The seas today were the roughest we’ve experienced so far, but neither Tim nor I has been bothered by seasickness. Instead, Tim is fighting a cold that had been passed around among many of the passengers last week. Wisely, he stayed in the room most of the day.
We watched Guest Lecturer Dr. Claudia Hackbarth’s talk on “North American Time Machine” on our stateroom TV and traveled over three million years to learn about the continent and its earliest inhabitants.
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| North American Time Machine - Past-Present-Future? |
In the afternoon, after a lovely nap, we got together with Peggy and Jim, our “neighbors” from Loveland. We met Peggy and Jim last summer, and they just boarded the ship yesterday. It was a very nice reunion.
The Viking Welcome Reception was the highlight of the evening, and the party started with music by the Viking Band. Resident Vocalists Gabriel and Cecilia joined them, and Gabriel amazed everyone with his rendition of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.” Gabriel’s voice was a dead ringer for Armstrong’s.
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| Resident Vocalists Gabriel and Cecilia |
Cruise Director Matt welcomed Captain Markus to the stage to a rousing round of applause, and the Captain then presented the senior officers, several of whom had joined us in Los Angeles. Hotel General Manager Ronald and Guest Services Manager Nico arrived just in time after performing their duties of assisting a passenger.
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| Captain Markus Is Very Personable |
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| Viking's Senior Officers |
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| Hotel General Manager Ronald and Guest Services Manager Made It to the Stage |
Matt then introduced the onboard cultural enrichment team, who will offer lectures, workshops, and roundtable discussions to help us better understand the destinations which we will be visiting. It looks like a very interesting group of experts.
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| The Cultural Enrichment Team |
Matt seemed to be especially proud to introduce the entertainment team, including Resident Pianist Enrico, the Viking Vocalists, and the Viking Band, who gave us a taste of what we could expect over the next several months. Matt and Assistant Cruise Director Tara also treated us to solo performances.
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| The Viking Vocalists, Tara, and Matt |
The program concluded with a unique collaboration between Sissel, a Norwegian soprano who appeared via video, and the Viking Vocalists singing “Welcome to My World.”
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| Welcome to My World |
I rarely go to the evening entertainment because I need my downtime at the end of the day. However, whenever I do attend, I always enjoy the performances. I think I’ll make it a point to at least watch the shows on Viking Live TV.
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