Viking Cruises | Jim & Kathleen Travel

Day 12—Port Colborne and the Welland Canal

by Jim Bellomo | Oct 10, 2026 | Photography

Our last full day on the ship was supposed to include a "luxury motor coach" trip to Niagara Falls… but it didn’t. Try as we might to avoid it, Kathleen caught the traditional vacation cold and was up all night coughing the night before we were supposed to visit Niagara Falls. So we decided to stay in the small town where the ship was docked at the southern tip of the Welland Canal, Port Colborne. Deciding not to go to Niagara Falls was not a hard choice. We had been there twice together, on both the Canadian (better) and American (not as good) sides.

So we got up late and went to a late breakfast after everyone else had boarded their “luxury motor coaches” and headed off to the Falls. It was almost like we had the ship to ourselves. After breakfast, Kathleen decided to sleep some more, and I grabbed my camera and went for a walk to photograph the lovely little town of Port Colborne. I took some pictures (of course I did), added captions, and they are below.

There are also photos of our transit through the Welland Canal, which takes us from Lake Huron to Lake Ontario (please see quote at the bottom of this page). A fun trip.

We are in Toronto this morning (Saturday). We got off the ship yesterday morning at 9:00, fully prepared to go to our hotel, drop off our bags, and then sit in their lobby until we could check in. But I had called and spoken to a very nice man at the desk the day before, and he had told me they would do their best to get us into the first room that was cleaned because they were completely sold out the night before we got there. When we arrived yesterday morning around 10:00, he said that they had had one no-show the night before and the room was ours. I could have kissed him. Kathleen needed to go back to bed (after having coughed all night), and I started to think I might be coming down with it as well. Not only did he have room for us, but it was a complete four-room suite. And he didn’t charge us for the upgrade. WHAT A GUY!

Last night, we went to dinner at the home of our good friends Tim & Perry. We met them on a cruise way back in 2010 Down Under, and we have stayed friends ever since. We were at their wedding almost 10 years ago, and we've taken other cruises with them, including meeting them in California. We just don’t get to see them enough. They are the kind of friends you can go five years without seeing, and when you get together, it’s like you saw each other yesterday. Perry made lasagna, and Tim (the baker in the family) made a wonderful pear & ginger cake. And we got to touch base with Mark, who lives with them as well. We had the best time!

We head to the airport around 1:15, and our flight leaves at 4:55, non-stop to Seattle, so we will be home with Keeley the Wonder Dog tonight. We can’t thank Michelle (Kathleen’s daughter) enough for taking care of her for these two weeks.

I have one more post to sum up the trip coming your way, hopefully tomorrow but probably on Tuesday. It will cover food, one place I hadn’t been on the ship until the last day and more. Stick with me.

"I don't give a rat's ass what that orange pumpkin in Washington, D.C., calls it; it is still (and always will be) Lake Ontario. All this Lake America crap can kiss my ass."—Anonymous

Watch us LIVE!

by Jim Bellomo | Oct 10, 2026 | Uncategorized

Good morning. Quick post. You can see us live through about 2:30 Eastern time on the Port Colborne webcam at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF7XdpkL34w. Here”s what we look like on camera. Our stateroom is on the side of the ship you can see. The camera zooms and moves so if you go online and you see something else, just wait a few minutes and you will see us.

Day 9–Alpena, Michigan

by Jim Bellomo | Oct 7, 2026 | Uncategorized

We power away from Octantis on our glass bottom boat.

If you have been waiting for an exciting visit to Alpena, you are in the wrong place. I mean, it was entirely boring, but to be very honest, I kind of feel ripped off on this one. I guess ripped off might be too strong a word. Maybe disappointed is a better word.

As I mentioned previously, Viking includes a shore excursion at every port. Sometimes (though not often) we see one of their other shore excursions (for which they charge) that appeals to us, and we splurge on that one. Over the years of sailing with them, this has paid off. Our Nuremberg excursions, our Christmas Market river cruise a few years ago come to mind. A superb tour with a great guide.

In Alpena, we decided to take a glass-bottom boat tour to see shipwrecks all around the area. The Great Lakes are famous for shipwrecks, and we thought this would be very cool. The only problem was that it was the last day of the season for the glass-bottom boat, and you could tell the crew was rushing to get through our tour (their last before heading south for the winter) so they could go home and pack. Originally, the captain of the boat had told us we would see three shipwrecks. They mark them with buoys so boats can find them quickly. They try to hover over them, but they don’t always find them. As I said, we were supposed to see three shipwrecks. The first one was totally invisible due to murky waters. The second one, we could see the very tops of something. Not sure what part of a ship it was. Then we headed to the third one, and as we got to where it should be, they announced that someone had removed the buoy, so we would not be seeing this one. That was it. For $154. I would not usually do this, but I am going to give you all the pics I took of the “shipwrecks” just to show you what you will get if you do this excursion. Then you can save yourself a quick $154.

After our shipwreck-viewing adventure, we headed to the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, the headquarters of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. We heard all about their work in one of the largest marine sanctuaries in the USA. They help protect nearly 100 historic shipwrecks in Lake Huron, off Michigan’s coast. Through research, education, and community involvement, they’re working to keep these underwater treasures safe for future generations. They also work to stop new invasive marine species and restore the Great Lakes' underwater habitat for native flora and fauna.

We heard about an hour-long talk by their superintendent, a man who is very passionate about his work and an excellent speaker as well. Check out their website by clicking here. They are doing some pretty impressive things up there in Alpena. One reason Viking stops in Alpena is that it partners with the Marine Sanctuary to support education and scientific research.

After the talk, we were back on the tender, headed out to Octantis. It was a fairly uneventful day, and the afternoon off gave me a chance to hit the gym, work on processing photos and do some writing. You can probably tell that from the three quick posts over the last two days. This one will make four.

So here are the photos. Only a couple of them do anything for me photographically. All the green ones are skippable after you see one tiny part of a shipwreck. To be honest, I am not sure what I expected, but certainly more than we saw. Feel free to look at all these on your phones.

Antiquities are history defaced, or some remnants of history which have casually escaped the shipwreck of time. —Francis Bacon

Day 8–Mackinac Island, Michigan

by Jim Bellomo | Oct 6, 2026 | Photography

After sailing through the night, we woke up on beautiful Mackinac Island, Michigan. This is a very different island. No motorized vehicles are allowed anywhere on the island. Everything is horses, horse-drawn vehicles, bikes, and walking. We heard they have an ambulance and a fire truck for emergencies.

It’s a beautiful island, and the people were awesome as well. We were just doing the Viking-included excursion (Viking gives you one free excursion in every port), which was a horse-drawn carriage ride around the main parts of the island. We got to see downtown, the stables, the Grand Hotel (an incredible place with the world’s longest covered porch), and lots of other little sites.

Once we returned from our tour (which lasted about an hour), we were on our own in town. Kathleen did some shopping, and I went off to walk and take pictures, which you can see below. I will let the photos and captions tell you the rest of the story.

You have to get to Mackinac Island once or twice, and, of course, coming up to the Mackinac Bridge is just awesome to me. —Tom Izzo

Day Two on the Duoro

by Jim Bellomo | Oct 22, 2024 | Uncategorized

One of the most challenging things for me when posting while on a trip is finding time to process photos and write. It is twice as difficult on a river cruise because there are no sea days. This means that all my photo processing and writing must be done first thing in the morning (like it is right now when it is 4:30 am in Portugal or between activities). Day two was a good example. We cruised the river on our first truly beautiful morning day. Then, we had lunch and went off to the Castelo Rodrigo. We didn’t return until about 15 minutes before the port talk for the next day and dinner. By then, I would just be too exhausted to write or process photos. And guess what? I have a cold. Yes, the deadly travel cold has caught up with me again. And that sucks. Last night (Monday), I slept on the couch in our suite’s living room. It was not fun, but I had to do it because I coughed most of the night, and Kathleen needed her sleep after yesterday’s full-day trip to Salamanca, Spain. More about that tomorrow.

But that means I was up early and can start this post. Not that I will finish it today because we are off on another shore excursion at 8:15 this morning, and we are not back on the ship until 3:45. Then it’s a short time to work, attend the port talk for tomorrow, have dinner and go to bed. It’s crazy busy, and if it weren’t for the cold, I would love it.

But back to day two. Here are my photos of our float up the river. I think I went overboard because the blue sky and sun were so incredible to see three days of nothing but rain. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…

Dawn is breaking and it’s going to be beautiful.

My kind of sky.

My kind of reflection.

I am loving the promise of a good day and a great sky.

And that means more photos of houses….

…and villages…

…bridges…

…and if you look in the back of this photo, an ENORMOUS dam on Douro tributary.

This blue house really stood out in a world of brown and beige and rocks.

Oh, I forgot about the train.

And the heron.

And the cliffs.

And just the beauty of the river.

At places, the river was very wide.

At others the river that got VERY narrow.

Especiallly leading up to this lock.

Just above the lock.

Going into the lock.

Not as high as the one we hit the day before in the rain.

But still, crazy high.

This one was tough to get into because of the angle it was built on. The captain checks his side here.

We are going up…

And we are out.

Looking back at the damn.

And forward to more beauty.

We passed under a very low bridge when everyone had to be off the top deck.

To find another peaceful stretch of river beyond it.

This one really reminded me of Tuscany.

Especially with the tall trees.

Wineries were everywhere.

The river is great for reflections.

Especially with something like a bridge to reflect.

Or a beautiful sky.

Or even another river boat.

The river narrows again.

As you can see…the Douro can get VERY narrow.

Castelo Rodrigo

This castle/fort was first built by the Romans, then rebuilt by the Portuguese and then rebuilt again and again by whoever was in charge at the time. Different kings made different additions. Today, it is a hilltop town and a UNESCO World Heritage site where somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 people still live. The castle itself is in ruins, and the village reminds me a lot of Ez, the French hilltop town near Nice. We have toured there twice and loved it. One of the significant differences is that the people who used to live there got tired of going all the way up the hill, so they started a village at the bottom of the hill. So now the people who still live there are very old, and as they pass, no one moves in to take their place.

Luckily for me, a place that old combined with a gorgeous blue sky makes for perfect photography conditions. So here are some photos of the castle and the village around it. As well as one of the valley below. I will try and impart some additional info in the captions.