Time for a tender moment in Alpena

Our next port stop was to a town called Alpena located along the right side of the upper peninsula, continuing our visits around the state of Michigan. Visiting Alpena requires the use of a tender which in our case meant using the ship's own life boats to ferry groups of passengers back and forth to shore. Those booked on the morning tour sessions were to report to Manfredi's before being called by tour number to board the next available tender. Those booked on the afternoon tour sessions were required to plan their time accordingly so that they got themselves on the tender at least 30 minutes before their scheduled time to meet on the pier. Every tour today except the Thunder Bay Catch and Cook required the use of the QuietVox.

The tender/lifeboats were some of the roomiest I've seen on a cruise ship. We had some decent room to spread out and the crew was always ready to lend a hand getting in and out. 

When we were looking at the options in order to plan out which excursions we wanted once they were open for booking, I fell in love with the Lighthouses of Michigan tour especially when I confirmed that you can climb them both. The options beforehand did not list this tour as included but I was ready to book it regardless. When it came to book excursions, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this one was listed as included as well as the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage tour. The other three tour options that were an extra cost only had one time slot each - Thunder Bay Catch and Cook (as it took 7 hours), Flora & Fauna of North Point (3.5 hours), and Cheers to Alpena (3.5 hours). The Flora & Fauna of North Point tour was only in the morning and Cheers to Alpena was only in the afternoon. I guess they didn't want anyone drinking for breakfast.

Dad was not as excited about climbing all the stairs involved in a lighthouse so he spent the morning on the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage tour. The tour is listed as easy and lasting three hours. The small Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center is located right by the pier where the tender boats dock. While Dad's tour included a guided escort through the museum, my tour group was not only paraded through to get to the bus at street level but we also had the option of browsing on our own after our tour returned. The rest of his tour featured a glass bottom boat ride to view shipwrecks. Dad said it was "nice for an included tour" but wouldn't have felt like it was worth the money if he'd had to pay for it. I did take the time to browse the museum after my tour and was very tempted to join the many people who were purchasing hot fresh popped popcorn from the gift shop. 

My Lighthouses of Michigan tour lasted three hours and was listed as moderate. There is nothing saying you have to climb the lighthouses. Looking at them from the outside and exploring the surrounding grounds reading the information can still be entertaining. We first visited the older and smaller of the two lighthouses, the Old Presque Isle lighthouse at a height of 30 feet, and met the manager who gave us a little bit of history before we climbed. Since the platform at the top is so small, the manager only allowed about five to eight people at a time to climb. I joined the group that made a beeline for the lighthouse versus exploring the grounds and was the last one allowed in that first group to climb. We could hear our fellow tour members urging us to come back down so they could have a turn. There is normally a fee of $5 for adults to climb but that fee was waived for us on the Viking tour. 

This bronze bell was moved here when the old city hall was torn down. Our guide joked that there's always somebody on a tour who goes over and chooses to test out the bell. No one did until I was back on solid ground. I can only imagine what it sounded like to the people currently climbing.

Our bus pulled up to the first lighthouse right in front of the statue of Patrick Garrity, Sr. that sits in front of the lightkeeper's house as a tribute to all Presque Isle Township lighthouse keepers.

Our second stop via bus was the New Presque Isle Lighthouse built in 1870 at a new location more inland so that its light could be seen from further away and around all sides of the coastline. This newer lighthouse reaches a height of 113 feet. We also were allowed to climb this lighthouse which was a notably more taxing effort. Our bus driving guide stood watch at the base of this lighthouse to help keep the groups going in at one time to a minimum for comfort sake. This lighthouse had little platforms the width of the windows as you climbed so anyone who needed a break could step off and out of the way of other climbers. There was also a little lightkeeper's house on the property that you could tour but it didn't open right away due to lighthouse staff not being able to come in as planned. The manager of both lighthouses had to rush over from the first lighthouse and man the lightkeeper's home rather than give us a tour of the grounds. A new roof was being put on the lightkeeper's home but it did not inconvenience climbing and exploring the grounds. Unfortunately, being historic lighthouse structures, there is no handicapped accessibility in place. While most of us in the group did make the climb, a few opted to just walk the grounds outside. 

This lighthouse had metal spiral steps and a handrail but was still tight quarters until you reached one of these platforms.

Thank you lighthouse for the words of encouragement!

The steps themselves were narrow about the width of one of my feet on the wall side

One of the window alcoves you could step off into to rest and/or enjoy the view

The exit/entrance to the outside platform at the top

The view from the top

Back down on solid footing I took the time to walk around the grounds.

My joints certainly felt these climbs for the next day or so but I love the challenge and the aerial views. I'm glad I took the time to walk at home routinely leading up to this trip. It was important to me to accomplish this goal and I'm proud of having "stepped" up and succeeded.

Returning to the USA to start the remainder of our Great Lakes tour stops

Our fourth day of the cruise meant we had finished all of our Canadian port stops and would now visit towns solely in the USA. Our first USA stop was the city of Detroit, Michigan and as a result of arriving from outside the country, everyone was required to visit the local customs office. If you weren't going on a Viking tour today, you were assigned the "independent group" which met at 9:15AM on the pier for a 9:20AM departure via shuttle bus to the US CBP office. Those who did book tours had the time built in to their excursion so that the same tour bus being used on the tour could take your group to the customs office first before heading straight on with the normal tour. This is one instance then in which you would need to carry your passport with you on the tour. 

For those who did not wish to book a tour, Viking Cruises also offered a complimentary shuttle bus service from the port to the Campus Martius Park and back again. The shuttle service ran from 9:15AM to 12:30PM as we had a 1PM ship departure. 

The two included tour options for today were The Henry Ford Museum of Innovation and The Ford Rouge Factory. We lamented about not being able to visit both since it was such a short port time. If you are visiting the city without being limited to a port schedule, you can check out the package option of booking both with a museum provided shuttle to get back and forth. The Henry Ford Museum of Innovation is listed as moderate and lasts four hours. The Ford Rouge Factory is also labeled as moderate and lasts three hours and thirty minutes. The paid options were Iridescent Art of Detroit's Landmarks and Edsel & Eleanor Ford House. The Henry Ford Museum of Innovation was definitely the most popular choice with 6 of today's 11 tour groups/buses allocated for it. All tours required the use of the QuietVox boxes. 

We chose to book The Henry Ford Museum of Innovation and had an 8:50AM meet up time. The customs process was very efficient with dedicated parking for tour buses and personnel keeping the flow of people organized preventing delays at the counters and only allowing small groups in at a time to keep people from standing in line too long. I was back on the bus waiting for the rest of our tour group to finish by 9:15AM. Now if only they could teach their wisdom and efficiency to the grocery checkout lines. 

Admission to the museum was included with the tour. Our tour guide was very informative, funny, and engaging with the group. She had tons of stories as we drove past some Detroit landmarks. Then she played a medley of her favorite motown hits for everyone to sing along. Our time in the museum under her guidance gave us a lot of great knowledge and stories as she escorted us to various exhibits. After covering much of the museum, she gave us the option to stick with her or explore on our own. We really appreciated having the choice when on excursions because there is always something that we are sad to have missed or wish to spend more time checking out. Several of the group chose to go off on their own so she gave us a time to meet back at the entrance. I was impressed with how I could still hear her commentary through the QuietVox even as we moved further from her to explore. This also came in handy when she encouraged everyone to stop and use the restrooms before she started our tour of the museum and I ended up hearing the first 10 minutes of the tour while waiting to clear the women's restroom line!

While at first thought, you might be inclined to pass on visiting The Henry Ford Museum of Innovation because you are not interested in cars, I highly suggest you visit the museum anyway. While a small portion is dedicated to the history of Ford and the progression to the cars you see on the road today, you could spend hours touring the various exhibits. While educational, it is also engaging and entertaining so your kids will be just as enthralled as you. There are several hands on exhibits to hold attention spans of all lengths and ages.

With our guide we viewed historic presidential limos, the evolution of steam engines, innovations in the use of electricity and more. On our own, we browsed the limited time exhibit dedicated to Julia Child's life and career (fascinating for any foodie like myself), the exhibit through the decades, and the room full of Hallmark Christmas ornaments.

The Sunshine Special presidential limo used by Franklin Roosevelt named because he liked to ride in it with the top down. It also featured a back that opened up so they could push in his wheelchair yet conceal it once in public.

Dad! Act like you're a superhero stopping a speeding train!

The origin of the "What in the Sam Hill?!" phrase:

What first class looked like on that first flight to Hawaii:

While our visit to Kitty Hawk, NC in 2019 enabled us to walk the true distance and location of the Wright Brothers' first flight, this museum had a line and plaque along the floor to show the same distance. 

The chair President Lincoln was sitting in when he was assassinated. Our guide told us that fibers were tested from the dark spot at the top to confirm that it is a blood stain.

My bologna has a first name:

I have a couple friends who love collecting the Hallmark ornaments every year. This was just one set of display cases. They were organized some by decades of release and others by category like all TV show themed or all toys themed.

The Julia Child: A Recipe For Life exhibit was great to walk through with many pictures, quotes, video clips, and an interactive TV set where you could pose and pretend like you were hosting a cooking show. The real video cameras displayed your image on the TV in front of the counter. A museum employee was on hand there to take pictures for everyone and encouraged us to get involved in using the props provided.

If you stood in front of this giant replica of Julia's cookbook long enough, the graphics would make it look like the pages were being flipped.

The cooking show set:

Any moment now The Food Network will be calling to offer us our own show. Our plastic fish was so fresh it flew out of the pan while we were pretending to cook it!

We discovered a simulator where you could mimic driving a racecar. It was a small extra cost but unfortunately the next available time slot was for 15 minutes after our meeting time. If this is something you'd like to try, bypass everything else and get signed up first before taking the time to browse the other exhibits.

This tour really left me feeling like going over (in) a barrel

While you won't find snorkeling, catamaran rides, and beach days on a Great Lakes itinerary, you will find a lot of interesting tours to visit local landmarks. Before the cruise, according to your cabin type, you will have access to book tours a certain number of days out from the cruise. There is at least one tour in each port that is "Included" but you still need to sign up for it so they have the right number of buses arranged. They will check your name off a list as you board the bus for each tour. Depending on the itinerary times, it may not be possible to book two tours in the same port but there is usually time to do a tour and explore before or later on your own if you desire. 

In the next day's issue of Viking Daily that is delivered in the evenings to your cabin, you will find a page in the middle with a chart that looks like this:

There are no physical tour tickets to hand the tour provider or shore excursion rep like most ocean cruise lines provide. The tours you booked before the cruise, (and possibly onboard at guest services if space allows) will be listed in your daily schedule in the Viking Cruises app. The app will show where you are to meet and when for your tour along with your group number as well as the matching channel on your cabin TV. This chart in the daily program will also give you the information about when and where to meet but you would need to know your tour group number. In the case above, the Niagara Up Close tour was so popular it had four tour groups. The tour group number was also the bus number you were to use. Crew will be stationed outside each meeting place asking to verify your tour number to be sure you're heading into the right meeting place. In tours where the QuietVox is required, a "QV" will be listed next to the tour entry. During those tours, they will have you turn your QuietVox to the channel number that matches your tour group number. 

Our first port stop was Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada but every tour included Niagara Falls. The two included tour options were called Niagara Discovery (labeled easy with a duration of four hours) and Niagara Up Close (labeled moderate with a duration of four hours). A good chunk of that time frame is having to ride the bus to and from Niagara Falls. The basic difference between the two is whether or not you want to ride on the boat that goes under the falls. Niagara Discovery is a scenic drive (a.k.a. the drive back and forth) and a walk along the top of Niagara Falls. 

Niagara Up Close, the tour we chose, means you weave your way through a long line to a gondola system that carries you down to the dock. There you resume the long line wait until you eventually reach the area to get fitted for a poncho. Then it's a bit more of a less orderly wait until the next tour boat returns and lets off the current group of people. Pro Tip- everyone will crowd the top open layer of the boat. If you stay on the bottom level and find a spot along the open rail, you will get the same views and the same amount of wet. You just won't be stuck behind a brick wall of people all trying to get the same picture. Having been to Niagara Falls before, I had Dad pose for his picture with the falls behind him before we got underway. Great picture and I could safely tuck away my camera and phone in my bag worn in front of me under my poncho where it stayed completely dry. I didn't have to worry about any electronics getting wet or slipping out of my wet hands. It took all I had to hold onto the railing as we reached and went under the falls between the noise, pouring water, and amount of people who wandered down to try and force their way into a spot on the bottom railing. This is definitely not an excursion if you want to wear your finest clothes or avoid getting your hair wet. Anywhere that wasn't completely covered by poncho was soaked. The force of the wind and the water will blow off your poncho's hood so by the end of it my head, shoulders, calves, socks, and shoes were soaked. Those of you with glasses will look like you should have tiny windshield wipers. You are encouraged to wear sturdy shoes for the wet surface of the boat.

Downsides from our personal experience of this tour: 

1) Long bus ride to Niagara Falls that eats up a good bit of time on site but unavoidable

2) We arrived on a day that a ton of tour groups were also visiting. Buses had to park several blocks away and we had to walk back to the Falls entrance with our guide since they couldn't pull over to unload us. Things were chaotic at the gondola entrance until park employees started pulling tour groups to go ahead of regular individual visitors. Then it was only mildly chaotic and a long wait in line.

3) We were left to stand around waiting to get in line for the gondola because our guide had to go buy/pick up the tickets. It was a good bit of confusion as this spot for waiting was also our one opportunity for a bathroom stop. Dad took the chance and got back moments before our guide led everyone away. I know there was no chance I'd make it through the women's restroom line before the guide was back. 

4) Once on the tour boat and we got close to the set of falls you go directly under, two women who had brought several children mostly young toddlers and infants screamed and demanded almost to the point of using their children and strollers to push us that we move so they could be at the railing with their children. Their children soon added to the noise as they proceeded to scream and cry at being subjected to the deluge of water and thunderous sounds. By the time we emerged on the other side of the falls, the two women had moved back under cover to console their babies. What? Little babies and toddlers aren't fans of being drowned in water and subjected to loud sounds described by the tour boat's guide as "a thunderous roar? Hmm, who would have thought? For the record, I did step back and let in an elementary aged child to stand along with her mother by the rail moments before the two womens' attempted assault.

5) We had been told that our type of tour ticket would allow us to ride the gondola back up rather than have to walk the multiple steps and inclined ramps just to reach a packed elevator before more steps. We followed the crowd getting off the boat following this system of railed off ramps that left only one path to take. Once at the elevators we asked a nearby employee about how to get back to the gondolas but he insisted we had to keep following everyone else. By the time we reached the main level, we had to fight through the crowds in the gift shop and then find our way back the several blocks to the buses. While I'm glad Dad got to scratch another experience off his bucket list, I was disappointed that we had no time left to walk around or to browse the gift shop. Thankfully, my past life working in the classroom helped me last until we returned to our ship before I finally got the chance to visit the restroom.

New things to experience on a Viking expedition ship

In this post, I will cover three other experiences you can have while sailing on the Viking Octantis on this Great Lakes cruise itinerary. These will include our evening spent traveling through the Welland Canal, our launching a weather balloon from the ship and tracking it online as we sailed, and touring the bridge onboard. All are free events and included for all interested regardless of loyalty status or cabin category.

The Welland Canal first started construction in 1817 and eventually evolved into a channel dug deep enough for boats to travel into the Welland River and on to Lake Erie via the Niagara River. The series of eight locks that took us from Lake Ontario and Toronto where we boarded the ship to Port Colborne where Ontario borders Lake Erie was slated to take all night and some of the early morning. Our first daily schedule called the Viking Daily listed the approximate times that we'd enter each lock. The times ranged from 8:30PM for lock one to 6:45AM for lock eight. Everyone was invited to gather on the bow (bring your bug spray) and enjoy the view this first evening. The bridge cam channel on your cabin TV looks down at this bow so it was fun lying comfy in bed watching the late night passengers who ventured out to watch after dark. We missed the very beginning of the passage due to slow service in The Restaurant but it made for an interesting view as our lower vantage point allowed us to see the venue's windows go from showing sun and water to showing concrete, rivets, and momentary darkness. 

We made it up to the bow after a quick stop back to the cabin for our vox boxes just in time to hear the officers and expedition team members be introduced. Drinks were offered while Osian serenaded the crowd to kick things off. Expedition team member Chris Croxson used a headset with microphone to give some history on the canal and routine updates as we moved into the first lock. It was nice to have the vox box to listen as the evening went on because you could move around the bow looking at different areas while still hearing the lecture. Chris offered to stick around answering questions and many passengers stopped to ask questions. He continued to wear the headset so those of us across the bow listening through the boxes could also hear the answer. It was fun to watch all the people stop on the street level and wave up to us shouting their own questions about the ship. We hung out on the bow until around 10PM before deciding that we needed to surrender and give the space back to the mosquitoes. I was surprised to wake up early the next morning and find that we'd made it through all eight locks hours ahead of schedule. 

A couple days later, we had printed certificates with our names certifying that we'd transited the Welland Canal left in our cabin. They are signed by General Manager Sujith Mohan and Captain Hakan Gustavsson. 

Normally a cruise ship will frown upon throwing anything overboard but Viking's expedition ships have approval to launch a helium filled biodegradable weather balloon from onboard. The balloon is attached to a transmitter and when it reaches a certain height in the atmosphere, it naturally pops and descends back to Earth. Every passenger who is interested can witness the send off and then head back down inside the ship to Expedition Central where Chief Scientist Dr. Kimberly Galvez pulled up the transmitter's info showing location, weather, and many different measurements. Dr. Galvez also showed us how our released balloon was one of thousands all over the world and how we could view the same info from the website on our own devices. 

Dr. Galvez is demonstrating how small the transmitter is by showing us one they'd previously used and recovered.

The deflated weather balloon

The last experience I will cover is getting to tour the bridge onboard. While on most cruise ships, a passenger is only allowed this experience if they are invited (such as an occasional perk for suite guests) or any passenger who is able to book and pay for the Behind the Scenes onboard excursion, we learned while onboard Viking Octantis that they welcome any passenger who wishes to tour the bridge. However, just showing up and knocking on the door expecting a welcome hug with tea and cookies will not work out in your favor. Due to the controlled environment, those who wish to tour the bridge need to let Guest Services know. They will put your names and cabin number on a list and if there is space available during an approved and scheduled small group visit, they will call your cabin to let you know. 

The only time we've actually met the Captain during one of these tours is when we paid for the Behind the Scenes tour on Carnival. Getting a photo with the Captain was part of the experience. That of course was over a decade ago so your mileage may vary if you choose to book that tour. In this day and age given the importance of the bridge officers' duties, guest services did hand out masks at the start of the tour and ask us to wear them for our time on the bridge. Moments into our visit however, the officer told us that we could feel free to take off the masks because "we've all been together on this ship all week already!" I have heard from cruisers who have been invited to the bridge tour on other lines post COVID that they were required to wear the mask the entire time. Keep that in mind as a possibility if you want to pursue this experience. 

Usually, your tour is led by one of the officers on board who is not currently on duty. Having had the privilege to be on several of these tours, I've seen some variation in how much the officer covers in their explanations and how quickly they finish with the tour. I was impressed with how much Wilcliff, 2nd Officer Safety, in this visit took us around showing more than the average spiel. He seemed to thrive on answering our group's questions and took great effort in showing us how and where on the bridge they handle whatever was asked about. 

In case anyone is curious, the bridge officers' drinks of choice are regular Coke and Fanta:

We were welcome to wander around looking at whatever we wanted and pose for pictures. Several took advantage of that classic "I'm the Captain now!" photo at the helm. 

Pretend like you're driving the ship in a storm and just hit a rogue wave:

An extra special part of the experience was that our visit coincided with the time that the local harbor pilot was on board. He helped answer tons of questions about his duties and told jokes and stories along with the officer about their past experiences. During the visit, a boat appeared on the radar system and we got to watch the harbor pilot in action communicating with the boat.