Viking Octantis | 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 10–Detroit, Michigan

by Jim Bellomo | Oct 7, 2026 | Uncategorized

Sometimes the best-laid plans go astray. For Detroit, we didn't book any excursions because we wanted to visit Greenfield Village. It's part of the Henry Ford properties. Our plan was to get off the ship, take an Uber or Lyft to the village, spend the afternoon, and then head back.

Little did we know that on October 1, they switched to Winter hours, meaning they were open only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Since we were there on Tuesday, no Greenfield for us. We tried to find another guide in town, but pretty much everyone we contacted was booked solid. So we decided to do our own little tour.

We got off the ship, walked about three blocks, and found the Detroit People Mover. It's a free, elevated light rail that makes a 20-minute circuit of the city. We got on and rode the entire line, sitting facing each other with a big window behind us. After we completed the route and were back where we boarded, we switched places and did it again. That way we could see what we missed. Total touring time: about forty minutes.

Next, we had heard really good things about The Guardian Building downtown. The entrance was less than 100 yards from where we got off the People Mover, so it was a likely stop. We are certainly glad we did. The exterior (as you can see in my pics) is pretty cool, but the interior of the HUMONGOUS lobby was awe-inspiring (again, see my pictures). After that, most of the group walked back to the ship, but Steve had seen a building that looked to have some pretty cool sculptures on the outside of it, and I could almost see it when we left the Guardian Building, so I set off to take a couple of photos (again, in the photos below).

After that, it was back to the ship for me, with a couple of pictures on the way. One was of an amazing statue of Detroit native boxer Joe Louis’s right arm. That and another statue just about covered my photography for the day…at least until later, when we were sailing away under the brand-new Gordie Howe Bridge linking Detroit, Michigan, USA, to Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Took a few of those as we sailed underneath it.

BTW: If you are wondering why you are getting two posts today, it is because today was the day we were supposed to ride the Special Operations Boats and Zodiacs, but the wind was too high, so we had a sea (lake?) day instead. This ship really isn't equipped for days with nothing happening, so besides some lectures, there was nothing else to do but work on my photos and write. So there you are. Tomorrow is Port Colburne, where we will take a “luxury motor coach” about 40 minutes away to see Niagara Falls. Everyone in our party has already been there, but if I have to stay one more full day onboard, I just might write a novel… and no one wants that.

Detroit turned out to be heaven, but it also turned out to be hell. —Marvin Gaye

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.