, but sadly, no room in the suitcase and I don't think he would count as hand luggage somehow.

With our opinion of Boston rightfully restored we meandered back to the ship, bumping into a couple who had not picked up a map, so like the dutifully kind and caring Brits we are, we gave them ours. What all round good eggs we are!

All aboard at 5pm and sailing for Halifax shortly thereafter. A day at sea tomorrow.

Wednesday 1st October

At sea today on our way to Halifax. After an excellent show again last night, 'Southern Sounds' a medley of Country and Western ballads and songs y'all!! we had to advance our clocks by one hour. Now, I don't know about you, but in their good old days, you eased out the winder turned it one way or the other and you advanced or retreated an hour as required. Not so now, you have to find Settings/General/Date & Time, switch off Automatic date and time and then move the time on or back. This only occurs when you are on board a ship and they decide to move the time before you reach the appointed destination. Good old technology!

At sea all day but we did have some rough winds and waves during the night - remnants of a storm heading across the Atlantic - possibly now called Storm Amy!

A lazy day mainly spent reading the book about Prince Andrew and Fergy and the countless tales of financial and bedroom antics of both. It's called 'Entitled' by Andrew Lownie 'The Rise and Fall of the House of York'. For someone who admits he is not an avid reader, this is the exception that proves the rule. Safe to say, no-one escapes unscathed!

We are due to arrive at 8.01am according the Captain - yes he said 8.01am. I will be checking tomorrow morning.

Thursday 2nd October 

Here we are, Halifax. No, not in Yorkshire, but in Nova Scotia, Canada. In fact, without really realising it, we have left the USA behind and despite Mr Trump's protestations of a few months ago, Canada is still a country in its own right, part of the Commonwealth, has King Charles III as its Head of State, and is not the 51st state of the USA.

Arriving quietly just before 8am, we slipped into port.

For once, we moored so we had a view facing out from the port which was nice.

Today's excursion was a tour around the town on a HoHo bus, no nothing to do with Santa, a Hop On Hop Off bus, except we didn't Hop Off until the end. What a surprise when we saw our bus..... a pink 1960's London Routemaster bus!

At our age, we just about managed to pull ourselves up the stairs at the back of the bus, you know, the ones you used to race up and down as a kid! I can confirm the seats are just as uncomfortable now as they were then, even with the more ample padding on my bum. 

Apologies for the hat, but it was a bit cooler today than of late. Great views of a lovely city, most of which has been extensively developed over recent decades. The older houses look very quaint and colourful.

With eleven stops on the route including the last which was the Fairlawn Cemetery which is the final resting place for over 100 passengers on board the Titanic. Halifax was the nearest landfall from where the ship went down in 1912. A trivia point of interest, according to our guide, there is a headstone in the part of the cemetery laid out in the shape of the ship's hull, marked as J. Dawson. Lots of tourists rush to have their picture taken next to the place where they believe Jack Dawson is laid to rest. Sadly not, it is not the Jack Dawson of the film fame (Leonardo Di Caprio), but Joseph Dawson, a crew member on that ill fated ship. 
Arriving back at the terminal, sore knees and bum needing some exercise, we strolled along the wharf side. What a lovely place, with lots of restaurants, shops, and rather strange tables in which were housed mini fire pits providing warmth as well as the possibility of getting your clothes singed if the wind was in the wrong direction!

Some very impressive marine hardware on show as well as our ship, docked in the harbour.

The back end, sorry stern, of our ship is to the left of Viv's head as you look at the photo.

The last potentially interesting snippet of information relates to the famous Cunard line dynasty. A statue of Samuel Cunard can be found near the terminal building. Our guide referred to him as Samuel K'nard ( phonetic sound) not Samuel Queuenard as we pronounce the shipping line. All very strange as K'nard (Canard) is French for duck!

Anyway it is his statue (Samuel not the Duck) that you can see poking out from behind my head in the awful attempt at a selfie. The ship in the background is ours!

You have to admire Japanese tourists, they are much better at selfies!

The rest of the day was a bit of a curate's egg. We were enthralled by a lecture in the afternoon about the Northern Lights by an on board lecturer, an engineer with a scientific bent. Lots of great information about the sun, the how's, why's, when etc. How the colours are formed and at what height, which atoms and molecules are affected! All impressive stuff, just so grateful he didn't test us afterwards.

This is just one of his slides. Simples!

After a topical Venus Sunrise cocktail before dinner ( these holidays are not just thrown together by chance you know), we had our first not so good experience in the restaurant. Opening at 6pm and knowing how the Americans love to eat early, we went to eat at just after 7pm. Bad move, at least it was last night. Long queue (as in Cunard) and we have to explain something here which may help to understand why the service went a bit Borealis.

Several days ago, Viv had a problem with her Egg Benedict, and after several attempts involving the Head Waiter it got resolved. Since then, said Head Waiter has been so attentive and helpful, he has almost become a problem. In fact, he has. Bless him, he calls our names, finds us a lovely table by the window which is all very nice and much appreciated. Sadly, he waits on us personally, gets the water, takes the wine order, fetches the bread and more, 'is everything alright Mrs Robinson?' All very nice, however, the assigned waiter, the chap who is supposed to serve us, is completely confused now. Do I let the boss man get on with it? When do I step in? Poor bloke, it was so busy last night and his boss was interfering and causing mayhem. The outcome was our order was late in being taken, the waiter must have thought his boss had taken it, then to find it hadn't been and he got told off by his boss for forgetting it! He looked so stressed you had to feel sorry for him.

When the main course arrived, served by the boss, it was clear I had cocked up. I thought the Seafood stew was a chowder, nope it was a tomato soup with lots of bits of seafood. I was given a bowl for the bones and shell, a cold wet cloth to wipe my hands and what was worse, as I dug in to prise the mussels et all out of their shells and looked at Viv, the look on her face and grimace (she hates shellfish of any kind) was seriously off putting! Her main of roast turkey was fine !! Big error of choice on my part.

All was salvaged by a fantastic Beatles Showcase in the theatre. A magical ride back in time with loads of classics to which we knew the words. Take that, (sorry wrong band) you Americans, come on you Brits, we outsung them all. Overall a great night!

Friday 3rd October

A quiet day at sea today sailing from Halifax on our way to Gaspe. 
It was a bit bumpy, so much so that after three laps of the Promenade Deck, we were told to go inside due to the heavy swell and high winds. It was blowy and lots of salty spray!
Lunch was a bowl of pasta, freshly cooked but sadly, served in cold bowls which meant it got cold very quickly - a real shame and really unnecessary. 
This afternoon, we watched an interesting film, The Banshees of Inisherin with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. Directed by the same director who made Three Billboards over Ebbing, Missouri. Great scenery of western Ireland.

Now, do you remember the two white boxes puzzle, I set a few days ago? Here is a clue....

Yes...... there are laundry boxes! You send your bits in a bag, tick the 'folded' not hangers and within 24 hours, your clean and freshly pressed garments are returned in these boxes! Job's a good 'un!

Saturday 4th October

A week since we boarded and as usual has flown by. Lots to see and do, calories piling on, don't you just love these hotels on water!

Arrived in Gaspe around 8am, a lovely quiet, off the beaten track kind of place. With 15000 inhabitants 'packed' into an area the size of Belgium, you can imagine how much forest and open land there is. Tendered into port, to be honest, I don't think this is a place many of the big hitting cruise ships come to, it's too quiet and it doesn't exude entertainment. You won't find your quayside jewellery stores here!

A fifteen minute ride in your tender craft sees you arrive into the harbour to be met by cheery locals with a rousing 'bonjour'. Oh yes, we're closing in on Quebec so French speaking is clearly the language of the many.

Our excursion, included as part of the Viking offering had been changed. It should have been a hike through the Forillon Forest, however it had become a visit to the Mic Mac Interpretation Centre and Gaspe Museum - neither of which will appear on any seasoned travellers bucket list. Talking of which, RIP Patricia Routledge, the wonderful Mrs Bouquet.

Mic Mac is actually properly spelt MicMaq and refers to the indigenous peoples of the area, local Indians who first settled here in the 1500's. After a short drive through the main town which took all of ten minutes, we arrived at the centre to be met by our local guide, a sweet young lady who explained all there is to know about these local folk.

Give them their due, they were very innovative, moving around in different seasons to search for food, using resin from trees to stick their boats and houses together, making tools from animal bones, jewellery from animals teeth and just about everything in between.

Like all good Indians, they lived in tepees and wigwams. There is a difference, a tepee is made with a covering of animal hide and wigwam is dome shaped, frames of poles and covered in bark and grass. 

The museum is back towards the harbour, a building situated in grounds with odd statues. Our guide here was less experienced reading from a hymn sheet! The large statue of an ugly (her words) pregnant woman over five metres tall dominated the garden.

Strange tablet like stones with inscriptions were also there, but sadly our guides hymn sheet didn't extend to explaining what these were all about. More homework needed!

Whilst the inside of the museum did explain the history of the area, opened in 2021, it is clearly designed as an attraction to encourage visitors and why not!

Three examples from the many, a whale vertebrae and below is a tuna tail ( big steaks on offer there!) and a dog sled used by a local explorer, William Wakeham, who headed north into the Arctic Circle.

There is a folklore about a ghostly pirate ship which haunts the local waters, normally before a storm. 

Two rooms of the museum are dedicated to a local politician who became Prime Minister of Quebec and tried to annexe the area into its own country. Almost everything picture, sculpture, or cartoon of him has a fag hanging out of his mouth, as the guide said he was a total chain smoker!

Outside the museum, there is a lovely view of the waterway and the early signs of the spectacular colours of the autumn.

Returning to the ship in time for a light lunch (burger and chips from the Pool Bar), after which guilt got the better of us and we managed at least six laps of the Promenade Deck which is about one and a half miles ( one of us managed two more (laps not miles!).

A film about the life of Brian Epstein (Midas Man) filled the rest of the afternoon (highly recommended). Our day was finished off with a very pleasant meal in the ship's Italian restaurant. 
Our last sea day tomorrow or as the brochure calls it 'scenic sailing along the St. Lawrence seaway'.

Sunday 5th October

Sailing all day along the St. Lawrence seaway at a thrilling 9 knots an hour. You definitely feel it is a way of adding another day to your cruise. We could have got from Gaspe to Saguenay in a day if the Captain had put his foot down.

Little to see, so I walked three miles round the Promenade Deck, twelve laps whilst listening to Wolves surrender two points to Brighton by conceding a late goal. Still one point is better than none.

A lovely dinner tonight of escargot for me and iceberg salad for Viv, we both had the Dover Sole and the Chocolate Decadence to finish. Very enjoyable apart from two old Americans, a couple, who were two tables away from us, who insisted on shouting to each other. Absolute pain. I can only assume they were both deaf as a post. 
A lovely full moon and wonderful sunset. Sadly not the Northern Lights!

Sorry I missed the escargot before I ate them but here is the empty plate!!

Monday 6th October

What a nice surprise Saguenay (pronounced Sag-  Nay, the locals can't be bothered with the middle UE) is. Nestled in the Saguenay Fjord, which is surprisingly tidal, the town is small but perfectly formed around La Baie. We arrived at 7am to be greeted by a group of dancers and an old boy with a mic. Even if you wanted a lie in, no chance! Embracing all ages, this was a sort of Morris Dancers meets Line Dancers meets Scottish Dancers. Lots of spins a la droit, then a la gauche. Don't worry, this software doesn't allow uploading of video so you have been spared. If you desperate, you can email me and I will gladly send you a copy.

Among the dancers, we're lumberjacks and various other local artistes, doing their very best to welcome our ship to Saguenay. You had the distinct impression that ships don't often find their way this far upstream very often.

We opted not to take our included excursion and gave our tickets to our American friends. Instead, after another leisurely breakfast, we ventured ashore on foot. 
A beautiful area, with a backdrop of autumnal trees of stunning colour.

A gentle stroll along Main Street, past a very modern church, built in 1929. With a statue of Christ welcoming parishioners in for worship, it holds a very prominent position in the town.

Beyond the church in the same road, we found the public market, open we suspect on cruise ship days only for obvious reasons. Varied stalls selling mainly hand crafted artefacts, made from all sorts of materials, including wood, silver and hand spun and woven alpaca wool.

We couldn't resist buying some wooden carved and painted coasters and trivet, not to mention some salad spoons we have needed for ages.

Having chatted for some time to the lady wool spinning lady and exchanging details of our respective mothers, with Viv winning with a mother aged 101, we spotted a vintage car parked in a small alleyway. Almost completely hidden, we walked over and were welcomed by Romeo, an 85 year old Saguenay local man, who has run this museum for the whole of his life. He still renovates a fantastic collection of classic cars

Inside the building, we found an incredible collection of all sorts of memorabilia including some items from RMS Titanic, a mid 19th century cooking range. A quite extraordinary collection of just about anything you could possibly want to see.

Leaving the museum, we followed a very cleverly organised dual cycle and pedestrian walkways, clearly marked and perfectly designed. The only blot on the landscape is a large refinery type building alongside the fjord. This is balanced by a Salmon River though sadly no sign of salmon either up or downstream.

A slow meander back to the ship during which we noticed how much the tide had come in. A learned passenger advised us that the fjord enjoys a tidal variance of 19 feet - hopefully enough for us to sail away later.

Once again, and this must be a Canada thing, we were tempted by, but didn't do it, a seaplane flight across the fjord. The last time we watched a similar experience was in Victoria, British Columbia. One day we might but it does look a little fragile (he says having jumped (been bundled) out of a plane at 15000 in a sky dive in New Zealand!). Seems like only yesterday, but was over 10 years ago.

One thing we did see lots of, were geese, and given where we are, we are surmising they are Canada Geese. They may not be as there is little or no sign of the copious amount of geese poo that is normally accompanying them.

As we prepared to set sail for our penultimate destination of Quebec, the beautiful sunset colours once again, filled the skies. We have been blessed with lovely clear skies during this holiday and coupled with the scenery it does make for some special photography.

Tomorrow, Quebec awaits but not before another meal in Manfredi's restaurant and tonight's show 'A tribute to the 70's, this band and four singers are providing some of the best entertainment we have seen on board a cruise ship. They are very good.

Tuesday 7th October

Second anniversary of the 7th October attacks on the Israelis and no real sign of any breakthrough yet. The Middle East has always been a complex issue and even more so today.

We arrived in Quebec and our journey down the St.Lawrence river was more bumpy than you might've expected. Nothing too dramatic but you knew you were on the move.

A more industrial feel to the port, hardly surprising as Quebec City is the capital of the region and has been built up over the centuries at the narrowest point of the river. Founded by the French Explorer, Samuel De Champlain in 1608, he gave the settlement the name 'Quebec' which means the 'narrowing of the river'.

Our trip today, thankfully in the morning, enjoyed the best of the weather, which by the early afternoon had turned from a very pleasant sunny day with temperatures in the early 70's, to a rather colder and miserable rainy afternoon. The locals explained that the recent weather in the area had been unseasonably dry and warm, which they felt would herald a rather more colder winter. Snow normally arrives in Quebec in November and has been known to hang around until April. The difference is, they known how to deal with it. After heavy snow, which last year at one point was over 15 feet thick, they have three sets of snow vehicles; the first your traditional snow plough which moves the snow to the side of the road, the second following along behind, is a snow blower which blows the accumulated snow into a third vehicle, a snow lorry which when full goes off the snow pound to deposit its load. Another snow lorry takes its place, as does a third and they rotate until the highway is clear.

I suppose the main difference is that if you know you are going to have that much snow, you invest in machinery to deal with it. Unlike the UK where an inch of snow brings the affected area to to complete standstill.

A lovely city with a genuine mix of the old and the new, although after the Price building was erected in the late 1920's, an embargo was placed on building tall structures.

A short photo stop took place in the Plains of Abraham, a beautiful green park area which doubles up in the winter as a snow resort! Some interesting pieces of sculpture on show! The first, a representation of beads links back to the Wendat people's, part of the First Nations people. It portrays the links between different peoples. Sculpted by Ludovic Bonney himself a member of the Wendat people.

The next is a tall statue depicting the Three Watchmen acting as sentinels keeping watch in every direction for approaching danger. Measuring over 6 metres in height, designed by James Hart, this impressive artwork stands in a commanding position overlooking the surrounding area.

As we left the Plains of Abraham, we moved into the upper part of Quebec which offers a rich blend of the old and the new.

Driving through both upper and lower Quebec, there were beautiful examples of the autumn colours. Does this remind you a little of that Beatles album? Minus the Beatles of course!

Such a vibrant and colourful city. This square, next to the magnificent Le Chateau Frontenac hotel which overlooks the St.Lawrence river, is a fantastic example of how European the city feels. Lots of small shops, bistros and tight alleyways - very Parisian in style and ambience.

A statue of the founder of Quebec, Samuel de Champlain, stands proudly overlooking the river.

Back on the ship, we succumbed to the Pool Grill offering of cheeseburger, fries, onion rings, not the light lunch we had promised ourselves. We have seriously over eaten on this trip and are very much looking forward to a plate of beans on toast on Sunday. Before then, we have to suffer three days in Montreal, the second best culinary destination in North America. It's so tough, but someone has to do it.

To be fair, we did have a light dinner, not really through choice, it was more we were simply too full to manage any more than a chickpea and tomato soup and a starter portion of Filipino Pork Belly skewers.

8.30pm was the time the theatre doors opened for the final live show of the cruise. We joined the queue to get in at 8.20 and even at that time the queue from both doors stretched down the corridors. Tonight was the customary greet the crew night, with the reminder from the Cruise Director to fill in your questionnaire and mark everything as "way above your wildest possible expectations!" and of course fill up those gratuity envelopes! 
We have cruised for well over 20 years and I still struggle to see how the questions they ask on these things help the cruise line to improve their product,

They want you to mark everything as brilliant, however my view is that of the four possibles going from poor to good as in "below expectations", "met my expectations", " above my expectations"' and "far above my expectations". - the most likely result is "met my expectations" otherwise why would I have chosen to go with then in the first place. 
If your expectations were that low to begin with, why were you on the ship in the first place? Call me cynical!

Anyway after the crew walk on, we had the pleasure and I do mean pleasure, to be treated to one of the best vocalist groups and ship bands we have seen in all our cruise lifetime. Tonight was an ABBA showcase. All cruise, they have been fantastic. After all I have said about "far above my expectations", these guys have more than done that. In the past we haven't always 'done the shows' but this lot enticed us back night after night. Quite superb and three of the four singers are Brits!

Wednesday 8th October

Here we are, last day on board the Viking Mars, a little late arriving in Montreal.

Another fabulous day weather wise, the gods have really been smiling down on us over the past two weeks.

As we are staying in Montreal for an extra two nights, we opted out of the included panoramic tour in favour of a very leisurely breakfast and a gentle stroll around the Old Port and the surrounding area. A beautiful spot with a walkway into town, along past some very impressive marine hardware.

Look carefully in the background of the last picture and you will notice Montreal's version of the London Eye. Smaller but none the less impressive.

Those of you who know us, will know we rarely pass up an opportunity to do something out of the ordinary on holiday. A trip on the Eye seemed like a great way to see the town from a different viewpoint. Not as demanding as a sky dive over Lake Taupo, I grant you, but fun nevertheless.

Great views to be seen.

The changing colours of autumn clearly visible. Although we didn't spend long in the town, largely because we have the extra days to explore, we did make it to the main shopping street which had a very strange shop wiith the most obscure characters above the door.

Halloween is coming at pace!

walking through the city along the narrow streets, we arrived at the square where we found Montreal's own Notre Dame Basilica. Sadly one of the sides was covered in tarpaulin with remedial work being done. Doesn't it always seem to be the way.

It doesn't really matter as the nice couple we met who offered to take our picture missed off most of the steeple anyway. To get us and the steeple in, a drone might have been a better bet.

The co-founder of Montreal was a gentleman by the name of Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve. He arrived in Montreal after spending time in Quebec (don't they all?) in 1642.

He started his military career at the age of 13!

If you are at all interested, the other co-founder is Jeanne Mance. There you are... all you needed to know about Montreal but were afraid to ask.

Handsome devil isn't he?

Packing all done and bags outside by 10pm, we spent our last dinner on board in the main restaurant. This was after we had spent the customary hour trying to work out, having pre paid our gratuities, how much extra we were going to pay and to whom.

For the only time on the cruise, I opted for the steak. Not the best move and I was lucky perhaps that the last night's choice was the only one where I chose steak!

I am not sure if 5.30am counts as overnight on the 8th or early morning on the 9th when you are on holiday but we beat the sun getting up!

Thursday 9th October

Off the ship after 9.15 which wasn't too bad. The usual bag collection worked well but Viking do seem to have problems with the logistics when they come into contact with Port Staff! Having got our bags without any fuss, we were told to go and sit down on some chairs on the other side of the terminal building. 12 day old memories of the NYC debacle came flooding back! We had been sitting down for an hour in a cold ship (outside temp of 5deg C and the gangway door being open didn't help), so I told the first jobsworth lady 'no thanks, we are happy to stand here'. She said the bus isn't here! So I asked how long might I be? I don't know she replied but I will find out. Three minutes came the reply so you can stand by the door. 
So that's what we did. Suddenly the people seated on the chairs decided they weren't going to let a NYC moment happen again so they made a bee-line for the door.

Please queue here, says the second jobsworth, who wasn't happy that the first jobsworth had agreed to let us break ranks in the first place. What she failed to realise, rather surprisingly I thought, is that Americans don't, cant, won't, queue!  Soon we had a rodeo, Out West stampede and all that was missing was the theme tune to Bonaza.

The poor coach driver had bags coming at him from all sides. Quelle horreur mon brave!

After a short while, we boarded the bus with jobsworth two, still wanting to make her presence felt, insisting the first two rows of the bus isn't for mobility impaired passengers. Given some of our passengers it was a bit of a lottery to see who was going to consider themselves sufficiently immobile to grab those seats. Eventually all on board and off we go - not a Viking rep to be seen.

Arriving at the hotel, onto the bus gets jobsworth three, a rather fearsome lady who unfortunately found the mic wasn't working so had to shout. Not good when most of the bus load have super expensive hearing aids and only react to American voices registering over 90 decibels. Questions duly answered, though not entirely making too much sense, we make our way to the Viking Hospitality Desk where we meet jobsworths four and five.

One thing to mention here, is that all the people on the next cruise leaving Montreal today headed for Ft. Lauderdale and who have enjoyed a two night pre cruise extension are still in the hotel lobby and our 52 seater coach is the third one to come in from the ship so you have literally hundreds of people and luggage coming and not yet ready to go. The poor bell boys, actually they were bell girls hopefully got the out bags going out and the in bags staying in!

Jobsworth four commanded all our group to gather round the two person table while she delivered her welcome address. Your rooms aren't ready, you can't check in, breakfast tomorrow is over there, all good stuff. Then her friend in arms, she who has the individual letters with key information, like when do we get picked up to go to the airport, suddenly asks to the Gregory group, then then Roberts Group, ' do I have the Edward's group?' - eventually an elderly lady at the back of the crowd moves slowly forward. I think she was the one member of the three groups whose hearing was up to the task of gleaning enough of the speech to register a reaction. Bless her, she was met with a repost from one of the jobsworth 'we don't have your flight details!' 
At which point, yours truly had almost lost the will to live and I said, enquiringly and exceedingly quietly (honest I did), "Robinson party, Keith and Viv". Nothing as sensible as a letter in an envelope with your name on it, oh no don't be daft, this is Viking, we don't like to do things sensibly, she shuffles her papers and eventually finds the one with our name on it. 
Eureka! 6.15pm pick up on Saturday evening - success.... no hours at the airport waiting to check in - hopefully.

We decided we would find the underground city, which thankfully is about 20 minutes walk away. It is incredible. Bluewater Shopping Centre on steroids and all underground. Shops galore, restaurants (mainly fast food) a plenty.

After a spot of retail therapy, we opted for a Subway half baguette filled with tuna and salad. Not haut cuisine but very welcome. As we walked back to the street, I spotted guys hard at work and wasn't sure what they were doing. At first I thought, they are building a giant Lego building, then realised they were laying tiles and using spacers - Doh!

A quick stroll back to the hotel, passed a few impressive buildings, and a stroke of good fortune, our room was ready and we checked in around 1pm. Bags arrived in our room just after us and a quiet afternoon resting to help Viv recover from her cold. As is customary on our holidays we were able to find a pharmacy in the shopping centre and stocked up on Canada's version of paracetamol.

Not sure Viv is up to going too far tonight, so we have booked a table in the hotel restaurant, Lloyd. Not sure if that is the name of the chef or the owner or neither!

I try to be objective when I write these blogs, most often, our experiences are great and I am happy to reflect them as such. Sometimes, and thankfully not often, things dont quite go to plan. Tonight was one of those occasions.

Having booked our table for 6.30pm we went down to the bar area for a drink before dinner. Coming out of the lift, the wall of noise from the bar hit you. The area was packed, heaving with people. One solitary waitress trying to offer service. The lady controlling bookings for the restaurant was trying to be helpful but failing miserably. She found us a couple of chairs, next to a piano which thank goodness wasn't being played. A poor excuse of a drinks menu was given to us and after eventually tracking down the waitress after a good ten minutes, we ordered our drinks. No sign of any drinks for nearly another 15 minutes.

We went to the Maitre D station to cancel our drinks, we were given some story about we had to pay the waitress because their system was down and people had left without paying in the past. It was a complete shambles (wait for tomorrow's breakfast).

The Maitre D lady said on this occasion she would add the drinks to our meal bill and asked if we wanted a 'special' table in a booth. I asked what is a booth? As we hadn't set foot in the place before, we didn't know what a booth table was? She seemed quite indignant and almost suggested it was our fault they were so busy and understaffed!

We were shown to said booth, which was ok and then the menu arrived. In the absence of much else we opted for the Wagu Burger, chips and salad and Viv asked for the pizza. A green salad was offered at $19 which was declined. Our drinks finally arrived as did the food, served on lukewarm plates and paper, yes a sort of grease proof paper which went soggy and broke up.

Viv's pizza was bland at best served with cold Burrata cheese in four big blobs on the top. Awful at best. The burger was ok so I shared that with Viv in exchange for helping her reduce the debris on her plate.

A nightmare meal which when you include Quebec tax, sales tax and a tip (mandatory discretionary?), it was not great value for money or a good use of calorie intake.

Not a good experience......... however worse was to come.....

Friday 10th October

After a decent night's sleep, we decided to have breakfast just before 8am. We had been told the day before that breakfast was included as a buffet and a separate dining area would be set aside for the Viking guests.

As we arrived at the checking in station, the queue was the first clue that all was not well. On reaching the front of the queue, we mentioned the magic word Viking, to be told the buffet is at the back and you can sit at a table that could seat maybe 20 people and was already filling up rapidly. Viv grabbed a seat and I went to see what the buffet was all about. We had also been told that if we could find seats in the dining area we could sit there. I spotted a couple of empty tables and when I enquired of the nearest waiter if I could sit there, was emphatically told No!

The buffet area was like a cattle market on a bad day. I grabbed some muesli and a yogurt and headed back to Viv who was trying to hold my seat against an on rushing hoard of hungry Vikings. Another shambles, no organisation, not enough seating, complete incompetence. Viv grabbed some fruit and cereal and after some effort managed to get a black tea and coffee - no sign of milk!

Lesson learned and big note to self, when the cruise ends..... just go home.... don't try and build on any extensions through the cruise line. It is clear that Viking has oversold the number of extensions, the hotel has the rooms but not the capacity to cope. 

We will try and eat later tomorrow as we are not in a rush - it did seem to calm down after 9am. Maybe some of the conference groups will have gone home too being a Saturday? If not, we will head out to the nearest restaurant for breakfast.

Some more retail therapy helped before arriving at the Tour office to start our tour of the city. All good and we got on the bus with the other tour members.

The driver (who was also our guide) proceeded to deliver his advertised live English commentary in English and then French! So by the time he had done the French bit we had missed the next few sights! Add to that he spoke using a hand held mic in one hand whilst driving with the other!

Not a patch on the New York tour but to be fair, it woukd have to have been exceptional to have done that.

Some good views of parts of Montreal we hadn't seen.

St. Bonecours Saint Marie church 

The inside of the Market we missed two days ago. You go in at the back not the front! All the stalls and shops sell locally produced artisan goods.

An amazing market in the northern part of the city, mainly for locals but wonderful produce.

What a selection of cheeses they are! And check out the fish counter!

The veg and fruit isn't too shabby either.

Opposite, was this building. As you can see from the picture it is clearly the local gym and swimming pool! Impressive huh?

Lovely views over the city from Mount Royal.

The colours are changing at last as you can see.

Last night in Montreal. We had booked The Keg Steakhouse in Ville-Marie. Great venue, good food and whatever happens tomorrow at breakfast, who cares, we finished on a high! 

Saturday 11th October 

All checked in on line and pick up arranged to 6.15pm. Just need to reorganise our packing a bit - won't life we easier when liquids no longer have to be put in checked bags!

Better breakfast this morning but we did go down a bit later. A trip to the local church which we think was responsible for them there bells every fifteen minutes! At least they stopped over night and restarted at 6am.

We have been told the church is based on the St. Peter's Basilica in Rome but a slimmed down version. Impressive nevertheless.

Having been 'blessed' - not really we were drawn back to the underground city shopping mall for a third time. Spurred on by fellow Brits at breakfast who stressed the excellent savings at Skechers partly due to the Canadian Dollar/GBP exchange rate and also the 20% discount if you buy two pairs, so it was a a no brainer! We even left room in the carry on bags should the need arise.

A Starbucks lunch of panini and coffee got us through to the pick up and ride to the airport.

Check in to Business was opened after 20 minutes so not too bad. Sadly the Air France lounge (BA doesn't have one at Montreal) is not the best and would you believe it ..... doesn't have an Gin or English Breakfast Tea (jut alors mes amis!). 
Hopefully flight on time and a chance to sleep on our way back to LHR.