World Cruise Day 55/152 - Sea Day shenanigans

Cruise day: 55/152

Ports days: 18
Sea days: 37
Countries: 6
Continents: 2
Ports: 11

And now, a word from our sponsor. 

When going to use the toilet in your cruise ship restroom, do you tense up right before the moment?  Does fear well up in you not knowing the outcome?  Do you hesitate or hold it in because you don't want to deal with a potential "situation"?  If this sounds like you, you might suffer from FA - Flush Anxiety.  FA is that feeling of fear you get every time you push the FLUSH button on your cruise ship toilet, never knowing whether the waste in the toilet will actually flush away or will simply remain there for you to enjoy. If FA has you paralyzed and unable to use your cruise ship restroom, then talk to your ship's doctor about alcohol. Alcohol can help reduce your fears and help you just not care whether your cruise ship toilet ever works again.  The side effects of alcohol can include off-key singing, naked hot tubbing, and going overboard...literally.  If FA is making your cruise less enjoyable, ask your ship's doctor whether alcohol is right for you.

Why the FA advertisement?  Take a guess!  The toilet isn't flushing.  Again.  After a few hours of no-flushy, finally, we were able to empty the bowl and go with confidence once again.  Still, the fear comes back with every button push...

You know, it's actually funny that this is happening again today.  Why you ask?  Here's a look at our General Manager, Johann's office today.

Yes, his desk and chair had been replaced by a desk and chair fashioned entirely out of rolls of toilet paper.  You never know what you'll see on a Viking cruise!  Perhaps this is poetic justice for our inability to flush our toilets today.  The universe works in mysterious ways.

Speaking of mysteries, it was a mystery who the perpetrator was for this heinous act of vandalism.  I don't know that we will ever know what criminal mastermind orchestrated this.  On a side note, it appears that at least one of our officers might have a secret sideline.

Not sure if that change in the officer board had anything to do with Johann's desk, but I have my suspicions...

It is another beautiful, sunny, mid-70s day here in the Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of Brazil. In the noon report, the Captain reported that there were "some COVID cases on the ship" but offered nothing more than that.  I discovered that some of the new crew that came on in Montevideo had tested positive.  They were tested before flying to Montevideo and then quarantined for a week before boarding.  Then they were tested again when they boarded.  A small percentage tested positive and are now in isolation until they are cleared.  The good news is that as of today, there are no passengers in isolation or quarantine.

After bridge this morning, we attended a Q&A with the ship's senior officers.  

The Captain, Chief Engineer, Financial Officer, General Manager, and representative for the ship's Physician were on stage taking questions from the guests.  The questions ranged from fuel usage and cost to navigation to how the ship was handing false-positive COVID tests.  The officers were very frank and forthcoming on all fronts and it was refreshing to see such openness.  I'm trying to get more details on some of the items and plan to include more in another blog post.

In a stunning turn of events, our trivia team, dubbed Wasted Tuition, won today with a perfect 15/15.  Here are all of today's questions and answers - and yes, I'm gloating.

• In Citizen Kane, what was "Rosebud"?
• A sled
• In what country did Lego originate?
• Denmark
• What animal has the most powerful bite?
• Hippopotamus
• Who sent Christopher Columbus on his voyage?
• King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella of Spain
• In what U.S. city would you find the Golden Gate Bridge
• San Francisco (yeah, that was an easy one)
• What physicist developed the theory of gravity?
• Sir Issac Newton
• How often are the Olympic Games held
• Four years (after clarification as the question was ambiguous - summer games?  Winter games? Any Olympics?)
• What sauce is made from egg yolks, lemon juice, vinegar, butter?
• Hollandaise
• Who wrote the classic song, White Christmas?
• Irving Berlin
• Through what part of a dog's body does a dog sweat?
• Paws
• What was Little Orphan Annie's dog's name?
• Sandy
• What type of shoe is named for the Italian word meaning "little knife"?
• Stiletto
• What is the third letter of the Greek alphabet
• Gamma
• What does the acronym SCUBA stand for?
• Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
• What book featured the March sisters, Jo, Meg, Amy, Beth?
• Little Women

It was a stunning win.  Fingers crossed for continued success tomorrow.

Arlona returned to the easel today, once again painting with acrylics.  Their mission was to paint palms.

Another great effort stretching her creative side.

Tonight, we had our Villager get-together.  Viking did their usual wonderful job setting up a gathering for the ten of us that all hail from The Villages, Florida.  We met on deck 8 forward above the Explorer's Bar.  The bar crew had drinks flowing and appetizers a-plenty. It's pretty unusual to have ten people all traveling from the same place on a world cruise, especially when you consider that none of us knew each other before this cruise.  The funny thing is, two couples had cruised together before.  Gloria & Allan and Debbie & Roger were all on the 2019-2020 world cruise that got cut short and they all flew home from Dubai.  They never met on that cruise.  Since then, Debbie & Roger have moved to The Villages.  In another interesting aside, I had previously written about meeting Susan & Dave on this cruise and then finding out they retired and moved to The Villages from Muskegon, Michigan, where Arlona grew up. Funny how things work sometimes.  

The Village People
George & Rosalyn, Gloria & Allan, Susan & Dave, Debbie & Roger, Garry & Arlona

 After about an hour, eight of us headed down to The Restaurant and enjoyed a nice dinner together.  It was great getting to know more Villagers and simply spending time with very nice people.

Tomorrow is sea day 3/9 en route to the Cape Verde Islands.