La Loma

Many of our room stewards are from Manila. On Sunday as we called at that port, some of our new friends began a two-month vacation at their homes. Viking graciously arranged for their families to tour the ship while we were in Manila, and even provided child care and hotel accommodations for those Philippine couples who were off just for the day. One of our new friends from Manila has a seven-year-old son who had never seen the big ship on which daddy works. Mom told the kid that they were going into town to shop. But she had a secret. As they drove past the dock the boy said, “There’s a big ship like the one daddy works on. Do you think I’ll ever be able to go on a big ship like that?” Mom said, “You never know. Maybe they would let us on that ship. Let’s go ask.” They drove into the port and parked the car. As they walked up toward the gangway, the boy saw his daddy on the ship, coming down the gangway to meet him. Screaming with joy, the kid ran and hugged his father, who then gave his family a tour of this lovely vessel we call home. Thanks to Viking not only for making us passengers feel so comfortable, but also for being so kind and supportive to its employees. We were greeted by two fantastic percussion bands and dancers when we docked this morning in Manila, Philippines. Because the traffic is so heavy here, our bus had a military escort. Most of the folks in Manila ride in Jeepneys, which were made from the Jeeps left here by the American military. They stretched the chassis and made the Jeeps into small busses. It is amazing how many folks can fit into one Jeepney and it only costs about 1 cent to catch a ride. We visited Casa Manila, a reconstructed upper class Spanish home. Across the street was the Church of St Augustine. We could not tour the church because a wedding was taking place there, but I snatched a photo of the pretty bride. We also visited Rizal Park and the site of the execution of Dr Jose Rizal, an early leader of Philippine independence. One of our biggest treats was getting to see the family of our crew members who are from the Philippines. They toured the ship to see where their sons, daughters, mothers, fathers or spouses work. Viking also rented out an entire hotel for the crew members to spend the day with family. Viking really is a class act.Read more