Day 51: Sea Day - Melbourne tonight

Included are some maps of our locations today. Earlier we rounded the tip of Australia to now heads towards Melbourne. Phillip Island, Australia is off our starboard side. Earlier today we passed below the mainland of Australia going through the Bass Strait.

The logistics of organizing so many cruise & cargo ships is beyond my understanding. We have been accompanied by our sister ship the Viking Sky and another cruise line the Norwegian Spirit. It’s a cruise ship traffic jam - not really. We are taking a slow pace into Melbourne - we arrive early due to the modified route we took to avoid a huge storm. The captain told us this change helped us to experience the inside of a washing machine on sea. We are thankful for that.

Honestly, today has been a bit calm - nearing a bit bored. Donna & I have read, watched the port talks and lectures we missed on TV in our stateroom. I think the plan is a light dinner at World Cafe and then we might hit the spa for some steam, snow, and jacuzzi.

The ship will be in port tonight, not cleared to leave the ship until tomorrow - we have to all do a face-to-face immigration clearance check.

Super Bowl is tomorrow at 10:30AM (That’s Monday Feb 12) Melbourne, Australia time - some folks got reservations at pubs to go watch the game. The ship will be showing it on the pool deck - serving American food & America Beer. Just to set the story straight not all Americans drink Budweiser or Miller Lite.

We will be in Melbourne for three days - Watch the game Monday morning/early afternoon - then explore Melbourne - get a city pass to take the various transportation methods - we will just explore to find what we can find. Then Tuesday & Wednesday we have planned excursions.

The biggest concern people have right now is - what will our future route be? Nothing has been announced, Look at CNN and other news stories you will see other cruise lines making switches in their plans. We all think it is a given we will not be going through the Red Sea or Suez Canal. But, what will we do we don’t know yet. I do believe Viking will do everything in their power to first keep us safe and second still provide us with an amazing cruise.Read more