Wednesday, October 2, 2024

August 27, 2024 – Sea Day – North Atlantic Ocean – Mostly Cloudy and Foggy – 60s

Didn’t get a morning shot of the sea as I am getting Room Service for the first time on this cruise.  I actually ordered three cereals – Corn Flakes, Frosted Flakes, and Special K – for breakfast along with a toasted bagel (blueberry is all they had this morning) and coffee. 

He came right on the button at 6 AM and I was able to eat in less than 30 minutes – this gave me ample time to wake up completely and get ready for my talk. 

I got to the theater at 7:30 AM to set up.  This is the first time in my cruising career that I have given an 8 AM talk and probably the first 8 AM talk in Enrichment Speaking History.  My expectations were set pretty low for this time slot and the crowd was smaller but they did come out to hear “Forensics and History: The Mystery of the Romanovs” (60 percent full). I modified the talk so it would definitely run only 45 minutes and it ran only 39 minutes – I must have sounded like an auctioneer.

I was too tired to stay for the other talks (although I would have wanted to hear about asteroids).  Instead, Ellen and I went to the Oceanview Café for a proper breakfast. 

The rest of the morning and most of the afternoon was spent in the little cubbies on Deck 11 – nothing to see outside since it was so foggy that the horn was sounding constantly.  We also did some packing and were basically done (thanks to the packing prowess of my wife) save for the clothes we would need for my afternoon lecture and for tonight for dinner and the show. The larger suitcase that I bought for this trip, while bigger and more difficult to maneuver, makes packing simpler.

I should mention that Ellen has been fighting some kind of respiratory thing for a few days.  I am pretty sure it’s not COVID (no fever and the other malaise that comes with COVID) so I started her on Augmentin – she has started feeling better and today, she is feeling pretty good.  (I used my time machine to zip into the future to report that both us tested NEGATIVE for COVID on the day we got back – so she did not have COVID). 

At 3:00 PM, I went to Celebrity Central to do my encore presentation of "Forensic Detectives: The Search for Jack the Ripper".  I was surprised to find quite a few people already there. One woman thanked me for doing this special lecture.  The venue was full for this session as well and I am sure the passengers appreciated not missing this presentation.  The audience was once again engaged and interactive - there were quite a few votes for Aaron Kominsky in this group but Lizzie might have just edged out our favorite hairdresser.

Ana made me my final pasta of the cruises – it was not as good as usual – not her fault – the sauce now tasted different.  I had some of the pizza, which tonight was pretty good.  No one starves on a cruise ship.

Another Elton John Tribute tonight in the Theater – Craig Meyer taking on Sir Elton.  

We did not find him to match up with the others we have seen with the exception of the outfits and some of the body movements.  We did not stay for the whole show. 

Back in the room early – it will be a long evening (which is OK) because even though it is the last night of the cruise, the clocks are moving back one hour to put on EDT.  Changing clocks on the last night is tricky in that some people might be operating on incorrect time.  Usually breakfast helps people figure out the right time.

We are in Group 23 (independent transfers) departing around 8:30 AM (but needing to be out of our rooms by 7:30 AM so the ship can be cleaned and sanitized for the next bunch of passengers).  Our flight is at 12:23 PM and the airport is less than 30 minutes away so we should have plenty of time tomorrow.

I put our bags out before 10 PM.

The ride has really been smooth on this leg.

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