It’s hard to resist all the goodies that Viking offers, so instead of resisting them completely we’re trying really hard to just limit our intake. I’ll acknowledge that yesterdays THREE pieces of cheesecake were an exception, but they were, after all, my entire lunch. How’s that for justification?

Today began with a breakfast special event: a donut bar! While I’m not normally a donut fan, the fresh donuts created from scratch on board (not par-baked, flash frozen, shipped, and “finished” like Canada’s most famous donut chain does) are indescribably delicate and tasty.

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After scarfing down a blueberry filled-and-iced yeast donut (the plate on the top shelf of the uppermost photo), and meeting Ted, we headed down to the first lecture of the day: “Oceanic Coral Reefs”, by Captain Tom Anderson.

The highlight of Tom’s lecture was the photographs; he had hundreds and hundreds of them, cycling too quickly on the large theatre screen for me to get good photographs of them. We’d been to other lectures about coral reefs, but Tom’s was definitely the most engaging because of the quality of his photos.

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Speaking of colour, he reminded us that the coral animal is white, like bone. The symbiotic algae that grows in and on it is a plant, and can be incredibly brightly coloured, leading to the multi-coloured reefs that so enchant us.

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My happy new fact was that there is a damsel fish called a “Royal Gramma”. Seems VERY fitting, no?

Ted had actually begun his morning before I woke, even before the donut station was set up, in the Wintergarden for the “coffee chat” with our Cruise Director. While he was there, above him crew members were painting the trim on the glass roof. Even with the ship still rocking, the intrepid seafaring crew continues their duties.

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I’d had a donut, but no coffee, so stopped in the atrium for a latte before the second lecture, a talk on Pearl Harbor by Captain Paul Eschenfelder. His talk focussed on “the events leading to December 7, 1941 – the missed clues, the spy, the catastrophe for American forces and its impact on the future.”

While passengers were being pampered and entertained, the weekly Crew Emergency Drill took place. Captain Martin Jurland always forewarns us of the impending ear-piercing alarms, and reminds us that on any ship safety is the first priority, and that crew – unlike passengers – do not have the luxury of not participating in these drills. The only thing that really impacts us is when the ship’s fire-screen doors close. Once those seal, there is a crew member assigned as “door guard” for each one, and they cannot be opened for anyone or anything. It’s interesting to see how the ship is “compartmentalized” to prevent the spread of flames and smoke. After the test, each door guard has to re-arm and re-set their assigned door.

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The Pearl Harbor lecture touched on many of the things also covered in a book I had just read, most especially the role of Japanese consular worker Takeo Yoshikawa as an undercover Japanese spy. Yoshikawa’s photos and reports were key to allowing the Japanese to effectively attack Hawaii.

Captain Eschenfelder explained the disconnect between what the American military command thought the Japanese war strategy might be, and what the Japanese actually did. Added to that was the fact that the Japanese knew, through their spy, exactly how much of the US Pacific fleet was stationed in Pearl Harbor. The last piece of the puzzle of how the attack was possible was that the radar reports of the incoming Japanese fleet and planes were ignored (treated as false information, because the reports received weren’t what was “expected”). To me, it was tragically reminiscent of the stories of the Titanic, with iceberg sightings ignored.

The final result of the attack was that 19 U.S. ships were crippled or destroyed, as well as over 350 aircraft. The attack resulted in the death of 2,403 American sailors, soldiers and civilians, and injured more than 1,000. Only 129 Japanese lives were lost.

The photos used throughout the lecture really helped to prepare me for what we’d be visiting tomorrow.

After lunch from the Pool Grill, Ted headed off to an iPhone photography workshop and I found a sunny chair in which to park and finish my current novel, since there won’t be time to read for a couple of days. My spot on the pool deck meant I had a great view of the afternoon Hawaiian themed dance class. No hula for me, I thought; I’m a better cheerleader and spectator than hip-swiveller. But… Tara guilted me into joining and, of course, it was fun. It’s easy to swivel and sway when the ship is doing most of the work for you!

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Dancing under the hot sun seemed to merit a frozen piña colada, which bartender Daniel then “topped” with dark rum that swirled down through the slush. Delicious!

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We had a late (for us) dinner with Mary and Ash from Manchester (although now living in Wales), friends of the Ancells with whom we spent some time on the 21/22 world cruise. An endorsement from Stella and Gary carries a lot of weight, so we were thrilled at the prospect of making new friends, and dinner together was a delight.

Tomorrow we reach land in Hawaii, for which I’m grateful after 5 days of dosing myself with a daily 25mg meclizine (5 days is coincidentally the recommended maximum stretch without taking a break). I knew the California-Hawaii crossing was likely to be less than smooth, based on having done it last January as well. Fingers crossed that the upcoming 5 day stretch of sea days heading south from Hawaii into French Polynesia will be smoother.