We have a busy day today, with the inter-departmental Baggo Championship starting, but fortunately the Vikings (Officers + Pax) have a bye today, as 7 of us are attending a French Cuisine cooking class, with Chef Roberto. In addition, we have optional daily temperature checks, and then this evening, Josh’s inaugural performance with “Rock Through the Ages”.

Temperature: Early afternoon it hit about 40C/104F

Wind/Weather: Fine & clear, smooth seas

Clox: No change (Z+4)

Navigation

Navigating in the Arabian Sea

Meals

Those of us participating in the Cooking Class enjoyed a superb lunch of fine French Cuisine at the Kitchen Table. Photos and discussion under activities.

For dinner this evening we were joined by the Cruise Consultant and H/R Manager, who is a fellow Canadian. No Tomahawk Steaks tonight, but we did have some excellent Filet Mignon and Lemon Pepper Salmon.

Activities

At breakfast we all tend to wander down at different times, but Judi and I were late this morning. I was up rather early, working on photos and blog posts from about 05:00 and didn’t notice the time fly by. Looked at my watch and it was almost 08:25 and Judi has yoga at 09:00.

We had a quick breakfast, then Judi headed up to the pool deck with Justyna & Deb for Yoga, while I headed to the Theatre for the temperature check – mandatory for crew, optional for honorary crew. As soon as I entered the Theatre, they all wanted to lead me to the front of the queue, but no, I was good waiting, chatting with the various crew members around me. Only took a few minutes to find out I am still healthy.

Baggo Championship

This is turning out to be a huge moral booster and is being taken very seriously by all departments, who are practicing daily. We have the following teams entered:

• The Vikings – 8 Officers + 4 passengers
• Deck Dingos
• Engineering Eels
• Galley Giants
• Beverage Bulldogs
• Explorers Extremes – Shore EX + Guest Services
• Housekeeping Hurricanes
• Restaurant Raptors

Two matches are played every morning, at sea – which means every morning, with the daily standings printed in the Viking Daily. The Vikings had a bye today, with our first match against the Galley Giants tomorrow morning at 09:30.

Viking Cooking School

This is a regular event during sea days, where up to 12 pax can join one of the Chefs in preparing a local cuisine, followed by enjoying their efforts, with a magnificent lunch. Norbert (GM) scheduled this, upon our request. We had 7 of us attend.

With Chef Roberto were – Judi, Andy, Wanda, Ray, Justyna, Wally and Deb. Since we all shared Chef Roberto for about 3 hours, Munro opted for the pampering of the other 459 crew members looking after him.

In previous classes we have used the local cuisines from the regions of the World we should have been visiting – Indonesia, Thailand, India, etc. but today was French Cuisine. All ingredients are laid out on the table, so we start preparation by slicing, dicing, chopping, grating, blending etc. Then under direction of the Chef we start the cooking process.

This is one of the tips we learned from Chef Roberto – using parchment paper to create a type of pressure cooker. Fold the paper and cut to size for the pan, then cut a hole in the middle. Place the parchment paper over the food and up the sides of the pot. The steam escapes, but food cooks faster. Roberto advises this is a trick taught in the first few weeks of culinary school courses.

The recipe called for Filet Mignon, but the ship has a number of spare Tomahawks, since they provisioned for about 900, and only 8 pax remain. Tomahawk Steak for dinner last night and again for lunch – life aboard this ship might be tough, but at least the meat is tender.😁

Photos never lie, so yes, that is Chef preparing 3 Tomahawks for the 7 of us. He would have done all 4, but we convinced him 3 was sufficient.

Once the cooking is complete, the waiter Ketut sets the table for lunch, while Chef Roberto does the plating.

Showtime

Dinner is a very relaxed affair, with excellent company, wines and food, so 2 to 3 hours is not unusual. Tonight we totally lost track of time, as during dessert or Port, we realised it was almost 21:00 and time for Josh’s show. Heading to the Theatre, we passed Beven, who mentioned the Theatre only had 5 people present about 5 minutes before the show. However, but the time it started the Theatre was about 1/2 full.

This is the first solo show that Josh has performed and he has been planning and rehearsing it for about 6 months. It is titled, “Rock Through the Ages”, so it may be a little more high energy than some of the other shows. OMG!! it certainly was high energy, with the entire Theatre up singing and dancing along with the brilliant music, all from the 50’s to 80’s.

Backed by the fabulous Viking Band, who really enjoy playing more rock music, and Sammy & Rosanna, it was a fabulous evening of entertainment, starting with a selection of Elvis Presley hits.

Enjoy a selection of photos and a short film clip at the end.

Hopefully this short film clip works.