Embarkation day. 8/21/18

Today is the day we board the ship, Viking Sea, for our trip around the Baltic. But first we head downstairs to the RBG Bar and Grill where breakfast is being served at the hotel.  It is very busy in the breakfast area with mobs of Americans bound for cruises today vying for the food as if it is the last meal they will ever have. I really do not like the buffet mob scene. What I tend to do is go to the area of the buffet where there are no people, the table of the unloved. As long as I do not have to be part of the noisy, grabby rabble I am happy with whatever I can cobble together for breakfast.

Today the hordes were not appreciating some smoked meats, radishes, pickled cucumbers, and liver pate. I look at these unloved ingredients and think, banh mi!! I find a loaf of dark bread that no one is eating and cut a slice and make a really delicious open-faced bahn mi. Yay, for unloved food!

Ingredients for a banh mi breakfast!

Later in the morning we head out to the ship, the Viking Sea. Since we are on our own, we take a taxi instead of the Viking bus. Our taxi driver is confused and takes us to the wrong place. When he realizes his error he turns off meter. Before you know it we are through the formalities of getting on the ship and in our cabin. Here’s what it looks like.

Living room with table and also a desk and TV
Bedroom
Shower/bath area
Main bathroom
Large deck that wraps all the way around the cabin
View of Stockholm from the ship

Our cabin steward, Jerek, tells us all the ins and outs of our cabin and life aboard in general. We spend some time looking around and figuring out where we will put stuff later when our luggage is delivered. While waiting for our bags, we sample a little lunch.

John introduces himself to the bar team and we run into Castor who was on our previous cruise in June, 2017. He recognizes John and gives us hugs. It is nice to see someone we know. They refer to us as Sir John and Miss Mary.

John enjoying his first ship beer

After a sampling of various salads I decide on the squid and shrimp salad. The baked salmon is also really good.

Shrimp and squid salad with salmon

When we return to our room our luggage has arrived and we spend some time getting it all sorted out. It is so nice to think that we will not have to live out of suitcases and unpack and repack repeatedly. A hint that I picked up on Cruise Critic is that you can put magnetic clips on the walls and hang all your various papers up. Underneath the wallpaper the walls are made of metal. I think it will really help us to keep our stuff orderly.

Ingenious way to stay organized

Even though we are feeling much more alert today, after our afternoon room organization we spend a little email catch up and sleepy time. Today instead of feeling drugged when we wake up we are much more alert. I think we are turning the jet lag corner!

We get dressed in fancier duds for our dinner at Chef’s Table at 8PM. Since the staff will probably be all new since we were here last time, we have to make them understand that we will probably be dining at this venue every other night regardless of their “rules” of only three reservations. Everyone is very nice, earnest, and sweet so we are off to a good start.

Our dinner tonight is called a Gastronomic Journey Through Time. First course is an amuse bouche, Roman Empire Delicacy. I am not sure what is ancient or Roman about it but we are served a romaine and cucumber gelee with a goat cheese mousse paired with a tangy Riesling Kabinett, Selbach, Mosel wine from Germany. I think the gelee is weird.

Roman Empire Delicacy

Next we have an oxtail consommé paired with a San Leonino Chianti Classico Reserva, 2014. Both the wine and the soup are very good.

Gallic oxtail consommé

Next we have a palate cleanser, “medieval black and blue,” which consists of vodka, mint, and mixed berries. It is dark red and I keep expecting to taste beets. Meh.

Medieval black and blue

Here is a picture of our main course plus John who is looking dapper tonight. He substitutes a glass of wine for his traditional beer.

John in traditional wine pose

The main course is a real standout. It is Renaissance-style lamb filet with sweet potato mash, and a glazed carrot medley. We talk to the chef about it later. It is cooked sous -vide to a perfect internal temperature earlier in the day and then quickly roasted later at service. We like it a lot. It is served with a Donnafugata Sherazade from Sicily.

Renaissance lamb filet with carrots and sweet potato

Finally there is a course that we can do without, dessert. I am a real dessertaphobe and this is especially true if the dessert features chocolate. So I mostly just look at the 21st century nut brownie with pistachio ice cream and sip at the Torre Vento Dulcis in Fundo (Moscato) from Apulia, Italy. (We were there in March!)

Nut brownie with pistachio ice cream

Even though we have harangued everyone with our explanation about why we need to eat at the Chef’s Table outside of the regulated times, they are nice enough to take our picture towards the end of dinner.

John, Mary, and Stockholm

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