Trip archive
2018 Getting Ready
Getting ready and the first leg of the journey. 28 entries.
Entries in chronological order
All tripsGetting ready
With a Word Cruise just a few weeks away, I have been surprised at how many things you have to think about. Some are pleasant and some not so much. Last week I had a mild reaction to a Yellow Fever vaccination. I say…
Still Here in Arizona. . .
One week and one day till we fly to Miami and I feel like packing and standing at the curb waiting for the ride to the airport. Arizona is beautiful this time of year. The afternoons are in the mid 70’s and early…
Where we are going
Our friends and fellow travelers Bob and Brenda Kerr added a nice map to their blog so I decided to post the same map so you can follow the path.
Welcome to the Viking Sun
The maximum occupancy refers to the Miami Cruise terminal entrance hall, not the ship. We were told that as many as 5000 passengers pass through this hall in a day for the huge cruise ships. Our ship only has 900+…
Postcard for Jenni
Our son Bob and his wife Audra sailed on this same ship back in November. He left a postcard for Jenni from Croatia as a bookmark in a library book on in the Viking lounge on deck 7. I knew about it and was going to…
First two days at sea
What can I say? The weather is perfect. The passengers are interesting. The food is unbelievable and it is so relaxing. The educational opportunities are excellent. Viking is really amazing! The ship looks and feels…
Old San Juan
Nearly a year after a devastating hurricane there are still reminders that the damaged infrastructure and historic buildings are not fully restored. The street of umbrellas appears to be a symbol of community…
Sea Birds
While I have high hopes for wildlife photography, today all I saw was birds diving into the sea for fish. Still interesting to watch. Very relaxing. So relaxing I put down the camera and took a nap on the eighth…
Grenada – Nutmeg and Chocolate
Cocoa plantation on site of 17th century sugar plantation. We spent our entire time in Grenada visiting two local island industries, Nutmeg and Chocolate. Interesting island, nice people, not so touristy as other…
French Guiana
We got a late start today due to mechanical trouble in the night so that put us on Ile Royale in the heat of the day. And it was hot! And humid!! But we loved it (that is Brenda and I, not Dale) because we got to see…
Papillon Revisited
Iles du Salut, French Guiana was the island paradise second home to more than 80,000 French prisoners made famous by the movie Papillon and then again by the remake of the movie Papillion and then yet again by…
Rainy day off Brazilian Coast
We have three sea days in a row. Today was hot and muggy. The ocean temp was high seventies but nobody was in the ocean as we are powering down the coast. Jenni spent most of the day working on jigsaw puzzles and…
Kiss the Fish
We just crossed the equator and in a time honored tradition on cruise ships, guests and crew are invited to kiss a large fresh raw fish on the lips and them jump fully-dressed into the pool, swim across and drink a…
NFL south of equator
Once again Viking paid out the big bucks to grab the satellite feed for the NFL playoffs. Not so bad with blue skies, mid eighties and burgers on the grill and unlimited beverages. They do their best to please. There…
Over the Ocean Blue
These sea days have been beautiful. Today I attended a lecture by a former spy for one of our seventeen major government intelligence agencies, who now teaches on the subject of Intelligence. Let me just say that…
Cruising hot and cold
When I contemplated this cruise my biggest fear was not having enough to do on sea days. So I packed my Kindle with books about the places we would visit and made a list of projects I might do. And still I dreaded…
Salvador de Bahia, Brazil
After five continuous days at sea we were all excited about walking on dry land again. I would still be excited about the “dry” part. Salvador de Bahia, Brazil is so HUMID. Walking several miles is a lot like…
Buzios. Brazil
Buzios is a beach town. It’s all about water sports, boating barbeques and parties. The pictures tell the whole story. There is a small commercial district with food, drink, souvenirs and galleries and that is about it.…
Really good coffee!
The Living Room Bar on deck one has the best baristas on the ship and they make really good coffee. Please disregard the photo above and just think about coffee. It is so good that I avoid coffee at breakfast and…
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
I can’t help but wonder if “Janeiro” means “haze.” Rio weather was like the smog of Los Angeles and the steamy heat of Miami. It was so oppressively hot and visibility so low that the major sites were not attractive…
Rio
You might remember that I don’t especially like cities and that will be reflected in the fact that I have little to show for our visit to Rio. It was hot. There was a little bit of wildlife. And lots of amazing art.…
WARNING! – Food blog ahead!
Breakfast at 7 AM . Brunch at 10 AM. High Tea at 4 PM and of course dinner at 7 PM. A day at sea can be demanding work. Did I forget to mention I had to attend a workshop with a professional portrait photographer.…
Montevideo, Uruguay
To hear our guide say Uruguay, it almost sounded like Hawaii with the “u” and the “r” almost silent. Well. . . what an interesting place. It is a tiny country with huge neighbors, Brazil and Argentina. Some say it…
Buenos Aires, Argentina
“Buenos Aires means “fair winds” or “good airs” and possibly polluted water” according to our guide who was not very proud that the water was so polluted with industrial waste that there was no swimming or fishing…
Punta del Este, Uruguay
Remember “Pin the tail on the donkey” How would you do in a contest with an unlabeled map with the task of placing the colored pin on Punta del Este, Uruguay? After you adjusted your pin with a regular labeled map…
Church service on Viking Sun
Every Sunday there is an interdenominal Protestant service held in the Viking theater. It is hosted by the cruise director Heather Clancy. Heather’s step father is a Methodist pastor. Heather has a background of…
Falkland Islands
Just to let you know we are in the Falklands. I will write a blog in the next few days when we process all the photos. The photo above is the Lady Elizabeth Shipwreck, one of many. Here I am phoning in the news to…
In search of a whole lamb barbeque
Ushuaia, Argentinia — We arrived in Ushuaia a day early because of bad weather in the Falklands. Viking stayed up all night and came up with about twenty different tours we could take today, giving ample opportunity…