Day 6: At Sea
Today was a day at sea, so I'll introduce you to the boat. We were on the
Viking Sea, one of the first ships of Viking Ocean Cruises, a sister company to Viking River cruises. They currently have 3 virtually identical ocean ships, which carry about 1,000 passengers each, and are done up in a Scaninavian motif. The passengers were about 90% older Americans with a few European and Asian people scattered in.
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| Viking Sea |
We signed up for a "guaranteed Veranda" room, and were upgraded to what they called a "Veranda Penthouse". I wouldn't actually call it a penthouse, but it was very roomy, and nicely furnished.
The bathroom was one of the nicest I've had on a ship, with a real shower (with glass walls), and 3-ply toilet paper!
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| Out on the veranda before leaving Rome |
As I mentioned, the ship's interior was a modern Scandinavian design, with lots of light. Because of its size, we never encountered crowds or long lines.
The main pool can be covered with a sliding glass roof, which was good, because daytime highs were in the high 50's and low 60's. The pool was on the small side, but the water was heated. There was also a big screen at the end of the pool, where they showed movies at night.
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| Main pool with the roof open |
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| Indoor deck chairs |
Next to the pool was an area called the Wintergarden, where they served tea every afternoon.
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| View from the Wintergarden to the pool |
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| Inside the Wintergarden |
There were lots of lounges all over the boat, laid out like living rooms. Instead of a central library, there were books available in all of the lounges.
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| A lounge |
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| Another lounge |
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| Yet another lounge |
The theater was relatively small (about 300 seats) and was used for lectures and demonstrations.
There were only a couple of shops on board (which was fine with me). Thankfully, there were no art auctions or Colombian Emerald sales. There was no casino, but there were a couple of what appeared to be video blackjack tables in one of the lounges.
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| One of the gift shops, selling Scandinavian clothing |
The center of the ship was a 3-story atrium, surrounded by lounges.
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| The Atrium |
At the top of the atrium stairway there was a huge video screen, displaying a series of photos.
There was also a Scandinavian history museum on board.
For eating, there was a buffet restaurant, a main sit-down dining room, and a couple of specialty restaurants. There was also a Scandinavian deli that served things like steak tartare and smoked salmon (but not lutefisk).
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| Seating at the buffet |
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| The main dining room |
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| One of the specialty restaurants--an Italian Grill |
There was a large spa area on one of the lower decks, featuring a
Thalossotherapy pool (basically a pool-sized hot tub) and heated lounge chairs.
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| The Thalossotherapy pool |
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| Heated lounges |
During the day and early evening there was a pianist (whose name was Kalman, the first person I've heard with that name since my great-uncle), and a classical trio.
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| Kalman, the pianist |
During the day at sea, there wasn't much to see, except for passing by the island of Stromboli, which is an active volcano.
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| Stromboli in the distance |
Day 7: Malta
This was our third trip to Malta. Viking Cruises offers a free shore excursion at each port, as well as several that you can pay for. The free excursion was a tour of the main island, and since we had visited the principal town, Valletta, on our two previous trips, we opted for the free tour.
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| View of the cruise dock area in Valletta from the ship |
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| On our way out of Valetta |
After leaving Valletta, we headed up the coast towards the north part of the island, to St. Paul's Bay.
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| St. Paul's Bay |
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| Just to prove I was there |
From there, we went back down the middle of the island to
Mdina, an ancient walled city, which dates from the 8th century.
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| Mdina, from a distance |
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| A local driver outside Mdina |
Unfortunately, we only had time for a 5 minute trip inside the walls, but since we had been there on a previous trip, it wasn't a total loss.
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| Entering Mdina |
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| Inside Mdina |
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| Inside Mdina |
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| Exterior view of the walls of Mdina |
From Mdina, we headed towards the west coast and stopped at the Blue Lagoon (not to be confused with the one in Italy).
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| The Blue Lagoon of Malta |
Next, we headed towards the southeast coast and the fishing town of
Marsaxlokk, where we wandered around for a while.
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| Harbor in Marsazlokk |
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| A church in Marsaxlokk |
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| Another view of the harbor |
Finally, we returned to the ship, and spent the rest of the afternoon on board.
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| View of Valletta from the ship |
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| Another view of central Valletta |
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| Lounging by the pool in Valletta |
Coming soon:
Days 8 and 9 -- Tunisia and Cagliari, Sardinia
