Another vibration filled night (tapered off a bit in the early morning) even though the seas are calm. I am going to talk to Sasha (Assistant CD) about the room later today.
The bottled water in the room was interesting. All Japanese water - I believe the ship was in the Far East before we boarded for our cruise. This must be some local provision picked up for that cruise. Tasted OK.
Water from Japan (from previous voyage)
Standard breakfast again this morning - the scrambled eggs on the buffet are really good. While the staff is very friendly, the coffee refills could come a little more often but we will work on that.
It's another lecture filled day.
10:00 AM – Louis Beres – “Combating Terrorism: The Challenges Ahead” – Starlite Club. Almost the same talk he gave on the Crystal Serenity last December but updated to include Donald Trump and Kim Jung Un and some more recent terror attacks. A pretty political talk to a mixed audience. Louis has a very entertaining professorial style - lots of technical material that may not be totally getting across to everyone. I like it.
11:15 AM – Glenn Rosenblum – “Broadway Musicals: Blockbusters from Gypsy to Hello Dolly” – Galaxy Lounge. Glenn is a talent broker with a theater background. He is a very funny guy in the Robin Williams improv mode. His talk consisted of a number of clips from musicals. The funniest part of his show was when the Captain came on at Noon with his announcements – the Captain took a little too long per Glenn and he wasn’t too subtle about it. It was a hoot but I wonder if Captain Symonds and Glenn might not have a confab about this. He is, after all, the Master of the Vessel.
Glenn Rosenblum
To change things up, we had lunch in the Crystal Dining Room – ET: Trout; HMT: Chow Mein Stir Fry (very good) – accompanied by onion rings (very fresh) and broccoli soup (not cream of broccoli which is quite different and better). The lunch was good and the service very good but it takes too long to have lunch in the Dining Room.
We found a nice spot on the couches near the Trident Grill and read until it got a bit too warm – we moved to the pool area couches, which had a breeze and was more comfortable. I am making progress on my book. You will notice in the picture below that not a lot of passengers are taking in the sun and pool.
Deck 11 Couches in the Shade
At 5:00 PM, we went to the Galaxy Lounge to take in “The Song Writer’s Circle” – a storytelling and singing presentation involving Artie Butler, Alan Roy Scott, and Allan Dennis Rich.
Writer's Circle
Each of these accomplished songwriters spoke a little about their work and then sang one of their songs – Allan sang “Run to Me” from "The Bodyguard". Alan did “For the First Time” and Artie sang a torch song. The writers did a great job on their songs even though they apologized excessively about their inability to sing. They did two rounds of songs. It was the most enjoyable discussion-type session we have seen on any ship over the past few years.
We had to leave before Artie could do his second song because we were meeting new ship friends Linda and her mother, Fran (we first met them on the Symphony (Miami to Monte Carlo) at Prego. I had the Cesar Salad, Mushroom Soup, and Fetuccini Alfredo. Ellen, once again, had the John Dory Fish plus the Caprese Salad and Mushroom Soup. We had a very nice time – Fran has read all of the Jack Reacher Books so we have a bit in common.
We went to see comedian Jimmy Travis in the Galaxy Lounge at 7:45 PM – we have seen him before but his combination of cute songs and stories are most entertaining.
Earlier in the evening, we heard from Sasha that we could move up to 8077. The vibration is reduced in this room and the view is unobstructed so we did the move with help from the concierge desk. The porter came with a cart and put all of our hanging stuff on; all of our other stuff went into our suitcases and after a little while we were all settled in our new digs.
The rest of the evening was spent in Palm Court with our new singing friends, Shoresounds (we had a chance to meet and talk with them at the Songwriters event. They did “Hallelujah” for us and it was the best version I have ever heard done by anyone (including the illustrious Renee Fleming). Next time they do it, I plan to record it.
Shoresounds - Hallelujah
Room 8077 is definitely less shuddery. And it also seems like a quiet room.
Seas are calm.
Clocks move forward one hour.
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