As I start this note we’re somewhere opposite Washington state. One more sea day after today and we’ll be at our first stop in Ketchikan, Alaska. We’ve gone from choppy last night to smooth as glass this morning back to choppy tonight. With that we’ve had clear sky, fog, back to cloudy, and then overcast at sunset. Temperature has been in the 60s by day. Fascinating weather outside but mostly time is spent inside.
Trivia on this ship is non-trivial. On sea days there are three games: 10:15am, 12:30pm, and 3:15pm. The first and last are single games with a winning team each game. The 12:30 game is a progressive game. Teams play every sea day and turn in their scores. These scores are added up during the cruise and a somewhat more substatial prize given at the end for the highest overall scoring team. At least I suppose the prize is substantial as it has not been announced. We won this morning so it appears that even with “professional” teams that study old questions there is hope. Our score was 20 out of 22 and we won the playoff with the other tied team.
Today was the first of our five formal days. I used my old trick of wearing a polo shirt with a tie and nobody really knew it wasn’t a strictly formal outfit. My first night in the dining room. With anytime seating you have to either get there early (about 20 minutes before they open) or wait until about an hour after when some seating becomes available as people finish. Tonight I waited in line but in the future will probably come a bit later.
We also had a champagne fountain tonight (I did not participate as I did not buy a photo package this trip) and our first production show (Encore) was in the theater. I got there just as it started and it seemed like everyone in the ship was there; not a seat to be found in the theater so I watched standing in the back by the door. Actually worked out well as I got out and into an elevator first. 🙂 The show was quite good; I look forward to the entertainment on this trip.
It’s now Saturday, 22 Sept. Had a reasonable night with the exception of some regular pounding outside. Our direction in the wind has shifted and it turns out the divider between my cabin balcony and the next balcony was swinging against the stops; hitting them in a regular pattern. There is now about six napkins stuffed into the space so that should be fixed. 🙂
Skipped the first trivia today and, instead, went to the fruit/vegetable carving demonstration. Same techniqueas we saw on the world cruise; just different animals carved. You have to have a good imagination to turn a small watermelon into the head of a cow!
Sabatini’s, on this ship, has a no-fee specialty pizza menu at noon so I tried that today and it was good. Probably go to the buffet tonight as there is nothing special on the menu and after breakfast and lunch I won’t need much. Tomorrow we stop in Ketchikan; our first Alaska stop. Will probably post more after that and the Juneau stop the next day.