World Cruise - Day 98 - Apr 19 - At Sea

Sunrise above the horizon again today:

I kept taking pics and the reflection in the water kept getting better and better, so the one I ended up with was with the sun rather high in the sky.  I love the colors of sunrise.

Julie, I don’t carry a notebook around with me.  I just try to do my best to remember the details when I put together my blog entry.  On the sea days, I just keep adding to the blog entry throughout the day with my computer open on the desk.  For the port days, it is more challenging, since I need to remember the details of each pic.  Sometimes I take a pic with something in the background and then I’ll get “home” (to our cabin on the ship) and look at the pic on my computer and wonder why I took the pic.  But most of the time I remember everything because the day is still fresh in my mind.  It would be tougher if I wasn’t doing it on a daily basis.  Or if I waited 46 days to do it.

Someone asked Krissie yesterday if she is the belly dancing instructor.  The belly dancer is younger than Krissie, so that’s a nice compliment.  Early in the cruise, when she was at Zumba, someone asked her if she was the Zumba instructor (also a compliment, since the Zumba instructor is much younger).  Krissie is definitely the most sporty passenger onboard and everyone knows her for her speed walking on the 10^th deck.  No one (including me) can keep up with her.  I can walk with her for about 10 laps, but she keeps that same pace and I need to slow down a bit.  She just keeps going and going and going…

This huge container ship passed us yesterday:

Officer of the watch made an announcement about it, but I didn’t hear the details.  Someone said that it is perhaps one of the largest container ships in the world?  Consider that each of those containers is a semi trailer and there are 23 front to back, plus the bridge, stacked 8 high (at least that I can see, not sure what is stored lower in the hull of the ship).

We got 11 out of 20 in trivia this morning, 15 won it.  The questions we missed:  What human body part are scientists replacing with sheets made from ground up crab shells?  Skin (we said fingernails).  What British novelist had three of her novels adapted to film by Alfred Hitchcock?  Stephanie Demure (we said Agatha Christie).  What Scandinavian city hosted the first Olympics to use electronic timing?  Stockholm (we said Lillehammer).  What game is thought to be named for the black and white hoods worn by priests in the Middle Ages?  Dominoes (we said chess).  What Russian city hosts the White Nights Festival?  St. Petersburg (we said Moscow).  In what year did Elvis Presley beak into UK charts with Heatbreak Hotel?  1956 (we said 1955).  What is the insignia located beside Captain’s stripes aboard Pacific Princess?  Sun (we said star).  What comedy troupe once considered calling themselves Toad Elevating Moment?  Monty Python’s Flying Circus (we said Second City).  What Shakespearean character gushes: “My lips to blushing pilgrims ready stand.”  Romeo Montague (we said Juliet Capulet).  Other interesting questions:  What Central American nation was the first to offer all of its citizens free e-mail service?  Costa Rica.  What word beginning with “g” do biologists use for species with common characteristics?  Genus.  What do cooks call the outer layer of citrus fruit skin?  Zest.

We are starting to count down the days to the end of our cruise.  We have six more sea days to go, including today.  We have five more day ports (Aqaba/Petra, Safaga/Luxor, Alexandria/Cairo, Dubrovnik and Koper) and one destination port (Venice) remaining.  No more Sunday brunches.  Five more ping pong, five more Zumba, five more belly dancing classes.  Two more Sabbath eve meetings onboard.  One more formal night.  Nine more shows in the evening (assuming there will not be one the evening of Safaga, since we don’t leave until midnight).

The show this evening was Seonaid (pronounced “Shawna”—she is from Scotland) Aiken:

She was delightful, one of the best performances of the entire cruise.

Tomorrow is sea day #4 of 4 on our way to Aqaba, Jordan.