Monday, January 27, 2025

January 3, 2025 – At Sea – Off the Coast of Mexico – Mostly Sunny – 80F

Actually got some sleep last night.

It’s a beautiful morning at sea. This is the view at 6:42 AM.

I had my usual breakfast this morning but I didn’t notice until late that instead of sour cream, the nice woman behind the counter gave me plain yoghurt (on some past cruises I have had to explain that sour cream and yoghurt are not the same thing).  It was quite different but OK in the end.  I need to check more carefully.  The pancakes, which were very tough last cruise, have been wonderful every morning.  I really like getting my own hot coffee in a large to-go cup.  Still working through the same New Yorker I started with on this cruise – at a page a day, I hope to finish it before the cruise is over.  I ate inside but I did get a picture off the back deck.

Up to date at 9:29 AM MST.

Not on the schedule today so a full day of quiet and reading.

We noticed that the lunch menu contained both a Greek Salad and the Pad Thai with Peanut Sauce I had and really loved early in the cruise.  We went to the Discoveries Restaurant and got a window seat (we requested one not next to anyone (still some concern over COVID and the flu).  I ordered two orders of the terrific Greek Salad and it was fabulous with lots of onions and feta cheese.  I also ordered two orders of the Pad Thai and, as has happened so many times before, this dish was totally different.  It had fried tofu (OK), different kinds of veggies (sort of OK) but the big issue was that it was very light on Peanut Sauce, which is my favorite part of the dish.  I was tempted to ask for more sauce but didn’t.  Overall it was OK but not the spectacular dish it was the first time around.  I also had the carrot cake with pineapple cream cheese – sort of OK. We did have a nice view at lunch - balancing things out. The ocean looked like a lake today.

We spent the afternoon in the Living Room.  It is getting cold outside and Deck 5 is not hospitable (I was out there for a few minutes and found it too windy and cold).  I do have a new book (“Gun Metal Gray” – a Gray Man novel – I liked the Netflix Gray Man movie). 

At 5 PM, we went to Shabbat Services in the Windows Café (not a great venue as they were setting up for dinner and it was noisy).  The service was short and the turnout small.  Rabbi Gans has done a very good job with the Chanukah and Shabbat services. 

The ship is at glacier temp so we had to dress differently for dinner – I am going with a sweater (I was wearing my Eddie Bauer windbreaker earlier).  Tonight is “Taste of France” or Pas de manger – we went through the buffet and I tried the Veggies au Gratin and the Quiche and they were OK.  Not a lot on the buffet for us but we still didn’t starve.

We went to The Den to be ready to get into the Cabaret Lounge to see tonight’s headliner – Amanda Poulson doing her show “Epic”.  We got good seats.  We last saw Amanda when she was one of the vocalists in the troupe on Azamara Quest on November 2017 in Gibraltar. Since then, she has served as a Cruise Director for Azamara and then transitioned into other types of singing engagements.  She is a terrific vocalist and is instantly likeable.
















Tonight, she sang “Sound of Music” (she said it was the one musical she has not been in),

 “The Man I Love” (her mother’s favorite song); “Over The Rainbow” (Daddy’s favorite song); “Don’t Cry for me, Argentina” (she played Eva Peron in a production of Evita); 

“The Stars and the Moon” by Songs for a New World and written by Jason Robert Brown; “Let it Go” with a wonderful video mashup with her niece; 

on video, she did the last part of “Defying Gravity” and hit the last note; she finished up with a magnificent version of “Time to Say Goodbye”.  It was a wonderful show.  Again, probably the best pure vocalist I have seen on a ship. 

After the show, we took in Bob’s set in The Den.  It was noisy again but he was entertaining.

When it got too noisy, we went to the room. The ship is Arctic but the room is cozy.

The clocks go back an hour to put us on San Diego Time – PST.

Seas are smooth.

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