Day 4: Cruising - We're Celebrities!
Today was a laid back, just relax and do what ever while you enjoy the amenities of the Viking Neptune. But, the day turned out to be full of stories that I'm almost certain you'll say "WOW" to when you read them. It all started last night when we came back to the room after attending the musical revue. On our bed as an envelope with a letter inside. Also, as always there was tomorrow's Daily Bulletin. In the bulletin, on the schedule of events for the day, as you can see below in the bottom left hand corner, at 5:30 the Viking staff was hosting a "toasting event" to honor any guest who had traveled with Viking before. This is nothing new - on any ship. But when we opened the letter (at left) it was from Miriam who is the Travel Consultant on board and she was inviting us personally......
I told Kim that I was sure that it was a letter everyone got and that everyone was regarded as "Viking Top Cruisers." Kim however pointed out the sentence I've highlighted (top left) and her interpretation was that she and I were THE top cruisers on the ship. I said, well we will see tomorrow when we go down to meet Miriam (who you'll note in the letter asked us to come see her when she was in her office, ahead of the toasting event, or to call her).
Right after breakfast Kim and I went to Guest Services because tomorrow we are planning to meet our friends from Australia that we met on our very first international cruise in 2015....who just happen to be in Dublin on the day we are going to be there. As we approached the Guest Services desk the lady in charge there smiled broadly and said, "Good morning Mr. & Mrs. Love, how may I help you?" I was nearly certain she was NOT Miriam and when I saw her name tag, indeed she was not. How did she, like the others so far, know me/us? Interesting.
At 9 am Kim and I went to the Travel office to meet with Miriam. She had two guests with her in her office and two others were waiting. As we walked up they said, "Do you have an appointment, because we have one for 9:30?" We said no, to go ahead just as the other couple left Miriam's office. That couple no sooner had sat down than Miriam excused her self, left the office and came out to us! "Hello Mr. Love, thank you so much for coming. When I saw you come up I was anxious to meet you!" Again, how does she know us by sight? She then proceeded to tell us that we were indeed the guests on the ship who had been on more Viking adventures than anyone else. AND, she continued, she wanted to recognize us in front of all the other guests. Oh wow....ok. Then she said, "And if you don't mind, would you make a few remarks to everyone?" WOW-squared! Never one to turn down the microphone and speak to a crowd I said I'd be happy to :)
Later that morning Kim and I went down to the gift shop as I wanted to purchase a Viking logo shirt. When I went to pay the clerk smiled and said "Did you find what you are looking for Mr. Love? And I understand this is your 16th trip with us?" I looked at him and said, "How did you know who I was and the number of trips - which is 17 (but who's counting!)" and he smiled very broadly and said, "Oh it's Viking magic!" WHAT is happening?
So we arrived fifteen minutes early and sat (with the two couples traveling with us) in the area Miriam had asked us to sit at - near the front - so she could find us. Then she told me how the program would unfold and when I was to come up to the microphone. She gave a short series of remarks about how Viking cruising has several ships and many itineraries and thanked everyone for being a repeat guest and then said we have two people on board who've been on more Viking trips than anyone else, Mr. & Mrs. Love. And she handed the microphone off to me.
I spoke for just a few minutes about how Kim and I had been traveling with Viking for more than ten years and that we'd been on all three kinds of ships Viking offers. And then said, ".....you all know that Viking IS the best way to see the world in comfort (the Viking slogan), and you know that the best part is the Viking staff....." and heads began bobbing in the audience in agreement "......they make you feel so special, like you are the most important person on the ship....." I thanked everyone and wished them a good trip and head to my seat. But as I approached the seat and Kim greeted me - she'd been filming my remarks - the General Manager came to us and.......
Oh wow. How cool was that? But wait.....it wasn't over! The six of us had agreed to eat in the main restaurant this evening. So we took the champagne to dinner and we were seated at a table for six. The wine girl came around and asked the one couple we were with what wine they would like. Then she came to me and said, "Good evening Mr. Love, which wine would you prefer?" Again - how does she know me by name? I told her because we have the spirits package (thanks to the Viking TV staff) I would like the Moscato wine because I like sweet wine. She smiled broadly and said, "Because love is sweet you should like the sweetest of wines!" Then our waiter came around to take our orders. As he went to the other two couples he would ask, "And what you like sir? Ma'am?" He got to me and said, "Good evening Mr. Love, what can I get you tonight?" WHAT'S THE DEAL? Of course everyone at the table is having quite the time letting me know how "honored" they are to be with a pair of celebrities LOL. But wait (again), that's STILL not the end of the story. We get back to our room and there on the desk......
OK, now THIS is not just for us I'm sure. Yesterday when our excursion was delayed by an hour the head of excursions greeted us on our return and said he was so sorry for the inconvenience and he'd be in touch with each of us. The note with the wine apologized for the delay and offered the wine AND a 20% refund on the price we'd paid for the excursion! Quite the day my friends!!!!
Tomorrow we're in Dublin, Ireland - one country Kim and I have never visited!
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