Monday April 15th – Day at Sea

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Today is Tessa’s Birthday! Happy Birthday #11!! We hope you had a very good day and maybe your classmates even sang to you. Anyway, we are thinking about you on your special day.

We got some good news from Valerie. Yes, the electricity had gone out for a while but it was working again by this morning. We will have to reset most of the clocks when we get home, but everything is working properly. We usually get dead branches falling from the trees during windy days, so that appears to have been the case too, but there were no reports of any significant damage. YEAH.

Back here on the ship they seem to be having more people with Janet’s intestinal distress so the ship has gone into a massive cleaning/disinfecting project. They are following the procedures they would use for a norovirus, but so far we are healthy again. With some basic sanitary care we should be fine.

Today is our second chance for a Pub Lunch. Janet was sick when they had the first one so we have been looking forward to this next opportunity. For that reason we had a very light breakfast so we could enjoy the larger than usual lunch. It was in the Crown Grill but we got there before it became very crowded – David had skipped the port lecture so we arrive ahead of 500 other people. Unfortunately they were having technical trouble and could not make Fish & Chips, so we got Prawns & Chips instead. Except for not getting what we had been planning, it was very good anyway. Then we stopped in the International Café for coffee and cake.

But before all that happened, Janet went to the daily Knitter’s Meeting – back in the Stargazer’s Lounge where the light is better. David went for a short workout in the Fitness Center and mostly rode the stationary bike. Today’s temperature was 84 at 9:00 AM and 86 at 4:30 PM. There was a headwind of 20 knots and the ship was cruising at 19 knots, so we had some brisk winds on the deck - David did not try walking the Promenade Deck today. That left the rest of the morning for David to read. He finished book #2 and started the 3^rd one.

We returned to the cabin after lunch. We had recognized the ‘enhanced sanitary standards” during lunch. There was no salt & pepper on the table but they brought little packets if you asked. At the coffee stand someone handed out individual lids for the to-go cups. They were busy sanitizing the common areas of the ship during the day, but by dinner time we had all the same treatment as usual.

We returned to the cabin after lunch and Janet started watching Transylvania 3. At 2:15 David went down to a presentation from Future Cruises to hear about Grand Voyages and Combo Cruises. It is interesting to keep an eye on what is available and any little tricks they might suggest. Right now we are focusing on the Alaska trip next year. When he got back to the cabin Janet had turned off the movie (she had seen it before) and was taking a nap.

David changed into his swimming suit and went up to the pool about 3:00 while Janet got up and started her needlework again. About 3:30 we sailed past a small atoll. It is the first land we have seen since leaving the Samoa Islands, but this is supposed to be just the first of several we will pass before reaching Tahiti tomorrow.

At 4:30 we met one of the other couples from our dinner table up at the Stargazer Lounge. Tonight was Mexican Salsa night. Janet got a Dirty Banana and David got a Mexican beer. Then we all went to dinner at 5:00. Trying to get from the lounge to the dining room involves taking an elevator down from the top deck in the stern, walking on deck-7 to midship, and then down another elevator to the dining room.

For dinner they had a repeat of the Veal Cordon Blue menu, and this time we both ordered it. Last time David had the steak and regretted his choice, but tonight he did not repeat that decision. We both had a Shrimp Cocktail and David also had Fresh Fruit Kabobs. For dessert David got a slice of carrot cake with a snifter of Grand Marnier and Janet had a glass of Irish Cream with her coffee.

After dinner David went to the theater to watch a singer/piano player. He did not know much about what to expect but this was a resident performer from one of the lounges, doing a special show tonight. He tried to add some comedy but it would have been better if he had just stuck to the music. Mostly he played Billy Joel and Elton John songs. Meanwhile Janet decided to stay in the cabin and rest in preparation for tomorrow’s Port excursion. That finishes today’s report – see you tomorrow.

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