The Virtual Explorers' Lounge

[What was that?]

Does Manfredi's ever offer a putanesca dish? Does anyone remember...

[Jim Avery]

1 hour ago, What was that? said:

Does Manfredi's ever offer a putanesca dish? Does anyone remember...

Don't remember seeing that on a menu but then, by the time we get to Manfredi's, I have spent a bit of time in Explorer's. 🍸😎

[Heidi13]

50 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

Don't remember seeing that on a menu but then, by the time we get to Manfredi's, I have spent a bit of time in Explorer's. 🍸😎

 

With a stopover in the L/R Bar for a refreshment enroute to Manfredi's😁

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

 

With a stopover in the L/R Bar for a refreshment enroute to Manfredi's😁

Or what we call a “stroller”🥃

Edited May 18, 2021 by Clay Clayton

[What was that?]

2 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Or what we call a “stroller”🥃

So much to learn...

[Clay Clayton]

8 minutes ago, What was that? said:

So much to learn...

“We” being my husband and I and others who used to vacation in Key West which was what you asked for when you wanted a drink “to go” LOL

 

It’s not a Viking thing so you’re good!😊

Edited May 18, 2021 by Clay Clayton

[What was that?]

2 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

“We” being my husband and I and others who used to vacation in Key West which was what you asked for when you wanted a drink “to go” LOL

 

It’s not a Viking thing so you’re good!😊

I'm willing to help make it one. 🍹

[Mcobean]

10 minutes ago, What was that? said:

I'm willing to help make it one. 🍹

Ready to do my part 🍸

[deec]

always take a "stroller" into dinner and then if things are a bit slow I don't care about waiting for a glass of wine!

[What was that?]

Travel is so educational!

[Aussie Cruise Nuts]

8 hours ago, deec said:

always take a "stroller" into dinner and then if things are a bit slow I don't care about waiting for a glass of wine!

 

Always so much to learn from the regular CC Viking contributors ✔️✔️

 

I must remember strollers when we are back on Board - 4 June 2022. 

 

Rod

[vslparis]

On 5/18/2021 at 5:23 PM, deec said:

always take a "stroller" into dinner and then if things are a bit slow I don't care about waiting for a glass of wine!

Very true. We have found that the waiters come by with the included wine fairly quickly, but getting the menu for the wine from the SSP, takes awhile.

We just order our “stroller” SSP wine in Explorers or L/R bar so that there isn’t any “where is my wine “ whining going on 😏

[TayanaLorna]

On 5/18/2021 at 6:23 PM, deec said:

always take a "stroller" into dinner and then if things are a bit slow I don't care about waiting for a glass of wine!

I really like this Stroller idea.  And it did take time getting a glass once seated.  We always like to sip wine as we peruse the menu.

On our first Viking in 2018, there was actually a wine menu with all the reds and all the whites by the glass listed.  We wanted to try each wine so just went down the list.  On our second Viking in 2020, they switched to a tablet type device and, when we were able to pry it away from the bartender, we found it was difficult to get one complete list of wines by the glass due to the sorting options.  If this tablet version is the norm now,  I might just have to borrow it from the bar during breakfast when i might have more time to play with the sorting features and make a list of what interests us.

[JeriGail]

24 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

I really like this Stroller idea.  And it did take time getting a glass once seated.  We always like to sip wine as we peruse the menu.

On our first Viking in 2018, there was actually a wine menu with all the reds and all the whites by the glass listed.  We wanted to try each wine so just went down the list.  On our second Viking in 2020, they switched to a tablet type device and, when we were able to pry it away from the bartender, we found it was difficult to get one complete list of wines by the glass due to the sorting options.  If this tablet version is the norm now,  I might just have to borrow it from the bar during breakfast when i might have more time to play with the sorting features and make a list of what interests us.

The menus are supposed to be available in the Viking app - how about wine lists?

[Peregrina651]

15 minutes ago, JeriGail said:

The menus are supposed to be available in the Viking app - how about wine lists?

 

That would be nice. Maybe a note(s) to tellus@vikingcruises.com would get the ball rolling if they don't already have it.

[TayanaLorna]

1 hour ago, JeriGail said:

The menus are supposed to be available in the Viking app - how about wine lists?

Wow, that would be great!!  

[CharTrav]

On 5/20/2021 at 11:32 PM, vslparis said:

Very true. We have found that the waiters come by with the included wine fairly quickly, but getting the menu for the wine from the SSP, takes awhile.

We just order our “stroller” SSP wine in Explorers or L/R bar so that there isn’t any “where is my wine “ whining going on 😏

I don't even order a stroller wine; I just bring a full glass of wine from my cabin. Or at least I've done that on River cruises where the navigation issue, I.e., safely carrying the full glass from our cabin to the Aquavit Lounge and from there to the Restaurant, is a little bit easier - I think - than on a much larger ocean ship. But most importantly, as you've found, the Viking crew simply doesn't care. Woo hoo!

[CharTrav]

13 hours ago, JeriGail said:

The menus are supposed to be available in the Viking app - how about wine lists?

That is such a problem with digital devices. The idea of presenting things in a holistic way - what you get with an old style paper menu - seems to be anethema in these digital devices. Instead the "thing" to do is to present this information in what I call a discrete "atomized" format.  And yes I am aware just how hard it is to replicate an analog perspective in a digital environment but still I can moan and groan with frustration when our digital tools don't deliver what we want. 😉

[Clay Clayton]

9 hours ago, CharTrav said:

That is such a problem with digital devices. The idea of presenting things in a holistic way - what you get with an old style paper menu - seems to be anethema in these digital devices. Instead the "thing" to do is to present this information in what I call a discrete "atomized" format.  And yes I am aware just how hard it is to replicate an analog perspective in a digital environment but still I can moan and groan with frustration when our digital tools don't deliver what we want. 😉

Just shows how each of appreciates things differently. I would love it if I was presented a digital menu that only has the name of the dish or its main ingredient, but if I clicked on it m, it took me to a full description and if I clicked again perhaps it took me to a story about the history of the dish or drink. Click again and perhaps Katrine shows us how they make the dish, a further click on one of the ingredients gives you more information about it...I mean I sorta know what a sunchoke is but wouldn’t mind learning more. 
 

Probably way too much to ask for but....

 

Along the same lines, I have found I don’t enjoy reading a book on paper as much.  I’ve gotten so used to touching a new word to my vocabulary on my kindle and having the definition provided.  I don’t miss the old days of having to stop reading and finding a dictionary...presuming I still have one 😂

[CharTrav]

38 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Just shows how each of appreciates things differently. I would love it if I was presented a digital menu that only has the name of the dish or its main ingredient, but if I clicked on it m, it took me to a full description and if I clicked again perhaps it took me to a story about the history of the dish or drink. Click again and perhaps Katrine shows us how they make the dish, a further click on one of the ingredients gives you more information about it...I mean I sorta know what a sunchoke is but wouldn’t mind learning more. 
 

Probably way too much to ask for but....

 

Along the same lines, I have found I don’t enjoy reading a book on paper as much.  I’ve gotten so used to touching a new word to my vocabulary on my kindle and having the definition provided.  I don’t miss the old days of having to stop reading and finding a dictionary...presuming I still have one 😂

What you're saying resonates with me on both counts. Let me have a view from the 1000 ft level first (view the whole menu) but also provide the ability to drill down behind each item to whatever level of detail you want. Not a bad idea. I too have found that I like digital books more than paper books (started with Mobipocket on a Palm Pro many years ago, an ebook reader that Amazon bought and why Kindle files are in MOBI format). I do most of my ebook reading on either an iPhone or iPadMini.  What I particularly like is the ability to read in bed without disturbing my husband's slumber. 😉

Edited May 22, 2021 by CharTrav

[OnTheJourney]

25 minutes ago, CharTrav said:

I too have found that I like digital books more than paper books

Not me. Conceding the obvious advantages, of course, of digital vs. hard copies of most anything, I still think there's something to be said for holding a book - just the feel, smell of the paper, using a 'real' bookmarker to see one's progress, etc. Similar might be said for vinyl LPs as opposed to digital renditions - just looking at the album jackets, putting the platter on the turntable. I'm just (too) old school I reckon. Will be sad to eventually get new cars that no longer have either a cassette (yep...still use those too) or CD player. Having all the stuff on iPhone or whatever just isn't the same but surely is the way to go to avoid physical clutter. On the other hand, digital clutter drives me crazy - having so much 'stuff' in a hard or external drive, etc. 

[Clay Clayton]

9 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

Not me. Conceding the obvious advantages, of course, of digital vs. hard copies of most anything, I still think there's something to be said for holding a book - just the feel, smell of the paper, using a 'real' bookmarker to see one's progress, etc. Similar might be said for vinyl LPs as opposed to digital renditions - just looking at the album jackets, putting the platter on the turntable. I'm just (too) old school I reckon. Will be sad to eventually get new cars that no longer have either a cassette (yep...still use those too) or CD player. Having all the stuff on iPhone or whatever just isn't the same but surely is the way to go to avoid physical clutter. On the other hand, digital clutter drives me crazy - having so much 'stuff' in a hard or external drive, etc. 

yes but at least you don’t see that clutter all over the house...only on the screen. 

[OnTheJourney]

10 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

yes but at least you don’t see that clutter all over the house...only on the screen. 

Very true! Always tried my best, though, to minimize physical clutter, e.g. thus far at least a minor foray into the whole idea of downsizing!  A LONG way to go yet with it. Started selling on ebay a few years ago, but that's one piece at a time. Can't stand going in peoples' houses where there is 'stuff' piled up in the corners, etc. and so we don't do that. Wouldn't be able to stand it. Funny..when my daughter's high-school aged friends used to visit they always (to her anyway) remarked that the house looks so spartan wth hardly anything setting around. Perhaps a bit of OCD maybe stemming from being a school teacher where things (for me anyway) had to be reasonably organized in order to function in the classroom. A bit of a curse, too, being only one generation removed from that which grew up during the depression since it's inevitable to have inherited at least some of the 'save this cause you never know when you might need it' mentality. I do my best to work against that but my closets and such unfortunately bear witness to it. My dad exercised that philosophy par excellence, much to my brother's and my chagrin when it came time to clean out the house in preparation for sale!  Gotta try to stick to the adage...if you haven't used it in the last 5 years, chances are you won't..so...toss it or move it along. My dad saved EVERYTHING so trying not to do that lest my daughter and son-in-law someday have the uneviable task of having to do at least a portion of what my brother and I had to do at my parents' place. 

Edited May 22, 2021 by OnTheJourney

[Clay Clayton]

1 minute ago, OnTheJourney said:

Very true! Always tried my best, though, to minimize physical clutter, e.g. thus far at least a minor foray into the whole idea of downsizing!  A LONG way to go yet with it. Started selling on ebay a few years ago, but that's one piece at a time. Can't stand going in peoples' houses where there is 'stuff' piled up in the corners, etc. A bit of a curse being only one generation removed from that which grew up during the depression since it's inevitable to have inherited at least some of the 'save this cause you never know when you might need it' mentality. I do my best to work against that but my closets and such unfortunately bear witness to it. My dad exercised that philosophy par excellence, much to my brother's and my chagrin when it came time to clean out the house in preparation for sale!  

Can definitely relate. My parents had a little bit of a hoarder mentality but nothing too awful, but my DMIL would be on that tv show except she lives in a 3600 sf house so as long as you don’t open a closet, drawer, or cabinet you don’t realize it. We have said that when the time comes we will either be living there for a couple of years selling it all or will be pulling up a dumpster. 😆

[OnTheJourney]

13 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

pulling up a dumpster

Man, I hear you. We rented the biggest freakin' dumpster the outfit had and paid a fee for something close to a thousand pounds over the limit. That thing was filled to the brim. Even threw in my old Lowry tube organ (went a bit hard...great sentimentality over that one). Funny story on that too..my brother figured all the copper wire was worth something since he frequently took barrel after barrel of heavy metal (my Dad owned a service station his whole life so the basement was full of parts of engines in various states of repair or disrepair along with a myriad of other mechanical devices and parts thereof) and you-name-it over to the dump, so, when it came time for the organ, he said, "I know this'll go hard for you, man, but if you wouldn't mind snipping off all the wiring and then save it to be taken over, that'll be great". And there was aLOT of wiring in that old tube organ. Alot of tubes too. Unbelievably heavy for the size of it. My poor Mom wanted it out of the house for decades but, of course, noone got around to doing it during routine visits. Her eventual attempt at getting rid of it was to literally saw off the legs of the bench (which was a shame really since the bench was a nice piece that could have went along with everything else at the sale). However, the really humorous part is that....the legs simply unscrewed!  To give you an idea of how much stuff my Dad truly had, one of the first times I had my wife-to-be up to the house to visit, she NEVER NOTICED the full-size farm tractor that in the basement since it was surrounded by so much other stuff. Narrow paths sort of meandered between these mechanical and other items so as to truly obsure something as large as a huge tractor. Gigantic basement too. There were old corvair engines, other parts of blocks, a lathe, welding equipment, drums full of all sort of service-station related items from his years of being a mechanic. His workbench down there was like an archeological dig - all sorts of projects that he had going over the decades. Once he passed, I used to tell my Mom, "every time you go down there (to the basement), if you see something that looks like junk, pitch it". But, she just seemed overwhelmed to make any inroads into the massive accumulation so it befell my brother and I. 

Edited May 22, 2021 by OnTheJourney