Day 5 - Viking Vela

Today is a sea day. How’d we start out sea day? By sleeping until 11:00 AM. Two sleepless nights in London and jet lag are still taking its toll. Also, shout out to curtains that keep the room very dark and a Do Not Disturb sign.

We did wake in time for trivia where we scored 5 out of 15, not much of a showing; but we will try to get our sh&$ together tomorrow. We definitely need our cruise buddies to improve our score. The assistant cruise director said it was the most well attended trivia since the ship launched a year ago. Dude, we are at sea for the next two days, we’re all looking for things to do. It shouldn’t have been a surprise.

We did not bring any “dress” clothes on this trip so many of the restaurants are off limits to us. Viking has dress codes and we aren’t bothering to test their limits. That’s fine - we aren’t foodies and we knew Viking’s “rules”. The Pool grill is my current favorite as the burgers, chicken, hot dogs, and cheesesteak all made fresh while you wait.

The Explorer Lounge is our hang out spot. First, because it’s a gorgeous room at the front of the ship with wraparound windows; and second, because the back entrance is ten feet from our cabin. There is a secret door by our cabin to get in and out. The door literally says “emergency exit” and there are audible gasps when we press the bar to leave. Almost everyone else comes in the main entrance.

We saw a bit of a sunset out to the west.

Martha’s two cents: One thing we noticed about Viking is that there are very few events or meetings. Happily there is trivia on sea days. But there are no art auctions, no bingo, no towel folding, no shuffleboard/corn hole, no Friends of Bill or Friends of Dorothy. There is a “crafters corner” but you have to bring your own project (not that I don’t have one, but still). And there is a 6:30 PM get together of “likeminded individuals“ what does that mean?? They do have board games, a community puzzle, and many, many lectures. It is just kind of weird that you are on your own to entertain yourself, you know, like adults. I never thought I would long for the day when someone says O72 and I shout BINGO and take home a crappy t-shirt.

One of Viking’s selling points is their free WiFi. Sure it is free, but I’m pretty sure almost every person on this ship would pay for better WiFi than what’s being provided. I think they went with the cheapest service and ignored the fact that on sea days there are 900 passengers plus crew trying to connect to something. Get whatever the best is and charge for premium service. WHY is this such a hard concept????