World Cruise - Day 12 - Jan 24 - At Sea

Today was our second laundry day.  We didn’t really need to do laundry today, but we decided to do it before we get too close to San Diego.  I know there are some people out there that like to do laundry on the last day of their vacation either to: a) avoid having to do laundry when they get home; or b) avoid putting dirty laundry into their suitcase.  Neither of these views work for us, we just bring home our dirty laundry and do it when we get home.

We saw some whales in the distance this morning from our balcony.  We have seen dolphins and whales so far, although the dolphins were much closer.  Some people yesterday saw sea turtles as well.  And the other day someone saw stingrays.  I usually take my camera with me when I am on the walking track on deck 10 just in case we see something.  However, it’s very difficult to photograph whales and other things in the sea.  Usually you take the picture right after it was in view.  So you usually end up with a picture of the sea with a splash.  “A whale made that splash…” or something like that.  Dolphins are a little easier to photograph, since they tend to stay at the surface more and there are more of them.  I also saw a sea turtle from the top deck, but wasn’t able to get a pic of it, since we’re moving pretty fast.

We won at trivia in the morning.  Actually, we tied two other teams on the 20 questions and then we were still tied with another team after the tiebreaker question (we both gave the same wrong answer, but closer to the answer than the other team).  In the afternoon we tied with two other teams again, but then lost the tiebreaker.  Oh well, still having fun with it.  We have a great team, very diverse in our backgrounds, which helps at trivia.  Here are the three questions we missed this afternoon: What year was the first Academy Awards ceremony?  1929.  Which is the first team to win 5 Super Bowls?  San Francisco 49ers.  Who said: “If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.”  Albert Einstein.  In the morning, here at the two questions we missed: Who played Dr. Edward Fitzgerald on “Fitz”?  Robbie Coltrane.  Cassis is a syrup made from which fruit?  Black currants.  But we also got a couple of questions that few others were able to answer: A night watchman is in what sport?  Cricket (and my friends from India will be pleased that I got that one right).  Which two children of Wizard of Oz actors were married?  Liza Minelli and Jack Haley, Jr.

Dan won at ping pong today, beating Eric in the final.  I’ve been sitting out the last couple of days, nursing my tennis elbow and sore shoulder.  But I might play again tomorrow.

This is the Pacific Lounge, which is located on deck 10 forward.  This is the secondary performance lounge to Cabaret Lounge on deck 5 forward.  It is where trivia takes place as well as dance classes, the Princess Choir (yes, we have our own choir) and dancing music throughout the evening.

The performer tonight was Mark Preston, one of the Lettermen.

This is a pic of Mark along with The Lettermen on the screen in the background.  He sang a lot of Lettermen songs as well as several other songs.

Another pic of The Lettermen from the background screen.  They are still performing together as a group.  I think Mark was not part of the original Lettermen, but joined them in about 1978 or so when one of the original members retired?  Note that the guy in the left of the pic above appears to be about 20 years older than him.  I’m guessing he may be one of the original Lettermen?

We played evening trivia as well (there is usually only two rounds of trivia).  We had a different team this time, Lorraine and Chuck joined in, as well as Dan, with me, Bill and Krissie.  We won with 15 out of 20.  A few of the questions we missed.  What type of piano did Liberace play on lease for $1 per year?  Baldwin (we said Steinway).  What is the home country of Indy winner Jacques Villenueve?  Canada (we said France).  What female recording artist sold 14 million records between 1967 and 1973?  Aretha Franklin (we said Barbra Streisand).

Note that this blog entry was sent late due to having Internet issues all day Tuesday and most of the day Wednesday.  Apparently the ship was not in a satellite footprint during that time (at least that was the excuse given).  My theory is sunspots.

Tomorrow is a sea day and a formal night (one of 9 on the world cruise).