Our first day of school!

 

Leaving on any cruise, particularly on a cruise line we don’t sail often, reminds me of my first day at school. It’s a mixture of the familiar and new combined with excitement and anticipation as we look forward to new adventures and meeting new friends.

Our room (Penthouse Veranda) wouldn’t be available until 1 PM, and we didn’t want to wander around the ship with our carry-ons, so we didn’t leave our hotel in Plantation FL, until 12:15 PM. Twenty minutes later, we arrived at Terminal 19.

There wasn’t any line at security or at the check-in counters. Check-in was fast and efficient. We were on the ship about 1 PM, so we could go directly to our cabin. Viking prides itself on not having photographers, so we had to take a selfie in lieu of our traditional embarkation photo.

After dropping off our bags, we headed to our muster station for a life preserver demonstration by Heather, one of the vocalists. We also watched the safety video in our cabin, and that was all we needed to accomplish for the safety drill.

VIKING STATEROOMS

 

Viking’s staterooms are very modern with plenty of electrical outlets. We always bring some euro plug adapters so we can use all of the outlets if necessary.

The cabin features many high quality amenities. Included in the room’s literature is a price list of what you will be charged if you want to take any of the amenities home. The prices seem on the high side, but I suspect they are more interested in not having to replace these rather than selling them.

Every stateroom has a small refrigerator stocked with a selection of small liquor bottles, soft drinks and snacks. The mini bar is replenished daily and is complimentary. There is a bottle of Jacquart Mosaique Brut, Champagne that won’t be replenished.

There is a Nespresso “Essenza Mini” coffee machine. The machine makes 2 sizes of coffee – 1.35 oz espresso and 3.75 oz. Lungo.

THE CHEFS TABLE

 

The Chef’s Table is a specialty restaurant on Deck 1 that offers a fixed, themed menu with wine pairings. The menu changes every three days. Tonight’s theme was “Lotus,” featuring a five-course gastronomic journey of traditional Asian dishes. We had reservations for 6 PM and were seated immediately at a table for two by the window.

Our server, Gudi, provided excellent service and we enjoyed all the dishes very much. The dinner took about 90 minutes and was nicely paced.  Here is a link to the menu

THE STAR THEATRE

 

There wasn’t a live performance in the theatre tonight. Instead, they showed the movie “The Martian” since we were on the ship Mars. Please let me know in the comments if Martian-themed movies are always shown on the first day of a cruise.

HERE is a link to the Viking Daily