Day Seven - Sea Day

Saturday, April 6, 2019

There has been a constant kerfuffle with the time.  One day we set the clocks back an hour, another day they go back yet another hour.  Another day they go forward.  It’s very strange. Usually a ship tells you to just stay with ship time and not ask anyone ashore what time it is!  That’s much easier!  I just left my phone on Tampa time, which is also body time, after three weeks of adjusting to Daylight Saving Time.

All that is to say that we aren’t sure what time it is when we head to breakfast.  It’s also complicated by the fact that we had used wifi on shore and now my phone is confused.  We are supposed to see ship time on the Rotterdam’s intranet website, the Navigator.  And that’s fine but you have to come off the site and go back on, for it to change the time.  Long and short of it is that we get to the dining room for our first breakfast there after they have stopped serving!  Oh well, back up to the Lido deck!

After breakfast  there’s an eleven o’clock “lighthearted” lecture on the secret language of ships.  There are three categories of language - hull markings, flags, and whistle blasts.  It’s all very interesting!  I particularly like the bulbous bow mark and the whistle blast that says “I can’t tell what you’re doing!”

I love the way this is projected onto the carpet.

I think I’ll go to a discussion about Chinese medicinal herbs while Diana goes to the next America’s Test Kitchen presentation.  When I get down to the Explorer’s Lounge I only see a few Chinese ladies huddled around a table with some bottles on it and they don’t look like they want company, so I go down to the Wajang Theater to find Diana.  Everything Caroleena cooks looks so good!  This afternoon it’s chicken marsala, rice pilaf, and warm chocolate fudge cake.  Each presentation comes with recipe cards and specific directions!

We’re on our way when we run into Mary and Diana! We always laugh when we chat and this time we seem to be blocking the stairway when Diana comments that there’s another side!

Next, Diana comes with me to the dining room where the wine tasting will be held.  She wants to be sure she won’t be charged since she doesn’t think ten wines will sit well on her tummy.  I’m early so I wander a bit taking photos.  There are four different stations, each with one or two reds or whites.  They seem to be grouped by country or region.  In the center there is a table with small plates of hors d’oeuvres.

Before long, Dean and Tobi appear and we select a table by the windows.  You can sample the wines in any order and there seem to be extra glasses and plates.  I fall in love with a pinot noir from Hang Time (Mondavi) and Dean tells me I can get it at Total Wines!  I’m a happy camper.  The wine steward that’s pouring my favorite says he can’t refuse the dancing lady.  I can’t help it!  There’s music!

Afternoon tea is just a few feet from the tasting!  Tobi and I slip over and meet Diana and Diana and Mary!  We have one more seat and it now belongs to Sylvia.  I’m afraid I don’t recall much about her, except that she’s a local, too!  We close down the place!  A bit of wandering, including checking Guest Services to see if anyone turned in my bracelet. (Oh yes – I bought a little bauble on the ship a couple of days ago and it’s disappeared from my wrist.  Too bad, too;  it was sweet.)  They don’t have it but suggested I try again in the morning before we debark.

Woohoo!  We’re the first to dinner!  It’s our last dinner together.  I just have one glass from our shared bottle and make sure our darling little wine steward (Pia?) gives all the rest to Robin.  For dinner I have hazelnut-crusted brie, grilled vegetables with herbed goat cheese, grilled salmon with ginger-cilantro pesto, and a pineapple sundae for dessert.  After dinner I still have to pack and just don’t feel the need to go see Barry one more time.  There’s only one stage show, at 9:30, and it’s the comedian and comedy magician, and that’s not exciting, either.  I go back to the cabin to get organized and Diana goes to the casino.

She’s back pretty quickly and I’m surprised!  She had added five dollars to her card and won it back and twenty more!  She decided that was a good time to quit!  We are able to put our bags out for pick up a couple of hours before the midnight deadline!

It’s been fun;  but I’m ready to get home and see my fur babies.