Having the right travel mindset is crucial to enjoying travel when things don’t go as planned.  Today, for instance, I’m on the Viking Star, and I expected to be photographing the beautiful ruins of Selunite on the island of Sicily.  Instead, I am sitting enjoying some cappuncino and planning some cha cha lessons with my husband for later this afternoon.

View from the Viking Star as we pass the Sicily area

Last night we left the port of Civitavecchia (about 2 hours outside Rome) to travel to the port of Trapani on Sicily.  We had rough seas; I’ve got a cast iron sea stomach (as does everyone in my party) but we definitely were doing zig-zag walking all over the boat. We woke to seas that were still rough; rough enough to close the therapy pool in the spa (which we had planned to use when the spa opened at 8). We (my husband and I) instead used the steam room and snow grotto (yep, real snow!) and saunas.  We did have the place to ourselves.

After a fine buffet breakfast and two Viking talks in the main theater on the ports of Tunis and Cagliari, we were heading back to our room to get ready for our stop in Sicily, when the captain came over the loud speaker.  The news was not good…due to high winds, we couldn’t dock in Trapani.  So no Sicily; just refunds for the planned excursions.

Excursions we had planned for Sicily

I’m thankful that the captain has our safety in mind (after all, on my excusion to Taquinia yesterday the tour guide pointed out in the distance the island where the Costa cruise ship sank a few years back…a reminder that safety should indeed always be first at sea) but of course I’m disappointed. I had already framed those beautiful ruins by the sea in numerous pictures in my mind.

But, all is not lost. We didn’t have any days at sea planned on this port-intensive itinerary, so we can relax and read in a quiet corner (which is what I’m going to do next, on the pool deck with a cashmere blanket on my lap),  take part in some cruise activities (those aforementioned cha cha lessons) and try out the afternoon tea at 4 (which Grandma is excited for). Eating on a cruise ship is always entertaining. Hmm…maybe it’s time for lunch!

It has been a wonderful cruise with Viking so far, and we have Tunisia to look forward to tomorrow, then Sardinia, Algeria and Spain.  To be honest, I was more worried about geopolitcal unrest from the Trump decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem effecting our port stops in North Africa than the weather, but since I was already expecting the unexpected, I’m good.  I’ll have to get to those ruins on a future trip!

Also, a quick note about my health–I’ve been away from this blog for awhile due to my Rheumatoid Arthritis and a knee operation (total replacement) at the end of August. The knee operation has been a huge success…more about that in my blog at a future date! And much more about this trip of course, so stay tuned.