Departure Day

The Walkers are not ones to pack light.

 

Our flights to London were uneventful and on time. We upgraded to premium economy, which turned out to be very comfortable. Clearing customs was a breeze.  We have flown in and out of Heathrow before, and today’s experience was rather pleasant. The Viking reps met us at the airport, collected our bags and loaded us onto a bus with other fellow cruisers.

Here is the ship located on the Thames in Greenwich

We had a reception and dinner that evening for the ultimate world cruisers (UWC). All I wanted to do was crash, but the show must go on. We bailed out of dinner early because we needed to unpack because everything was piled on the bed, and bed was where we wanted to be.

I did not sleep at all on our red eye flight; Michael took a few cat naps. For Michael, bus = sleep. For me, I’m afraid to miss something so I must see everything. The ride from the airport to Greenwich, where the ship is docked, took almost 2 hours. For some reason, the driver did not use the motorway and took surface streets. Ugh 😑. Stop start lurch. When I am sleep deprived, I get nauseous— and this ride didn’t help. 

We finally made it onto the ship after a very quick and efficient registration process. Now the real fun begins:  unpacking!  Our standard passenger room is 270 sq ft. Six very large suitcases plus carry-ons leaves little room to maneuver. And they never leave enough hangers. Where to put all the stuff?

Here is a link to an article in the local newspaper about the cruise. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-7411227/Viking-Sun-aims-break-record-longest-continuous-passenger-cruise.html#v-2829570854604326795

After a night’s sleep, yet still tired, Michael went on a walking tour of Greenwich and I went shopping for supplies. We are both still jet lagged. 

Typical British Pub