Cruise day: 134/152
Ports days: 66
Sea days: 68
Countries: 22
Continents: 5
Ports: 49
Here's the debate: Is today a new country? I'm going with "no", and this is why. Flip back in your mind to cruise day 70 in Gibraltar. I counted Gibraltar as a new country, and that is technically incorrect. It is a British overseas territory somewhat similar to the concept of Puerto Rico as a U.S. territory, but not a country. But, if this cruise had stopped in Puerto Rico, I would have counted that as a stop in the U.S., therefore, I am counting the stop in Gibraltar as a British stop, so I am not increasing the country count today. And, for those of you keeping track, the count of 22 is our count, not the cruise count. That is because we went to France on an excursion, but the Viking Star did not stop in France. However, the Viking Star did make a technical stop in Ushuaia, Argentina but we were not allowed to disembark. I did not add that to our country count because we never set foot in Argentina. That means that our count and the Viking Star's count are both 22, but for different reasons. Is that all clear?
We docked in Portsmouth, England this morning. We woke up to the low 50s, overcast skies, and a little haze. Rain had been predicted all day. As has been the case in most ports, the forecast changed and we would up with sunny skies and mid-60s temps for the duration of our itinerary.
There is a naval base here, but it is also a commercial port.
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| This purpose-built ship, Bravewind, is designed specifically to transport wind turbine blades |
After breakfast, before we could head out, we needed to go through face-to-face immigration. Viking brought officials into The Restaurant and the process went smoothly and quickly. We were off to bus #8 for our panoramic tour around Portsmouth. We knew something was amiss when we just sat there and bus #9 took off. As soon as they left, we followed in hot pursuit. It became apparent that bus #9 was the lead bus for the tour and we were just following along with our guide and driver not really organizing our tour. This will be important later.
These are some of the sights we saw en route to the first of two stops. Most of the tour was conducted from the bus, so, unfortunately, a lot of the photos were taken through the dirty bus window, while in motion. I apologize for the motion blur and window glare.
Our guide gushed about how lovely their harbor was. Is it me, or does it seem a little dry?
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| We caught a view of the Spinnaker Tower, a 560-foot landmark observation tower, from across the bay |
We passed several forts. The first was Fort Nelson, named for Admiral Nelson, hero of the Battle of Trafalgar.
We went by a facility operated by a company named Qinetiq. They have a mock-up of a Type 45 Naval Destroyer, complete with the newest high-tech radar ball on top. This sits atop a hill outside town.
Our first stop was a five-minute photo stop atop the hill that rises 131-meters above the city.
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| Our Viking Star |
This is the second place we realized there was an issue with the tour. Everyone was back on the bus on time as requested. Then, we proceeded to sit there for 15-minutes. Why? Because bus #9 apparently wasn't ready to leave and apparently the bus #8 guide and driver couldn't figure out where to go without following bus #9. Wow. We finally got going again.
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| Another bunch of grounded boats |
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| The seaside |
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| An amusement pier - Southside Parade Pier |
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| Exploria - a soft play and bounce center for kids |
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| Southsea Castle |
We were all back on the bus on time as requested. Then, our guide said she was granting us another 15-minutes to tour. There was some protesting, given that we were all already on the bus. Then, the real story came out. She couldn't find some guests. As that became clear, several passengers spoke up reminding her that these passengers had all told her that they were going to make their own way back to the ship. Somehow, she had forgotten that. After more grumbling, we were finally underway again - this time without the guidance of bus #9 that had left some time earlier.
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| Portsmouth Cathedral |
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| HMS Warrior Maritime Museum |
We passed by a cute shopping area. Interestingly, every other tour bus on this same tour was stopped there. We sailed right by. When we asked why we weren't stopping our guide said that she was now on her own agenda and that wasn't on it. Uh...OK.
Some passengers expressed interest in being let off at the location where the shuttle buses were running. Since we were passing right by there, it made sense. Our guide acquiesced and then stated that she was being gracious and allowing these passengers to do this, even though it wasn't in the original plan, but she wants to go above and beyond to please everyone. Uh...OK. A few passengers got off and we headed back to the ship, or so we thought...
When we arrived at the port gate, there was a disagreement between the port agents and the guide and driver. In some incredible communications goof-up, either the port agents or our guide had the wrong information. Since the port agents call the shots, our bus had to turn around (after ten minutes of arguing) and then took us to the terminal. Once inside the terminal, we were subjected to a TSA-like review, removing belts, watches, and so on. We were supposed to reboard our bus on the opposite side of the terminal. When we exited, our bus was nowhere to be seen, but there was a shuttle bus to take us to the ship. Uh...OK.
Comparing notes with passengers on other excursions, there was no search and x-ray process for them, their bus just returned them to the ship as planned. Oh well, whatever. We got back on the ship and were treated to a nice, English lunch that featured shepherd's pie, sausage rolls, fish & chips, mushy peas, and other English favorites. We skipped the mushy peas.
Arlona read for a bit and took a walk while I worked on a photo project and wrote the prose that you are now reading.
Remember that wind turbine hauling ship? It departed this afternoon, giving us a better look at the 15 turbines it holds. If you look closely, you can see people on the deck, putting the size of these monsters into perspective.
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| You can spot a couple of crew members in orange on the lower left |
Arlona counted at least seven naval vessels in the area.
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| The Viking Star, sporting the port country's colors up high like in all ports... |
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| ...while also sporting her own colors on the back |
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| This is all strapped for shipping - I wonder if it is going out, or just came in |
At 5:15PM this afternoon, Viking requested that all passengers wear the coat that Viking provided and make their way to deck #3 forward, outside on the bow deck. The crew joined us and a Viking photographer took a photo of the passengers and crew to make the "2022" World Cruise - more evidence that the leg from Ft. Lauderdale to Los Angeles that departed on 12/21/2021 was not really part of the World Cruise. Still, it was a nice effort and we look forward to seeing the photo.
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| Cruise Director, Kate, who was calling the shots via a bullhorn |
(Thanks to Allan Yoshimura for the photos)
After that, we joined our Friday Manhattans friends in the Explorers' Bar for our final Friday Manhattan gathering. It's hard to believe that in three short days, they will all be departing. After drinks, we all had dinner together in the World Cafe, sharing stories and laughter.
When we returned to our room, these shirts were waiting for us.
Thanks to Viking for the shirts to mark our 5K walk yesterday. Thanks also for confirming that it is a "2022" World Cruise and that the Ft. Lauderdale to Los Angeles leg wasn't really the World Cruise. Notice a theme here?
We caught tonight's entertainer, James Fox, on our stateroom TV tonight. He is a talented singer and piano player.
There are a lot of events scheduled for tomorrow as the World Cruise winds down. Receptions, recognitions, and so on will dominate the day. Well, that, as bridge lessons and the final trivia wrap up, since tomorrow is a sea day before ending up in Tilbury - a port servicing London.
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