Days 29-31 Sailing the Tasman Sea

Weather
Nice to very Rough seas and back to nice

What we did
It took us 3 days to cross the Tasman Sea (referred to as “the ditch” by locals) from Wellington, New Zealand to Sydney, Austrailia. The first day was pleasant, playing mahjong, cribbage and socializing with others. Viking gave us a big surprise, a Celebration brunch for our first month at sea. The size of the brunch exceeded all expectations. It's hard to put into words so please look at the pictures in the gallery below. Later that afternoon we joined the head chef on a tour of the galley. It's amazing to see how the kitchens work. Everything is cooked to order. Soups and sauces are all made from scratch. The galley crew all work as a team and do not disappoint!

Later that afternoon the captain announced that the second day would be rough and to prepare. At about 2am, we work up to very rough seas. Swells at times were over 30 feet and besides rocking back and forth, the boat creaked and moaned under the pressure. We didn’t get much sleep as items around our room slid around. Thankfully, we had no breakage although a lot of people did. A little after 6am there was a ship announcement for us to stay in our rooms and that they would be bringing us breakfast via room service between 7am and 9am. We really enjoyed being in our rooms, relaxing and experiencing the seas which don’t bother us very much. The crew outdid themselves with a “limited continental” (their words) breakfast which included coffee, orange juice, scrambled eggs, bacon, a fruit platter and a plate of pastries, wow! They later came on again to announce they would be coming around to take room service orders for lunch but we had the option of also eating in the restaurant. Everything on the ship except for the restaurant was closed for the day. We opted to have lunch at the restaurant and had a great table by the window so we could watch the rough seas. Amy slept most of the time between lunch and dinner and we then went back to the restaurant for dinner and compared our experience with others. Everyone was very impressed with how the crew handled this so well, they went above and beyond. Good thing we had to move our clocks back an hour to give the crew one hour extra of rest, they all worked so hard

The third day, things returned to normal. We played mahjong in the morning and Tom played cribbage in the afternoon while Amy went to choir practice. We then did some walking/laps to make up for the day before. After the port talk on Sydney there was a “surprise” in the Atrium where the guest choir (Amy) sang Hallelujah and Amazing Grace. We then met friends for dinner in the restaurant. A fun-filled day!

Travel Tips
If they say rough seas, put a towel in your bathroom sink and put breakables in the towel!

Weather
Nice to very Rough seas and back to nice

What we did
It took us 3 days to cross the Tasman Sea (referred to as “the ditch” by locals) from Wellington, New Zealand to Sydney, Austrailia. The first day was pleasant, playing mahjong, cribbage and socializing with others. However the captain announced that the second day would be rough and to prepare. At about 2am, we work up to very rough seas. Swells at times were over 30 feet and besides rocking back and forth, the boat creaked and moaned under the pressure. We didn’t get much sleep as items around our room slid around. Thankfully, we had no breakage although a lot of people did. A little after 6am there was a ship announcement for us to stay in our rooms and that they would be bringing us breakfast via room service between 7am and 9am. We really enjoyed being in our rooms, relaxing and experiencing the seas which don’t bother us very much. The crew outdid themselves with a “limited continental” (their words) breakfast which included coffee, orange juice, scrambled eggs, bacon, a fruit platter and a plate of pastries, wow! They later came on again to announce they would be coming around to take room service orders for lunch but we had the option of also eating in the restaurant. Everything on the ship except for the restaurant was closed for the day. We opted to have lunch at the restaurant and had a great table by the window so we could watch the rough seas. Amy slept most of the time between lunch and dinner and we then went back to the restaurant for dinner and compared our experience with others. Everyone was very impressed with how the crew handled this so well, they went above and beyond. Good thing we had to move our clocks back an hour to give the crew one hour extra of rest, they all worked so hard

The third day, things returned to normal. We played mahjong in the morning and Tom played cribbage in the afternoon while Amy went to choir practice. We then did some walking/laps to make up for the day before. After the port talk on Sydney there was a “surprise” in the Atrium where the guest choir (Amy) sang Hallelujah and Amazing Grace. We then met friends for dinner in the restaurant. A fun-filled day!

Travel Tips
If they say rough seas, put a towel in your bathroom sink and put breakables in the towel!

Map