The Silver Package

May 13, 2014

Tuesday morning after breakfast, the organized ballet of another flight begins.  Our bags are picked up and handled for us (the next time we see them they'll be in our cabin on the ship), we boarded Jack's Bus, had another box lunch (this one completely inedible) on the way to the airport, retrieved our boarding passes, cleared security, walked to the gate, and boarded our plane for the short flight to Chongqing, where we will board the Viking Emerald.

I'm really looking forward to the cruising part of our tour.  We've been pretty much living out of our suitcases up to now, so it will be nice to have the time in one place to unpack.  I'm hopeful that the air on the river will be cleaner, and I'm definitely looking forward to a little more leisure time.

Jack has explained the policy regarding wine on the boat.  Basically, "house" wines at lunch and dinner are included with our cruise package.  He doesn't know what these wines will be, but usually they're "local" wines.  I'm a bit concerned by this, but I've also heard that there are usually some California wines on the ships.  Still, we talk the driver into stopping at a small store on the way to the ship, where we pick up a couple of bottles of French Bordeaux for the room.  Others are stocking up on flavored vodkas and the local firewater.  Jack warns us not to purchase the alcohol and wine sold at the markets set up at each of the ship's stops, as it's generally counterfeit.

Once we board the ship, I head immediately to the little self-serve coffee area and find some instant ramen noodles, as I'm starving from missing lunch.  I enjoy them sitting on the sundeck, and then we head off to explore the small ship.  It's definitely small, and we run into Kathy and Larry in the lounge, where we all look into the Silver Package, Viking's unlimited premium spirits package for our cruise.  I sample the house red, learn that the house white is a Chardonnay (which I don't like), and decide that the package is worth the money for us.  Kathy and Larry agree, and Lois (not her Chinese name), the extremely personable head bartender, takes care of the details, while pouring a nice Marlboro Savignon Blanc for me, a capirinha for David, and Tsingtao beer for Kathy and Larry.  Bowls of spicy peanuts and pistachios are brought and kept constantly filled, and we relax until it's time to get cleaned up for dinner.

Seating in the dining room is open, with dinner served from 6:30 to 8:00, but everyone seems to arrive right at 6:30 or so.  Lois has let us know that she also works the dining room for lunch and dinner, and that her tables are aft on the port side, so we head in that direction, where she sees us and leads us to Table 25.  Our informal group of eight becomes more cohesive when we find that the tables in the dining room seat eight, and from that meal on, our group occupies table 25, with one very odd exception, which I'll explain in a later post.  Our group now consists of Kathy and Larry (from Chicago), Bob and Nancy (from Asheville, NC), Richard and Cheri (from San Diego), and David and myself.  Lois immediately begins pouring the wine;  the four of us who have purchased the package enjoy a delicious French Bordeaux while the others enjoy the house wines, or the drinks they've brought with them from their rooms.  I've not experienced a ship where you're welcome to bring your own alcohol on board, but that's the case with Viking.

Eddie and Lucy (not their Chinese names) are our waitstaff (Lois handles only the wine), and they are quite attentive to our needs.  Dinner is always three courses, ordered from the menu and served by our waitstaff, while breakfast and lunch are a combination of buffet and items ordered from the menu.  I choose a fish preparation from the menu this evening, but Lois has overserved me, as well as most of the others, so I really can't tell you a whole lot about it.  In fact, I retire to the cabin before dessert, and sleep like a baby until about 4:30 AM, which seems to be my usual wake-up time on this trip.