We traveled through the maze of traffic in NYC with our travel companions Lisa and John, as our fearless van driver navigated the crowded streets of Manhattan, on our approach to Pier 90, where our ship, The Viking Saturn, was docked.

Check-in was very efficient at the pier and since we arrived around 11 am, there weren’t many people presenting their boarding passes and passports, so before we knew it, we were onboard our ship, for our Canada, Greenland, and Iceland adventure.

We were immediately escorted to an emergency station, the place we would flock calmly to if the captain deemed it necessary to abandon ship, This area is where further instructions would be imparted to us and we would don life jackets and board a second means of transportation, aka “the lifeboat”. They served us champagne as we, the captive audience, listened intently to the instructions. (Somehow, I don’t think in the event of a real emergency, we would be guzzling champagne while scrambling into the life boats, but it was a nice touch.)
After that enlightening session, we had a lovely lunch in the World Cafe and afterwards, we explored the ship a bit, and then went to our cabin where our luggage was awaiting us.

At around 5, we met Lisa and John for drinks on deck 7, so that we could watch the ship’s departure from port. I wanted to see the Statue of Liberty, and there was some confusion as to what side we should be sitting on…port or starboard… for the best view. The crew tried to be helpful, but no one knew the definitive answer, so we decided to stay starboard, and we weren’t disappointed. We sailed past lady liberty in all her glory, with the sun right behind her, and as always, it was a magnificent site to behold.

We then went to ‘The Restaurant’ (that’s really the name of the restaurant) for dinner and had a nice meal with Lisa and John while watching the sun set.
After dinner we walked the upper deck in search of the super blue moon that was going to be shining in the night sky, but some wispy clouds were occluding it and we couldn’t see it very clearly. The evening was balmy with a lovely breeze, but we were tired and decided it was time for bed.
Once back in bed, however, I decided that I really wanted to check out that super blue moon again, because after all, it happens once in a blue moon, so I went back to deck 8 by myself in my PJ’s, and I was rewarded with seeing it cloud free. The picture I took doesn’t do it justice.
Then it was back to the cabin for a good night’s sleep, as the Saturn cruised the Atlantic Ocean, making its way to Halifax, Canada.
Tomorrow will be a day at sea.