As always, the images and any videos in this posting are best viewed on the web page. View the complete set of blog posts here.
The following images were taken from the sliding door of our stateroom. We spent the night moored in the middle of the River Thames near Greenwich. The second picture is looking straight north toward Stratford with downtown London to the far left.
Before talking about this last day, we want to share some stories about the Viking people we were able to get to know. There were terrific staff people on board our long cruise, far too many to mention each one. We do, however, want to highlight a handful of them.
Our room stewards took great care of our stateroom the entire trip: Felica, Andi, Limbo, and Maricel. We talked with each of them pretty much daily and got to know all of them well. We will miss them. We, unbelievably, did not take photographs of any of them (what were we thinking!)
Another room steward named Chris took care of rooms adjacent to ours on deck 6. He became everyone’s friend on our level. I spoke to him almost daily. His wife, Ella, also worked on the ship, and Cheryl and I met her 3 or 4 times. He is a great guy and always in a fantastic mood, and he is happy to be on board.
The Living Room was on the first deck. They served coffee, cookies, sandwiches, beer, and drinks to hungry and thirsty passengers. I often started very early in the morning with a visit or three to the Living Room, requesting glasses of ice for the Diet Coke and Coke Zero I took from our room. A young woman named Vieve almost always opened the coffee station, and she provided my ice. I got to know her pretty well, and I often quizzed her about her sleep deprivation (many of the Viking staff are young and either sleep way too much or, more often, not enough). If she wore contacts, she slept well the previous night; when she wore glasses, it meant she was running on empty from evening and early-morning socializing. I very much enjoyed starting my morning chatting with her. Vieve also seated people at night in “The Restaurant,” which is where Cheryl got to know her. A very nice young woman.
Three other people worked primarily in the Living Room: Eka, Patrick, and Steve. All were great to us the entire trip. Eka also worked in the Star Theatre in the evenings, and I spoke to him during late afternoon enrichment talks. After the first couple of times, I just needed to specify a number, and he would bring me that many Coke Zeros (1 or 2). I learned late in the cruise that he is the father of a young baby girl. A very nice young man. Patrick worked in the Living Room and was always very professional and courteous. He always greeted me by name with a fist bump and provided excellent service. Steve, who has been mentioned previously in the blog, stood out because of his attitude. He embraced the day with a terrific attitude. He often greeted me as either Bobby or Robby without the ‘sir’ or ‘mister,’ and with a fist bump. A really solid young man with a great deal of potential. Steve is pictured in the next image. I could not find photos of either Eka or Patrick.
Maria worked primarily in the World Cafe at the pastry and bagel station in the morning, and the bread and ice cream area for lunch. I would greet her daily, inquiring how she was. Her default response was: “Well, I made it out of bed,” not exactly a high bar. It became a running joke for us. She was always a very happy person, and her sunny mood rubbed off on everyone. She is on the left of the first image with Soly and on the right in the second image.
Alex was one of the more senior staff members. His primary job was to assign tables during lunchtime and the evening for cruisers dining in “The Restaurant,” where Cheryl and I ate frequently. He was experienced enough to fill in wherever he was needed, and he very often did. If a position needed staffing on any deck, Alex could do it. He is very, very professional and took excellent care of us during the trip. Sadly, we could not find an image of him among the thousands that we took. Our mistake.
A young woman named Eve worked primarily in the Explorers Lounge, which Cheryl and I both frequented. Cheryl often had lunch (often a bowl of split pea soup), and I was typically there on days we arrived in port, primarily to watch the ship approach land. Eve worked first thing in the morning, and like Vieve, Eve provided numerous glasses of ice for my Coke products. She actually had two name badges: one with Eve, and a second with her full Indian name. For about two weeks, she did not wear a name tag at all as she had misplaced both of them. Suffice it to say, that led to a bit of ribbing and me routinely asking her for her name of the day. Cheryl and I both got to know her well, and she was a very pleasant young woman, always wearing a smile.
A quick story to provide a bit of context. Cheryl and I got to know the next four people very well. We talked to them almost every day and considered them friends at the end of the cruise. As we interacted with them throughout the trip, I felt that their addressing me as “Sir Bob” or “Mr Robert”, as Viking desires, was much too formal. One day, Carmen, who is from Peru, suggested they call me “Senior Roberto,” which was perfect. All four of them only greeted me that way from about mid-cruise right up to the end. Very fun. Cheryl started out as and remained “Miss Cheryl” throughout the trip, which was also perfect.
Jenni is the restaurant supervisor for our favorite spot, Manfredi’s. She also started her mornings in the World Cafe, so I would often see her first thing in the morning during breakfast and then later in the day when we dined at Manfredi’s. Cheryl and I got to know her well, and she worked closely with Grace, Soly, and Carmen. She took great care of me as a solo diner when Cheryl was ill. She is a senior staff member and treated us very, very well during the trip. She set us up at a great table when Nicole and Christine joined us on the ship. You can see her prominently in our family dinner photographs.
Grace also started her day in the World Cafe at the front desk, where she took reservations for both Manfredi’s and Chef’s Table. I would see her almost every morning. She also worked with Jenni, Soly, and Carmen in Manfredi’s in the evening. Cheryl and I learned that she had a son whom she spoke to daily (the multiple and frequent time zone changes make that difficult). She is a very, very pleasant young woman, and she always has a smile. As noted earlier, she had a solo vocal performance during the “End of the Cruise” show and absolutely nailed it! We miss talking with her and learning about her and her son. You can see her prominently in our family dinner photographs.
Soly was the first staff member we befriended. She is a very, very friendly woman with a wonderful smile. She started her day in the World Cafe and spent her evenings at Manfredi’s. She is so talented that she started to work in guest services at times and will be promoted when she starts her next contract. She was the lead staff person at Manfredi’s private dining room (see the following image from the night we hosted). She learned our names very early in the cruise. When I was in the World Cafe, if I did not greet her promptly, she would find and “scold” me. She also had a playful sense of humor. A terrific woman, and she will be great in guest services.
Soly would have been seen prominently in our family dinner photographs, but she had already completed her contract and headed home three weeks before the end of the cruise.
Carmen is a wonderful young woman. Like the others, she started in the World Cafe in the morning and finished at Manfredi’s at night, so I often saw her twice daily. She would seek me out to say hi; I would do the same, and we always bumped fists. A fun person. We always requested a table in her area when dining at Manfredi’s. I never needed to order a beverage as she knew what I drank, and one was waiting for me when I sat down. She took and shared numerous photos of Cheryl and me at the Namibian diner event (image 4 is from that night). An absolute sweetheart with a radiant smile. You can see her prominently in our family dinner photographs.
Today was our last day on board the Viking Sky. The entire morning was bittersweet. While the cruise has been terrific, it is time to return to Oregon (after a week in London) and resume our non-cruising life.
I started off the morning very early (sleep was challenging last night) and worked on the blog and non-trip odds and ends. The Heritage Museum (the next image) was a very good place to set up (other passengers referred to this as “my office”). I will miss it as well as my two other primary on-ship blogging spots. Working was a bit more difficult than usual because Viking had terminated Wi-Fi access earlier in the morning.
I did wander downstairs to deck one a couple of times (Vieve happily provided glasses of ice), and the environment was very different. Many people had early, I mean really early, airport transfer times. Others were waiting for their turn to be picked up. There was nervous energy everywhere. It felt so different than the many other days I was on that deck at 6 a.m. That was to be expected, I guess.
Around 7 a.m., I returned to our stateroom, where Cheryl and I finished packing. Our full load of luggage, and saying full load would have been a gross understatement, had been picked up in the early morning. After we finished packing our carry-on bags, we went to the World Cafe for our last breakfast on board.
While waiting for the tender boat on the first deck, the Living Room, we decided to reproduce a photo taken on our first night on board the Sky. That day in early January felt like a long time ago and so very different, as we were ship newbies as opposed to the cruise veterans we are today.
After our short tender trip to shore, I decided to take two final pictures of the Viking Sky, our home for the last 4-plus months. We will miss the ship.
After I took the images, we gathered up our luggage and walked to the nearby Underground station, where we met Nicole and Christine for our week in London. The cruise was complete.
End of Post.