Day 3 & 4 - January 5th & 6th, 2025 - Touring Malibu & Boarding the Sky

A large part of today (Sunday) was hurry up and wait.  We went for breakfast at 7:00 AM and then had to wait until 9:30 for our departure for a drive up the Pacific Coastal Highway to The Getty Villa.

The short drive to Malibu was scenic, the beaches were fantastic, but looking at the back of a $40 million dollar homes crammed so close together, sometime there wasn't even room to walk between them, didn't inspire me to move there any time soon; like I could anyway :).

When we reached "The Getty", we were given 2.25 hours to explore on our own.  This was just barely enough time to view most of the exhibits.

J. Paul Getty constructed the "Villa" based on the Villa dei Papiri which he had visited near Pompeii and Herculaneum.  He felt he needed a fitting location to display his extensive collection of ancient Greek and Roman Artifacts.  The the Villa opened in 1974 and displays thousands of artifacts ranging from tiny pieces of gold jewelry to larger than life stone statuary. 

Below are a few examples and photos of the Villa.  I observed pieces ranging in date from 6000 BC to 200-300 AD.

Statue of Venus AD 100-200 
Discovered in Rome before 1508 AD

Marble female figure circa 4500 - 3500 BCE.  Recovered in present day Turkey

Stone and Clay figures dating 6000-4000 BCE

An interesting stone sarcophagus depicting Cupids in the process of pressing grapes for wine.

Solid gold ram's head drinking cup

After leaving The Getty, we traveled farther up the coast to the Malibu Cliffs.  In the photo below you can see some of the fire damage which occurred last year.  That is Pepperdine University in the background.

View looking in the other direction at the coast

After leaving Malibu, it was about a 1.5 hour drive to the port and our ship.  Upon arriving, the check-in and boarding was quite simple.  We had previously completed boarding information online, down to providing a recent photo which would be used for ID.  It took only a few minutes to be checked in, and room keys issued.

When we arrived at our cabin, our shipped luggage was already waiting for us, and the luggage which came with us was delivered in about 30 minutes.

Below are photos of our living quarters for then next 4 months.  Not huge by any means, but entirely adequate.  Considering that we will not be spending enormous amounts of time there and the room is serviced twice a day (more often if you need something).  Our steward was very accommodating and quickly addressed a few special request we had.

The bag contained gifts from Viking, a very nice jacket, cap, leather bound journal and world map.

We have an in room refrigerator, stocked with soft drinks, candy and mixers of our choice.  We also had a coffee maker, which we asked to be removed, the shelf space is too precious and it is not difficult to get much better coffee at one of the bars.

The bathroom is not large but again, adequate and well furnished and stocked.

Sunset from our veranda

Dinner this evening was delicious and enjoyable, as expected.  After dinner, we were going to a lecture, but decided we were just too tired from the long day.  Instead we spent more time unpacking and getting organized.

Monday - January 6th

I slept well last night, it is good to have the motion of the sea again.  I have missed it.  We met for breakfast in the formal dining room since this was a sea day and we were not in any hurry. 

Following breakfast we attended two lectures.  The first at 9:30 was "North American Time Machine" a presentation about the continent and its inhabitants over 3 million years.  The presenter was Dr Claudia Hackbarth, a geologist and earth science expert.  It was an excellent presentation in my opinion.  She was very realistic in regard to climate change and the natural climate cycles.

The second lecture a 11:00 AM was "California - Land of Condors & Prehistoric Giants".  This was presented by George Sranko, biologist, author and speaker.  His presentation was entertaining but in my opinion did not have as much "meat" as the previous lecture.  He is scheduled for several more, so I'll give him another try.

We had lunch at the World Cafe today (buffet style).  The theme was "Taste of the USA" .  It featured regional dishes such as California swordfish tacos,  Alabama shrimp Po Boy and Carolina Shrimp and Grits.   We enjoyed lunch.  

After lunch we went our separate ways, Kay decided to go to the gym (she is trying to start good habits early).  I am not as ambitious.  The wind was too high to do any walking on the promenade deck (it was closed), so I walked the halls, covering all 7 decks using the stairs.  It was pretty good exercise.  Things were pretty quite this afternoon, as you can see from this photo of one of the atriums.

I am not sure of the final passenger count after the 300+ who boarded in LA, but I am guessing it is under 900.

One other observation, the internet onboard is excellent.  I hope it continues.  We can thank Elon Musk and Starlink for this.  There is no comparison to the slow and spotty connectivity we had on our last world cruise 10 years ago.

Below is one of the innovative ideas we use to make the most of our limited space.  Due to the fact that all the walls are steel, magnets adhere very well.  By using strong hook magnets we are able to create much additional storage.  Using mesh shoe storage bags, many items beside shoes may be stored.  I use mine for belts, playing cards and any other small item you need to get out of the way.  

It was another excellent dinner tonight.  Perhaps I have got my immediate seafood fix, tomorrow I can expand my diet.  Today I had smoked salmon at breakfast, shrimp, halibut and swordfish at lunch and finally for dinner I had scallops, shrimp, marinated octopus and anchovies (in my Caesar salad).  I had not even realized the trend till this evening.  I do enjoy the seafood I don't normally get.

We are about to go to the Captain's Welcome event in the theater.  After that we set our clock back another hour and hopefully get another good night's rest.  

I'll catch you guys later...