So where in the world are we? I was glad to see a map this morning that shows me exactly where I am.
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| our ship is now between the arrow and Belem |
We missed last night's Meet and Greet Cocktail Party for "ATW" passengers (those traveling the full 180 day itinerary). It's a chance for guests to schmooze with the Captain, Cruise Director and other crew members. Dress was country club casual and I wouldn't have felt comfortable wearing sneakers and jeans so we blew that off.
I'm going to give a shout out to the people on this ship who take care of us. Our steward (Jose) makes our bed and cleans our room while we're having breakfast and takes our laundry for 1 day service while his partner Kino cleans the bathroom and refurnishes towels and leaves our toilet paper folded to a little point, morning and evening. Prashant (butler) is so very professional and they all work so hard. Last night when Ronnie had gone to eat, I still wasn't feeling great and didn't have much of an appetite anyway, so he very cheerfully went to one of the specialty restaurants onboard and brought me back a bowl of French onion soup. Always so pleasant, always above and beyond.
Today has been a cloudy sail day with just the regular ship board activities to pick and choose from. This morning early we were headed to the Terrace Cafe for breakfast, but changed our mind and decided to go to the Grand Dining Room instead. It's more formal than the self-serve cafe where we've been eating almost all our meals, and we would need to be dressed better at noon or dinner but we decided we could get away with jeans and sweats at breakfast. We had a table for two next to a window in the corner, so it was ok. Ronnie ordered pecan pancakes and I had blueberry - both good.
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| entrance to Grand Dining Room, Vista |
I confess to being lazy this morning while Ronnie went to the gym to exercise. I admire his discipline! Quiet time, exercise, Bible reading (he's using a guide to read through the Bible in one year) and practicing the ukulele (teaching himself). The truth is, I'm just not as disciplined as he is. Sigh...
This afternoon we attended a couple of different onboard lectures. The first was "The Crown Jewel of Islands" by geographer Lori Bremner. She spoke on coral reefs which she referred to as "the vibrant rainforest of the sea". It was interesting to learn the symbiotic interplay of so many of the living creatures in the ocean. (You do know that coral is alive, right?) I especially enjoyed the video of the octopus and how many times it can change its own appearance to either hide from its predators or sneak up on its prey. They can change themselves (color and texture) into something almost impossible to see in an instant!
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| lectures take place in Horizons Lounge |
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| this colorful fish eat the algae off of other fish - a win/win! |
We stayed for a second talk by a recently retired forensic scientist who has worked on many important cases. He showed slides of various methods he's used in solving murder cases all over the world. I'm quite a detail person, and I've often thought that I might have been good at forensics. However, the idea of digging up dead bodies or searching for them through landfills does not appeal to me at all. Still, how satisfying it must be to solve a case and bring justice to a victim and his or her family!
Tonight's show "Musicals and Memories" is still TBD. I feel sure we would enjoy it because it will likely include songs we love from Les Miserables. It doesn't start until 9:15 so I guess we'll decide after dinner if we want to go or just watch a movie in the room. It's nice knowing you don't have to do anything except what you feel like doing, but at the same time it makes me feel like I'm wasting opportunities. I guess the bottom line is that one can do as much or as little as one wants while floating along on the sea.
PS Adding some photos I snapped from tonight's fish dinner. Hopefully the fish and veggies offset the dessert!?
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| veggies |
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fish cooked to order - tuna (standing up), mahi mahi, wahoo, red snapper |
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| cooked while you wait |
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| the red snapper was good |
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we tried lemon cream cheese, mixed berry and nutella (all good!) |
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| chocolate, cherries, caramel |
Enjoying your blogs so much even tho you are missing some things due to wardrobe or lack of
ReplyDeleteThank you, sweet Linda! I've had a couple of ladies tell me I could borrow their clothes. Truly such a kind offer, but I don't know, something about that I just don't feel comfortable with. Oceania has a big event planned in Rio (there are 3 "events" for the RTW passengers) and I really, really don't want to miss that. They are one of the highlights of the trip. If I haven't been able to find anything at any stops between now and then (Jan. 23) then I may have to break down and borrow some.
DeleteBarbara: Eat the Wahoo. Hawaii it is called Ono, which is the word for good....and it never disappoints. Fish and veggies definitely offset desserts! If you walk 5 miles in a day, you can probably eat most anything...it doesn't have to be a fast walk, nor all at once. Stairs count for more calories. So just keep moving and you are fine. I have one of those disciplined guys....I think God puts us together to give our kids experience in both types. The lectures would interesting. In Hawaii, they take away your bad UV sprays and lotions because they harm sea life and coral. Of course, the ocean warming is doing a lot. Do they have puzzles and games to play? Greg and I play doubles every night to make sure we can still add, lol. I don't know how I would fill my days on board on a long trip. And how would we practice our instruments??? Do they have sewing machines if you need a hem or repair? And is there a movie theater on board ? I am not a casino or bar girl....
ReplyDeleteHaving lived in Hawaii, you're probably somewhat of a fish connoisseur! Not being much of a fish eater myself, I just asked for the mildest one and the server suggested the red snapper (it was delicious). I do probably walk more (some stairs) on the ship but nothing that adds up anywhere near 5 miles. I loved your line about our kids experiencing "both types." Our kids certainly have! lol Yes, the lecturer listed wearing reef safe sunscreen as the #1 thing we can do to help protect the dying reefs. Re: games - there's always puzzles, lots of trivia (morning and evening), mahjong and bridge groups and activities the entertainment folks put together (people collect the "Big O" points when they win). And of course small groups of card or domino players. I haven't heard anything about sewing machines but I wouldn't know what to do with one anyway. ;-) In our case with limited clothing, I'll bet our butler could get something sewn up for me in an emergency. No movie theater per se but they sometimes show movies on the deck in the evenings and every genre of movie you can think of available in the guest rooms. Last night we watched "Big Eyes" which was based on a true story about an artist whose husband stole her work. We both liked it. We're not bar or casino people either. There is one small- ish (and very quiet) casino on board, probably just open during certain hours but nothing loud, obnoxious or smoky and we're not forced to walk through it to get somewhere. Smoke stops my sinuses up; thankfully there is a designated lounge for smokers on the ship so others do not have to smell it.
DeleteThose fish still had eyeballs!! Puddy must have said something about that!
ReplyDeleteoh yes, plenty!
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