[Worldtrippers home] [2025 Crystal-Viking]
Today’s port was Zadar, Croatia. Zadar is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia, dating back to the Late Stone Age in prehistoric times. On previous visits we have gone to the old town, which is a maze of streets and Roman ruins. The city is also famous for a water organ and a gigantic solar disk.
This time, we took a shuttle bus to nearby Bačvice beach. Unfortunately, Gail missed the port talk, and she didn’t realize this was a rocky beach and not a sandy beach. So instead of simply lolling on the beach, she ended up joining Russell in the water.
We were joined by a Norwegian family from the ship, including their two sons. The nine-year-old is learning English by talking to people, and we were happy to converse with him.
We have mentioned that a shakedown cruise is one of only two times children are allowed aboard a Viking ship. This year there are more friends and family than invited dignitaries, so we have almost a hundred children aboard, ranging from newborns to teenagers.
The enrichment lectures on a shakedown cruise tend to be very sparsely attended. The guests are here for work, and they are largely occupied with inspections and meetings. Russell’s best audiences have been the children, and he has modified his planned lectures accordingly, supplementing history with pop culture topics.
Tonight was the last of Russell’s three shakedown lectures. He has a couple of days off to enjoy himself… and catch up on the worldtrippers blog.
