Monday – At Sea on the Caribbean

I forgot one detail from our visit to Pueblo del Maiz yesterday. We got to watch them make Mayan chocolate. And, of course, to taste it. Muy bien. The cocao bean is actually quite bitter, so the crushed beans are infused with melipona honey from local stingless bees (melipona beecheii) to make a delicious treat. By the way, Elaine had been to Cozumel many years ago (before we even met). First time there for me

Today is mostly sunny and hot and humid with an occasional brief rain squall. The ship is wonderfully air conditioned, so you only feel the heat on the pool deck or walking decks.

Today (and tomorrow) we are and will be at sea on the Caribbean heading from the island of Cozumel to Cartagena, Colombia. We’ll be on the underside of Cuba and will pass by (well out of sight) Jamaica on the port side and Honduras and Nicaragua off starboard.

Sea days are a challenge for pictures. A new feature on sea days will be pictures of different places to sit on board. Today we feature one small area of the Explorer Lounge:

A word about the ship’s restaurants. All fifteen Viking Ocean ships have the same restaurant configurations. There are:

The Restaurant – main dining room, no reservations required (BLD)
The World Cafe – Casual dining cafeteria style where you serve yourself from buffet stations (BLD)
Manfredi’s – Italian themed with a great steak – reservations required but no up charge (D)
Chef’s Table – Set menu with rotating themes – reservations required but no up charge (D)
Mamsen’s – Breakfast and lunch snacks and specializing in Norwegian waffles (BL)
The Winter Garden – Only serves afternoon tea
The Pool Grill – Specializing in hamburgers and hot dogs at lunch time (L)

We (or sometimes just I) always have breakfast in the World Cafe except for maybe once at Mamsen’s. Lunch is either in the World Cafe or the Pool Grill. We will have dinner twice in Manfredi’s and twice at Chef’s Table with the rest of our dinners split 60/40 between the World Cafe and the Restaurant. We would be perfectly happy eating every meal in the World Cafe – serve yourself, no waiting, enormous choice, delicious food.

We normally have cocktails at 5:00 PM in the Living Room bar with is located near the atrium on deck one. The atrium extends upward for three decks and today there is a welcome champagne reception for repeat Viking cruisers. I would guess 80% of the 980 passengers are repeat Viking cruisers. So our normally quiet happy hour with just a few regulars was very crowded tonight. Our lovely regular female bartender (from the Philippines) was busy but we were well taken care of. The Captain spoke briefly as did the delightful female Cruise Director (she’s in the last picture). And there was entertainment on the piano and from the four young vocalist entertainers.