Saturday, January 18, 2025

December 19, 2024 – At Sea – Atlantic Ocean – Mostly Cloudy – 81F

Slept so so.  Got up finally around 6:30 AM. 

It's another beautiful day at sea as evidenced by the shot from my Cabin window.

On the way up to breakfast, I stopped off at Guest Relations to ask about room assignments for the next cruise.  The agent told me that she didn’t know but if I stopped back down after 8 AM, I could talk to the manager and find out what was going on.

Today, in the Windows Café (I ate inside since the rain last night soaked the veranda) I had Kellogg’s Corn Flakes (out of a box) plus granola and milk, a pancake and two egg OM.  The timing was a bit off but the breakfast was pretty good and the view was also good.  I even got my own coffee.  It can be done. The staff seemed a little thin this morning.  I waded out on the Veranda to get this post sunrise postcard quality shot.

I stopped at the Guest Relations Desk and there were a few people in line. A person I had never seen before was triaging the line.  I told him I was told to come back here to see the manager about assignments for next cruise. He told me he was the manager - I think his name was Rafael - and we sat down at his desk in the ante area.  He explained that 4018 was already booked and that the ship was fully booked through the Canal.  After tapping keys on his computer for a while, he asked if I would be OK on Deck 3, where the entertainers normally stay.  I told him that be fine but I did want to see the room to make sure that the engine noise was not as issue.  We went down to the Deck 3 area – he couldn’t tell me which room it would be yet and he couldn’t show me any of the rooms.

After spending some time on Deck 5 with an Iced Café Americano (I have gotten away from the super sweet mocha version – at least for a while), I visited Guest Relations once again and spoke with my favorite agent, Kathja Romantico (what a perfect name), and told her about my discussion with the manager.  She did some checking and told me I would be in 3025 (full circle now) and I could go down and take a look at the room.  John, my new room steward took me down there and let me look around.  Except for the porthole, it was just like a standard passenger cabin and it was quiet.  I was also concerned that the bathroom would not have the hand held shower that I really like and it did.  So no issues.  I also found out how my stuff was going to be moved – I was going to leave everything on hangars and throw the rest into the suitcase.  After I clear immigration tomorrow morning, the stewards would help me get my belongings into the new room. Easy peasy – at least in theory.

At 9:30 AM, I went to the Cabaret Lounge to set up for my last talk – “Forensic Detectives: The Search for Jack the Ripper”.  This time out, the headset mic worked OK – made a big difference.  I noticed that Eric Walton, the magician, walked in and I guess he was going to listen to my talk before his session on close up magic at 11:00 AM.  Today’s crowd was the largest of the cruise – about 80 percent full. And very interactive.  I wasn’t rushing and still finished at 10:42 AM. I got a very nice round of applause at the end. A nice wrap up on an unusual cruising experience.  Here's the Insider Advert for this talk - the graphics folks on board do a good job of coming up with different images.

I went back out to Deck 5 and watched the water and read my book. 

At 12:15 PM, I went to Windows to find a seat on the veranda. When I got there, there were no seats left so I took the first table on the Starboard side by the entrance to the veranda (that way I can describe the location to the folks that deliver the food). I put together a salad from the salad bar and ordered a Leffe Beer.  I also ordered a Beyond Burger with grilled onions and onion rings from The Patio.  (in the picture below, that's an onion slice and tomato slice for the burger when it gets here)

The burger took a while to get there and when it did the burger had a large dollop of guacamole on top (I never even mentioned guacamole). 

I scraped off the guacamole (there were no grilled onions) and went with the burger as is.  There were two onion rings – they were OK. I got some Cherry Brandy and Guava Gelato in a cup to go and took it back to Deck 5. Nothing got on my clothes.

I spent about two hours on Deck 5 before going down to the cabin. I got a call from Lee asking me if everything was all right and telling me about the full ship and change of rooms. I told him that everything was already take care of and I would be on the Entertainment Deck.  He said he would send over the schedule for next cruise.  I told him about the good turnout today and he said things were very hectic (I certainly know that he is too busy to come to my talks). 

Up to date at 3:37 PM EST.

At 4:30 PM, I attended the back to back cruise group meeting in the Cabaret Lounge. They went over the details in greater detail than in previous cruises.  45 passengers are staying on for the next cruise and the ship is not just full but oversold (don’t tell anyone).  We received envelopes with transit cards and our new room assignment – moving to 3025 was confirmed. A well-organized meeting that even include deep fried cheese squares and champagne (I opted for water – I’ve been feeling a bit off since I dove into the floor a few days ago.

Tonight was “Tastes of the Mediterranean”, which is just like “Tastes of India” but more unidentifiable foods.  I tried the Sole plus some kind of potato.  Both soups were verboten.  I also had a big salad for lunch (I have been avoiding salads at dinner generally).  Bread and butter and decaf (from a packet) rounded out the delicious dinner.  That’s why I don’t gain any weight on cruises. 

I went to The Den to hear Bob at the Keys but he just finished his set and the canned music was on. Tonight is the Christmas Show (just a single show) so I went to the room instead – playing hide and seek with a headache.  The room was smooth and cool and a better environment for the kopfschmerz .  I tried reading a bit but that turned out to be bad idea. 

I packed everything that wasn’t hung up in the closet into my suitcase including the bag of dirty laundry.  I got the letter from Lee with the lecture schedule for the next cruise – six lectures on each of the sea days starting with two at the beginning.  I then realized that I only had one dress shirt in the closet.  Shades of high school, I rescued my blue dress shirt from the laundry bag and when the wrinkles go away, I can wear it for one of the two early talks. 

It was a long evening – I haven’t watched any TV on this cruise.  I noticed quite a bit of chatter out in the hallway and found out it was the stewards hanging out until they were ready to grab the bags and stow them for disembarkation.  I opened the door and asked them nicely to keep it down (I didn’t know when they were going to stop).  They did quiet down and were replaced by some kind of music.  The only thing going on around 10 PM was a good bye party by the DJ in the Living Room, which is six decks above me.  I thought that maybe the doors to the tombs were open for baggage drops and the sound carried through the ship and out in the hallways.  The party was supposed to stop at 11 PM and the music did as well so that must have been it.  I had earplugs at the ready just in case.

Since the bulk of the passengers are getting off tomorrow and they will also be up in Windows Café in a compressed time period, I opted for Room Service for breakfast (only available for back to backers).  I put the menu on the door and that was just about it for the night. 

Lights out a little earlier tonight at 10:45 PM.

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