Aug 24

Aug 24 Day 5 - King's Wharf, Bermuda

After my blogging and coffee this morning, I decided to do something out of character for me. I decided to go to breakfast! I do not normally eat breakfast, but today I wanted to see what was going on at World Cafe. My first stop was at the breakfast meat station for some corned beef hash, link sausages and English bacon. I also placed an order there for two eggs over medium.

As I walked back to my table, I saw Svetlana making waffles and I could not resist the opportunity to compare her waffles to the ones I enjoyed at Mamsen’s a couple of days ago.

The waffle prepared at World Cafe was more of a traditional “American-style’ waffle with butter, maple syrup and a lot of other available toppings like nuts, chocolate, basically anything you would want to put on top of a waffle.

The waffle was very good and more to my tastes than the one at Mamsen’s. There’s nothing better than a hot, crispy waffle. My eggs (see below) were cooked perfectly over medium as ordered and the corned beef hash was especially good.

After breakfast, I disembarked Viking Orion to take a walk around King’s Wharf and maybe do a little souvenir shopping. It is warm this morning, but tolerable, and a good time for a walk.

There is a free open-air shuttle train that takes guests around King’s Wharf and makes stops at the shopping areas. The whole loop only takes about 20 minutes. It is a good option for those with mobility issues. However, if you can walk and you are just doing some shopping, you can walk from the ship to the souvenir shops in about 10 minutes.

I am not sure why, but until I saw the row of shops in the photo below, I did not realize that I was just here three years ago on another cruise ship. I guess my memory is failing me!

I remember the exact souvenir shop (below) where I purchased souvenirs on my last visit. Just walk about another block and there is a nice air-conditioned mall with lots of shops.

Back on board Orion, I decided to make a return trip to the LIvNordic spa for another shot at the hot tub and snow grotto. The snow grotto is still being repaired, but it is very cold in there with some remnant snow on the ground from when it was operational.

For lunch today, I am back at World Cafe for some grilled vegetables and bacon pizza (which was quite good).

I have never seen Porchetta on a cruise ship before, but there it was, just waiting for me to try! Porchetta is a fatty, boneless pork roast and an Italian tradition. The pig carcass is deboned, arranged carefully, stuffed with various parts of the pig and wild fennel. With all fat and skin still on, the carcass is spitted or roasted (traditionally over wood) for at least eight hours. Not sure how traditional the Porchetta is on Viking, but it was damn good!

This afternoon, I attended another lecture by Lou Thieblemont titled, “Aviation: A Flight in Real Time,” where he took us inside the cockpit of a Boeing 757 virtually. He explained many of the switches, lights, breakers and other knobs in the cockpit then did a simulated takeoff and tour of Bermuda from the air.

Team Trivia was going on in the Explorer’s Bar with Sophie, one of the ship’s entertainers. I got there just in time to hear the answers to the questions and it was a tough game of trivia for sure. I don’t think I would have done very well.

As trivia winds down, Viking Orion pushes away from the dock at Heritage Wharf and sails away for Hamilton, Bermuda.

For dinner this evening, I chose to go back to World Cafe. The shrimp and sushi are just so darn good! Tonight, they also have Prosciutto on the buffet, which was also delicious.

I went back to the Stir-Fry station to try the Szechuan fried chicken, which was very good.

After dinner, I could not resist going out to the Aquavit Terrace to enjoy a beautiful Bermuda sunset.

Tonight, we were treated to Una Notte di Canto, an amazing vocal performance by Brian, our Cruise Director, backed up by pianist Antal Farkas. Antal is unquestionably the best pianist I have ever heard on a cruise ship. We sailed with Brian back when he was one of the Viking Vocalists on Viking Sea in 2017, so I was familiar with his amazing talents. The show was held in the Atrium and it was truly memorable.