Day 115 ~ Sailing the Bay of Biscay

 May 4, 2022

48 degrees when I stepped out onto the balcony before breakfast. Brrrr! I knew I'd miss Egypt's heat eventually.

“When I forget how talented God is, I look to the sea.” – Whoopi Goldberg

Thank you, Whoopi. This voyage has been a faith-building venture. Between the Bible in a Year app the DH and I are working through and our weekly on board church services, I've been constantly reminded of God's protection and care. Plus, I never tire of the color blue and God must like it, too, or He wouldn't have made so much of it.

Today we're sailing north through the Bay of Biscay, the body of water directly west of France. At times, it's supposed to be quite riotous, but it's fairly calm now. Plus my scopolamine patch is working like a trooper! 

The Viking Choir squeezing in another rehearsal! Our regular space in the Explorer's Lounge was too full of other cruisers for us to commandeer it. Ditto the Winter Garden and Torshavn. So we shoehorned ourselves into the green room backstage in the Star Theater! The pretty young lady on the right is Katie, our cruise director and choir director!

We're just a week from disembarkation, less for the folks getting off in London. So it's time for a number of "last things." One is the farewell show that will feature all the entertainment staff and the passenger choir. We're singing "World in Union," and a haunting Scottish drinking song called "The Parting Glass." In each case, we'll have support from the pros, which eases my mind considerably. "The Parting Glass" in particular is very Celtic in its fluid melodies and rhythms and doesn't lend itself easily to choral singing. Fortunately, the pros will take the verses and we'll join in on the chorus.  

Dancing with the Viking Stars!

In the afternoon, we had a special Dancing with the Viking Star show. Several volunteers have partnered up with staff to work on the Charleston, rhumba, salsa, and who knows what. It was judged by a panel of three headed up by Captain Lars who gave everyone double 10's! 

"Tell me about it, stud!" My new friend Candyce teamed up with Daniel to do a rousing "You're the One That I Want" from Grease! 

This is the first time in Viking cruises history that two entertainment teams have been on board at the same time. Daniel, Jack, Beth and Poppy have been joined by four new singers. Along with Sarah-Leanne and Damian, our assistant cruise directors, and Katie, they pulled together an incredible musical revue for the evening show. Damian's rendition of Judas' aria from Jesus Christ Superstar was a definite highlight. This is a role he's performed to acclaim and several awards. If a show is only as strong as its villain, it must have been gangbusters performance. Poppy's "Defying Gravity" from Wicked was also riveting.  By contrast with these two, the new singers seem terribly young and untried. I suspect it's their first contract, so we'll cut them some slack while they find their feet. 

More soon...