Day Five: Viking Sky
As much as we love Singapore, there was a recurring theme that Rob and I kept coming back to: can’t wait to get on the ship and just be pampered and not have to worry about anything. Today was the day!
Started out going to the bakery and getting some croissants for brekkie. Chicken ham and cheese for us both, plus Rob had an almond one and I had a chocolate orange one. Delicious!
OF COURSE, we had to get some kopi as well. It was still pretty quiet this morning when we headed over there.
I had bought a 10-pack of instant kopi yesterday just to give me a way to reduce the withdrawal I was bound to feel after we left Singapore. Well…. I tried one this morning and it’s actually good. Yes, it still has that ‘instant coffee’ taste to it, but the flavour of the kopi is there. It’s even got the condensed milk and sugar included in the powder, so all you add is water. Awesome. I picked up another two dozen packets.
Across the street from the kopi stand is a mural on a wall that’s apparently pretty famous.. It depicts a Japanese Manga character called Detective Conan (the shorter figure that looks like a child). Every time we’ve had kopi, we’ve seen numerous people pose with the painting. It shows Detective Conan buying durian from a vendor. Judging from the thumbs-up, he likes it.
Viking said that our cabin would be ready at 2pm, but we decided to just head to the ship anyway. We could always hang out and have lunch while we wait, right? The lady at the front desk of the hotel called the taxi for us, from the hotel to the cruise terminal. Turns out there are two cruise terminals in Singapore and they told the taxi to go to the other one. After a bit of confusion and some translating for the cab driver, it was made clear that the terminal he took us to had the wrong ship. We eventually ended up at the right place. Viking does embarkation very, very well. Everything was easy, clear, and quick. Before long, we were at the front of the ship at Mamsen’s having some Norwegian open-faced sandwiches and a slice of success cake (a crispy, creamy, almondy thing that Viking is famous for).
Most cruise lines have a wide range of ships - so when you’re choosing a cruise, you need to be aware of not just which cruise line you’re on, but which ship. How much you enjoy the cruise may well depend on being on the right ship or not. Viking did something brilliant in having all of their ocean vessels be identical. That means no matter which cruise you book you know what the ship will be like. Also, for multi-cruisers like us, stepping on board the ship, even if it’s a new-to-us ship, feels like coming home. Everything is familiar, everything is comfortable. It’s absolutely a great idea on their part…. and it contributed to our feeling of “can’t wait to be on the ship”. Let’s have a tour….
The Explorer’s Lounge is our favourite place on the ship. All the way forward, upstairs. We usually get a cabin on deck 8, so this lounge is just a few steps from the cabin. FYI, about 99% of the posts will be written from this place on the ship.
Mamsen’s, where we had our sammiches, is on the deck below that next to Pop’s bar.
I pulled up the Viking Voyager app to see what was happening and discovered an LGBTQ+ meetup (!), something I’ve never seen on a Viking cruise.
Well, why not? We were already in the Explorer’s Lounge having some martinis anyway, so we hung out for the meet-up. Met lots of nice folks, almost all of them from the US. As it turns out, one of the lesbian couples went to the cruise director and said it would be nice if there was a LGBTQ+ meetup and voila, now there is one. There were around 18 or so of us. I only remember one name: Kim. Everyone else is “hey, you” for now. I hate how my brain will not retain the name of someone I met five minutes ago, but I can remember song lyrics I heard once 20 yrs ago.
Ah well, the martinis were good.
One thing that Viking does is plan their menus based on where you are in the world at the time. So tonight, the menu was all about Singapore and I’ll be honest, we were pretty much over it. Besides, if we opted for the buffet instead of the main restaurant, two things would happen: [1] we wouldn’t need to swap out the shorts and tee for slacks and a dress shirt, and [2] I could hit the sushi bar.
I look forward to the sushi on every Viking cruise. The type changes every day, but it’s always very fresh and tasty. And OMFG it’s some of the most potent wasabi I’ve ever had.
I mentioned before that we usually get a cabin on Deck 8. Either 8007, 8010, or 8011. This time, we’re on Deck 4. The rooms are smaller on this deck, but still nice. Every room on Viking has a balcony and when I tell you that the bed linens are some of the finest you’ll ever sleep on, I’m not kidding.
Also: I can see rollercoasters from here! Universal Studios is next door to the ship. I’ve been to three of them (California, Florida, Singapore) and Singapore’s version is by far my favourite. The coasters are fairly average, but the park as a whole is awesome.
…and now, I’m probably heading for bed. It was an exhausting day, even though this travelogue entry wouldn’t make you think so. Tomorrow is a day at sea, so I’ll do more of the tour of the ship tomorrow.