Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Wednesday, May 29, 2024

Corfu, Greece and sail away

36,907 Nautical miles sailed on the World Cruise

This bucolic port is a cruise ship favorite. We joined two others here for the day — a Princess 5000 passenger behemoth and a Viking, so the town is full of tourists. We enjoyed a culinary tour that featured some of Greece’s delicious delicacies. One of the most prized is olive oil, and tasty cheeses and meats. A stop at the best ice cream shop was a highlight. Corfu’s UNESCO World Heritage old quarter is filled with shops and charming cafes. We are already planning to return to Greece for a more in depth tour of the islands.

One of the things we admire about Captain Carl in his role as the Captain of the Vessel is pride in his profession. He insists that his protégées learn to use the sextant. When the weather is nice, he instructs the youngsters to shoot noon. A sextant is a doubly reflecting navigation instrument that measures the angular distance between two visible objects. The primary use of a sextant is to measure the angle between an astronomical object and the horizon for the purposes of celestial navigation. The sextant is an ancient tool that is not commonly used today since GPS and other modern navigational instruments, but it remains a back-up navigational tool and Captain Carl believes good sailor should know how to use one. Hint: it involves a lot of math!

The evening entertainment onboard has been great! White Nights are a big fun party with an expansive buffet, live music and a parade of the crew waving the flags of all the countries represented onboard.