Final Thoughts on our Viking Cruise

As I mentioned during my last travel blog, Pompeii was the last shore excursion of our Viking cruise. It has taken me most of the year to document a journey that lasted only a week, but it has been well worth the effort to recall all the wondrous sites we witnessed along the way.

Though I don’t have a fresh port of call to mention in this post, there are a few things I didn’t have room to talk about during my other blogs that feel worth mentioning.

First and foremost, I want to mention how outstanding every member of the ship’s crew was. They have to encounter hundreds of people every day. Yet each and every one of them remembered our names after only hearing it once. Both my mother-in-law and I had special dietary considerations, and the young woman who ran the seating area had our cards ready every morning as soon as she saw us approach. She didn’t even need to ask for our room numbers.

Likewise, the server who took care of us our first morning checked in on us every day. And whenever we were seated in our area she made sure we were well-cared for. She brought us extra portions for breakfast a few times.

To say I was stunned by the level of service would be an understatement. I have truly never felt so well taken care of. I could go on raving about how well we were cared for, but suffice to say we never had a hard time finding what we needed or wanted while we were on the ship.

A Special Tapestry

One of the first things we noticed after boarding the ship was a series of photos set into the stairwells. These massive prints were blow-ups of pictures of the Bayeux Tapestry. The photos do not depict the original tapestry. They were instead taken of a massive recreation.

We walked past those photos every day. But it wasn’t until we took a tour explaining what they depicted that I realized we had actually seen that tapestry hanging in Reading when we lived in the UK.

The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the world’s most famous pieces of medieval art. In the late 19th century, a group of Victorian embroiderers undertook the project of painstakingly recreating the tapestry stitch-by-stitch so that it could be preserved. It is 230 feet (70 meters) long and depicts the legendary tale of the Norman conquest of England by William the Conqueror.

The Viking company has chosen key scenes from the story to adorn the walls of their ships, adding both a splash of color and history to their walkways. (One of the many reasons we tended to take the stairs instead of the lifts.) One of the resident historians took us on a brief walking tour, stopping at each photo to describe the progression of the story.

It was pretty awesome to spend so much time talking about something we actually got to see!

Possibly my favorite detail from that tour, however, involved the carpets in the massive common areas. Though they looked like simple geometric patterns, it turns out they were actually the blueprints of a Viking longship! It seems the owners of the company take their Viking heritage quite seriously and use these little details to pay respect to it.

Visiting Naples

As I mentioned during my post about Pompeii, our visit took place first thing in the morning. After we returned to Naples, we had some time before we were expected to be back on the ship. On the drive back from the excursion, our guide spoke of his favorite treats and how to acquire them. He also recommended several sites for people who were interested in exploring more of the city.

Before we left the ship in the morning, we all agreed we wanted to taste genuine Neapolitan pizza. For anyone that doesn’t know, Naples is the birthplace of pizza, though there are now many different styles of the dish. Neapolitan pizza is quite a bit different than the prominent type of pizza in the area I grew up (which was New York style).

In Naples, the sauce is made from fresh tomatoes and the cheese does not evenly coat the pizza. It is instead distributed at intervals across the pizza, leaving some of the sauce exposed. Original style pizza is then topped with basil leaves and cooked in a wood oven.

Though there were stands selling this pizza right outside Pompeii, we all agreed we didn’t rush. We waited until we returned to the port to find a local pizzeria. We ordered a traditional Neapolitan pizza and a traditional fried version as well. This was somewhat similar to a calzone, except it had a lighter dough and ricotta filling.

Needless to say, it was delicious.

The final leg of our Viking journey

After lunch, we hopped over to a local arcade to try our guide’s favorite type of pastry. These were like croissants but with dozens of little folds of pastry (making them look almost like scalloped potatoes). They were so fluffy, light and crispy, my description can’t do them justice! And while we were at it, we tried genuine Italian espresso – because how could we not?

Personally, I found the espresso too bitter, but the rest of the family loved it. Even though I don’t think I’d ever sip plain espresso ever again, I’m glad I took advantage of the opportunity.

After our final trip ashore, we sailed to Rome where we departed for home. We unfortunately didn’t get a chance to see any of the ruins in the city, partly because the port we sailed into was a short drive away from the famous city. But we did witness some truly beautiful countryside on the way to the airport.

We only got to experience a small taste of each of the places we visited on our trip. And I’m keenly aware that we barely scratched the history of all these amazing places. But it was more than enough to whet my appetite for more such exploratory journeys in the future.

It’s safe to say I had a fabulous time on this trip, and would love to cruise with Viking again in the future!