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Published: August 26th 2018
Our final port day before Boston on the Fantastic Voyage of the Vikings is upon us. It doesn’t seem like a journey that began for us about seven weeks ago; yet, here we are. Today we have a fairly early start and an even longer day planned, and our prospects for making it back for Team Trivia in the afternoon are not good. We head for the elevator which confirms for us that yes indeed, this is “Thursday”. /Sharon pushes “Deck 8” and we’re whisked off to the Lido Deck. These elevator buttons at time can be temperamental. Several times I’ve pushed a button, only to have the selection apparently de-selected, and had that repeated until someone would graciously press the button on the other side for me; or, I might try press and holding the button really hard. Sharon has been even more affected by this phenomenon than me. Usually though, a gentle tap will suffice. This no doubt is part of the circuitry that does seem to distinguish a human touch versus pressure through clothing or through a glove. This no doubt diminishes the accidental button push by someone brushing up against it; but I also imagine may cause
people fits if they’re wearing gloves in really cold environments like Alaska or Antarctica. It wouldn’t however protect us against that idiot who thought it would be a great idea to select all of the buttons on our way down from the Lido that day!
This has been a memorable and enjoyable cruise; and, a relaxing cruise as well. For the most part, we’ve managed to keep the blog up to date. With a full day touring in Halifax and then a final sea day that is bound to offer endless opportunities to hear that last lecture or see that last Show, I suspect that posting the conclusion of our voyage may need to wait for our return to Las Vegas. As I type this it is 4 AM on our way into Boston. For some reason I just can’t sleep, and what a convenient option for me but to get up and type.
We grab something quick in the Lido, stop by the Library to do our Sudoku, and today there was a problem with not enough light; or, at least that was Sharon’s excuse today. Sharon got to the cabin ahead of me, as is normally
the case. She says I walk slow but I just take my time. Our stewards are already making up the cabin, and I complain, I need to use the bathroom. “Well, just go use the public one on this floor,” she insists. She says she’ll grab the camera and bag and everything we need and meet me there. I’m thinking, today isn’t starting out all that well. When I get to the front elevators of the Main Deck the hallways are congested with people milling around and the gangway on our Deck 2 is not yet open. People are milling in front of the restroom, and when I finally get through, the stall is already occupied. I decide to go up to the restroom on the fifth floor and it is available. Walking isn’t the only thing that I may do slowly. When I get back down Sharon has found a seat next to two other women, and the throngs in the hallway have swelled. She is busily messaging me and appears in desperate straits, demanding “Where have you been?” “I went to the bathroom.” “Not the one I told you to use.” “It was busy.” This is were the
woman next her assures me, “She really was worried about you.” “Well, I’m here now.” “Did it ever occur to you that I might need to go to the bathroom.” I probably shouldn’t have said, “Well, nobody’s stopping you.” The lady next to emphasized for a second time, “No, she REALLY was worried about you.” Anyway, I traded places with her and she left to use the public restroom, and when she came back we got in line that wound around the corner and almost to the forward most cabin. We were standing already for an interminably long time, when Linda announces over the PA that it will likely be another fifteen minutes before they let us off. Terrific, that puts us well past the time that we’re supposed to be on the pier to meet our tour; but, I guess they won’t be going anywhere without us. Sharon suggests, “Do you want to go back to the cabin and wait?” Now, I’ve been married for almost eight years, and I should have been able to distinguish a suggestion from a recommendation, “You DO want to go back to the cabin and wait!” But I lamely say, “No, but you
can if you want to and I’ll wait here.” “I’m not losing you AGAIN,” and I’m thinking, “Okay, she really was worried that I was passed out somewhere needing help. I can only imagine the stories and fears that she must have shared with those two women while wondering where I was. Evidently Halifax insists that tours meet onshore and not assemble in the Showroom; but, it is still unclear to me why it should matter to them. Things seem to run so much more smoothly when tours are dispatched from the Showroom and proceed down the gangway in an orderly manner, and not try to squeeze everyone down that one small chokepoint at once. And when things did start to move we found out why things were moving SLOWLY. There were line-jumpers cutting in from the elevators and stairs. We finally do get off the ship, but with a very resentful taste in or mouths at what we were put through, just to get to our tour bus. We wound our way through the rambling terminal and were among the last to board the bus. Sharon has a couple of seat choices, one on either side and chooses the
left side thinking that will be the scenic coastal side. Our tour was the Iconic Towns of Nova Scotia: Peggy's Cove, Lunenburg, and Mahone Bay.
The forecast is for partly cloudy skies and nice temperatures. I’m back to wearing cargo shorts so I couldn’t be happier. It is a scenic drive out to Peggy’s Cove, a place that I’ve been twice before. The first-time conditions were so foggy that you couldn’t see the lighthouse, unless you went over and bumped into it. And the last time had been a perfect sunny day. Today was somewhere in between. People were walking all over the massive rounded glacial boulders that were being pounded by the waves at Peggy’s Cove. Our guide had given us a homework assignment to find out why they called this remote place Peggy’s Cove. There was a lighthouse here, that much was evident. And a restaurant souvenir shop called “The Sou’wester”. The first thing that Sharon wanted was to get our picture taken by the professional photographer who took pictures and put your image and the lighthouse in the background onto a post card. It cost $7 for one or $20 for three postcards, cash only, US
or Canadian. I handed him seven $1 bills and he said, “Oh, I’ll be able to use those.” I’m guessing that giving Americans change wasn’t something he much worried about. When the exchange is 1 for 1, if they give you change it will be in Canadian dollars! We took some pictures and headed back to the restaurant. The parking lot now showed “Full” for passenger cars; although, there was still room for busses. Sharon wanted some fresh gingerbread and a 7-up and I opted for a Pepsi and very large chocolate chip cookie. We found a bench outside to eat our snack, and Sharon kept saying things like, “Mmm. This is sooo good. It’s warm you know. Are you sure you don’t want some?” But I’m learning to understand my wife, and I’m pretty sure she meant to say, “You ARE sure, you don’t want some!” She finished the whole gingerbread; which, has never been one of my favorite things. It wasn’t even 10AM; but, I was debating if it was too early to get a lobster roll, and eventually I just decided to do it. I went back in, with my half-drunk bottle of Pepsi stuffed in my
cargo shorts in one pocket, and Sharon’s in the other. She was using the restroom while I ordered the lobster roll, and I had it within 10 minutes. The guide had mentioned “People might want to get a lobster roll and take it with them to eat later.” I’m thinking, you never know what might happen to your lobster roll between then and now, so we found a rock outside to sit on and enjoyed a very good lobster roll. The cost was $18, and fairly priced for what they gave you: a hot dog bun stuffed with finely chopped up lobster salad consisting mostly small bits of lobster and the minimum mayonnaise to hold the whole thing together, along with one pickle slice. We sat on the rocks in front of the Sou’wester where we saw them giving another tour group some basic information on the lobster, how to tell a male from a female, how big they grow, what are the lobster laws (who can trap lobsters), what happens to poachers, etc. That was a tour that we’d taken before; but, not a presentation covered by our tour this time.
We were given about one hour and
15 minutes to explore Peggy’s Cove, and didn’t feel the need or urge to walk down from the Sou’wester to see the other buildings, marina or carvings in the granite rock that are impressive; but, things that we’ve done before. There were also two other places selling Lobster Rolls that might be of interest when we come back; but, today they hadn’t appeared to be open yet. We’ve heard that they are very good as well. Everybody seemed to get back on the bus on time, and we were off to Lunenburg which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its unique Architecture.
The bus was approaching Lunenburg when it pulled alongside another bus that appeared to be stopped or possibly broken down. We were passing what had been described as government buildings of some sort, and then I spotted what were three flags flying, and one of them I suspected was the flag for Nova Scotia. It made sense, the flag for Scotland with some emblem superimposed over the center. This is after all “New Scotland”. The flag was on the other side of the bus, and I started snapping pictures, and the wind kept furling the
flag over, so I couldn’t get a decent unfurled shot. I would see it, click, and that wouldn’t be the image that got captured. First, I was shooting out the window across from me, then the one behind that, and then full zoom the one behind that. Everybody begins excitedly looking out the window trying to figure what is it that I see. Sharon has to explain, “He just likes to take pictures of flags.” She’s no fun! So much better to let them think that they’re missing something and see if they start snapping pictures too! Our guide walks back to make sure everything is okay with the other bus.
In Lunenburg, we got dropped of by the Old Fish Company Restaurant. We walked up the stairs and went inside, and it didn’t look like a restaurant. It looked like a museum for what once was a fish packing plant. The restaurant was past the restrooms and to the left towards the water. We’d been instructed to make sure that they can get us our food “In-and-Out” in less than one hour, and not to tell them that we actually had 75 minutes. “We can try… But not
for a lobster dinner.” A lobster roll would be fine however. Sharon got one piece of fish with chips. We had a small table-for-two in the center, one row of tables from the windows. And I did order that second lobster roll for $23 Canadian on my credit card. Sharon is thinking that she’s starting to like 7-up, in particular, may give Diet 7-up a try again instead of regular Ginger Ale when she gets home. Her fish was good, and it must have been, because she ate the whole thing. And the lobster roll was great. It was on a artisan bun and full of large chunks of lobster. The iced tea was not my favorite, and I wasn’t sure just what my problem with it was. The flavor wasn’t something that I’d ever tasted before. It was a black tea, and perhaps it just wasn’t brewed strong enough to suit me. Or maybe this is what Canadians call iced tea. When we’d taken our taxi ride to Peggy’s Cove on that perfect day a few years ago, our driver had recommended coming to Lunenburg should we ever return; which, is why we booked this tour. On another visit,
we might decide to hire a taxi again.
The final stop for us was in Mahone Bay. We drove through town and various businesses and places to eat were pointed out. They had Sharon’s number with the first one offering “Fudge”. The bus dropped us off near the center of town and would be waiting for us in the bus parking area across from “The Three Churches”. For Sharon (and me), we made a bee-line for that Fudge Shop. Sharon’s had her heart set on Maple Fudge for some time now since the fudge shop in Sydney wasn’t open the day we were there at the start of the trip. The shop offering fudge was a souvenir shop that also happened to offer some homemade fudge. The store was more of an overcrowded knick-knack tourist trap with a couple of shelves of fudge amongst other items in a haphazardly arranged collection of things for sale. There were plates with about 8 types of fudge, noticeably chocolate and peanut butter; or, perhaps alarmingly no maple fudge! The clerk pointed out some pre-packaged options on top of the counter, and there it was: a maple option! It might not have been
as much as Sharon was hoping to score; but, for her it was Nirvana nonetheless. Sharon got her order to 6 small pieces of different types of fudge to meet one of the purchase options. There was a lot of traffic in town, and we headed back to the churches, took some pictures and enjoyed the marina and park.
With an hour and fifteen-minute drive ahead of us, Trivia would be ending about the time that we returned to the Rotterdam. It was however, not too late for mass! What is the world coming too. One word for HAL: Priorities! I know that we’ve been on cruises where trivia has been held at 4:30PM; because Sharon would leave Trivia early to get to mass. Perhaps Mass should be at 4PM! I know, what an “ungodly” suggestion.
We got to our cabin about 4:45 so Sharon headed off to mass. She remembered a story from the previous days mass so we’re adding it here. All masses for the past few week or two have been held in the Wajang Theater since the Woman who does the America’s Test Kitchen presentations is letting them use it while she is there
preparing for her shows. They’d been warned that if she had to use the ovens the drapes separating the kitchen area from the seating would have to be opened for safety but that never happened. However, Father Roman decided to use an Antipasto description during his sermon and she could be giggling behind the curtain.
We checked the menu for the dining room. There was nothing that Sharon would eat and nothing that I wanted to eat being offered, so we decided to forego getting into our “Smart Casual” clothes and headed instead to the Lido. Sharon wasn’t happy with her choices there either. No chicken. No turkey. No roast beef. No Pork. No Lamb. Basically there was no meat. None. She ended up getting boiled potatoes and a roll. I wasn’t faring much better; but, I selected two bratwurst, some cheesy mashed potatoes, what they called a meat pie and I thought that things might be looking up with Lobster Mac & Cheese. The food was filling and tasted good; but, the Mac & Cheese didn’t come with all that much lobster (if any).
The Show brought Julia and Mitchel together, a violinist and a bass guitar
player. They had been on the ship since Akureyri but their instruments didn’t arrive until 4:15 that day in Halifax. Just in time for their 6 pm rehearsal with the band. Their instrumentals offered an interesting sound. They did their rendition of Hallelujah which was very nice; but, for whatever reason decided to embellish their music with some vocals. How shall I put this… some people can’t sing. I know, I’m one of those people who cannot sing a single note. Sharon left early to get a spot in the Piano Bar, where I joined her after the show was done. Tonight, we would be having another late departure around 10PM, so once again, the casino would be closed.
Barry From Boston was about to start his Broadway Show Tune set when I arrived. Sharon had ordered a Ginger Ale and had bribed me with a drink (a real drink) for me to join her. I ordered my High Ball again, and again needed to give my instructions: Ginger Ale, Bourbon, Cherry Juice and Bitters. I’m pretty certain that they left out the Bitters this time. It did however seem to have plenty of bourbon! Sharon explains to her
friends, “He makes ME buy his drink because he wants me to know that he’s no cheap date!” The turnout seems low. Regulars like Elvis are nowhere to be seen; although, Santa Claus was present seated on the side. Everybody on the cruise knows Santa Claus. He of course has the overgrown whitish beard and spectacles and appears that he would fill out a Santa costume just fine without any additional padding. He wears these bright red Christmas themed short-sleeved shirts and bright red shorts (or occasionally longer pants). The first time that I saw him my reaction to the outfit was that he was wearing a very loud, very red Hawaiian shirt, but then the whole Christmas theme hits you as well. Quite a few people on our tour had inquired about “Where’s the Irish Pub?” I gathered this was the place to go. Barry started his set with “I could have danced all night…” “What’s this from?” Sharon whispers, and I remind her, “My Fair Lady.” “Oh, yeah.” Then came another easily recognized tune from My Fair Lady. Barry then broke into a medley of “Happy Tunes,” with no apparent purpose other than to uplift your spirits with
lyrics like, “C’mon Get Happy!” Barry then apologized for playing just one song for him, because he likes it so much, but nobody had ever heard it before. Barry said that he had made a study of how many songs an audience will put up with, if they’ve never heard them before, before they will just get up and leave… That number is ONE! So that song was it… everything that followed were all very recognizable tunes. He featured a collection for Stephen Sondheim (one of his favorite lyricists). The room had swelled to capacity and people were standing about the outskirts. Perhaps 50 people were enjoying their time at the piano bar. We stayed until about 10PM, and decided to call it a night. Barry didn’t even serenade us with “Exit Applause” when we departed.
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Susan Miller
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Enjoyed so much!
I have truly enjoyed your commentary for this year's VOV. We are booked on next year's which has been switched to the Zuiderdam due to the cascading effect of the Prinsendam sale. Chuck and I live in the Paradise part of Vegas. Perhaps we will find a time to meet up eventually and talk about our love of cruising and other hot topics. Thank you again for sharing your adventures.