March 23, 2012—At Sea
The cruise is more than halfway over, but we still have
three more ports to visit and a few days a sea.
The next two days we’ll be at sea as we make our way to Shanghai .
My Dad was feeling better today, but was still quarantined
to the cabin. The medical center had
provided a special room service menu for him which pretty much resembled
hospital food—very bland. He ended up
ordering broth with crackers and jello for breakfast, and it was delivered by a
crewmember who was gloved and masked.
Gerald, our cabin steward, was still not able to enter our room.
My mother and I went to breakfast in Sabatini’s. Afterward, we went back to the room to gather
up some laundry. We had been sending
some clothes to the ship’s laundry, but we decided to do our more personal
items ourselves. Each cabin deck had a
small laundromat available for passengers—the cost was $2 for the washer and $2
for the dryer (there was a change machine so we could get quarters). I spent time reading while waiting for the
laundry to finish.
Our cabin was sanitized by the same team who had done it the
previous evening and they said they would be back that evening as well. The medical center called and asked how my
Dad was, and even though he was feeling fine and was able to eat, they said he
would have to remain in his cabin again that day.
My mother and I went to the casino that afternoon, and I was
able to win a little and my mother pretty much broke even.
The captain announced that we would encounter high winds up
to 45 knots with ocean swells up to 6 meters so it was going to get a little
rocky that evening. My mother gets
seasick, so she made sure she was wearing her sea bands on her wrists.
That night was another formal night as well as the Captain’s
Cocktail Reception. Since our invitation
said the reception started at 7:45 pm, we had changed our reservations for
dinner to 5:30. My mother said she
wouldn’t go to the reception without my dad, but she would get dressed up and
go to dinner.
We ordered room service for my Dad—poached chicken,
potatoes, and veggies, along with jello, and ice tea (definitely very bland
with no salt or seasonings).
My mother and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the Pacific
Moon Dining Room. I had the asparagus
bisque, while my mother had her usual Caesar salad, then we both had the
lobster tail and crab cakes. This time,
I actually ordered dessert with my cappuccino and had the banana cream pie with
Bavarian cream. Dinner was great, but it
was too bad that my dad couldn’t be there to enjoy it. Both Jerry, our waiter, and David, our
headwater, had asked about him, asked us to send their regards, and hoped they
would see him the next night.
My mother then went back to the casino for a little while,
while I went for my usual after dinner drink before going to the Captain’s
Cocktail Reception.
While we were at dinner, the medical center had called,
spoke to my Dad, and had released him from quarantine. But since we had already left for dinner, he went
up to the Lido Deck for a hamburger and brought it back to the cabin to
eat.
At 7:40, I headed for Club Fusion and the Captain’s Cocktail
Reception. A crewmember at the entrance
was squirting hand sanitizer in everyone’s hands before we entered and there
was a sign that said handshaking was discouraged for health reasons. Many of the crew do not shake hands for this
very reason and I had seen this sign before at other events. But as I went through the reception line, the
captain, Bob Oliver, extended his hand, so I shook it, and we exchanged the
usual pleasantries, which is normal going through a reception line. I found a place toward the back of the room
and two bar stewards I didn’t know approached me. Each of them had a tray of cocktails they
were carrying and circulating around the room, offering the specialty drinks to
passengers. Ronald, one of the bar
stewards I knew from the Lobby Bar, came over and told the others no, I didn’t
want any, then immediately came back to me with an amaretto on the rocks—yes,
“my” bartenders and bar stewards knew me well.
I spent time speaking with Torsten, the food and beverage
manager I had met at the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet. He and I had run into each other several
times on board. On my previous cruises,
I had made many friends among the crew.
On this cruise, I had made friends among both the crew and the officers
since I had met some of the officers at the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet, had
run into them again several times around the ship, and they always seem to make
a point of saying hello, and stopping to chat a little.
During the “formal” portion, both Kelvin, the cruise
director, and the captain welcomed everyone, announced the “most travelled
passenger on board,” etc. After talking
some more with Torsten, I headed back to my usual lounge.
While there, I met Al Katz, who had flown in the day before
and met the ship in Hong Kong . He was a comedian who was going to be doing a
few shows on board before leaving in Beijing
for another ship. He has been working
cruise ships for quite a few years and said he enjoyed the travel, although not
the jet lag which he says is an occupational hazard. He invited me to the show the next night, so
I think I’ll probably go.
I also saw both Jutta and Michael as well. The lounge was pretty busy—much busier than
on previous nights, and it was still fairly busy when I left at midnight. While the ship was moving a little, it
certainly wasn’t rocking or pitching as much as the captain had led us to
believe it might and I had no trouble walking back to my cabin in my formal
shoes with very high heels. Tomorrow was
another sea day, and I had nothing planned.
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