Day 97, Sailing toward Piraeus, Greece

Partly cloudy skies greeted us this morning as we headed north toward Greece and our visit to Piraeus tomorrow.

Francisco Yglesia was the guest of Good Morning Amsterdam. He was the guest entertainer last night and per custom the previous evenings entertainer is usually the guest the next day. We learned that Francisco has been playing the harp since he was 6 years old and is from Paraguay, but today he makes his home in England with his wife.

I swung by the Queens lounge to listen to Barbara’s discussion on our port visit to Monaco soon. We arrive on a Sunday, early at 7 am and will have an all aboard at 3:30 pm. There won’t be a lot of time to shop since any stores that do open probably won’t open until 10 am or so.

We spent a lazy day in our cabin catching up on the blogs while Judy worked on her knitting project. She is almost finished with her very complex shawl which she should have finished by the time we get to Civitavecchia, Italy.

Tonight was a Gala night in addition to having a Toga Party in Crow’s Nest and the popular production show by the HAL singers and dancers. Normally when there is a theme party in the Crow’s nest, e.g. April Fool’s day or Saint Patty’s day, they only have a single show at 7:30 pm so there isn’t any competition for the theme party which runs from 9 to 11 pm. Additionally theme parties usually don’t coincide with a Gala night which reduces dressing conflicts.

We had also had guests to dinner this evening, so we weren’t able to speed up our dinner or come to the Gala night dressed in our Toga’s.

Laura Broad and her boyfriend, Brian joined us for dinner and we had a wonderful time. She recounted her time on the British TV Show “Britain’s Got Talent” and how she was able to move from being a cruise ship cast singer to having her own show. The guest entertainer business is hypercompetitive and they must continue to deliver outstanding performances every time or they will soon find their bookings drying up. I don’t think Laura has anything to worry about as she is very talented.

After dinner we hurried back to our cabin to change into our Toga’s and arrived in the Crow’s Nest around 10 pm. At the previous theme parties, 10pm was the peak and it usually lasted until well after 11 pm. Unfortunately, tonight the attendance was light, more the size of a happy hour crowd then a theme party. The dance floor could only attract a single couple.

The food was delicious, with the miniature Chicken Gyros being the clear favorite along with pizza and meatballs.

I suspect most people were at the production show, so we left the Crow’s Nest after a few minutes and headed down to the Queen’s lounge to catch the last ½ hour of the show.

The singers and dancers put on a great show called “Jazz, Blues & Rock “n” Roll” which demonstrated their incredible talent and infectious energy.

• HAL Singers and Dancers
• Jazz Blues Rock and Roll