Highlights Cruise Day 7-At Sea (Strait of Messina)
This was the only transit day of the cruise, at sea all day. There were no passengers shuffling to buses shepherded by the Viking team with military drill instructor precision (Viking is well-organized). The Strait of Messina is very narrow, two miles wide at its narrowest. You can easily see both sides as you transit. I attended the Viking Vocalists (how’s that for a singing group name?) Sounds of the Seventies show in the evening.
Look kids!
There’s Mt Etna
Notable Items
The Viking Daily (Daily Viking would be better), a paper-only newsletter, is placed in my room every evening. Since there weren’t any excursions, the space for describing off-ship activities was devoted to guidance and requests. These are the Viking equivalent of “Customers wearing baseball caps backwards will be refused service” (I saw this in a sports bar. Did it produce better behavior? No one knew?). When I read signs demanding or politely requesting (it’s a spectrum) certain behavior, I wonder, What inspired the message? Does it work? Today’s most interesting messages:
Jogging Track
“We kindly ask all guests who wish to go for a jog only do so on the designated track on Deck 2 … The jogging track direction is clockwise …”
First, it’s not a track if there aren’t lane markings! Second, I tried jogging clockwise, but the social walkers kept getting in the way. I needed to yell, “CLEAR” repeatedly. I eventually gave and copied the only other runner by running counterclockwise.
Toilet Flushing
There were toilet clogging prevention tips. “To avoid blockage of the vacuum system …” The system cannot handle some of the objects that passengers seem to think they should. My question: Why wait until day 7 to communicate this? Were flushing standards declining?
Ship Libraries
Browse, read, reshelve. This was clearly code for Don’t take the books to your stateroom. There was specific guidance to “reshelf (sic) them in their rightful homes on board.” There were books in several ship locations, so how would anyone know if you “reshelfed” (must be the past tense of reshelf) a book in the wrong place? Were there shelving monitors?
Laundry Room Etiquette (my favorite)
There were public laundry machines (on each deck that had only staterooms). Shared laundry resources seem to bring out the worst in people. It starts with the Washer-Dryer Hogs who fill the machines then go to the bar for six hours. This causes the Load Vigilantes to remove laundry when they tire of waiting. Based on the guidance in the Daily, Load Interruptors were emptying machines before the cycle completed. That could lead to fights.
My plan to eat lightly at lunch (just one hotdog, honest) blew up when I saw the “Salute to Greece” in the World Café. My thinking changed to: A hot dog? Really? I was managing small portions until dessert. Then I saw baklava, Greek honey cake, and chocolate mousse.
After supper at Manfredi’s, I stopped to speak with the manager there about how well choreographed things were. There may have been assigned roles for the various activities one sees in restaurants, but it looked like the staff shared them to do whatever looked necessary. The blazer-attired manager told me about his leadership approach. Occasionally, he asks more experienced employees to mentor the new staff members. There isn’t much time for formal training because everyone is working 10 hours per day.
Arran, the Cruise Director (he pronounced it “DIE-rector”), was standing outside the theater greeting guests when I came for the Viking Vocalists’ Sounds of the Seventies show (two men, two women, catchy name). I mentioned what I learned about running against the flow of walkers (easier, possibly more polite because yelling CLEAR wasn’t necessary). He said he hadn’t considered the issue. That explains the motivation for the message: copy and paste. As far as I was concerned, Arran’s reaction was permission to continue the practice. The show was excellent and the backing band was excellent. I counted six costume changes for the singers. They sang medleys for 50 minutes except for a performance of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, very daring (and well done). Viking entertainers don’t do encores (Arran-If you want more … come back tomorrow.). When they finished the last song, that was it. House lights up.