Struggling at Sea to Stick to our Schedule

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Sharon went to mass and promised to try and get me my now favorite pecan croissant and bring it up to the Crow’s Nest where we would meet for Travel Trivia at 9 AM. I was working on the blog, seated at the table by the window, and opened the curtains to notice that that cloud bank that had been a front many miles off of our starboard side, was now directly overhead. The seas continued to roll gently and whitecaps were plentiful. I took a shower, dressed and headed for the Crow’s Nest and found that our preferred table and seating were available in a nearly vacant lounge. I’d already picked up some Sudoku forms and Jim joined me as I sat down. Lucia also arrived.



Mass was over and Sharon arrived with her chocolate croissant, and explained than none of mine were out for people to eat. We had time to do our Sudoku challenge. I finished the Easy puzzle just ahead of Sharon. In the Hard game, I was in the lead, but, as I neared the end it became clear that I’d made a mistake that I wasn’t able to fix. Sharon was on my heels and got to the finish line first in the Hard Puzzle, which pleased her no end. There wasn’t enough time for me to redo my puzzle before Trivia would start so I guess today I got the “DNF”! KK wanted to know “What is another name for the island of Kirkira?” It was one of the ports that we weren’t able to get into so we knew it was Corfu. I’m sure that the best man at our wedding, Ron, could have told us what two countries border Belize. He’s been there many times scuba diving. The two countries are Mexico and Guatemala. We did manage to come up with the third smallest countries in Europe. Earlier trivia challenges had noted that the Vatican is the smallest country in the world; and, that Monaco is the second smallest in Europe. We chose San Marino. KK announced the answer was “San Martino; but, she would accept the English “San Marino” as well. We had no idea where the Belvedere Palaces are. I didn’t feel it necessary to tell Sharon that I’d probably been there as a boy, but have no recollection of it now. The Belvedere Palace complex is in Vienna. We also didn’t know what city is sinking 10 times faster than Venice. Mexico City! We had some discussion of how many countries in Africa border the Mediterranean Sea. Some thought four. Some thought five, including me. We went with five. The bonus was to list those countries. We correctly came up with Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. We thought we’d done well. Just not well enough. Another team missed just one question. That team was the one that’s been brow-beating KK all week. Today they were trying to get KK to accept the Amazon for the “Biggest” river in the world (just because they thought she said biggest, I guess) when she’d clearly said “Longest”. Then they wanted her to accept both Amazon and the Nile; because, the Nile is only about 100 miles longer. I guess it’s important to some to get a perfect score.



After breakfast we headed to the Casino. Several at table… guy at third base caught my eye, he was quiet and slumping at the table and appeared like he was nursing his third double-scotch straight up. He pondered every player’s choice; except, he seemed to feel obliged to split every pair dealt him. He split a pair of sixes against an ace. He split a pair of kings against a nine. There were a couple of us standing behind the players and watching the dealer getting the best of things. A man pushed in from behind me to sit down at first base. I told him that he might want to watch a couple rounds before he put his money on the table; but, he shrugged my advice off. The man got a blackjack on his first hand and I’m sure he was convinced that he’d made the right decision. This no doubt emboldened him to up his bet from $10 to $20 on the next bet. And it seemed justified when the dealer gave him an ace and a nine for 20; but, that guy at third base had a ten and a jack. He pondered this hand against the dealer’s six. He asked the dealer if he was allowed to split his two cards and the dealer nodded; and, so he did. The guy at first base began to squirm. On his ten, the dealer dealt the man a queen. I was surprised that the dealer didn’t suggest to the player that he could split that as well. He waved off another card on the first hand, and he seemed a little put off that he’d gotten what he deserved on the second hand… a five. He pondered that, and then shrugged off a third card in disgust. The dealer revealed a face card in the hole for sixteen. Do I need to tell you the dealer hit twenty-one with a five? I think the player at first base understood my warning now. I thought he was going to jump out of his seat and ring the guy’s throat. I couldn’t watch anymore and went over to watch about eight people playing Texas Hold’em around a large video table. The large table screen in the center showed a green topped table. In front of each player was each player’s total bankroll. Bets and bids would appear in front of the players, and then the chips would appear to be tossed into the pot. Each player along the sides, and one on each corner had a small video display in front of them where there individual cards appeared face down. Touching them would bend the corners up to reveal the cards just to the player. I watched a bit, and went back to the cabin.



Sharon had already returned to the cabin, having lost a little bit at the hands of an uncooperative machine. She was out on the balcony doing her rosary. I went up to the Dive-In to get their chicken sandwich (I think they call it a Back Flip). I could only find a seat at the Lido Pool Bar on one of those brass sculpted chairs shaped out of what appears to be a mermaid’s tail. They don’t swivel and you really do need to be careful slipping into them from the side, or at least guys need to be really careful.

I had my Coke and was ready to eat, and must have waited fifteen minutes. I went over and place an order for Sharon’s burger as I saw several chicken sandwiches finishing on the grill. The chef kept cutting into the chicken with his spatula to see if the chicken was done; so, I’m thinking they may have had a problem with undercooking the chicken. I was recalling the conversation with another cruiser at dinner a while back, who had had numerous problems with undercooked food. My chicken came up soon and I went back to the bar to finish it. No sooner than I had, Sharon’s burger was ready. I got it and took it back to Sharon who was still out on the balcony, now listening to her iPod.



I told her that I was heading up to the Lido for Team Trivia at 1 PM; and, Sharon said she’d join us there shortly. Our full team showed up. “Who is the first monster killed in Beowulf?” I’m pretty sure this is a repeat; but, I just didn’t have a record of it. That monster is “Grendal”. We all got a chuckle out of Jim’s suggestion for the answer to “Whose wax figure’s fly was sewn shut in Madam Rousseau’s wax museum because of patron’s penchants for unzipping it?” Jim suggested “Bill Clinton”, and we decided that was as good an answer as any. And it was an even better answer than most because it was right! What a legacy for an American president! “What dog breed means splash in water in German?” I will have to check this one out, but the answer that gets the point is “Poodle”. Stewart spent extensive time working out the directions, drawing a map of the plaza and everything for “Which direction of the compass: North, South, East or West does the Leaning Tower of Pisa lean. We went with North. I should have remembered from when I lived in Italy of plans to stop the leaning by attaching a cable to the top of the Tower of Pisa and connecting it to the peak of hill to the north. Well, I guess that only would make sense if the Tower was leaning south. Stewart’s drawings were off by 180-degrees! And we also couldn’t remember what the name of Odysseus’s dog was! In case you too have forgotten… it was Argos. We did come up with “Who told Winston Churchill that the French people considered him the reincarnation of Joan of Arc?” That would be Charles de Gaul. And we got the bonus right, for a change: “What determines the sex of crocodile embryos: (a) Genetics, (b) Humidity, or (c) Temperature?” The answer is temperature! We tied for third with two other teams with 15 points. Another team had 16. And the winners had 21, missing just one question!



We stopped in the casino on our way back to the cabin. I sat down at first base where miss congeniality was flirting up the dealer. I sat down and told the dealer to go ahead and deal her hand. She won and I bought in and she decided to leave. Guess she wanted the dealer all to herself. I moved over to where the woman had been sitting and put my bet down on first base where the woman had been betting. The dealer told me, tapping his finger on the second spot over, that I must place my bet here for where I am sitting. I guess my tips weren’t big enough to bend the rules a bit for me. I was a bit irritated with nobody else playing (or likely to sit down and play, that he’s telling me where I must place my bet. I would have sat in the right seat except that the player at the adjacent table was sitting so far back there was no way to squeeze into that seat. I just smile at the dealer, hold up one finger (no, not the middle one) and asked him to wait just one second. I got up, pushed back the chair I was sitting in to be behind the third chair over, pull the first base chair to where I’d been sitting, sat down in it where I had been sitting, and placed my bet on first base. Oh yes, I smiled at the dealer, knowing full well that he’d be the one that would probably have to straighten out the chairs again once I’d left. I made my $5 bet and placed a $1 bet for the dealer as I always do when I start playing. I’m afraid that Sharon has lost her casino mojo. She stopped by to say she was going back to the cabin. I hope it’s not catching. I started slowly to get slightly ahead. Then I hit a bit of slow streak, and I’m pretty sure that I caught the dealer smirking. Well I just bided my turn through that run of cards, and it was time for a shuffle. Things seemed to be improving, and I found the opportunity to up the ante with a green chip, and won. I pulled back, lost, then, pushed out a green chip again. I was back in the lead, maybe even a bit higher than I’d been earlier. I was happy to continue making $5 bets, and again I had a small losing streak. Again, once things started giving a normal win-some, lose-some back and forth flow, I again pushed out a green chip. Won. Pulled back and lost. And then I bet a green chip one more time. I got a pair of Aces. To make it sweeter, the dealer was holding a six! I was happy to split them. I got another Ace. I split that. I got another Ace! And I split that as well. Then I got a five on the first hand, followed by an Ace for soft 17, and then got a 7 for 14. That could have gone better. Then I got an eight for 19 on the second Ace. Finally a jack for my third ace and the dealer paid me off for that hand. On my final hand I got a four and then a nine. Okay, things could have gone better; but, the dealer still had a 6 of his own to deal with. The dealer turned over an eight for 14 and obligingly busted with a ten. And if you’re wondering my thinking for not doubling down on the various soft-hands, namely the first and the third hands, the reason is for the special rules that pays the player when getting “21”. The power of the ace in this game, as in the first hand, I had a chance to win the hand out right three times without risking busting. A ten for the first card would have given me “21”. Then, holding “Ace-Five” another Five would have given me “21”. Then holding “Ace-Five-Ace” a Four would have given me “21”. It’s these extra chances at winning outright that makes Ace-Ace such a good hand for a player. And if the dealer happens to have a good card, the player also gets an additional chance of hitting a stiff hand (although there is a chance of busting then). I took my winnings and went to check on Sharon.



We spent some time on our balcony enjoying the pleasant weather and the rumble of the sea by the ship; well, I did that… Sharon had on her ear buds listening to her iPod. The new deck chairs and foot rests are quite comfortable.



We went to a 3 PM presentation by Captain Albert J. Schoonerbeeck who is senior captain in Holland America’s fleet who is onboard the Zuiderdam to observe operations and crew performance. His talk was on “The History of Holland America”. It was a very enlightening talk, about a company started in Rotterdam in the late nineteenth century employing steamships to haul cargo and passengers between Europe and New York. The company was assured a steady stream of passengers by immigrants seeking a better life in America. Early in the company’s history they made the decision to separate their business into cargo ships and passenger ships. And they decided that the cargo ships would be named after “Dykes” in Holland, and passenger ships would be named after “Dams” in Holland. He noted that there were plenty of both in Holland, so there would be plenty of names for future ships. There were first class accommodations, tourist class accommodations, and third class steerage for immigrants. Holland America was the only cruise line that provided both dining areas and three meals a day for third class passengers, correctly believing that these passengers would get to America, and write home about how they should make sure to come on Holland America (because the feed you well). On some other cruise lines, immigrants were expected to bring their own food! The speaker explained how the number of tons per passenger has risen for about 5 up to today where the number ranges from 42 to 48 on today’s ships for Holland America. This equates to the amount of space is available for each person. He discussed how accommodations changed from the Victorian Era with classical architecture and wood paneled smoking rooms for first class complete with an open fire place. The captain said he shudders about seeing the open fires allowed on these ships; although, no mishaps happened that he is aware of. The classical trappings changed to an art deco look when that movement came in vogue leading into World War II. The ships were used as troop carriers during WWII; except, for one or two which were in Rotterdam at the time the Germans invaded. The Netherlands tried to remain neutral during both World Wars, and their ships were marked by having their identity emblazoned in large letters and country of origin (written and by flag) on the side of the hull. The hope was that the submarine captain would put on his spectacles and read the name to see that the ship was neutral before he decided to fire his torpedo. His insights were interesting and both tiers of the Showroom were packed. He talked for one and one-half hours; so, we missed the $20,000 jackpot bingo that we’d been planning to play. It was another mariner’s appreciation game so we’d have gotten 4 extra bonus plays. We thought bingo would be in the Showroom after the talk; but, they held it in the Queen’s lounge.



It is the final Gala Attire Night, so it took us some time to get ready for dinner. First, I enjoyed the Jumbo Shrimp with their Brandy sauce; although, I much prefer a traditional cocktail sauce with ample horseradish kick. For a milder taste; though, this will do… especially with fresh shrimp which these seemed to be, even after five days from the Azores. I ordered the Sweet Potato-Star of Anise Soup; which, was delicious. I ordered the Seared Sea Bass which I didn’t really care for. And, I keep forgetting, this isn’t the same as Chilean Sea Bass. I wound up with just what I ordered, and didn’t bargain for something still in its fishy smelling scales. Sigh! I’m beginning to sound like some of the cruisers we’ve had dinner with who simply have nothing nice to say about their meals. Once I’d gotten it out of its skin, the fish was “okay”. I think my mom will understand what I mean! Sharon ordered just an entrée: The famous last Gala Night Meal of Surf and Turf (Filet and Lobster Tail). And you know who gets the “Surf” part and who gets the “Turf”. The first time I’d ever heard the term “Surf and Turf” was at a special weekend meal I had working for a company fielding an Army system in Germany. The military base their near Ansbach was having a special “Surf and Turf” dinner which was comprised of breaded shrimp and a steak that tasted like it had come in dead last in the Preakness a year earlier. Since then I’ve had this skepticism whenever I hear the term “Surf and Turf”; but, on Holland America it still means lobster and filet mignon, albeit a 6 ounce filet. The dining room steward removed the lobster from the shell of everyone who’d ordered this dish; which, is probably a good thing to let him do when you’re all decked out in your tuxedo or fancy dress or you’re likely to have the succulent meat wind up in your lap as I did on my first Holland America cruise before I realized they would do this chore for you. I thought the “Surf” part was delicious, and Sharon ate most of her “Turf” dinner as well. Sharon and the woman across from her spent a lot of time talking about a lot of things; while, the four others at the table were long done with their meals. The other woman was remarking about how this was only their second cruise with Holland America, and about how she didn’t know, or doubted that they would ever do another such cruise with them, certainly not another Atlantic crossing, there are just too many sea days and there is nothing to do on these ships on sea days, and about how they don’t have enough different games up in the Exploration Lounge, only chess and a couple of puzzles, and there is just nothing to do. Her husband made a comment about the only TV stations were the news ones with only political news. I agreed that it seems the whole political process seems like a huge political comedy of errors. From the looks we got from our wives we knew this was our place to be seen and not heard. When the conversation focused on the woman we’d had dinner with a week or so earlier who was given a reduced fare for her single cabin to lead the protestant religious discussions on the cruise. The lady opposite us was active in the United Methodist Church and there was a definite chill in the conversation when Sharon noted that she was Catholic and active in St. Vincent de Paul. The woman talked about how they’d considered doing one of the around the world voyages or South Pacific cruises; but, now feels certain she couldn’t handle all of these sea days. When Sharon spoke of the “Unlimited Internet” packages we’d enjoyed on our 24-day Collector’s Voyage on the Nieuw Amsterdam, the Methodist complained, “That’s one of my biggest gripes, having to pay for the Internet.” She said that she enjoys doing things on the internet (and her husband only rolled his eyes). Sharon suspected from some of her later comments that she spends a lot of time playing games, and I know she alluded to me playing too much Word Crack. We noticed that 7 PM was approaching rapidly and it was unlikely that we would be making it up to the Crow’s Nest for Pub Trivia this evening. That highlighted another of this woman’s complaints; that, they don’t seem to be able to serve food quickly enough in the Dining Room. Her husband supported her agreeing that their meals seem to be taking well over two hours, and sometimes they’re not done in time for the 8 PM show. I just thought to myself, I think I know the reason why. The dining room steward had been eyeing our table from the side for twenty minutes by now, waiting for these two to finish their meals. The Methodist woman across had nothing but a litany of complaints and I sometimes wondered why Sharon encouraged her by engaging in one topic after her which only seemed to push another of her hot buttons, which she sometimes would stop mid-bite and contemplate for a minute before taking off in a new tangent of things she didn’t like. It was apparent that the world revolved about this woman. On the topic of games she observed, “What does Holland America expect us to do, bring our own games on board and entertain ourselves?” The remark so contrasted with the Captain Schoonerbeeck’s talk of steerage passengers on some cruise lines needing to bring their own food. And even in the early days of those lines, the first class passengers needed to entertain themselves with piano playing and songs. And she didn’t like paying for drinks. She didn’t like paying for laundry. She didn’t care for most of the entertainment. She hadn’t seen the Marriage Game, so her Methodist sensibilities weren’t challenged by the obvious exhibitionist nature of the older man who’d won the competition with his wife; but, the other couple that was seated with us did object to that. I’m not sure but that they weren’t Methodist’s as well, and were the ones who’d brought up the Protestant Readings and the daily meeting. The woman across from Sharon hadn’t known about them, or she would have liked to attend. Sharon hadn’t been aware of the time, now 7 PM. And both had stopped eating a while back; although, it was only now that Sharon put her knife and fork down. And that vigilant steward swooped in and collected the plates and we soon had dessert cards. “See how long it took them to get us the dessert cards?” the man observed. “I just can’t understand this service!” We both ordered the chocolate lava cake, and it came quickly enough; but, the lady took one bite of her tiramisu and it seems that her dessert reminded her of something else she didn’t like about Holland America… their desserts are too sweet. I’m sure she had much more to say. I pushed my chair back just a little bit, and Sharon knew it was time to leave. We arrived in the Crow’s Nest about 15 minutes late. They were just asking question 12. “Which of the 50 United States has a state name that uses the most different letters?” We looked high and low for Steward, Vanne, Jim and Lucia; but, we couldn’t find them. Andy was clarifying, “The answer won’t be ‘MISSISSIPPI’ because there are too many double letters with ‘M’, ‘I’, ‘S’ and ‘P’ for a total of 4 different letters.” We didn’t stay to find out the answer, but I will tell you, when I found out the answer from Stewart the next day, we both agreed that this was a trick question!



Sharon decided to try and recoup her morning losses at the casino. I saved us some seats for the 8 PM “Dancing With the Stars at Sea” finale in the Showroom. There’s only one show and it would likely be crowded. Sharon’s “Fishin’ With Bob” mojo must be back because she cashed in for $75… not as good as I had hoped because she’d bought in for $40. She started chasing that small jackpot which had gotten near $28 and she’s won it before at $25 and $26 so she figured it was ready; and, she was right. She also got a couple of her bonus plays so she was pretty thrilled to be back on top for the day. Tonight’s final featured what the Cruise Director says he has never before experienced on a cruise with six finalists: All women finalists! This meant some of their male partners would need to do double duty. He introduced the judge panelists, Kevin Jordan the ex-cop turned comedian, Ashley the Culinary Arts Host and Andy the Show Host and Bingo Caller. The dances were the foxtrot, samba, waltz, jive, cha-cha and tango. For the most part, the dancers were very good; but, there was the occasional hesitation where there was a momentary disruption in the flow with some hesitancy of what to do with your hand or foot. The moves for the most part seemed quite accomplished for having had just a few chances to practice, and we were both impressed. And I think that in the end, it was presentation that sold the winning dance, from her smile, confidence and doing a great job following her partner’s lead. She was doing the Viennese waltz. Kevin was trying to explain how he’d never known that there was a Vietnamese waltz, but thought that she’d danced superbly… And why not, he gave every dancer a 10. She was an Asian woman, and she did indeed win. I thought that a different dancer had the loudest applause; but, that might have been due to that woman’s cheering section behind us on the balcony. The winner had gotten all 10’s from the judges (although, crowd cheering is the predominate part of a dancer’s score; or, so they say). We were ready to turn in at the end of the day.







I also remembered one of the comments from the Comedian’s show the previous night about the captain not knowing where he was going since we hadn’t run into any land for 5 days. And that the only thing you can get on TV seems to be political commentary about how good Obama is, or how bad Obama is or who is Obama.

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