Sailing North to Alaska

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We got off to a lazy start on our first sea day; but, Sharon did manage to drag herself to mass while I wrote the blog for our stay in Seattle and boarding of the Statendam. It’s good to be back on a Holland America ship that has floor mats in the elevators that tell you what day of the week it is. We went to the Lido for breakfast. Still stuffed from last night I had only a bowl of Swiss muesli and a croissant and a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice. Sharon had her scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, potatoes and of course a chocolate croissant. We headed to the Explorers Lounge to take our Sudoku challenge. Today’s puzzle was numbered #2, which as I recall was the first puzzle we did on the previous cruise. I did recognize the “Hard” puzzle. I completed both first. We switched to the “Hard” puzzle left over from the day before (numbered #1) and it was a bit slow going. I realized that I’d made a mistake, and not having a replacement form, I created a replacement by hand on the back of one of the sheets. Sharon finished first and went back to the room to check her email. I finally did finish mine as well, and on the way back to the room I noticed that Sharon had failed to complete her final three annotated cells. I told her that I guess that game was a tie! I thought that was more than generous, but she wasn’t buying it.

We went up to the Lido for lunch. I had the stuffed veal, mashed potatoes, green beans and the chicken with kale soup. Sharon had the roast chicken, roasted potatoes and green beans. We came back to the cabin to put on our “Google” shirts for playing trivia at 1 PM. We had a nice seat near the front in the Crow’s Nest and soon found a couple looking for where to sit to play Team Trivia. I invited them to play with us, and initially they said yes and sat down near us. The man didn’t want to sit in the chairs and I don’t blame him. I had sat in the chair and it was way to low; so, I moved to the bench if front of the windows. After sitting down the man remembered that they’d promised to play with some others and if they didn’t show up then they’d play with us, which is sort of a wishy-washy approach to trivia that leaves Sharon and I waxing in the wind. I noticed a Canadian couple on the inside looking for teammates, and in our experience it is best to have some non-US team members; but, in our state of limbo I wasn’t sure what to do. When another American couple approached, obviously looking for a team, I invited him to join our team. His name was also John and his wife's name is Leah. If the first couple chose to play with us, that would complete our team. Meanwhile, the Cruise Director Ross showed up and I went to get an answer sheet. When I returned to our seats I noticed that a second couple had joined the couple I’d first invited to play, so they evidently had their own team. And a lady and teenage granddaughter, Irene and Katrina respectively, were sitting next to Sharon where I’d been sitting; so, I guess I will be trying to fill out the trivia form from that low sitting seat. We now had a team of six and were ready to play. Katrina had agreed to come play trivia with her grandmother; but, in return Irene was obliged to go to Dancing with the Stars at Sea.

The questions were easier than some challenges, including some repeats from previous cruises. Two repeats were “What is the largest animal ever to live on earth?” and “What is the movie that chronicled the life of Loretta Lynn?” If you’re trying to come up with the name of a particularly large dinosaur; then, I’m afraid you’re on the wrong track. Sharon was thinking that “Italy” was the European country with the most volcanos; until, she say the answer I wrote down and before Ross gave an additional clue that one of these volcanoes had a major eruption in 2010. She was right in that the correct country’s name does begin with “I”. A dietary question asked: “Which of Carbohydrates, Fat, or Protein contain by weight, the most energy?” The answer is “Fat” which I changed to when the grand-daughter said they’d mentioned that at their smoothie class ealier. I of course knew what the Greek licorice flavored liquor is ouzo. And we started this cruise off right by getting the bonus question right (we didn’t get his correct last week until the last challenge). Who appoints the justices to the World Court? That oversized beast is the blue whale. And the bonus question answer is of course the United Nations. We won this challenge, missing just one question, which we all agreed with Ross, was a “nonsense question”: “What is the term for a pregnant goldfish?” The correct answer is “twit”. Our team name is “We Don’t Need Google!” Ross is keeping a running tab of scores by team name over the course of the cruise, so maybe there is even greater glory possible than this fabulous brassy whale pin showing a humpback fluke in nicely blue and white enamel.

We went to watch the Cha-Cha for Dancing with the Stars at Sea. The wood dance floor in front of the stage is larger on this smaller ship, than the round circular cut-out on the larger Noordam last week. And this dance floor was full. One woman had an inauspicious start, falling flat on her face as she stood in the front row and stepped onto the dance floor. She was shaken up but was able to continue. The routine of the Cha-Cha was slightly different than that taught on the Noordam. The basic moves were the same; but, when or how many times you do something would change to mix up the choreography. The cruise director Ross also participated in learning the dance. The woman who fell at the beginning was one of the finalists but she lost out to the other woman on audience vote.

We went to play Bingo, and we couldn’t get too excited by the $5,000 jackpot, but there did seem to be quite a few players. After a four year drought of not winning at Bingo on cruises since our last two-week Alaskan cruise, we were hoping to right that ship. In the first game I was the first to rise needing just one more “N” call for a simple Bingo after just seven calls. Several calls went by; but, no more “N’s” were called. Now one by one others started to rise also. Then Sharon stood up too, needing just “O-66”. That’s when the caller said: “Where do you get your kicks…” And I turned to Sharon saying, “You stole my Bingo, Babe!” The caller continued, “…On route sixty-six!” Sharon called “Bingo!” beaming broadly. “Et tu, Sharon!” At least the drought is finally over and Sharon won $156.

We returned to the cabin to get ready for dinner, this being a sea day, and tonight being formal dining. Sharon wore her gold sequined top, quite appropriate for going to the “Bob Mackie Broadway” show later in the evening. I enjoyed the escargot and artichoke and carrot soup. The couple sitting across from Sharon and I had a story similar to ours, being married just six years but having known each other since high school (Okay, I’ve known Sharon not quite that long; but, I’m just saying). Sharon got the pepper-crusted tenderloin with two grilled shrimp that I was more than happy to eat for her. I chose the baked ricotta-stuffed shells, which was served with marinara and quite a few whole seedless black olives, and the pasta dish was very tasty. We both had the chocolate soufflé with chocolate sauce as did most of our table. Though the waiter brought Sharon and one of the other women a black forest cake. Sharon quickly told him she had ordered the soufflé so that was corrected.

We then headed to the show which was preceded by the Captain’s toast. The captain is very talkative and said quite a bit as he introduced his staff. We’d seen this show several times but the singers are very good and you can always listen to good Broadway songs so we enjoyed it more than we expected.

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