We have been traveling now for four days. My trip began very
well when Karen and Wonton Noodle dropped me at American Airlines in Atlanta to
set out on this adventure. Having TSA
Pre-Check allowed me to bypass the line of about 500 people in the hallway
waiting to enter the security queue.
Seriously! I quickly was at the gate where Elva was waiting. Two trains running late on the MARTA had
concerned her but all was beginning well.
I do not often fly American Airlines. After all, living in Atlanta pretty much
means your first choice will be Delta. The
crew was very nice and the plane seemed nice enough. Weird thing was that the mesh pocket of the
seat in front of me did not expand from the seat at all. I have been on other Airbuses but this seat
pocket bugged me. I couldn’t put my
water bottle into it or my book. So for
two hours riding in my window seat with nothing to look at but clouds my water
bottle was squished next to me in the seat safely secured by the seat belt!
When we landed safely at one of my favorite airports to
hate, I was pleasantly surprised that they had at least added some extra
seating near the gates of the Miami waiting area. We walked what easily seemed a mile or
more through to baggage claim. A long
part of the way there were no signs, no people but us, and nothing but shiny
grey walls. Once we had circled a large
area of runways we saw what looked like more of a hall, a wider expanse of
corridor. Finally we began to see people
and a few chairs. I was quite happy to
see a lovely Viking greeter approaching us so we could relax because we knew
that we were in the right place and the rest of our vacation would be a piece
of cake! Veronica led us to the
beginning of the carousels. Almost
immediately I spotted my new, red, polka dotted suitcase. Elva’s soon followed. Quickly she had them in hand and led us over
to be checked off the arrivals list.
We sat for a few minutes with a group of our fellow
travelers who would soon be our new friends.
After boarding the comfortable bus we were driven by Anthony to the
ships side. He gave us a little tour of
downtown Miami along the way. We
identified our hand luggage which had been in the bus’s belly and began the
rapid boarding process. Our passports were
checked to be sure we had a Brazilian Visa and we went immediately to a desk clerk
who snapped a photo, gave us our key cards, and we headed to the new and beautiful Viking SKY.
We were welcomed aboard with a glass of Sparkling wine and
our hand luggage was stowed away so we could begin exploring the ship and of
course have lunch. Unlike I do on most
all of our cruises, I neglected to take a picture of my barbecue ribs and
delicious dessert. Elva had already met
her brother and sister-in-law, Allen and Mary, who will be traveling with us. Together we had gone and reserved our
specialty dining experiences and settled in for a family reunion plus one. I had also met Manny and Judy who were fun to
talk to and seem most interesting. Manny
had emigrated from Cube (more later).
At 2:00 Elva and I
made our way to our stateroom.
After the mandatory and very quick Boat (Safety) Drill we
waved farewell to a beautiful, depressingly modern, Miami (where’s the) Beach!
We explored the ship but it is very confusing. There are so many pools, and so very many
places to eat, that becoming oriented is more difficult than on some of the
largest ships I have sailed. It seems things are tucked away and you can’t
always walk from Forward to Aft without crossing over from Starboard to Port.
The Infinity Pool on the Aquavit Terrace
A Main Pool with the big screen under a retractable pool next to the Wintergarden.
Of course on the top deck are the almost mandatory
mini-golf, shuffleboard, and ping pong but this shop also has lawn
bowling. It will take us quite a while
to learn out way around and eat our way through the Viking Star.
Next, of course, came dinner. We joined Allen and Mary in the restaurant
together with their friends Phil and Rosemary from Houston. As we waited, drinking champagne, to give our
names the restaurant manager noticed we were a table of six which would have to
wait a bit so invited us to Manfredi’s, the specialty Italian dining room for
our first night dinner! My Veal Scaloppini
Limon was delicious and the whole meal was so very filling. The table talk was light and entertaining and
I can see that with this delightful group I will have a wonderful cruise! I also see that as a non-wine drinker I should
not try to keep up with this crowd. By
the time we made it back to our room I was happy to take a quick hot shower and
snuggle under the duvet.
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