Tai Chi Cancelled

It always pays to read the “When and Where” each evening.  We assumed that Tai Chi was every day at sea.  But we didn’t realize that on Sundays,  Catholic Mass is held in the Queens Lounge which cancels Tai Chi on Sundays.

Coffee with Hamish

In a way it worked out fine that Tai Chi was cancelled because one of our favorite acts, Abba Fab, was the guest at the “Coffee with Hamish” show held in the Explorers Lounge which started at 9:30 am.  Now we wouldn’t have to leave Tai Chi early to get down to the Explorers Lounge to see the show.  This event tends to fill up and by the time we arrived at 9:10 am there were already 20 people waiting.

Hamish started the show by welcoming everyone and then he introduced the members of Abba Fab which includes Terry the leader and manager of the group, his wife Anne, their son Nick and Kat.

Abba Fab was formed as a way to drive more business into their Arizona restaurant during the 2008 recession.  As it turned out their musical act became more popular than their food and as their musical careers took off, the restaurant business faded and finally closed about 4 years later.  Terry now manages several touring versions of Abba Fab in addition to several other musical groups and shows.  Check out their website for more information  TADMGMT.COM

Pete learns to Knit

Judy is hosting the 10 am Stitch and Knit in the Crows Nest.  There were about 9 people participating today.

Today I learned how to knit!  Judy cast on for me so all I needed to do was to start a simple garter stitch.  After a lot of coaching and about 10 minutes, I finished my first row just in time to head down to the Casino for the Texas Hold’em game.

Pete’s first row!

Texas Hold’em

There are about 15 people turning out for each of the 2 tournaments each day.  The games are friendly, and everyone is having a good time.  The only problem so far is that not everyone can play as often as they would like since each game is limited to 10 people.

After the game I headed back to the Crows Nest where Judy was finishing up with her knitting.

Lunch in the Lido

We enjoy lunch in the Lido because the food is good and you can eat quickly or linger or chat depending on your schedule for the rest of the day.  We noticed that each table now has the name of the attendant responsible for that particular table.  This may have been going on for some time, but it is the first time we have noticed.  Service is outstanding and the waiters and waitresses are very attentive and take special care to make sure you have everything you need and keep your beverage glasses full.

Black and Gold Dinner – Gala Night

Tonight, was the first gala night with a pre-dinner cocktail party in the Queens Lounge.  There were two sessions, one at 4 pm for early seating and the second and 7 pm for main seating.  The theme was Black and Gold and I was pleasantly surprised by the large number of people who participated by wearing Black and Gold.  I was more surprised by the large number of men wearing Tuxedos or dark suits.  I can’t speak for the early seating crowd, but I didn’t spot a single person in our dining room wearing the minimum dress of a collared shirt and dress pants.  I don’t recall seeing anyone wearing only a sport jacket and tie, the room seemed to be about 25% Tuxedos with the rest dark suits with only a handful of “others”.  Even out in the common areas most people were in the spirit of the Gala night.

NOTE:  Before every world cruise you will receive a brochure which lists every night which has a special theme, so you can bring appropriate theme clothing if desired.

We had our picture taken on deck 5 right outside the Ocean Bar and as we were leaving for the theatre we noticed a line had formed leading to the balcony entrance of the Queens Lounge on Deck 5.  People in line told us that they were waiting for the cocktail party to start and for the staff to drop the barrier at the door.  I thought that was odd, and sure enough, the receiving line with Capt Mercer and the Cruise Director was on Deck 4, starboard side, and the entrance to the balcony was closed since they didn’t want anyone going up there during the cocktail party.  I mentioned to one of the officers as we entered the Queens Lounge that there was line forming on Deck 5 and they may want to let people know that the entrance was on Deck 4.  I guess it may have been possible that these people were waiting for the 8:15 show, but that was over 1 hour away.  I guess this may remain a mystery.

The Queens lounge was comfortably full, with no one standing who didn’t want to stand.  Wait staff was circulating with trays of drinks and snacks – which were all wonderful.

Around 7:30 Hamish introduced Capt Mercer who made a few remarks and concluded by announcing he would return for the 2019 World Cruise.  After his remarks he introduced the rest of the officers and senior staff before leading us all in a toast.

Gala Night Dinner

The featured entrée tonight was Surf and Turf.  The food was delicious, the conversations lively and the service outstanding – a wonderful evening all the way around.

Our table mates from 2016, Rick and Margaret, gave several of us at the table who were on the 2016 world cruise, a bottle of wine he produced in his own micro winery which had a label featuring a watercolor he painted of his granddaughter.   What a special treat!

Tony Daro

Tonight’s comedian was Tony Daro who put on a wonderful show.  Invariably comedians performing for the World Cruise late show are playing to some fairly small audiences, which makes their job all that much harder.  He was a good sport and everyone had a good laugh and enjoyed the show.

Once again, we received another “pillow gift” our third of the cruise.  This time it was a Keycard Holder

Puerto Limon

Tomorrow, we will be in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica.  We are signed up for the HAL Zip Line tour – our first zip line ever – and we are looking forward to the experience.  It was originally scheduled for 7:30 am but we received a notice yesterday that it was rescheduled to 9:30 am due to operational reasons, which was a blessing, because 7:30 am doesn’t sound quite so early back in October when we were scheduling these tours as it does the night before you actually have to get up early.