December 9, 2025 – At Sea – Caribbean Sea – Mostly Cloudy – 82F

December 9, 2025 – At Sea – Caribbean Sea – Mostly Cloudy – 82F

On route to Bonaire and our ABC Island itinerary.

Steve Friedman is on this leg but I haven't seen him or Brenda. We apparenly have diffeent schedules.

Slept pretty late for me – 6:30 AM – and still had time to shower and shave before breakfast – the Marketplace is opening late this morning at 7:30 AM.  My usual breakfast was good as usual – I cut down a little (one pancake instead of two) – no cheese in my scrambled eggs.  The service was excellent this morning – coffee cup was never less than half full.  Another nice view.

I joined Ellen for her breakfast in the Bistro (the clouds outside look threatening so I took pictures).

Ellen had her usual bagel with lox and cream cheese and I had a grapefruit half with brown sugar.  I then ordered a mocha and took it with me to the morning talks in the Galaxy Lounge.  At 10 AM, I heard Nigel Hetherington speak on the “A Timeless Fascination: Exploring the Seven Wonders of the World Ancient and Modern” and at 11:AM, I stayed and listened to Rick Hutto speak on “Princess Diana’s Family Heritage”.  I left a little early from Rick’s talk to meet Ellen for lunch. 

Today we had lunch in the Waterside Restaurant – Ellen had trout, her favorite, and I had the Vegetable Lo Mein.  Both were good – I could not finish the lo mein.

I had to get ready for my 1:30 PM Talk – “Forensics and History – Identifying the Famous and Infamous” in the Hollywood Theater.  

I’d say the theater was almost half full – a good turnout for this venue and time.  I got a nice intro from Raphael and the talk went well running about 50 minutes.  It was a little longer than last cruise because I had to put a little more of my background in, which wasn’t covered in my bio in Reflections. I spoke with a couple of guests afterwards before heading to the room.

I went to the watercolor class at 3:30 PM in the Marketplace.  The class was full and we had to share some materials.  I chose a photo that had too much detail for a watercolor and was not happy with my work so I didn’t keep the painting. 

I’m still achy from yesterday’s encounter with potholes so I limped back to the room. 

We decided not to go to dinner in any of the venues and instead, get Room Service.  We ordered a Cesar Salad (really good), a Margherita Pizza (small and cheesy but good), and spaghetti with marinara sauce (it came with meat sauce by accident and the marinara sauce was delivered later – it was OK as well).  The dishes got picked up and now we are in the room relaxing. 

We passed on both shows tonight – Karin Kovacova “Unplugged” at 8:30 AM in the Stardust Lounge and "Icons in Concert" at 9:45 PM in the Galaxy Lounge.