Released: January 22, 2025
Edited: April 3, 2026 (add links)
To celebrate our December, 2024 retirement my wife and I booked an Aurora Borealis Cruise with Viking. We had previously cruised with Viking for a Rhine River cruise which I never documented, but briefly describe here for context. The river cruise occurred in November, 2021 from Basel, Switzerland to Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was originally scheduled to depart in May, 2020 but… COVID! We stuck it out until it was actually possible to go.
About the images: I reserve all rights to use of these images for any commercial purpose. You may use them as backgrounds or wallpaper for your personal use, but any other use requires a license. The majority of these images were taken with a Samsung S24 Ultra phone.
So, the great retirement getaway was meant to combine two of our goals: Seeing the Aurora Borealis again (we were fortunate to see them in December, 2023 in Fairbanks, Alaska), and visiting the Fjords of Norway. I had suspicion that the cruise might be dicey as the North Sea and Norwegian coast are rather famous for big seas and fierce winds in winter. Well, there were big seas and fierce winds! The first day of cruising was a stop in Ijmuiden (Amsterdam) and the weather was fabulously sunny. We enjoyed a canal boat tour.
Sailing out of Amsterdam toward our next destination of Narvik, Norway, we knew there would be almost 2 full days of sailing as Narvik is quite far north.
But despite the captains warning that seas may be a bit rough and encouragement that our course would spare us much of the ruckus, there was a big squall starting and we were not able to outrun it. By about 10 PM, the ship was rolling about 5 degrees side to side as measured by my bubble level app. Before the big rolling I measured the listing as 6.8 degrees starboard and to port (during the biggest heaves, I measured 9.5 degrees sway to each side!)
The Norwegian Sea wave forecast for 2 PM Norwegian Time (source) looked menacing. The crosshair is approximately where I expected we’d be at that time, but what you can’t see is that the storm was coming up in the direction we were sailing. Here you see wave heights forecast to as high as 10.5 meters (34 feet).
At about 11 PM the rolling measured 6 degrees side to side on my bubble level. I wedged my boots into the closet door to stop it from slamming, and stowed all the breakables. I know several folks had their sliding doors break the closet they were in.
If This Boat’s a Rockin’
By 1:00 CET, the ship was rolling up to 7 degrees side to side. I awoke at 1:30 CET due to the tossing and with my wife’s blessing went down to the first deck to watch the Washington Commanders vs the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the executive lounge (where the internet was better). While there, and about 10 minutes before the end of the game the BIG rolling began at about 3:45.
The captain estimated the winds at 100 mph gusts, and seas of up to 37 feet. His first efforts were to turn the ship to keep the wind from causing the rolling. However at some point, that seemed to make matters worse. The first big rolling jolt toppled marble-top tables, flung open cabinets and contents went spilling. Two ladies came down to guest services on the first deck where I was because their water carafes and glasses had shattered in their stateroom. Another guy down there (Matt) said he thought he should go check on his girlfriend… I should have done the same. While the football game was still going on I captured some movies and still shots, and when the game ended (with a bounced-in walk-off field goal!) I returned to our stateroom (6092 at the port side stern) via the 7th deck where the pool is located. The pool area had massive mayhem as you can see in the photos below. I took the stairs because the elevators were making ominous banging noises in the rolling sea.
Bodily Injuries
My wife attempted to keep items from flying off the desk in our stateroom but was instead launched from the bedside to the window. That wasn’t enough injury, so as she got up after being hurled, a tray with daily news and menus sailed off a table and struck her in the forehead above her left eye. It broke the tray and left her with a goose egg that went black and blue under her hair and over the next 6 days turned into a black eye.
By the time I got back to our room, I was measuring 9.5 degrees tilt from starboard to port (19 degrees total). I was able to flag a steward to bring an ice pack for my wife – and our cabin attendant kept us supplied with ice ever after.
We met several passengers with black eyes, and others recounted broken ribs a broken finger, a broken toe, and a broken nose. So, yeah, it was rough for many of the 998 passengers and 465 crew. Many of the crew told us they had never been in such difficult seas. Many of the injuries were from being thrown out of bed into the nightstands – but that tended to occur for those on upper decks (6, 7 and 8). Another person recounted getting hit in the shin by the shower door as they were on the throne. One of the black eye situations was a woman who was thrust from the bathroom to the sliding glass doors. She had a concussion and lingering pain, and double black eyes. The days following the rough and tumble seas reminded me of the scene in Jaws where they compared scars with one another.
We can’t speak highly enough of the great care, professionalism and kindness shown by the crew. Our cabin steward, as I noted took excellent care of us.
The captain, Rune Loekling, made announcements frequently through the night reassuring everyone that the ship was built to take the conditions. He asked everyone to stay in their staterooms for safety and that persisted through breakfast and lunch (the crew brought fruits and boiled eggs to the room for a late breakfast, and a cooked meal with salmon and beef for a late lunch. We diverted to Ålesund, Norway, arriving in port at about 21:00, though once in the protected fjord the weather no longer rocked and rolled the ship so furiously and folks were able to leave their staterooms to get dinner at about 18:30. It was a total of about 19 hours of “motion”. My main concern is that much could have been done to minimize the damage by encouraging passengers and crew to stow breakables (many people had water carafes and glasses on slippery surfaces and those resulted in broken glass). Viking could even provide a checklist of things to do when heavy seas are expected or encountered.
The captain kept mentioning that the “pounding” was a normal occurrence of the bow hitting the waves. I was curious how much different it was for those near the bow so I ventured to the port side of the pool deck (7th deck) at almost 10:00 where I could record the seas. Watch and you’ll see a huge splash as the bow hits a wave. Also, I’m not sure what it was that was hanging down, I noticed it wasn’t there later, so perhaps something else that had been damaged in the storm. I also took the opportunity to get more ice for my wife’s head.
Ship Damage
Damage was rather extensive. Not many people saw it because they were doing a lot of cleanup while passengers were encouraged to remain in their staterooms.
While the pool area damage was the most striking, I noticed lots of bits of damage, including 4 washer/dryer units that toppled in the laundrette and damaged wall panels,
The Aquavit lounge outdoor in the stern was pummeled with sailing marble-top tables and was smashed off its mounting, and much of it’s (quartz?) exterior was battered and smashed along with perhaps a half dozen shattered table tops. Indeed one of the outdoor glass barriers at the side of the stern port side was shattered, though still intact.
Finally the grand glass and steel staircase leading up from the Explorers lounge on the 7th deck in the bow had a large curved panel that was shattered and removed. The staircase was roped off for the rest of the cruise though I didn’t observe any other obvious damage to the stairway.
There were several places where either buckling or impacts from heavy falling items damaged the floor tiles. They replaced floor tiles near the starboard World Cafe entrance, at the starboard exit of the Explorers lounge. On the second floor there is a two-stage exit from the atrium to the outside of the ship. During the melee the forward most port side door was wide open (probably held so by the wind), and the inner sliding glass door was leaning inward with spray and was also half open with wind and rain howling in. I pushed the inner door into its channel to reduce the wind and spray – I wasn’t about to go near the outer door! However in the morning the right half of that sliding door had only a fifth of the bottom remaining the rest had apparently been sheared or broken off. I suspect the pounding from going into the waves is what did in that door as well as that large curved glass at the base of the Explorer Lounge stairway.
Altered Itinerary
It was clear our itinerary was going to be impacted. We believed it meant that Narvik would be removed from the schedule and instead we’d sail to Tromsø – the next planned port. But instead we remained in Ålesund for almost 5 days to allow for repairs an inspections and to avoid the still turbulent seas. Some speculated that the reason for remaining in port was to repair the Azipod drive/steering system, but that is unconfirmed.
We finally sailed out from Ålesund on the 7th day of the 13-day trip. However all the northern locations, and an interim planned excursion to Flåm were removed and instead we sailed south.
I was excited when they announced the trip to Flåm up a long fjord, but that too, was cancelled. Fortunately we did make it to Eidfjord which also had calm water and much better weather.
Eidfjord was Spectacular
Not only was the weather cooperative, but the setting was every bit as expansive and beautiful as I had imagined. It did make me sad that we didn’t get to see Narvik, Tromsø, or Alta because that fjord magic was perhaps the key thing we were interested in.
The Aurora Did Show Up!
In the evening as we left Eidfjord at about 21:00 Norway time, the aurora was spotted to our stern and there was a great rush of folks to the aft and starboard side of the ship.
Gallery of Cruisers
These cruisers saw me taking photos and asked to be photographed under the agreement that their photos are displayed here publicly. Those people who are pictured are free to copy and use the photos in anyway they wish. I have added my copyright/watermark to them to prevent random pilfering, however unwatermarked photos are also available by clicking the watermarked ones (once I get it working!). Right click the image and select download to save it (or whatever is the equivalent on your browser of choice).
NOTE: If you would like for your photo(s) to be removed, please use the contact form on the site, send me an email asking for your photo(s) to be removed. Be sure to specify WHICH photo is of you, e.g. “NO20250119_6005” (or just _6005 for short). Allow up to 30 days for me to remove your photo as I travel and don’t always have access to the site.
About these photos: all these photos were taken with the following equipment and settings:
Sony A7RIII, 15-35mm f/2.8 Cannon lens, @17 mm, f/2.8, 3200 ISO, 8 seconds, Daylight white balance. None of the photos have been edited, they are straight out of the camera.
Course Departure
Due to the loss of Narvik, Tromsø and Alta, the ports of Eidfjord, mentioned above and Stavanger were added to the itinerary.
In Stavanger an excursion by boat to Pulpit Rock in the Lysefjord was one of my favorite side-trips.
The original cruise had this itinerary:
1. London -> Amsterdam
2. Amsterdam
3, 4 at sea
5. Narvik
6, 7. Tromso (2 nights)
8, 9. Alta (2 nights)
10, 11. at sea
12, 13. Bergen
The actual itinerary was this
1. London -> Amsterdam
2. Amsterdam
3 at sea
4. confined to stateroom -> Alesund
5, 6, 7, 8. Alesund
9. Flam (canceled Alesund)
10. Eidfjord
11. Stavanger
12, 13. Bergen
External references to this event.
Is Anybody on Board the Viking Vela Now (REDDIT)
Viking Vela Diverted for Repairs (Cruise Hive)
Viking Vela Stranded in Norway (Candid Cruise)
If you were on this ship for this or a subsequent cruise, feel free to comment, provide me with photos or videos and I can add them to this page.
I think it’s also fair to say that Viking initially offered every passenger a 60% fare voucher toward any cruise booked within 1 year. This occurred once we faced our 3rd day stuck in Ålesund. However before departing the ship on the last day in Bergen, the voucher was increased to 100% – meaning, effectively that the cruise was 50% off IF you book another cruise. The voucher excludes any shore excursions actually taken, and any self arranged hotel or airfare. Since we arranged our air travel and pre and post stays ourselves, that also would not be included. I suspect those wouldn’t have been included in the voucher even had they been booked as part of the cruise package.
Also, worth mentioning that Viking upgraded everyone to the “Silver Spirits” beverage package for free for the last half of the cruise. That comes to $50 per day for 2 people or about $350 value. That freebie unlocked some better wines, but not being much of a drinker we didn’t gain much value from the offer.
Before the Cruise – London
Having your plans dashed because of a plane delay is never fun, so we booked 3 pre-cruise days in London, and an extra post-cruise day in Bergen. Also getting accommodated to a whole new timezone can be daunting. We stayed in the Shard (aka the Shangri-La) which is one of the tallest hotels in London. It was truly awesome and I believe a much better value than booking a pre-cruise stopover via Viking.
Nearby were the London Bridge, the Tower Bridge, and the Eye of London – though the latter was closed for maintenance. One day was cold and rainy, the other days were merely cold. A former co-worker and friend came to visit with us and took us on a tour of the surrounding area. That was better than any tour we might have booked.
The Tower Bridge in the background with friends Kevin and Jennifer and my lovely wife, tricia… and me at the right.
About the images: I reserve all rights to use of these images for any commercial purpose. You may use them as backgrounds or wallpaper for your personal use, but any other use requires a license. The majority of these images were taken with a Samsung S24 Ultra phone.
Thank you for providing a detailed report.
I am sorry for your wife’s injuries and hope she is improving physically and mentally.
It is encouraging to hear that you enjoyed Eidfjord and the amazing lights.
I feel so sorry for all that you and the other passengers endured due to this bad decision making.
My husband and I are scheduled to cruise this itinerary on the Vela on February 3rd.
We wish you well with your future travels and retirement.
Kind regards
Thanks for your feedback. Please send us some pictures of Tromso, Narvik, or Alta as we didn’t get to see those locations! Stay safe yourself!
CRAZY ABSOLUTELY CRAZY
SO GLAD YOU ARE OK
POOR TRICIA
Here are a couple of quick takeaways:
1. Delta lie flat seats (from Amsterdam to Seattle) were larger, more comfortable and less expensive than Virgin Atlantic seats from Seattle to London Heathrow.
2. The Virgin Atlantic cabin stewards were super awesome – kind, helpful, and accommodating. Not that Delta attendants weren’t helpful, they were, too, but Virgin Atlantic went over and above, just as did our cabin stewards onboard the Viking Vela.
3. Of all the excursions we took, the Amsterdam boat based canal tour was among the most scenic and interesting despite some minor scheduling hiccups.
4. Ålesund – our unscheduled stop, proved to be much more interesting than I expected in both beauty and in interesting attractions, the downside is that we spent too many days there. And on top of that, I believe I (Steven) got food poisoning from one of the tours. One tip: if you want high speed internet access, across from the ship dock is the public library with FREE high speed access.
5. The Vela onboard wifi was “usable” however some of the diversions I expected to while away time with on my phone proved incompatible with the low bandwidth (and sometimes intermittent) wifi connection.
6. The trip back from Bergen didn’t start well. The airport at the EARLY hour at which we left is highly automated, however, we – for unknown reasons with Delta – we could NOT pre-checkin and get boarding passes. This proved daunting as there was NO signage in Bergen (BGO) airport for Delta. We had to figure out that KLM is the code share partner in order to find the right flight… and then we were able to find one manned station to checkin. Thereafter things went fine.
7. The beds in the Vela had great pillows, and the addition of a top sheet made them ok, however they were the least comfortable of all the beds we slept in.
8. Amsterdam lounges were PACKED and finding them was not as simple as we had hoped. We have Priority Pass lounge access, and one of the lounges required us leaving security, the other had 58 people ahead of us in order to gain access! Fortunately by virtue of the “First Class” ticket we were able to visit the KLM Crown lounge instead.
Wow! Stephen, I’m so happy for you and Tricia! Glad you are safe and sound and thank you so much for a wonderful description of your adventures!
A reddit reader said that “Viking did right” by them by providing a 100% voucher. I’m not so sure about that. Here is my rationale for why that’s not a good offer:
100% voucher only applies if you book another cruise (which means you have to also book more travel). At best it’s a 50% discount. I’d rather have 60% back in cash because lets face it, if this was your last Viking experience due to the problems, you’re basically out 100% of the cost of the disaster cruise and by scheduled ports of call, we got less than 40%. I am wishing now I had gone with my original plan which was a land tour of Tromsø, Narvik and Alta.
Now if Viking made the voucher transferable, I could give it to our children and they could take a chance on a cruise… or resell it and get some or all of our money back in actual cash.
So in short, 100% is NOT a refund or a repayment. It’s at best 50% off the price of TWO cruises. I see it as a sinister way for Viking to pocket the money paid and walk away with NO hit to Viking at all except reputational.
On the other hand, If I learn that they’ve sacked Rune Loekling for his bad decisions, I MIGHT convince my wife that the chance of additional bodily injury is minimal. However as long as there are “cavalier” captains in their employ, and a failure to PREPARE for heavy seas, this will happen again as it has about every other year of Viking’s recent history.
Check out Viking Sky (cruising off the Norwegian Coast), and Viking Polaris (2 incidents in Antarctica)
* (2019) https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/the-viking-sky-accident-report-finally-came-out/68851/2 or https://www.cbsnews.com/news/viking-sky-cruise-ship-stranded-2019-norway-report-disaster/ – almost the “worst disaster in Norwegian maritime history”
* (2022) https://www.marinelog.com/legal/safety-and-security/video-nsia-reports-on-deadly-viking-polaris-encounter-with-a-breaking-wave/ – 1 passenger killed, 8 injured, some seriously.
* (2023) https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/safety-security/over-pressurized-viking-polaris-zodiac-led-to-antarctic-injury-uscg – over pressurized Viking Zodiac boat leads to severe injury in Antarctic cruise on calm seas.
Just now coming across this, thanks for the images, video and write-up. Really don’t have anything better to post than you have already from our “adventure”. My wife got tossed about as well and just had a hopefully final dr visit where they said her torn meniscus in her knee was healing well just takes time. Thanks again for capturing our venture. I did post some info on the Jan 10th facebook page your welcomed to copy over if you feel they might add to your story. https://www.facebook.com/groups/459403010482750
Some notes for anyone wondering about vouchers on Viking (since we got 100% vouchers for our trip).
1. Vouchers are “use it and lose it”. So, for example, if you want to use a $5000 voucher on a $4000 fare, you lose $1000 in value.
2. Vouchers are applied to everything you book through Viking. So, in the case of the example above, it may be worth it to pad your trip with extra excursions, or use Viking Airfare.
3. If you use a voucher to pay the “hold price”, you’ve used the whole voucher… so it may be more sensible to pay the hold price separately.
4. Because the voucher is used up “at once” you can’t book some things now, and more later – however if you were two travelers, you will have received two vouchers and you don’t have to use them at once.
Another comment about Viking… their brochures often state things like “up to free airfare” and “$500 shipboard credit” (which you can apply to excursions and possibly gratuities). However the credit is PER CABIN not per person. And the airfare deals are only for “select sailings from select cities”. In short, we didn’t find any significantly discounted airfares after LOTS of beating on their website. The only way to possibly unlock them is to call Viking and/or use your local travel agent.
Of these two alternatives, I recommend using a local travel agent. Your local agent gets a chance to pocket a small (up to 5% or so) commission and you don’t save that money by booking directly. Viking is so large that we often get different answers and different interest levels when dealing with them directly. That is, they are less incented to help you make the most of your travel dollar.
I have just read your account of our ‘adventure’ in the North Sea. It was certainly an experience. Not sure if you are aware of a comment made by Captain ‘Cowboy’ Rune on the Friday night when leaving Tilbury. He asked passengers at the Q & A session if there were any honeymooners on board. When he received the response that yes, there were, he replied that on Sunday night they only needed to ‘assume the position’ and he would provide the rock and roll. My argument was that he knew the conditions would be rough so why didn’t he take refuge in a port or one of the fjords? He didn’t need to put everyone through the trauma that we endured. I have nothing but praise for our cabin steward and the rest of the crew, they were marvellous. By the time we were able to leave our cabins all the superficial damage had been cleared up. It was also frustrating after leaving Alesund to travel through the fjords that we needed to turn around and return to open water as the 2 pilots on board had just realised that the channel was too narrow and bridges too low for the ship to pass beneath. I found that situation laughable when you consider that we had 2 local pilots on board as well as the most up to date navigational equipment and charts that they didn’t realise that we couldn’t get through those fjords. We had booked a river cruise on the Mississippi but after the election of President Trump we have changed it and will now be going back to Europe.