Viking Holiday - Part 1

 

Viking Holiday !

It's a week since we returned from our Christmas and New Year's holiday on the Viking Sea. What a great trip !

This was our first time going someplace warm for the holidays - we did the West Indies Explorer cruise with a pre-trip in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Have to say we are totally hooked on Viking - river and ocean.  This was our 10th Viking trip and we have a few more scheduled.  For us, it is the best way to travel.  Unpack once, everything is taken care of for you, food is fabulous, entertainment is great!

So, come along with us on the West Indies Explorer....

We left the Philadelphia Airport on a cold and icy morning - first time we ever flew where the plane needed to be "de-iced"...

but a few hours later we were at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan and enjoying Pina Coladas in the warm sunshine.  The pre-trip we took with Viking was great...we were met at the airport and take right to the hotel.  Our room had a great view - 

a beautiful pool, beach area, and lots of places to walk and explore.

Several great restaurants in the hotel...plus the first Pina Colada was made at the bar in the hotel!

Great places to walk...and wildlife to see!

After two nights enjoying the hotel we were bussed to our ship, 

the Viking Sea. 

Viking ocean ships are all the same, so if you are a return traveler it is very easy to feel and home and know where everything is when you board.

We were welcomed on board with a glass of champagne...and you can see from our smiles that this is our happy place.  We like the small ship - 900 or so passengers - no children, no casino, but lots of places to relax, and wonderful educational lectures and lots of fun activities.

While our luggage was being sent to our cabin we went to Deck 7 and the World Cafe - a buffet style venue that we loved for breakfast, lunch, and sometimes dinner.

We enjoyed a great lunch of delicious pork roast, some salad, bread...

wine, and the first of ten days of gelato!  Oh, the gelato!  New flavors every day and SO yummy!

Here is a look at our cabin and some things we take with us to make our travel time easy - 

Queen sized bed - with a protective cover to place your luggage on...then your luggage fits easily under the bed.

Great desk and vanity...

perfect place to get ready in the morning.

Easy to use safe

Comfy robe and slippers

Surprisingly large shower

great Freya toiletrieslove the scent!

We always bring magnetic hooks and clips for our hats and paperwork

Plenty of space for our packing cubes

Here is where the hooks come in handy...we hang our hats, and our excursion tickets and Daily Viking are clipped to the wall so we always know where everything is !

I unpack my cosmetics in the vanity 

and then hung a wreath on our door because for the holidays.  We noticed lots of people decorated their doors...so festive!

Our refrigerator held soft drinks and snacks...if you choose an upgraded cabin the refrigerator is also stocked with alcohol.  We usually take the most basic cabin as we don't spend much time in there...and use our savings to go on more cruises!

After settling in we went on a Sunset Walking Tour of Old San Juan.  This was an included tour and it was beautiful and very informative.

a stop along the tour for some refreshing sangria...and notice the ear bud - Viking uses Quiet Vox boxes and we love that because we can hear everything the tour guide it saying!

The old forts looked so beautiful as the sun went down and the lights came on...

The next day was Christmas Eve and John's birthday...we relaxed on the pool deck

enjoyed a great lunch and when the server heard it was John's birthday he brought us champagne.  The wine flows freely at lunch and dinner and is included.  Some people add a Silver Spirits package to get upgraded wine and cocktails...but we are fine with the included wines and beers, and don't have that many cocktails so we just go a la carte for those.

more gelato....

then spent the afternoon in the Spa pool...which is so warm and relaxing...with great lounge chairs to relax - plus a sauna, snow room, ice bucket...everything to have a great Nordic experience.

We enjoyed Christmas Eve dinner in The Restaurant....fabulous food and great service.  I packed our traditional Slovak oplatki to have with our dinner.  These are wafers like communion that are part of Holy Supper on Christmas Eve.  We were not having Holy Supper, but we kept a little of the tradition.

We had delicious halibut

enjoyed holiday music in the atrium

John wore his festive socks...and then we attended the Christmas Service in the theater.  Loved that we got to hear the Christmas story and sing traditional caroles.

When we returned to our cabin we found some champagne and a delicious cake to celebrate John's birthday.  What a special touch and SO good !

Christmas Day dawned bright and beautiful...

and since this was a sea day and we did not have to get ready for an excursion we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in The Dining Room 

attended a great lecture about explorers

lunch and MORE GELATO

then found a comfy spot - there are SO many on the ship - with a great view to enjoy a glass of wine and read.

after dinner we enjoyed a Christmas sing along in the atrium and it was the perfect way to end Christmas Day!

It was the perfect day...and Santa sure delivered our favorite gift - 

a Viking Cruise!

I will be posting about the islands we visited in a future post...but until then, thanks for coming along on our journey. 

Do you like to cruise ?  Have you done a Viking Ocean or River Cruise?  I would love to hear from you...please leave a comment below.

Take care and have a great week!

Snowy Anniversary

 

Snowy Anniversary

We are just returned from our wonderful holiday cruise - post to follow soon - and were ready to celebrate our 48th anniversary.  A few days before our dear friends from Kentucky said they would be on a trip to Pennsylvania and could stop for a visit and we said YES!

It was the perfect opportunity to set a winter tablescape.

You can't really see the placemats, but they have a snowflake motif.  The blue chargers are from Ross several years ago.  I used our white wedding china, our "good" stainless, water glasses I found at our local "Cash and Carry" sale, wine glasses that were a gift years ago, and some winter motif napkins from Kohls...bought them years ago and wish I could find more of them!

A long look at the table...

For a centerpiece I used a glass container with fake snow and a blue candle...a mirror base, a few blue ornaments and a snowflake!

I dug out our wedding topper, and even found one of our napkins from 1977!  The snowflake dessert dishes are from Hobby Lobby on a big sale last year, and a dish of snowman candies.

Our friends brought some champagne to celebrate - 

John and Steve met as roommates at Penn in 1971...and have been friends ever since!

A toast  - to 48 years of marriage and over 50 years of friendship!

Thanks so much for stopping by Our New Vista - and hope to share our Christmas holiday cruise adventure soon!

Stay warm and enjoy January!

Merry Christmas

 Wishing everyone health, happiness and PEACE in 2025 !

 

Countdown to Christmas!

Hope everyone is on schedule with all your Christmas plans and projects.  As I mentioned before, we are going to be away for the holidays so I did not do our usual decorating.  I made a box called "Basic Christmas" and that is all I used to decorate this year.  I suppose I could have not done anything...but that would not be me - need some Christmas in the house!

For example...I have a entire tote filled with my late mother-in-law's Nativity Set.  All the shepherds, the Three Kings, three camels to go with them...several other animals.  It takes up an entire table and we love it.  But when we made the "Basic Christmas" box we put the Holy Family in there and that is the extent of the Nativity Set this year.  

Christmas cards were done last weekend and in the mail.  I had some packages to ship and got them to the Post Office early.  One was within our state and got there ahead of the promised time.  The other package was sent out of state...and I kept tracking it to make sure it was delivered.  It seemed to sit in a "distribution center" for three days...

but it finally arrived.  I was worried it would get lost because it was a gift that has become a holiday tradition.

Have you heard of a Friendship Ball ?

A dear friend gifted me this ball probably over 30 years ago.  The idea is to put a treat or little gift in the ornament and pass it back and forth each year.  I am thrilled that over the years and moving homes for me and my friend a few times, we never lost it! The first year the ornament held bath salts for me...and over the years we have tried to find cute things that will fit inside the ball ( it opens up with a latch).  Each year I polish it early in November and start thinking about what it will hold. Early on we got to see each other in person every holiday...but life changes and holiday visits are not as possible. Since we can't be together we have expanded the gift the last few years...tucking other gifts in the mailing box with the ornament.  Last year when the ornament came to me it was filled with wonderful things.  And as I was getting gifts for other friends last year I found some great gift tags on Pinterest and other blogs...so I kept track of the tags I thought were cute and started to gather gifts to pack the box.

BUT...I did not take photos of the gifts before I wrapped them!  So here is how they looked as I started packing...

This one held a box of Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate...

Chapstick...

Some holiday hand soap...

Holiday paper dinner and cocktail napkins and dessert plates...

A package of cookie mix, hot mitts, and a gingerbread man spatula...

And a pair of Christmas socks!

Tucked inside the ornament was a pair of earrings made by a local artist.

A cute friendship holiday card...

All tucked in a mailing box to bring some Christmas Cheer to my friend!

And speaking of packing...we leave soon for a Viking Ocean Cruise in the Caribbean - so I am starting to pack and get things ready.  When we packed away our summer clothes ( we are lucky to have a huge closet so we have clear totes that we use to switch seasons) I did the same thing as I did with the Christmas decorations.  I took one tote and put in shorts, summer slacks, tops, bathing suits...everything I think I want to wear on this trip.  When I started to look through things this week I noticed my bathing suit cover up was not looking too good.  Amazon to the rescue !

Short Sleeve Cover Up

I love the look of this one...and figure it can be worn with shirts or a pair of slacks, too.

I have been following this trip on a Facebook group and read that the weather is hot and be sure to have sunscreen.  Having had a bit of skin cancer years ago I am very careful about protecting my skin.  Both John and I use moisturizer with sunscreen every day, we wear sun hats when we go for a walk, and stay out of the sun as much as we can.  Just in case we can't find a shady spot on the ship or on a beach I ordered this coverup with SPF 50

Long Sleeve SPF 50 Cover Up

I intended to keep just one of these...but you know how that goes.  Both will find their way into my suitcase.

Also ordered some masks for the airport, plane, and just in case for the cruise.

KN 95 Masks

And one more thing will make it's way into our suitcase...

Oplatky

Oplatki are Christmas Wafers, like Communion Bread, but in a wafer shape with scenes from the Nativity on them.  I am from a Slovak nationality, but these are used by lots of Easter European heritage people for the special Christmas Eve dinner called Vilija...or Holy Supper.

A traditional Christmas Eve meal that takes place after the first star appears in the sky. The meal is a time for family to gather and celebrate the birth of Christ, and is marked by a special menu, rituals, and a strict fast.

Many of the traditions that my family observed have been changed over the years, but we have always observed Holy Supper.  The idea for the oplatky is that one wafer is at each place and before you eat dinner you break a piece off of each other's wafer and wish them a Merry Christmas.  All anger or disagreement it to be gone with the breaking of the wafer and a wish for health and happiness.   I have found many explanations for this tradition, but the one I like the best is that in many Eastern European villages in the mountains ( the Tatra Mountains in Slovakia) the churches would give these wafers out early in the season to be used as Holy Communion in case the snow was too deep in the mountain passes to make it to church on Christmas.  We celebrate Holy Supper by making cabbage soup ( that is from John's Ukrainian tradition - his family never did oplatky), fish, pirohy,  - and we always set an extra place at the table for the Baby Jesus to make sure that there is room in "our inn"...in case a stranger should come to call.

So...this year we will be on the Viking Sea...I will make sure we have some kind of fish, no pirohy but some kind of pasta or noodles...and our oplatky.  Christmas Eve is also John's birthday, so we will have much to celebrate.

Please leave a message below and let me know about your holiday traditions.  Do you celebrate at home, or like us - are you traveling?  I love hearing from you!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas with your family and friends...looking forward to 2025!

 Hello December !

Happy December - Our tree is up!

We will be traveling over the holidays so we are not putting up the big tree...and our decorating in a Basic Christmas mode.  Since Thanksgiving was so late, I am not even bringing out my much loved Christmas dishes.  Not enough time to make it worth the work.  But we are in the holiday spirit...this little tree, a wreath on the door, and some simple decorations scattered throughout the apartment.

We kicked off the holiday season with our traditional Thanksgiving night viewing of Miracle On 34th Street.

Love watching this film - always in black and white - and remember my father loved this movie.  And, my Uncle Joe had white hair, was very generous to his family, and always carried a cane.  When he passed away I took his cane...so every year when the movie is over I take the cane out of the umbrella stand and place it by our fireplace.

Another tradition..."we believe".

We have been doing a bit of shopping in order to get ready for Holiday Movie Month. 

We love the Skinny Pop popcorn at Costco, so when it went on sale we braved the Thanksgiving crowds to buy the limit of 10 bags...

Good thing the limit was 10...we would not be able to fit another bag in the trunk!

I've done some other shopping too...the sales have been to good to resist.  

This sweater was a deal on Amazon and I could not resist - 

Striped Sweater

Refillable Atomizer

I ordered new perfume - Lancome La Vie Est Belle - and wanted to have a travel size, so I ordered these refillable containers.  Hope they work out.  Does anyone wear that scent ?  I am hoping I like it and that it is a scent that lasts all day.

And on Thanksgiving one of our local department stores had Black Friday prices available online, free shipping...and when you add in Rakuten and Ibotta - well it was a great deal.  Waiting for a few more packaged to be delivered and hoping the shoes, boots, purse are all as good as they looked online!

That's all for now...this week has some Christmas Concerts in our community, some volunteer work in the library, and hopefully some baking and getting Christmas Cards in the mail.

Are you decorating BIG this year...or scaling back?

Sending cards ?  I was going to stop, but still enjoy sending and receiving cards.

Leave a comment below and let me know about your holiday preparations.  I love hearing from you !

Have a great December !