Choppy night and a bit creaky as well. The ship didn't start creaking until a couple of days ago. I guess it takes just the right combination of wind and waves.
Too cold and wet to eat outside so it’s Table 10 this morning.
Frosted
mini-wheats, pancakes, and delicious scrambled eggs – I never tired of it even though I had essentially the same breakfast the entire cruise.
Mid morning, I
went to the Coffee Connection to get another delicious Iced Mocha. The quality of the drink has not changed the
entire cruise – always delicious.
I did a
laundry this morning so that all our clothes would be clean except for what I
need for today’s lecture. That way,
everything could be packed with just a few dirty items. The launderettes were very effective and
convenient.
The chop
continued through the morning and through lunch, which was under the roof at
the Pool Grill (pizza and salad). I also like the ice cream on board. The lunches have been interesting – I should
mention that I have had only one beer (a Corona) this entire cruise and that
was after one of the excursions. And even though they are always available, I have only had one actual Impossible Burger this entire cruise.
My final talk today, “Solving Cold Cases with Genetic Genealogy”, is not as well attended as the others – although some passengers have been to all eight talks. It’s a talk that I like to give but always have some trouble getting the key points across. I made some changes and maybe that will help.
With the chop, I was going to have to stand next to the podium. I decided to try something new – lecture from the area in front of the stage. I polled the audience and they liked the idea so I did that for the first time in a theater setting. It was like Celebrity Central almost – people were still pretty far away. The big drawback was how high the screen was and the difficulty of seeing the small writing. Probably, a one-off deal. It went as expected – some parts not so easy to get across. A nice round of applause and this set was history. I think, overall, the lecture series was well received. My available demographic was small so I was pleased with the attendance.
We are essentially packed so the rest of the day was spent in the Observation Lounge – too chilly to stay outside on the veranda (we tried). It’s quiet in the afternoon up there.
We had just
enough clothes to be OK in the Observation Lounge for Fabiano
(tonight I tried a Pina Colada – I didn’t like it and while the bartender
offered “to fix” it, I opted for an Amaretto Sour instead, which was excellent. We took in about an hour of music and then
headed to the Compass Rose for dinner.
We don’t
usually go to the restaurant on the final night but the only other option is Sette
Mari La Veranda. Dover Sole and
Salmon tonight along with the San Marsano Tomato soup and a salad with Blue
Cheese Dressing and the usual sides. We
had desert and coffee and tea and thanked Sharina and Christian for their fine
service.
We did not go to the farewell show (another potentially loud production show) and instead just hung out in our room. Suitcases went out around 9:30 PM. We are in Group Yellow 2 which involves a morning tour of Lisbon and an airport drop off. It’s early but everything is early on disembarkation day
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