Coffee Chat with Cornelia this morning was with Marius Gentry, the Viking Sky’s Human Resources Manager. It was an especially appropriate start since there was a special event today to benefit our ship’s amazing crew, each and every one of who have made this journey so extra special.

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Marius told us a bit about his childhood in South Africa and his early working years in Dubai, China, and Taiwan. He transitioned to working for Viking and on a ship right after the pandemic, and loves it. His job is to manage all the administrative paperwork involved for 470 crew on the ship: travel arrangements, crew family leaves, immigration processes, and the learning and development that ties into Viking’s “promote from within” policies. He also works with the Crew Purser to manage crew welfare, which comprises almost daily events (bingo, trivia, karaoke, crew barbecues, and parties – as well as providing video gaming equipment, etc) and off-ship events like crew excursions. We had it verified that Viking also provides free wi-fi for all crew.

Marius also has to deal with the difficult times when staff may have to be disciplined; Viking has a zero tolerance policy for bullying, harassment, and drug or alcohol abuse. He reiterated that the crew are “family”, that Viking’s values reflect that, and that – unlike perhaps on other cruise lines – crew are never dismissed for petty offences like not wearing their uniform properly. Viking prefers to ask employees what they could have done better, instead of pointing out what they did wrong.

Viking uses the STAR interactive training module to train staff to provide excellent service.

• Smile and make amazing connections,
• Take care of yourself and each other,
• Act to create great memories, not just for passengers but for yourselves,
• Respond, recover, and make it right.

The training emphasizes not just best practices, but the “Viking way” of doing that. There are 7 “Viking values” (one for each day of the week) that get shared at all staff meetings. Those include STAR above, plus

• Always impress our guests
• Care for each other like a family
• Strive to be the best

When it comes to staff welfare/entertainment events, the HR managers on all the ships share what goes well and what their crews have especially enjoyed, so that ships across the whole fleet can implement best practices and new ideas.

We also learned that committed couples (and Vikings is an inclusive employer) can have their contracts “linked” to allow them to serve on ships together.

All of this helped to explain why both crew and passengers stay so loyal to Viking.

Viking have a robust corporate crew welfare fund, but a couple of passengers, Don Winter and Nikki Schell Leonard (pictured below) wanted to do something more, specific to this ship that is so special to us. That’s not something Viking encourages, because they really want every crew to be treated equally … but Don is nothing if not persistent, and was eventually given permission.

At 10:00 a.m. today, in his role as MC/Auctioneer, he took the stage for a live auction of items created and donated by passengers. The Viking passenger ukelele band performed to get everyone in the mood.

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The pièces de resistance were a signed original cruise-themed watercolour by Iok-Hou Pang (sold at $1600) ,

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and original drawings by Rachel Calow (sold at $1000), and Tim DeNoble (sold at $2000).

There was also a gift bag signed by all the officers ($200), two signed books written by one of our passengers (a POW from the Vietnam War Porter Haliburton ($2000 !!) and a range of silent auction items.

Also auctioned, to the audience’s amusement: a week at Don’s Null Island timeshare ($1000): a signed copy of the passenger directory: a full page photo in the directory: and variously a dinner, a dance, and “high tea” with selected passengers (“victims”) chosen by Don. There was a raffle draw for guest lecturer Gail Lee’s one-of-a-kind needle-felted koala and penguin, and options to simply make a donation from passengers’ onboard account balances. The final amount raised, after silent auction items and donations were added, was over $30,000USD !!!

This cruise also saw a second passenger initiative: books to outfit the CEFZ School in Zanzibar. Indefatigable passenger Marie Smith began this initiative before the cruise even began, using the Viking 24/25 World Cruise Facebook page as a recruiting forum for donations. Nikki Schell Leonard quickly became Marie’s right hand woman.

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There were all kinds of logistical issues, from getting the books on board, to getting them delivered – especially when we found out our stop in Tanzania had to be cancelled, but Viking and the Rotary Club in Mombasa both stepped in to make things work.

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As Marie had hoped, the donations were enthusiastically received. We got truly heartwarming videos and photos back from the teachers and students who were extremely excited to receive the books and learning supplies.

The school’s founder expressed that, without access to technology, these donations had “opened up a world of knowledge and imagination” for their students. The Principal thanked us, the teachers thanked us, and many of the individual students thanked us. It was quite overwhelming.

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We have certainly learned, especially in Africa, that education is going to be key to ensuring a brighter future.

Of course, there was food, and lectures, and guest entertainer violinist Charley Blue to be enjoyed, but today was really all about what we, as very privileged passengers, could share with others. A world cruise truly does create unique opportunities to give a little something in return for all that we have been given in knowledge and experiences all around our wonderful world.