British Isles Explorer Ocean Cruise
Day 6: Sunday, April 12, 2026 - Tilbury, England
The day's statistics:
⛅ Weather: upper 40s, windy
👟 Steps: Linda 9,237; Steve 10,800
Our typical wake-up time so far has been 7:00.
After waking, showering, and getting ready, we headed to the World Café for a casual breakfast.
Off the back of the World Café is the Aquavit Terrace. The weather was generally too cool to fully enjoy
the space, but some did eat out there every one in a while.
Today's included excursion was "Tilbury Fort" at 9:45. We were in group 11.
Our guide was Stephen, and our driver was Alex.
The drive was, literally, about six minutes. OK, seven. It was right over there...
Tilbury Fort is the best preserved 18th century fort.
One of the highlights of the fort is that it contains the best preserved gun powder rooms in the world.
The bus drove over to the entrance, we debussed, and climbed a short flight of stairs to the river walk.
Like I said, the fort was right over - because the ship is now right over there...
Also on the other side of the River Thames is Gravesend, and Pocahontas happens to be buried there too.
While we were on the riverwalk, we took a couple of selfies.
After stepping off the waterfront levee, we passed through the driveway gate.
There was an information placard about the site and area as well.
We approached the fort from the west, and had a good view of the moat.
When we got to the fort's entry gate, we saw a high-caliber mounted gun.
The we passed through the fortress gate.
There were a large number of original fortress guns still on sight - and some, still mounted.
After passing by the ticket counter and through the gift shop, we came upon the original barracks foundations.
The original rooms held 7 soldiers each.
The lighter section of wall was a replacement.
The group was led across the plaza and behind the officer's barracks - which do have some people living in
them today - and out the side to the right (as looking at the front).
After gathering, Stephen told us about the time when, in August 9, 1588, Queen Elizabeth I arrived at the fort to
show support for the troops as they faced an impending attack from the Spanish Armada. She famously said "I know
I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king. I have placed my chiefest
strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects; and therefore I am come amongst you... not
for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst of my loyal people, to live and die among you all."
But the fleet never arrived and there was no fight.
After the speech discussion, Stephen continued with information about the storage areas, and the exhibit.
11:55 was the target time to be back on the bus - so we had more than an hour of free time.
Our self-guided tour started by visiting one of the officers' quarters - this one "apartment" has space and accommodations
for two officers.
After the barracks, we headed over to the exhibition with the preserved powder rooms.
There were some placards that included information about the history of the fort.
Next, I went into one maze of tunnels connecting the gun powder rooms with the mounted guns. These tunnels allowed the
solders to provide ammunition to the guns while keeping themselves and the gun powder safe from aerial attacks.
We walked along the inside of the upper perimeter of the wall.
There was an old wooden bridge across the moat with a drawbridge component to help keep out - or a least slow down -
the undesirables.
A large - very large - gun mount with a swivel track.
There was quite an expansive view of this flat countryside from the fort.
Above the entrance gate, accessed via a double staircase on this side of the wall, was the quartermaster's shop, and
above that was the QM's residence - with an impressive view down the river toward the sea too.
Above the gift shop was the chapel.
With the temps in the upper 40s, and, more so, windy, some people were hanging out in the chapel to get a
little warmth. At this point, even though it was a little early, we headed back to the bus. If it weren't so
cold and, more so, windy, we probably would have walked back to the ship because it was right over there.
But since there were enough buses going back and four with hundreds of passengers visiting the fort, the
bus that filled just left and returned to the ship.
After embarking and passing through security, we made our way to the World Café for lunch. While up there,
I was able to get a picture of the fort from the seventh deck of the ship - a decent bird's eye view.
Also while on the 7th deck, I got a shot of the infinity pool.
And a shot of three different "bodies" of water: the hot tub, the infinity pool, and the River Thames.
We chose not to have dessert at the World Café because we were going to have some of our anniversary cake instead.
The cake was about 8 inches in diameter. The red was raspberry, and the "cake" portion seemed to be a cool whip and
gelatin like mixture. On top was a little fresh fruit, and some pieces of chocolate. The bottom was a crunchy mixture
sort of thing that might have been either quinoa and or oats or grain of some kind, with a chocolate coating.
It was pretty good.
After grabbing our cards, we headed to the Explorer's Lounge for some afternoon Pinocle, and coffee.
We wound up casually chatting with Barbara and Vic (from CT) for about an hour too.
When we arrived, we found that Mamsen's was open.
Later, when we moving about the ship, we came across the Wintergarden, which was now open for the daily 4:00 tea.
Eventually it was time for dinner.
Tonight was our first and only night dining at Manfredi's, one of the two reservation-only restaurants onboard. We had
dined in Manfredi's three times while on our Mediterranean cruise, so, while we enjoyed it, we didn't feel we needed to
dine there too often as the menu doesn't change (even ship-to-ship - not that there is anything wrong with it).
After being seated, served bread with dipping oil, and given menus, we decided on our meal choices.
We were also served this round, fried... thing.
If you ever wonder how germs and such gets spread, regardless of the precautions people take, I am sure this is one way...
(the menu is on the floor, in case you missed it.)
Linda had the Insalada Caprese and Lasagne al Forno alla Bolognese.
I had the Fritto Misto Amalfitano, Risooto ai Gamberi, and Ravioli Freschi alla Caprese e Pesto al Basilico.
Then it was time for dessert. We perused the menu.
Linda had the gelato of the day - Bailey's and Coffee; and I had the Tiramisu Classico.
The first round of trivia was being held at 8:00, and was hosted by Assistant Cruise Director Simon.
We were done with our dinner and in the Explorer's Lounge by about 7:50. We randomly sat with Debbie and Mark (SC), and
Sherri and Brian (FL). Our team only answered 9 of 15 correctly (four teams tied for first with 13 of 15).
After trivia, we headed to the Star Theater.
Tonight, the first night of the first full day on the ship, was the Captain's toast welcoming the passengers aboard. On
the stage were all the department heads too.
Everyone was served a glass of champagne.
We stayed in our seats because after the toast was the resident Viking musicians performing a show title "Duets".
After the toast, the resident musicians put on a show called "Duets".
This was essentially the same show we saw on the
Mediterranean cruise.
I spliced together a few of the melodies for a video too.
Both were well done, even being so similar.
Though I captured a decent aerial view of Fort Tilbury (above), it would probably have been even better to get one
as we passed by as the ship headed out to sea. The only problems with that were A) our cabin was on the starboard
side and the fort was on the port side, and 2) we were already in the room for the night by the time the ship was
leaving port - about 10:00. By the time the ship left the dockside, turned around, and headed toward the fort, it
probably would have been closer to 10:30 or even 11:00.
Plus I may have just forgotten about it too - but have an excuse why that's ok. 😊
As we were relaxing and reading, we heard something. It sounded like faint music. It wasn't loud enough for a
microphone to pick up well, but it was load enough for us to hear. It wasn't too obtrusive though. But it was
surprising how loud it really was since it was from the Troshavn Lounge on the deck below us. And our cabin wasn't
directly above said Lounge either. I can only image how loud it was IN the lounge...
This contains the deck plans from the Viking website, and then I added
a small overlay showing where our cabin aligns with the Lounge.
When put these chronicles together, I do the pictures first, then the videos. After I wrote the above (yes, I know,
I can change it so no one would know), and while I was putting the videos together, I found the recording I took above.
I used the Hit Film Pro software to jack up the volume so the music was more audible - but it was still there, and
enough for it to be jacked up.
What will be a daily routine, we perused the... Viking Daily. I mentioned it
yesterday with pictures - though
they do change...daily - I wasn't going to take pictures of it... daily.
Eventually, we washed up, and went to bed.
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