February 27, 2023 – At Sea – Mostly Sunny – 78F

Seas were smooth and I slept OK.  I again was up early enough to get pre-dawn photos of the ocean.

We are currently off the North coast of Cuba.

My back held off bothering me until a while after getting up.  More meds.  I had a little oatmeal, pancakes, and two fried eggs for breakfast – the conditions on the Veranda were perfect and the breakfast was OK. Ellen ordered oatmeal from Room Service.  The ship is holding the “Onward Brunch” this morning from 9;30 AM to 1:30 PM and we will be coming to that in lieu of lunch.

We stayed on the Veranda until it was time for me to get ready for my 11:00 AM talk on “Open Unsolved Cases: Forensic Genetic Genealogy”.  

This is the first time I am giving this talk so I have no idea how it will go and how it will be received.  The audience was a little less than I had anticipated but I was competing against the watercolor class and the brunch.  

The audience seemed to like the talk as indicated by a nice final round of applause.  A very successful forensic series on the second cruise.

For some reason, Captain Carl made an appearance at the talk.  He didn't stay long.

We went directly to the Brunch in the Discoveries Restaurant.  We got a nice seat by the window.  I had a veggie and cheddar cheese omelet (good) along with cheese and broccoli mini-quiches (also good) and some mini-baguettes.  The brunch was OK and will suffice for lunch.

I changed my clothes and we found two nice loungers out of the wind on Deck 5 and we stayed there for the rest of the afternoon.  I started a new book “Fair Warning” by Michael Connelly (a Jack MacEvoy book), which was recommended by a passenger. 

We had dinner on the Patio because it was “A Taste of India” in the buffet and there was nothing for us in the Restaurant.  We had the usual salmon and goodies.  Tonight, must have been special since the Captain's Table (with Captain Carl and one of his staff captains) was being held in the Patio.

We didn’t eat all of our dinner and went to the Living Room to hear the dance set by East Pearl.  They didn’t sound their best, but I think it had something to do with the sound system, which has been spotty during their sets.  We left just before they finished as Ellen was still packing and we needed to settle down for the night.  Ellen did finish the bags and I put them out around 10 PM.  We tried to settle down and were probably only partially successful.  We are in the Green 3 group tomorrow and will be heading to MIA around 8:30 AM.

Seas are smooth.