Day 22, January 25, 2025 - Saturday - Sea Day

For those of you who are observant, you may have noticed that the day number increased by one, but the date increased by 2 days.  This is because as I noted in yesterday's post, we crossed the International Date Line.  This is the price we pay for those hours gained as we passed through time zones going west, setting our clock back an hour and gaining time.  Well, today we give it all back!

As per what has become my usual routine, I was up before daybreak for my coffee and to get in an early morning walk on the sundeck.  This is probably my favorite time of day.  Usually I only see a few crew members who are scrubbing the deck and cleaning the thousands of square feet of plexiglass, and wiping down everything that can be wiped down.  

Being another sea day, we have plans for eating, a few more lectures, eating, napping, a lecture, eating, well you get the idea...

After breakfast our first lecture at 9:00 was by Dr. Bryan Babcock, Vikings resident historian.  The title was "History of New Zealand".  It was a very informative lecture not only about NZ's history but also included demographics and economics.

The ship conducted another crew only safety drill at 10 o'clock.  This pretty much precludes any organized activities during this hour.  This drill apparently is performed weekly.

Following the drill we attended an unusual lecture by Captain Tom Anderson titled "The Box that Changed the World.".  This was a look at the history of the shipping container and the changes it brought about.  Surprisingly, the invention in 1956 revolutionized shipping and is considered a major factor in increasing the world Domestic Gross Product over the past 70 years.

The following quote was produced by AI when I asked about the relationship between containers and GDP:

"Shipping containers have a significant positive impact on the world's domestic gross product (GDP) by facilitating efficient and affordable global trade, allowing for the movement of large quantities of goods across borders at a relatively low cost, which ultimately contributes to economic growth worldwide; essentially, the widespread use of containers has been a major driver of international trade, leading to a higher global GDP. "

In 1956, most cargoes were loaded and unloaded by hand by longshore workers. Hand-loading a ship cost $5.86 a ton at that time. Using containers, it cost only 16 cents a ton to load a ship, 36-fold savings. Containerization also greatly reduced the time to load and unload ships.

Captain Anderson also covered the many and varied uses for used containers.  For what one would think would be a boring subject, instead it was quite interesting.  It had a special interest for Kay and I since our son owns a logistic company which specializes in transporting shipping containers from the ports of Charleston, SC.

Something interesting happened at lunch.  Antione, the restaurant manager came by our table and we were again joking about grits.  He said we were not the only "grit people" on the ship.  Someone at a nearby table heard us talking and came up to Kay and asked where she was from.  When she answered Georgia, the lady said "I thought so" , you talked like me!  As we talked more, we learned we all went to the University of Georgia.  She said she graduated in 1976, I replied I graduated in 1975.  She said she was in the Pharmacy School.  Well, so was I!  It turned out were were both at UGA Pharmacy school at the same time.  There were only about 350 students in the Pharmacy school but our classes were very segregated so we didn't remember each.  It did turn out we knew some people in common.  It is a small world!

After lunch I did a quick tour of the ship, snapping a few photos to share.

The Viking Sky has flat screen panels all over the ship.  Some are just informational and others are interactive and provide everything from the weather to program information.

This type of tall screen is found at every elevator and every staircase.  It provides detailed information about the current deck as well as brief information about the other decks.

This type display is found for all of the restaurants.

There are several of these interactive panels located throughout the ship.

In an earlier post I mentioned the many reading nooks located on the ship.  Here are a couple.

These smaller, cozy areas provide a more "home like" atmosphere onboard.

This afternoon we had a port talk about the upcoming port of Auckland. 

There was a big extravaganza on Deck 7 with music and food, but we all decided we would rather avoid the crowd and noise so we had dinner in the main restaurant.  

Tonight we set the clocks back another hour.  We are now 6 hours behind EST.  I'm tired and going to bed... Good Night