Thank goodness for coloured highlighters!!!!

When we woke up this morning we turned on the tv in our cabin to see where we were. What a strange sensation for me who has never cruised before, to look out from our balcony to just see, sea water as far as the eye could see! That’s a lot of seas/sees!

I rolled over this morning to find that Richard was gone. I didn’t have to look too far to find him with a Nespresso coffee from our in room coffee maker.

Watching the world go by while checking social media!

Last night I ordered us room service for breakfast. I prefer not to have to get up and get going if we don’t really have anywhere to go in the morning. It feels too much like going to work (as you know I retired last year after 37.5 years of working) by having to get up and shower and be out of the cabin for breakfast.

This morning I had muesli with almond milk. Richard had porridge with a few fixings like shaved almonds and raisins. We both enjoyed the flaky homemade pain au chocolate and tasty croissants with Bon Mamin jam. Delicious! The smoothie was not my favorite, but the hot chocolate was very tasty!

Richard wanted to catch the lecture at 9:30am by Viking Resident Historian Dr. Michael Fuller on “Pre-Columbian Civilizations” where he learned about the rich empires of the Maya, Aztec and Inca prior to the arrival of Columbus. Dr. Fuller is an active field archaeologist, writer and lecturer who holds a doctorate in anthropology. He has taught for over 40 years and recently retired.

Cruise Director Bruce introducing Dr. Fuller.

While Richard was enjoying a lecture I decided to get together with fellow Mahjong players to play Mahjong in Manfredi’s. I met some nice ladies who were very patient with my beginner Mahjong skills. I made a couple of silly mistakes which cost me two hands, but I think with more practise I will get better. Thank you to my good friend Sarah-Anne who very patiently spent the summer teaching me how to play Mahjong for sea days!

Elise, Roz, Barbara and me playing Mahjong. Roz is a really good Mahjong player who plays twice a week so she was very good about reminding us which way the passing goes while we did the ’Charleston’ and she even has a special bag for her Mahjong card.

A hand embroidered bag for Roz’s Mahjong card.

Trying to figure out what hand to make….

After 2 hours of Mahjong it was time to run up the stairs to deck 7 Explorer’s Lounge for Team Trivia with Assistant Cruise Director Matt.

We were able to find a spot to sit in the Explorer’s Lounge and because it was called “team trivia” we invited another couple who were looking for a place to sit, to join us. And what a coincidence when we had Sharon and Mike join us!! Mike and Sharon live exactly 42 minutes from our home in Fort Erie, Ontario, to their home in Thorold, Ontario and are probably the people who live closest to us out of anyone else on this cruise! Sharon and me were chatting back and forth on Facebook, on the Viking World Cruise group about the ordeal we had getting Indian visas last month, so I felt like I had already kind of met her online!

We ended up with a respectable 10/15 correct answers today. The winning team of 2 people had 13 answers, so we have something to strive for in the next Trivia session!

After Team Trivia, we headed down to The Restaurant but there was a wait list for lunch so we ended up having lunch at the World Cafe with Mike and Sharon. I know a bottle of Chardonnay was consumed and we had a lovely time getting to know them both over a very extended lunch. The weather had turned very grey and rainy outside, so it was very nice to sit and watch the world go by, enjoying good conversation and company!

I wanted to catch the afternoon lecture by Mr. Russell Lee on “A Study in Scarlet - The Story of the Colour Red”. I learned that the Cochineal scale insect which lives on cacti in Mexico is used to make the coloured dye called ‘carmine’. The Aztec and Mayan people have used the dye since as early as the 2nd century B.C. The colour ‘carmine’ is still used in food colouring, fabric dyes and in cosmetics. What an interesting lecture! I thoroughly enjoyed the lecture by Mr. Lee today. I had heard that Viking Cruise line was famous for fantastic lecturers and enrichment and if today is any indication, we have another 136 days of wonderful learning to partake in!

While I was attending the lecture this afternoon Richard thought he would find the launderette on our floor and do a few loads of laundry to stay ahead of the demand that will happen soon as people are onboard longer. We have clothes hanging in our shower, but hopefully they will be dry before the morning!

I’m having bad deja vu of our 2 years living in ’Newman’ our RV, with clothes hanging up everywhere to dry! Oh well…it beats drying everything in the dryer and having it shrink!

Today was the first day for the teatime from 4-5pm in the Wintergarden on Deck 7.

The Wintergarden was packed before 4pm, so we ended up taking a small plate of goodies to Mamsen’s and having our tea in the quietness at Mamsen’s.

Waiting for my Earl Grey tea with almond milk. And NO! I did not eat all of those goodies! The raspberry macaron was homemade and very delicious. I had to wait quite a while for my almond milk with my tea. With 136 more days to cruise, I think the Wintergarden will be less of a novelty and we will have more chance to try it out when it is less busy, since it seemed very under staffed today.

Next up at 4:30pm was the Port Talk for Cozumel in the Star Theatre on Deck 2 with Cruise Director Bruce Allen Scudder.

I will have more to talk about tomorrow after visiting Cozumel so I won’t spoil it now by revealing too much.

And now to let you know why the coloured highlighters that I was advised to bring come in very handy!

Our Viking Daily newsletter which is dropped off each night in our cabin.

Last night after we returned to our cabin we went through the Viking Daily to get ready for today’s Sea Day with highlighters. Pink for me. Blue for Richard.

Some things we do apart and some things we do together!

It definitely helps to be able to see what is going on at a glance by using the coloured highlighters.

There are many different restaurants, bars and places to get snacks throughout the day. I never realized how busy a Sea Day could be! I feel like its after 6pm and I’ve barely sat still today! Now I understand what Richard means when he says he could do ”A Cruise to NOWHERE!” With the ship as a destination, there is a huge opportunity for enrichment, fun, and socialization.

And tomorrow I really will hit the gym. I was way too late last night writing the blog, so tomorrow since our shore excursion is not until the afternoon, we have a chance to both go to the gym!