Friday, Day 97 - Apr 13 - Cruising the Atlantic Ocean

The ship gently rocked all night. We set the clocks back last night, go to bed at 8PM today’s time and wake up at 8:30AM. Guess we were tired or something!  This morning is a beautiful, sunny, cool day but the ship is rocking still. We get to the dinning room by 9AM for breakfast; boy are we going to miss the wonderful breakfast when the cruise is over!!!

It is hard to believe that we are now headed home or at least across the Southern Atlantic to the Americas. In a few days we will cross back into the Western Hemisphere. Back in Jan crossing the Atlantic seemed so far away and now it is here.

A sheet cake in the Compass Rose entrance being decorated with a map of our trip. This is Hawaii to Singapore

We have the normal sea day routine with lectures by Don Walsh “The Atlantic” at 10AM and “The Atlantic and Its Sea Birds” by Michael Scott at 11AM. Sarah has the Quilling class at 11AM and Julie has her card class at 2:30PM.

At noon the Captain tells us it is really not looking good for our next port. The seas are getting worse there. We currently have mounting seas with swells to 14 feet and 25 knots of wind. It feels like we are riding a very rigorous merry-go-round: up and down, up and down! He will continue to monitor the weather and will have to make the decision by tomorrow. Otherwise it is a beautiful day and we actually sit out on the balcony later in the afternoon for awhile...close to the back wall to avoid the spray from the waves.

Dick goes to Don’s lecture but skips the sea birds since that is not his cup of tea. There is a Tex-Mex buffet on the Pool Deck. It is a pleasant day to be outside so he goes to see what they have fixed and has some lunch. Then it is computer games and reading time all afternoon.

Carolyn goes to Sarah’s class where she makes a card with a lady bug design. They have the leek quiche today in the dining room so she has lunch there and leaves stuffed. They are serving two quiche per order and try as she might she can’t resist eating both!

Then it is on to Julie’s class. Today’s card is a really neat layered card with a Africa design. So many people come to this class, including three husbands, that Julie has to turn people away. It is so interesting how the dynamics of the guest mixture is so different on each cruise, even with the same base of 190 people!

We have a different pre-dinner show this afternoon. A Dramatic Presentation : “A Date in History - Opening Moves - The Battle of Fort Sumter,” written and presented by Terry Bishop. Today is the 157th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War. It is an excellent program....Terry is so talented!     

We have been invited to join some friends for dinner tonight. They live down the hall from us and the man is as interested in military history as Dick is so they have really hit it off. We sit at our table and have a great time. As usual there are several after dinner activities: Clive in the Navigator Bar, Showtime in the theater with “Viviana “ on 6 instruments, 1 Woman and Soul Rhythm and Blues with the Regent Orchestra. As usual, jammies and reading in bed have more appeal for us.