Wanderung 28

The Coral Princess cruised south around the bottom of the Bahama Islands archipelago and eastward along the northern coast of Cuba before turning southeast through the channel between Cuba and Hispaniola. This was clearly one of the main shipping lanes, and we were so close to land at times that we could see buildings and even a lighthouse! After breakfast we listened to a lecture on port excursions and decided on taking the snorkeling tour in Aruba and the city walking tour in Cartegena, Columbia.

When we checked our embarkation photos in the photo gallery, I got sucked in by a table with craft supplies to make a poster for the Panama Canal part of our cruise. They provided glue, craft paper, crayons, stencils, marking pens of different colors, and scissors and stuff. I was like a pig in clover making a small poster with a cruise ship and a sailboat under a beaming sun.

That afternoon we took our first dance class, which was the traditional teach-the-basic-steps type of class that we knew and loved. This class was on meringue, and she had put together a good assortment of basic moves to teach us, so we had a lot of fun. Afterwards, Monika went off to the champagne art auction and by smiling nicely at the serving guy was given multiple glasses of champagne, while I, being just a teeny-weeny bit obsesssive-compulsive, went back to the cabin to write down schematic descriptions of each of the meringue moves we had just learned. I finally figured a way of showing foot placement and arm moves as well as changes in whole body positions for the man and woman, but only time will tell if the schematics actually function to help me remember the dance moves when I need them!

This was the first of our two scheduled formal nights on this cruise. After having been bounced out of the dinning room on the Ryndam just a few days back, I was a bit apprehensive if my black sweater and pants plus white shirt and tie would pass muster on the Coral Princess. But the Coral Princess was a whole different cruise line and as it turned out, I needn't have worried because no one even looked twice at me. Yay for Princess Cruises! We also stopped by before dinner to have our portraits taken at a couple of photography stations in the ship's atrium, one between a couple of flower pots and one of a plain white background, and some of those pics came out well.

At dinner we were joined by Eugen and Brigitte, a retired couple who originally hailed from Germany after WWII. They had been married 54 years, way more than us, and had taken over 40 cruises, also way more than us, but honestly didn't look a day older than us! We four could also talk about Germany and they even had a trace of an accent and reminded me very much of Gertrude and Al Mueller from Kenosha, Wisconsin, who are old, old friends of my sister Lois and very nice people.

The Captain's welcome and champagne waterfall was right after dinner, but the evening production was so full that even the standing room had been filled. So instead we meandered over to the Wheelhouse Bar and listened to the string trio again, who were quite good, before retiring to our cabin to read a bit and then turn in for the night.