a quiet day (we hope)

PERSONNEL

Last night was formal night and so they had the captain’s reception. The lady next to us was on her third glass of wine and was feeling no pain when we finally found a seat.

Almost all of the heads of departments are Italian. I don’t think that has ever been so true on one of our voyages. The Captain is British, and the ship’s doctor So African. Interestingly, the purser did not appear. He is the first off at each port and the last on as he is the one who pays the local fees. Last time it was this incredibly tall, lanky Scot named Angus. He was memorable. I want to see the purser at some point because Ed has international currency from way before I met him and I want to know whether it is useful or not. This includes a few of the bills that India has eliminated! Whether we can get value out of them is questionable. And much of it was a jumble so we had to use a magnifier to determine the country and put them into bags. Then I sorted out those countries we will not be visiting to put that currency aside. I am astonished at how much is here!

But back to the ship’s personnel: the staff with whom we mostly interact are from the following countries so far: US, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, Aruba, So Africa, Croatia, Romania, several Asian countries including lots of Philipinos, India, Japan. So far that’s all I can recall.

Among the passengers, I found their backgrounds interesting. Since we have open seating often we are put with people we haven’t seen before.  I mentioned the labor union rep and his wife who placed foster children and adoptions. Our other table mates are a postal worker and mid level manager of home care for KP. Yesterday at lunch there was a farmer and a truck driver. Previous cruises had elementary school teachers and nurses. So the population quite reminds me of the people we spend a lot of time with at home: SAGE and red hats.

AGES: one couple is travelling with their 18 y/o son who has Downs syndrome. He is very sweet and delightful as they usually are. He has graduated from high school but is still studying in transition for his next school. So he has homework on the ship. There are3 babies on board: two infants and a 2 yr old (?) who is the Captain’s daughter. He was on his honeymoon in Hawaii when the itinerary was changed. Initially the plan was that he’d join the ship in Honolulu. So they had to fly to LA and so his new wife and daughter are on board. They dress her in nautical clothing. She is dark haired and really cute.

The age range for adults is probably around our age. There several younger by 10-15 yrs and some older of course. There is some fragility in many. There were two men frantically looking for a woman the other day and it turns out she is in the stages of dementia and wandered off and they were frantic to find her. It is not uncommon for family to bring such a person along on a cruise. It seems a good compromise to me.

RUNNY NOSE

While my throat feels better today, my nose is needing constant dabbing. My energy level is somewhat down and I dread those stairs but I’m determined.

Ed ordered room service for breakfast so

SPEAKING OF STAIRS

We are on deck7. The number of stairs between each deck is 16 EXCEPt for 5-6 where it is 22. So when we go from deck 5 where many activities, to deck 10, where trivia is held, we are getting a minor workout.

WEATHER TODAY

First off, we got an extra hour today. We are having to reset our iPhone times manually as there is no way to do it otherwise. The temp outside is around 70, wind speed 25 knots, I think ship’s speed is around 18 knots, seas are wonderful, probably moderate. Sun is SO bright.

Sky is sometimes overcast.