Viking Cruise - South America Day 3 At Sea - Christmas Eve

 ...

Sunrise at Sea from Our Balcony on Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve, we awoke refreshed before sunrise. After breakfast of eggs and bacon at the ship, “The Restaurant” Dining Room, Richard worked on-line preparing our Argentina documentation, that is needed in a few days. We took a great Tour of the Ship where we learned there are only 326 intrepid passengers on board with 450 crew! The ship pre-Covid time holds 930 passengers normally. You can see that this Pandemic has certainly taken a toll on the Cruise Industry.

The boat is spectacularly beautiful, even nicer than we anticipated. The Jupiter is one of their newest ocean liners. Besides 3 regular dining rooms, there are 3 Specialty Restaurants that we can dine in. One is called Manfred's, an Italian venue that we will try soon. The other is Chef's Table which features wine pairings with specialized menus featuring California, Japanese, Chinese, and Indian cuisine. There is another one that features a cooking lesson with the Chef, but because of the COVID restrictions, it is not operating. 

There are over 3 million dollars worth of art works on board. You can listen at your leisure on your phone app to descriptions of the art and selected artists. The ship has 2 pool areas, one with an Infinity Pool. The Living Room is a huge foyer area with a baby grand piano. Afternoons and nights are filled with soft sounds from the piano and cello. Our on-board astronomer reviewed the southern hemisphere sky in an  planetarium. Late at night we enjoyed seeing the Southern Cross from the top deck! There is a spa with pools and a snow room. This is just a short description of what there is to see and do.

We attended a wonderful interdenominational Church Service and had a wonderful dinner with friends, Diana and Larry.

This is the passage way to our cabin at the stern of the ship as far away from all the venues as possible except The Restaurant! 

Our cabin is spacious for the least expensive class on the ship.  With a king size bed, desk, chairs and coffee table, nice shower and balcony, we are living in the lap of luxury.