Wanderung 30

A typical at sea day: breakfast, internet, and a very good port lecture on all the ports we were going to see. Unfortunately the part of the lecture on Bermuda was in vain, since on the afternoon of the day before Bermuda, we were told we would have to skip that port. Apparently the winds were too strong in the wrong direction and the ship would not be able to safely navigate the small channel cut through the coral reef. Since we know that channel--a previous ship had bent a underwater stabilizer wing on that coral--we were glad the captain was cautious. Instead of Bermuda we were going to Ponta Delgada in the Azore Islands in the North Atlantic Ocean.

After the lecture, we would walk on deck for an hour, before lunch. The Caribbean Princess has an actual promenade deck meant for promenading. It was a nice, complete loop around the ship and let us look out over the ocean in all directions as we walked. The promenade was also sheltered by overhanging decks at the bow and stern, and sheltered on the sides by the life boats, so we could walk comfortably even in hot or rainy weather. The one quirk was that the loop included a stairway up one deck on either side of the bow, so we necessarily had to do some stair climbing on each lap, but that was probably just as well for overall conditioning.

Although we don't do many shipboard activities, we do try most of the dance classes that are offered, usually on the "At Sea" days. The first was on the Foxtrot, and it was a jolly good review for us and even included a printed summary at the end, which saved me from running back to the cabin and trying to furiously draw diagrams of all the steps before the session faded from my memory! In this way we learned Meringue, Samba, Argentine Tango, Swing, and finally Waltz as we slowly crossed the Atlantic.

Dining was always a pleasure. Our reservation was for the "hidden" dining room on deck 6 aft and our table was close to the window. Out waitress was always cheerful and often singing so we truely had a great time. For one evening we had a meal in the Italian specialty restaurant, and that was very high quality Italian cuisine served in a beautifully decorated restaurant with a wonderful ambience.

Before or after dinner we also often had pictures taken and Bob's Bugs Bunny tie always elicited some smart remarks. But the best was when Bob photobombed one of Monika's solo pictures just as the photographer snapped the shutter. It was anything but your normal staid formal night portrait, but we both liked the final rather whimsical if not outrageous result.