I was sufficiently dry enough to join G for this cruise's technical lecture by Chief Engineer Roddy, originally of Scotland but recently from Manhattan) which we've heard before but wanted to hear again (and again...) until it finally begins to stick (which will admittedly take considerably longer for me than for G). I'll prepare a second post for today with some nuggets of knowledge from Roddy's presentation.
Next came lunch, and I was freezing today, and so ordered the Irish lamb stew. Now, I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've had lamb in my life, and can't say I'm a huge fan, but the broth was yummy and warm, as were the carrots and potatoes, so it was fine. Speaking of being cold, Roddy told us that where the engine wipers work, it was 44C yesterday, which is 113F, and that's just a few decks below where I was shivering today, which is an ironic thing.
Although we had some bouts of hot sun today, It was largely overcast with intermittent showers. We went up to the hot tub on Deck 17 aft (yes, me too) and enjoyed the misty rain while soaking in the tub. That hot tub has been closed off most of this cruise, and G was despairing that it was permanently broken, so it was cause for high spirits today when it was re-opened.
This cruise's wine tasting took place at 2:45pm/3pm/whenever you get there o'clock. We arrived just before it began (high five's all around) and, honestly, I was a by in the mood for it today, but, sadly, we were gifted the same shot glass design as last cruise. I had hoped that, over the course of the winter, we'd accumulate one of each of the six designs. So far, not good.
We had a few minutes before needing to dress formally for the evening, and so G napped (green with envy here) and I started this post. I have no idea if I'll be able to publish today; it's rough enough that satellite TV reception is fuzzy today.
G napped for a short time following wine tasting (lucky him), but I soldiered on and got dressed for our one formal night of this cruise (you might recall the Broncos game last Sunday night prevented us from doing/allowed us to miss the other formal night of these ten nights. We went directly to dinner (no Skywalkers for us), and I had my first escargot of the winter and (of course) lobster, and opted to have just a cappuccino and the cookies (petit fours) that were served with it.
Next stop was the Explorers Lounge to listen to the Emerald Princess orchestra and catch up with several cruise friends from prior years, and then some of the best entertainment of the cruise, pianist Ryan Ahern accompanied by the orchestra. We do love our live musical entertainment, don't we?
The evening wasn't over yet; next we went to Club Fusion to listen to steel drum/keyboard duo Sugar Cane, and finally to the Piazza for this cruise's "New Years Eve" celebration and ballon drop accompanied by band New Deal.
It's almost midnight and I'm worn out. Here's hoping I can get on wifi and post this quickly...G's making noises about getting up to watch the sunrise tomorrow morning.
Help me!