Wi-Fi funny business as Mojo feels younger than his years

West Australian

26-07-2025

I've just arrived at the Viking Octantis to begin a 14-day expedition cruise from Toronto, Canada to Nuuk in Greenland.
Getting here has been a bit of an endurance test with a long and tiring plane journey, and I'm looking forward to a nice hot shower, a cup of tea, and a lie down.
But, as always when I travel, the first order of business is to let my wife and daughter know that I've arrived safely and that all is well.
So, after a smooth check in process and introduction to my welcoming stateroom, I try to log onto the wi-fi.
I follow the prompts and key in my stateroom number, surname, date of birth, and select a PIN.
Frustratingly, I can't connect, so after repeated attempts I present at the friendly guest services and explain my predicament.
They try, but it just won't work.
I return to my stateroom to attend to the other priorities, while the guest services team try to sort out the problem.
I return a few hours later to the news that no one can work out what is going on.
A ticket has been lodged with the shoreside IT team, who promise to get it sorted as soon as possible.
That turns out to be the following day, but the reason for the problem is quite amusing.
I often encounter problems with people getting my name wrong, and in this case my first name and surname had been transposed in the system — so when we tried to enter my surname it came up with an error — we should have used Mogens, not Johansen – but the funniest error was my birthdate.
Instead of being a child of the early 1960s, I was listed on the system as being born in 1899. I often feel my age creeping up on me, but I can honestly say that I have never felt that old.
+ Mogens Johansen recently left the Travel team full-time, but is still on assignment for us.