A rather early start to the day, as we awoke at 04:00 to the clanking of the anchor, as the chain was brought in by the capstans. Suites are nice, but this is one another drawback. I knew nothing much happened for almost an hour, so I got up about 05:00, heading out to the balcony to watch the canal transit. The balcony is definitely a plus for the suites, as we have a great view ahead and down the Port side.

In addition to the Canal transit, we also had a big Baggo match against the Restaurant, Cooking Class and a special dinner this evening.

Navigation

We exited the Canal about 16:00, then continued through the buoyed entrance channel, before altering to WNW’ly courses at a speed of about 13 kts.

Weather

Clear skies, with fresh following winds once we cleared the Canal.

Meals

For dinner this evening, Judi arranged with Chef Roberto to have Seafood Paella and Chicken Paella, which were served “Family Style”, with 2 huge pans of seafood and 1 of chicken. Once he heard about the Paella, Beven (Cruise Director) joined us, with more excellent conversation over dinner. OMG – the seafood one was loaded with prawns, scallops, clams, langostinas and it even had a little rice.😁

Activities

Today’s activities included:

• 08:00 Spa opens
• 08:30 Yoga
• 09:00 Temperature check
• 09:30 Baggo – Housekeeping Hurricanes v’s Beverage Bulldogs
• 10:00 Lectures – pre recorded lectures running in cinema 1
• 10:00 Ted Talks – History talks running in cinema 2
• 10:30 Baggo – The Vikings v’s Restaurant Raptors
• 11:30 Cooking Class – Egyptian Food
• 14:00 Afternoon Melodies – Classical Duo
• 15:00 Afternoon Melodies – Classical Duo
• 17:45 Evening Serenade – Guitarist Mark
• 18:00 Insanity Workout
• 20:00 Dessert wine & Port tasting
• 20:00 Film – Deadpool 2
• 22:00 Viking Band on Pool Deck

The day started out on the balcony from about 05:00, watching the Canal transit and possibly taking way too many photos. Shortly after 08:00 we entered the Great Bitter Lake, so it was a perfect time to run down for breakfast and then temperature check at 09:00.

Returning to the cabin and balcony we were making the last turn in the lakes towards the new channel, so perfect timing. Watched us entering the new channel and the first almost hour before again running down for Baggo.

Baggo

This was an opportunity for The Vikings to pull ahead of the pack, as a victory over the Restaurant would have put us 4 points clear. Sadly, it wasn’t to be, as we experienced our first loss. Personally, I started well, scoring a bulls-eye on all throws, for maximum points in round 1. However, many of our team were not shooting well and we were losing by > 100 points after round 1. In round 2, I only scored 1 bulls-eye, but as a team we improved, being ahead by about 75 after round 2. Sadly, we couldn’t maintain the momentum, as the Raptors beat us by about 150 points.

As soon as Baggo was over, Judi and I declined to attend Cooking Class, preferring to watch the Canal transit, returning to our balcony. We were still in the new Canal, so we didn’t miss much during Baggo. We ordered lunch from Room Service, enjoying it on the balcony.

Once we cleared the Canal, I commenced the long job of processing 200+ photos, selecting some for the blog and compressing them.

After dinner, we enjoyed the Wine & Port Tasting.