Monday, July 11, 2022
Dinner was a table for two. I had the butternut squash soup and the branzino fish fillet. Chuck had a small ham steak with sauerkraut and potatoes. We skipped dessert.
After dinner we played a little blackjack. Then Chuck played some 3-card poker. I came back and sent out our first bag of laundry. Then I went to the Main Stage show “Humanity.” I’ve seen this show on several HAL ships, but it is one of my favorites. The dancers did an excellent job. They got a standing ovation.
We went to the Ocean Bar just in time for the Band’s last 3 songs of their last set. I hope we can attend their sets again as they were very good.
We decided to call it a night. Clocks move forward one hour for the first sea day. Sigh.
I got up at 7:00 and got my shower. Had a much more restful night than the one before. Did a coffee run to the Explorer Cafe – my first of many this trip. What is nice is that it is located only one floor down from our room. I am used to going up to the Crow’s Nest for coffee on other ships.
We ate breakfast in the Lido. While I was eating, one of the Sea View bar tenders came over to let me know he had found my metal straw and had washed and saved it for me. I was happy. I had been disappointed that I had left it somewhere and figured it would be thrown out if found. HAL staff are the best.
We then went to the Cruise Critic meet and greet in the Crow’s Nest. I was able to pick up our private excursion tickets and find out when the Bunko game is going to be held tomorrow.
After the meeting, we went to the first lecture of the cruise “Viking Discovery of the North Atlantic” by Jon Siegerssen, an Iceland native. He had a very dry sense of humor. He can trace his heritage all the way back to the Vikings. One of the most interesting points was that the Vikings “discovered” places such as Greenland and Canada because they had either been exiled from their country for killings and had to find a new country or they got lost sailing for their intended country and just decided to stay in the new country.
Time for lunch! I went to my favorite – HAL salad bar. There is always a line, but it is because there was a server creating your salad as you requested the items. I like that process rather than making it yourself. However, I have noticed there are more self-serve areas than I have seen since cruise ships have started sailing again. I don’t know how I feel about it. Still a little apprehensive about so many people touching the serving spoons.
At 2:00, I went to the next lecture – “Vikings – Traders or Raiders?” by Dr. Valerie Mock, a retired Suffolk University business professor. Most interesting point was that the Vikings were like the mob – they intimidated people into trading but if you didn’t trade, they took what they wanted and may or may not kill you in the process. Or you could pay them protection money (silver) to be left alone. But they didn’t consider themselves thieves because thieving was “wrong,” They were offering to “trade,” but if you said “no” they had to do what they had to do. Guess that helped them sleep at night.
Chuck used this time to get in the sea view pool. When I met up with him at 3:00, he said the pool was very warm. There were several people in it when I arrived. They didn’t seem to be shivering. Not sure I will be trying the pool this trip.
After a pleasant afternoon by the pool, it was soon time to get ready for our first Gala night of the cruise.
Fondest Travel Memories 