At Sea

January 11

Went to bed at 1:27 (after gaining an hour) and slept until 9:32.  I really wanted to roll over and go back to sleep but I had promised myself I would not sleep in every day.  As a compromise I put some pillows behind me and watched the morning show.  It was the usual first day medical talk by Dr. Hawthorne.

You can definitely feel the motion although (knock on wood) not like last year.  The Entertainment Director is calling it "frolicsome".

Went to the 11 am lecture by Diane Janes about Agatha Christie.  She will be doing a series on crime stories (mysteries, as we call them).  The lecture was quite interesting and I plan to go to the others.

Our Cruise Critic Meet & Greet was at noon.  Finally met up with Maggie from last year.  I got to know some of my internet friends.  Judith and Julie and I went for lunch at the Golden Lion Pub.  I had my favorite - fish and chips.

After lunch I went to the library but could not find any new mysteries by any of my favorite authors.  I brought three paperback books with me, so they will probably last me if the other days are as busy as today.

As I was going to Needlework/Knitting group, I bumped (almost literally) into my favorite server, Marina.  She gave me a big hug and asked where my blue was (she called me "the blue lady" because I wear it so often) as I did not have it on today.

Large group for Needlework/Knitting group - about 20 ladies and one gentleman (who is a fellow Virginian).  It was good to see Janice, the Social Hostess, again.

After Needlework/Knitting group, Judith, Fran, and I went to the trivia game.  When we got to the Yacht Club, Mary joined us.  Today it was wipeout trivia - 20 questions worth 100 points each, after being checked, you decided how much to wager on the last question (Jeopardy fans, think Final Jeopardy).  We ended up with a respectable 1500 points but there were at least four groups ahead of us.  The final question was on Phobias.  Now, I hope you are all sitting down because we won!!!  The question was "Papaphobia is a fear of what?"  Somewhere I must of heard or read it because we got it right.  We ended with 3000 points (200 ahead of our closest competitor.  I now have a stamp in my book which I can trade in for a lovely gift (just kidding) before I depart.  The rest of the team is doing the full world so they will likely have a full book of stamps before the end.

Back to the stateroom about 5:15.  Feeling kind of tired (I did get up early for me) so I sat on the sofa and snoozed until about 7.  Then time to shower and get ready for the evening (informal night).

So far this dining when I want has worked out.  I tend to arrive about in the middle so there are others at the table.  We have a table for eight but only 7 present.  Table mates are Elizabeth (retired US teacher), Linda (US), Christine (UK), Ian (retired UK  Royal Navy), Michael (US) and Hugh (UK, works for British Airways).  Ian once was assigned to the ex-Royal Yacht, Britannia, and has some good stories about life in the navy.

Went to watch the dancers and Paul Ritchie and the band perform before the show.  Featured entertainer tonight was Benjamin Makisi, a tenor from New Zealand.  He had a good mix of songs and was very personable.

Got my orange juice for the road (my favorite bartender is not onboard) and headed back to work on the blog.

I am getting up for 10AM trivia in the morning!

My reward book

And my one (and maybe only) stamp!

Smooth sailing until next time!