World Cruise Day 34/152 - Sea Day - You ate how much?

Cruise day: 34/152
Ports days: 12
Sea days: 22
Countries: 4
Continents: 1
Ports: 8

Today started out like any other sea day - at sea.  We remain sailing smoothly with calm seas and 80-ish degree temperature.  We're about 1-degree north of the equator as I type this.  There is a planned equator-crossing party planned, but it is delayed until the 28th - it's the 26th today and we'll be crossing the equator shortly.  We are unclear if that is simply scheduling logistics or some other reason.

 This morning, and really all day, was hazy and mostly overcast. Before breakfast, a lone cargo ship was off on the horizon.

Today was shipping day, it appears, as we passed numerous cargo ships and tankers today.

Even though it was overcast, the Captain did a great job avoiding the rain that was around us.

Bridge lessons continued today with a refresher on opening minor suits.  Trivia was especially brutal today as it was all about the ship. We took some comfort in the fact that scores were universally lower today, but we still fell short in the points department.

Arlona crafted another masterpiece in art class today.  The goal was to evoke a feeling of movement with ocean waves.  I think she succeeded. 

Let's talk a little about food.  Feeding an entire ship full of people is a challenge.  But how big a challenge?  Well, we found out today when we watched another section of Viking's Behind the Scenes video on the TV.  This video is broken into several parts and is taking the place of in-person tours that cannot be conducted in the COVID-crazed world.  We're hoping they can resume before this cruise is over, but for now, a video is an excellent option.

We had already watched the section on the Bridge and Bridge operations.  Today, we watched the section on the galley.  Executive Chef, Thomas, walked us through the galley and the various prep stations.  There is a butcher on the ship who is responsible for all the meat preparation, steak cutting, and portions sizing.  They have a soup chef who prepares the various stocks and soups.  Pastry chefs, pasta chefs, basically chefs of all specialties work side by side crafting the delicious meals we continue to enjoy every day.

But, what does it take to feed everyone?  They ran down counts from a typical 14-day Viking cruise.  I then extrapolated that out to 136-days (rather than our specific 152-day agenda with the extra cruise at the end), assuming the Fort Lauderdale to Tilbury, England itinerary.  I further adjusted the numbers to account for the roughly 500 passengers rather than a full 900 passenger compliment.  Yes, I know the ship holds 930, but a typical full sailing is only 900 passengers to allow for empty rooms for emergency situations.  Given all that, here's what we can expect to go through by the time we hit London.

• Butter - 8,095 pounds
• Sugar - 13,492 pounds
• Fresh fruit - 10,794 pounds
• Fish - 48,571 pounds
• Crab legs - 7,556 pounds
• Meat / poultry - 97,143 pounds
• Fresh veggies - 118,730 pounds
• Gelato - 12,952 liters
• Eggs - 161,905

Of course, all this cannot come with when we sail initially, and that's where the logistics of a cruise like this really get complicated.  Remember that right before we arrived in Los Angeles, they announced a complete revision of the itinerary, changing directions out of LA from west to the South Pacific and  Asia to east to South America and the Mediterranian.  Beyond tours and tour operators, Viking had to completely reorganize restocking and refueling points.  Crazy stuff.  The bottom line is that we will continue to be well-fed and fueled, thanks to an amazing effort on Viking's part.

They continue to feature themed foods with an Australian-themed lunch in honor of Australia Day and an Asian-themed dinner with a variety of noodle and rice-based dishes as well as more general fare like chateaubriand.

We enjoyed a pre-dinner libation in the Explorer's Bar. As the singer and guitarist, King, was ready to start performing, the entire entertainment team popped in for a rousing rendition of Drunken Sailor (What do you do with a drunken sailor...).

The sun, hidden for most of the day, did peek out and give us a very nice farewell.

So tonight, we will cross the equator and shift from winter to summer.  We also will shift our clocks ahead an hour from US Eastern Standard Time (UTC -5) to Atlantic Time (UTC -4).

Five more sea days until Santiago and another time shift.  Until tomorrow...from the Southern Hemisphere.