At Sea

December 4^th, 2024

Aaaaah! The first of 4 sea days before we get to the Cape Verde islands.

It was another busy day. I brought along my cross stitch tablecloth in the hope that I could finish it on this cruise, and it hasn’t seen the light of day as yet. There is just too much going on.

We skipped the morning lectures in order to get some work done, but did manage to meet up with our team for trivia.

I like it that they present you with a glass of champagne and a bowl of popcorn as you sit down. My kind of trivia.

A team of officers joined us today, including the captain. One thing I have noticed is how visible the senior officers are around the ship. It is so nice to see that.

Well we didn’t win again, but I think we did reasonably well, and better than the officers. Maybe we will do better tomorrow.

I was initially upset that there didn’t seem to be any craft sessions planned for this cruise. Luckily I was wrong. The couple who was introduced on our first sail away as the artists who will be on board with us for the whole cruise, are actually doing arts AND crafts. So today there was an earring making session. I couldn’t miss that, not that I need any more dangling earrings, but who can resist using needle nosed pliers now I know what they are?

Still no sign of Zumba or a choir, but I did hear someone speaking to the cruise director, Nick, about why there was no choir and he said he would see what he could do. Maybe he can talk someone into organizing this.

We went to the talks in the afternoon.

When you enter the Grand Salon there is a good supply of soft drinks

But also something a bit more than that.

At 5:30 each deck had a deck party. We all went into the corridor outside our suites and met up with our neighbors. It was a great way to make new friends, and the mimosas and canapes went down really well. Each deck is visited by the Captain and Nick with the other entertainment staff. It was tremendous fun, and we found out that two of our neighbors are the enrichment speaker (conversationalist) Andrew Johnson and his wife Kathy. We have so enjoyed Andrew’s talks, so it felt like quite an honor to have him in the neighborhood.

We had missed the first Cruise Critic get together, but we had another mini get together in the Observation Bar this evening, and then we all went to dinner together in the Restaurant. Another good meal. We keep on meaning to try to Sushi in the Club. That will have to wait until tomorrow.

Dominic Ferris, singer and pianist extraordinaire, entertained us this evening. We had seen him at check in and he sort of had that look of being some sort of British rock star. Well, he isn’t really a rock star, but he is great entertainer. However, more than that, he is a really nice person and always has a big smile when you see him around the ship. I loved his show. He asked for requests from the audience, and then put the music together in a brilliant medley. Very talented.

I had been hoping for a bit of ship’s motion as we headed out into the Atlantic, but no such luck. There are waves and a small swell out there, but the ship is holding very steady. No hope for being rocked to sleep tonight.