Day 3 Into the Midnight Sun & Baltic Jewels ~ At Sea
June 27, 2022 ~ At Sea
Today was a day "at sea" - sort of. We woke to the sounds and vibrations of the ship and eventually felt her moving. We passed by a wind turbine farm just off the coast of Kent.
And then, upon exiting the River Thames and entering the North Sea, suddenly she anchored. As we were enjoyed breakfast, the captain came on the intercom to tell us about the weather for the day and to explain that we were waiting for a fuel tender to come alongside and refuel the ship. It will be interesting to see how often this happens aboard.
Today was a day aboard, as I said, and yet we weren't a bit "bored". We spent part of the day getting acquainted with the ship.
Deck A is the lowest deck on the ship. It's where you board and depart, and it also houses the "medical center." We hope to avoid the latter.
Deck 1 has "the Living Room" - a lovely, quiet area - with a bar, of course - you saw a picture of Jeff enjoying a glass of champagne in the Living Room. Also on Deck 1 is Guest Services. I spent some time sipping a glass of wine yesterday down in the Guest Services area listening to people complaining about things that had nothing to do with Viking, and asking Viking to solve problems that were far beyond their reach. One man, for example, had left his brand new thing-a-ma-jig (I never quite caught what it was that had been left behind) on the plane. He wanted Viking to contact the airlines and arrange for him to get it back. The Guest Services woman was so polite and nice; the guest .... not so much. Oh! I almost forgot, Deck 1 also has the Spa. You can get a massage (all different kinds), have your hair done, your nails done, enjoy the Thermal Bath (that we might do) ... so many interesting things there.
Deck 2 is where the restaurants are located. There are three formal restaurants aboard - "The Restaurant" (which is the main one - no reservations are required), Manfredi's (which as you might surmise is Italian), and the Chef's Table. One must have a reservation for both Manfredi's and the Chef's Table. We plan to go to the Chef's Table on Thursday. The Chef's Table has a changing menu - every three days - and is very "gourmet". More about that on Thursday.
There is an Atrium area spanning both decks, where there are tables, and living room type furniture, where you can enjoy a beverage and listen to the resident cellist or pianist play -- very soothing and delightful.
At the other end of the ship is the Star Theater, which appears to seat about 300 people. This is where the lectures are held as well as the "port talks." They also do some shows in this theater. All of these things are also live-streamed, so you can watch them in your stateroom. There are also two smaller movie theaters in this area -- we haven't been in those yet.
Deck 3 is our deck. It has mostly staterooms, but there is a display of Norwegian costumes near the elevators.
We haven't been on Decks 4, 5, or 6, but we believe they are similar to our deck -- mostly staterooms
Deck 7 is home to some of our favorite spaces. At the back of the boat (aft) is the Aquavit Terrace, just outside the World Cafe (a casual buffet restaurant, which has been our choice for breakfast so far). There is a hot tub and a small infinity pool here as well.
Toward the middle of the deck is the pool area and the Pool Grill, which serves hamburgers, hot dogs, and salads that are quite good.
Moving forward is the Wintergarden, where folks gather for afternoon tea, complete with tea sandwiches, fabulous scones (with clotted cream and jam -- sooooo good), and beautiful art.
And finally, all the way forward on Deck 7 is the Explorer's Lounge, which is just a beautiful quiet bar area where you can just look out over the ocean. Tucked away on the side is Mamsen's, which serves traditional Norwegian bites. Jeff enjoyed a waffle there this morning since we woke a bit on the late side.
Deck 8 has some staterooms (the fancy ones), and Deck 9 has a mini-golf course and some other games (shuffle board, bocci, and ??).
The ship is absolutely beautiful. Each space we explore is more amazing than they others. Art reigns supreme everywhere on the ship. Music of the generally classical variety fills the public spaces. We heard a fabulous guitar player several times already.
The food is amazing as well. We returned to our room this evening to find a "happy birthday" card, cake, and bottle of champagne in celebration of my birthday (which was yesterday). A waiter noticed the birthday card on our table last night and arranged for this treat!
That's all for today! Goodnight from somewhere on the North Sea heading to Edinburgh.
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