Never Bored on Board

 

This is the final wrap-up of our January Ocean-to-Ocean trip around Cape Horn.  We traveled on the Viking Ship Jupiter for two plus weeks.  I have posted about  each of the ports we visited and about one especially scenic day while aboard ship (here).  Because of the distance traveled, this cruise included seven days completely on Board (interspersed with amazing shore excursion days).     On most of the at sea days,  the ocean view didn't change much at all. 

 

But I can't imagine anyone could  be "bored on board" because there was plenty to do on the ship.  Viking says its trips are a journey that will nourish and expand your mind  (Torstein Hagen, founder and chairman) and it also advertises itself for what it does not have.  (There are no children on board and no casinos. )  There are enrichment opportunities on-board.  This cruise had three guest lecturers  and  an on-board historian.  There was a planetarium.  There are port talks the evening before each excursion day with information about the places we could see.   Below are a few pictures of the ship.  I didn't take many. 

 

 Top: Our stateroom in the evening — curtain on sliding door opens to balcony;  Hallway on our deck; one of the five restaurants on board (outdoor walking deck can be seen through the window)

Bottom row: One of the reading nooks near the lounge area;  the theater when we got there early one time; Atrium  (more quiet seating on upper balcony, piano and cocktail lounge below)

There was live piano and violin musicians  in the living room/lounge  area each afternoon and evening — (more often on the days the ship was at sea).    There are on-board musicians and singers and on some nights   guest entertainers, so you could see a different show in the theater every night. There is also a spa and pool and late-night dance music which we passed on because we  are getting old by that time we were exhausted from all the earlier activity.

The large scale black and white  photograph (top center) in the collage above is one of many photographs displayed along all of the ship corridors.  Fin Serck-Hansonn, a Norwegian photographer  has traveled for Viking to many of the line's destinations.  His pictures show architecture, people, landmarks and natural surroundings — these displays turn each long corridor into an art gallery (and  travel dream list).  The landmark pictured is, however, of a place we've been lucky enough to visit in person.

Viking is a Norwegian line and most of the art and historic replicas  around the ship are related to that country, most especially to the Viking age.  Each of the elevator landings display reproductions of ancient runestones.  

I found these especially interesting because we have seen original petroglyphs and pictographs in a few places in both North and Central America and the similarities are always so amazing.  Please click on the photo of the sign below for some of the history.  As you may notice on the poster, you can also listen to a brief talk about each display with earphones which are provided in your stateroom.

 

click to enlarge

Both the up and down stair landings on all six floors of the ship displayed large embroidered reproductions of the Bayeaux Tapestry.  While fascinating and beautifully done, these had me wondering why  reproductions from a museum in France were featured when we were on a Norwegian ship traveling in South America.  But there is a Viking link.   

I learned that the Battle of Hastings which is a major part of the tapestry was perceived as a Viking victory for William the Conquerer who was a Norman King and at that time Normandy was Viking territory.   (This is one reason why there is a historian on board the ship.  And if I mis-interpreted anything  it is my fault, not the ship's.)

 

There was also an animated version of the Tapestry with explanations on a small screen in one section of the ship's living room.

 

 

All of the lectures given on the ship were taped and could be watched later on your in-room TV screen.   Some   shore excursions lasted quite late and lectures would be given before some passengers were back on board.  We watched both ways.    The enrichment team of three experts included a resident astronomer who was on loan from NASA; a professor of Geography and Archeology with a specialty in Latin America;  and a lawyer/professor of international constitutional law.     

I should also mention here that we enjoyed just relaxing in one of the many little book-lined nooks in the public areas of the boat (often with our own e-books) and of course eating and drinking in the living room/lounge/restaurants.  I never remember to take pictures of our food, but we were happy with our choices. 

We always tried to be awake and at a window on days when the ship was coming in to port and docking.   It is interesting to watch experts at work.  Below are some of those pictures.

 

There is so much work involved in keeping the ship running smoothly  and we appreciated the hard work of the staff — chefs, cooks, waiters, room stewards, as well as pilots, mechanics , dock hands and so many more behind the scenes doing a good job.  Everyone we dealt with seemed without fail to enjoy their jobs and did a great job as far as we were concerned.

On this cruise we visited and learned something about three new-to-us countries and  unexpectedly a fourth one when our return trip took us from Buenos Aires Argentina to Sao Paulo Brazil on our way to Miami.  

 

But sadly, the only thing I can legitimately claim to have learned about Brazil is that the Sao Paulo Airport is very busy and very confusing.     Running around an extremely busy airport definitely shouldn't count at all as a visit, but it was (to say the least) quite an interesting day at the almost end of our trip and I didn't want to forget it, so the picture above is of our only souvenir of Brazil.   

Sunset after a day at sea 

 

I am forever grateful that we were able to see all we did on this cruise.   It was an amazing journey and we loved it, but the air travel to and from was long and kind of difficult. We understand that this was partly due to the fact that we had to arrange the journey to start in one place (Oregon) and end at another (Florida), but also partly due to the fact that air travel is just not a whole lot of fun anymore.   We probably  won't do anything as complicated as this again.  But it was so worth it this time.   

 

LINKING:  Thank you to the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;  TUESDAY TREASURES;  SIGNS SIGNS;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY; and SKYWATCH FRIDAY;