World Cruise Day 19/152 - LA part deux - Getty Center - not the Villa - no Malibu for you!

Cruise day: 19/152
Ports days: 7
Sea days: 12
Countries: 4
Continents: 1
Ports: 6

We found out that our excursion for today, a visit to the Getty Villa and scenic drive to Malibu was changing to the Getty Center.  After we departed, we also found out that we weren't going to Malibu and a drive to Santa Monica would be on the day's itinerary.  Oh well - changes - we roll with 'em.

The reason that the Getty Villa visit was canceled is that the Villa is closed on Tuesdays for private tours and perhaps maintenance.  You'd think someone would have known that, but hey - we'll play along.

As we arrived at the Getty Center, our guide noted the following sign and informed us all that we will need a photo ID and our vaccination cards to enter.

A distressed murmur flowed through the bus as nobody at Viking told anyone on this tour that they would need their vaccination cards or photo ID.  In fact, they made a point before we left this morning to tell everyone that there was no need for your passport.  Lucky for everyone there, everyone had a photo ID and either had their vaccination card or a photo of it on their phone.  On with the tour.

The building, or more correctly buildings are architecturally interesting with flowing curves and white walls.  Opened in 1967, the $1.3B complex is part of the Getty Museum and features a large collection of paintings, sculptures, glassware, furniture, and other historical art artifacts.

While we are not avid art aficionados, we could appreciate the vast collection.  I didn't photograph many of the pieces as there are simply too many to adequately document, but here are a couple of samples.

Here's Arlona striking a pose.

We weren't quite sure what to make of this one.

Houses near the Getty Center were nearly as impressive as the Center itself.  I can't imagine what the price tag is for this one.

The views from the Getty Center were stunning.  The snowcapped San Gabriel mountains were absolutely beautiful again today.

Who knew that the Getty Center also had a natural history wing?  When was the last time you saw one of these, let alone three?

The ride to Santa Monica reminded me of one of the reasons I'm happy I don't live in Los Angeles.

That also explains the amazing number of Tesla cars we saw.  Nearly 10 per minute passed us on the highway.  Sitting at a stoplight, I counted 11.  Pretty amazing for a company so young.  But, California has lots of incentives for electric vehicles and Los Angeles has the highest population of Teslas anywhere.

For the second day in a row, our tour put on somewhere on Santa Monica Boulevard.  These signs reminded us that this was the termination point for the original Route 66.

We drove by Santa Monica Pier, Venice and Venice Beach, and Marina Del Ray.

After our tour, we headed back to the Viking Star.

As many of you have read, we've been fighting with issues with our bathroom.  For the most part, the issues are resolved, but there are still lingering things they want to look at in the plumbing system.  Since they don't want to bother or inconvenience us, it looks like we will be moving rooms.  We've opted to wait a couple of days so the move doesn't impact our schedule much.  Watch for an upcoming post about that.

We popped up to the Explorer's Bar for pre-dinner lubrication.  It's funny - the view doesn't seem to change.  I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that we've been docked in San Pedro for a couple of days and will be until tomorrow evening... :-)

We met some friends for dinner at Manfredi's Italian Restaurant. The service was good and everyone enjoyed their meal...except me.  The dish, to me, was not as described and I simply didn't like it and chose not to eat it.  The next thing I knew, the chef was standing at our table.  I explained the issue and he said that he would fix it.  A few minutes later, the dish arrived, as expected, and was quite tasty.

The fact that the chef cared enough to ensure that every guest got the experience they expected is a testament to Viking's attitude of service and guest experience.

To continue on that topic, the new guest services manager, Mara, the financial officer, Chris, and the general manager, Johann, along with the onboard cruise consultant, Hâmed, have all stepped up and gone, in our opinion, above and beyond to fix the small issues we have encountered.  All of them seem genuinely concerned about the guest experience and are also somewhat frustrated with the inherent issues that come with a recent restart to cruising.  We are confident that all of them, as a team, will deliver a terrific experience for not just us, but for all the guests onboard.

 

Speaking of that - we heard that the number is up to 525, perhaps 527 as of tonight.  I will try to get a final count once we sail tomorrow evening.

Tomorrow, Viking arranged another included bus tour for us to Malibu, Santa Monica, and Beverly Hills.  We found this out when talking to Mara, the guest services manager.  After dinner, when we returned to our room, there were tour tickets and a letter explaining it waiting for us.  Perhaps communication is starting to improve.  Finger crossed,