January 25, 2024 Sea day , Day 37 of 138

We woke up to a beautiful day. Sunshine, blue sky, and smooth sailing.

Today we got what is called "back of the house tour". We saw a picture of the 4 engines, propellers, and thrusters. Most of the time they only need 2-3 of the 4 engines. One is for back up. Today we are using 3 engines, and we are making 16 knots.

The first picture is of the washing machines for the ship. On the left of the picture you will see two men putting sheets, or table cloths that require ironing and folding. The middle picture shows them coming out ironed and folded. We all agreed that it would be a handy machine to have. The bottom picture is of laundry ready to be delivered to the staterooms that utilize the ship to do their laundry.  On the back side of this rack, the staff was ironing the individual clothes. They get one day turn around service.

These are two room service trays ready to be delivered. Room service is available around the clock at no extra charge. 

They call the raceway that is down the full length of the ship I 95. The wall of Appreciation is in this hallway. Anytime a passenger mentions a staff member in our evaluations, it is put up for all to see. The yellow sticky notes are notes from staff to staff. Words of encouragement. We asked how they keep staff that are always smiling, and helpful. The say it is because of the training they receive on a regular basis, and the company treats them very well. We saw their mess hall.

Thirty four of the 134 chefs on staff work to feed the staff 24 hours a day. They plan special pizza parties, movie nights with popcorn, ice cream socials, and anything else they can think of to celebrate their staff. I am here to tell you it is working. You do not see frowns on this ship from the staff.

After lunch the ship building team did a successful trial run with our "Viking Traveler". It is pretty impressive. We have a few more tweaks, and we are ready for our Sunday unveiling and competition. Susan has written a poem to introduce the ship at the competition. Wish us luck. 

Tonight we were entertained by our Viking vocalists. They put on another fabulous show.