World Cruise Day 32/152 - Sea Day - Month #2 - It's the people that make the trip

Cruise day: 32/152
Ports days: 11
Sea days: 21
Countries: 4
Continents: 1
Ports: 7

After yesterday's photo-heavy post, I thought that you, my dedicated readers that have been faithfully following along on this world adventure, deserved a short and light post today.  I swear that it has nothing to do with the fact that I don't have much to write today.  Yeah, that's it - that's the ticket.  I'm giving the readers a little break! 

Last night, when we returned to our room, we found another present from Viking.

Everyone received a canvas tote bag for hauling your travel (or excursion) essentials. It is a nice bag with a zippered opening and sturdy handles.  This was unexpected and a nice touch from Viking.

Today was our typical sea day with a bridge lesson in the morning.  We decided to only continue with beginner's bridge and not attend intermediate as it is simply too much bridge.  We also met our bridge partners from class later in the afternoon and attempted some social bridge.  That was an adventure as we talked each other through the bidding process and playing the hand.  It did help reinforce some of the concepts that we have learned.  I expect that we will continue doing that on some of the sea days.

We came "that close" in trivia today with 13/15.  14/15 would have put us in the points.  Per the new rule, how long can a golfer look for a lost ball?  Three minutes, down from the previous five minutes.  What part of the brain is responsible for hearing and language?  Temporal lobe.  Perhaps if our temporal lobes had been firing better, we would have won.

We spent some time on the balcony enjoying the weather, the ocean, and doing a little reading.

The chef continues to impress with terrific offerings at both lunch and dinner in the World Cafe.

The prawns at both lunch and dinner were terrific as were the other items, like salmon and roast beef.

This cruise is not like any other cruise we have taken.  Previously, the longest single cruise we had been on was 15 days.  The longest cruise trip was 21 days with a 12-day and 9-day pair of back-to-back cruises.  These limited-duration cruises are very much like a regular short cruise.  You get on, do some stuff, go some places, get off, and go home. Occasionally you meet some people, but usually, people go about their own business.

On this cruise, we will be in close proximity to a few hundred others for over four months.  That changes the dynamic.  You see the same faces day after day in the hallways.  You see the same people at trivia.  You see the same people at meals. What happens is that you wind up making connections, given that you know you will be together for an extended period of time.

We have met other folks from The Villages, FL (where we live) that we didn't know before this cruise.  We've had meals and conversations.  One couple recently put down roots in the Villages after traveling non-stop for several years.  The other couple has taken seven world cruises and moved to The Villages last July. We've met wonderful Canadians that have been nomads for the past few years, traveling without really having a home base. We met a couple from Colorado and it turns out he was college roommates with a guy I went to high school with. We had dinner with a couple from Georgia that were great to spend time with.  We had dinner with a son and his dad who are taking a world cruise together.  We met part of a family of four who is doing a family world cruise.  We play cards with a nice couple from Virginia.  We played cards with a fun couple from Arizona that turned out to also hail from Michigan, about 25 miles south of where we used to live.  We had dinner with a couple and it turned out that he went to the same junior high and high school as Arlona, in Muskegon, Michigan.  We met a couple from Brazil that was wonderful to talk with. We met a single lady that is cruising solo - a gutsy move I'm not sure I could do. We regularly have breakfast with a couple that lives about an hour south and west of us toward the gulf side of Florida that we met because we are all on this cruise.  Today, we had lunch with a couple and he went to my crosstown rival high school. There are others that we've shared a smile with, a meal with, a drink with, or just a nod of the head with.  There are connections here that just need to be discovered.

The bottom line is that this ship is filled with a bunch of people that all share a love of travel.  We've all ridden down different roads to all arrive here, now.  And if we spend a little time and effort, we can find more connections, and that is a wonderful thing.

Tomorrow, Fuerte Amador (Panama City), Panama, and a jungle boat tour.