Friday, November 23, 2018- At Sea North of Cuba

Friday, November 23, 2018- At Sea North Cuban Coast

We started the day with breakfast at Mamsen’s, a small counter next to the Explorer lounge on deck 7, just one deck up from our cabin 6016 on deck 6.  We were finally able to taste authentic Norwegian Brunost, which is an iconic brown cheese made from whey, milk and cream.  We had it served with authentic Norwegian waffles (thin and slightly sweet), whipped cream and fresh raspberries and blueberries. 

The quality of the fruit was excellent.  The Brunost has a slightly caramel taste and a texture like American cheese. I can see why it has become a staple item in Scandinavian diets.  They also served a fresh smoothie of the day, which was carrot and mango.  That was yummy, and I was able to have a cafe latte at no extra charge.  They also served a variety of danish and cinnamon rolls, although not the horizontally rolled ones we recently sampled in Finland.  The pastries were fresh and well prepared. 

 

The Explorer lounge has an upper level on deck 8 that is a sort of library/museum/reading room full of interesting objects.  There are gorgeous fossils, giant crystals, and even a spectacularly displayed meteorite suspended horizontally in midair by a magnet.There are also models of boats used by Thor Heyerdahl including the Kon-Tiki, which was a balsa wood raft used to travel from Peru to Polynesia in 1947. There is also a model of the Viking burial ship that is on display at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway, which we had seen in person during our Baltic cruise in July.

 

 

 After breakfast, we did a little guilt reduction at the fitness center.  At 9AM, we were able to find an elliptical and reclined cycle without waiting. I did a jog around Lake Merced on the elliptical. 

Next on the itinerary was a cooking demonstration done in the Star Theater where they prepared Thai shrimp and shrimp quesadillas with freshly made guacamole and salsa.

Our first Viking Trivia was held at noon, where we sat with a gentleman who grew up near Olympia, attended the UW, and then did graduate school in Massachusetts.  Then he worked in Washington DC, and now lives in Orlando. We managed to miss winning by 2 points, missing the capital city of the Faroe Islands (Torshavn), how many points the crown of the Statue of Liberty has (7), the use of crocodile dung by ancient Egyptians (contraception), which Bond movie first featured Lady Judy Dench as “M” (Golden Eye), and what is collected by a deltiologist (postcards).

 

We visited the poolside grill for lunch and found that they offer a variety of gourmet burger and hot dogs.  We had Pancho Villa burgers, which featured a 5oz angus patty, blue cheese, habanero aioli and arugula.  They were served with excellent seasoned fries and cole slaw.  

The 4PM guest lecture featured Captain Paul Eschenfelder, who is a political consultant for governments in the Americas, who did a review of the history of Cuba, but he really managed to avoid any uncomfortable political subjects, instead managing to talk about all the “old” cars, which are invariably Franken-cars with bodies that look like 1950’s era Chevy’s and DeSoto’s, but under the fiberglas and bondo skins are Russian and Toyota mechanicals.  

Afternoon tea in the Wintergarden was filled to capacity, but the wait staff offered to serve us tea in Mamsen’s instead, so we managed to have tea.  They serve a very attractive tower platter with finger sandwiches and sweets, as well as scones.  The highlight was the actual tea, served in individual pots with loose leaf tea of your choosing from many different varieties.  We each had Earl Gray, which was very aromatic.  However, the overall experience in Mamsen’s was inferior to the Princess tea service because we missed the white gloved waiters hovering over us.  They did have a live violin/cello duet playing in the Wintergarden, which was very elegant.  The tea cakes and finger sandwiches were on par with the Princess teas.  We met a couple from North Carolina over tea who have a daughter-in-law who is a Professor of Epidemiology at the UW, and head of the department.  It’s possible Ciara may end up taking a course from her. 

 

At 5:30PM, we attended a lecture on Cuban Crocodiles, which are the only crocodiles with 4 chambered hearts.  Most other reptiles have 3 chambered hearts.  Those cuban crocodiles were also very clever, hunting in packs to bring down giant land sloths the size of elephants in the era preceding the last ice age.  They are very endangered, but what threatens them is invasion of American crocodiles who interbreed, creating hybrids. This lecturer looked more like a stage dancer than a college professor, and was a very charismatic and dynamic speaker.  Janet said she was just showing off. 

 

A remarkably full moon rose over the horizon as we walked a few laps on the Promenade deck, and then ended up at the Aquavit Terrace on the stern for a Caribbean cuisine buffet, which probably undid all our exercise efforts for the day in one fell swoop.  They had blackened fish, jerk chicken skewers, spicy Caribbean crab cakes, jerk pulled pork and vegetable seafood soup.  The soups on this cruise have all be quite good.  

 

We closed the evening with the Captain’s reception in the Star Theater which introduced the management staff, the Viking lounge band, which looked like an all Filipino outfit, and the Viking Vocal Soloists, who did a couple acapella Billy Joel medleys.  The lounge band was quite good and the vocal soloists were of equal caliber with the vocal soloists on Princess, but perhaps better looking.  They did pass out free champagne, but since the beer and wine are free flowing during dinner, the champagne isn’t that big a deal, but it was a better tasting champagne than some of what we have encountered on Princess.  

 

Tomorrow is our first Cuban shore excursion.  The ship’s port of call lecturer is saying that this is the very first time any cruise ship of this size has attempted to enter the port of Santiago de Cuba. All other cruise ships have previously had to anchor out and shuttle passengers via tenders into the harbor, which has been a half hour ride each way.  We will have a local pilot on board and transit of the harbor entrance is limited to daylight hours, so we must leave at 4PM prompt to make it.  The ship’s crew says that they will open-up the bow for passengers to view the transit- and they say it’s extremely rare for them to grant passengers access to the bow of the ship.  It’s usually a crew-only area of the ship.  So a few firsts.  Hopefully, we don’t end up on the world news for getting stuck in the channel.  We have ordered breakfast on our balcony for the first time tomorrow morning.  Again, something nice that Viking offers without extra charge.