TRANSATLANTIC ADVENTURE

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Have I mentioned that I love sea days!!!! Day one dawned with the most amazing sunrise I have ever seen. Our cabin is port side, aft but I turned on the bow camera and there was the glory. I was a bit concerned that the skies appeared red and you know what that is supposed to mean but the seas were calm all day, the temperature mild, the sun warm and the breeze soft.

At breakfast we chatted with a couple from Atlanta. Barry is a retired minister and Leodis was born in Jamaica where the two met. It turns out that Barry know Linc's dad and used to work with him on some festivals. He was also named Wycliffe and Barry said he was quite posh. And the world keeps getting smaller.

After breakfast we stopped in the casino to cash in a couple of my points rewards for cash. It's nice to have this perk and I use it for my Hold'em games. Then it was off to the shops. I picked up a pair of slacks which came highly recommended by ML and surprisingly, they had my size.

There have been a few disappointments. The beverage card discounts have been eliminated except for soft drinks and there is now a charge for cappuccino in the dining room. The aft pool is under repair and the Lido pool empty. Hoping one of them will open while were still in warm weather.

At 11:00 the CruiseCritic Meet & Greet took place in the Crows Nest and we filled the room. The Captain, a charming young Dutchman made a few remarks and Furman, the Executive Hotel Manager announced that this will be his last cruise. He is retiring to Belgium. I'm glad I had the chance to sail with him once again. He is a very funny man.

Checked in the Casino and there were only three on the Hold'em tournament list so we headed for lunch. When we walked through the Casino again, they were just finishing up the tournament and were ready to start a second. Sat down and walked away with 2nd place money, $45, so I'm $15 ahead.

We had a round table and decided that 15 days of Shirley would be 14 too many so we switched to open seating for dinner. Checked with Charles our table steward and he assured me that my cinnamon ice cream, ordered for desert every night, would follow me around the dining room. Business taken care of, ML went of to bingo and then Mass and I sat by the empty pool and read.

Sat with a lovely couple from So. California and the six of us had a wonderful meal. I enjoyed duck pate, lemon chicken barley soup and pasta with razor clams, mussels and bay scallops. Very tasty and CINNAMON ICE CREAM for dessert.

Enjoyed the show, comic Martin Beaumont was original and not raunchy, a pleasant change from so many comics today. A late night at 11:00.





Sea Day 2.

For the second day, our 7:00am coffee arrived before 6:30 and caught us in a deep sleep. Seems that they had 120 requests for 7-7:30 so they sent out the trays early. I crawled back into bed and awoke shortly after ML at 8:15. We had a light breakfast and I headed for Team Trivia while ML hit Bingo.

My trivia team came in 1st while ML lost all four games waiting for one number whilst "Bob" won three games out of four. I played in two Hold'em tournaments and was an early out in both while ML hit the slots for $100 and then the Slots Tournament for $320. Ok, so I get a trivia stick pin and she gets cash!!!! Still we both had a good day.

Dinner was lobster Thermadore and a fillet of beef. The steak was excellent and the lobster would have been good as well but..........it was 1/2 small rock lobster and I found two actual pieces of meat in the dish. My cinnamon ice cream arrived as promised. We checked out the casino. It was empty. Headed to the Crow's Nest for an after dinner drink. First sip told us that it was scotch instead of brandy so we were given a replacement but the waiter left the Rusty Nails in case we wanted them. NOT LIKELY! So were shared them with Harvey and his invisible friend. Back through an empty casino and into bed.

Tomorrow, Bermuda.

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