17 Jan 2026 - More Ship Pics and Behind the Scenes

Hello Everyone!

Equatorial Crossing

We're all officially shellbacks now! We crossed the equator Thursday just after 10:00pm local time. I did a little math earlier in the day (C'mon - I'm an engineer - what did you expect?) and predicted the approximate time we'd cross, so I was ready to watch the compass app on my phone and take the screenshot below just as we crossed. The 90 ft of altitude you see is because I was on the deck 7, well above the waterline.

Crossing the Equator
Exactly 0 Deg Latitude

We're still headed south and will anchor in Bora Bora Sunday morning around 11:00am local time Sunday. As there's no dock that can accommodate our ship, we'll be going ashore in tender boats about 100 at a time. The tender boats double as lifeboats. I'll get some pictures of the process and tell you all about it in a subsequent update.

Daily Activities

Friday was a nice day aboard the Viking Sky. I didn't do anything too strenuous, attending lectures, meeting with a Viking travel rep to discuss future cruises, reading a bit, attending a "port talk" about our upcoming Bora Bora visit, and hanging out and having dinner with some of my new solo friends. 

One of the guest lecturers on board is a retired Goodyear engineer from England named Clive Steeper who specialized in tire design (or tyre, as he spells it) for F1 (Formula One) race cars. He had a distinguished career designing and testing race tires, and he’s been the manager of a LeMans racing team. He’s also a championship driver himself. He’s 70 and still driving and instructing! He gave an interesting talk this morning on tire design and why it’s so important. Like almost everything in racing, the tiniest detail can become a critical edge over the competition when you’re operating at the very limits of the machinery and driver.

The port talks are full of information about upcoming stops. They always do one a day or two before we arrive at each destination, and they cover not only the details of all the various excursions, but also some info about history, language, culture, local currency, etc. You don't want to miss these, as there's a lot of good logistical info about how/when we'll be departing the ship, shuttle schedules, re-boarding time and so on. They're held in the theater and it's usually standing room only. They also stream them over the ship's TV (viewable in our rooms) and they're recorded for later playback if you miss it live.

Speaking of currencies, here's a list of all the different ones we'll encounter along the way.

World Cruise Currencies

Viking Guest Choir

We had another rehearsal of our volunteer choir Saturday afternoon. Two of the vocal performers on board are guiding is through learning Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and a nice four-part arrangement of "Amazing Grace". I've heard many great voices among the 35-40 of us who show up for practices. It's been fun so far.

Viking Guest Choir Rehearsal

Behind the Scenes Tour

This morning, I was invited to join in a "back of the house" tour which covered several otherwise off-limits area of the ship. We toured the pantry of one of the many restaurants on board, portions of the galley, the provision storage area, crew quarters, and the ship's laundry. In the early afternoon, we toured the theater backstage areas, dressing rooms, lighting and production control booth, and the media communications center. Combined, the tours lasted more than two hours and were hosted by crewmembers in charge of each area. It was all very fascinating. Here are some highlights.

Laundry

The ship's laundry is a 24/7 operation. They do everything - crew uniforms, guest laundry, towels and linens, housekeeping rags, and so forth. The washers can each handle loads of up to 90 Kg (about 200 lbs), and the dryers are equally large. 

Washing Machine

Dryers

There is a large machine that can dry, iron and fold wet bedsheets. Here you see two attendants loading a wet sheet into the conveyor on the front side.

Sheet Dryer/Folder

Output Side of Sheet Folder

The sheets come out dry, pressed, and folded, all set for distribution.

Finished Bedsheets Ready for Housekeeping

Cleaning Rags for Housekeeping

Clean Crew Uniforms

Laundry Presses

Restaurant Pantry

The tour of the restaurant pantry was amazing. The main thing I took away from the tour is that the food handling and sanitation rules are exceptionally complex and demanding. The crew not only must follow U.S. CDC guidelines, but also those of numerous other countries. Viking's documented processes and procedures are therefore a complex amalgamation of all of those. They are much more restrictive than any restaurant on land. Even the ship's design and layout is driven by food handling requirements. For example, there are limits on the distance a plated dish can be carried between preparation and delivery to the table in order to ensure the food stays hot/cold enough. That drives the positions of galleys and pantries throughout the ship. Also, foods subject to cross-contamination (raw vs. cooked foods, for example) must take different routes through the galley and pantry. Butchering of fresh meats and seafood is done one deck below the galley in a separate space, again to avoid cross-contamination.

The areas we saw we exceptionally clean. The restaurant manager told us that all the equipment and stainless steel is thoroughly washed, rinsed, and sanitized after each meal service. 

As each dish is plated, a senior crew member compares the visual presentation of the dish with a reference photo. If anything is out of place, the dish is discarded and replated. The chefs and the executive chef regularly spot check for taste and presentation as well. 

Restaurant Pantry - Food is Plated
Here and Staged for Serving

Below is the area where the clean silverware is staged, and where the bread baskets are filled. After each meal, the silverware is laid out to air dry (without contacting each other), then polished before being rolled up in napkins.

Clean Silverware Staging Area (Under Cloth)

Staging Area for Clean Plates (Under Cloth)

Reference Pictures of Various Foods

Trays Ready for Room Service

A few more tidbits about meal service:

• When a table is cleared and reset, two different waiters must do it. One clears and cleans the table, and another resets it with clean linens and plates. This ensures no cross-contamination.
• When a guest enters the restaurant, the staff takes his/her cabin number. It is entered into a computer, and the chef can see a real-time count of how many people have entered. It helps the kitchen staff anticipate the "bow wave" of customers who've entered but not yet placed an order.
• When a waiter takes an order, it is entered into a handheld device. Immediately, it is transmitted to the kitchen. The chefs now know how many of each entree to begin preparing.

Provisioning

A couple of decks below the pantry is the provisioning area. That is where all the fresh, frozen, and dry goods are received and stored.

Ordering for this cruise began last October! By then, the executive chef had all the menus and special events planned out, and he knew the anticipated passenger load from pre-booking numbers. Most of the goods on board are sourced in Europe, so they plan ahead to have refrigerated containers shipped ahead to the major ports the ships will visit. We will be picking up several in Auckland. The containers are tracked the entire way, and automatically keep records of internal temperatures. All that is checked when the containers are loaded, and the executive chef (and sometimes the onboard health department inspector) personally open and inspect each container.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are generally procured locally from marine-approved vendors along the way, generally on a weekly basis.

Stairway Down to the provisioning area

Goods enter the ship through a large opening in the starboard side. There's a hydraulic loading dock that extends from the door which can adjust up or down as required to compensate for tide height. That way, forklifts can drive right onto the boat no matter its height relative to the dock. You can't see it well in this picture, but the loading dock door is in the side of the ship, in front of all the pallets of goods.

Loading Dock Area

Cold Storage

Soft Drinks

Here's where all the alcoholic beverages are stored. Yeah, I guess they go through a lot! Interesting factoid here is that, due to the flammability of distilled spirits, this storage area must be fire rated, and is normally closed up so that if a fire breaks out inside, it won't spread. I suppose "inventory control" is another reason for keeping the area locked up! 😉

Wine and Spirits

Garbage and Recycling

As you can imagine, the ship generates a lot of waste. Food waste is a large part of that. All food on board is constantly under time or temperature control. Any prepared food that is put on the serving lines can only be kept for four hours before it must be discarded. The chefs are very adept at preparing food as demand dictates because they have extensive statistical data coupled with real-time info on restaurant loads, so isn't prepared until needed, or it is held under temperature control until being placed on the line. Food held under temperature control can be served to crew, but anything on the serving line must be discarded.

All food waste goes through a pulping machine before being released into the water as "fish food". As one chef put it, "If you don't eat it today, you'll eat it tomorrow!" Bones go through a "bone crusher" before heading to the pulping machine. Hence the ominous sounding sign on this door...

Bone Crusher

All glass is crushed on board, then loaded into large bags for recycling. Paper goods are incinerated on board. The smoke goes through a scrubber which precipitates out the soot and ash, which is then baled up and discarded at ports along the way.

Water System

The ship makes its own fresh water from seawater. There is a large reverse osmosis desalinization plant on board which removes all the salts and minerals. Minerals are added back for taste and to control softness, the water is UV sterilized, and then stored in large tanks.

Waste Water

Gray water (showers, laundries, sinks, etc.) can be released overboard under controlled conditions and in certain areas. Black water (sewage) is stored in tanks on board and offloaded at ports along the way. The gray water is released only from the stern of the boat, while underway. The sea water that will be processed for drinking water is taken in only on the bow, and never at the same time that waste water is being released.

Other Areas

I didn't get to see the full galley, the engine room, or the bridge. There are separate tours for the bridge and galley to be held sometime in the future. I don't think we'll get to see the engine room though, much to my disappointment!

So, Bora Bora is next, and we're approaching the island as I write this. It sounds like there will be some magnificent scenery there, although we may get some rain showers during our stay. Hopefully I'll have some good photos to share!

Until next time,
Jim