World Cruise Day 135/152 - Sea Day - The farewell begins

Cruise day: 135/152

Ports days: 66
Sea days: 69
Countries: 22
Continents: 5
Ports: 49

This is the last sea day of the official World Cruise.  We will have two more sea days - one on the way to Bergen and one on the Viking Homelands cruise, but as far as the World Cruise goes, this is it.  This was our final bridge lesson with our partners, Kathy and Steve as they will be leaving us in a couple of days in London.

L-R, Garry, Kathy, Instructor Agnes, Arlona, Steve

We now have proof that we are at least at some level, trainable

In our post-lesson play with our partners, Steve had a horrible accident.  His story is that I bid Two Spades and he overcalled, so I bit him.  In reality, he tried to stop a glass from toppling, but it broke and he cut his pinkie finger.  It took three stitches, so he now has a World Cruise bridge war story to tell.

Steve looks thrilled, don't you think?

The advanced players organized a surprise reception for Agnes and invited all of us beginner newbies to join in.

We expected to find out who won the progressive trivia today, but that will be revealed in an awards presentation later in the afternoon.  Today was just a fun trivia featuring all repeat questions that different crew members thought were fun.  Lucky for us, we remembered them all and we scored a perfect 15/15.  

• In 1966, Lohn Lennon famously said that the Beatles were more popular than...what/who?
• Jesus
• The Parthenon in Athens is dedicated to whom?
• Athena
• Russet, Russian Banana, and Kestral are varieties of what?
• Potato
• How many legs does a lobster have?
• 10
• What is the most common eye color?
• Brown
• What bridge was the first to be built over the Thames in London?
• London Bridge
• What mode of transportation had an early version known as the Boneshaker?
• Bicycle
• What object does a male penguin offer a female to woo her?
• Pebble
• Who is the tallest Teletubby?
• Tinky Winky
• What creature is said to predict six more weeks of winter if it sees its shadow?
• Groundhog
• What was the occupation of William James Morrison, the inventor of cotton candy?
• Dentist
• In what child's game are most playing cards spread out in a disorderly pile known as the pond or ocean?
• Go Fish
• What land did Puff the Magic Dragon come from?
• Honalee

Assistant Cruise Director, Sarah-Leanne, presented each team with a small gift bag with some treats - a gracious act from a fun game host.  We also received these lovely certificates.

We are just plodding through the English Channel today at about 9MPH as we meander toward Tilbury.  The Channel is like glass.

This afternoon, the art instructor hosted an art exhibition of the works her students produced.  Arlona put four of her best works on display.  

At 5:15PM, Viking hosted an awards ceremony in the Atrium.  The guests who played Baggo (cornhole) were honored for soundly defeating the officers and Viking all-stars in a protracted Baggo battle that lasted the entire cruise.  The participants in the 5K/10K/21K walk and run were also honored as well as folks that participated in various ship activities.

Cruise Consultant Hamed Esfahanian, adroitly summed up our cruise with the following prose:

World Cruise 21 - 22 

World Cruise twenty-one, twenty-two, 

We missed a few ports, about twenty-one or twenty-two, 

 

You stayed with us through the pandemic, and change of itinerary, 

Despite the futile objections, from the CDC, 

 

A South America U-turn, then across the sea, 

Then a Suez Canal U-turn, combined with a European Medley, 

 

So here’s to the crazy ones, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in square holes, 

To the ones who play bridge, trivia, and those who throw bean bags into round holes, 

 

To the early risers, the walk a-milers, runners, gym goers, Mihajlo’s yogis, 

To the brunchers and the lunchers and the people who attend afternoon tea, 

 

To the bloggers, photographers, Rotarians, origami artists, 

To the guests who close the bars, the wine tasters and mixologists, 

 

To the prancers, Sarah-Leanne’s line dancers, the choir singing in one voice, 

Here’s to the guest in the Star Theatres, who applaud and rejoice, 

 

To the art class masters, the dream catchers, water colors and acrylics, 

To those who attend Port Talks and Lectures and come out enriched, 

 

The Mahjong and Scrabble gamers, the card players, Jigsaw Puzzlers, around the table they sit, 

Not to mention the Knitters, who get together, and like to have a good old stitch, 

 

To the Bible Studies, the Sunday Service, where they all pray to the Lord, 

To the Friends of Bill W, then the smokers social, up on Deck 8, Starboard, 

 

Here’s to every single guest onboard, you will all be sorely missed, 

But not to worry, we get to do it all over again, when we welcome you back aboard a Viking ship. 

We had dinner at Manfredi's with good friends, Kathy & Steve and Nancy & Jim before heading to the Star Theater for tonight's Captain's Farewell Celebration.

I was able to catch the sun's fiery farewell before heading into the theater.

The show, coordinated by Cruise Director, Kate, featured all of the entertainers with song and dance as well as most of the 467 crew from 38 nations and photos from the journey. There were a few surprises along the way and it turned out to be a great evening honoring the cruise and its participants.

The new featured vocalists

The entertainment team got the guests involved

90+ year-old Don, a well-known guest, got up on stage for a dance

Cruise Director, Kate

Captain Lars

General Manager, Wendy, and Financial Officer, Chris

Senior officers

Indonesian crew doing a traditional act

Assistant Cruise Director, Sarah-Leanne

Vocalists Beth & Poppy

Assistant Cruise Director, Damian

The exiting vocalists (left) and incoming vocalists (right)

Captain Lars, Head Chef Thomas, and Cruise Director Kate

Captain Olav made a surprise appearance and received a standing ovation from an appreciative audience

Captain Olav kept a journal of the cruise, with notes and photos  - Cruise Consultant, Hamed serving as auctioneer, auctioning off the book to benefit the crew wellness fund - it sold for $1,600

They also auctioned off the Norway flag that flew over the Viking Star for the World Cruise - it sold for $750, again benefiting the crew wellness fund

Nearly every crew member came into the theater at one point or another, making for a very memorable evening and a great sign-off for this adventure we all shared

Throughout the evening, a variety of photos of the journey were shown on the screen.  I was honored to be asked to provide a majority of those photos.  The celebration went on for quite a while and really put an exclamation point onto the cruise.  What a journey!

Tomorrow, we dock in Tilbury, servicing London.  We have an excursion to see the highlights of London.  We will share a final evening with friends that will be departing as we prepare to continue our journey to the Viking Homelands.