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Published: March 10th 2006
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Today is our last sea day. Alan and I had plans to take pictures to document a typical day at sea. Unfortunately, we woke up to a gray, cloudy day that isn’t conducive to picture taking. So I hope you will indulge me in my reminiscing about the last forty-two days.
Coffee and croissants on the balcony started almost every morning for us. One day, we became so engrossed in watching flying fish hover over the water that Alan missed breakfast and I missed exercise class. There’s a peaceful quality to sitting on the balcony in the early morning. Sky and sea merge on the horizon and it seems that we can see forever. Alan and I sit in our chairs, holding a warm coffee cup while the ship moves beneath us. It beats breakfast on land any day.
Usually, after our morning on the balcony, I would check email in club.com and then go to whatever exercise class was offered at 9:00am. Alan wandered up to La Veranda for a more hearty breakfast. We would meet back in our suite in the late morning. Sometimes we would go to lectures. The first segment (LA to Sydney) had wonderful
speakers. Our favorite was the astrophysicist, David Aquilar. His talks on the stars and our universe resulted in many, late afternoon balcony discussions between Alan and me.
The second segment (Sydney to Hong Kong) did not have the same quality lecturers, or maybe we just got tired of going to class. Anyway, I became active in a life writing group led by Assistant Cruise Director, Dana. We would meet in the Voyager Lounge to share our stories. A couple of members really caught the writing bug and I enjoyed watching their progress. Although I write non-fiction, I did have personal essays that I could share. Of course this led to more time writing and less time attending trivia, bridge, crafts, bingo, tea-time and other ship-board activities.
While I wrote, Alan usually staked out his favorite spot on Deck 5 to read, think and sleep. We would meet back in our suite around noon to decide about lunch. The pool deck offered themed buffets that changed daily. We also had the choice of La Veranda (a buffet) or a sit-down lunch in Compass Rose
After lunch, came my favorite part of the day - nap time! There is
nothing better than to be lulled to sleep by the action of the waves. Once awake again, I usually spent more time writing. Sometimes, we would go to the Observation Lounge where Alan would read and I would write. If we timed it right, we could have afternoon tea.
If you’ve been reading this blog, then you already know where we were at 6:00pm each evening. Yes, that’s right, the Observation Lounge drinking our glass of champagne. We are not total creatures of habit and did try all four of the restaurants onboard. We liked Compass Rose for formal nights and La Veranda for busy port days when we wanted a quicker meal. We tried Signatures, once, but it required a reservation, and we like a more spontaneous approach to dinner.
Latitudes, an Asian inspired restaurant, changed to themed dinners twice during our cruise. While we were in French Polynesia, the theme was a Polynesian Brang dinner complete with beautiful dancing girls. In Australia, the restaurant became an Outback Steakhouse. The floor was covered in wood shavings, a simmering pot of soup hung over a fake fire and diners sat underneath tents, Radisson’s version of camping out.
After dinner, we usually attended the show in Constellation Theatre. Sometimes we would go dancing, but Alan and I had a hard time finding a lounge playing our kind of music. We should have taken those ballroom dancing lessons! Alan enjoyed the casino although he watched more than he played. And, if it was karaoke night, you could find us in Voyager Lounge.
We never knew what we would find on our bed when we returned each evening from dinner. There was always “Passages,” the ship’s daily newsletter for the next day’s activities. Starting in Sydney, a photocopy of a pen and pencil drawing was slipped inside “Passages.” A guest (Capt. Dag’s friend) sketched his impression of various ports and the ship as a gift to all the passengers, a nice memento to add to our scrapbook.
On the first segment, we came into our room one night to discover a blue box for each of us. It was a pair of binoculars. The second segment gift was a large leather shopping bag. We knew that full World Cruisers received gifts; but we were delighted to be included, too. On Valentine’s Day, red foiled chocolate hearts were waiting
on our pillows.
Speaking of Valentine’s Day, we started the morning with an anonymous gift by our door, a heart covered bag with candy and a note that said it was intended to remind us of home. That night, we met Vicki, Tyler, Stephanie and Phil for dinner in Compass Rose. Each woman was handed a long stemmed red rose as she entered the restaurant. At dinner, Vicki confessed that she was the anonymous gift giver who left the bag of candy at our door.
One night, we sadly said goodbye to our favorite headwaiter, Edwin. He left the ship in Manila to pursue other interests. We have known him since Song of Flower days and will miss seeing him on other voyages.
Well, that’s it for my random thoughts about sea days. Now, back to the present. Tomorrow we arrive in Hong Kong.
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Ilie
non-member comment
from republic of Moldova
I really liked your photos. you remind me a real happy family. it was really nice to see u :) hyperel@yahoo.com