Sandy and Jim WC 24-25

 What was supposed to be a 5-day transit between Hawaii and Bora Bora has turned into a 6-day trip directly to Papeete because of a medical emergency onboard! We guess that a 138-day itinerary is bound to have some changes somewhere along the line. That being said, it has been a pleasant trip southbound with 2 more days to go. One of our new routines is to visit Alvin in the Explorer Lounge for a cocktail before dinner. One evening, we had a very enjoyable gathering in the restaurant with our Villages group and two of the crew officers, Nico and Adrian. We all learned a lot about life on board, crew contracts, and general ship workings. On Wednesday, we reached the Equator, and the crew put on the usual ceremony for all of the Polliwogs who have never crossed before. Each individual must bow down to and/or kiss the fish before jumping into the pool - thereby becoming Shellbacks! Joe and Julie were amongst the rather-large group who participated as well as Matt (cruise director) and...

SATURDAY, JANUARY 11   Viking Sky arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii around 8AM for a 15 hour stay to tour all around Oahu -- Honolulu, the North Shore, Waikiki Beach with the famous surfer Duke Kamehameha statue. Then it was off to Diamond Head and the Kolohana lookout. Afterwards, back to the ship. Our stay concluded with an Evening of Hawaiian Tradition – a Luau!!!!  The “Drums of Polynesia” gave an evening performance on board the ship which included the youngest performer – an adorable 3-yr old learning the hip movements!!!!   A wonderful time in Honolulu and then off to Kauai. SUNDAY, JANUARY 12 A beautiful moon sailing to Kauai and into the harbor entrance of Lihue at 8:30AM.  Our tour today was to the Kilohana Plantation where sugar baron Gaylord Wilcox built a 16,000 sq. ft. plantation estate at the center of 26,000 acres of sugar.  We began our tour on the open-air Kauai Plantation Railway taking us through the rare tropical plant gardens as well as the ani...

  Monday, January 6 – Friday, January 10, 2025 Highlights of Five Days at Sea   The ocean began rather calm on Monday but gradually the waves gained more height and the ship began rocking.   The seasick pills were being handed out by the baskets!!!!!   Here is a look at our course for these five sea days. Attended a lecture by a couple who spent 17 years traveling to the harshest and most remote regions on Earth on off road motorcycles!!!!  This adventursome couple thought they could circumvent the globe in one year and with all the mishaps and injuries that happened in the months ahead, their adventure took them into their 17 th year on the road!!!!!   We had a meeting of The Villages contingent in the Atrium to see how everyone was enjoying the cruise so far, especially now that the Los Angeles-boarding group has joined us. Took the opportunity for a group photo. Team Baggo (or Corn Hole) is ready to go every morning.  Jim’s team wins this...

  Sunday, January 5 We arrive in LA which is the busiest port in the US by container volume and the 10 th busiest worldwide when combined with Long Beach.   The sunrise and clouds coming into the port were spectacular. A busy morning planning meeting of the Viking Sky chefs as close to 500 passengers who began this cruise in Ft. Lauderdale disembark in LA and 500 additional World Cruise passengers board the ship. Sandy has scheduled a bus tour of Malibu and the J. Paul Getty Villa Museum which opened in 1974 and embodies Getty’s love for classical art and architecture.  Jim, on the other hand, took a shuttle to Long Beach and watched the Washington Commanders vs. Dallas Cowboys football game at Hooters before playing pickleball at a nearby pickleball court!!!!! Highlights from the Getty Villa Tour Mummy Forensics – Computed tomography scanning - a noninvasive imaging process – was performed on this mummy of Herakleides which allowed conservators and doctors to see in...

  Jan 4 A sea day for us and the seas have been very calm – so, perhaps a tour of our ship is in order!   Very early moon over the ocean as we sail along to LA!!!!   Can’t begin the day without a beautiful cup of cappuccino!!!   These birds called Brown Boobies fly along with the ship for miles and miles hoping for special treats!!!   Our tour is led by the Hotel GM Ronald Schweighardt from Austria.  Viking Sky has a passenger capacity of 930 with 465 crew members – 401 of those crew members report to Ronald.  We begin below deck where the all-night elves have taken down all the Christmas decorations and packed them up for storage in LA.   These magnificent cooks and chefs working in the galley prepare the most amazing meals and snacks several times a day!!!!  We’re “trying” to watch our waistlines!!!  During this past week, a very artistic brunch was served on the pool deck.  Various staff members were assembling the Viking Gift ba...