World Cruise - Day 54 - Mar 6 - At Sea

So today is an important day for a couple of reasons.  First of all, we crossed the equator again for the second time this cruise at about 4a (“Did you feel the bump?”).  That is the last time we will cross the equator, we will stay in the northern hemisphere for the remainder of the trip (although we come within just a few degrees of the equator as we go around Singapore later this month).  Second reason is that it is also the official halfway point of the cruise.  It hasn’t seemed like that long, yet it has seemed like we have been onboard for a lifetime, that this is our new home.  I’m not sure what I’ll do when we get home and have to cook our own food and make our own beds and wash our own towels?  OK, Krissie mainly does those things at home, but I do help.  Sometimes.  I always help with making the bed.  But I just can’t compete in the cooking category.  I do help out with the laundry, although I tend to take the lead onboard, Krissie takes the lead at home.

We got up late, since there was no Zumba or ping pong today, due to the crew doing a bomb scare drill this morning.  So no sunrise pics.

We had our Cruise Critic meeting this morning, discussing our next port.

Morning trivia we got 15 out of 20, 18 won it.  Here are the questions we missed:  What is a VDU?  Visual display unit (we said video display unit).  A Gallway Pipe is a type of what alcoholic drink?  Port (we said beer).  The kumara is a sweet potato native to what country?  New Zealand (we said Peru).  What sort of animal is a barbell?  Fish (we said monkey).  Sea elephant is the largest member of which animal species?  Seal (we said walrus).  Other interesting questions that we got right:  Which creature with an apiculturist keep?  Bees.  What M word is used in fashion to describe a backless shoe?  Mule.  Which world famous painting is also known as La Gio Conda?  Mona Lisa.  Farsi is the official language of what country?  Iran.  What is the name of the founder of the Methodist religion?  John Wesley.  “Burnt cream” is the literal translation of which French dessert?  Crème brulee.  In geography, what O word is used for the islands of the central and south pacific region?  Oceania.

I watched Moneyball in our room this afternoon.  I had read the book by Michael Lewis back a few years ago.  The movie was mostly consistent with the book.  The interesting twist on it is that Art Howe (who is played by Philip Seymour Hoffman in the movie) is onboard.  He wasn’t treated well in the book and he wasn’t treated very well in the movie, either.  So it will be interesting to hear his comments on what he thinks of the book and movie in his presentation on that topic, I’m guessing that will maybe be tomorrow?

Afternoon trivia we tied with two other teams at 15 out of 20 and lost the tiebreaker:  Approximately how many omelets can you get out of an ostrich egg?  The answer was 11.5 and we said 21—Bill didn’t hear the question correctly and thought it was how many standard eggs rather than omelets—he wrote down either 21 or 23, the latter of which was the correct answer if you divide by 2.  Oh well.  Questions we missed:  According to criminal law, how many people are needed to start a riot?  3 (we said 2).  Who was the first recurring vegetarian character on TV?  Spock on Star Trek (we said Meathead on All in the Family).  What is the English term for the British term gamp?  Umbrella (we said run).  What musical workout program was originated by Judy Shepherd Misstep?  Jazzercise (we said Zumba).  What pop artist made a guest appearance on The Love Boat?  Andy Warhol (we said Elvis).  Other interesting questions that we got right:  Up/down, top/bottom and strange are types of what subatomic particles?  Quarks.  What craft involves cutting out images and varnishing them to a board?  Decoupage.  What is “watch out” in German and part of a U2 album title?  Achtung.  What chef’s kitchen is in the Smithsonian?  Julia Child’s.  What poet started a poem with: “I am nobody, who are you?”  Emily Dickinson.  What 1960s animated series showed the charaters smoking?  The Flintstones.  What tenor is known as the King of the High C’s?  Luciano Pavarotti.  What non-human creature kills more humans than any other?  Mosquito.  Who introduced the .357 magnum in 1935?  Smith & Wesson.  The Colo super deep borehole is located in what country?  Russia.  What city is the location of a shrine for Mohammed ascending into heaven?  Jerusalem.

Looking through the Princess Patter today, I see that we missed “Tea Bag Folding” which is part of Arts & Crafts@Sea.  We were speculating at dinner what that might involve.  Either folding tea bags to contain loose tea or perhaps folding used tea bags to make some sort of arts & crafts creation.  None of us went, so I guess we’ll never know.

The evening entertainment was again Vincenzo Matinelli playing classical guitar:

Tomorrow is sea day #5 of 5 on our way to Guam.