Day 9 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
While working on my daily blog this morning at World Cafe, I could watch the docking procedure as Viking Polaris pulled into Port Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in Canada
Arriving At Port Charlotte
The weather was clearing up this morning and we actually got some nice sunshine today. Rickee and I decided to disembark and walk around town. As we walked by Viking Polaris, I stopped to take this photo of the crew painting over some of the scrapes and scars collected in the locks we transited last week.
There is a beautiful cruise terminal building just steps from the ship. You can see the clear blue skies in this photo.
Cruise Terminal
Inside the terminal, there are many local merchants selling all sorts of souvenirs and gift items. This is the nicest cruise terminal we have visited on this itinerary and one of the nicest we have experienced anywhere.
Here’s a tip for US citizens. When you make a purchase using your credit card, ask to pay in Canadian dollars and when the charge shows up on your statement, you will notice a significant discount thanks to the favorable currency exchange rate. If you pay with US dollars, you won’t get that same deal and you will most likely end up with change in Canadian currency. Always use a credit card!
Souvenir Shops Inside Cruise Terminal
As we exit the terminal building to walk into town, we can see plenty of signs everywhere. It would be really difficult to get lost here. We walked a few blocks to a an area with lots of shops and restaurants. This is one of the easiest ports to just get off the ship and do some exploring. There is a very nice Food Hall nearby, but unfortunately for us, it does not open until noon, so we did not get a chance to go inside.
You Can’t Get Lost In Charlottetown
We head back to Viking Polaris and are back onboard in time for lunch. As we walk to our stateroom to drop off our shopping haul and camera gear, we spot our stateroom attendants, Burhan and Lau, in the hallway and ask them to pose for a quick photo.
Burhan and Lau have really gone above and beyond to take care of us on this journey. They are always smiling and willing to get anything we need. In all of our 141 cruises, we can’t think of a better stateroom attendant team.
Burhan and Lau
After lunch, we have time to rest a bit, then disembark again for our 2pm Ceilidh on the Wharf excursion ($79). Ceilidh is pronounced “kay-lee”. I am not sure what’s up with that. When we booked this excursion, we thought it was a local musical performance where we might get a tasting of local dishes. We could not have been more wrong.
After disembarking Viking Polaris, we meet our tour group in the cruise terminal.
Local Tours Are Displayed On A Screen
As our tour group exits the terminal building, we begin walking to a local lobster restaurant and the murmuring among the crowd of guests reveals that this excursion may not be what we thought we signed up for.
Tour Group For Ceilidh On The Wharf
We arrive at a nearby lobster restaurant and it is becoming more and more evident that this will be a full blown meal, not just some “small bites” tasting.
The group is seated at cafeteria-style tables and soon waitresses are putting lobster bibs on us to protect us from God-only-knows what. Perhaps some background would be helpful. Neither Rickee nor I are big on seafood. And, we are not big fans of lobster. Oops.
As we wait for our food to arrive, we are entertained by a local folk singer who was fun and engaging with a really nice voice.
Not only did we get lobster, we each got a WHOLE lobster, served with a huge portion of cole slaw and potato salad. We had finished lunch in World Cafe only two hours earlier and were not the least bit hungry but, when in Rome.
In our defense, we were not the only ones in this predicament. Many other guests said they had no idea that this was a full blown lobster feast and they, too, had eaten lunch before coming to the tour.
Whole Lobster, cole slaw and potato salad
I sat there with my plastic bib trying to figure out how to dissect this huge bug on my plate to find an edible part. The placemat did have instructions on how to disassemble the creature, which helped. There were even surgical tools provided for each guest to remove and break open the body parts. Soon, the room was filled with the sound of cracking exoskeleton. It was horrifying!
I was able to remove a couple of claws and obtain some meat from within, which was good when drenched in butter. Of course, my napkin drenched in butter would be pretty tasty, too. I then broke off the tail section (see Step 5 above), as instructed by the placemat. I don’t even want to explain what I saw between the tail and body. The lady across from me was from the Maryland and she was tearing off body parts, sucking meat from legs, cracking the shell, busting open the tail. She obviously knew what she was doing. So, I asked her what the green stuff was pouring out of the thorax and she said “Oh, that’s just part of it.” Really?
Do I Look Amused?
Trying to play along and be part of the experience, I split open the tail section, tried my best to scrape out the most unappealing looking slime to get to something resembling what I have eaten in the past called a lobster tail. The meat was pretty chewy and tough compared to what I have had in the past, but at this point, quality was not my concern. I just just wanted it to be over.
I am from Texas. We don’t do lobster in Texas, we do beef. But, when we invite you to eat steak in Texas, we don’t expect you to slaughter the cow and butcher it at the table before you eat it.
Now, to be fair, if you LOVE lobster and don’t mind the process of cracking, shucking, sucking or whatever else is required to get to the edible parts of the lobster, you would probably love this excursion. However, don’t eat lunch before you go because it is a lot of food.
I should also mention that we did have the option of choosing fish and chips over the whole lobster. A decision I will forever regret not making, because the fish and chips looked really good. And, they did not make guests kill, gut and filet the fish before it was prepared. It came to the table already battered and fried, as God intended.
After re-boarding Viking Polaris, we run to the nearest lounge for a much needed drink. We team up with Alex and Nancy for team trivia. They were also at the lobster killing fields and told us they had eaten lunch before they went, not knowing it would be a full meal. This evening, we came in second place in trivia, only one wrong answer away from tying the winning team.
Later in the evening, we go to The Hide on Deck 1 forward for a survival demonstration conducted my members of the Expedition Team.
Members of The Viking Polaris Expedition Team
This was one of the most interesting and entertaining activities we have attended. Only a few guests showed up for this demonstration and it began by each of us trying to locate items around the room that could be used for survival in case of an emergency (survival gear on the table below excluded).
The members of the Expedition Team described how they have each been trained in survival techniques, which is required (or should be) for any guide that takes guests on Zodiac tours in Antarctica. Even with all of the modern technology, Antarctica is an unforgiving environment. Weather conditions can change quickly, as can ice flows and currents.
Survival Gear Used In Antarctica
When a landing is scheduled in Antarctica, the first Zodiac to arrive at the landing spot carries a huge bag of emergency survival gear (shown above) just as a precaution.
Of course, the Expedition Leader and Captain always determine when it is safe to launch the Zodiacs in Antarctica, but you never know when massive multi-ton chunks of ice can float in and block a Zodiac’s return route to the ship. These events are rare but, with nature, anything is possible.
The large bag is equipped with gear to keep people warm, provide shelter, and even contains emergency supplies of food and water. Of course, there are first aid kits on every Zodiac and the Excursion Team members are all trained in First Aid.
We get to taste MREs
We even had an opportunity to taste one of the MREs (Meals Ready To Eat) which is basically freeze-dried food. Just add hot water, wait a couple of minutes, stir it up and enjoy! The one we tried was some sort of salmon slurry, which I tried (Rickee did not). It was actually not bad and at least I did not have to kill or crack any exoskeleton to eat it.
This demonstration was entertaining, fun and educational. It was one of the best activities we have attended on this cruise. And, just for clarity, we have been to Antarctica twice and never experienced any sort of emergency. However, it is nice to know that Viking Expedition Team members are prepared for any eventuality, just in case.
Tomorrow is a day at sea, so we plan to relax and enjoy what this beautiful ship has to offer.
