Day 4 - Cabin Fever on the HIGH Seas
We're experiencing pretty rough seas here on the North Atlantic. Not that this is a surprise! Frankly we would have been disappointed if we'd had smooth, glassy seas the whole way to New York. This is the real deal here; I feel like we should be spending our days hauling in huge nets full of fish. I can't imagine what this route would have been like on a Viking longboat or a tiny packet ship. (Actually I can: nauseating! And also cramped.)
The windows in our living room overlook the central deck, and last night both pools resembled the wave pools you see at water parks. The water was sloshing over the pool ledge and onto the decks, but many stalwart guests kept on swimming. Today no one really has that option since the pools have been drained. There are very few people walking on the decks, and those who are bold enough to do so are definitely dressed for winter.
Tomorrow we're scheduled to dock in Reykjavik, so Kat, her mom and I attended an "NCL-U" lecture called 'Iceland: Land of Fire and Ice'. It was held in the ship's Stardust Theater, which is at the fore of the ship. Our rooms are technically classed as being in the aft, but they're actually quite close to the centre of the ship so we don't feel as much motion as people with rooms nearer to the bow or stern. The Stardust Theater was like a roller coaster ride. Ever the class clowns, Kat and I, threw our arms over our heads in glee when we experienced a particularly large dip.
The lecture itself was poor at best. I haven't witnessed educational programs on other cruise lines, but the Hinkels have been to lectures on the Queen Mary 2. Those were given by experts in a particular field, and as far as we can tell this lecturer had no specialist knowledge of Iceland. The PowerPoint was shoddy and the information cursory and contradictory. For example, we learned that it was Viking law for the richest man in the village to buy every man a sword, and also that you only owned arms if you were very wealthy. When the stage lights and disco balls suspended from the ceiling gave a particularly menacing shudder, it provided us with the perfect excuse to escape out the back.
The Hinkels are great…definitely characters. They're prone to bad geology puns and spontaneous 'Bye Bye Birdie' sing-alongs. Today Mrs. Hinkel was running around the boat offering people her remedy for seasickness: just don't think about it and it'll go away! Aside from amateur lectures and providing unsolicited advice, we've mostly been playing cards. I think we've all got a touch of cabin fever! Perhaps tonight we'll revisit last night's diversion and reserve one of the private karaoke rooms. Then we can belt out some more show tunes before being rocked to sleep by the not-so-gentle waves.
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Read the other articles:
Days 7-11 Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and journey's end
Day 5 - Iceland: Tour, Geology and Saga Museum
Day 4 - Cabin Fever on the HIGH Seas (you are here)
Day 3 - Ruins and Treasure Hoards
Day 3 - Tastes of Shetland
Day 3 - Archaeological Mother Lode
Day 3 - Out and about in Lerwick
Day 3 - Lerwick town and harbour
Day 1 - Katherine's first impressions
Day 0 - Outfitting the expedition
Added 2008/09/21 @ 21:15:36
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