Mishap on the Final Sea Day

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Our final full day on the Rotterdam began much as any other. To say that we’d fallen into a routine would be understating the facts, we’ve grown to love the routine that we’ve fallen into. Where we once may of thought “What were we thinking” when we booked the World Cruise for 2020, never even having done one as long as the Voyage of the Vikings before, we’re coming around to the perspective of “Why didn’t we do this before?” I think we all have our own answers to that; whether it is work, kids, caretaker-responsibilities, grand-kids, pets, volunteer duties, hobbies, sports, you name it. All sorts of things can interfere with cruising, if you let them. We’ve always felt that it is important to get the cruising and travel in before other things prevent you from doing them. As for myself, I’ve done pretty well on this cruise, or so I think. I haven’t fallen down, which I did on the previous three-week cruise that I took, and this was almost twice as long as that! I came on board with an aching heel and problems with my feet, and despite considerable walking will be leaving the ship with my feet feeling much better. And I am still secretly hoping that maybe I might even lose a couple pounds; although, I have indulged in far too many sodas over the past ten days to think that that is really possible. All of my pants still fit, even the ones I was sure I would outgrow during the cruise. There are a number of people who have had to leave us along the way, and even yesterday the emergency response team had been called to the aft stairs of the Upper Promenade. When we had tried to get to the library and get off on middle elevator some time afterwards, we were blocked by the responders. Sharon saw a woman on a stretcher by the stairs but she was raising her head and talking. We assume she had taken a bad fall down the stairs. The “Where & When” was full of activities, and this promised to be a busy day. It looked like there was a gap in the afternoon that would possibly allow us to get caught up on the blog, but it is amazing how time can evaporate.

Sharon started her day by attending the last mass of the cruise. During the sermon Father Roman made some comment about breakfast not being important but at the end of the mass he added that he should apologize for that since the America’s Test Kitchen host was behind the curtain getting ready for her presentation. She spoke back that there was no problem with what he said. He did ask for prayers from everyone as he has a 16 hr drive ahead of him when he gets off in Boston back to Sydney where he has to say mass at 9 the next day. His brother has been covering for him while he was gone but was not available this weekend.

I joined Sharon just outside the Wajang Theater and we are Lido-bound. Scrambled eggs for Sharon, and the chef takes the pre-made scrambled eggs and cooks them a bit more to suit her… nothing runny at all! I wolf down my fried eggs, no toast of course; but, I compensate by having extra potatoes. I pick up the “Puzzle Page” and meet Sharon in the Library by the Exploration Café. Last chance to get an Iced Mocha Grande, and so I do. I finish the puzzle first; but, I notice a problem with my solution. Sharon is struggling on, and secretly I’m hoping she just throws in the towel as she has done before; but, not today. She finishes with the sense of some accomplishment; but, that is overtaken by what seemed to me excessive exuberance when I informed her that I screwed up my puzzle and so she won the last challenge. Our schedules were taking different paths to start the day. I went to get a seat for the 10AM presentation in the Showroom, and realized that the 9AM presentation was still in progress.

I did find a seat for two, although I was pretty sure Sharon wouldn’t be joining me. I put the camera down just to reserve a place if she did show up. Dr. Tom Anderson was in the middle of a presentation of “Sea Power in the 21^st Century”. Dr. Anderson has an incredible resume. His presentation aids are superb, including photos that wouldn’t ordinarily be available to the general public. And he has a vast number of stories of personal experiences where he’s been involved first hand during various global news situations, and has offered help or aide either directly, or as a subject matter expert to the government. Among other things, he has a medical degree and has been a general practitioner. During the Indonesian Tsunami he had been involved in the first aide effort, and when they needed another pediatrician to help with the many cases, he stepped forward, even though that wasn’t the reason he was present. He noted how rewarding this work is, and it’s no wonder why one of his favorite stories was of an admiral giving testimony to Congress by preparing his audience by saying, “What I am going to show you next is the most powerful naval vessel that we have.” The vessel he showed was the USNS Mercy, a naval hospital relief ship, and its power was the ability to change the hearts and minds of people. According to Tom, the safest place to be is onboard a cruise ship. Pretty much everywhere that you will go, countries will have a Coast Guard there to protect you. And if some misfortune such as pirates should alter your plans, Tom put up a slide of a futuristic craft, “These are the guys that will rescue you.” The picture looked a lot like an X-Wing fighter in Star Wars, the lower part of the “X” had a propulsion system at each end and the vessel could skim over the water at 70 knots. Tom concluded, that the hospital ship which he had volunteered to serve on for a few weeks, accepts volunteers from many walks of life, and encouraged others to give it a try.

Dr. SunnyRose Marlow gave her presentation on “To the Ends of the Earth, Search for Ultima Thule”. It covered primarily the quest to reach the North Pole, and the hardships that were endured by the many who tried. She told of one of the early attempts, where the ship got stuck in the ice flow and before it was crushed, they evacuated supplies to the ice, but did such a poor job of it that when the ice did advance on the much-lightened vessel, it popped up and on its side crushing many of the provisions. She said, the crew believing that they would be rescued soon, used one of their two life boats for firewood. Those few that did survive would not return home again for two years. The Inuit guides that had joined the expedition used the remaining boat to hunt seals and walrus to survive, but hunting was difficult. One of the Inuit told the leader of the expedition, that he was concerned of the looks he was seeing in some of the British explorer’s eyes. The British captain explained to his men that they only reason that they had any food to eat at all was because the Inuit knew how to get it, and from that point on they stopped looking at the Inuit as possibly their next meal. There was much controversy over confirming who actually did reach the North Pole, and who did it first. Some of this was due to no way to reach an independent confirmation, and some due to inconsistency with data recorded to substantiate the claim.

Sharon went to attend the Coffee Chat with Barry From Boston hosted by the Cruise Director Linda. Her first question was for him to describe how he got interested in the piano and when he started playing it. Barry had grown up with an older brother and a younger sister. When he was about 9 someone gave the family a piano, so his parents had decided that his older brother should learn to play and they paid for him to have lessons. It didn’t go well, and he showed no interest in playing the piano and quit very soon after starting. Barry then expressed the desire to play; but, having wasted money on one kid to learn music, his parents weren’t about to make the same mistake twice. So they finally agreed to let him take group classes. A couple weeks into the class the teacher called his mother and told him that Barry was playing the piano. His mother said yes of course he was taking his lesson. The teacher said no he is “playing” the piano and recommended they get him started with private lessons. His brother and he had gone to camp one summer shortly after the piano debacle, and his brother had had the time of his life swimming, riding horses, playing baseball, hiking and canoeing. He had spent the whole time by himself getting familiar with the piano in the recreation hall. At the end of camp the councilor had advised his mother, maybe it would be better if Barry didn’t come next year. He said he was a very nice boy but was not very athletic. Perhaps, you might consider a Music Camp for him. He would only be nine when the Music Camp started, and they only accepted kid that were ten or older; but, his mom got them to give him an audition. He’d just barely started to play when they gave their assessment: Accepted! He also talked about how he puts his programs together for the piano bar and his work experience on ships. Sharon and many others really enjoyed their evenings with Barry in the Piano Bar.

Sharon and I found a table at one end of the pool nearest the Lido buffet, and right by the window where I suppose that Sharon hoped to spot a whale or two. I went to the Dive-In to place my final Cannonball order of the season and came back with a pager. I placed an order for a Sprite and Coke, and Sharon went to check out the buffet, but came back saying that it wasn’t open yet. I say, “That’s odd, it is past 11:30AM.” But Sharon was steadfast. My buzzer goes off and I placed my Dive-In order less than five minutes ago. At least this has taken her mind off of the buffet that is supposed to be open; but, now she’s thinking about her Dive-In order yesterday which took an hour. I went to get my burger and fries.

While returning, I bumped into Duncan and Pam just leaving the front tower on their way for some fine Dive-In dining. Actually, it’s the fries that Duncan has been raving about all cruise; so, I’m guessing that that may have something to do with it. I point out where Sharon and I have a table and promise to save two seats for them to join us. Our drinks come, and Sharon decides to try the buffet again, and I see her returning with a full plate of sliced roast pork and potatoes, lots of potatoes, and peas, and a lot of peas too! I’m in “Devour Mode” so I’m just sitting there with my back to the sea beside me, and my chair turned somewhat away from Sharon but towards the Dive-In trying to spot Duncan and Pam. Sharon maneuvers to sit beside me, moving behind the chair next to me so there’s plenty of room when Duncan and Pam arrive. The next thing I hear sounds to me like the sudden striking of two symbols in a marching band just behind my head: KA-KLANG! The sound of a china plate smashing to smithereens against the tile moldings around the windows of the Lido Deck have me turning towards but away from the commotion and raising my right arm against any possible ricocheting shrapnel. A nearby serving/dish-clearing steward was already at Sharon’s side, and Sharon is sitting on the tile cutout ledge at the base of the window where her plate had been flung the moment her foot stepped on the edge of the drainage perimeter, a recessed drainage about 4-inches wide running along both sides of the pool deck by the windows. She’d caught herself enough to fall and rotate in the seated position on the ledge, and any concern of injury vanished in an instant; because, she was laughing, not quite hysterically; but, she was laughing. The plate literally disintegrated. There were the pieces of sliced pork lying in a bunch together on the ground. There was smooshed potato that had been smeared beyond recognition. And there were peas everywhere rolling across the nice teak decking poolside on the Lido Deck. I head into the Lido Buffet, washing my hands at the hand-washer even though nobody is standing there now to ensure compliance, and although a couple additional cases of the Noro-virus were reported since we were in Scotland, the draconian measures of the first leg were not re-implemented, and I get a replacement lunch for Sharon. I return just as Duncan and Pam are joining us, and I let them know of the excitement they just missed seeing. They’d both gotten Hot Dogs, and those French Fries. Duncan savored every bite. Sharon asked if they’d ever been to “Five Guys (Burger and Fries);” but, they had not. Now they have good fries. The Drive-In fries are coated with something, that I suggested was probably the same batter that they coat the crispy onions in (that they feature on the Cannonball). It’s a light Tempura-like batter. Duncan and Pam invited us, to see how the other half live in luxury in their Neptune Suite, to join them and Jim and Rosemary for a drink and were wondering what time would be good for us. We said that our schedule was clear after Bingo, which is at 2PM, so we decided on 3PM. They still had to check with Jim and Rosemary; but, would do so at Trivia. And we needed to get up to the Crow’s Nest because 1PM was upon us.

There was a time that I didn’t care for TRUE/FALSE trivia questions; because, the answers always seemed so obvious, and these were like “Throw-Away” questions that everyone was going to get right. We’ve come to dread Linda’s TRUE/FALSE questions for a slightly different reason: The answer must be obvious to everyone else; but, we mostly just seem to get it wrong. We should have expected nothing except that Linda would start with another FIFTY-FIFTY as she calls them, True/False question. “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer made his appearance on the world stage BEFORE Frosty the Snowman. TRUE or FALSE?” I had no input for this one. I had heard of them both, and I was sure that they were both before my time, although, they were closer than I might have thought. We leaned towards Frosty being the oldest, so our answer was FALSE. Linda reported, “Rudolph made his debut in 1939; but, Frosty didn’t show up until 1950, so the statement was indeed TRUE. “In the definition for a Google, it is a one followed by how many zeroes?” I looked to Jim and asked, “What does our Science Guy have to say?” He was quiet on this one and had that “Ask me a REAL science question” look of disinterest on this face. I scribbled down “100” and showed my answer to Duncan who recorded it. Next Linda asks, “What is the capital of Monaco?” When I was studying the flags and the countries in my spreadsheet, I decided to also learn all of the capitals because they seem to keep showing up as Team Trivia Questions. Duncan had already written down the answer, so I really didn’t give it much of a second thought, because of all of the country/capital combinations that I’d learned, this was among the half-dozen or so that are really easy, ones like Singapore, Macao, Hong Kong or Vatican City (that’s right, the country and the capital city are the same). Duncan however appeared to write down two words, so I was wondering if head added to the name with “Monaco City”; but no, he’d written down “Monte Carlo”. I showed him my suggestion, “Monaco”; but, he waived me off saying he knew this one, they’d been there. I complained a little saying “Monte Carlo is the casino, not the city.” When Linda said the answer was indeed “Monaco, same as the country,” Duncan declared certainly, “That’s not right!” It looks like I might need to brush up on cocktails as well, perhaps another sheet in my spreadsheet. These questions have been arising ever since we had that CD who’d been obsessed with the most powerful cocktail aboard the HAL cruise ships, the infamous “Wang Wang” composed of 7 types of liqueur. Today, Linda wanted to know what goes into a “Fuzzy Navel”? Pam suggested a peach liqueur for the fuzzy part, so I agreed and suggested Peach Schnapps. And we got the “orange connection” for navel, we just went the wrong way with it. I suggested “Grand Marnier” while “Orange Juice” would have sufficed. We got 1 of 2 points for this thought. And Sharon had no trouble coming up with the names of the actresses playing the three secretaries in the comedy musical “9 to 5” as did the others. There was Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda. It took a joint effort to try to come up with the names for ten body parts where the correct medical term (no slang permitted) are words having just three letters. Starting with the head it is real easy to come up with “Ear” and “Eye”. Adding some body limbs and appendages got us “Arm”, “Leg” and “Toe”. We were halfway there! Another team cracked out in giggles, and Linda admonishes them, “I know what you’re thinking; but, NO slang please.” I chuckle to myself, scribble down what it must have been that they were thinking, and Pam read my scribbling upside down and giggles to herself, whispering “Tit”. Rosemary hears ‘her’ suggestion and looks askance at her, “I never would have expected that from you.” She passes the buck, “It was his idea,” motioning her head to indicate me. “Okay then. HIM I would expect this from.” Another possible slang of course would be “Ass”. I rethink the head, and manage to come up with “Lip.” This triggers Rosemary to say “Hip.” Just before pens down I come up with “Jaw” and Duncan recorded that just in time. The two that we missed: “Gum” and “Rib”. Each answer was worth one-half point in the bonus round. We claimed 15 out of 21 points and one other team had gotten 16; but, Linda awarded us both the top prize. I scored two more brass pins; but, still none from “New England & Canada”.

Bingo followed Trivia in the Crow’s Nest at 2PM because the Showroom had other lectures being done. Sharon and I found some seats and tried to find something that could see the screen. We did have comfortable chairs; but, the Crow’s Nest is no reasonable venue for Bingo. It was my turn to buy the final cards for Bingo and playing with the Full-Six-Pack for $35 seems to have worked out for us. We were ahead overall; even if Sharon was a little bit more ahead than me! There was a large crowd today, perhaps because of the venue with so many hangers-on after Team Trivia; or, perhaps they were encouraged by the $25,000 jackpot bonus that was possible. “We are playing the first came on what color card?” Tino asked. The room echoed “Blue!” “That is correct! I just want to check one little thing, and he goes over to a woman sitting on the end, “And what color are you playing with Shirley?” “Blue,” she meekly responds. “That’s right. I just wanted to make sure after that mix-up the other day!” We played a regular Bingo, and this one took about fourteen calls before somebody called “Bingo”. Tino was sure that they would end up sharing it with a second “Bingo” call; but, none followed. I had three chances that were one away! Next came the Floating Postage Stamp, and on this game, Sharon had three chances to win, and I had two needing just one number. With two games running longer than normal, we weren’t hopeful of anything more than the Small-X; but, Tino treated us to a new game: Top-or-Bottom. The only good call to Bingo will be either the Top Row OR the Bottom Row of a Bingo Chance. And remember, Tino advised us, “The Last Number Called, Must be in you Bingo Solution!” We both had two chances for a good Bingo on this game as well, but somebody else got the solo Bingo call. When the “Bingo” was finally called on the blackout game, it came from all over the Crow’s nest, and five people had to split the $500 top prize, making it for each of them, the smallest payout of the day! Bingo had taken the full hour, and we had to rush down to the Navigation Deck to find Duncan and Pam’s suite.

Jim and Rosemary were already there, and we enjoyed the afternoon talking of travelling, future cruises and exchanging contact information. Both other couples had their own “Have Desire Will Travel” cards and I’m guessing that we’ll need to get some for ourselves. I only had one of our “Villa Bella” cards with me; but, that is mostly as offering our home to family and friends wishing to come to Las Vegas. Duncan was offering us everything; except as Jim found out, his sole remaining Sam Adams beer that had barely lasted him to the end of the cruise. There was some red or white wine, and Sharon had a Sprite and I a Coca-Cola. I’m now way over my “Soda Budget” but the end of the cruise is clearly in sight (and I’m going to make it). Their suite really does seem spacious after spending the last five and one-half weeks in the confines of an outside cabin; which seemed spacious to us after last year’s inside accommodations on the Koningsdam (which was laid out very nicely but had clearly less room). I’m not sure that Sharon will be happy with an inside cabin in the future (okay, the same goes for me as well). But after our South Pacific cruise next year, we will be taking a 3-week Alaskan Cruise and we’ve booked a Neptune Suite. Duncan warned me, “You can never go back.” We’ll see.

I’ve put off packing as much as I dare, now that we’ve gotten our final laundry back. Pam had noted that they were still waiting for their laundry; but, they’d waited until the morning in Halifax to put it in. Sharon was mostly packed. It was now time for dinner. Shrimp Cocktail again for me with extra Brandy Sauce. I also enjoyed the Crab and Corn Chowder. And on this final dinner at sea, Sharon had the rare opportunity to order an appetizer for herself, the apple and watermelon gazpacho. She naturally selected the Prime Rib dinner, and she got a terrific looking piece of meat, and I know it must have been good because she nearly finished the whole thing by herself. I had the Vegetable Curry with Forbidden Rice that I enjoyed very much. Sharon was treated again the Lime and White Chocolate Pop, and this time it was served not quite frozen. I went with the Cheese Plate, again featuring a Blue Cheese, so imagine my surprise when it came with No Blue Cheese: Hallelujah! It makes you wonder why HAL preselects the types of cheese each night for their cheese plate, rather than what they once did, and offer people a choice of four cheeses from a list of available cheese. I’m just saying.

I had to rush to save seats to see Robbie Howard do his impersonations of various singers, and he knocked it out of the park! He did classics by such notable greats as Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin from the Rat-Pack. He did Wayne Newton in an early Wayne Newton voice singing “Danke Schoen.” Now, I can personally grade him on this one, and while what he did was impressive, it was not the high soprano-like voice I heard Wayne Newton use when he sang this signature song as a warmup to Jack Benny when I saw them perform at The Theatre in the Round close to where I grew up near Disneyland. When he switched to “Country Music” and did a song by Randy Travis I expected Sharon to stand up and cheer. Again, I’ve been to a Randy Travis concert, once or twice… Okay, by the standards I used to grade Sharon by, I guess you could call me a Randy Travis Groupie. There was a subtle difference between the way Robbie sang the song, and the way that Randy used to sing it, and if I can hear the difference I’m thinking it may not be all that subtle. Nobody is going to hit those base notes and draw them out quite the way Randy did. Again, I’m just saying. But Sharon was glad to see someone include Randy in a show like this (as would her group of RT Concert friends she met over the years of traveling to concerts). He did medleys of Elvis and Willie Nelson and it’s always fun to hear old favorites performed live.

I went down to the cabin, packed my bags, put the tags on and placed them in the hall. I’d remembered to set out something to wear tomorrow. I’ve yet to see anyone have to leave the cruise ship in the HAL bathrobe to retrieve their bag; but, I’ve heard that it can happen. Sharon went to visit the Buffaloes one final time and cash out her card. She then headed over the Piano Bar to spend some time with her friends there and listen to Barry.

I decided to give blackjack one final play. I got to the table, and they needed to open it just for me. The shoe was not kind to me to start; but, I have only myself to blame: I cut the cards! I’ve decided to play a simple parlay if I win which starts out with the $15 minimum bet. If I win and continue to win, my next bets are $15 for the second bet, then $18, $24, $33, $45, $60, $75, $93, then $111 and so on. Once I lose, I start over with $15 bets. I’d gotten myself into a bit of a hole, and then I managed to win 9 hands in a row, and I was back ahead. My real goal would have been to do a few hands better than that. Last cruise I managed a 12-hand winning streak and the most I have ever seen by myself or someone else is winning 18 hands in a row. I keep hoping to do that again someday. On one hand with a $24 bet I wasn’t happy finding myself with a pair of 8’s against a Jack. It’s sad when you almost hope that the dealer has a blackjack so you won’t have to put another $24 out there to split them the way that you know you must. I got a 9 giving me 17 on the first hand which is as good as lost. Then I get another 8 and things just keep getting worse; but, I had to split again. This time I got an ace to go with my 8, and if the dealer doesn’t have a face-card in the hole, I may be okay. I stand on the 19 and get a six to give me 14 on the third hand. I hit one card and get the 7 for 21! It comes down to the turn, and the dealer reveals a 3 for 13. Then a 2 for 15. Then an ace for 16, and finally another 3 for 19. The whole thing is one big PUSH, which given what I started with I’ll chalk up as a win! I then get blackjack and the dealer has an Ace showing. The dealer offers, “Insurance?” I decline, he offers again, “Even Money?” Again I decline. Perhaps I should have taken the hint. The dealer had a blackjack and my $24 bet was pushed again. I lost the next hand and then I got another blackjack. The dealer had a face card showing, and then revealed another push with blackjack. These are all things that are suggesting that maybe things aren’t going as well as they might. Not long after, I get another chance, this time an $18 bet, and I have blackjack. The dealer offers, “Insurance?” I shake it off, and again the dealer suggests “Even Money?” and before I shake that off I think, you know what, I don’t want to miss out completely on another blackjack, so I decide to have some fun. I put $3 out on the Insurance Line and say, “Insure for Less.” I suspect the dealer’s never seen anybody do this, and she requests help from the pit boss. At least this pit boss knew how to handle this bet. The dealer revealed no blackjack, the house pocketed the insurance bet and paid me for my blackjack. A bit later I had a six-hand winning streak and decided to call it a night. After tipping the dealer I walked away from the table with an extra $8 in my pocket! It was about 20 minutes before

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