December 11, 2024 – At Sea – Off the Coast of Cuba – Party Cloudy – 81F

Another beautiful day at sea and it’s getting warmer as we make our way to San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

The cabin continues to have that constant background noise but I am dealing with it with earplugs.  I have confirmed that the noise and vibration are indeed coming from the engines and not the HVAC.  

I got a little more sleep than usual – tiredness catching up to me.  I will still up early enough to shave and take a shower before the Windows Café opened for breakfast.  The Sunset Veranda is still a great place for breakfast.  Just look at the view - you can tell how early I got up there by the empty tables.

I took a picture ow what I thought might be Cuba off the Starboard Side.

Today, I tried pancakes and two eggs over medium.  My timing was not good because the pancakes are made to order and the pancake guy opened up late.  So the eggs were a bit cold.  (all my breakfasts have some corn and frosted flakes as an opener).  The breakfast was pretty good and I was thinking I should have as many eggs as I could considering the price of eggs at home (😄probably not). 

After some more really good coffee I got ready for my second talk. “Forensics and History: The Search for the Unknown Titanic Child”. 

No introduction today.  There were just about the same number of attendees today as yesterday.  It’s a beautiful day and maybe people were on the pool deck or at the Watercolor class or some other activity.  No matter.  The talk ran 52 minutes and that gave the next speaker – The Future Cruise Talk - time to set up.  My talk went well and only one couple left before it was over but the energy level of the crowd seemed lower than usual.  Maybe I was just imagining it.  Some good feedback followed the talk. 

During my talk, I had to be extra careful as the ship is moving a bit today.  The seas were a bit choppy and it was raining.

This was confirmed by the safety equipment hanging from the bannisters.

I had lunch again on the Sunset Veranda (my go to place for lunch).  Today, I ordered the Spicy Tuna Wrap from the Patio, along with some French Fries and some salad from the salad bar. I asked that my tuna be well done and it was and the wrap was delicious.  It was hard to tell that it wasn’t meat.  I had a Leffe Blond Beer from Belgium (I think) which enhanced the meal.  I checked out the label and it said it had notes of vanilla and it did. A great lunch.

I was amazed that the barista at the Mosaic Café recognized me.  He said he tried to catch the lectures on TV but couldn’t. I checked and they were there.  Maybe I’ll let him know.

I went out on Deck 5 and found a lounge chair – we are traveling East so the Sun is tracking along the same line so both sides of the ship are out of the Sun (blocked by the lifeboats). The seas had calmed down, and it was super nice on the deck but after a while I went back to the room and proceeded to conk out for nearly two hours – when you are really tired, it just catches up on you.

I got ready for dinner.  I first went to the Discoveries Bar where I got a Strawberry Daiquiri. It was “Taste of France” in the Windows Café so I checked out the Buffet first. They had something called Lemon Crusted Sole and a couple of mini-quiches.  They were making Tuna Niçoise Salad but I already had tuna for lunch.  It turned out that the Sole was very good and the Quiche Lorraine was also good.  That was enough for me for dinner.

I was treated to calm seas and beautiful skies during dinner.

My dinner companion tonight was the planet Venus.

I went back to The Den and ran into the folks from LA that I met at the Hotel.  We had a nice time just chatting.  They went off to dinner and I went to the Cabaret Lounge to get a good seat for the Show tonight.  

Tonight, the headliner was CD Darren Lynton. Darren was an entertainer on Grand Princess in 2004 when he met his wife, who was the Cruise Director.  He moved from ship to ship as an entertainer and then took a sabbatical to be with his kids and to teach 8 and 9 year olds (give that man a medal).  He came back on ships a couple of years ago and this is the first time we have sailed together.  He put on a fantastic show – singing standards like “Mac the Knife” and show tunes like “Music of the Nights” and “Stars”.  He has a musical theater background and it shows – his voice is excellent and he moves around the stage effortlessly.  He joins the other Azamara singing CDs – all talented.  

Back to the room to settle down.

Lights off at 11:00 PM.