Sea Day TODOTC.com To Do in the Twin Cities Trips Sea Day Date: May 10, 2025

Day 6 Sea Day Sunday, May 10th

I believe every cruise, of the six we have been on had a Sea Day. Ours was on Saturday. People, the passengers and crew look forward to sea day. Some might say: no port, nothing to do, we had SIX meetings/ obligations in the 8A-8P time frame.

We slept in until 8A. That is Saturday at home. Then we did our morning traditions and went to find some breakfast at one of the dozen venues. After breakfast we had a 9AM media meeting sponsored by Cruise Critic. At that event we got to meet the Hotel managers for the ship.

A cruise ship has an interesting division of labor. Management on a Cruise Ship is broken down to two divisions. The captain, ours name was xxx xxx, who runs the ship, navigation, maintenance and everything to get the vessel from here to there.

But a cruise ship is different than normal sea vessels. There is a hotel setting on a cruise ship. There thus is a kind of Second captain who many call the hotel manager. Ours was named: xxxx xxxxx. The Hotel manager’s people take care of ticketing and getting people on/off board. The make sure everyone has a room, and it is cleaned and maintained regularly. They also take care of the restaurants, food, bars, pools, shore excursions, security, entertainment and much more.
At 9 AM on Sea Day, since I am considered media, E&I were invited to meet the hotel staff. There was the Hotel Manager xxx xxx, the food/dining manager, the excursion/Activities manager, the room/hotel manager, security manager and the guest relations manager. All of which we got to meet in a small group meeting and ask questions. It was very informative and in a word fun.

It was then about 9:45 AM. As the meeting was done, we heard over the Ships PA that they were going to start the passport distribution system. When we checked in NCL (Norwegian Cruise Line) asked to have our passports. Were we thrilled? NO. Did we understand for security they desired to know who was onboard and any issues, you bet.

After 911 we went to the Airport and at the parking lot was a security person talking to and inspecting every vehicle. I pulled up to the cop and said sir you open or look in any portion of this vehicle, where do you desire to start. He looked at me and said, “You are fine, thanks you and have a good day!”

There is a quote from my favorite figure in history Dr, General Ben Franklin also a member of media. Ben’s quote: “Those who would give us Liberty for security, deserve neither.” I totally agree. Wanna look in the trunk?

So, instead of waiting for our floor to be called to pick-up our passports, we went to the distribution restaurant, since it was the nearby and asked if since we were here if we could get our passports early?   Five minutes later we had our passports and a second meeting done.

So, we went back to our room and realized it was LAUNDRY DAY. On laundry day you can get a few things washed. For about $40 you can get a shopping bag of laundry washed and returned in two days. Sure, does help to reduce packing especially socks and underwear. We were done with THREE things on our lazy sea day, and it was barely 10 AM.

Our next event was a wine tasting at 11:30 AM. So, we decided to have what the Hobbits call SECOND Breakfast. We sat at the bar at the Vibe health club with our new friends & bartenders and ate a great breakfast outside in the sun. While the Rabble scrambled for food and a place to sit just below us.

E then suggested we take a walk. Since a lot of people walk for exercise, every Cruise Ship we have been on has a walking path. On the Viva they have what is called the Ocean Walk. The Ocean Walk is a 50’ of the walking path with glass bottom so you look down at the ocean flowing by ten stories below. We walked around and toured the entire outside of the ship. Well until we came upon the Ice Cream machine.

E takes care of our two grandkids after school every day. When they come to our place the first thing, they BOTH ask for is Ice Cream. So, E had to almost giggle when she saw the outside machine after passing a dozen people on the walking path eating ice cream. She said the grandkids would be in their dream world here!

SO, since we had not sent a video home in a day, we showed E making an ice cream cone all by herself needing no permission to send to the kids.

After the ice cream and walk, it was time for our FOURTH obligation the wine tasting. Our regular readers know our Friday schedule. Every Friday we watch evening news and then feel a need to drink. So, at 6:30 every Friday evening we go to North Loop wine & Spirits in Minneapolis, MN for a wine tasting. We taste six wines for free, but that is a minor portion of the tasting.

Every Friday at the wine tasting we get an education. We get a geography lesson of the different regions in dozens of countries. We learn about the latest new restaurants in town we review from the wine distributors that supply them. We learn about wines and the food that pair well with them. And lastly, we get to meet some great people.

We had a similar experience on our Viva Cruise wine tasting. One of our first wine pairings, wine with a selected food that make each taste better, was over fifteen years ago on another NCL cruise. Do you think the interaction of food & wine is BS? Go to a pairing one time and you will quickly find out otherwise.
The Viva Wine tasting event was run by Solemalea xxx  the wine director on the ship. It was a fun and educational tasting. We had four wines and four cheeses. We had a Chardonay, a Sav Blanc, a Pinot Noir and a Port. Paired with Parmazan, Goat Cheese, Cheddar and Blue Cheese. Our presenter knew his wine, cheese and interchange well. More fun.

The wine event was over about 12:15. It was just in time for THIRD Breakfast, some call Lunch.  After lunch we got some hot tub time in e Vibe Beach Club. Then we relaxed before our 4 PM event. It was an event of one hundred upcoming cruise options with NCL. And since there are few place, we desire to go, we skipped it. We had much needed Hot tub & drinking & eating to do.

Besides at 5:30 we were going to meet the captain and executives at what is called the Latitudes party. A party you get invited to if you have taken at least five NCL cruises. This was one of those cocktail parties you see in the movies with waiters walking around with drinks and eats as people meet each other. It lasted only about thirty minutes but was fun.

After which we went to dinner, or was it Fourth Breakfast? Anyway, we ate a bit before going to the Musical play Beetlejuice. Which is the only major show on the cruise. Beetlejuice was less than spectacular as was the Movie it was named after. What ELSE were we going to do? Have Fifth Breakfast?

If you don’t get around to getting free Beetlejuice tickets, having a great burger on the ship might get you a similar feeling to the play.

After the show we prepped for tomorrow, riding a camel past the Pyramids.

Contact us Dennis@ToDoTC.com