Our Long-Awaited Journey Part 3: Ship Life

We boarded our ship with anticipation, and visions of the life of leisure and luxury we were waiting for. After settling into our stateroom, we explored the different areas of the ship from the lounge to the library area, and the beauty surrounding us on the upper deck. We began to see a glimpse of what ship life would be.

Not long after boarding, we were invited to the dining room for lunch. The tables were beautifully set, and we felt as if we were in a five-star restaurant. The servers were all dressed in crisp black and white, and ready to make our meal one to remember. Each day there were regular items to choose from for lunch and dinner, and then special items on the dinner menu that were created for the region we were visiting that day. Every meal was beautifully presented and of exceptional quality and taste. What a joy it was to be taken care of in such a manner. I'm sure you will notice that there are no pictures of the dining room or food included. I didn't feel that it would be appropriate to be taking pictures during meal service.

One afternoon the chef gave a cooking demonstration in the lounge. He prepared Flammkuchen, which translates from German as "flame cake". It became popular in the 1960's at the beginning of the pizza craze. There are variations of it in much of Europe, and it has a thinner crust and top layer than a typical pizza. With the bacon, sour cream and onion topping it was delicious! Here is the link to their recipe: Flammkuchen - River Cruises (vikingrivercruises.com)

In the evenings before dinner, we spent time in the lounge for cocktails and music. This gave us an opportunity to become acquainted with the other guests on board. The ship accommodated up to 199 passengers which was the perfect number. We were able to talk to many of the other guests over our time aboard and made connections with many. After dinner we could go back to enjoy more music in the lounge or go up on the upper deck to watch the sunset.

It was very clear that life on the ship would be a wonderful experience, and we looked forward to the days ahead. With the daily tours we would be taking in, it was nice to know we had a nice comfortable place to land at the end of the day.

Further along on our journey we will have to undergo a ship swap, but that experience will be left for another story down the road.








































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