March 17, 2026 – At Sea – Gulf of Mexico – Cloudy – Rain Showers – Cold – 60s

“Erin go braugh” – Happy St Patrick’s Day

There are some green balloons around and a green cake in the buffet.  I was hoping for complementary beer. 

Despite high hopes, the ride continues to be bumpy.  Sleep was on and off.

In spite of the scary skies, 

and rough seas, 

I went up to the Terrace Café for breakfast.  Because we are traveling West, the sunrise is later and later each day.  It was dark when I got out there but still warm.  The sunrise was dramatic.

It was 7:00 AM so I started off with some Corn Flakes from Waves and some Café Americano from the machine.

Looking for a different breakfast this morning once the Café opened, I got into the omelet line.  The person in front of me asked for mushrooms and peppers (and I thought I had a meat free omelet pan waiting for me) but then she added the whammy ingredient, shrimp to her omelet (I didn’t even know shrimp was a popular omelet item).  Seeing that, I reverted to the breakfast I have had every day this cruise, save one, that being two pancakes (the pancake lady knows me by sight) with cottage cheese, two different preserves (in those cute bottles) and a scoop of scrambled eggs with some cheddar cheese melted in (that I get from the omelet guy and add myself). For 15 mornings, that has been a winner made even more so by the coffee server who always keeps my cup filled. It rained while I was having breakfast but I did not get wet.

Ellen ordered Room Service – her go to dish has been French Toast with two fried eggs and some fruit.

At 9:30 AM, I went down to Martinis to meet with the guests who had requested the Q&A.  While the group numbered 30 about eight showed up.  Jamie got me a mic and we held the session in a circle.  I expected more questions about the lecture topics but instead wound up on several tangents.  No matter, the session was fun and the feedback to Peter confirmed that. 

The weather outside is deteriorating and the ship is starting to rock and roll again.

When we went up for lunch, we found the Veranda closed. We both ventured out in the light rain to Waves and I ordered a fish sandwich for myself and only fish for Ellen. The fish is always good – too much actually. The ship got into the St Patty's Day mood by offering the greenest cake I've ever seen.  Didn't try it, though.

My final talk, at 2 PM today, was “Forensic Detectives: Identifying America’s Fallen Heroes”. The ship was really rocking and rolling and experiencing the occasional boom slap.  We have a lot of vets on board so I thought the turnout would be solid. The crowd was, however, smaller than yesterday’s – I think people hesitated braving the journey to the theater – I know I did. I don’t think it was the topic since this talk is usually well attended. I hung on to the podium the entire time and that made it difficult for me to see the screen.  I don’t think this talk had the energy it had in the past.  I could just feel it.  I did get some nice positive feedback on this talk later in the evening – so who knows.

The outside decks were closed – we stayed in the room – did some packing – and had dinner in the Terrace Café – we ate inside because the veranda was still closed due to winds and rain.  I had hot dogs and Ellen had ribeye steak – for the first time this cruise the hot dogs were not a winner – they had a different taste, were a bit under (maybe boiled) and the buns were too large and they had been put on the grill.  The kosher meals were excellent throughout the entire cruise until tonight – an outlier I’m sure.

We spent a little time in Horizons and were treated to a rehearsal by Faye and Lilly.

We passed on Nina Skyy and went to the room and finished packing.

I had never been able to find the lectures on the smart TV.  I looked a bit harder and found my lectures including a really nice bio and picture. Their graphics were better than mine.

We were surprised to find a “Disembarkation Room Service Card” in our room. We have never been able to order room service on Disembarkation Day.  That was a positive. We put the breakfast cards out and the suitcases were outside our room long before the 10 PM deadline.

The ship is moving and lights went out at 10:15 PM.

March 16, 2026 – At Sea – Caribbean Sea – Partly Cloudy – Warm – 79F

Up early again and another beautiful day at sea.

My third sunrise in a row 

and another wonderful, routine (yet not boring) by now, breakfast.  I always go through the line looking for something different (I was hoping for biscuits) but the items are pretty much the same every day. There is a "Special of the Day" but I haven't found one that is better than my standard breakfast.

Ellen had room service again.

At around 10 AM, I went to Baristas to get my IMC (regular not decaf) and go over today’s talk). 

At yesterday’s talk, a guest recalled that I was a regular at the Coffee place and today, he found me there.  We talked for a few minutes – he had some questions related to the lecture and then we got into evolution a bit.  He was interested in how huge changes in an organism occur in a relatively short time and I told him I didn’t know but it was a common thing.  I think he was looking for some kind of alien intervention in the genetics of humans.  Ellen showed up and he took off – the chat was interesting.

Since the cruise began, I had always wondered why only five of the six lectures I submitted were scheduled.  There is a final sea day and that’s a standard lecture opportunity.  I emailed Peter and it turned out that the lecture had fallen through the cracks and he wanted to know it I would still want to do it.  He also said that a Travel Group wanted to schedule a Q&A with me tomorrow morning.  I wrote back and said I would be glad to do both. He was thrilled.

Lunch was in the Terrace Café – a simple salad and two slices of freshly made pizza did the trick.  Ellen tried some of the sushi - the one with cooked salmon in the center - 

and said it was good.  The sushi bar is enormous.

“Forensic Detectives: The Search for Jack the Ripper” was scheduled for 2 PM.  That is turning out to be a good time for me – no morning rush.  Another good turnout and an enthusiastic crowd – I shortened the talk a bit and it ran just over 40 minutes. I chatted with a few guests afterwards out in the theater tunnel.  I don’t know why but more people abstained than voted for who Jack might be.  Not convinced by any of the evidence, I guess.

We spent most of the afternoon out on Deck 5 – not too hot – not windy – just perfect. 

Showtime tonight was at 5:30 PM – “Hello, Again” – a tribute to Neil Diamond.  We did not have good seats and didn’t stay for the whole thing.

We ate dinner on the Terrace Café Veranda – Ellen had Lamb chops and she said it was good but not much meat. Maria made a nice pasta for me – better this time out because it had more sauce.  The yummy focaccia was a nice accompaniment to the pasta – I like my bread dipped in balsamic vinegar (“Food of the gods”). The dinner was good and we did get to eat Al Fresco.

We played Name that Tune in Martinis and the couple we were helping actually won. 

The Odessa Strings were the late show and we passed and went to the room.  Still bumpy with loud wave slaps. 

Lights out at 10:30 PM.

March 15, 2026 – At Sea – Caribbean Sea - Mostly Sunny - 79F

NOTE: Elevator buttons both in the car and to summon the elevators are now covered in plastic – 

something to do with sanitation we were told. Even on our heavily infected COVID cruises, no one covered the elevator buttons with plastic.  It doesn’t help because if you touch the buttons or touch the plastic, you are still touching. These covers stayed on for the remainder of the cruise.

Up early (of course) and it looks like a beautiful day as seen from our stateroom.

I got to the Terrace Cafe just as the sun was coming up (the second sunrise of this cruise).

The breakfast was once again perfect and the view just as nice.

Afternoon lectures mean unhurried breakfast and time to look over the material.  The lectures continue today with “Opened Unsolved Cases – Solved with Genetic Genealogy”.  The talk was at 2 PM so I went down to the theater at 1:30PM and found the theater closed for rehearsal.  I hung out in Martinis until 11:40PM and went to the theater and set up.  While I was setting up, Gilbert, the AV Tech, actually called the room looking for me.  Ironically, I was in the theater at the time.

The turnout was good – the rocking had stopped and I could move away from the podium to deliver the talk.  It went well, the audience seemed interested, and it ran 43 minutes.  There was a talk after me so he had plenty of time to set up. 

Tonight, we changed things up for dinner by going to the Main Dining Room (served by Olga from Peru) and both had Ribeye steaks.  The steaks were good – we are not going to eat like this when we get home – who knows what those steaks cost now.  

Tonight the ship was having an Academy Awards Show in the theater.  We walked across the pool deck, which was amazing in the gloaming.

We went to see what was going on even though we have no idea who the norminees are.  They did have popcorn but when we got there the theater was empty and the screen blank.  We were told that reception is spotty at sea and there was no signal at the moment.

The Entertainment Team was performing the ABBA Dance Party in Horizons at 9:00 PM.  They had different takes on the songs I know by heart but it was an entertaining show. One passenger, bottom pic, really got into the mood (unlimited drink package, perhaps).

The ride is pretty smooth. 

Lights out 10:30 PM.

March 14, 2026 – Tortola, BVI – Partly Cloudy – 79F

Port Information.  Tortola is the largest and most populated island in the British Virgin Islands (24,000 people).  The name Tortola is Spanish for “Turtle Dove”.  It is the center of government activities and is the business center of the Islands.  The capital, Road Town, is located on the southern end of the island.  It is a volcanic island with mountain peaks and lush vegetation.  Tortola is a favorite destination for sailing and water sports.  The USD is the currency on the island.  The airport is on nearby Beef Island, connected to Tortola by a bridge. We have been here several times.

It's a nice early morning in the Caribbean.

The ship arrived an hour early – I thought I had missed a time change. 

I checked the phone and reread Currents – no time change.  I rode up to the Terrace Café in the elevator with a ship’s officer and he said we were on time – we were supposed to be here at 8 AM and it was 6:45 AM.  I checked out the early breakfast at Waves for the first time; there were some pastries, bagels, fruit, and cry cereal.  I did grab some raisins in case there were none in the big buffet. 

I was on the veranda to watch the Enchanted Princess arrrive and back in.

I had another nice breakfast of oatmeal (tiny portion), my pancake combo, and constant coffee (did I mention that they serve Illy on this ship).  Ellen had room service, which has been working out well for her.  The meals come on time and then you call and they pick up the trays.  Good system. Breakfast came with a nice view of the Enchanted Princess

and Tortola.

We are not getting off the ship today.  We have been to Road Town several times and there is not that much to see or do.  

I went to Baristas to work on tomorrow talk – it was relatively quiet up there as a lot of people were off ship on excursions.  The IMD was perfectly prepared.  I made some changes to the talk and added some more prompts. 

Lunch was in the Terrace Café –

I had the pasta of the day (veggies, orecchiette pasta, with a white sauce.  The pasta was good – Ellen had some poached salmon and I added that to the pasta.  The pizza which was pretty good at the beginning of the cruise has gotten very thin (new chef maybe).

While we were at lunch, a local speedboat whizzed by and soon after, we heard a siren that sounded just like a police siren.  Actually it WAS a police siren but coming from a marine police boat.  The police unit PAd something to the speeder and he stopped and for a few minutes the two boats were sitting there going over something.  Perhaps, the offender was too close to both us and the Princess ship or maybe he was speeding.  This is the first time we have seen someone get pulled over.  Fun times.

The afternoon was spent on the open Deck 5, where I finished “Pendergast – The Beginning”.  A very good book which ended Pendergast’s first case with a passage from “The Relic”, the first in the series – clever.

Back to the Terrace Café for dinner (the weather continues to be perfect). Tonight we ordered hot dogs for me and ribeye steak for Ellen.  They were both very good - my only complaint is that the buns are getting pretty big compared to the dogs - I have been tearing off the ends of the buns.  

Showtime tonight was “Rock Yacht” – the performance was supposed to have something to do with sailing but it was actually an entertaining show featuring rock songs from the 70s and 80s. Not super loud and entertaining.

NOTE: Time changes.  There will be no time change on the trip back to Tampa.  Most of the Caribbean did not move their clocks forward for DST.  That means that AST and EDT are the same. No need to change the clocks.  A bonus since I really do not like time changes.

So far, the ride is smooth.

Lights out at 10:30 PM.

March 13, 2026 – Frederiksted, St. Thomas – Mostly Sunny – 79F

Port Information.  Frederiksted is located on the West coast of St. Croix one the three US Virgin Islands.  St Croix, the largest of the Islands (in area), has a population of 41,000 (second largest). Frederiksted was founded by the Danes in 1751 and currently has a population of about 1000 people. Frederiksted has a deep water harbor – The Ann E. Abramson Marine Facility -  that can accommodate cruise ships making this the cruise port.  Main sites include Fort Frederik and the Oscar E. Henry Customs House. Ft. Frederik is a Danish fort (decked out in bright red) completed in 1760 to deal with smuggling and to keep the peace.  National Historic District contains building with Danish, Georgian, and Victorian style architecture .  Frederiksted has a boardwalk, with benches, a War Memorial and extensive Green Space.

The seas were calm last night and they are this morning in this photo taking from our stateroom.

Oeania Insignia is the only ship here today.  Frederiksted has a long pier and probably could handle a second small ship but it's just us.

This is Day 11 of this cruise and today is the first day I have seen the Sun rise.  I am certainly up and on the veranda early enough but low clouds and the orientation of the ship have not cooperated to get that shot.  Today, everything aligned and here are pictures of sunrise #1.

After breakfast – the usual and still yummy – we walked off to see the little town.  From the pier, I got a photo of Ft Frederik.

When you get to the end of the pier, you can get your picture taken (by a friendly local) in the St Croix phtoto frame.

Most of the sites were right there at the end of the pier – Fort Frederik and the Custom House.  We didn’t walk to the Fort but did check out the Custom House.  

There is a statue, “Freedom” located in a fountain in front of the building.  The statue is of Moses Gotlieb, who played a role in the emancipation of the island.

Frederiksted has a sizeable boardwalk adjacent to the shoreline.

Ellen explored more of the town (limited shopping) and I foung a comfortable seat on the boardwalk - cool tropical breezes and the Caribbean Sea - Priceless.  I got a wonderful picture of Insignia from my location.

There are chickens running free on St Croix and one hen and her chicks were looking for something on the boardwalk.

My view point was actually next to the Verne I. Richards Memorial Park.  The park was completed in 2009 to honor VI residents who died in combat.  The park consists of plaques and obelisks to honor the service personnel.  There was only one name on one of the plaques (I couldn't make out the details.

Ellen, in her walk around town came across the Seven Flags Building, a restored pre-1803 coral stone structure.  Originally a merchant townhouse, it now houses a museum. 

Ellen found me on the boardwalk and we headed back to the ship.  Along the way, I spotted a USVI Prowler and just had to get a picture.

The walk back was not bad and included another picture of our ship.

The weather again was perfect so we had lunch on the Terrace Café Veranda. Lunch today consisted of an Impossible burger and small salad.  I asked for the burger to be well done but it still came under. These burgers need to be well done – under means soggy.

We spent the afternoon out on Deck 5, 

where Ellen spotted a sea turtle alongside.

Tonight we decided to have dinner in the Grand Dining Room – I ordered Halibut Viennese (in a pastry with spinach under the fish and some kind of tomato plus olive relish on top) abd Iceberg Lettuce salad with apples, celery, and Blue Cheese Dressing.  Ellen had the salmon just grilled. We had dessert in the dining room:  Apple Crumble with Raspberry Vanila ice cream (good) and cheesecake (warm). The Terrace Café was featuring freshly barbecued Caribbean Fish (maybe even a fresh fish from Basseterre) – I thought the halibut was a better option and we wanted a quieter evening – we had that terrific Peruvian waitress, Olga, who got us our food quickly and efficiently.

After dinner spent time in Martinis – we found some seats.

Showtime tonight features another Whitney Houston Tribute Singer – Nina Skyy – we passed on her as we anticipated a loud concert.  We are getting very particular about what entertainment we take in.

Lights out at 10:15 PM.