The skies are clear today as Viking Polaris prepares to sail away from Toronto. Even though I am not a breakfast eater, I wanted to take a tour of the World Cafe buffet breakfast.

When you enter World Cafe on port side (you can enter from port or starboard), you are greeted with a beautiful selection of tasty-looking pastries.

While I do not normally eat breakfast (intermittent fasting), I DO drink coffee. And, I am pretty picky about my coffee. There are several of these automated coffee machines around World Cafe and the Americano is very good. These machines can also make latte, cappuccino and espresso.

World Cafe is enormous, with seating on both sides of the vessel. Every seat has a view of the ocean. And, there are lots of tables for two with adequate spacing between the tables. Coffee pots are placed on the tables for breakfast service (see below).

There are hot buffet serving lines on both port and starboard, which offer identical selections. Made-to-order omelets and egg dishes are available for the asking.

Rickee and I decided to do some exploring this morning and discovered that The Shelter is just a few steps from our stateroom (3008). The Shelter is an interesting area located just behind the bow of the ship. The Shelter provides relief from the elements when sightseeing at the bow of the ship.

Guests gather at the bow for our 2pm scheduled sail away from Toronto. I can imagine how popular this space is for whale watching in Antarctica.

Guests gather for sail away from Toronto

Special complimentary cocktails are prepared and served to guests for sail away.

As we depart Toronto, the weather is picture perfect.

For lunch today, we head back to World Cafe which, along with Mamsen’s, are the only venues where lunch is served. We arrived early to get some photos and met Executive Chef, Mutiara Permata, who comes to Viking from Indonesia. She informed us that even if guests arrive at World Cafe before the scheduled opening time, if there are serving spoons set out with the food, they are welcome to serve themselves. She also explained that all the breads are made fresh daily in The Bakery (ovens visible in the background), and that virtually all of the food preparation is “open-kitchen” where guests can observe how the food is being made.

I decided to try a cheeseburger from The Grill. The Grill offers a variety of burgers, hot dogs and chicken sandwiches and is located aft starboard side in World Cafe.

Cheeseburger from The Grill (World Cafe)

This evening, we visited Explorer’s Lounge for a cocktail. I was surprised that the ship did not have any Crown Royal, but they did have Seagram’s VO as an alternative.

Rickee ordered a Lemon Drop Martini and said it was one of the best she has ever had.

We attended the Welcome Aboard Reception held in The Aula (a theater located aft on Decks 2 and 3) where we were introduced to the Captain, senior staff and the Expedition Team.