Thursday, November 1st - At Sea.
Noon Position: Off Ushant, France
Bob: This was our first "at sea" day and was a curious mix of activities and rest. I did enjoy being able to have a "guilt free" omelet for breakfast that was made from eggbeaters, supplemented by skim milk and lowfat yogurt for a quite low-fat breakfast. We did the "Walk-A-Mile" exercise at 9:00, took a beginning Spanish class at 10:00 followed by ballroom dancing at 10:30, lunch, and line dancing at 1:30. After that I rested in the cabin, got up for the walk-a-mile at 3:00, and then put in a solid hour of meditation. Meanwhile Monika wandered around the ship a bit and joined a wine tasting session. |
Monika: Our first at sea day, so we started our quest of ShipShape dollars. I had left my shipshape T-shirt from our last cruise at the Siglo 18 hotel in Santiago del Mar, Spain (Wanderung 14), so I needed to work for another one. We slept through the 7:30 stretching, but by 9 we were ready to "Walk-A-Mile". At 10 we had half an hour of beginning Spanish, and then at 10:30 ballroom dancing, we were learning the slow waltz. The couple that was teaching ballroom dancing on this cruise was not nearly as good at teaching as the one that taught on our last cruise. For instance after spending a lot of time on the basic box step, they just showed us three moves at once (under arm turn, open walk, and twinkle) and did not have us walk it through. So most people were still confused at the end. But we had fun. After lunch we did half an hour of line dancing. After that Bob decided that it was time to rest. Instead I went up to deck 11, had a cup of coffee and watched the world go by. Although we could not see land, we must have been close enough, since I saw a lot of smaller vessels passing by. At 3 we could either do another "Walk-A-Mile" or go to a wine tasting. Our little coupon booklet, contained one for the wine tasting, so I decided that was for me. Bob saved family honor by garnering another shipshape dollar walking a mile. I sat at a convivial table with three other couples. They offered us two whites and two reds and a blush. They also had the wine list for us to look at, and I noticed that we were not sampling from the top of the list. But it was a nice afternoon. They also had cheese and cheap saltine crackers. I decided, I liked the Riesling best, a very light, semi-dry white wine from Germany. |
Bob: Since it was a "formal wear" night, we both had to get dressed up for the Captain's reception and dinner. I dutifully pulled on my black suit, my new Hindenburg tie from the Zeppelin Museum, and my new shiny black dancing shoes. Unfortunately the shoes turned out to be exquisitely uncomfortable when worn for any time or walked in for any distance. Still, they did work well for dancing, by which I mean that the smooth leather soles made it easy to slide or pivot on the dance floor, and the complete lack of cushioning also meant that my feet were right next to the dance floor rather than being perched up on thick soles. The resulting lower center of gravity also helped my dancing, perhaps, or maybe I'm just (very) gradually learning the moves, but the dancing at the Captain's reception went well and was enjoyable. Following the reception we had dinner and rested in our room a bit before attending the evening performance, which was billed as a piano recital of classical music. Well, it was that in part, but mixed in with the beautifully played medleys of classical piano works he put in a piece with a folk instrument resembling a stretched recorder, another set of tunes played on an accordion, and finally a couple of tunes played on a Dracula Phone. The Dracula Phone was a set of rubber bulbs attached to different parts of his body, with each bulb having a whistle of a different pitch. When he banged the bulb, the whistle of that pitch would sound, and by wildly contorting his body he could play a tune, after a fashion. Well that was a pretty long way from classical piano, but it certainly was funny to watch. In a sense, he was an entertainer along the lines of Victor Borge or Mark Russell, both of whom were accomplished pianists but both of whom also featured comedy as a large component of their performances. And so to bed. |
Monika: This day was the Captain's reception and formal dinner. So after I came back, we both got dressed and then headed to the Safari club for the reception. The champagne was acceptable, and we danced several dances to live music. Not many people danced, so there was room on the dance floor and we had fun. The Captain is rather young, but I assume he would not be in charge of a big ship like this if he was not competent. When he introduced his senior staff, I was surprised, that about half of them were female including the staff captain, the second in command. After dinner we went to our first show, a pianist who also was quite an entertainer and had the band to back him up. It was quite entertaining and we did enjoy it. After we went to bed, we suddenly heard a loud bang. After a little while came another one. Bob finally figured out, it where waves banging against the side of the ship. There are disadvantages to being so close to the front. |
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