Today we board the Viking expedition ship Octantis to cruise each of the five Great Lakes.

The rain started early and makes it a bit dreary but everyone is excited for the waiting adventure. Our shuttle from the hotel to the ship’s boarding area is provided by Al Capone (lol) Limo. The driver shows up at 11 AM ready to load us up.

It was easy inside the dock boarding area. First, drop off our carry-on bags, next check-in, and then board a waiting tender boat to take us to the ship. Our luggage comes on a separate barge later.

Once on board, a glass of champagne greets us at the mandatory safety briefing. Then to lunch and exploring the ship. Our room is ready at 2 PM and we are one of the lucky ones – our bags come altogether at 3 PM.

This ship has amazing spaces. The artwork is also worth a self-guided tour available on the Viking Voyager app on your phone.

The rain has stopped and the fog is beginning to lift as we depart from Duluth and sail into Lake Superior under the famous Aerial Bridge. The ship is quite the sight to see for Duluth folks. They are out waving as the ship sails away. I love the feeling of sailing out to sea!

Everyday there are briefings at 5:30 pm about the port that we will visit. Tomorrow we will be docking at Thunder Bay, Canada known as “Canada’s Gateway to the West” because it is the final navigational point on the Canadian side of Lake Superior. Our excursion will be visiting Fort William erected in 1803. A separate blog post will follow.

We dine at the World Cafe and enjoy our evening relaxing back in our room. The floor to ceiling window in our room is a wonderful treat. It replaces balconies on the ship because no one would be sitting out on a balcony in Antarctica where this ship is based in the winter when it leaves the Great Lakes. More on the scientific exploration information later.

Final note. Because this is the bird migratory time of year, there will be over 138 million birds flying across the Great Lakes from Canada south during the night. This requires the ship to eliminate unnecessary lighting. All blinds will be closed automatically at a certain time (if you haven’t closed them already) and the ship will ‘go dark.’ This is to avoid having birds fly into the ship’s windows attracted to the lights. If it does happen and we see an injured bird on deck, we are to report it. Who would have thought about this? Sounds like our turtle ‘lights out’ requirements in Florida!