VIKING SUN, a behind the scenes visit to the galley – 4140 meals daily!
Posted: February 6, 2019 Filed under: geezerEats, geezerTrips, Uncategorized | Tags: Chile, food, galley, Viking Leave a comment »On February 6, 2019 while on a Viking Sun cruise, we visited the ship’s galley. The galley tour, like the bridge tour, is not advertised due to space limitations, so if you want to take the tour on any ship ask. You should also ask about any other tours that are not advertised.
The Viking Sun carries 930 passengers and a crew of about 450. This works out to 4140 meals prepared and served each day, plus 24 hour free room service and other food outlets open from early morning to late at night. Preparation of this food requires 106 chefs and a large number of support staff.
The several kitchens are spotless and computer controlled as far as food that has been ordered, cooked and delivered to one of the dining areas. The ship’s nurse checks the cooking staff’s hands each day for long or dirty finger nails.
Everything is made from scratch except for gluten bread. Viking Chefs make the gelato, all pastries and everything else from scratch. The pastry chefs start baking at 10:00 PM so that bread, bagels, muffins and other items are available in time for breakfast.
In addition at the World Cafe, line chefs cook eggs, pancakes and waffles to order in front of you.
In addition, they must have a massive wine room as house wine is free at lunch and dinner. In South America it was from countries that we were stopping at.
Escalators and dumb waiters speed the food from deck one to the restaurants on higher desks. Food goes up in a dumb waiter separate from the one that carries waste and dirty dishes down.
THINK OLD!
END OF THE WORLD TRAIN – a prison tale in Ushuaia, Argentina
Posted: February 4, 2019 Filed under: Argentina, geezerTrips, Uncategorized | Tags: trains, Ushuaia, Viking Leave a comment »
On February 1, 2019, while on a Viking Cruise, we took a train ride on a prison train that was built by Argentine prisoners in the early 20th Century.
A prison for hard-core and political prisoners was established in Ushuaia, Argentina in 1896 and the prisoners built their own prison.
They needed a train to haul wood from the nearby forests, so they laid the tracks and built a railway to haul wood and prisoners. Today, the train only hauls tourists and has expanded to about a half-dozen small trains running on narrow-gage tracks.
The trains are duplicates of the original prison trains and there is a shop at the station to repair and build them.
Each car has about 6 compartments with six seats facing each other in each compartment. It is a tight fit and you are warned about sticking your hands, or other body parts, out the windows.
The engines are steam engines, modified to run on diesel fuel instead of firewood to reduce the danger of a fire. There are water towers to add water to the steam boilers.
You can find out about the train and buy tickets at: Ferrocarril Austral Fueguino
The train station is about 20 minutes outside Ushuaia so you will need to be on a tour or take a taxi.
Following the train ride through beautiful country, with fields of horses, you take a bus to Terro del Fuego National Park, with its lake and hiking trails.
The trip is fascinating and the prison was closed in 1947 due to corruption and horrible prison conditions.
THINK OLD!
HOW TO STAY IN SHAPE ON A CRUISE!
Posted: February 3, 2019 Filed under: AGING, geezerTrips, Scandinavia, Uncategorized | Tags: cold water bucket, cruise, snow grotto, Viking Leave a comment »There is no truth to the rumor that cruise lines weigh passengers when they board and when they leave, and that the one who gains the most weight gets a free trip. But, it seems that way. There is food everywhere and all the time. I keep looking for the resident gerontologist.
That said, cruise ships also have great fitness facilities and an assortment of food that allows you to eat only what is good for you.
The fitness facilities on the Viking Sun are great and decidedly Scandinavian. The rule here is: “Showing up is half the battle.” If you can move down a deck or two, you will be one of a handful of people who use the facilities. It is like the health club you belong to. (for free with Silver Sneakers). There are a few dozen out of hundreds of members who actually show up regularly.
On our Viking Sun Ocean Cruise the fitness facilities stood out even if only used by a few of us. We are the new 1 %, only it is health not money that moves us into this category of old people.
Viking Sun has:
- A quarter-mile walking track with a half-dozen walkers. Great except for windy days.
- Fitness classes including yoga, Pilates, etc.
- Trainers for a fee.
- The best machines that I have ever used; and, I used them daily along with about a dozen others. (Out of 930 passengers, none of whom were children, there were few in the fitness rooms.)
- The usual spa treatments, massages, hair stylists, manicures, etc.
- A swimming pool
- A salt water whirl pool; a regular whirl pool; and a sauna.
- In addition and unusual on a cruise ship, a cold water bucket and the snow grotto. I tried the snow grotto – man-made snow in a glassed-in room kept at freezing temperature. I did not try the water bucket. These two reflect the Scandinavian love of hot and cold.
The snow grotto.
The cold water bucket.
THINK OLD!
TEN FIRST IMPRESSIONS ABOUT MY VIKING SUN OCEAN CRUISE!
Posted: January 31, 2019 Filed under: geezerTrips, Uncategorized | Tags: Argentina, cruise, Viking 1 Comment »
With a free launderette on every deck, you can pack a lot less!
We were in our late 70’s when we took our first cruise. Our second was on a Viking River Boat from Bucharest to Budapest. It was such a great experience that we then signed up for a Viking Ocean Cruise on the Viking Sun. We are now in the fifth day of that cruise. First thoughts are important, so… here are mine.
Our cruise, South America and Cape Horn, is from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Santiago, Chile.
- The ship is small – only 930 passengers.
- There are no children aboard.
- There are few additional costs – beer and wine with meals are free; one free tour in each port; and 24 hour free room service. The wi-fi is free. Old people are cheap. Viking, by including almost everything in the fare, makes “traveling while old” (TWO) much easier and more pleasant.
- Viking has some sort of deal with the countries we stopped in. Viking kept our passports and we could go ashore using our Viking ID cards. No one ever checked us on land; we were carefully checked when boarding the ship.
- There are expert lecturers on board, including a ship’s historian who presented talks about every port. In addition there are movies, musicals, classes, etc.
- The staff is a diverse international group and the most friendly and helpful people I have ever met.
- There is a free launderette on every deck, which means next time I can travel with one change of clothing; a great fitness center with the best exercise machines I have experienced; all the usual spa treatments; hot tubs, saunas; and, a 1/4 mile walking path on deck 2. (This was sometimes cold and windy.) These were great because only a few people took advantage of them.
- Most of the passengers had been on several Viking cruises and half were on the Round The World Cruise which could last for up to 160 days, or so. The rest of us just filled in the empty spaces between the Round the World ports of call.
- The only “dress code” is no jeans/shorts at dinner in the main and speciality dining rooms. Not only was a coat and tie not required, but no one was wearing either in the speciality dining rooms. No extra charge for specialty dining.
- At 78, I think I was a bit over the average age, but not by much.
Those are my initial thoughts; but, I have two weeks to go.
THINK OLD!