2007 Rhine River Cruise:   On Board Tours & Farewell Dinner

Monday, April 23, 2007 After having spent the morning in Delft, we reboarded the Viking Sun and at 1pm, set sail for Antwerp.   During the afternoon, we were offered visits to the galley and to the engine room.   We chose to take both.   We both have a penchant for wanting to see what goes on behind the scenes and garner an appreciation for the complex logistics that makes it all come together. After the tours and a chance to freshen up, we joined our new-found friends and other fellow passengers in the lounge for the Captain's farewell toast.    We then migrated to the dining room for the Farewell Dinner.    We still had one more night on board, however, having the farewell dinner one night earlier, made it easier to start winding down from the cloud we'd been on for the past 13 days!

The last leg of our journey.   The little...	We're cruising toward Antwerp and the honorary life...	On the way back to our room after the tour to Delft we...	It was lunchtime so we headed to the lounge for the...	Monika, the lounge manager, arrived to help Julia get...
We pass Thomas having a staff, ur uh, make that crew,...	Cruising across one of the major inlets, we see another...	WOW!    Looks like some great sailing!...	The Cruise Director had posted a map and some photos to...	For this display, they used a package of the gift cards...
A little table set up just outside the main dining room...	Pictures of the senior crew members all decked out in...	This is the Executive Chef Reiner ready to share his...	Huge kettles for soups and such.	Everything is stainless and immaculately clean.
Another section of the galley.    The galley is...	Heavy duty slicer and some other equipment.	One of Reiner's assistants is working on...	Huge griddles.   The kettles seen earlier are...	Hotel Manager Thomas (second only to the Captain),...
And the last stop on our galley tour, and my favorite...	We had an hour or so to kill before our Engine Room tour...	We pass a small marina on our way in.   A...	A bridge goes over the locks.    There are...	This photo is dedicated to our neighbor David who puts so...
Captain in the control well on the port side of the boat...	Looking forward, the lock is beginning to open up for us...	Now, the captain is in the starboard side control well...	And he takes a brief pause to wave to the camera.	A mother duck leading her little ones out of the path of...
Moving into the lock.   The road bridge is...	We're now in place in the lock and the gates are closing...	We're now completely in the lock and the crew is waiting...	The water level has changed and the gates are beginning...	And, now, we're back underway.   As we move...
The other onboard tour was of the Engine Room....	Engineer Jarek watches to make sure we all get down the...	And more monitors and control points on the opposite wall.	Huge engines.    As I edited this pic, I noted...	More mechanisms in the engine room.   These...
A very well organized tool room for maintaining the parts!	More mechanisms, looks like possibly bilge pumps, under...	'Tis the end of the tour and we're about to head back up...	And just outside the engine room, behind another door is...	And following the tour, we take a quick peek into the...
We've been back to our room, had time to "pretty up" and...	While waiting for the Captain's farewell Cocktail Toast,...	A huge heavy equipment barge carrying a bunch of John...	More sheep nibbling on the grass on the side of a dike or...	Some more windmills.    Looks like the one in...
This would be our last lock.    It is a big one...	We have the entire senior staff joining us for the...	From the lounge, we head down to dinner.    It...	We shared the farewell dinner with our friends Ron and...	Leslie took the camera to get a shot of us.
New friends Raphael (Rafi) and Mari.    They...	Zoraida and José (Pepé), two more of our "Puerto...	Pat and Julie, two more of our new found friends,...	And now, it's dessert time!   Chef Reiner...	Jochen is introducing everyone.    Based on the...
Julia and Monika again.	And now George is between them. He worked with them in...	Jochen on the mic, Tom "filming" it all!	Janos (Mait're D'Hotel) and Thomas (Hotel Manager)...	One of the chef's, Assistant Cruise Directors: Sandra and...
And more chef's.    Executive Chef Reiner (2nd...	What a delightful evening it was!   On our way...

Total images: 67 · Last update: 10/23/07 9:31 PM · ©2007 T&R Flinn Productions · Comments · Generated by JAlbum 7.3 & Chameleon