Gdansk, Poland - Sunday

07-05: Gdansk, Poland. We are in Gdansk, Poland again. We thought about getting off, but it's very cloudy and just pouring rain off and on, so it's just not worth it. We were going to take a historical car tour through the city but not in this weather. It was sweltering when we were here before on the first cruise. We spent time this afternoon working on our Africa trip. We went to deck 8 above the explorer lounge to watch our sail away. On these ships, they don't do any sail away festivity of any kind. The only option for the afternoon was watching a documentary on Poland that was running in a loop all afternoon. Tonight was another seafood extravaganza in the Café. It was just amazing with heaping platters of everything you can think of: Lobster, King Crab, crab claws, prawns, shrimp, muscles, scallops, mussels, clams – all fresh and delicious! There were also premade salads and poke bowls of several kinds to choose from. The food on Viking is really very good and served at an appropriate temperature! 

At Sea - Saturday - 4th of July

07-04: At Sea, Happy 4^th of July! The seas are rough today. I took a Dramamine first thing this morning to make sure. For lunch they had a special sandwich event scheduled for the Aquavit Terrace. Due to weather, it was moved inside to the Wintergarden next to the grill. They served both Cuban and Ruben sandwiches. They were served nice and hot, so they were pretty good. We played a little backgammon after that. Stuart was tired (probably from the Dramamine) and my back is not doing great today. He also had to tweak his presentation so things are lined up with the stops in the reverse order of the first cruise. At dinner they were giving out some small margaritas as we entered, something different. I am surprised there is nothing mentioning the 4^th of July. There was a flag cake in the buffet area. The majority of people on this cruise are from the USA. Of course, they are showing World Cup either… I have hopes for tomorrow since Brazil is playing Norway. This is a Norwegian line so maybe? We skipped the show with country music, played some cards, and to bed early.

Tallin, Estonia - Friday

07-03: Tallin, Estonia: Our second visit here was uneventful as we did not get off the ship. We played some games and rested. There is always something to work on for laptops or photos. I had my nails done today and that took almost 2 hours out of the middle of the day, just for a manicure! It is nice but sure took a long time. We went to trivia, skipped the show, and enjoyed the sunset. There has been rain off-and-on all day. The candied ginger is out, as are the green apples. I guess rough seas are expected. 

Leaving Stockholm - Thursday

07-02: Leaving Stockholm. We left around 2:30p today. Stuart was in the Explorer’s with a commentary as we passed through the Stockholm Archipelago. It was well attended. He has several other small obligations today so I stayed in the cabin and worked on photos until the captain’s welcome and show time. Stuart and the other speakers were introduced at that time. We spent just a bit of time in Torshavn before it closed, then we played cards and went to bed. Tonight we turn the clock 1 hour ahead.