World Cruise Day 35/152 - Sea Day - If cleanliness is next to Godliness, we must be in heaven

Cruise day: 35/152
Ports days: 12
Sea days: 23
Countries: 4
Continents: 1
Ports: 8

At around 3:00 AM this morning - actually 2:00 AM EST, but we moved the clocks ahead last night to Atlantic time - we passed over latitude line zero, otherwise known as the equator.  So, it is now officially summer for us and we're in the southern hemisphere for a while.  No, the toilet didn't start flushing in the opposite direction and the sink still drains the same. Another thing that is the same is the fact that we are still 100% COVID-free onboard.  Woo!

Today was distinctly cooler outside with temperatures in the mid-to-high-70s.  A strong breeze made it feel cooler, especially given the light overcast.

Normal daily activities continued - bridge lessons continued to focus on opening a minor suit and responses.  Trivia again saw us close, but just out of contention. What sporting event uses the slogan, "Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together"?  The Olympics. What mode of transportation was originally dubbed the "Boneshaker"?  The bicycle.  What year was the dollar coin first minted in the US? 1794.

We opted for a movie this afternoon.  Viking presented Barb & Star go to Vista Del Mar.

It was a mindless popcorn-flick comedy with several laughs and a silly, outlandish story.  It fit perfectly with our mood today and was a nice change of pace. We relaxed and enjoyed the movie and some popcorn in the Star Theater.

Later in the afternoon, we attended another virtual itinerary talk, this time on wine-focused itineraries.

Of course, that meant that wine from different itineraries must be sampled.

We discovered what we already knew - we are sweet white wine drinkers.  The reds were close to undrinkable for us both.  The two whites were OK, but certainly not a choice.  The final sweet white tasted OK and had a creamy mouthfeel, but the aroma didn't sit well.  We will continue to be Moscato drinkers.

As we've walked around the ship over the past month, the ship is ridiculously clean.  If on the way down the stairs, we happen to spot a bit of fuzz or dirt, that fuzz or dirt is gone when we come back up.  Here's why.

I had discussed previously how well our room is maintained daily.  Everything is in its place and not a speck of dust can be found.  The housekeeping staff on the Viking Star is playing even more of a key role these days with additional sanitation required to fend off COVID.  The 30 stateroom stewards and 22 assistant stateroom stewards handle all the guest staterooms.  I can't emphasize enough how hard this team works, cleaning and sanitizing the cabins daily plus nightly turndown and tidying. Some crew positions are privileged to have been granted cabin cleaning benefits.  There are three staff stewards who are in charge of handling the crew cleaning benefits.  They receive the same training as guest-facing stateroom stewards and this position is a stepping stone to that next position in their career.

The public areas are maintained by a dedicated team of six crew.  There are four additional crew members that cover the main pool, open deck areas, and spa.  Three of the assistant stateroom stewards lend a hand as needed.

Every time we walk around, someone is cleaning something, somewhere.  Handrails, stair treads, floors, baseboard trim, tabletops, artwork, walls, you name it, it is constantly being cleaned. Our balconies are hosed and scrubbed regularly.  The windows are washed.  The effort put into keeping this entire ship clean is nothing short of amazing.

At night, another team of 12 hotel utility and custodial staff known as the "Magic Team" hit the public areas with a deep cleaning and scrubbing.  These two shifts of individuals keep all the public areas spotless.

Housekeeping also handles all the laundry operations.  The laundry team is led by the Laundry Master who oversees a team including an Assistant Laundry Master, one Senior Laundryman, one Washer/dryer Specialist, and three Laundrymen.  This team handles all the laundry services for guest staterooms that come with laundry benefits as well as all crew, linen, and towel laundry services.

The housekeeping team is led by Executive Housekeeper, Sonette North and her four Assistant Chief Housekeepers who graciously provided this information.

Here are some interesting facts and figures.

Laundry, daily, morning to evening

• 10 loads of towels (90 kilos)
• 12 loads of linens (35 kilos)
• Clothes
• 4 loads of guest laundry (30 staterooms)
• 8 loads of crew laundry - approximately 300 pieces washed and pressed

Amenities usage

• Body wash 80ml - 106 tubes per day
• Shampoo 80ml - 106 tubes per day
• Body lotion 80ml - 47 tubes per day
• Hand sanitizer for public sprays - 4.9 liters per day
• Liquid hand soap for public dispensers - 5 liters per day
• Toilet paper - roughly 300 rolls per day for guest and crew combined - I used the term "roughly" by design because it certainly isn't Charmin, but I have to say that Viking's biodegradable toilet paper is much better than that offered by any other cruise line that we've been on

The bottom line here is that Viking's housekeeping staff works extremely hard and it shows.

Back to other sights...

The boobies were once again traveling with us, which was amusing.  There was a song in the movie today specifically dedicated to "boobies", however, the singer wasn't referring to birds.

It is amazing how far they shoot underwater when diving for fish. This trail is easily six to eight feet long and you can see the bird's beak on the far left under the water.

The chef did it up again today, featuring British fare at lunch.  Fish & chips, Cornish pasties, sausage rolls, mushy peas - you get the idea. Dinner featured a Brazilian steakhouse theme and Chef Thomas did his usual bang-up job.  The Captain and Chef were greeting diners and the guest service officers were handling the gaucho duty, carving up the skewered delicacies.

Freshly carved strip loin

Seared, seasoned chicken

Sausages, shrimp, beef, oh my!

Grilled veggies

You can never have too much grilled lobster.

Coconuts filled with a rum-based green concoction were everywhere!

Everything was delicious as seems to be the norm and we had to stop ourselves from eating too much.

Tomorrow, we will celebrate last night's equator crossing at 11:00 AM local time and we will also jump ahead another hour at midday.  Hmm...one hour closer to happy hour...