Today we are somewhere in between St. Johns and Halifax. It's another sea day which Mom has come to love. She likes getting up when she feels like it, getting a leisurely breakfast and wandering around the ship, finally picking a nesting place to sit and relax or read a book. There's a nice library, computer room and lots of bars on board where you can just relax and do what you want. When blogging, I prefer to go to a public area and people watch while writing or downloading as opposed to sitting in solitude in our stateroom.

After breakfast, we head to the theater to hear a lecture about the Vikings:The North Atlantic Voyages. We learn about the the westward voyages of the Vikings, the settlement of Scotland, the Faeroe Islands and Iceland. We discover the colorful Erik the Red and his Norse journey onward to Greenland and North America. It's an engaging lesson supported by PowerPoint.

Now we head for the Lido for a quick bite followed by a walk around the ship to make sure we're not missing anything. At 2pm, Barbara gives her presentation : The Halifax Explosion of 1917. As usual, she's always interesting and we enjoy our time there.

Halifax was devastated on December 6, 1917 when two ships collided in the city's harbor, one of them a munitions ship loaded with explosives bound for the battlefields of the WWI. The result was the largest human-made explosion prior to the detonation of the first atomic bombs in 1945. The north end of Halifax was wiped out by the blast and subsequent tsunami. Nearly 2,000 people died, another 9,000 were maimed or blinded, and more than 25,000 were left without adequate shelter. Windows were blown out 60 miles away.

We had scheduled a Cellar Masters Wine Tasting at 2pm as well but canceled a couple of days ago. We enjoyed the first one about 10 days ago but this one was more expensive, $35pp and, while it's nice, the free lecture was more to our liking. We see the Halifax Bagpiper and Highlander wandering around the ship talking to people. We will see them tonight at a special presentation so we return to our stateroom. Tonight is our third and final "Gala Attire" dinner so we have to get dressed up. Mom loves lobster!

We're off to dinner. We stop for a few formal pictures although Karen hasn't been too excited about any of them so far. After dinner, we scurry to the theater to hear a Four Seasons tribute group, the Unexpected Boys. They're not all that. Their harmony is not there. Immediately afterward, the Highlander & Bagpiper enter the stage. The Highlander speaks about the Citadel, historic sites and the Nova Scotia heritage. The Bagpiper follows with an inspiring musical performance.  

It's now 10pm and we return to our stateroom with Mom checking out the ship's shops on the way back. It's Halifax tomorrow.