Our day, January 6, dawned pretty early considering our travel day, Wednesday, was about 22 hours long! Carol and I, who by the way have never before shared a cabin, fell into sync. We both slept restlessly, woke early, struggled to get enough saliva into the tube since you cannot drink water before the test or even brush your teeth! Once we were dressed and ready to begin our trip in earnest we made our way back to the World Cafe buffet for breakfast. At the entrance we scanned our keys, centered our faces in the circle of the welcoming screen, and had our temperatures recorded for the day. One of my favorite things on a cruise is all the fresh fruit and fruit salads at every meal. At home I am too lazy to do all the necessary prep. I take full advantage and you will probably see lots of pictures of mouth wateringly exceptional Viking cuisine in the following pages.
Each evening, with turn-down service, we receive a printed copy of the next Viking Daily. When we return to the cabin to tuck in for the night we browse the activities and make a note of where we don't want to miss. There are some 15 or so guest lecturers and class leaders on hoard. The Archeologist informs on the history of the South Pacific Islanders. An Astronomer talks about navigation by the stars and the role of planets in the history of the cosmos. The Botonist/Geologist, ironically named Barry Rock, will help us explore the lay of the land, the creations of the islands and beauty of the flora. We will have the opportunity to Return to Challenger Deep with Dr. Kelly Walsh.
My favorite speaker is Russell Lee who on this first day gave an exccellent presentation on South Pacific - the History Behind the Musical. It was so very great to know where the story comes from and how it was manipulated to tell of two love affairs with opposite takes on racisim and classism. And yet we all can hum along and the words leap from our brains to our lips! I look forward to taking a Creative Writing class with him. His wife is teaching Felting but I think I will pass on that. Don't need to learn bridge either!
Tonight the 'big show' was the introduction of the ship officers and the various speakers and teachers. A few songs from the very talented entertainers. On Viking the shows are not as flashy as say on Carnival or Royal. There are four vocalist/dancers and four band members but the show they put on is first class. There are also "resident musicians" and these include a classical guitaristy, a couple vioinists, a man and a lady singer, and two pianists. They paly at thing like Munch Moments, High Tea, in the Atrium or the lounge calle Torshavn for late night entertainment and dancing. Everything is low key.
Viking Cruise Line owner, Torstein Hagen, likes to say, "Viking is the thinking man's cruise." In the vernacular on board that becomes we are thinkers not drinkers!
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